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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

Intersection-distribution-based remapping between arbitrary meshes for staggered multi-material arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian hydrodynamics

In this paper, we present a new intersection-distribution-based remapping method between arbitrary polygonal meshes for indirect staggered multi-material arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian hydrodynamics. All cell-centered material quantities are conservatively remapped using intersections between the Lagrangian (old, source) mesh and the rezoned (new, target) mesh. The new nodal masses are obtained by conservative distribution of all material masses in each new cell to the cell's corners and then collecting those corner masses at new nodes. This distribution is done using a local constrained optimization approach for each cell in the new mesh. In order to remap nodal momentum we first define cell-centered momentum for each cell in the old mesh, conservatively remap this to the new mesh and then conservatively distribute the new zonal momentum to each cell's bounding nodes, again using local constrained optimization. Our method also conserves total energy by applying a new nodal kinetic energy correction that relies on a process similar to that used for remapping nodal mass and momentum. Cell-centered kinetic energy is computed, conservatively remapped and then distributed to nodes. The discrepancy between this conservatively remapped and actual nodal kinetic energy is then conservatively distributed to the internal energies of the materials in the cells surrounding each node. Unlike conventional cell-based corrections of this type, this new nodal kinetic energy correction has not been observed to drive material internal energy negative in any of our testing. Unlike flux based remapping, our new intersection-distribution method can be applied to remapping between source and target meshes that are arbitrarily different, which provides superior flexibility in the rezoning strategy. Our method is accurate, essentially conservative and essentially bounds preserving.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

The arbitrary-order virtual element method for linear elastodynamics models. Convergence, stability and dispersion-dissipation analysis.

We design the conforming virtual element method for the numerical approximation of the two dimensional elastodynamics problem. We prove stability and convergence of the semi-discrete approximation and derive optimal error estimates under $\textit{h}$-refinement in both the energy and the $L^2$ norms, and optimal error estimates under $\textit{p}$-refinement in the energy norm. The performance of the proposed virtual element method is assessed on a set of different computational meshes, including non-convex cells up to order four in the h-refinement setting. Exponential convergence is also experimentally observed under p-refinement. Finally, we present a dispersion-dissipation analysis for both the semi-discrete and fully-discrete schemes, showing that polygonal meshes behave as classical simplicial/quadrilateral grids in terms of dispersion-dissipation properties.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Nanoscale Mapping and Defect-Assisted Manipulation of Surface Plasmon Resonances in 2D Bi 2 Te 3 /Sb 2 Te 3 In-Plane Heterostructures

Here, the Bi 2 Te 3 /Sb 2 Te 3 in-plane heterostructure is reported as a low-dimensional tunable chalcogenide well suited as plasmonic building block for the visible-UV spectral range. Electron-driven plasmon excitations of low-dimensional Bi 2 Te 3 /Sb 2 Te 3 are investigated by monochromated electron energy loss spectroscopy spectrum imaging. To resolve the nanoscale spatial distribution of various local plasmonic resonances, singular value decomposition is used to disentangle the spectral data and identify the individual spectral contributions of various corner, edge, and face modes. Furthermore, defect-plasmon interactions are investigated both for nanoscale intrinsic and thermally induced extrinsic polygonal defects (in situ sublimation). Signature of defect-induced red shift ranging from a several hundreds of millielectronvolts to a few electronvolts, broadening of various plasmon response, together with selective enhancement and significant variations in their intensity are detected. This study highlights the presence of a heterointerface and identifies defects as physical tuning pathways to modulate the plasmonic response over a broad spectral range. Finally, the experimental observations are compared qualitatively and validated with numerical simulations using the electron-driven discrete dipole approximation. Low-dimensional Bi 2 Te 3 /Sb 2 Te 3 as a less explored plasmonic system holds great promises as emerging platform for integrated plasmonics. Furthermore, introducing controlled structural defects can open the door for nanoengineering of plasmonic properties in such systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

An extended numerical manifold method for unsaturated soil-water interaction analysis at micro-scale

