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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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3,214 records · Page 62

Flammability Test Method for Materials Intended for Use as Fire Barriers in Crewed Habitats

In some crewed-spacecraft applications, onboard materials are intentionally selected to function as hazard control barriers to prevent powered hardware and/or ignited flammable items from igniting nearby flammable materials by acting as non-breaching, non-flammable containment (e.g., cargo transfer bags, zero gravity stowage racks, and jettison stowage bags on the International Space Station). Historically, flammability self-extinguishment testing of broad acreage or outermost layer materials alone was believed to be sufficient to verify overall flammability compliance. Though required, testing on design features such as threaded seams and zippers was not performed due to the incorrect assumption that flammability performance would not be impacted. However, recent coupon level testing of layups and configurations consisting of multiple materials have revealed that these features may be more susceptible to ignition and fire propagation than the bulk material. Additionally, configurational coupon ignition and propagation testing does not explicitly determine a material’s ability to provide protection to vulnerable flammable hardware. The need to evaluate this gap in assessing material or layup effectiveness as fire barriers between ignition sources and flammable materials led to the development of a new configuration-based fire barrier test. Test setup, relevant configurations, and test validation are discussed. The new barrier test method establishes a configuration for the test apparatus, identifies a conservative ignitor configuration, and defines pass/fail criteria. Test setup, relevant configurations, and test validation are discussed.

Susana Harper

NASA Aerospace Flight Battery Systems Program: An Update

The major objective of the NASA Aerospace Flight Battery Systems Program is to provide NASA with the policy and posture to increase and ensure the safety, performance, and reliability of batteries for space power systems. The program was initiated in 1985 to address battery problems experienced by NASA and other space battery users over the previous ten years. The original program plan was approved in May 1986 and modified in 1990 to reflect changes in the agency's approach to battery related problems that are affecting flight programs. The NASA Battery Workshop is supported by the NASA Aerospace Flight Battery Systems Program. The main objective of the discussions is to aid in defining the direction which the agency should head with respect to aerospace battery issues. Presently, primary attention in the Battery Program is being devoted to issues revolving around the future availability of nickel-cadmium batteries as a result of the proposed OSHA standards with respect to allowable cadmium levels in the workplace. The decision of whether or not to pursue the development of an advanced nickel-cadmium cell design and the qualification of vendors to produce cells for flight programs hinges on the impact of the OSHA ruling. As part of a unified Battery Program, the evaluation of a nickel-hydrogen cell design options and primary cell issues are also being pursued to provide high performance NASA Standards and space qualified state-of-the-art cells. The resolution of issues is being addressed with the full participation of the aerospace battery community.

Manzo, Michelle A.

Framework of compressive sensing and data compression for 4D-STEM

Four-dimensional Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (4D-STEM) is a powerful technique for high-resolution and high-precision materials characterization at multiple length scales, including the characterization of beam-sensitive materials. However, the field of view of 4D-STEM is relatively small, which in absence of live processing is limited by the data size required for storage. Furthermore, the rectilinear scan approach currently employed in 4D-STEM places a resolution- and signal-dependent dose limit for the study of beam sensitive materials. Improving 4D-STEM data and dose efficiency, by keeping the data size manageable while limiting the amount of electron dose, is thus critical for broader applications. Here we introduce a general method for reconstructing 4D-STEM data with subsampling in both real and reciprocal spaces at high fidelity. The approach is first tested on the subsampled datasets created from a full 4D-STEM dataset, and then demonstrated experimentally using random scan in real-space. The same reconstruction algorithm can also be used for compression of 4D-STEM datasets, leading to a large reduction (100 times or more) in data size, while retaining the fine features of 4D-STEM imaging, for crystalline samples.

