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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Excitons in fractionally filled moiré superlattices

Long-range Coulomb forces give rise to correlated insulating states when charge particles populate a moiré superlattice at certain fractional filling factors. Such behavior is characterized by a broken translation symmetry wherein particles spontaneously form a Wigner crystal. Here, focusing on the experimental findings of Xu et al. [Nature (London) 587, 214 (2020)], we present a theory that captures the correlated insulating state of a fractionally filled moiré superlattice through the energy shift and change in oscillator strength of the exciton absorption resonance. The theory shows that the experimental findings can only be supported if the electrons reside in a charge-ordered state (i.e., electrons are not randomly distributed among the sites of the moiré superlattice). Furthermore, we explain why the energy shifts of exciton resonances are qualitatively different in cases where the superlattice is nearly empty compared with a superlattice whose sites are doubly occupied.

excitons↗
DOE OSTI2025

Coordination of Energy Storage and Distributed Generation for Voltage Control and Peak-valley Filling

The increasing penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) in distribution network (DN) poses challenges on voltage control. In addition, the growing integration of DERs also reshapes the traditional load profile. To comprehensively address the voltage control and peak-valley filling in DN, this paper proposes a model predictive control (MPC) based optimization framework. The proposed method can achieve coordinated voltage control and peak-valley filling by adjusting the reactive power output from distributed generations (DGs) and the charging/discharging of energy storage systems (ESS). The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated by simulations on a modified IEEE-123 bus system.

Zhang, Zhengfa [University of Tennessee, Knoxville↗
DOE OSTI2020

High Voltage Surge Protection by a Varistor-Filled Air Gap

The electric discharge across a varistor granule filled air gap under a fast-rising voltage pulse was investigated for surge protection applications. The effects of temperature and pressure on the arc and the electrical conduction were analyzed by the characteristic changes in voltage waveforms triggered by a fast-rising high voltage pulse. In addition to the gap size, experimental results show that competing mechanisms among arc conduction, conduction through the varistor granule network, thermionic emission from Joule heating at granule-to-granule contact points, and the magnitude of the switching voltage dictate the maximum surge protection voltage for the filled air gap. Experimental evidence indicated that accumulated degradation was created at small contact points between varistor granules by repetitive assaults from longer duration, high voltage pulses. The uniqueness of using varistor over other dielectric granules in an air gap for surge protection is identified and discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

S AP F LOWER : an automated tool for sap flow data preprocessing, gap-filling, and analysis using deep learning

Sap flow, a critical process in plant water use and ecosystem water cycles, is often measured using thermal dissipation probes (TDP) due to their ease of installation and continuous data collection. However, sap flow data frequently include noise, outliers, and gaps, creating challenges for analysis and requiring substantial manual processing. We developed S AP F LOWER , a tool that automates data preprocessing, model training, gap-filling, sapwood area scaling and modeling, and water use analysis. It integrates autocleaning, machine learning and deep learning models (e.g. random forest, Gaussian process regression, long short-term memory (LSTM), bidirectional LSTM (BiLSTM)), and efficient workflows to process sap flow data. S AP F LOWER can remove over 90% of noisy data while preserving legitimate variations and achieve high accuracy in gap-filling based on user-determined parameters. Random forest, LSTM, and BiLSTM models reduced root mean square error to 10% or less for long-term gaps. Model training and prediction can be performed efficiently within seconds. S AP F LOWER significantly enhances the efficiency and accessibility of TDP data analysis by automating complex tasks, enabling researchers without programming expertise to employ advanced techniques. Future improvements will focus on species-specific corrections for TDP and support for additional measurement methods. S AP F LOWER is openly available on GitHub (https://github.com/JiaxinWang123/SapFlower) and Zenodo (doi: 10.5281/zenodo.13665919).

