Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “optimization analysis”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,243 records · Page 69

Beyond optimization—supervised learning applications in relativistic laser-plasma experiments

We explore the applications of machine learning techniques in relativistic laser-plasma experiments beyond optimization purposes. We predict the beam charge of electrons produced in a laser wakefield accelerator given the laser wavefront change caused by a deformable mirror. Machine learning enables feature analysis beyond merely searching for an optimal beam charge, showing that specific aberrations in the laser wavefront are favored in generating higher beam charges. Supervised learning models allow characterizing the measured data quality as well as recognizing irreproducible data and potential outliers. Furthermore, we also include virtual measurement errors in the experimental data to examine the model robustness under these conditions. This work demonstrates how machine learning methods can benefit data analysis and physics interpretation in a highly nonlinear problem of relativistic laser-plasma interaction.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Combining PCA and nonlinear fitting of peak models to re-evaluate C 1s XPS spectrum of cellulose

Cellulose is an example of a material that responds to XPS by the creation of new chemistry not present in the as-received sample. While improvements in instrumentation may be seen in general as beneficial to surface science, recent studies have shown that the consequences for some materials are detrimental. Here, in this work, these problems are illustrated through an analysis of cellulose spectra obtained during a degradation study. C 1s spectra are decomposed into two well-formed component curves that are open to chemical interpretation. In particular, a component-curve representative of pure cellulose is obtained as well as a second component curve that implies cellulose is degraded through the creation of carbon chemistry involving C—O, C$=$O and O—C$=$O. Since cellulose is a crystalline material, formed through the alignment of molecules under the influence of hydrogen bonds, the analysis and findings presented in this paper are relevant to any material analyzed by XPS whose properties are dependent on hydrogen bonds. The analysis techniques are based on an informed vectorial approach, which extracts directly from data spectral shapes that are used to monitor sample degradation via linear least squares optimization. Related mathematics of Principal Component Analysis and linear analysis are presented.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A systems engineering framework for the optimization of food supply chains under circular economy considerations

The current linear “take-make-waste-extractive” model leads to the depletion of natural resources and environmental degradation. Circular Economy (CE) aims to address these impacts by building supply chains that are restorative, regenerative, and environmentally benign. This can be achieved through the re-utilization of products and materials, the extensive usage of renewable energy sources, and ultimately by closing any open material loops. Such a transition towards environmental, economic and social advancements requires analytical tools for quantitative evaluation of the alternative pathways. Here, in this work, we present a novel CE system engineering framework and decision-making tool for the modeling and optimization of food supply chains. First, the alternative pathways for the production of the desired product and the valorization of wastes and by-products are identified. Then, a Resource-Task-Network representation that captures all these pathways is utilized, based on which a mixed-integer linear programming model is developed. This approach allows the holistic modeling and optimization of the entire food supply chain, taking into account any of its special characteristics, potential constraints as well as different objectives. Considering that typically CE introduces multiple, often conflicting objectives, we deploy here a multi-objective optimization strategy for trade-off analysis. A representative case study for the supply chain of coffee is discussed, illustrating the steps and the applicability of the framework. Single and multi-objective optimization formulations under five different coffee-product demand scenarios are presented. The production of instant coffee as the only final product is shown to be the least energy and environmental efficient scenario. On the contrary, the production solely of whole beans sets a hypothetical upper bound on the optimal energy and environmental utilization. In both problems presented, the amount of energy generated is significant due to the utilization of waste generated for the production of excess energy.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

A Clustering-Based Scenario Generation Framework for Power Market Simulation with Wind Integration

