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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 1,225 records · Page 68

Observations of Electron Vorticity in the Inner Plasmasheet and Its Relationship to Reconnection

Spatial derivatives of the electron moments can be estimated using data from the four Cluster spacecraft. Using spatial derivatives of the velocity we have computed the vorticity in the plasmasheet for several crossings. What we have found is that vorticity appears to be a common feature in the inner plasmasheet. We will show a number of examples. In at least some of the observations the vorticity is well correlated with the passage of Cluster through the ion diffusion region of known reconnection events. That most of the vorticity events observed are reconnection related cannot be dismissed and in fact observations of vorticity may provide a means to locate times when the Cluster spacecraft are magnetically connected to regions where reconnection is taking place. Understanding the role and source of the vorticity should advance our understanding of the dissipation of the turbulence associated with reconnection. In the course of the presentation we will also touch on the methods used to estimate the spatial derivatives as well as the limitations and assumptions involved.

Gurgiolo, Chris A.↗

Comprehensive Benchmark Suite for Simulation of Particle Laden Flows Using the Discrete Element Method with Performance Profiles from the Multiphase Flow with Interface eXchanges (MFiX) Code

Five benchmark problems are developed and simulated with the computational fluid dynamics and discrete element model code MFiX. The benchmark problems span dilute and dense regimes, consider statistically homogeneous and inhomogeneous (both clusters and bubbles) particle concentrations and a range of particle and fluid dynamic computational loads. Several variations of the benchmark problems are also discussed to extend the computational phase space to cover granular (particles only), bidisperse and heat transfer cases. A weak scaling analysis is performed for each benchmark problem and, in most cases, the scalability of the code appears reasonable up to approx. 103 cores. Profiling of the benchmark problems indicate that the most substantial computational time is being spent on particle-particle force calculations, drag force calculations and interpolating between discrete particle and continuum fields. Hardware performance analysis was also carried out showing significant Level 2 cache miss ratios and a rather low degree of vectorization. These results are intended to serve as a baseline for future developments to the code as well as a preliminary indicator of where to best focus performance optimizations.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Processing unit performance projection using dynamic hardware behaviors

Methods for estimating accelerator performance for dynamic hardware behaviors are disclosed. Computer program code to be executed on a first processing unit is received, and an execution of the computer code on the first processing unit is monitored to determine a plurality of performance characteristics. A plurality of dynamic hardware behaviors is determined by applying a clustering algorithm to the performance characteristics, and an equivalent accelerator portion of computer code to be executed on a second processing unit is generated by translating a set of instructions in a first portion of computer code corresponding to a first one of the plurality of dynamic hardware behaviors to an equivalent set of instructions to be executed on the second processing unit. An estimated measure of performance for executing the equivalent accelerator portion on the second processing unit is determined for the first one of the plurality of dynamic hardware behaviors.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Challenge Online Time Series Clustering For Demand Response A Theory to Break the ‘Curse of Dimensionality'

The advent of smart meters and advanced communication infrastructures catalyzes numerous smart grid applications such as dynamic demand response, and paves the way to solve challenging research problems in sustainable energy consumption. The space of solution possibilities are restricted primarily by the huge amount of generated data requiring considerable computational resources and efficient algorithms. To overcome this Big Data challenge, data clustering techniques have been proposed. Current approaches however do not scale in the face of the “increasing dimensionality” problem where a cluster point is represented by the entire customer consumption time series. To overcome this aspect we first rethink the way cluster points are created and designed, and then design an efficient online clustering technique for demand response (DR) in order to analyze high volume, high dimensional energy consumption time series data at scale, and on the fly. Our online algorithm is randomized in nature, and provides optimal performance guarantees in a computationally efficient manner. Unlike prior work we (i) study the consumption properties of the whole population simultaneously rather than developing individual models for each customer separately, claiming it to be a ‘killer’ approach that breaks the “curse of dimensionality” in online time series clustering, and (ii) provide tight performance guarantees in theory to validate our approach. Our insights are driven by the field of sociology, where collective behavior often emerges as the result of individual patterns and lifestyles.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Computational aspects of zonal algorithms for solving the compressible Navier-Stokes equations in three dimensions

Transonic flow fields about wing geometries are computed using an Euler/Navier-Stokes approach in which the flow field is divided into several zones. The flow field immediately adjacent to the wing surface is resolved with fine grid zones and solved using a Navier-Stokes algorithm. Flow field regions removed from the wing are resolved with less finely clustered grid zones and are solved with an Euler algorithm. Computational issues associated with this zonal approach, including data base management aspects, are discussed. Solutions are obtained that are in good agreement with experiment, including cases with significant wind tunnel wall effects. Additional cases with significant shock induced separation on the upper wing surface are also presented.

