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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

Consistent Nuclear Data Evaluations for Criticality Safety

Evaluations of nuclear data are based on statistical analysis of available experimental data and their uncertainties plus model calculations and their uncertainties. As the models are currently rather limited, the evaluations are heavily biassed toward experimental data, with the caveat that a thorough analysis is also required to understand possible discrepancies between data sets. Hence, as new experimental data become available, they are incorporated into the evaluation procedure. Recent measurements of the 233 U capture to fission cross section ratio at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center have prompted a re-evaluation of the capture cross section in the resonance and fast regions up to 250 keV. We will discuss the challenges of including the new fast neutron experimental data in an evaluation that is consistent with the resonance region. We will also discuss our consistent evaluation procedure based on the Hauser-Feshbach statistical model for nuclear reactions and its application to the evaluations of 239 Pu and 139 La neutron-induced reactions.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

A High-level Design for Bidirectional Data Streaming to High-Performance Computing Systems from External Science Facilities

Cutting-edge science is increasingly data-driven due to the emergence of scientific machine learning models that can guide scientists toward fruitful areas of exploration. Experimental science facilities such as light and neutron sources, particle colliders, and radio astronomy telescopes are also producing raw measurement data at rates that exceed available data storage and computing capacity at those facilities. As a result, scientific workflows are being developed that concurrently couple experiments at science facilities with high-performance computing (HPC) facilities to enable analysis of experimental data while the experiment is ongoing, and where analysis results are potentially fed back to the experiment for use in experimental control and/or steering in a time-sensitive manner. Our goal is to design, prototype, and deploy a new capability for the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) that enables such workflows through support for bidirectional, memory-based streaming of data from external experiments into and out of OLCF HPC systems. This high-level design document describes the related work and motivating use cases that inform our understanding of the technical requirements for this capability, and describes a proposed architectural solution that meets these requirements and our plans for demonstrating the capability.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Analysis of ZPPR-15 experimental data for VTR software validation

As part of the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) program, extensive validation work is being performed to demonstrate the fidelity of the Argonne Reactor Code (ARC) software package presently used for the core design studies. It is anticipated that this software will be also used for initial operations although additional software may be introduced at a later time to supplement or replace some components. The validation work was focused on accumulating reactor models that are consistent with the VTR and thus can be used to validate the accuracy of predictions made by the software used to design and operate the VTR. The U.S. does not have any active experimental facilities that can neutronically mockup the VTR core design. However, in the past, the U.S. had extensive experimental facilities for fast reactor neutronics. In that regard, the ZPPR-15 experiments carried out at ANL during the 1980s work best because the fuel form is closest to the VTR design, there is a considerable amount of processed data available for use, and existing staff are already familiar with the experimental machine and measurements. Because of previous collaborative work, many of the ZPPR-15 loadings of interest have already been processed into MCNP and preliminary ARC models, and a full uncertainty quantification has already been completed for many of the ZPPR-15 measurements. This manuscript covers the recent analysis work on the ZPPR-15 experiments and compares it with the experimental results. With respect to the ARC software components, this manuscript focuses on validation of the MC 2 , DIF3D and GAMSOR using the ZPPR-15 experimental data.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

A cluster analysis method for identification of subpopulations of cells in flow cytometric list-mode arrays

A specialized program was developed for flow cytometric list-mode data using an heirarchical tree method for identifying and enumerating individual subpopulations, the method of principal components for a two-dimensional display of 6-parameter data array, and a standard sorting algorithm for characterizing subpopulations. The program was tested against a published data set subjected to cluster analysis and experimental data sets from controlled flow cytometry experiments using a Coulter Electronics EPICS V Cell Sorter. A version of the program in compiled BASIC is usable on a 16-bit microcomputer with the MS-DOS operating system. It is specialized for 6 parameters and up to 20,000 cells. Its two-dimensional display of Euclidean distances reveals clusters clearly, as does its 1-dimensional display. The identified subpopulations can, in suitable experiments, be related to functional subpopulations of cells.