A critical step in stochastic optimization models of power system analysis is to select a set of appropriate scenarios and significant numbers of scenario generation methods exist in the literature. This paper develops a clustering based scenario generation method, which aims to improve the performance of existing scenario generation techniques by grouping a set of correlated wind sites into clusters according to their cross-correlations. Copula based models are utilized to model spatiotemporal correlations and the Gibbs sampling is then used to generate scenarios for day-ahead markets. Our results show that the generated scenarios based on clustered wind sites outperform existing approaches in terms of reliability and sharpness and can reduce the total computational time for scenario generation and reduction significantly. The clustering-based framework can therefore provide a better support for real-world market simulations with high wind penetration.

data visualization↗

Affine Transformations to Correlate Experimental and Simulated EDS Spectra for Multi-Element Systems

Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) is an essential technique for determining elemental concentrations and distributions within microstructures, critical for materials discovery, optimization, and qualification. However, most published EDS data is qualitative because current quantitative EDS analysis methods require extensive calibration and post-processing, limiting their practicality and widespread adoption. This work seeks to establish a framework for accelerated EDS characterization and spectrum analysis that can leverage ML to analyze correlations between various elemental compositions and resulting EDS spectra. The complex physics and data result in a high-dimensional problem that grows exponentially with the number of elements in the system and the complexity of the spectrum analysis. ML provides a way to compute and optimize the results of this highly dimensional problem in a flexible way to tailor it to the user’s specific needs and material system. However, the framework emphasizes transparency through a strictly mathematical affine transformation, so the analysis remains understandable and reviewable to facilitate adoption by the scientific community. While currently implemented methods are simplistic and unvalidated, further development and demonstration of this framework could enable high-throughput, accurate, and accessible EDS characterization.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Milestone M6 Report: Reducing Excess Data Movement Part 1

This is the second in a sequence of three Hardware Evaluation milestones that provide insight into the following questions: What are the sources of excess data movement across all levels of the memory hierarchy, going out to the network fabric? What can be done at various levels of the hardware/software hierarchy to reduce excess data movement? How does reduced data movement track application performance? The results of this study can be used to suggest where the DOE supercomputing facilities, working with their hardware vendors, can optimize aspects of the system to reduce excess data movement. Quantitative analysis will also benefit systems software and applications to optimize caching and data layout strategies. Another potential avenue is to answer cost-benefit questions, such as those involving memory capacity versus latency and bandwidth. This milestone focuses on techniques to reduce data movement, quantitatively evaluates the efficacy of the techniques in accomplishing that goal, and measures how performance tracks data movement reduction. We study a small collection of benchmarks and proxy mini-apps that run on pre-exascale GPUs and on the Accelsim GPU simulator. Our approach has two thrusts: to measure advanced data movement reduction directives and techniques on the newest available GPUs, and to evaluate our benchmark set on simulated GPUs configured with architectural refinements to reduce data movement.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Development of low-cost technology for the next generation of high efficiency solar cells composed of earth abundant elements

The development of renewable, affordable, and environmentally conscious means of generating energy on a global scale represents a grand challenge of our time. Due to the “permanence” of radiation from the sun, solar energy promises to remain a viable and sustainable power source far into the future. Established single-junction photovoltaic technologies achieve high power conversion efficiencies (pce) near 20% but require complicated manufacturing processes that prohibit the marriage of large-scale throughput (e.g. on the GW scale), profitability, and quality control. Our approach to this problem begins with the synthesis of nanocrystals of semiconductor materials comprising earth abundant elements and characterized by material and optoelectronic properties ideal for photovoltaic applications, namely Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe). Once synthesized, such nanocrystals are formulated into an ink, coated onto substrates, and processed into completed solar cells in such a way that enables scale-up to high throughput, roll-to-roll manufacturing processes. This project aimed to address the major limitation to CZTSSe solar cell pce’s – the low open-circuit voltage (Voc) reported throughout literature for devices comprised of this material. Throughout the project significant advancements have been made in fundamental understanding of the CZTSSe material and device limitations associated with this material system. Additionally, notable improvements have been made to our nanocrystal based processing technique to alleviate performance limitations due to the identified device limitations. Notably, (1) significant improvements have been made in reducing intra- and inter-nanoparticle heterogeneity, (2) improvements in device performance have been realized with novel cation substitution in Ge-alloyed CZTGeSSe absorbers, (3) systematic analysis of absorber sintering has been conducted to optimize the selenization process for large grain CZTSSe absorbers, (4) novel electrical characterization analysis techniques have been developed to identify significant limitations to traditional electrical characterization of CZTSSe devices, and (5) the developed electrical analysis techniques have been used to identify the role that band gap and electrostatic potential fluctuations have in limiting device performance for this material system. The device modeling and characterization of CZTSSe undertaken with this project have significant implications for the CZTSSe research community, as the identified limitations due to potential fluctuations are expected to be a performance limitation to high-efficiency CZTSSe devices fabricated from all current processing techniques. Additionally, improvements realized through enhanced absorber processing conditions to minimize nanoparticle and large-grain absorber heterogeneity are suggested to be beneficial processing improvements which should be applied to CZTSSe devices fabricated from all processing techniques. Ultimately, our research has indicated that improved performance for CZTSSe will be achieved through novel absorber processing which minimizes defect formation, elemental losses, secondary phase formation, and compositional uniformity in CZTSSe absorbers; we believe this novel absorber processing can be achieved through nanocrystal based processing of CZTSSe which is an active area of research at the conclusion of this award. While significant fundamental understanding of CZTSSe and the performance limitations associated with this material system, as well as notable improvements in the processing of nanocrystal based CZTSSe absorbers, have been achieved under this project, the limitation of two years of research funding towards our goals prevents further significant advancements directly identified through pce. improvements relative to those reported herein. As the characterization and modeling subtask of this project has been the main driving force for understanding device limitations, the conclusions of this analysis have just recently been applied to the processing of nanocrystal based CZTSSe absorbers -- with notable success. We expect the notable fundamental understanding of device limitations and absorber sintering achieved under this project will lead to significant improvements in device performance for CZTSSe devices in the near future for devices fabricated from a variety of processing techniques

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Development of Control System Functional Capabilities within the IES Plug-and-Play Simulation Environment

The concept of an Integrated Energy System (IES) is meant to combine different energy technologies in synergistic ways to achieve a more secure and economical energy supply. The RAVEN-based HYBRID framework is used to find the optimal installed capacity and the optimal economical dispatch of each component of the IES. A new RAVEN (Risk Analysis Virtual ENvironment) plugin for grid and capacity optimization (HERON) has been developed for optimizing the production variables of the IES given the demand profile. Currently, only the limits that affect the production variables and their corresponding time rates of change are considered (explicit constraints). However, other variables are additionally subject to constraints, but the associated limits are not accounted for (implicit constraints). In particular, for the power dispatch problem, the optimization algorithm takes into account the limits on the electrical power output and the corresponding hourly power variations but does not consider other constraints on process variables whose response effects the service life of the IES. This report describes a scheme that allows accounting for implicit constraints without increasing the size of the optimization problem. The Reference Governor (RG) algorithm is traditionally used for enforcing state and control constraints by modifying the set-point trajectories supplied to the feedback regulators. In our application, the RG is coupled within an iterative loop with the HERON-power dispatcher to generate optimal trajectories that ensure the operational constraints are met. A data-driven procedure to derive a representation of the dynamics of the controlled system was developed. First, the variables that represented the state of the system are selected (PCA-based approach), and then state-space representation matrices are derived from the collected measurements (DMDc algorithm). A preliminary version of the developed workflow based on Linear Time Invariant matrices was assessed by adopting a two-unit test case. More sophisticated versions of this workflow foreseeing the on-line derivation of system matrices will be deployed in FY 2021. Finally, a “plug-and-play” library of controllers and state observers was developed in Dymola. Some aspects of the current configuration of the IES unit components, e.g., the encapsulation of the control schemes into dedicated blocks, are consistent with the “plug-and-play” philosophy. Other features, e.g., the system buses collecting the input and the output variables, are not. For this reason, once listed and described the limits of the current configuration, necessary modifications to the plant model interface are presented. As a test-case, the interfaces of the SES model in the RAVEN-based HYBRID framework were reworked accordingly, and two different control schemes were applied to the same plant model.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

PAO 1.0: A Python Library for Adversarial Optimization

PAO is a Python-based package for Adversarial Optimization. The goal of this package is to provide a general modeling and analysis capability for bilevel, trilevel and other multilevel optimization forms that express adversarial dynamics. PAO integrates two different modeling abstractions: 1. Algebraic models extend the modeling concepts in the Pyomo algebraic modeling language to express problems with an intuitive algebraic syntax. Thus, we expect that this modeling abstraction will commonly be used by PAO end-users. 2. Compact models express objective and constraints in a manner that is typically used to express the mathematical form of these problems (e.g. using vector and matrix data types). PAO denes custom Multilevel Problem Representations (MPRs) that simplify the implementation of solvers for bilevel, trilevel and other multilevel optimization problems.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

The Capability Portfolio Analysis Tool (CPAT): A Mixed Integer Linear Programming Formulation for Fleet Modernization Analysis (Version 2.0.2).

In order to effectively plan the management and modernization of their large and diverse fleets of vehicles, Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems (PEO GCS) and Program Executive Office Combat Support and Combat Service Support (PEO CS&CSS) commis- sioned the development of a large-scale portfolio planning optimization tool. This software, the Capability Portfolio Analysis Tool (CPAT), creates a detailed schedule that optimally prioritizes the modernization or replacement of vehicles within the fleet - respecting numerous business rules associated with fleet structure, budgets, industrial base, research and testing, etc., while maximizing overall fleet performance through time. This paper contains a thor- ough documentation of the terminology, parameters, variables, and constraints that comprise the fleet management mixed integer linear programming (MILP) mathematical formulation. This paper, which is an update to the original CPAT formulation document published in 2015 (SAND2015-3487), covers the formulation of important new CPAT features.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Quantification of errors in large-eddy simulations of a spatially evolving mixing layer using polynomial chaos

A stochastic approach based on generalized polynomial chaos (gPC) is used to quantify the error in large-eddy simulation (LES) of a spatially evolving mixing layer flow and its sensitivity to different simulation parameters, viz., the grid stretching in the streamwise and lateral directions and the subgrid-scale (SGS) Smagorinsky model constant (C{sub S}). The error is evaluated with respect to the results of a highly resolved LES and for different quantities of interest, namely, the mean streamwise velocity, the momentum thickness, and the shear stress. A typical feature of the considered spatially evolving flow is the progressive transition from a laminar regime, highly dependent on the inlet conditions, to a fully developed turbulent one. Therefore, the computational domain is divided in two different zones (inlet dependent and fully turbulent) and the gPC error analysis is carried out for these two zones separately. An optimization of the parameters is also carried out for both these zones. For all the considered quantities, the results point out that the error is mainly governed by the value of the C{sub S} constant. At the end of the inlet-dependent zone, a strong coupling between the normal stretching ratio and the C{sub S} value is observed. The error sensitivity to the parameter values is significantly larger in the inlet-dependent upstream region; however, low-error values can be obtained in this region for all the considered physical quantities by an ad hoc tuning of the parameters. Conversely, in the turbulent regime the error is globally lower and less sensitive to the parameter variations, but it is more difficult to find a set of parameter values leading to optimal results for all the analyzed physical quantities. A similar analysis is also carried out for the dynamic Smagorinsky model, by varying the grid stretching ratios. Comparing the databases generated with the different subgrid-scale models, it is possible to observe that the error cost function computed for the streamwise velocity and for the momentum thickness is not significantly sensitive to the used SGS closure. Conversely, the prediction of the shear stress is much more accurate when using a dynamic subgrid-scale model and the variance of the error is lower in magnitude.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Eigenfrequency constrained topology optimization of finite strain hyperelastic structures

This paper incorporates hyperelastic materials, nonlinear kinematics, and preloads in eigenfrequency constrained density–based topology optimization. The formulation allows for initial finite deformations and subsequent small harmonic oscillations. The optimization problem is solved by the method of moving asymptotes, and the gradients are calculated using the adjoint method. Both simple and degenerate eigenfrequencies are considered in the sensitivity analysis. A well-posed topology optimization problem is formulated by filtering the volume fraction field. Numerical issues associated with excessive distortion and spurious eigenmodes in void regions are reduced by removing low volume fraction elements. The optimization objective is to maximize stiffness subject to a lower bound on the fundamental eigenfrequency. Numerical examples show that the eigenfrequencies drastically change with the load magnitude, and that the optimization is able to produce designs with the desired fundamental eigenfrequency.

42 ENGINEERING↗

An energy-aware multiobjective ant colony algorithm to minimize total completion time and energy cost on a single-machine preemptive scheduling

Energy-aware scheduling in manufacturing operations with time-of-use electricity tariffs is a challenging problem. Sustainable manufacturing is gaining significant momentum: companies are not only improving their product quality, but also optimizing the production processes to improve energy consumption (i.e., minimizing energy cost) in order to manage environmental challenges which contribute to global climate change. The purpose of this paper is to study a preemptive scheduling problem on a single-machine to minimize the total completion time and total energy cost under time-of-use electricity tariffs, which is a mixed-integer multiobjective mathematical programming model. To solve these objectives, we develop several new holistic ant colony optimization algorithms. The proposed model is solved via several methods including weighted sum method (WSM) using CPLEX, and multiobjective ant colony optimization based on a dominance ranking (ACO-DR) or based on a dominance ranking procedure and crowding distance comparison (ACO-DRC) or based on a heuristic approach to obtain an approximate Pareto-front and also provide information on when to start and resume each job for any solution on the Pareto-front. We provide detailed experimental results evaluating the performance of the proposed algorithms. In a case study, we demonstrate how the results of the multiobjective model could be utilized in decision making using the multiobjective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA) method. Furthermore, this proposed model and heuristics allows decision makers to operate in challenging-data enabled environments in industrial internet of things ecosystem, and assists in optimizing production planning to improve energy cost.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Reservoir Characterization and Techno-Economic Analysis of Enhanced Geothermal and Closed-Loop Systems in the Wattenberg Field of the Denver-Julesburg Basin, Colorado

This report provides details of reservoir characterization and techno-economic analysis for enhanced geothermal systems and closed-loop geothermal systems in the Denver-Julesburg Basin Wattenberg area. The analysis contributes to the Geothermal Limitless Approach to Drilling Efficiencies (GLADE) project, a multi-institutional research initiative focused on advancing geothermal energy development by reducing drilling costs and improving the rate of penetration. The GLADE project brings together national laboratories, academic institutions, and industry partners, including the U.S. Department of Energy's Geothermal Technologies Office, Occidental Petroleum, the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Colorado School of Mines, Louisiana State University, Texas A&M University, and several drilling technology companies. As part of this effort, NLR developed and applied slender-body theory modeling tools and the GEOPHIRES simulator to support techno-economic analysis. The slender-body theory wellbore simulator evaluated thermal performance in U-loop, Eavor-type multilateral, and enhanced geothermal system well configurations. Results indicated that an optimized single U-loop design delivers an outlet temperature of 168.8 degrees Celsius,stabilizing at a final outlet temperature of 135.3 degrees Celsius. Heat production also improved significantly, with an average thermal output of 16.9 MWth and a final thermal output of 11.0 MWth. These results provided critical baseline data for selecting optimized systems for techno-economic analysis. Building on these outputs, NLR applied the GEOPHIRES techno-economic simulator to estimate the levelized cost of electricity for both the Eavor multilateral and enhanced geothermal systems. The sensitivity analysis showed that drilling costs exert a particularly strong impact on the levelized cost of electricity of multilateral systems. Therefore, advances in drilling technology and improved drilling rates could yield significant gains in the economic performance of these systems. In this context, the GLADE project directly supports the U.S. Department of Energy's mission to reduce the cost of geothermal energy and accelerate the deployment of next-generation geothermal technologies.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Uncertainty quantification for nuclear density functional theory and information content of new measurements

Statistical tools of uncertainty quantification can be used to assess the information content of measured observables with respect to present-day theoretical models, to estimate model errors and thereby improve predictive capability, to extrapolate beyond the regions reached by experiment, and to provide meaningful input to applications and planned measurements. To showcase new opportunities offered by such tools, we make a rigorous analysis of theoretical statistical uncertainties in nuclear density functional theory using Bayesian inference methods. By considering the recent mass measurements from the Canadian Penning Trap at Argonne National Laboratory, we demonstrate how the Bayesian analysis and a direct least-squares optimization, combined with high-performance computing, can be used to assess the information content of the new data with respect to a model based on the Skyrme energy density functional approach. Employing the posterior probability distribution computed with a Gaussian process emulator, we apply the Bayesian framework to propagate theoretical statistical uncertainties in predictions of nuclear masses, two-neutron dripline, and fission barriers. Overall, we find that the new mass measurements do not impose a constraint that is strong enough to lead to significant changes in the model parameters. In addition, the example discussed in this study sets the stage for quantifying and maximizing the impact of new measurements with respect to current modeling and guiding future experimental efforts, thus enhancing the experiment-theory cycle in the scientific method.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A Unified Tracer Analysis of DESI DR2 Baryon Acoustic Oscillations

We improve upon previous efforts to optimally combine overlapping galaxy samples in the DESI baryon acoustic oscillation analysis. By weighting each galaxy by its linear bias, overlapping galaxies are combined into a single, unified catalog, naturally avoiding double counting of cosmic volume and including all auto- and cross- information at the catalog level. Improvements over the previous effort include the addition of QSO out to $z=1.6$ to account for all overlapping DR2 tracers and redshift-dependent bias treatment to improve reconstruction. We report distance measurements using this unified tracer, and find them to be highly consistent with the baseline DR2 BAO analysis. We also test for tracer-dependent systematics within the DESI data, and find no evidence of tracer-dependent systematics within $0.8

Sanders, N. [Ohio U., Athens] (ORCID:0009000800202↗

Limited‐memory adaptive snapshot selection for proper orthogonal decomposition

Summary Reduced order models are useful for accelerating simulations in many‐query contexts, such as optimization, uncertainty quantification, and sensitivity analysis. However, offline training of reduced order models (ROMs) can have prohibitively expensive memory and floating‐point operation costs in high‐performance computing applications, where memory per core is limited. To overcome this limitation for proper orthogonal decomposition, we propose a novel adaptive selection method for snapshots in time that limits offline training costs by selecting snapshots according an error control mechanism similar to that found in adaptive time‐stepping ordinary differential equation solvers. The error estimator used in this work is related to theory bounding the approximation error in time of proper orthogonal decomposition‐based ROMs, and memory usage is minimized by computing the singular value decomposition using a single‐pass incremental algorithm. Results for a viscous Burgers' test problem demonstrate convergence in the limit as the algorithm error tolerances go to zero; in this limit, the full‐order model is recovered to within discretization error. A parallel version of the resulting method can be used on supercomputers to generate proper orthogonal decomposition‐based ROMs, or as a subroutine within hyperreduction algorithms that require taking snapshots in time, or within greedy algorithms for sampling parameter space. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Oxberry, Geoffrey M.↗