To investigate unsaturated soil-water interaction at micro-scale, this work extends the numerical manifold method (NMM) by incorporating a soil-water coupling model considering specific capillary water distribution and capillary force calculation. The soil skeleton is constructed by a soil skeleton generation algorithm with random polygons. To more realistically capture the interaction between soil grains and capillary water, a capillary mechanics-based geometric algorithm is proposed to iteratively calculate the capillary water distribution. The capillary forces corresponding to the capillary water distribution are calculated based on the Young-Laplace equation. The proposed capillary water solving framework is first verified by reproducing the soil-water characteristic curve and the capillary water distribution of an ideal contact-disk model against analytical solutions. To further validate the ability of the capillary water solving framework to predict hydraulic behavior of the real soil, a laboratory test on the Toyoura sand is reproduced numerically. Then an ideal direct shear test is performed to further validate the two-way soil-water coupling procedure, in which a comparison between the numerical and analytical results regarding the shear strength and matric suction is presented. Finally, microscopic hydraulic and compression tests are conducted on two soil specimens with the same porosity and mean grain diameter but different uniformity coefficients. The results elucidate that the extended method is a potential tool to explore unsaturated soil behaviors at micro-scale.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

The arbitrary‐order virtual element method for linear elastodynamics models: convergence, stability and dispersion‐dissipation analysis

Abstract We design the conforming virtual element method for the numerical approximation of the two‐dimensional elastodynamics problem. We prove stability and convergence of the semidiscrete approximation and derive optimal error estimates under h ‐ and p ‐refinement in both the energy and the L 2 norms. The performance of the proposed virtual element method is assessed on a set of different computational meshes, including nonconvex cells up to order four in the h ‐refinement setting. Exponential convergence is also experimentally observed under p ‐refinement. Finally, we present a dispersion‐dissipation analysis for both the semidiscrete and fully discrete schemes, showing that polygonal meshes behave as classical simplicial/quadrilateral grids in terms of dispersion‐dissipation properties.

Antonietti, Paola F.↗

Enhancement of Magneto‐Mechanical Actuation of Micropillar Arrays by Anisotropic Stress Distribution

Abstract Magnetically active shape‐reconfigurable microarrays undergo programmed actuation according to the arrangement of magnetic dipoles within the structures, achieving complex twisting and bending deformations. Cylindrical micropillars have been widely used to date, whose circular cross‐sections lead to identical actuation regardless of the actuating direction. In this study, micropillars with triangular or rectangular cross‐sections are designed and fabricated to introduce preferential actuation directions and explore the limits of their actuation. Using such structures, controlled liquid wetting is demonstrated on micropillar surfaces. Liquid droplets pinned on magnetic micropillar arrays undergo directional spreading when the pillars are actuated as depinning of the droplets is enabled only in certain directions. The enhanced deformation due to direction dependent magneto‐mechanical actuation suggests that micropillar arrays can be fundamentally tailored to possess application specific responses and opens up opportunities to exploit more complex designs such as micropillars with polygonal cross sections. Such tunable wetting of liquids on microarray surfaces has potential to improve printing technologies via contactless reconfiguration of stamp geometry by magnetic field manipulation.

Park, Jeong Eun↗

Nonperturbative negative geometries: amplitudes at strong coupling and the amplituhedron

The amplituhedron determines scattering amplitudes in planar N = 4 super Yang-Mills by a single “positive geometry” in the space of kinematic and loop variables. We study a closely related definition of the amplituhedron for the simplest case of four-particle scattering, given as a sum over complementary “negative geometries”, which provides a natural geometric understanding of the exponentiation of infrared (IR) divergences, as well as a new geometric definition of an IR finite observable F(g, z) — dually interpreted as the expectation value of the null polygonal Wilson loop with a single Lagrangian insertion — which is directly determined by these negative geometries. This provides a long-sought direct link between canonical forms for positive (negative) geometries, and a completely IR finite post-loop-integration observable depending on a single kinematical variable z, from which the cusp anomalous dimension Γ cusp (g) can also be straightforwardly obtained. We study an especially simple class of negative geometries at all loop orders, associated with a “tree” structure in the negativity conditions, for which the contributions to F(g, z) and Γ cusp can easily be determined by an interesting non-linear differential equation immediately following from the combinatorics of negative geometries. This lets us compute these “tree” contributions to F(g, z) and Γ cusp for all values of the ‘t Hooft coupling. The result for Γ cusp remarkably shares all main qualitative characteristics of the known exact results obtained using integrability.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Tropical amplitudes for colored Lagrangians