Li, Z. K.↗

Computational Fluid Dynamics Uncertainty Analysis Applied to Heat Transfer over a Flat Plate

There have been few discussions on using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) without experimental validation. Pairing experimental data, uncertainty analysis, and analytical predictions provides a comprehensive approach to verification and is the current state of the art. With pressed budgets, collecting experimental data is rare or non-existent. This paper investigates and proposes a method to perform CFD uncertainty analysis only from computational data. The method uses current CFD uncertainty techniques coupled with the Student-T distribution to predict the heat transfer coefficient over a at plate. The inputs to the CFD model are varied from a specified tolerance or bias error and the difference in the results are used to estimate the uncertainty. The variation in each input is ranked from least to greatest to determine the order of importance. The results are compared to heat transfer correlations and conclusions drawn about the feasibility of using CFD without experimental data. The results provide a tactic to analytically estimate the uncertainty in a CFD model when experimental data is unavailable

Computational↗

Modification of a three-dimensional supersonic nozzle analysis and comparison with experimental data

A computer program previously developed to analyze three-dimensional supersonic nozzles by the method of characteristics has been modified to study less restrictive nozzle geometries and nonuniform inlet conditions. An example indicates that a one-dimensional calculation that uses an averaged initial profile may be significantly in error. A comparison between the analysis and the data from a three-dimensional experiment shows generally good agreement between the two.

Bishop, A. R.↗

Cycle-to-cycle variability in spark-assisted compression ignition engines near optimal mean combustion phasing

Stoichiometric spark-assisted compression ignition (SACI) combustion with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) dilution has demonstrated higher part-load thermal efficiencies compared to spark-ignited engines, while maintaining ultra-low tailpipe emissions. However, SACI is often characterized by high cyclic variability in heat release or torque output, which poses a challenge to its implementation in light-duty vehicles. This paper presents an experimental investigation of cyclic variability in stoichiometric SACI combustion under EGR-dilute conditions, while maintaining mean combustion phasing (θ 50 ) near optimal timing for thermal efficiency. The present work focuses on SACI conditions where the flame-based heat release fraction is between approximately 10% and 40% of the overall heat release, and therefore contributes significantly to the combustion process. For the SACI conditions examined, the variability in θ 50 was driven by variability in autoignition timing, which in turn correlated with the start of measurable heat release (θ 02 ). High variability in θ 50 caused unstable work output due to very late combustion with poor or no end-gas autoignition. The use of a high ignition energy dual-coil offset ignition system had negligible impact in reducing θ 50 variability. Analysis of experimental data from close to 1000 operating conditions showed that the magnitude of θ 50 variability correlates with the flame-based heat release fraction ([Formula: see text]), for a large range of intake pressures, spark timings and exhaust gas recirculation levels. For the SACI conditions examined, combustion phasing variability was largely determined by flame-based combustion and particularly the initial flame formation (θ IGN-02 ), and minimally by the end-gas autoignition heat release. The analysis also demonstrated that θ 50 variability is amplified as the contribution of the flame to the overall heat release increases.

Engineering↗

Alternating conduction and convection drying of paper – an experimental analysis with a continuous data acquisition approach

In conventional multi-cylinder drying of paper and board, both conductive drying from steam-heated dryer cylinders and convective drying by flowing air over the paper surface in the pockets are used. Conductive drying from steam-heated drying cylinders is a critical component in providing the necessary thermal energy to paper and board as they dry. Steam temperature and internal and external resistances at the contacting surface are critical process parameters influencing the conductive drying process. An experimental setup was developed to study the alternating conductive and convective drying of paper and board. Paper sheet moisture, temperature, and temperature distribution within the heated platen and the instantaneous heat flux as the sheet was being dried were measured. The instantaneous heat flux, contact heat transfer coefficient, and drying rates were determined as drying proceeds. Experimental results, as well as comparisons to literature and commercial data, are presented. The conductive heat transfer coefficients determined were compared to traditional correlations normally used in the modeling of paper drying. Similarly, the convective heat and mass transfer coefficients are also determined and compared to literature data. In addition to the evaluation of alternating conductive and convective drying characteristics of paper and board, the potential inclusion of auxiliary energy components will also be included. Experimental results from the conduction and convection drying system are presented. Furthermore, this data will be useful in process development, intensification of manufacturing processes, and modeling and simulation of paper drying processes.

42 ENGINEERING↗

TMD Handbook

This handbook provides a comprehensive review of transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions and fragmentation functions, commonly referred to as transverse momentum distributions (TMDs). TMDs describe the distribution of partons inside the proton and other hadrons with respect to both their longitudinal and transverse momenta. They provide unique insight into the internal momentum and spin structure of hadrons, and are a key ingredient in the description of many collider physics cross sections. Understanding TMDs requires a combination of theoretical techniques from quantum field theory, nonperturbative calculations using lattice QCD, and phenomenological analysis of experimental data. The handbook covers a wide range of topics, from theoretical foundations to experimental analyses, as well as recent developments and future directions. It is intended to provide an essential reference for researchers and graduate students interested in understanding the structure of hadrons and the dynamics of partons in high energy collisions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Comparison of Experimental Data and Computations Fluid Dynamics Analysis for a Three Dimensional Linear Plug Nozzle

