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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 1,117 records · Page 62

Health Monitoring for Airframe Structural Characterization

This study established requirements for structural health monitoring systems, identified and characterized a prototype structural sensor system, developed sensor interpretation algorithms, and demonstrated the sensor systems on operationally realistic test articles. Fiber-optic corrosion sensors (i.e., moisture and metal ion sensors) and low-cycle fatigue sensors (i.e., strain and acoustic emission sensors) were evaluated to validate their suitability for monitoring aging degradation; characterize the sensor performance in aircraft environments; and demonstrate placement processes and multiplexing schemes. In addition, a unique micromachined multimeasure and sensor concept was developed and demonstrated. The results show that structural degradation of aircraft materials could be effectively detected and characterized using available and emerging sensors. A key component of the structural health monitoring capability is the ability to interpret the information provided by sensor system in order to characterize the structural condition. Novel deterministic and stochastic fatigue damage development and growth models were developed for this program. These models enable real time characterization and assessment of structural fatigue damage.

Munns, Thomas E.↗

The overview in safety review of human factors engineering and control room design in chinese AP1000 nuclear power plant - 174

The first AP1000 nuclear power plant is constructed in Sanmen county in Zhejiang Province in China, which has creative and distinctive design characteristics. Human factors engineering disciplines are applied to the design of the AP1000. In addition to the elements of the program review model(including human factors engineering program management, operating experience review, functional requirements analysis and allocation, task analysis, staffing, integration of human reliability analysis with human factors engineering, human system interface design, procedure development, training program development, human system interface verification and validation, design implementation, human performance monitoring),the minimum inventory of controls, displays, and alarms present in the main control room and at the remote shutdown workstation. These contents mentioned above are reviewed according to standards, rules and regulations. This article introduces review process, and several important issues during the reviewing are described in detail. These issues include many elements, such as operating experience review, task analysis, human system interface design, verification and validation,and so on. This paper emphasizes on the main control room design(including environment and layout). Background noise in the actual main control room may exceed too much to design value. Another important issue is about main control room habitability systems(VES) changes to satisfy post-actuation performance requirements in AP1000 design change proposal. All the wall panel displays will be closed in this design change proposal. Review process and proposal are described in the paper. Since the AP1000 unit in China is the first constructed all over the world, verification and validation are especially important and necessary. The plan of verification and validation, the results summary report of verification and validation, the report of human engineering discrepancies are focus attention. Verification and validation in human factors engineering include HSI task support verification, HFE design verification and integrated system validation. This paper introduces the review process of verification and validation, the issues found in verification and validation. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Modeling with Scala

The activities and the associated formalisms for modeling and programming have many commonalities. In this paper we emphasize this point of view by modeling two examples in the programming language Scala, which have previously been modeled in the VDM specification language, and the Promela modeling language of the SPIN model checker respectively. The latter Scala model uses an internal DSL for hierarchical state machines, and a simple randomized testing framework exposing the same errors as found with SPIN. We believe, as the examples illustrate, that this use of a modern programming language for modeling is promising, especially if utilizing internal DSLs.

Joshi, Rajeev↗

NPLOT: an Interactive Plotting Program for NASTRAN Finite Element Models

The NPLOT (NASTRAN Plot) is an interactive computer graphics program for plotting undeformed and deformed NASTRAN finite element models. Developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the program provides flexible element selection and grid point, ASET and SPC degree of freedom labelling. It is easy to use and provides a combination menu and command driven user interface. NPLOT also provides very fast hidden line and haloed line algorithms. The hidden line algorithm in NPLOT proved to be both very accurate and several times faster than other existing hidden line algorithms. A fast spatial bucket sort and horizon edge computation are used to achieve this high level of performance. The hidden line and the haloed line algorithms are the primary features that make NPLOT different from other plotting programs.