Holst, T. L.↗

Numerical Analysis of Base Flowfield for a Four-Engine Clustered Nozzle Configuration

Excessive base heating has been a problem for many launch vehicles. For certain designs such as the direct dump of turbine exhaust inside and at the lip of the nozzle, the potential burning of the turbine exhaust in the base region can be of great concern. Accurate prediction of the base environment at altitudes is therefore very important during the vehicle design phase. Otherwise, undesirable consequences may occur. In this study, the turbulent base flowfield of a cold flow experimental investigation for a four-engine clustered nozzle was numerically benchmarked using a pressure-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. This is a necessary step before the benchmarking of hot flow and combustion flow tests can be considered. Since the medium was unheated air, reasonable prediction of the base pressure distribution at high altitude was the main goal. Several physical phenomena pertaining to the multiengine clustered nozzle base flow physics were deduced from the analysis.

Wang, Ten-See↗

Cluster Analysis of IRIS Spectroscopic Line Profiles and SDO/AIA EUV Emission in Observations and RMHD Simulations of the Solar Atmosphere

Spatially-resolved observations from the IRIS and SDO/AIA satellites, especially when coupled with realistic 3D RMHD simulations, are a powerful tool for analysis of processes in the solar chromosphere, transition region, and corona. However, the complexity of the data makes understanding the observations and modeling results difficult. In this work, we apply unsupervised clustering algorithms for analysis of observational and synthetic chromospheric Mg II h&k 2796Å&2803Å and transition region C II 1334Å&1335Å line profiles observed by IRIS, and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission observed by SDO/AIA, for various types of problems. The synthetic line profiles are computed for simulations of the quiescent solar atmosphere (using the StellarBox and RH1.5 codes). The K-Means clustering algorithm is applied, and the selection of an optimal number of clusters is supported by the average silhouette width technique. We discuss applications of the line profile clustering method to 1) visualization of computational and observational spectroscopic imaging data; 2) understanding of evolutionary trends and behavior patterns of quiet Sun emission and during solar flares; and 3) recognition of heating events and shock waves.

Sadykov, Viacheslav↗

Three dimensional cluster analysis for atom probe tomography using Ripley’s K-function and machine learning

The size and structure of spatial molecular and atomic clustering can significantly impact material properties and is therefore important to accurately quantify. Ripley’s K-function (K(r)), a measure of spatial correlation, can be used to perform such quantification when the material system of interest can be represented as a marked point pattern. This work demonstrates how machine learning models based on K (r)-derived metrics can accurately estimate cluster size and intra-cluster density in simulated three dimensional (3D) point patterns containing spherical clusters of varying size; over 90% of model estimates for cluster size and intra-cluster density fall within 11% and 18% error of the true values, respectively. These K (r)-based size and density estimates are then applied to an experimental APT reconstruction to characterize MgZn clusters in a 7000 series aluminum alloy. Here we find that the estimates are more accurate, consistent, and robust to user interaction than estimates from the popular maximum separation algorithm. Using K (r) and machine learning to measure clustering is an accurate and repeatable way to quantify this important material attribute.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Efficient Modeling of Structural, Electronic, and Optical Properties of Silver and Gold Metal Nanoclusters and Alloys Using Optimized SCC-DFTB Parameters

Computation of optical properties using conventional time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) is time-consuming and memory-intensive. In this study, we investigate the accuracy and efficiency of the density functional tight binding (DFTB) framework with newly optimized Slater–Koster (SK) parameters for modeling the structural, electronic properties, and absorption spectra of silver and gold nanoclusters and their alloys. Our investigation of the ground state (GS) properties demonstrates that the newly developed GS-SK parameters enable DFTB to closely approximate DFT-calculated bond lengths for octahedron, tetrahedron, icosahedra, and truncated octahedron with sizes Ag n /Au n (n = 19, 20, 38, 55), nanoclusters and Ag 20 /Au 20 nanoalloys, with a maximum deviation of approximately 0.15 Å. Formation energy results indicate that the GS-SK parameters can closely estimate changes in formation energies with alloy composition, and the comparison of electronic structures for Ag 20 , Au 20 , and AgAu alloy nanoclusters using the DFTB approximation reveals good agreement in the projected density of states (DOS) profiles and energy levels. A second set of SK parameters, ES-SK, has been developed to describe excited state (ES) properties, including the absorption spectra of silver octahedron Ag 19 , tetrahedral Ag n (n = 20, 56, 84), truncated octahedron Ag 38 , and icosahedra Ag 55 closed-shell clusters and their gold and alloy counterparts over a broad range of alloy compositions. This parametrization uses TD-DFTB calculations and fine-tunes the d and p eigenvalues by comparing them to reference absorption spectra from first-principles TD-DFT. This enables the generation of absorption spectra that closely match the reference spectra when plasmon excitation is dominant, as demonstrated by studying the plasmonic properties of icosahedral Ag n and Au n (n = 309 and 561) nanoparticles. This includes the rapid loss in plasmon quality when Au partially replaces Ag in alloy clusters. Furthermore, these results provide a foundation for addressing computational bottlenecks in plasmonics and with new prospects for applications in the quantum plasmonics for bimetallic alloys.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Navier: Dataflow Architecture for Computation Chemistry