4D-STEM

Twist Engineering of Anisotropic Excitonic and Optical Properties of a Two-Dimensional Magnetic Semiconductor

Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) magnetic semiconductors are a new class of quantum materials for studying the emergent physics of excitons and spins in the 2D limit. Twist engineering provides a powerful tool to manipulate the fundamental properties of 2D vdW materials. Here, in this work, we show that twist engineering of the anisotropic ferromagnetic monolayer semiconductor CrSBr leads to bilayer magnetic semiconductors with continuously tunable magnetic moment, dielectric anisotropy, exciton energy, and linear dichroism. We furthermore provide a model for exciton energy in the media with tunable anisotropy. These results advance fundamental studies of 2D vdW materials and open doors to applications to nano-optics, twistronics, and spintronics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Thin-Film Embedded Sensors for Battery Health Monitoring

Hybrid or all-electric aircraft are being developed as the next generation of aircraft to both allow new forms of aviation and decrease environmental impact. Since these types of aircraft are based on high-capacity battery technology, safe operation of these batteries becomes increasingly important. In particular, the potential for battery failure due to uncontrolled chemical reactions resulting in thermal runaway, catastrophic failure, and battery fires must be addressed in order for such battery technology to have the level of safety needed for standard aviation implementation. Efforts to ensure battery safety often involve engineering solutions that seek to contain rather than prevent such events by early detection. Such approaches increase the system weight and decrease the power per unit mass provided by the battery system. Existing methods for measuring battery parameters to determine the battery state-of-health are limited. These methods include electrical measurements of the cell current and/or voltage output as well as temperature measurements taken externally on the cell surface. Such external temperature measurements are limited in their ability to provide early warning of impending battery failure. In response, an effort to develop sensors operating internal to battery for health monitoring has been ongoing in the NASA Sensor-based Prognostics to Avoid Runaway Reactions & Catastrophic Ignition (SPARRCI) project. The basic approach associated with this sensor work is the deposition of thin film sensors on the battery separator located between the anode and cathode of the battery. These thin film sensors are then monitored to determine changes in battery parameters and health. Microfabrication techniques are employed to minimize the overall impact of the sensors on battery operation through the implementation of sensors with minimal size, weight, and power consumption. The thickness of the films, which are fabricated through physical vapor deposition (sputtering), are on the order of thousands of angstroms and can have minimal surface area. Thin film sensors for system health management have been implemented for a many decades on complex components for aerospace applications. However, the application of thin films of this type on a battery separator for internal battery monitoring applications has not previously been demonstrated to our knowledge. This paper describes the development of sensors for the internal battery monitoring through the use of thin film sensor technology. Thin metal films were successfully deposited on a battery separator polymer material with good adherence and electrical continuity. Multiple types of sensors have been deposited, as well as lead connections from the sensor to the edge of the separator material. The ability of these thin film sensors immersed in electrolyte to perform multiple types of battery parameter measurements has been demonstrated. For example, a multiparameter sensor system measured multiple properties simultaneously inside of a pouch cell over a wide temperature range. Further, real time measurement of interior temperature changes in a battery pouch cell with an integrated interior temperature sensor was demonstrated. These changes include detecting a fault in the battery (shorting) in situ with rapid response time (less than a minute) corresponding to a more limited response by a temperature sensor mounted externally. Other aspects of monitoring battery health were also explored, such as real-time measurement of simulated dendrite growth/metal deposition by sensor on separator material demonstrated. Future efforts will include improvements in the durability of the sensor structure to allow introduction of the approach into standard battery fabrication techniques. Overall, this work is a step forward in providing a method to prevent catastrophic battery failures and provide a foundation for safer, lighter, and higher energy batteries for the electric aircraft industry.

thin film battery health

High-Density Capacitive Energy Storage in Low-Dielectric-Constant Polymer PMMA/2D Mica Nanofillers Heterostructure Composite

