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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 1,063 records · Page 59
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Construction of the landscape for multi-stable systems: Potential landscape, quasi-potential, A-type integral and beyond

Motivated by the famous Waddington’s epigenetic landscape metaphor in developmental biology, biophysicists and applied mathematicians made different proposals to construct the landscape for multi-stable complex systems. We aim to summarize and elucidate the relationships among these theories from a mathematical point of view. We systematically investigate and compare three different but closely related realizations in the recent literature: the Wang’s potential landscape theory from steady state distribution of stochastic differential equations (SDEs), the Freidlin-Wentzell quasi-potential from the large deviation theory, and the construction through SDE decomposition and A-type integral. We revisit that the quasi-potential is the zero noise limit of the potential landscape, and the potential function in the third proposal coincides with the quasi-potential. We compare the difference between local and global quasi-potential through the viewpoint of exchange of limit order for time and noise amplitude. We argue that local quasi-potentials are responsible for getting transition rates between neighboring stable states, while the global quasi-potential mainly characterizes the residence time of the states as the system reaches stationarity. The difference between these two is prominent when the transitivity property is broken. The most probable transition path by minimizing the Onsager-Machlup or Freidlin-Wentzell action functional is also discussed. As a consequence of the established connections among different proposals, we arrive at the novel result which guarantees the existence of SDE decomposition while denies its uniqueness in general cases. It is, therefore, clarified that the A-type integral is more appropriate to be applied to the decomposed SDEs rather than its primitive form as believed by previous researchers. Our results contribute to a deeper understanding of landscape theories for biological systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS2012

Piezocomposite Actuator Arrays for Correcting and Controlling Wavefront Error in Reflectors

Three reflectors have been developed and tested to assess the performance of a distributed network of piezocomposite actuators for correcting thermal deformations and total wave-front error. The primary testbed article is an active composite reflector, composed of a spherically curved panel with a graphite face sheet and aluminum honeycomb core composite, and then augmented with a network of 90 distributed piezoelectric composite actuators. The piezoelectric actuator system may be used for correcting as-built residual shape errors, and for controlling low-order, thermally-induced quasi-static distortions of the panel. In this study, thermally-induced surface deformations of 1 to 5 microns were deliberately introduced onto the reflector, then measured using a speckle holography interferometer system. The reflector surface figure was subsequently corrected to a tolerance of 50 nm using the actuators embedded in the reflector's back face sheet. Two additional test articles were constructed: a borosilicate at window at 150 mm diameter with 18 actuators bonded to the back surface; and a direct metal laser sintered reflector with spherical curvature, 230 mm diameter, and 12 actuators bonded to the back surface. In the case of the glass reflector, absolute measurements were performed with an interferometer and the absolute surface was corrected. These test articles were evaluated to determine their absolute surface control capabilities, as well as to assess a multiphysics modeling effort developed under this program for the prediction of active reflector response. This paper will describe the design, construction, and testing of active reflector systems under thermal loads, and subsequent correction of surface shape via distributed peizeoelctric actuation.

piezoelectric actuation↗
NASA NTRS1985

Effects of cooling system parameters on heat transfer in PAFC stack

Analytical and experimental study for the effects of cooling system parameters on the heat transfer and temperature distribution in the electrode plates of a phosphoric acid fuel-cell has been conducted. An experimental set-up that simulates the operating conditions prevailing in a phosphoric-acid fuel-cell stack was designed and constructed. The set-up was then used to measure the overall heat transfer coefficient, the thermal contact resistance, and the electrode temperature distribution for two different cooling plate configurations. Two types of cooling plate configurations, serpentine and straight, were tested. Air, water, and oil were used as coolants. Measurements for the heat transfer coefficient and the thermal contact resistance were made for various flow rates ranging from 16 to 88 Kg/hr, and stack clamping pressure ranging from O to 3448 Kpa. The experimental results for the overall heat transfer coefficient were utilized to derive mathematical relations for the overall heat transfer coefficient as a function of stack clamping pressure and Reynolds number for the three coolants. The empirically derived formulas were incorporated in a previously developed computer program to predict electrodes temperature distribution and the performance of the stack cooling system. The results obtained were then compared with those available in the literature. The comparison showed maximum deviation of +/- 11%.

