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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 109 records · Page 6

Comprehensive Micromechanics-Analysis Code - Version 4.0

Version 4.0 of the Micromechanics Analysis Code With Generalized Method of Cells (MAC/GMC) has been developed as an improved means of computational simulation of advanced composite materials. The previous version of MAC/GMC was described in "Comprehensive Micromechanics-Analysis Code" (LEW-16870), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 24, No. 6 (June 2000), page 38. To recapitulate: MAC/GMC is a computer program that predicts the elastic and inelastic thermomechanical responses of continuous and discontinuous composite materials with arbitrary internal microstructures and reinforcement shapes. The predictive capability of MAC/GMC rests on a model known as the generalized method of cells (GMC) - a continuum-based model of micromechanics that provides closed-form expressions for the macroscopic response of a composite material in terms of the properties, sizes, shapes, and responses of the individual constituents or phases that make up the material. Enhancements in version 4.0 include a capability for modeling thermomechanically and electromagnetically coupled ("smart") materials; a more-accurate (high-fidelity) version of the GMC; a capability to simulate discontinuous plies within a laminate; additional constitutive models of materials; expanded yield-surface-analysis capabilities; and expanded failure-analysis and life-prediction capabilities on both the microscopic and macroscopic scales.

Arnold, S. M.↗

Analysis of nitrogen condensation in an expanding nozzle flow

Condensation of nitrogen flow in an expanding nozzle flow is analyzed using one-dimensional gas dynamic equations and the equations for nucleation and droplet growth. Effects of variations in the Tolman constant and the mass accommodation factor are discussed as well as the effect of foreign nuclei. Comparisons are made with experimental data obtained from a small, contoured nozzle.

Wang, F. C.↗

Nuclear Data Management and Analysis System Plan

The United States Department of Energy Advanced Reactor Technologies Program was formed in Fiscal Year 2015 and encompasses the Next Generation Nuclear Plant Project and Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) Program as they were known previously. The VHTR Program was created to support design and licensing of the first VHTR nuclear plant. Data created for and used by the program must be qualified for use, stored in a readily accessible electronic form, categorized to assure the correct data are used, and controlled to prevent data corruption or inadvertent changes. The Nuclear Data Management and Analysis System was designed to support the data needs of the VHTR Program, at the time and now the Advanced Reactor Technologies Program. Since its inception, use of the Nuclear Data Management and Analysis System has expanded to support additional projects and programs with similar requirements for control, analysis, and availability of large data sets.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Design and Analysis of a Turbopump for a Conceptual Expander Cycle Upper-Stage Engine

As part of the development of technologies for rocket engines that will power spacecraft to the Moon and Mars, a program was initiated to develop a conceptual upper stage engine with wide flow range capability. The resulting expander cycle engine design employs a radial turbine to allow higher pump speeds and efficiencies. In this paper, the design and analysis of the pump section of the engine are discussed. One-dimensional meanline analyses and three-dimensional unsteady computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed for the pump stage. Configurations with both vaneless and vaned diffusers were investigated. Both the meanline analysis and computational predictions show that the pump will meet the performance objectives. Additional details describing the development of a water flow facility test are also presented.

Dorney, Daniel J.↗

Assessing Uncertainties in Boundary Layer Transition Predictions for HIFiRE-1 at Non-zero Angles of Attack

Boundary layer stability was analyzed for the HIFiRE-1 flight vehicle geometry for ground tests conducted at the CUBRC LENS I hypersonic shock test facility and the Langley Research Center (LaRC) 20- inch Mach 6 Tunnel. Boundary layer stability results were compared to transition onset location obtained from discrete heat transfer measurements from thin film gauges during the CUBRC test and spatially continuous heat transfer measurements from thermal phosphor paint data during the LaRC test. The focus of this analysis was on conditions at non-zero angles of attack as stability analysis has already been performed at zero degrees angle of attack. Also, the transition onset data obtained during flight testing was at nonzero angles of attack, so this analysis could be expanded in the future to include the results of the flight test data. Stability analysis was performed using the 2D parabolized stability software suite STABL (Stability and Transition Analysis for Hypersonic Boundary Layers) developed at the University of Minnesota and the mean flow solutions were computed using the DPLR finite volume Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver. A center line slice of the 3D mean flow solution was used for the stability analysis to incorporate the angle of attack effects while still taking advantage of the 2D STABL software suite. The N-factors at transition onset and the value of Re(sub theta)/M(sub e), commonly used to predict boundary layer transition onset, were compared for all conditions analyzed. Ground test data was analyzed at Mach 7.2 and Mach 6.0 and angles of attack of 1deg, 3deg and 5deg. At these conditions, the flow was found to be second mode dominant for the HIFiRE-1 slender cone geometry. On the leeward side of the vehicle, a strong trend of transition onset location with angle of attack was observed as the boundary layer on the leeward side of the vehicle developed inflection points at streamwise positions on the vehicle that correlated to angle of attack. Inflection points are a strong instability mechanism that lead to rapid breakdown and transition to turbulence. The transition onset location on the windward side of the vehicle displayed no trend with angle of attack or freestream Reynolds number and transition was observed farther down the vehicle than observed on the leeward side of the vehicle. In analysis of both windward and leeward sides of the vehicle, use of the N factor methodology to develop trends to predict boundary layer transition onset showed improvements over the Re(sub theta)/M(sub e) empirical correlation methodology. Stronger correlations and less scatter in the data were observed when using the N factor method for these cases.