The ubiquitous, rising demand for energy storage devices with ultra-high storage capacity and efficiency has drawn tremendous research interest in developing energy storage devices. Dielectric polymers are one of the most suitable materials used to fabricate electrostatic capacitive energy storage devices with thin-film geometry with high power density. In this work, we studied the dielectric properties, electric polarization, and energy density of PMMA/2D Mica nanocomposite capacitors where stratified 2D nanofillers are interfaced between the multiple layers of PMMA thin films using two heterostructure designs of the capacitors, PMMA/2D Mica/PMMA (PMP) and PMMA/2D Mica/PMMA/2D Mica/PMMA (PMPMP). The incorporation of a 2D Mica nanofiller in the low-dielectric-constant PMMA leads to an enhancement in the dielectric constant, with ∆ε ~ 15% and 53% for PMP and PMPMP heterostructures at room temperature. Additionally, a significant improvement in discharged energy density was measured for the PMPMP capacitor (Ud ~ 38 J/cm3 at 825 MV/m) compared to the pristine PMMA (Ud ~ 9.5 J/cm3 at 522 MV/m) and PMP capacitors (Ud ~ 19 J/cm3 at 740 MV/m). This excellent capacitive and energy storage performance of the PMMA/2D Mica heterostructure nanocomposite may inform the fabrication of thin-film, high-density energy storage capacitor devices for potential applications in various platforms.

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Kryptonate Hydrogen Detection System (Final Report)

A prototype model of a multipurpose instrument which demonstrates the applicability of the Kryptonate® technique for detecting hydrogen gas was developed. This report describes the construction of the instrument and presents a laboratory evaluation of its performance. Performance was excellent. The instrument was designed to detect hydrogen in air at concentrations of 0-3% by volume, and to detect hydrogen in nitrogen or other inert gas at concentrations of 0-10% by volume. Other detection levels (both higher and lower) could be set if required. Ultimate response times can be made of the order of 0.5 seconds. The instrument is an all solid state device operating from 120V 60 Hz power source. The instrument has been designed to enable modifications to be made with a minimum amount of difficulty.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND

Accessing bands with extended quantum metric in kagome Cs 2 Ni 3 S 4 through soft chemical processing

Flat bands that do not merely arise from weak interactions can produce exotic physical properties, such as superconductivity or correlated many-body effects. The quantum metric can differentiate whether flat bands will result in correlated physics or are merely dangling bonds. A potential avenue for achieving correlated flat bands involves leveraging geometrical constraints within specific lattice structures, such as the kagome lattice; however, materials are often more complex. In these cases, quantum geometry becomes a powerful indicator of the nature of bands with small dispersions. We present a simple, soft-chemical processing route to access a flat band with an extended quantum metric below the Fermi level. By oxidizing Ni-kagome material Cs 2 Ni 3 S 4 to CsNi 3 S 4 , we see a two orders of magnitude drop in the room temperature resistance. However, CsNi 3 S 4 is still insulating, with no evidence of a phase transition. Using experimental data, density functional theory calculations, and symmetry analysis, our results suggest the emergence of a correlated insulating state of unknown origin.

Science & Technology - Other Topics

NIAC Phase I Final Report Lunar South Pole Oxygen Pipeline (LSPOP)

The Lunar South Pole Oxygen Pipeline (LSPOP) Phase I NIAC, is to analyze the feasibility of constructing a pipeline at the Moon’s South Pole for transporting gaseous oxygen from point of generation to point of use. A lunar pipeline has never been pursued and will revolutionize lunar surface operations for the Artemis program and reduce cost and risk. Our starting concept is for a 5 km pipeline to transport oxygen gas from an oxygen production source, for example from our molten regolith electrolysis (MRE, currently at TRL 5, see references[1],[2],[3],[4],[5],[6] for technical discussions of the MRE process) extraction site, or any other source, to an oxygen storage/liquification plant near a lunar base. The pipeline is designed to: 1) be constructed robotically from regolith-derived metals with minimal material transferred from Earth, 2) be repairable robotically, 3) have an oxygen flow rate of ~2 kg/hour, which is commensurate with the NASA initial projected need of 10,000 kg/year, 4) operate with minimal power over the lifetime of the pipeline, with a goal of high operational reliability and the ability to survive in the lunar environment for > 10 years. We compare this concept to a pipeline concept with pipe produced on Earth and then transported to and assembled on the Moon. Both approaches will use earth-based compressors, valves, and fittings which are integrated into the pipeline on the Moon.