Jones, G. K.↗

Research in Integrated Assessment Inter-Model Development, Testing and Diagnostics (Final Technical Report)

This is the final report on the second phase (spanning 2013-2018) of a project focused on further establishing an integrated assessment modeling (IAM) community research program on IAM model development, diagnostic testing, and inter-comparisons (PIAMDDI), including multi-model scenario ensemble analyses. The program was dedicated to improving the science of integrated assessment by doing cutting edge research in critical scientific areas of IAM development, and integrating that research with research programs on improved methods for model diagnostics, inter-comparison and ensemble-like analyses. We continued to link this program closely to other climate change research programs in the U.S. and abroad, and to make the work highly transparent, accessible and credible. As anticipated, progress in the scientific research areas informed the model comparison methods development and scenario tasks, and the comparisons and ensemble activities helped set priorities for the research areas.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Using a Large Language Model as a Building Block to Generate Usable Validation and Verification Suite for OpenMP

In the HPC area, both hardware and software move quickly. Often new hardware is developed and deployed, the corresponding software stack, including compilers and other tools, are under active development while leading edge software developers are working to port and tune their applications, all at the same time. While the software ecosystem is in flux, one of the key challenges for users is obtaining insight into the state of implementation of key features in the programming languages and models their applications are using – whether they have been implemented, and whether the implementation conforms to the specification, especially for newly implemented features (less tested by widespread use). OpenMP is one of the most prominent shared memory programming models used for on-node programming in HPC. With the shift towards accelerators (such as GPUs and FPGAs) and heterogeneous programming OpenMP features are getting more complex. It is natural to ask whether generative AI approaches, and large language models (LLMs) in particular, can help in producing validation and verification test suites to allow users better and faster insights into the availability and correctness of OpenMP features of interest. In this work, we explore the use of ChatGPT-4 to generate a suite of tests for OpenMP features. We have chosen a set of directives and clauses, a total of 78 combinations, which first appeared in OpenMP 3.0 (released in May 2008) but are also relevant for accelerators. We prompted ChatGPT to generate tests in the C and Fortran languages, for both host (CPU) and device (accelerator). On the Summit super-computer using the GNU implementation, we found that, of the 78 generated tests 67 C tests and 43 Fortran tests compiled successfully and fewer than those executed to completion. On further analysis we show that not all generated tests are valid. We document the process, results, and provide detailed analysis regarding the quality of tests generated. With the aim of providing input to a production quality validation and verification suite, we manually implement the corrections required to make the tests valid according to the current OpenMP specification. We quantify this effort as small, medium, or large, and record the lines of code changed to correct the invalid tests. With the corrected tests we validate recent implementations from HPE, AMD, and GNU on the Frontier supercomputer. Our experiment and subsequent analysis show that although LLMs are capable of producing HPC specific codes, they are limited by their understanding of the deeper semantics and restrictions of programming models such as OpenMP. Unsurprisingly more commonly used features have better support, while some OpenMP 3.0 directives such as sections and tasking are not universally supported on accelerators. We demonstrate that successful compilation and execution to completion are inadequate metrics for evaluating generated code and that, at this time, commodity LLMs require expert intervention for code verification. This points to gaps in the training data that is currently available for HPC. We demonstrate that with "small" effort 37% of generated invalid C tests and 63% of generated invalid Fortran tests could be corrected. This improves productivity of test generation as we circumvent writing from scratch and the common programming errors associated with it.