Abdul-Aziz, Ali A.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Symmetries of a reduced fluid-gyrokinetic system

Symmetries of a fluid-gyrokinetic model are investigated using Lie group techniques. Specifically, the nonlinear system constructed, which combines nonlinear fluid equations with a drift-kinetic description of parallel electron dynamics, is studied. Significantly, this model is fully gyrokinetic, allowing for arbitrary $k_{\bot }\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}_{i}$ , where $k_{\bot }$ is the perpendicular wave vector of the fluctuations and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}_{i}$ the ion gyroradius. The model includes integral operators corresponding to gyroaveraging as well as the moment equations relating fluid variables to the kinetic distribution function. Here, a large variety of exact symmetries is uncovered, some of which have unexpected form. Using these results, new nonlinear solutions are constructed, including a helical generalization of the Chapman–Kendall solution for a collapsing current sheet.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1973

Experimental detailed power distribution in a fast spectrum thermionic reactor fuel element at the core/BeO reflector interface region

A zero-power critical assembly was designed, constructed, and operated for the prupose of conducting a series of benchmark experiments dealing with the physics characteristics of a UN-fueled, Li-7-cooled, Mo-reflected, drum-controlled compact fast reactor for use with a space-power conversion system. The critical assembly was modified to simulate a fast spectrum advanced thermionics reactor by: (1) using BeO as a reflector in place of some of the existing molybdenum, (2) substituting Nb-1Zr tubing for some of the existing Ta tubing, and (3) inserting four full-scale mockups of thermionic type fuel elements near the core and BeO reflector boundary. These mockups were surrounded with a buffer zone having the equivalent thermionic core composition. In addition to measuring the critical mass of this thermionic configuration, a detailed power distribution in one of the thermionic element stages in the mixed spectrum region was measured. A power peak to average ratio of two was observed for this fuel stage at the midplane of the core and adjacent to the reflector. Also, the power on the outer surface adjacent to the BeO was slightly more than a factor of two larger than the power on the inside surface of a 5.08 cm (2.0 in.) high annular fuel segment with a 2.52 cm (0.993 in. ) o.d. and a 1.86 cm (0.731 in.) i.d.

Klann, P. G.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Simple mass distribution for the lunar potential.

A set of twenty-one point masses gravitationally equivalent to the L1 lunar potential model is presented. By construction, the equivalence is valid only in a region of space 'sampled' by Apollo spacecraft. That region is taken to be a finite, torus-shaped shell. When used in place of the L1 model for Apollo 12 lunar orbit determination, the solution set gives spacecraft positions identical to within about 100 m. The solution is developed in two steps: first the L1 potential is examined to determine favorable mass locations, and then the mass values are computed to force an optimum matching of the L1 potential. Therefore the solution set is 'artificial.' It is related to the moon's actual mass distribution only in its similar gravitational effects in a limited region of space.

Levie, S. L., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Comparison of high energy gamma rays from absolute value of b greater than 30 deg with the galactic neutral hydrogen distribution

High-energy gamma-ray (energy above 35 MeV) data from the SAS 2 satellite have been used to compare the intensity distribution of gamma rays with that of neutral hydrogen (H I) density along the line of sight, at high galactic latitudes (absolute values greater than 30 deg). A model has been constructed for the case where the observed gamma-ray intensity has been assumed to be the sum of a galactic component proportional to the H I distribution plus an isotropic extragalactic emission. A chi-squared test of the model parameters indicates that about 30% of the total high-latitude emission may originate within the Galaxy.