ecosystem water balance↗
DOE OSTI2021

Rocking response of liquid-filled cylindrical tanks

The hydrodynamic response of liquid-filled storage tanks subjected to translational earthquake shaking has been the focus of studies for more than 75 years. In service, tanks experience six components of seismic input, with rocking due to support flexibility and/or rotational components of ground motion. Published theory for predicting hydrodynamic responses in rigid cylindrical tanks due to rotational seismic input is examined. Analytical solutions for pressure in the fluid and on the tank wall, and base moment are modified to account for the effects of angular displacements at the base. A finite element model of a water-filled cylindrical tank using the Arbitrary Lagrangian and Eulerian (ALE) solver in LS-DYNA is used to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed expressions for three base rocking motions. Results from the modified analytical solutions and the finite element model are in excellent agreement.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Nonlinear post-compression to sub-20 fs using a single-stage multipass cell filled with ambient air

Noble gas-filled multipass cells have proven to be very effective in compressing high-energy, hundreds-of-femtoseconds pulses down to tens of femtoseconds. Molecular gases can be an attractive alternative to noble gases since they provide additional Raman nonlinearities that can be much stronger than the electronic Kerr nonlinearity and can therefore enable more spectral broadening and shorter compressed pulses. Air at atmospheric pressure offers molecular gases in their simplest format, with both easy access and no costs for implementing a gas chamber. Here we demonstrate a single-stage, air-filled multipass cell that spectrally broadens 145- μ J, 185-fs pulses with >90% throughput, with a small fraction of the output compressed to sub-20 fs using a prism-pair compressor. The multipass cell uses standard broadband mirrors without dispersion engineering and ambient air as the nonlinear medium, making it the simplest and most cost-effective solution for generating few-cycle femtosecond pulses.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Gap-filled meteorological data (2011-2020) and modeled potential evapotranspiration data from the KCOMTCRE2 WeatherUnderground weather station, from the East River Watershed, Colorado

This dataset is a gap-filled meteorological dataset (years 2011-2020) that includes modeled potential evapotranspiration from a station near the pumphouse on the East River (KCOMTCRE2 WeatherUnderground ) near the top of the ridge at the Pumphouse PLM wells. These datasets are useful as model inputs. The KOMTCRE2 station is located on Mt. Crested Butte in Colorado. More information can be found at: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCOMTCRE2/table/2020-12-7/2020-12-7/daily. The purpose of this dataset is to use as input to hydrological and flow-reactive transport models as meteorological forcing. One attached file includes metadata files with definitions for all variables and units. Subsequent files include the same time series dataset, but aggregated and gap-filled at different time-stamp intervals. These include 5 minute time-series, 15 minute time-series, 30 minute time-series, 1 hour time-series, daily time-series, and hourly and daily modeled evapotranspiration.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

15-minute Parker River gap-filled tide height and salinity data, PIE LTER, Plum Island Sound, MA (2014–2023), for ELM PFLOTRAN modeling

This dataset contains 15-minute tide height and salinity data from the Typha site along the Parker River, part of the Plum Island Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research (PIE LTER) site in Plum Island Sound, Massachusetts (MA) 2014-2023. Tide height (in NAVD88) was compiled from measurements conducted at the mouth of Plum Island Sound and corrected for time lags. Gap-filling of missing periods were done by fitting tidal constituents to the time series. Salinity was measured (and is stored on ESS DIVE ) in 2022 and 2023 using HOBO U24-002 conductivity loggers. River discharge is the most important control on tidal river water salinity at the location (Vallino & Hopkinson, 1998). An artificial neural network was trained to predict river water salinity at the location using Parker River discharge (USGS station 01101000, Parker River at Byfield, MA) and gap-filled salinity observations from a long-term monitoring station ca. 3km downstream from the Typha site (LTER station ‘Middle Road’) as input variables to create continuous time series information. The data set was used in the spin up and simulations of a land surface model coupled to a biogeochemical reaction network (ELM PFLOTRAN) assessing impacts of hydrology and salinity input on methane fluxes in 2022 and 2023 (Sulman et al., 2024). Metadata files ELMPFLOTRAN_tide_salinity_dd.csv and ELMPFLOTRAN_tide_salinity_flmd.csv provide details on site location, data variables, and QA/QC methods .