Pophale, Swaroop [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000185446367)↗

Simulating Descent and Landing of a Spacecraft

The Dynamics Simulator for Entry, Descent, and Surface landing (DSENDS) software performs high-fidelity simulation of the Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) of a spacecraft into the atmosphere and onto the surface of a planet or a smaller body. DSENDS is an extension of the DShell and DARTS programs, which afford capabilities for mathematical modeling of the dynamics of a spacecraft as a whole and of its instruments, actuators, and other subsystems. DSENDS enables the modeling (including real-time simulation) of flight-train elements and all spacecraft responses during various phases of EDL. DSENDS provides high-fidelity models of the aerodynamics of entry bodies and parachutes plus supporting models of atmospheres. Terrain and real-time responses of terrain-imaging radar and lidar instruments can also be modeled. The program includes modules for simulation of guidance, navigation, hypersonic steering, and powered descent. Automated state-machine-driven model switching is used to represent spacecraft separations and reconfigurations. Models for computing landing contact and impact forces are expected to be added. DSENDS can be used as a stand-alone program or incorporated into a larger program that simulates operations in real time.

Balaram, J.↗

Visibility Studies

Studies conducted by the Environmental Studies Laboratory of the University of Utah embrace investigations of the effects of air pollutants on vegetation; air quality in arid and semi-arid regions surrounding energy developments; and the amount, size and type of particles in the atmosphere. In its visibility studies, the laboratory uses a computer program called RADTMO for Radiative Transfer Models. The program computes the characteristics of scattered radiation in the atmosphere including ozone concentration and aerosol density at various altitudes. Calculations provide information used in determining sky color intensity for visibility modeling under different atmospheric conditions. The laboratory was able to avoid the cost of developing a new computer program by using RADTMO for their calculations.

Source record↗

Wind Tunnel Modeling Seminar

The NASA Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) program was examined and reviewed. AWT project status and modeling program are presented as well as the modeling programs for a number of other wind tunnels such as the National Transonic Facility, Boeing tunnel, and NASA's 40 by 80 by 120 foot tunnel. Finally, AWT aerodynamic design status, aerothermodynamic design, drive system, icing equipment, acoustics, and dynamics and controls are discussed. The need for this tunnel is examined in the wake of new aerospace research programs. All documents are presented in viewgraph format.

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COMGEN: A computer program for generating finite element models of composite materials at the micro level

COMGEN (Composite Model Generator) is an interactive FORTRAN program which can be used to create a wide variety of finite element models of continuous fiber composite materials at the micro level. It quickly generates batch or session files to be submitted to the finite element pre- and postprocessor PATRAN based on a few simple user inputs such as fiber diameter and percent fiber volume fraction of the composite to be analyzed. In addition, various mesh densities, boundary conditions, and loads can be assigned easily to the models within COMGEN. PATRAN uses a session file to generate finite element models and their associated loads which can then be translated to virtually any finite element analysis code such as NASTRAN or MARC.

Melis, Matthew E.↗

Rapid prototyping and AI programming environments applied to payload modeling

This effort focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) programming environments and rapid prototyping to aid in both space flight manned and unmanned payload simulation and training. Significant problems addressed are the large amount of development time required to design and implement just one of these payload simulations and the relative inflexibility of the resulting model to accepting future modification. Results of this effort have suggested that both rapid prototyping and AI programming environments can significantly reduce development time and cost when applied to the domain of payload modeling for crew training. The techniques employed are applicable to a variety of domains where models or simulations are required.

Carnahan, Richard S., Jr.↗

Satellite broadcasting system study

The study to develop a system model and computer program representative of broadcasting satellite systems employing community-type receiving terminals is reported. The program provides a user-oriented tool for evaluating performance/cost tradeoffs, synthesizing minimum cost systems for a given set of system requirements, and performing sensitivity analyses to identify critical parameters and technology. The performance/ costing philosophy and what is meant by a minimum cost system is shown graphically. Topics discussed include: main line control program, ground segment model, space segment model, cost models and launch vehicle selection. Several examples of minimum cost systems resulting from the computer program are presented. A listing of the computer program is also included.