NIAC Phase I

Modeling Radiolysis and Chemical Reactions during Dry Storage of Aluminum-clad Spent Nuclear Fuel

After aluminum-clad spent nuclear fuel (ASNF) is removed from the reactor, it is initially stored in spent fuel pools, which are specially designed water-filled basins that provide temporary cooling to reduce the temperature of the fuel assemblies and provide radiation shielding. ASNF continues to generate heat due to the radioactive decay of elements within the fuel, which persists for many years post-shutdown as the residual radioactive products decay into more stable elements. During the wet storage period, an oxyhydroxide layer composed of boehmite/bayerite forms on the surfaces of the aluminum cladding from exposure to water in the pools. Road-ready packaging for long-term disposition of the ASNF involves dry storage in helium backfilled DOE standard canisters (DSCs). When the ASNF is removed from water storage and dried, most of the water is removed, but some physisorbed and chemisorbed water remains in the oxyhydroxide layers. This residual water can produce hydrogen when exposed to radiation from the ASNF during dry storage. Predicting hydrogen accumulation over time in the DSCs is critical for long-term storage considerations. Previous modeling efforts have developed coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-chemical models to simulate temperature, pressure, and gas phase concentrations within the DSCs. These models use the thermal field predicted by CFD as input to a radiolysis model for the gas phase and the surface oxyhydroxide layer chemistry. Given the long storage period of the DSCs and the impracticality of long-term experiments, a simulation-based approach is necessary to assess chemical evolution within the canisters. This study advances the development of a modeling framework designed to simulate the chemical evolution of spent fuel canisters. Both thermal and radiation-driven reactions are considered, with radiation kinetics quantified using G-values. Sensitivity analysis identifies key parameters influencing species composition. Reaction pathway diagrams offer insight into dominant species formation routes, enabling more effective comparisons between model predictions and experimental observations, particularly regarding the production of hydrogen. Results show that the model predicts significant hydrogen gas production with minimal oxygen generation, primarily due to hydrogen formation via boehmite pathways. These findings underscore the importance of accurately characterizing surface-bound species and radiolysis kinetics. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms is critical for evaluating the long-term safety of nuclear waste storage.

12 - MGMT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Establishing model credibility for process-microstructure-property relationships in additive manufacturing using exascale computing

Additive Manufacturing (AM) of alloys holds significant promise as a disruptive technology in various industries, yet its adoption is often hindered by challenges in achieving consistent part quality. These issues are primarily due to the complex process-microstructure-property (PSP) relationships inherent to AM. Computational models can greatly aid in understanding these relationships, but their widespread impact and adoption has been limited by a lack of validated, open-source, and computationally efficient PSP modeling frameworks and hardware limitations. Here, this study leverages the ExaAM software suite and data from the AMBench-2018 series of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) benchmark experiments to perform a comprehensive model assessment, including verification, validation, sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty quantification. The RADICAL-EnTK workflow manager was used to perform an ensemble of heat transport, solidification, and mechanical response simulations on the exascale computer Frontier, considering uncertainties in critical model inputs such as laser spot size and nucleation parameters, and consisting of 125 explicit grain structure simulations and 7875 crystal plasticity simulations. For a selected location within the Inconel 625 AMBench-2018 test artifact, sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification were performed using the predicted distributions of grain structure and mechanical properties. Qualitative agreement was found between the predicted grain size and texture and the observed AMBench-2018 microstructure, the mean predicted yield stress was within 5% of the experimental measurement mean, and the mean predicted engineering stress at 5% strain was within 10% of the experimental measurement mean. The insights gained from development and validation of the ExaAM PSP modeling framework will help guide future directions for enhancing the credibility and reliability of PSP models in AM, thereby accelerating the adoption of AM technologies in various industries.