A three dimensional linear plug nozzle of area ratio 12.79 was designed by Astrium. The nozzle was tested within the German National Technology Program LION in a cold air wind tunnel by TU Dresden. The experimental hardware and test conditions are described. Experimental data was obtained for the nozzle without plug side wall fences and then with plug side wall fences. Experimental data for two nozzle pressure ratios (NPR), 116 and 45, are presented for the without fence and with fence configurations. Schlieren images of both NPR were recorded. Axial profiles of plug wall static pressures were measured at several spanwise locations and on the plug base. Detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed for these nozzle configurations by NASA MSFC. The CFD exhibits good agreement with the experimental data. A detailed comparison of the CFD results and the experimental plug wall pressure data is given for four test conditions; at both NPRs, without and with plug side wall fences. Numerical schlieren images are compared to experimental schlieren images. Nozzle thrust efficiencies are calculated from the CFD results. The CFD results are used to illustrate the plug nozzle fluid dynamics for all four test conditions. The effect of the plug side wall fences at both NPRs is emphasized.

Ruf, J. H.↗

Analysis of experimental shaft seal data for high-performance turbomachines, as for Space Shuttle main engines

High-pressure, high-temperature seal flow (leakage) data for nonrotating and rotating Raleigh-step and convergent-tapered-bore seals were characterized in terms of a normalized flow coefficient. The data for normalized Rayleigh-steip and nonrotating tapered-bore seals were in reasonable agreement with theory, but data for the rotating tapered-bore seals were not. The tapered-bore-seal operational clearances estimated from the flow data were significantly larger than calculated. Although clearances are influenced by wear from conical to cylindrical geometry and errors in clearance corrections, the problem was isolated to the shaft temperature - rotational speed clearance correction. The geometric changes support the use of some conical convergence in any seal. Under these conditions rotation reduced the normalized flow coefficiently by nearly 10 percent.

Hendricks, R. C.↗

Analysis of experimental shaft seal data for high-performance turbomachines - As for Space Shuttle main engines

High-pressure, high-temperature seal flow (leakage) data for nonrotating and rotating Raleigh-step and convergent-tapered-bore seals were characterized in terms of a normalized flow coefficient. The data for normalized Rayleigh-step and nonrotating tapered-bore seals were in reasonable agreement with theory, but data for the rotating tapered-bore seals were not. The tapered-bore-seal operational clearances estimated from the flow data were significantly larger than calculated. Although clearances are influenced by wear from conical to cylindrical geometry and errors in clearance corrections, the problem was isolated to the shaft temperature - rotational speed clearance correction. The geometric changes support the use of some conical convergence in any seal. Under these conditions rotation reduced the normalized flow coefficiently by nearly 10 percent.

Hendricks, R. C.↗

Identification of Cyclically Symmetric Resonance in Experimental Data for Engine Failure Analysis

Many structural components are rotationally symmetric. For a perfectly manufactured structure, the modal wave shapes are exactly sinusoidal. These structures can be excited by similarly-shaped forcing functions such as those found frequently in or near turbomachinery. Due to orthogonality, resonance occurs only when the integer wave number of the structure equals the integer wave number of the excitation as well as when the excitation frequency is close to the natural frequency of the mode. This resonance can lead to high-cycle fatigue (HCF) cracking of the structure. To help understand this phenomenon, it is desirable to determine the modal composition of the response and excitation. Once the modal composition is known, either the excitation or the structure can be modified to reduce the response and therefore prevent HCF cracking.

Medley, Steve↗

Analysis of Experimental Ice Accretion Data and Assessment of a Thermodynamic Model During Ice Crystal Icing