Source record↗

Overview of NASARTI (NASA Radiation Track Image) Program: Highlights of the Model Improvement and the New Results

This presentation summarizes several years of research done by the co-authors developing the NASARTI (NASA Radiation Track Image) program and supporting it with scientific data. The goal of the program is to support NASA mission to achieve a safe space travel for humans despite the perils of space radiation. The program focuses on selected topics in radiation biology that were deemed important throughout this period of time, both for the NASA human space flight program and to academic radiation research. Besides scientific support to develop strategies protecting humans against an exposure to deep space radiation during space missions, and understanding health effects from space radiation on astronauts, other important ramifications of the ionizing radiation were studied with the applicability to greater human needs: understanding the origins of cancer, the impact on human genome, and the application of computer technology to biological research addressing the health of general population. The models under NASARTI project include: the general properties of ionizing radiation, such as particular track structure, the effects of radiation on human DNA, visualization and the statistical properties of DSBs (DNA double-strand breaks), DNA damage and repair pathways models and cell phenotypes, chromosomal aberrations, microscopy data analysis and the application to human tissue damage and cancer models. The development of the GUI and the interactive website, as deliverables to NASA operations teams and tools for a broader research community, is discussed. Most recent findings in the area of chromosomal aberrations and the application of the stochastic track structure are also presented.

Ponomarev, Artem L.↗

A centralized-based method to determine the local voltage control strategies of distributed generator operation in active distribution networks

The increasing penetration of distributed generators (DGs) exacerbates the risk of voltage violations in active distribution networks (ADNs). The var capacity provided by DG inverters is a potential solution for voltage regulation. The conventional centralized control strategies limited by computation and communication burdens are difficult to meet the requirement of rapid voltage control. However, the local control strategies based on real-time measurements have a fast response to the frequent fluctuations of DG outputs. The performance of these local controllers depends on the tuning of the control parameters. This paper proposes a centralized-based method to determine the local voltage control strategies for DGs. A centralized parameter tuning model of control curves is built, in which and curves of DG inverters are mathematically formulated based on piecewise linearization. The original mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model is converted into an effectively solved mixed-integer second-order cone programming (MISOCP) model using convex relaxation. The potential benefits of DG inverters are explored to regulate both reactive and curtailed active power, based on local voltage measurements. Case studies on a modified PG&E 69-node distribution system are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results show that power losses of ADNs are significantly reduced and voltage profiles are also improved.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Gas Gun Model and Comparison to Experimental Performance of Pipe Guns Operating with Light Propellant Gases and Large Cryogenic Pellets

Injection of multiple large (~10 to 30 mm diameter) shattered pellets into ITER plasmas is presently part of the scheme planned to mitigate the deleterious effects of disruptions on the vessel components. To help in the design and optimize performance of the pellet injectors for this application, a model referred to as “the gas gun simulator” has been developed and benchmarked against experimental data. The computer code simulator is a Java program that models the gas-dynamics characteristics of a single-stage gas gun. Following a stepwise approach, the code utilizes a variety of input parameters to incrementally simulate and analyze the dynamics of the gun as the projectile is launched down the barrel. Using input data, the model can calculate gun performance based on physical characteristics, such as propellant-gas and fast-valve properties, barrel geometry, and pellet mass. Although the model is fundamentally generic, the present version is configured to accommodate cryogenic pellets composed of H2, D2, Ne, Ar, and mixtures of them and light propellant gases (H2, D2, and He). The pellets are solidified in situ in pipe guns that consist of stainless steel tubes and fast-acting valves that provide the propellant gas for pellet acceleration (to speeds ~200 to 700 m/s). The pellet speed is the key parameter in determining the response time of a shattered pellet system to a plasma disruption event. The calculated speeds from the code simulations of experiments were typically in excellent agreement with the measured values. With the gas gun simulator validated for many test shots and over a wide range of physical and operating parameters, it is a valuable tool for optimization of the injector design, including the fast valve design (orifice size and volume) for any operating pressure (~40 bar expected for the ITER application) and barrel length for any pellet size (mass, diameter, and length). Key design parameters and proposed values for the pellet injectors for the ITER disruption mitigation systems are discussed.

Combs, Stephen Kirk↗