Navier’s objectives were two evaluate the use of emerging technologies, especially dataflow accelerators, for high-performance computing (HPC) applications, specifically in the domain of chemistry, and to develop a prototype software stack to support such applications. Navier builds on capabilities previously developed by synergistic projects, such as PNNL Data Model Convergence (DMC) LDRD Hardware Advanced Workflows (HAW) and DuOMO, as well as DOE ARIAA. Throughout its 18 months, the Navier team developed new capabilities and artifacts at all levels of the HW/SW stack, provided a seamless way to integrate novel computing architectures (Sambanova SN10 and Xilinx Versal AI) into an existing software stack, developed chemistry workflows, data analytics tools, and HPC molecular dynamics workflows that leverage the developed stack and PNNL institutional investments in emerging architectures. Navier also explored the use of active learning to accelerate a computational chemistry workflow for organic molecules on PNNL Junction cluster (in collaboration with AMD/Xilinx). Navier developed tools, methodologies, and studies for hardware software co-design and (sparse) dataflow accelerators that are composable and can be used together or separately. These methodologies are now used in other projects, such as DOE AMAIS and HPDA. This report describes Navier’s achievement, the developed tools and methodologies, and the research findings and conclusions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

QUBO formulations for training machine learning models

Abstract Training machine learning models on classical computers is usually a time and compute intensive process. With Moore’s law nearing its inevitable end and an ever-increasing demand for large-scale data analysis using machine learning, we must leverage non-conventional computing paradigms like quantum computing to train machine learning models efficiently. Adiabatic quantum computers can approximately solve NP-hard problems, such as the quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO), faster than classical computers. Since many machine learning problems are also NP-hard, we believe adiabatic quantum computers might be instrumental in training machine learning models efficiently in the post Moore’s law era. In order to solve problems on adiabatic quantum computers, they must be formulated as QUBO problems, which is very challenging. In this paper, we formulate the training problems of three machine learning models—linear regression, support vector machine (SVM) and balanced k-means clustering—as QUBO problems, making them conducive to be trained on adiabatic quantum computers. We also analyze the computational complexities of our formulations and compare them to corresponding state-of-the-art classical approaches. We show that the time and space complexities of our formulations are better (in case of SVM and balanced k-means clustering) or equivalent (in case of linear regression) to their classical counterparts.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Metastability, spectrum, and eigencurrents of the Lennard-Jones-38 network

We develop computational tools for spectral analysis of stochastic networks representing energy landscapes of atomic and molecular clusters. Physical meaning and some properties of eigenvalues, left and right eigenvectors, and eigencurrents are discussed. We propose an approach to compute a collection of eigenpairs and corresponding eigencurrents describing the most important relaxation processes taking place in the system on its way to the equilibrium. It is suitable for large and complex stochastic networks where pairwise transition rates, given by the Arrhenius law, vary by orders of magnitude. The proposed methodology is applied to the network representing the Lennard-Jones-38 cluster created by Wales's group. Its energy landscape has a double funnel structure with a deep and narrow face-centered cubic funnel and a shallower and wider icosahedral funnel. However, the complete spectrum of the generator matrix of the Lennard-Jones-38 network has no appreciable spectral gap separating the eigenvalue corresponding to the escape from the icosahedral funnel. We provide a detailed description of the escape process from the icosahedral funnel using the eigencurrent and demonstrate a superexponential growth of the corresponding eigenvalue. The proposed spectral approach is compared to the methodology of the Transition Path Theory. Finally, we discuss whether the Lennard-Jones-38 cluster is metastable from the points of view of a mathematician and a chemical physicist, and make a connection with experimental works.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Structure and Dynamics of Polysulfide Clusters in a Nonaqueous Solvent Mixture of 1,3-Dioxolane and 1,2-Dimethoxyethane