This paper evaluates a thermodynamic ice crystal icing model that has been previously presented to describe the possible mechanisms of icing within the core of a turbofan jet engine. The model functions between two distinct ice accretions based on a surface energy balance: freeze-dominated icing and melt-dominated icing. Freeze-dominated icing occurs when liquid water (from melted ice crystals) freezes and accretes on a surface along with the existing ice of the impinging water and ice mass. This freeze-dominated icing is characterized as having strong adhesion to the surface. The amount of ice accretion is partially dictated by a freeze fraction, which is the fraction of impinging liquid water that freezes. Melt-dominated icing occurs as unmelted ice on a surface accumulates. This melt-dominated icing is characterized by weakly bonded surface adhesion. The amount of ice accumulation is partially dictated by a melt fraction, which is the fraction of impinging ice crystals that melts. Experimentally observed ice growth rates suggest that only a small fraction of the impinging ice remains on the surface, implying a mass loss mechanism such as splash, runback, bounce, or erosion. The fraction of mass loss must be determined in conjunction with the fraction of freezing liquid water or fraction of melting ice on an icing surface for a given ice growth rate. This mass loss parameter, however, along with the freeze fraction and melt fraction, are the only experimental parameters that are currently not measured directly. Using icing growth rates from ice crystal icing experiments, a methodology that has been previously proposed is used to determine these unknown parameters. This work takes ice accretion data from tests conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Glenn Research Center in 2018 that examined the fundamental physics of ice crystal icing. This paper continues evaluation of the thermodynamic model from a previous effort, with additions to the model that account for sub-freezing temperatures that have been observed at the leading edge of the airfoil during icing. The predicted temperatures were generally in good agreement with measured temperatures. Other key findings include the total wet-bulb temperature being a good first order indicator of whether icing is freeze-dominated (sub-freezing values) or melt-dominated (above freezing). Maximum sticking efficiency values, the fraction of impinging mass that adheres to a surface, was calculated to be about 0.2, and retained this maximum value for a range of melt ratios (0.3 to 0.65 and possibly higher), which is defined as the ratio of liquid water content to total water content. Higher air velocities reduced the maximum sticking efficiency and shifted the icing regime to higher melt ratio values. Finally, the leading edge ice accretion angle was found to be related to ice growth (lower growth rates for smaller angles) and melt ratio (smaller melt ratios resulted in smaller angles, likely due to erosion effects).

Ice-Crystal Icing↗

Data analysis and noise prediction for the QF-1B experimental fan stage

The results of a fan noise data analysis and prediction effort using experimental data obtained from tests on the QF-1B research fan are described. Surface pressure measurements were made with flush mounted sensors installed on selected rotor blades and stator vanes and noise measurements were made by microphones located at the far field. Power spectral density analysis, time history studies, and calculation of coherence functions were made. The emphasis of these studies was on the characteristics of tones in the spectra. The amplitude behavior of spectral tones was found to have a large, often predominant, random component, suggesting that turbulent processes play an important role in the generation of tonal as well as broadband noise. Inputs from the data analysis were used in a prediction method which assumes that acoustic dipoles, produced by unsteady blade and van forces, are the important source of fan noise.

Bliss, D. B.↗

Physical discovery in representation learning via conditioning on prior knowledge

Recent advances in electron, scanning probe, optical, and chemical imaging and spectroscopy yield bespoke data sets containing the information of structure and functionality of complex systems. In many cases, the resulting data sets are underpinned by low-dimensional simple representations encoding the factors of variability within the data. The representation learning methods seek to discover these factors of variability, ideally further connecting them with relevant physical mechanisms. However, generally, the task of identifying the latent variables corresponding to actual physical mechanisms is extremely complex. Here, we present an empirical study of an approach based on conditioning the data on the known (continuous) physical parameters and systematically compare it with the previously introduced approach based on the invariant variational autoencoders. The conditional variational autoencoder (cVAE) approach does not rely on the existence of the invariant transforms and hence allows for much greater flexibility and applicability. Interestingly, cVAE allows for limited extrapolation outside of the original domain of the conditional variable. However, this extrapolation is limited compared to the cases when true physical mechanisms are known, and the physical factor of variability can be disentangled in full. We further show that introducing the known conditioning results in the simplification of the latent distribution if the conditioning vector is correlated with the factor of variability in the data, thus allowing us to separate relevant physical factors. We initially demonstrate this approach using 1D and 2D examples on a synthetic data set and then extend it to the analysis of experimental data on ferroelectric domain dynamics visualized via piezoresponse force microscopy.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Comparison of Experimental Data and Computations Fluid Dynamics Analysis for a Three Dimensional Linear Plug Nozzle

A three dimensional linear plug nozzle of area ratio 12.79 was designed by EADS Space Transportation (former Astrium Space Infrastructure). The nozzle was tested within the German National Technology Program 'LION' in a cold air wind tunnel by TU Dresden. The experimental hardware and test conditions are described. Experimental data was obtained for the nozzle without plug side wall fences at a nozzle pressure ratio of 116 and then with plug side wall fences at NPR 110. Schlieren images were recorded and axial profiles of plug wall static pressures were measured at several spanwise locations and on the plug base. Detailed CFD analysis was performed for these nozzle configurations at NPR 116 by NASA MSFC. The CFD exhibits good agreement with the experimental data. A detailed comparison of the CFD results and the experimental plug wall pressure data are given. Comparisons are made for both the without and with plug side wall fence configurations. Numerical results for density gradient are compared to experimental Schlieren images. Experimental nozzle thrust efficiencies are calculated based on the CFD results. The CFD results are used to illustrate the plug nozzle fluid dynamics. The effect of the plug side wall is emphasized.

Ruf, J. H.↗