Recently a new formulation for scattering amplitudes in Tr(Φ 3 ) theory has been given based on simple combinatorial ideas in the space of kinematic data. This allows all-loop integrated amplitudes to be expressed as “curve integrals” defined using tropical building blocks — the “headlight functions”. This paper shows how the formulation extends to the amplitudes of more general Lagrangians. We will present a number of different ways of introducing tropical “numerator functions” that allow us to describe general Lagrangian interactions. The simplest family of these “tropical numerators” computes the amplitudes of interesting Lagrangians with infinitely many interactions. We also describe methods for tropically formulating the amplitudes for general Lagrangians. One uses a variant of “Wick contraction” to glue together numerator factors for general interaction vertices. Another uses a natural characterization of polygons on surfaces to give a novel combinatorial description of all possible diagrams associated with arbitrary valence interactions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Two-loop MHV form factors from the periodic Wilson loop

We discuss how to compute maximal-helicity-violating (MHV) form factors for the chiral part of the stress-tensor supermultiplet from periodic light-like polygon Wilson loops in planar $\mathcal{N}$ = 4 super Yang-Mills theory beyond the one-loop level. We show that the periodicity imposes path ordering on points on different edges, which explains the appearance of square roots coming from non-planar Feynman diagrams. Taking such diagrams into account, we provide the integrand of the two-loop n-particle MHV form factor, compute all diagrams, prove the cancellation of divergences and finally compute the two-loop 5-particle and 6-particle form factors as examples.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Circles and triangles, the NLSM and Tr(Φ 3 )

A surprising connection has recently been made between the amplitudes for Tr(Φ 3 ) theory and the non-linear sigma model (NLSM). A simple shift of kinematic variables naturally suggested by the associahedron/stringy representation of Tr(Φ 3 ) theory yields pion amplitudes at all loops. In this note we provide an elementary motivation and proof for this link going in the opposite direction, starting from the non-linear sigma model and discovering its formulation as a sum over triangulations of surfaces with simple numerator factors. This uses an ancient connection between “circles” and “triangles”, interpreting the equation y = $\sqrt{1 – x^2}$ both as parametrizing points a circle as well as generating the number of triangulations of polygons. A further simplification of the numerator factors exposes them as arising from the kinematically shifted Tr(Φ3) theory, and gives rise to novel tropical representations of NLSM amplitudes. The connection to Tr(Φ 3 ) theory defines a natural notion of “surface-soft limit” intrinsic to curves on surfaces. Remarkably, with this definition, the soft limit of pion amplitudes vanishes directly at the level of the integrand, via obvious pairwise cancellations. We also give simple, explicit expressions for the multi-soft factors for tree and loop-level integrands in the limit as any number of pions are taken “surface-soft”.

Scattering Amplitudes↗

Cluster bootstrap for cosmological correlators

We show that cosmological wavefunction coefficients associated with n-site chain and loop graphs for a cubic scalar theory in de Sitter spacetime have symbol alphabets given by subsets of A 2n−2 and B 2n−1 cluster variables, respectively, and satisfy the associated cluster adjacency properties. The key step in proving this is identifying a precise connection between graph “tubings” that appear in the kinematic flow equation and polygon “triangulations” that encode the combinatorics of cluster compatibility. Our results imply that cosmological wavefunction coefficients in a general power-law FRW cosmology satisfy cluster adjacency to all orders in the ϵ expansion around the de Sitter limit. We use this information as bootstrap input to show that de Sitter symbols for n ≤ 4 are uniquely determined by simple physical constraints.

differential and algebraic geometry↗

Cosmohedra

It has been a long-standing challenge to find a geometric object underlying the cosmological wavefunction for Tr(ϕ 3 ) theory, generalizing associahedra and surfacehedra for scattering amplitudes. In this note, we describe a new class of polytopes — “cosmohedra” — that provide a natural solution to this problem. The faces of associahedra capture the combinatorics of non-overlapping chords of the momentum polygon, reflecting all partial factorizations of amplitudes. Cosmohedra are far richer — instead of non-overlapping chords, their faces capture the “russian doll” structure of non-overlapping subpolygons that determine the wavefunction. We show that cosmohedra are intimately related to associahedra, obtained by “blowing up” faces of the associahedron in a simple way. We give a full combinatorial description of cosmohedron faces and their factorization properties, and provide an explicit realization in terms of facet inequalities that further “shave” the facet inequalities of the associahedron. We also discuss a novel way for computing the wavefunction from cosmohedron geometry that extends the usual connection with polytope canonical forms. We illustrate cosmohedra with examples at tree-level and one loop; the close connection to surfacehedra suggests the generalization to all loop orders. Moving beyond the wavefunction, we briefly describe “cosmological correlahedra” for full correlators, which are one higher-dimensional polytopes, interpolating between associahedra and cosmohedra on opposite facets in an extra direction associated with the total energy. We speculate on how the existence of cosmohedra might suggest a “stringy” formulation for the cosmological wavefunction/correlators, generalizing the way in which the Minkowski sum decomposition of associahedra naturally extend particle to string amplitudes.