Molecular clustering and associated dynamic processes of lithium polysulfide species were unraveled using classical molecular dynamics and ab initio metadynamics calculations. The spectroscopic signatures of polysulfide clusters were analyzed using a multimodal analysis including experimental and computational nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X-ray absorption spectroscopies. Lithium polysulfide solutes (Li 2 S 4 , Li 2 S 6 , and Li 2 S 8 ) and their mixtures in a 1,3-dioxolane and 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DOL/DME) solvent undergo aggregation driven by intramolecular lithium–sulfur (Li–S) interactions, leading to distributions of cluster sizes, which could critically influence the functioning of lithium–sulfur batteries. Representative polysulfide clusters with systematic increases in molecular size were extracted from the classical molecular dynamics trajectories for subsequent structural and spectroscopic property calculations using density functional theory analysis. Structural analysis of these clusters reveals progressively decreasing solvent involvement in Li+ coordination varying from Li 2 S 4 to Li 2 S 8 , with more pronounced variation and changes in DME compared with those in DOL. These observations are reflected in the analysis of the experimental and theoretical 7 Li and 17 O NMR chemical shifts and pulsed field gradient-NMR diffusion measurements. A comparison of experimental and theoretical S K-edge X-ray absorption near edge spectra shows that relatively large lithium sulfide chain clusters are likely to occur in the DOL/DME-solvated lithium sulfide systems. Ab initio metadynamics simulations and NMR analysis indicate that Li + solvated by only the solvent can occur through Li + dissociation from sulfide chains. However, the occurrence of “sulfide-free” Li + is a minor mechanism compared with the dynamic aggregation and shuttling processes of polysulfide solvates in DOL/DME-based electrolytes of Li–S batteries. Overall, atomistic insights gained about clustering and lithium exchange dynamics will be critical for the predictive understanding of the polysulfide shuttling and nucleation process that dictates the Li–S battery performance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

An Examination of the Performance of Parallel Calculation of the Radiation Integral on a Beowulf-Class Computer

This paper uses the parallel calculation of the radiation integral for examination of performance and compiler issues on a Beowulf-class computer. This type of computer, built from mass-market, commodity, off-the-shelf components, has limited communications performance and therefore also has a limited regime of codes for which it is suitable.

Beowulf cluster pile of PCs parallel computation p↗

CASM — A software package for first-principles based study of multicomponent crystalline solids

CASM is a software package that enables first-principles based studies of crystalline materials. It has been designed to treat coupled chemical, mechanical, vibrational, and magnetic degrees of freedom to determine ground state and finite temperature properties of crystals. The symmetry of the underlying parent crystal structure is used to enumerate perturbations of the parent crystal structure and generate derivative structures which can be input to first-principles calculations in order to explore the ground state energy landscape. CASM algorithmically constructs cluster expansions that fully couple discrete and continuous degrees of freedom, and generates highly efficient code to evaluate the cluster expansion basis functions. Widely used machine learning methods are integrated for fitting expansion coefficients to first-principle calculations. The fully parameterized cluster expansions can be combined with (kinetic) Monte Carlo methods to calculate finite temperature thermodynamic and kinetic properties. CASM Alloy Manager identifies distinct parent crystal structures in an alloy system, creating individual projects for each, and integrating the results. The integrated infrastructure facilitates the linkage between first-principles statistical mechanics predictions with higher length scale computational methods, such as phase field simulations. In conclusion, CASM projects are designed to be easy to share in repositories, to re-use, and to extend to include additional chemical species or types of degrees of freedom.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Quasichemical analysis of the cluster-pair approximation for the thermodynamics of proton hydration

A theoretical analysis of the cluster-pair approximation (CPA) is presented based on the quasichemical theory of solutions. The sought single-ion hydration free energy of the proton includes an interfacial potential contribution by definition. It is shown, however, that the CPA involves an extra-thermodynamic assumption that does not guarantee uniform convergence to a bulk free energy value with increasing cluster size. A numerical test of the CPA is performed using the classical polarizable AMOEBA force field and supporting quantum chemical calculations. The enthalpy and free energy differences are computed for the kosmotropic Na{sup +}/F{sup −} ion pair in water clusters of size n = 5, 25, 105. Additional calculations are performed for the chaotropic Rb{sup +}/I{sup −} ion pair. A small shift in the proton hydration free energy and a larger shift in the hydration enthalpy, relative to the CPA values, are predicted based on the n = 105 simulations. The shifts arise from a combination of sequential hydration and interfacial potential effects. The AMOEBA and quantum chemical results suggest an electrochemical surface potential of water in the range −0.4 to −0.5 V. The physical content of single-ion free energies and implications for ion-water force field development are also discussed.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