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Evaluation of the Barracuda Software Package for Simulating Bubble Motion in Vibrating Liquid-Filled Containers

The commercial software package Barracuda, developed by CPFD Software for simulating particle-laden fluid flows, is evaluated as a means to simulate the motion of bubbles in vibrating liquid-filled containers. Demonstration simulations of bubbles rising due to buoyancy forces in a cylinder filled with silicone oil and angled at 0, 30, 45, and 60 degrees from the vertical were performed by CPFD Software. The results of these simulations are discussed, and the capabilities of Barracuda for simulating bubble motion are assessed. It was determined that at present Barracuda does not meet the needs of the desired application. Further developments that would enable its use for this application are highlighted.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Conjugate Heat Transfer Modeling of Salt-Filled Fuel Pins for Stable Salt Reactor Safety Analysis

The Stable Salt Reactor (SSR) combines the proven structural design of light water reactor fuel assemblies with the inherent safety and fuel-cycle advantages of molten salt technology. In its fast reactor configuration, the SSR utilizes recycled nuclear waste as fuel, sealed within narrow salt-filled fuel pins and cooled by a surrounding liquid salt coolant. Reliable transfer of heat from the molten fuel salt through the cladding to the external coolant is essential for both reactor safety and performance. This work investigates conjugate heat transfer (CHT) in the SSR’s salt-filled fuel pins using NekRS, a high-fidelity spectral element computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver. The analyses capture internal natural convection within the molten fuel salt and external forced convection in the coolant, under steady-state and transient operating conditions. Parametric studies evaluate how variations in reactor power and coolant flow rate influence heat transfer distributions and system response. The high-fidelity CFD results are time-averaged and post-processed for direct comparison with moderate-fidelity Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) models, and for the development of reduced-order models within the SAM system code. These validated models support fast-running safety analyses of normal and off-normal transients, improving predictive capability for key safety margins. By integrating advanced CFD with system-level safety tools, this study strengthens the modeling framework for SSR design, reduces uncertainty in molten salt CHT simulations, and accelerates the engineering and licensing of next-generation nuclear reactors.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Oil Filled Flow Shield Performance Evaluation

When hydrophones are used to monitor underwater sound in areas with currents, like rivers or tidal channels, flow noise caused by turbulent flow past a hydrophone can mask low frequency acoustic signals of interest. Flow shields can reduce the impacts of flow noise on hydrophone data. A prior study conducted by PNNL compared three flow shield designs and determined that an oil-filled urethane shield performed better than other designs and was likely sufficiently robust for long-duration marine deployments. However, that study did not assess the high frequency performance of the oil-filled flow shield or conduct long-duration field testing. Further, the prototype flow shield was difficult to assemble. This report details the results of design refinement and testing to address these gaps. Design refinements resulted in a straightforward and repeatable assembly method. Field testing indicated that the flow shields reduce flow noise by over 20 dB below 50 Hz at flow speeds greater than 0.5 m/s and are proven to survive deployments more than 6 months long. Calibration of the same hydrophone with and without a flow shield installed indicated that the shields attenuate propagating sound by no more than 2 dB at frequencies below 30 kHz.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing of Wood and Lignocellulosic Filled Composites

Wood and lignocellulosic-based material components are explored in this review as functional additives and reinforcements in composites for extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing. The motivation for using these sustainable alternatives in 3D printing includes enhancing material properties of the resulting printed parts, while providing a green alternative to carbon or glass filled polymer matrices, all at reduced material costs. Previous review articles on this topic have focused only on introducing the use of natural fillers with material extrusion AM and discussion of their subsequent material properties. This review not only discusses the present state of materials extrusion AM using natural filler-based composites but will also fill in the knowledge gap regarding state-of-the-art applications of these materials. Emphasis will also be placed on addressing the challenges associated with 3D printing using these materials, including use with large-scale manufacturing, while providing insight to overcome these issues in the future.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Detection and quantification of proppant for optimized fracture treatment design in in-fill and new wells

A system and method for detecting and quantifying proppant for optimized fracture treatment design in in-fill and new wells. Proppant is isolated from drilling fluids and then analyzed to determine whether a formation within the well has been properly stimulated based on the analysis. Placement of an in-fill well may be based upon the determination of whether the well has been properly stimulated.