Ozel, M. E.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Integrated Multi-Scale Data Analytics and Machine Learning for the Distribution Grid and Building-to-Grid Interface

This white paper introduces the application of advanced data analytics to the modernized grid. In particular, we consider the field of machine learning and where it is both useful, and not useful, for the particular field of the distribution grid and buildings interface. While analytics, in general, is a growing field of interest, and often seen as the golden goose in the burgeoning distribution grid industry, its application is often limited by communications infrastructure, or lack of a focused technical application. Overall, the linkage of analytics to purposeful application in the grid space has been limited. In this paper we consider the field of machine learning as a subset of analytical techniques, and discuss its ability and limitations to enable the future distribution grid and the building-to-grid interface. To that end, we also consider the potential for mixing distributed and centralized analytics and the pros and cons of these approaches. Machine learning is a subfield of computer science that studies and constructs algorithms that can learn from data and make predictions and improve forecasts. Incorporation of machine learning in grid monitoring and analysis tools may have the potential to solve data and operational challenges that result from increasing penetration of distributed and behind-the-meter energy resources. There is an exponentially expanding volume of measured data being generated on the distribution grid, which, with appropriate application of analytics, may be transformed into intelligible, actionable information that can be provided to the right actors – such as grid and building operators, at the appropriate time to enhance grid or building resilience, efficiency, and operations against various metrics or goals – such as total carbon reduction or other economic benefit to customers. While some basic analysis into these data streams can provide a wealth of information, computational and human boundaries on performing the analysis are becoming significant, with more data and multi-objective concerns. Efficient applications of analysis and the machine learning field are being considered in the loop.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2016

In Situ Evaluation of Calcium Phosphate Nucleation Kinetics and Pathways during Intra- and Extrafibrillar Mineralization of Collagen Matrices

Calcium phosphate (CaP) nanocrystals nucleate and grow in intrafibrillar and/or extrafibrillar spaces of collagen fibrils during the mineralization of bones and teeth. Little is known about the early stages of CaP nucleation and distribution in fibrillar matrices, despite their significant influence on the physical and chemical structures of tissue-level constructs. Using in situ small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), we examined the nucleation and growth of CaP within collagen matrices and elucidated how a nucleation inhibitor, polyaspartic acid (pAsp), governs mineralization kinetics and pathways at multiple length scales. In situ SAXS analysis clearly revealed that nucleation sites, kinetically-controlled by the nucleation inhibitor, determined the pathways of CaP morphological transformation. Mineralization with pAsp led to intrafibrillar CaP plates with a spatial distribution gradient through the depth of the matrix. Mineralization without pAsp led initially to spherical aggregates of CaP in the entire extrafibrillar spaces. With time, the spherical aggregates transformed into plates at the outermost surface of the collagen matrix, preventing intrafibrillar mineralization inside. The results illuminate mineral nucleation kinetics and real-time nanoparticle distributions within organic matrices in solutions containing body fluid components. Because the macroscale mechanical properties of collagen matrices depend on their mineral content, phase, and arrangement at the nanoscale, this study contributes to better design and fabrication of biomaterials for regenerative medicine.

Kim, Doyoon↗
DOE OSTI2015

ABSORPTION MEASURE DISTRIBUTION IN Mrk 509

In this paper we model the observed absorption measure distribution (AMD) in Mrk 509, which spans three orders of magnitude in ionization level with a single-zone absorber in pressure equilibrium. AMD is usually constructed from observations of narrow absorption lines in radio-quiet active galaxies with warm absorbers. We study the properties of the warm absorber in Mrk 509 using recently published broadband spectral energy distribution observed with different instruments. This spectrum is an input in radiative transfer computations with full photoionization treatment using the titan code. We show that the simplest way to fully reproduce the shape of AMD is to assume that the warm absorber is a single zone under constant total pressure. With this assumption, we found theoretical AMD that matches the observed AMD determined on the basis of the 600 ks reflection grating spectrometer XMM-Newton spectrum of Mrk 509. The softness of the source spectrum and the important role of the free–free emission breaks the usual degeneracy in the ionization state calculations, and the explicit dependence of the depths of AMD dips on density open a new path to the density diagnostic for the warm absorber. In Mrk 509, the implied density is of the order of 10{sup 8} cm{sup −3}.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Data-Conforming Data-Driven Control: Avoiding Premature Generalizations Beyond Data