Marek, Lindsay C.↗

Exploratory Climate Data Visualization and Analysis Using DV3D and UVCDAT

Earth system scientists are being inundated by an explosion of data generated by ever-increasing resolution in both global models and remote sensors. Advanced tools for accessing, analyzing, and visualizing very large and complex climate data are required to maintain rapid progress in Earth system research. To meet this need, NASA, in collaboration with the Ultra-scale Visualization Climate Data Analysis Tools (UVCOAT) consortium, is developing exploratory climate data analysis and visualization tools which provide data analysis capabilities for the Earth System Grid (ESG). This paper describes DV3D, a UV-COAT package that enables exploratory analysis of climate simulation and observation datasets. OV3D provides user-friendly interfaces for visualization and analysis of climate data at a level appropriate for scientists. It features workflow inte rfaces, interactive 40 data exploration, hyperwall and stereo visualization, automated provenance generation, and parallel task execution. DV30's integration with CDAT's climate data management system (COMS) and other climate data analysis tools provides a wide range of high performance climate data analysis operations. DV3D expands the scientists' toolbox by incorporating a suite of rich new exploratory visualization and analysis methods for addressing the complexity of climate datasets.

Maxwell, Thomas↗

Reachability Analysis for FollowerStopper: Safety Analysis and Experimental Results

Motivated by earlier work and the developer of a new algorithm, the FollowerStopper, this article uses reachability analysis to verify the safety of the FollowerStopper algorithm, which is a controller designed for dampening stop-and-go traffic waves. With more than 1100 miles of driving data collected by our physical platform, we validate our analysis results by comparing it to human driving behaviors. The FollowerStopper controller has been demonstrated to dampen stop-and-go traffic waves at low speed, but previous analysis on its relative safety has been limited to upper and lower bounds of acceleration. To expand upon previous analysis, reachability analysis is used to investigate the safety at the speeds it was originally tested and also at higher speeds. Two formulations of safety analysis with different criteria are shown: distance-based and time headway-based. The FollowerStopper is considered safe with distance-based criterion. However, simulation results demonstrate that the FollowerStopper is not representative of human drivers - it follows too closely behind vehicles, specifically at a distance human would deem as unsafe. On the other hand, under the time headway-based safety analysis, the FollowerStopper is not considered safe anymore. A modified FollowerStopper is proposed to satisfy time-based safety criterion. Simulation results of the proposed FollowerStopper shows that its response represents human driver behavior better.

Chou, Fang-Chieh↗

Timeline Analysis Program (TLA-1)

The Timeline Analysis Program (TLA-1) was described. This program is a crew workload analysis computer program that was developed and expanded from previous workload analysis programs, and is designed to be used on the NASA terminal controlled vehicle program. The following information is described: derivation of the input data, processing of the data, and form of the output data. Eight scenarios that were created, programmed, and analyzed as verification of this model were also described.

Miller, K. H.↗

Studies of new Higgs boson interactions through nonresonant $HH$ production in the $ b\overline{b}\gamma \gamma $ final state in $pp$ collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in the $ b\overline{b}\gamma \gamma $ final state is performed using 140 fb –1 of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. This analysis supersedes and expands upon the previous nonresonant ATLAS results in this final state based on the same data sample. The analysis strategy is optimised to probe anomalous values not only of the Higgs (H) boson self-coupling modifier κλ but also of the quartic HHVV (V = W, Z) coupling modifier κ 2V . No significant excess above the expected background from Standard Model processes is observed. An observed upper limit μHH < 4.0 is set at 95% confidence level on the Higgs boson pair production cross-section normalised to its Standard Model prediction. The 95% confidence intervals for the coupling modifiers are –1.4 < κ λ < 6.9 and –0.5 < κ 2V < 2.7, assuming all other Higgs boson couplings except the one under study are fixed to the Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted in the Standard Model effective field theory and Higgs effective field theory frameworks in terms of constraints on the couplings of anomalous Higgs boson (self-)interactions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Solar cities: A case study analysis of city-level enablers of expanded solar energy access

Rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption can benefit households by reducing electricity bills and enhancing energy resiliency. Low and moderate-income (LMI) households have been less likely to adopt PV and experience these benefits in the United States than higher-income households. Adopter income trends are often explored through quantitative analysis with limited explanatory power. Our quantitative analysis only explains around one-third of city-level variation in LMI adoption trends through socioeconomic factors such as median home values and income inequality and PV market factors such as cumulative adoption and incentives. We implement semi-structured interviews in three case studies of cities with relatively high rates of LMI PV adoption to better understand the factors that explain PV adopter income trends. The case studies partly reiterate findings from quantitative analysis, such as the role of PV incentives. The case studies reveal a broader set of LMI adoption drivers that are missed in quantitative analyses. The case studies show how city contexts can affect LMI adoption, such as the role of supportive city governments. The case studies also reveal the importance of partnerships, such as partnerships between city governments and state LMI PV program implementers. Finally, interviewees emphasized the importance of building trust among prospective LMI PV adopters. Interviewees suggested that partnerships, outreach, and consumer protection measures were crucial to building trust in PV installers among LMI households.

Adoption↗

Model Based Engineering for Software Assurance

NASA's successful development of next generation space vehicles, habitats, and robotic systems will require reliable hardware and software systems. The aim of this initiative is to develop modeling methodology and tools to support Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) for software assurance and reliability analysis. This effort expands the Unified Modeling Language (UML) software design models to include fault data for the extraction of Failure Modes and Effects Criticality Analysis (FMECA) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) for software. We explored different modeling approaches to integrate the UML software design models with the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) system models to generate an integrated model and reliability tools that take into account software and hardware interfaces.The benefits of this concept directly affect the safety community with quick turnarounds to produce software assurance and reliability analysis artifacts and the ability to visualize failure effects, both hardware and software. The result is enhanced system design integrity and early identification of system risks. This initiative will enable software assurance activities early in the system design lifecycle, facilitating the discovery of design weaknesses and enhancing the capability to produce safe, hazard-free systems

Wang, Lui↗

Reaching For New Physics With MeV-scale Reconstruction In The MicroBooNE LArTPC Neutrino Detector

Large neutrino liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) experiments can broaden their physics reach by reconstructing MeV-Scale energy depositions, or blips, in their data. We demonstrate new calorimetric and particle discrimination capabilities at the MeV scale using reconstructed blips in MicroBooNE LArTPC data at Fermilab. A concentration of low-energy ($<$3 MeV) blips is observed around fiberglass mechanical support struts along the TPC edges, with spectral features consistent with the Compton edge of the 2.614 MeV $^{208}$Tl decay $\gamma$ ray. With these features we perform the electron energy scale calibration to few-percent precision and yield the specific activity of $^{208}$Tl in the struts, $(11.7 \pm 0.2 \text{(stat)} \pm 2.8 \text{(syst)})$ Bq/kg. Using cosmogenic blips above 3 MeV, we demonstrate the ability of large LArTPCs to discriminate low-energy proton and electron depositions. An enriched low-energy proton sample selected with this technique is smaller in data than in dedicated CORSIKA simulations, pointing to possible mismodeling in CORSIKA incident cosmic fluxes or Geant4 particle transport. These methods are applied to MicroBooNE's inclusive single-photon search, which reported a 2.2$\sigma$ excess below 600 MeV in shower energy for events with no reconstructed protons. By identifying and classifying blips near single-photon events selected by the WireCell reconstruction framework, a more comprehensive labeling of nearby hadronic activity is established: blips upstream of the shower axis indicate previously unidentified final-state protons, while elevated blip counts at wide angles signal final-state neutrons. Taken together with MiniBooNE's long-standing low-energy excess (LEE) and MicroBooNE electron-like and sterile neutrino searches disfavored as possible explanations of the MiniBooNE anomaly, this analysis motivates an expanded exploration of the single-photon channel in Fermilab's short-baseline LArTPC program. This thesis documents the current status of this enhanced analysis, which will form a key part of MicroBooNE's final low-energy-excess results.

Andrade Aldana, Diego Armando [IIT, Chicago (main)↗

Effects of Weightlessness on Vestibular Development: Summary of Research on NIH.R1

In our original application we proposed to investigate the effects of gravity on the formation of connections between the gravity receptors of the ear and the brain in rat pups raised in space beginning at an age before these connections are made until near the time of birth, when they are to some extent functional. We used the neuronal tracer, Dil, which could be applied to tissue obtained immediately after landing of the space shuttle, thus minimizing changes due to the earth's gravity. We hoped to determine whether the vestibular system develops in two phases, as do other sensory systems (such as the visual system). In these other systems the first phase of development is controlled genetically and the second phase is controlled by environmental stimulation. Our data collected strongly supports the idea that the vestibular system has these same two phases of development. The tissue obtained from the NIH.R1 experiment was of exceptionally high quality for our analysis. Therefore, we expanded our investigation into the ultrastructural effects of microgravity on vestibular development. For the sake of clarity we will subdivide our summary into two categories: (1) analysis of the branching pattern of axons between the vestibular nerve and the gravistatic receptors of the ear in flight and control animals, and (2) analysis of the branching pattern of axons between the vestibular nerve and the brain in flight and control animals.