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Rapid fill compressed gas storage tank

A method for rapidly filling a compressed gas storage tank with a moderated temperature rise using a Coanda nozzle to inject the feed gas into the tank and using the Coanda nozzle to direct the feed gas along the inner surface of the storage tank; entraining the stored gas with the feed gas that is flowing under the influence of the Coanda effect to flow along the inner surface of the gas storage tank; and transferring heat from the flowing gas to the external walls of the tank. Also, a compressed gas storage tank for rapid filling with a moderated temperature rise comprising: a gas storage tank and a Coanda nozzle capable of directing feed gas that is injected into the gas storage tank along the inner surface of the gas storage tank.

Jayaraman, Ambalavanan↗
DOE OSTI2022

Impact of Fill Factor on Electro-slag Remelting Operations

Vacuum induction melting (VIM), electro-slag remelting (ESR) and vacuum arc remelting (VAR) are all techniques used to make high quality ingots of complex chemistries. In some cases, all three are used, e.g., alloys for aerospace applications and increasingly those for fossil power applications under extreme conditions. Electroslag remelting operation is a complicated endeavor, dependent upon several factors including operating current, voltage, and geometry. A research scale 440 lb capacity ESR furnace was used to melt low carbon steel (1018 steel) electrodes of different diameters using various melt rates. This was used to assess melt parameters and sidewall and other quality aspects of the product ingots. These observations were compared to results from ESR modeling using MeltFlow-ESR. It was found that fill factor had a significant impact on operating voltage while current had a significant impact on melt rate. Ultimately, a combination of fill factor and power gave the best prediction of melt rate during steady state.

Jablonski, Paul↗
DOE OSTI2022

Gas-filled radio-frequency beam detector

A system for monitoring intensity of a particle beam can include one or more radio-frequency (RF) detectors coupled to a signal analyzer that can be placed outside the radiation field of the particle beam. Each RF detector can include a gas-filled RF cavity coupled to one or more gas-filled waveguides. The signal analyzer can self-calibrate before the particle beam is turned on for determining one or more absolute intensities of the particle beam when the particle beam is present.

Yonehara, Katsuya↗
DOE OSTI2023

Method to fill heat pipe arrays

A fill tool system that fills, seals, and inspects a heat pipe array, which includes one or more heat pipes with heat pipe working fluid.

Reid, Robert S.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Understanding Recombination Pathways of CdSeTe/CdTe Devices Using Temperature Dependence of Fill Factor

Understanding the temperature dependence of photovoltaic parameters is critical for identifying performance limiting mechanisms in CdTe-based solar cells. In this study, we investigate the temperature dependence of fill factor (FF(T)) in CdSeTe/CdTe solar cells using a combination of experimental current density-voltage (JV) measurements and numerical simulations. The measured FF(T) exhibits a nonlinear response with temperature, peaking at moderate temperature values (10–30°C). Through numerical modeling, we reveal that this peaking behavior in FF(T) arises when the dominant recombination mechanism transitions from bulk to interface with increasing temperature. This transition is primarily driven by low hole mobility (0.6–1.2 cm2/V·s), while electron mobility, interface recombination velocities, and carrier lifetime also contribute to the effect. Our findings demonstrate that FF(T) analysis is a promising diagnostic tool for distinguishing recombination pathways and guiding the optimization of thin-film CdTe solar cells under real-world conditions.

CdTe photovoltaics↗