Data-driven and adaptive control approaches face the problem of introducing sudden distributional shifts beyond the distribution of data encountered during learning. Therefore, they are prone to invalidating the very assumptions used in their own construction. This is due to the linearity of the underlying system, inherently assumed and formulated in most data-driven control approaches, which may falsely generalize the behavior of the system beyond the behavior experienced in the data. This article seeks to mitigate these problems by enforcing consistency of the newly designed closed-loop systems with data and slowing down any distributional shifts in the joint state-input space. This is achieved through incorporating affine regularization terms and linear matrix inequality constraints to data-driven approaches, resulting in convex semi-definite programs that can be efficiently solved by standard software packages. We discuss the optimality conditions of these programs and then conclude this article with a numerical example that further highlights the problem of premature generalization beyond data and shows the effectiveness of our proposed approaches in enhancing the safety of data-driven control methods.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Simplified Space Conditioning in Low-Load Homes: Results from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, New Construction Unoccupied Test House

Field testing was performed in a new construction unoccupied test house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Four air-based heating, ventilation, and air conditioning distribution systems--a typical airflow ducted system to the bedrooms, a low airflow ducted system to the bedrooms, a system with transfer fans to the bedrooms, and a system with no ductwork to the bedrooms--were evaluated during heating, cooling, and midseason conditions. The relative ability of each system was assessed with respect to relevant Air Conditioning Contractors of America and ASHRAE standards for house temperature uniformity and stability, respectively.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Simplified Space Conditioning in Low-Load Homes: Results from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, New Construction Unoccupied Test House

Field testing was performed in a new construction unoccupied test house in Pittsburgh, PA. Four air-based heating, ventilation, and air conditioning distribution systems—a typical airflow ducted system to the bedrooms, a low airflow ducted system to the bedrooms, a system with transfer fans to the bedrooms, and a system with no ductwork to the bedrooms—were evaluated during heating, cooling, and midseason conditions. The relative ability of each system was assessed with respect to relevant Air Conditioning Contractors of America and ASHRAE standards for house temperature uniformity and stability, respectively.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS2005

Custom Sky-Image Mosaics from NASA's Information Power Grid

yourSkyG is the second generation of the software described in yourSky: Custom Sky-Image Mosaics via the Internet (NPO-30556), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 27, No. 6 (June 2003), page 45. Like its predecessor, yourSkyG supplies custom astronomical image mosaics of sky regions specified by requesters using client computers connected to the Internet. Whereas yourSky constructs mosaics on a local multiprocessor system, yourSkyG performs the computations on NASA s Information Power Grid (IPG), which is capable of performing much larger mosaicking tasks. (The IPG is high-performance computation and data grid that integrates geographically distributed 18 NASA Tech Briefs, September 2005 computers, databases, and instruments.) A user of yourSkyG can specify parameters describing a mosaic to be constructed. yourSkyG then constructs the mosaic on the IPG and makes it available for downloading by the user. The complexities of determining which input images are required to construct a mosaic, retrieving the required input images from remote sky-survey archives, uploading the images to the computers on the IPG, performing the computations remotely on the Grid, and downloading the resulting mosaic from the Grid are all transparent to the user

Jacob, Joseph↗
DOE OSTI2022

A pair of early- and late-forming galaxy cluster samples: A novel way of studying halo assembly bias assisted by a constrained simulation