Fritzsch, Bernd↗

Space Solar Power Multi-body Dynamics and Controls, Concepts for the Integrated Symmetrical Concentrator Configuration

Orbiting space solar power systems are currently being investigated for possible flight in the time frame of 2015-2020 and later. Such space solar power (SSP) satellites are required to be extremely large in order to make practical the process of collection, conversion to microwave radiation, and reconversion to electrical power at earth stations or at remote locations in space. These large structures are expected to be very flexible presenting unique problems associated with their dynamics and control. The purpose of this project is to apply the expanded TREETOPS multi-body dynamics analysis computer simulation program (with expanded capabilities developed in the previous activity) to investigate the control problems associated with the integrated symmetrical concentrator (ISC) conceptual SSP system. SSP satellites are, as noted, large orbital systems having many bodies (perhaps hundreds) with flexible arrays operating in an orbiting environment where the non-uniform gravitational forces may be the major load producers on the structure so that a high fidelity gravity model is required. The current activity arises from our NRA8-23 SERT proposal. Funding, as a supplemental selection, has been provided by NASA with reduced scope from that originally proposed.

Glaese, John R.↗

Insights into Corona Formation through Statistical Analyses

Statistical analysis of an expanded database of coronae on Venus indicates that the populations of Type 1 (with fracture annuli) and 2 (without fracture annuli) corona diameters are statistically indistinguishable, and therefore we have no basis for assuming different formation mechanisms. Analysis of the topography and diameters of coronae shows that coronae that are depressions, rimmed depressions, and domes tend to be significantly smaller than those that are plateaus, rimmed plateaus, or domes with surrounding rims. This is consistent with the model of Smrekar and Stofan and inconsistent with predictions of the spreading drop model of Koch and Manga. The diameter range for domes, the initial stage of corona formation, provides a broad constraint on the buoyancy of corona-forming plumes. Coronae are only slightly more likely to be topographically raised than depressions, with Type 1 coronae most frequently occurring as rimmed depressions and Type 2 coronae most frequently occuring with flat interiors and raised rims. Most Type 1 coronae are located along chasmata systems or fracture belts, while Type 2 coronas are found predominantly as isolated features in the plains. Coronae at hotspot rises tend to be significantly larger than coronae in other settings, consistent with a hotter upper mantle at hotspot rises and their active state.

Glaze, L. S.↗

Insights into Corona Formation Through Statistical Analyses

Statistical analysis of an expanded database of coronae on Venus indicates that the populations of Type 1 (with fracture annuli) and 2 (without fracture annuli) corona diameters are statistically indistinguishable, and therefore we have no basis for assuming different formation mechanisms. Analysis of the topography and diameters of coronae shows that coronae that are depressions, rimmed depressions, and domes tend to be significantly smaller than those that are plateaus, rimmed plateaus, or domes with surrounding rims. This is consistent with the model of Smrekar and Stofan and inconsistent with predictions of the spreading drop model of Koch and Munga. The diameter range for domes, the initial stage of corona formation, provides a broad constraint on the buoyancy of corona-forming plumes. Coronae are only slightly more likely to be topographically raised than depressions, with Type 1 coronae most frequently occurring as rimmed depressions and Type 2 coronae most frequently occurring with flat interiors and raised rims. Most Type 1 coronae are located along chasmata systems or fracture belts, while Type 2 coronae are found predominantly as isolated features in the plains. Coronae at hot spot rises tend to be significantly lager than coronae in other settings, consistent with a hotter upper mantle at hot spot rises and their active state.

Glaze, L. S.↗

Experimental modal analysis

Experimental modal analysis is extremely important with regard to verification of analytical models, identification of vibration and acoustic problems, and structural modification and sensitivity analysis. With the expanding access of the testing environment to computational power, the complexity of existing approaches, as well as the development of new approaches, to the estimation of modal parameters has grown tremendously. Currently, the state of the art in experimental modal analysis involves methods that can be grouped in four categories: forced normal mode excitation method, frequency response function method, damped complex exponential function method, and mathematical input-output model methods. The theoretical basis of each of these general approaches, with appropriate references, is reviewed briefly.

Allemang, R. J.↗