Scattering Amplitudes↗

Planar slicing for nonextrusion AM processes

Extrusion-based AM processes, including material extrusion and directed energy deposition, construct objects by continuously depositing a relatively small amount of molten feedstock to a specific location. Nonextrusion AM processes, on the other hand, tend to form each layer by linearly or areally projecting either energy onto a vat of photocurable liquid or a binding agent into a bed of loose powder. Such systems vary significantly from extrusion-based AM processes but do share similarities. The general approach to path planning is the same, but nonextrusion processes typically favor the use of bitmap representations, instead of polygons, for pathing computation and do not use a g-code file to command the printer. In this chapter, a high-level discussion of these differences will be covered.

Macdonald, Eric↗

Material properties and mechanical behaviour of functionally graded steel produced by wire-arc additive manufacturing

Metal Big Area Additive Manufacturing is an additive manufacturing technique based on Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) with the option to use many shielding gases, and materials. The system is equipped with a dual torch design allowing for printing different materials; in our study, AISI 410 stainless steel and AWS ER70S-6 mild steel are both printed in the same component. Different print strategies were designed to highlight changes in material and mechanical properties. Deformation behaviour of a materials’ interface was analysed by two-dimensional digital image correlation of uniaxial tensile specimens in displacement-controlled tests. Instances of non-homogeneous local strains adjacent to the interface are observed, as well as variability in mechanical behaviour and microstructure based on location within the print. Optical and electron microscopy are used to evaluate three microstructural zones in a 5 mm range of the interface between mild steel and stainless steel. Areas far from the interface produced polygonal ferrite and pearlite, while areas close to the interface produced acicular ferrite and bainite. Chromium redistribution profiles are dependent on the print strategy used, as shown by scanning electron microscopy with Energy dispersive spectroscopy. Evidence produced via electron backscatter diffraction is shown to support the argument that transformation induced plasticity is not the cause for the non-homogeneous deformation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Variable resolution Poisson-disk sampling for meshing discrete fracture networks

Here, we present the near-Maximal Algorithm for Poisson-disk Sampling (nMAPS) to generate point distributions for variable resolution Delaunay triangular and tetrahedral meshes in two and three-dimensions, respectively. nMAPS consists of two principal stages. In the first stage, an initial point distribution is produced using a cell-based rejection algorithm. In the second stage, holes in the sample are detected using an efficient background grid and filled in to obtain a near-maximal covering. Extensive testing shows that nMAPS generates a variable resolution mesh in linear run time with the number of accepted points. We demonstrate nMAPS capabilities by meshing three-dimensional discrete fracture networks (DFN) and the surrounding volume. The discretized boundaries of the fractures, which are represented as planar polygons, are used as the seed of 2D-nMAPS to produce a conforming Delaunay triangulation. The combined mesh of the DFN is used as the seed for 3D-nMAPS, which produces conforming Delaunay tetrahedra surrounding the network. Under a set of conditions that naturally arise in maximal Poisson-disk samples and are satisfied by nMAPS, the two-dimensional Delaunay triangulations are guaranteed to only have well-behaved triangular faces. While nMAPS does not provide triangulation quality bounds in more than two dimensions, we found that low-quality tetrahedra in 3D are infrequent, can be readily detected and removed, and a high-quality balanced mesh is produced.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Scaled boundary cubature scheme for numerical integration over planar regions with affine and curved boundaries