The halo assembly bias, a phenomenon referring to dependencies of the large-scale bias of a dark matter halo other than its mass, is a fundamental property of the standard cosmological model. First discovered in 2005 from the Millennium Run simulation, it has been proven very difficult to be detected observationally, with only a few convincing claims of detection so far. The main obstacle lies in finding an accurate proxy of the halo formation time. In this study, by utilizing a constrained simulation that can faithfully reproduce the observed structures larger than 2 Mpc in the local universe, for a sample of 634 massive clusters at z ≤ 0.12, we found their counterpart halos in the simulation and used the mass growth history of the matched halos to estimate the formation time of the observed clusters. This allowed us to construct a pair of early- and late-forming clusters, with a similar mass as measured via weak gravitational lensing, and large-scale biases differing at the ≈3σ level, suggestive of the signature of assembly bias, which is further corroborated by the properties of cluster galaxies, including the brightest cluster galaxy and the spatial distribution and number of member galaxies. Our study paves a way to further detect assembly bias based on cluster samples constructed purely on observed quantities.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2015

A Modular Framework for Modeling Hardware Elements in Distributed Engine Control Systems

Progress toward the implementation of distributed engine control in an aerospace application may be accelerated through the development of a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) system for testing new control architectures and hardware outside of a physical test cell environment. One component required in an HIL simulation system is a high-fidelity model of the control platform: sensors, actuators, and the control law. The control system developed for the Commercial Modular Aero-Propulsion System Simulation 40k (C-MAPSS40k) provides a verifiable baseline for development of a model for simulating a distributed control architecture. This distributed controller model will contain enhanced hardware models, capturing the dynamics of the transducer and the effects of data processing, and a model of the controller network. A multilevel framework is presented that establishes three sets of interfaces in the control platform: communication with the engine (through sensors and actuators), communication between hardware and controller (over a network), and the physical connections within individual pieces of hardware. This introduces modularity at each level of the model, encouraging collaboration in the development and testing of various control schemes or hardware designs. At the hardware level, this modularity is leveraged through the creation of a SimulinkR library containing blocks for constructing smart transducer models complying with the IEEE 1451 specification. These hardware models were incorporated in a distributed version of the baseline C-MAPSS40k controller and simulations were run to compare the performance of the two models. The overall tracking ability differed only due to quantization effects in the feedback measurements in the distributed controller. Additionally, it was also found that the added complexity of the smart transducer models did not prevent real-time operation of the distributed controller model, a requirement of an HIL system.

propulsion simulation↗
NASA NTRS1984

Data distribution in the NBS Automated Manufacturing Research Facility

The Automated Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF) at the National Bureau of Standards was constructed as a testbed for research in the automation of small batch maufacturing, in particular for systems producing machined parts in lots of 1000 or less. Potential standard interfaces between existing and future components of small batch of factory floor metrology in an automated environment, delivering proven measurement techniques and standard reference materails industry to are identified. Commercially available product are used to construct the facility to expedite transfer of research results into the private sector.

Mitchell, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS2014

A Modular Framework for Modeling Hardware Elements in Distributed Engine Control Systems

Progress toward the implementation of distributed engine control in an aerospace application may be accelerated through the development of a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) system for testing new control architectures and hardware outside of a physical test cell environment. One component required in an HIL simulation system is a high-fidelity model of the control platform: sensors, actuators, and the control law. The control system developed for the Commercial Modular Aero-Propulsion System Simulation 40k (C-MAPSS40k) provides a verifiable baseline for development of a model for simulating a distributed control architecture. This distributed controller model will contain enhanced hardware models, capturing the dynamics of the transducer and the effects of data processing, and a model of the controller network. A multilevel framework is presented that establishes three sets of interfaces in the control platform: communication with the engine (through sensors and actuators), communication between hardware and controller (over a network), and the physical connections within individual pieces of hardware. This introduces modularity at each level of the model, encouraging collaboration in the development and testing of various control schemes or hardware designs. At the hardware level, this modularity is leveraged through the creation of a Simulink(R) library containing blocks for constructing smart transducer models complying with the IEEE 1451 specification. These hardware models were incorporated in a distributed version of the baseline C-MAPSS40k controller and simulations were run to compare the performance of the two models. The overall tracking ability differed only due to quantization effects in the feedback measurements in the distributed controller. Additionally, it was also found that the added complexity of the smart transducer models did not prevent real-time operation of the distributed controller model, a requirement of an HIL system.

numerical simulation↗