Additive manufacturing

Quantum Filtering and Analysis of Multiplicities in Eigenvalue Spectra

Fine-grained spectral properties of quantum Hamiltonians, including both eigenvalues and their multiplicities, provide useful information for characterizing many-body quantum systems as well as for understanding phenomena such as topological order. Extracting such information with small additive error is #BQP-complete in the worst case. In this work, we introduce QFAMES (quantum filtering and analysis of multiplicities in eigenvalue spectra), a quantum algorithm that efficiently identifies clusters of closely spaced dominant eigenvalues and determines their multiplicities under physically motivated assumptions, which allows us to bypass worst-case complexity barriers. QFAMES also enables the estimation of observable expectation values within targeted energy clusters, providing a powerful tool for studying quantum phase transitions and other physical properties. We validate the effectiveness of QFAMES through numerical demonstrations, including its applications to characterizing quantum phases in the transverse-field Ising model and estimating the ground-state degeneracy of a topologically ordered phase in the two-dimensional toric code model. We also generalize QFAMES to the setting of mixed initial states. Our approach offers rigorous theoretical guarantees and significant advantages over existing subspace-based quantum spectral analysis methods, particularly in terms of the sample complexity and the ability to resolve degeneracies.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING

Field-tailoring quantum materials via magneto-synthesis: metastable metallic and magnetically suppressed phases in a trimer iridate

We demonstrate that applying modest magnetic fields (< 0.1 T) during high-temperature crystal growth can profoundly alter the structure and ground state of a spin-orbit-coupled, antiferromagnetic trimer lattice. Using BaIrO₃ as a model system, whose ground state is intricately dictated by the trimer lattice, we show that magneto-synthesis , a field-assisted synthesis approach, stabilizes a structurally compressed, metastable metallic and magnetically suppressed phases inaccessible via conventional methods. These effects include a 0.85% reduction in unit cell, 4-order-of-magnitude decrease in resistivity, a 10-fold enhancement of the Sommerfeld coefficient, and the collapse of long-range magnetic order -- all intrinsic and bulk in origin. First-principles calculations confirm that the field-stabilized structure lies substantially above the ground state in energy, highlighting its metastable character. These large, coherent and correlated changes across multiple bulk properties, unlike those caused by dilute impurities, defects or off-stoichiometry, point to an intrinsic field-induced mechanism. The findings establish magneto-synthesis as a powerful new pathway for accessing non-equilibrium quantum phases in strongly correlated materials.

magneto-synthesis

Landsat Instrument Suite (LandIS) Sensor Design for the Landsat 10 Mission

Landsat 10 will be the upcoming mission in the 50+ year Landsat series of Earth observation platforms. The centerpiece of the observatory will be a super-spectral imager known as the Landsat Instrument Suite (LandIS). The sensor will feature 26 spectral channels from the visible through near-, short-wave, and thermal infrared wavelengths with spatial resolutions of 10, 20, and 60 meters on the ground, depending on the band. These enhancements over the legacy Landsat instruments will ensure data continuity with the existing archive and will expand upon the core Landsat capabilities to enable new applications in Earth science. After a competitive procurement, NASA selected the design submitted by the Raytheon Company for the LandIS instrument. The innovative Raytheon instrument concept utilizes an advanced whiskbroom architecture to fulfill the strict radiometric, spatial, and geometric image quality requirements demanded by the Landsat 10 mission and fits within restrictive mass, volume, and power constraints. The instrument will continue the Landsat directive to image all daylit land and near-shore water areas, along with select nighttime imaging. On-board calibration source data will ensure high radiometric and geometric accuracy and stability consistent with previous missions to enable continuity in data products available to users. This paper discusses the driving requirements for LandIS and provides a description of the chosen design and operations concept of the instrument.

Requirements

Nonlocal Effect of Percolated Particle Networks on Viscoelasticity of Polymer–Filler Nanocomposites: A Mesoscale Simulation Study

With nanoparticles (NPs) as fillers, polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) usually exhibit enhanced mechanical properties. However, a direct connection between the microscopic structural relaxation and macroscopic mechanical properties of PNCs remains to be established. To investigate the micro-to-macro connection, we develop a mesoscale model, in which the NPbridging polymer chains are represented by a dynamic bonded interaction between NPs, and the bulk polymer matrix is implicitly modeled by overdamped Langevin dynamics. Extensive equilibrium simulations are performed to quantify the microscopic dynamics of model PNCs. Systematic analyses of modified Rouse dynamics, dynamic structure factor, and relaxation modulus uncover that the microscopic relaxation dynamics of PNCs are significantly decelerated across different length scales because of nonlocal effects of percolated particle networks a phenomenon that has not been adequately captured in prior simulation studies. We find that NPvolume- fraction and NP-bonding-energy barrier are the two critical variables that affect bulk viscoelasticity the most. The proposed mesoscale model is versatile and provides a powerful framework for studying structure−property relations of different PNCs.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH

Taking three-dimensional x-ray diffraction (3DXRD) from the synchrotron to the laboratory scale

Three-dimensional x-ray diffraction (3DXRD), a rotating x-ray diffraction technique, is a powerful tool for studying the micromechanical behavior of polycrystalline materials, capable of measuring the volume, position, orientation, and strain of thousands of grains simultaneously. However, its application has been historically limited to synchrotron facilities. Here, we present the first demonstration of laboratory-scale 3DXRD (Lab-3DXRD) using a liquid-metal-jet source. Lab-3DXRD achieves accuracy comparable to synchrotron-based 3DXRD, as validated against laboratory diffraction contrast tomography (LabDCT) and synchrotron-3DXRD. Over 96% of the grains detected with Lab-3DXRD are cross-validated, particularly for coarse grains (> ~60 μm), while the results suggest that finer grains should be accessible by taking advantage of high-efficiency detectors. We further demonstrate that its sensitivity to finer grains is enhanced by incorporating pre-characterization into the analysis. This study establishes Lab-3DXRD as a practical alternative to synchrotron techniques, making 3DXRD accessible to a wider range of academic and industrial researchers.

characterization and analytical techniques

The Canadian Galactic Emission Mapper: A New 8-10 GHz Telescope To Map the Polarization of the Northern Sky

The Canadian Galactic Emission Mapper (CGEM) radio telescope is mapping polarized Galactic foregrounds from 8-10 GHz to aid in the search for B-modes in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Here we describe the design and early on-sky characterization of the CGEM optics. CGEM employs an on-axis, hat feed optical design that is a body of revolution (BOR) and exhibits excellent intrinsic polarization purity. We describe how we have optimized the optics with a novel framework that can directly minimize simulated intensity to polarized intensity (T → P) leakage in angular power spectrum space. The optimized optics exhibit simulated T → P leakage that is orders of magnitude below anticipated CℓBB for r = 10 −3 when scaled from 8-10 GHz to the CMB observing window near 95 GHz. We go on to describe the mechanical design of the optics, including a novel secondary mirror support made from Astroquartz composite that has low loss, low dielectric constant, and preserves the BOR symmetry of the optics. We then showcase the early on-sky performance of the optics with observations of the Sun and satellites, which probe the beam to 40dB down from the peak. A beam model for the deployed CGEM optics based on electromagnetic simulations is in excellent agreement with the on-sky data.

cosmic microwave background

Best Practices for Resilience Hub Development and Management

The Carbon League and its community partners in East St. Louis, Illinois, have identified five facilities to serve as resilience hubs. These hubs are intended to support the local community through a range of services and resources during blue-sky (everyday), gray-sky (pre-event), and black-sky (emergency) conditions. Transforming these facilities into fully functional resilience hubs requires a broad operational improvement and programmatic planning roadmap. This memo outlines best practices to guide the development of these resilience hubs in East St. Louis, including recommendations for infrastructure services; safety and physical protection; community services; operational protocols; and a phased implementation strategy aligned with realistic funding and capacity constraints. Infrastructure recommendations include strengthening electric power, communications, water, sanitation, and transportation/logistics capabilities, all of which are essential for hubs that may serve as cooling and warming centers, distribution points, and information hubs during emergencies. Safety recommendations focus on accessibility, emergency action planning, indoor air quality, and secure storage of critical equipment. A phased roadmap provides guidance from immediate, low-cost readiness actions to long-term optimization and community integration. Performance metrics and maintenance protocols ensure continuous improvement and operational readiness. This guidance draws on best practices that can be used to support the development of resilient, community-centered hubs capable of enhancing public safety, health, and well-being during everyday operations and emergencies alike.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS