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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 127 records · Page 7

Wireless Sensor Modalities at a Nuclear Plant Site to Collect Vibration Data

One of the major contributors to the total operating costs of domestic nuclear fleet of reactors today is the operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. These include labor-intense preventive maintenance programs involving manually-performed inspection, calibration, testing, and maintenance of plant assets at periodic frequency and time-based replacement of assets at periodic frequency, irrespective of their conditions. This has resulted in a labor-centric business model to achieve high capacity factors. To build an optimal maintenance program, it’s time to transition from this labor-centric business model to a technology-centric business model. Fortunately, there are technologies (advanced sensor, data analytics, and risk assessment methodologies) that will support this transition. The technology-centric business model will result in significant plant life extension and reduction of time-based maintenance activities. This will drive down O&M costs as labor is a rising cost and technology is a declining cost. This approach will lay the foundation for real-time condition assessment of plant assets, allowing condition-based maintenance to enhance plant safety, reliability, and economics of operation. The goal of this project is to address challenges in the area of digital monitoring, i.e., the application of advanced sensor technologies (particularly wireless sensor technologies) and science-based data analytic capabilities to advance online monitoring and predictive maintenance in nuclear plants to improve plant performance (efficiency gain and economic competitiveness). To achieve the project goal, in partnership with Exelon Generating Company (Exelon), researchers from Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are performing research and development (R&D) to demonstrate application of wireless sensors using the distributed antenna system and advanced data analytics to achieve predictive maintenance. In the report, wireless vibration sensors, vibration data and its indicator are described. The wireless vibration sensors presented in this report support three types of wireless communication, namely, Wi-Fi, cellular, and 900 MHz. These wireless vibration sensors are considered by partner plant site for installation on plant asset to enable online vibration monitoring to replace periodic measurements. These vibration data along with other plant process data will be utilized to develop diagnostic and prognostic models.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Magnetic bearing stiffness control using frequency band filtering

Active magnetic bearings can be implemented with frequency band-reject filtering that decreases the bearing stiffness and damping at a small bandwidth around a chosen frequency. The control scheme was used for reducing a rotor dynamic force, such as an imbalance force, transmitted to the bearing stator. The scheme creates additional system vibration modes at the same frequency. It also shows that the amount of force reduction is limited by the stability requirement of these modes.

Chen, H. Ming↗

Nature of the Reactive Biferric Peroxy Intermediate P′ in the Arylamine Oxygenases and Related Binuclear Fe Enzymes

Binuclear nonheme iron enzymes activate O 2 to perform a wide range of chemical transformations. The process of O 2 activation typically involves a biferric peroxy-level intermediate P. It has been previously found that this intermediate undergoes further activation, either protonation or rearrangement to form P′ or further oxidation to form high-valent intermediates Q or X. Here, this study defines the structure of the P′ intermediate in the N-oxygenases CmlI (and AurF based on previous data) using nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy (NRVS) in conjugation with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. These results, combined with variable temperature variable field (VTVH) magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy on the 1-electron cryoreduced P′, define the structure of the P′ intermediate as a μ-1,2-hydroxoperoxo biferric site with a second hydroxide bridge. Reaction coordinate calculations demonstrate that single electron transfer (SET) is facilitated by protonation of the peroxo, activating its reductive cleavage, and that the additional hydroxide bridge does not impact this reaction. VTVH MCD studies further reveal that the hydroxide bridge is absent in the biferrous site, suggesting that during the O 2 reaction with the biferrous site, a water molecule forms the hydroxide bridge in providing the proton that activates the peroxide in P′ for reactivity.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Weight Optimization of Active Thermal Management Using a Novel Heat Pump

Efficient lightweight power generation and thermal management are two important aspects for space applications. Weight is added to the space platforms due to the inherent weight of the onboard power generation equipment and the additional weight of the required thermal management systems. Thermal management of spacecraft relies on rejection of heat via radiation, a process that can result in large radiator mass, depending upon the heat rejection temperature. For some missions, it is advantageous to incorporate an active thermal management system, allowing the heat rejection temperature to be greater than the load temperature. This allows a reduction of radiator mass at the expense of additional system complexity. A particular type of active thermal management system is based on a thermodynamic cycle, developed by the authors, called the Solar Integrated Thermal Management and Power (SITMAP) cycle. This system has been a focus of the authors research program in the recent past (see Fig. 1). One implementation of the system requires no moving parts, which decreases the vibration level and enhances reliability. Compression of the refrigerant working fluid is accomplished in this scheme via an ejector.

Lear, William E.↗

Ice Recrystallization Inhibition Activity of Soy Protein Hydrolysates

Identifying and developing ice recrystallization inhibitors from sustainable food proteins such as soy protein isolate (SPI) can lead to practical applications in both pharmaceutical and food industries. Here, the objective of this study was to investigate the ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) activity of SPI hydrolysates, and this was achieved by using an IRI activity-guided fractionation approach and relating IRI activity to interfacial molecular activity measured by vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG). In addition, the impact of molecular weight (MW) and enzyme specificity was analyzed using three different proteases (Alcalase, trypsin, and pancreatin) and varying hydrolysis times. Using preparative chromatography, hydrolysates from each enzyme treatment were fractionated into five different MW fractions (F1–F5), which were then characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). All SPI hydrolysates had IRI activity, resulting in a 57–29% ice crystal diameter reduction when compared to native SPI. The F1 fraction (of 4–14 kDa) was most effective among all tested hydrolysates, while the lower MW peptide fractions lacked activity. One sample (SPI-ALC 20-F1) had a 52% reduction of ice crystal size at a lower concentration of 2% compared to the typical 4% used. SFG showed a difference in H-bonding and hydrophobic interactions of the molecules on the water/air interface, which may be linked to IRI activity. This study demonstrates for the first time the ability of SPI hydrolysates to inhibit ice crystal growth and the potential application of SFG to study molecular interaction at the interface that may help illustrate the mechanism of action.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Discriminating the Role of Surface Hydride and Hydroxyl for Acetylene Semihydrogenation over Ceria through In Situ Neutron and Infrared Spectroscopy

Ceria has been used as a hydrogenation catalyst especially in selective alkyne hydrogenation, but the reaction mechanism regarding the role of different surface hydrogen species remains unclear. Here, we utilized in situ neutron and infrared vibration spectroscopy to show the catalytic role of cerium hydride (Ce–H) and hydroxyl (OH) groups in acetylene hydrogenation over ceria surfaces with different degree of reduction. In situ inelastic neutron scattering spectroscopy (INS) proved that not only Ce–H but also surface atomic hydrogen species on the reduced ceria surface can participate in acetylene semihydrogenation. In situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) results implied that bridging OH groups both on the oxidized and reduced ceria are active in the selective hydrogenation of acetylene. It appears that surface Ce–H is more reactive than the coexisting OH species on the reduced ceria surface, but over-reduction of ceria also results in strongly bound species that may lead to catalyst deactivation. These spectroscopic results clearly explain the reaction mechanism including not only the surface chemistry but also the nature of the active hydrogen species for selective hydrogenation over ceria, providing insights into the design of more active and stable ceria-based catalysts for hydrogenation reactions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Exploring the influence of interfacial solvation on electrochemical CO 2 reduction using plasmon‐enhanced vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy

Although interfacial solvation plays an important role in determining carbon dioxide reduction (CO 2 R) kinetics, present understanding of the potential dependent properties of the electrochemical double layer under conditions relevant for CO 2 R remains limited. This article summarizes the development and recent applications of plasmon-enhanced vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy to study the effects of cation hydration and interfacial solvation on CO 2 R using CO as a vibrational Stark reporter. Results show that electrolyte cations retain their entire solvation shell upon adsorption to inactive sites, while active sites retain only a single water layer between the gold surface and the cation. Measurements also show that the total interfacial electric field can be separated into two contributions: one from the electrochemical double layer (Stern field) and another from the polar solvation environment (Onsager field). Surprisingly, correlating VSFG spectra with reaction kinetics reveals that it is the solvation-mediated Onsager field that governs the chemical reactivity at the electrode/electrolyte interface. Measuring the interfacial water spectra during electrocatalysis also provides evidence for the proton source during H2 evolution, which competes with CO 2 R in aqueous electrolyte. These findings highlight the importance of directly probing cation hydration and interfacial solvation, which mediates reaction kinetics at electrochemical interfaces.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Towards Realistic Models of Heterogeneous Catalysis: Simulations of Oxidation Catalysis from First Principles

Among the most significant developments in heterogeneous catalysis in the last 20 years is the emergence of microkinetic models, often parameterized from density functional theory (DFT) calculations, used to quantify observed catalyst performance and to guide the discovery of new catalytic materials. While DFT directly reports binding energies and elementary step activation energies, the free energies that enter into microkinetic models must be computed from additional approximations. Frequently these free energy approximations assume ideal behavior—that adsorbates do not interact with one another, or that adsorbates are immobile or vibrate harmonically about a binding site. These assumptions can and do have an impact on predicted catalyst performance and potentially even on predicted trends. Our work relates to three categories of non-idealities, explored in the context of nitrogen oxidation and reduction catalysis on metal surfaces. One component relates to adsorbate translational free energy, the contribution least well described by conventional models, in which we develop modeling approaches that improve accuracy with limited increase in computational expense. A second component relates adsorbate-adsorbate interactions, in which we develop benchmark on-lattice interaction models and compare kinetic predictions with conventional mean-field models, in an effort to develop more robust coverage-dependent mean field modeling approaches. The last relates the most fundamental assumption of all—that of energy equipartition—in an effort to rationalize and guide plasma-enhanced catalysis.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Superconductivity devices: Commercial use of space

The work described in this report covers various aspects of the Rainbow solid-state actuator technology. It is presented in six parts dealing with materials, processing, fabrication, properties and associated phenomena. The Rainbow actuator technology is a relatively new materials development which had its inception in 1992. It consists of a new processing technology for preparing piezoelectric and electrostrictive ceramic materials. It involves a high temperature chemical reduction process which leads to an internal pre-stressing of the oxide wafer, thus the name Rainbow, an acronym for Reduced And INternally Biased Oxide Wafer. Ceramics fabricated by this method produce bending-mode actuator devices which possess several times more displacement and load bearing capacity than present-day benders (unimorphs, bimorphs). It is anticipated that these solid-state, electromechanical actuators which can be used in a number of applications in space such as cryopump motors, anti-vibration active structures, autoleveling platforms, telescope mirror correctors and autofocusing devices. When considering any of these applications, the key to the development of a successful device is the successful development of a ceramic material which can produce maximum displacement per volt input; hence, this initiative involving a solid-state means for achieving unusually high electromechanical displacement can be significant and far reaching. An additional benefit obtained from employing the piezoelectric effect in these actuator devices is the ability to also utilize them as sensors; and, indeed, they can be used as both motor (actuator) and generator (sensor) in multifunction devices.

Haertling, Gene↗

Space Exploration Applications for Development of High Capacity Cryocoolers

Long term storage of cryogens is necessary to enable NASAs long duration crewed missions to both the lunar and Martian surfaces. Such missions require in-space transport systems such as Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP), and descent/ascent vehicles for transportation to and from the lunar and Martian surfaces. NTP systems and Lunar/Martian landers utilize cryogenic fluids to minimize architectural volume and mass. To further enhance the capability of these cryogenic systems, the Agency is putting emphasis on reusability, which requires the NTP and ascent/descent elements be replenished on-orbit via tankers or propellant depots, or on the lunar or Martian surface using liquefied in-situ produced propellants. NTP is one of the leading propulsion option for human Mars missions and requires liquid hydrogen to be stored on-orbit for over four years. For such a long duration mission, near “Zero Boil-Off” (ZBO) must be achieved which requires an optimized suite of passive Cryogenic Fluid Management technologies and active cooling (cryocoolers). Tens of Watts of 20K cooling is required to achieve ZBO conditions for NTP, however two-stage cooling using both 20K and 90K systems can lead to a significant reduction in both active cooling mass and power. The use of in-situ resources for lunar and Martian missions will require 150 Watts of 90K cooling for oxygen liquefaction and 300 Watts of 20K cooling for hydrogen liquefaction (lunar only). Descent/Ascent vehicles, propellant depots, and tankers will also require the use of cryocoolers to achieve ZBO conditions. To support these programs, NASA is developing high capacity 20K and 90K reverse turbo-Brayton cycle cryocoolers which offer a scalable, high efficiency, low vibration solution.

cryocooler↗

Observation of a Picosecond Light-Induced Spin Transition in Polymeric Nanorods

Spin transition (ST) materials are attractive for developing photoswitchable devices, but their slow material transformations limit device applications. Size reduction could enable faster switching, but the photoinduced dynamics at the nanoscale remains poorly understood. Here, we report a femtosecond optical pump multimodal X-ray probe study of polymeric nanorods. Simultaneously tracking the ST order parameter with X-ray emission spectroscopy and structure with X-ray diffraction, we observe photodoping of the low-spin–lattice within ~150 fs. Above a ~16% photodoping threshold, the transition to the high-spin phase occurs following an incubation period assigned to vibrational energy redistribution within the nanorods activating the molecular spin switching. Above ~60% photodoping, the incubation period disappears, and the transition completes within ~50 ps, preceded by the elastic nanorod expansion in response to the photodoping. These results support the feasibility of ST material-based GHz optical switching applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Skeletal Adaptation to Daily Activity: A Biochemical Perspective

Musculoskeletal forces generated by normal daily activity on Earth maintain the functional and structural properties of muscle and bone throughout most of one's adult life. A reduction in the level of cumulative daily loading caused by space flight, bed rest or spinal cord injury induces rapid muscle atrophy, functional changes in muscle, and bone resorption in regions subjected to the reduced loading. Bone cells in culture and bone tissue reportedly respond to a wide variety of non-mechanical and mechanical stimuli ranging, from electromagnetic fields, and hormones to small amplitude, high frequency vibrations, fluid flow, strain rate, and stress/strain magnitude. However, neither the transduction mechanism that transforms the mechanical input into a muscle or bone metabolic response nor the characteristics, of the loading history that directly or indirectly stimulates the cell is known. Identifying the factors contributing to the input stimulus will have a major impact on the design of effective countermeasures for long duration space flight. This talk will present a brief overview of current theories of bone remodeling and functional adaptation to mechanical loading. Work from our lab will be presented from the perspective of daily cumulative loading on Earth and its relationship to bone density and structure. Our objective is to use the tibia and calcaneus as model bone sites of cortical and cancellous bone adaptation, loaded daily by musculoskeletal forces in equilibrium with the ground reaction force. All materials that will be discussed are in the open scientific literature.

Whalen, Robert T.↗

Control of Vibration Systems with Mechanical Motion Rectifier and their Applications to Vehicle Suspension and Ocean Energy Harvester

Vibration control is a large branch in control research, because all moving systems may induce desired or undesired vibration. Due to the limitation of passive system’s adaptability and changing excitation input, vibration control brings the solution to change system dynamic with desired behavior to fulfill control targets. According to preference, vibration control can be separated into two categories: vibration reduction and vibration amplification. Lots of research papers only examine one aspect in vibration control. The thesis investigates the control development for both control targets with two different control applications: vehicle suspension and ocean wave energy converter. It develops control methods for both systems with simplified modeling setup, then followed by the application of a novel mechanical motion rectifier (MMR) gearbox that uses mechanical one-way clutches in both systems. The flow is from the control for common system to the control design for a specifically designed system. In the thesis, active (model predictive control: MPC), semi-active (Skyhook, skyhook-power driven damper: SHPDD, hybrid model predictive control: HMPC), and passive control (Latching Control) methods are developed for different applications or control performance comparison on single system. The thesis also studies about new type of system with switching mechanism, in which other papers do not talk too much and possible control research direction to deal with such complicated system in vibration control. The state-space modeling for both systems are provided in the thesis with detailed model of the MMR gearbox. From the simulation, it can be shown that in the vehicle suspension application, the controlled MMR gearbox can be effective in improving vehicle ride comfort by 29.2% compared to that of the traditional hydraulic suspension. In the ocean wave energy converter, the controlled MMR WEC with simple latching control can improve the power generation by 57% compared to the passive MMR WEC. Besides, the passive MMR WEC also shows its advantage on the passive direct drive WEC in power generation improvement. From the control development flow for the MMR system, the limitation of the MMR gearbox is also identified, which introduces the future work in developing active-MMR gearbox by using an electromagnetic clutch. Some possible control development directions on the active-MMR is also mentioned at the end of the thesis to provide reference for future works.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

The detection of marine microseismic activity with the CUORE tonne-scale cryogenic experiment

Vibrations from experimental setups and the environment are a persistent source of noise for low-temperature calorimeters searching for rare events, including neutrinoless double beta ( 0νββ ) decay or dark matter interactions. Such noise can significantly limit experimental sensitivity to the physics case under investigation. Here, we report the detection of marine microseismic vibrations using mK-scale calorimeters. This study employs a multi-device analysis correlating data from CUORE, the leading experiment in the search for 0νββ decay with mK-scale calorimeters, and the Copernicus Earth Observation program, revealing the seasonal impact of Mediterranean Sea activity on CUORE’s energy thresholds, resolution, and sensitivity over four years. The detection of marine microseisms underscores the need to address faint environmental noise in ultra-sensitive experiments. Understanding how such noise couples to the detector and developing mitigation strategies is essential for next-generation experiments. We demonstrate one such strategy: a noise decorrelation algorithm implemented in CUORE using auxiliary sensors, which reduces vibrational noise and improves detector performance. Enhancing sensitivity to 0νββ decay and to rare events with low-energy signatures requires identifying unresolved noise sources, advancing noise reduction methods, and improving vibration suppression systems, all of which inform the design of next-generation rare event experiments.

experimental nuclear physics↗

An Introduction to Rotorcraft Research at NASA Ames

NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA is the NASA lead Center for rotorcraft research. Rotorcraft research at Ames includes system analysis and configuration optimization, aeromechanics, and flight control and cockpit integration. Research in other areas such as composite structure and material, and rotor acoustics are conducted mainly at Langley Research Center, and rotorcraft propulsion and drivetrain are conducted at Lewis Research Center. This seminar will discuss Ames' rotorcraft research goals and some sample research projects and results. The talk will also briefly describe the newly fanned Army/NASA Rotorcraft Division, which combines the resources of rotorcraft branches in NASA Ames Aeronautics Directorate with Army's Aeroflightdynamics Directorate to better achieve the missions of the two previous rotorcraft research organizations at Ames. Rotorcraft research activities at NASA Ames are funded by two main program categories: Research and Technology (RUTH Base program and the Short Haul (Civil Tiltrotor) program. Work in the R&T program is carried out by the research staff in the Army/NASA Rotorcraft Division, and the work on SH(CT) program is carried out jointly by the SH(CT) program office and the Army/NASA Rotorcraft Division. Sample research projects and results in REST base program, such as conceptual assessment of several high-speed rotorcraft, rotorcraft CFD, individual blade control for reduction of external noise and vibration, noise-abatement flight procedures, engine inoperative procedures, handling qualities, and advanced flight control laws are broadly reviewed. High-speed rotorcraft research related to SH(CT) technology development conducted at Ames in the areas of low-noise proprotor, and low-noise terminal-area operations is also discussed.

Chen, Robert T. N.↗

Exploring the Unusual Reactivity of the Hydrated Electron with CO 2

Many questions remain about the reactions of the hydrated electron despite decades of study. Of particular note is the fact that they do not appear to follow the Marcus theory of electron transfer reactions, a feature that has yet to be explained. To investigate these issues, we use ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations to investigate a one of the better studied reactions, the hydrated electron reduction of CO 2 . The rate constant for the hydrated electron-CO 2 reaction complex to react to form CO 2 - is, for the first time, estimated from AIMD simulations. Results at 298 and 373 K show the rate constant is insensitive to temperature, consistent with the low measured activation energy for the reaction, and the implications of this behavior are examined. The sampling provided by the simulations yields insight into the reaction mechanism. The reaction is found to involve both solvent reorganization and changes in the carbon dioxide structure. The latter lead to significant vibrational excitation of the bending and symmetric stretch vibrations in the CO 2 - product, indicating the reaction is vibrationally nonadiabatic. The former is estimated from calculation of an approximate collective solvent coordinate and the free energy in this coordinate is determined. Furthermore, these results indicate that AIMD simulations can reasonably estimate hydrated electron reaction activation energies and provide new insight into the mechanism that can help illuminate the features of this unusual chemistry.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Analysis of potential helicopter vibration reduction concepts

Several recent helicopter vibration reduction research programs are described. Results of studies of blade design parameters in rotor vibratory response and of an advanced blade design for reduced vibration are examined. An optimization approach to develop a general automated procedure for rotor blade design is described, and analytical results for an articulated rotor operating at a steady 160 kt flight condition are reported. The use of a self-adaptive controller to implement higher harmonic control in closed-loop fashion is addressed, and a computer simulation used to evaluate and compare the performance of alternative algorithms included in the generic active controller is discussed. Results are presented for steady level flight conditions, short-duration maneuvers, blade stresses and rotor performance, blade-appended aeroelastic devices, vibratory airloads, wake-induced blade airloads, and airloads from blade motions, the interaction of rotor and fuselage, and the interaction of rotor and empennage.

Landgrebe, A. J.↗

An experimental investigation of the active control of sound transmission into a cylindrical enclosure

Preliminary results are reported from experiments involving the use of vibration sources in the active control of sound transmission into a cylindrical chamber (as in aircraft cabin-noise suppression). Electrodynamic shakers are used to provide vibrational excitation in a 3-m-high 900-mm-diameter cylindrical stainless-steel chamber with damped ends, subjected to single-frequency (384-Hz) sound from a horn driver located 150 mm from the cylinder midway along its length. When vibration is applied only diametrically opposite the source, rotation of the sound field occurs, but global attenuation is not achieved; with additional vibration applied at an angle of 225 deg to the source, moderate reduction of the global field is obtained. The need to identify and control all offending coupled structural/acoustic modes is indicated.

Snyder, S. D.↗