This paper introduces the scaled boundary cubature (SBC) scheme for accurate and efficient integration of functions over polygons and two-dimensional regions bounded by parametric curves. Over two-dimensional domains, the SBC method reduces integration over a region bounded by m curves to integration over m regions (referred to as curved triangular regions), where each region is bounded by two line segments and a curve. With proper (counterclockwise) orientation of the boundary curves, the scheme is applicable to convex and nonconvex domains. Additionally, for star-convex domains, a tensor-product cubature rule with positive weights and integration points in the interior of the domain is obtained. If the integrand is homogeneous, we show that this new method reduces to the homogeneous numerical integration scheme; however, the SBC scheme is more versatile since it is equally applicable to both homogeneous and non-homogeneous functions. This paper also introduces several methods for smoothing integrands with point singularities and near-singularities. When these methods are used, highly efficient integration of weakly singular functions is realized. Finally, the SBC method is applied to a number of benchmark problems, which reveal its broad applicability and superior performance (in terms of time to generate a rule and accuracy per cubature point) when compared to existing methods for integration.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Geothermal Play Fairway Analysis, Part 2: GIS methodology

Play Fairway Analysis (PFA) in geothermal exploration originates from a systematic methodology developed within the petroleum industry and is based on a geologic, geophysical, and hydrologic framework of identified geothermal systems. We tailored this methodology to study the geothermal resource potential of the Snake River Plain and surrounding region, but it can be adapted to other geothermal resource settings. We adapted the PFA approach to geothermal resource exploration by cataloging the critical elements controlling exploitable hydrothermal systems, establishing risk matrices that evaluate these elements in terms of both probability of success and level of knowledge, and building a code-based ‘processing model’ to process results. A geographic information system was used to compile a range of different data types, which we refer to as elements (e.g., faults, vents, heat flow, etc.), with distinct characteristics and measures of confidence. Discontinuous discrete data (points, lines, or polygons) for each element were transformed into continuous interpretive 2D grid surfaces called evidence layers. Because different data types have varying uncertainties, most evidence layers have an accompanying confidence layer which reflects spatial variations in these uncertainties. Risk layers, as defined here, are the product of evidence and confidence layers, and are the building blocks used to construct Common Risk Segment (CRS) maps for heat, permeability, and seal, using a weighted sum for permeability and heat, but a different approach with seal. CRS maps quantify the variable risk associated with each of these critical components. In a final step, the three CRS maps were combined into a Composite Common Risk Segment (CCRS) map, using a modified weighted sum, for results that reveal favorable areas for geothermal exploration. Additional maps are also presented that do not mix contributions from evidence and confidence (to allow an isolated view of evidence and confidence), as well as maps that calculate favorability using the product of components instead of a weighted sum (to highlight where all components are present). Our approach helped to identify areas of high geothermal favorability in the western and central Snake River Plain during the first phase of study and helped identify more precise local drilling targets during the second phase of work. By identifying favorable areas, this methodology can help to reduce uncertainty in geothermal energy exploration and development.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

A cell-centered AMR-ALE framework for 3D multi-material hydrodynamics. Part I: Lagrangian and indirect Euler AMR algorithms

Many applications of physics and engineering involve wide ranges of time and spatial scales. The numerical simulation of localized small scales such as shock waves and material interfaces requires a large number of computational cells in these regions. For these applications, Lagrangian and Arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) related methods are engaging since the moving mesh feature naturally brings mesh cells on shock discontinuities and material interfaces are carefully captured. In addition, Adaptive-Mesh-Refinement (AMR) strategies aim to optimize computational resources by concentrating finer mesh cells only in areas of interest while using coarser cells elsewhere. A key but challenging AMR requirement consists in efficiently distributing the computational effort to achieve high accuracy without the prohibitive computational costs associated with uniformly fine grids. Here, in this document, the coupling of the p4est AMR library with a cell-centered Lagrangian scheme is presented with the goal to perform reliable 3D Lagrangian-AMR and indirect Euler-AMR multi-material simulations. In particular, it is shown that starting from a 3D indirect ALE code, the memory management and load balancing requirements can be delegated to an external library (here the p4est library) to unlock ALE-AMR capabilities. First, we present a strategy to transcribe the octant-based connectivity of the 3D AMR framework with that of an unstructured mesh of polygonal cells used in Lagrangian hydrodynamics. Then, we show how refinement and coarsening operations must be adapted to the particular Lagrangian framework to ensure the conservation of volume during those steps. Finally, several numerical test cases are presented that demonstrate the capabilities of the Lagrangian-AMR and indirect Euler-AMR algorithms.

3D cell-centered Lagrangian numerical scheme↗