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At least 127 records · Page 7

Measurement of Convective Heat Transfer Coefficients with Supercritical CO2 in Novel Additively Manufactured Helically Patterned Pin Fin Tubes Using the Wilson Plot Technique

This paper describes the measurement of convective heat transfer coefficients and friction factors for sCO2 flowing in pin-fin patterned pipes in the Heat Exchange and Experimental Testing (HEET) facility at the US DoE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown, WV. The measurement procedures in the HEET rig were validated by conducting benchmark tests with smooth stainless-steel tube and comparing the results with published correlations for Nusselt number (Nu) and friction factor. Over typical Reynolds number range in sCO2, the measured Nu and friction factors were within 7% of classical correlations for smooth tube flow.The candidate pin fin patterned pipes were additively manufactured (AM) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The pins were circular or elliptical in cross-section. Pin length to diameter aspect ratios were 1.33 and 2, while the pin diameter to tube diameter ratio was 0.188 and 0.125. Tests were performed for ReD varying from 6.9×104 to 2.2×105 and at conditions equivalent to the low pressure outlet (8.69 MPa, 361 K) of the low temperature recuperator (LTR) in an indirect sCO2 power cycle. The Wilson plot technique was utilized to measure the bulk heat transfer coefficients.For the better performing design (tube A, pin length to tube diameter ratio: 1.33, pin diameter to tube diameter ratio: 0.188), the local heat transfer coefficient increased by 112% relative to the Dittus-Boelter correlation at the LTR low pressure outlet. This corresponded to a 282% increase in the product of the heat transfer coefficient and the surface area. Large pressure drops across the test articles were observed.

Searle, Matthew↗

An intermetallic powder-in-tube approach to increased flux-pinning in Nb 3 Sn by internal oxidation of Zr

We report on the development of multifilamentary Nb 3 Sn superconductors by a versatile powder-in-tube technique (PIT) that demonstrates a simple pathway to a strand with a higher density of flux-pinning sites that has the potential to increase critical current density beyond present levels. The approach uses internal oxidation of Zr-alloyed Nb tubes to produce Zr oxide particles within the Nb 3 Sn layer that act as a dispersion of artificial pinning centres (APCs). In this design, SnO 2 powder is mixed with Cu 5 Sn 4 powder within the PIT core that supplies the Sn for the A15 reaction with Nb1Zr filament tubes. Initial results show an average grain size of ~38 nm in the A15 layer, compared to the 90–130 nm of typical APC-free high-J c strands made by conventional PIT or Internal Sn processing. Furthermore, there is a shift in the peak of the pinning force curve from H/H irr of ~0.2 to ~0.3 and the pinning force curves can be deconvoluted into grain boundary and point-pinning components, the point-pinning contribution dominating for the APC Nb-1wt%Zr strands.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Imaging atomic-scale effects of high-energy ion irradiation on superconductivity and vortex pinning in Fe(Se,Te)

Maximizing the sustainable supercurrent density, J C , is crucial to high-current applications of superconductivity, and to achieve this, preventing dissipative motion of quantized vortices is key. Irradiation of superconductors with highenergy heavy ions can be used to create nanoscale defects that act as deep pinning potentials for vortices. This approach holds unique promise for high-current applications of iron-based superconductors because JC amplification persists to much higher radiation doses than in cuprate superconductors without significantly altering the superconducting critical temperature. However, for these compounds, virtually nothing is known about the atomic-scale interplay of the crystal damage from the high-energy ions, the superconducting order parameter, and the vortex pinning processes. We visualize the atomic-scale effects of irradiating FeSe x Te 1$-$x with 249-MeV Au ions and find two distinct effects: compact nanometer-sized regions of crystal disruption or “columnar defects,” plus a higher density of single atomic site “point” defects probably from secondary scattering. We directly show that the superconducting order is virtually annihilated within the former but suppressed by the latter. Simultaneous atomically resolved images of the columnar crystal defects, the superconductivity, and the vortex configurations then reveal how amixed pinning landscape is created, with the strongest pinning occurring at metallic core columnar defects and secondary pinning at clusters of point-like defects, followed by collective pinning at higher fields.

Critical Current by Design↗

Nuclide inventory characterization of EBR-II MOX fuel test pins

Characterization of 3 mixed oxide (MOX) fuel pins from the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) SPA-2/-2B experiment program was performed in support of the Advanced Reactor Experiments for Sodium Fast Reactor Fuels (ARES) joint project between Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). The characterization efforts were performed to enable transient testing in the Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) facility at INL and will include post irradiation examination (PIE) and other analyses. MOX fuel pins UW02009, 02011, and 06024 were historically irradiated from 1989 to 1994 for a total of 822.42 effective full power days (EFPDs) and peak burnup of approximately 14.3 at.% (atomic percent of heavy metal atoms, ∼134.4 GWd/t). They had since been placed in storage until a future use was identified. Characterization of the fission products and activation of each fuel pin was necessary to enable removal from storage and subsequent irradiation testing or PIE activities. The initial fuel pin geometry and composition were established using historical documentation. Irradiation history details were utilized to compute irradiated and decayed fuel pin masses, atomic densities, and activities. A pellet-wise axial neutron flux was also computed to assist in evaluation of the axial distribution of {sup 235}U and {sup 239}Pu, per pellet, within each of the test fuel pins. The results computed herein supported experiment design for advanced high-burnup MOX fuel designs under slow transient overpower (MOXTOP) conditions, which was Phase I of the ARES project. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Examination of Legacy Metallic Fuel Pins (U-10Zr) Tested in FFTF

The MFF series of metallic fuel (U-10wt%Zr) tests performed in the Fast Fuel Test Facility (FFTF) were the beginning tests to qualify the fuel as a driver fuel for FFTF. They all performed very well, to relatively high burnup and with no pin breaches. Tests MFF-3 and MFF-5 were chosen to be destructively examined because they were run at high peak cladding temperatures, 643 and 649°C respectively, and to modest to high burnup (138 and 101 MWd/kgM respectively). They were the only sodium fast reactor (SFR) metallic tests, with long (91.4 cm) fuel columns and clad in HT9, to be operated at these high temperatures. Extensive operating condition reconstruction was performed to accompany the examination, providing detailed operating conditions axially along the pins. In addition, detailed ORIGEN calculations provided fuel burnup along the pin length. These calculations and detailed cross-section metallography allowed a PhD dissertation to be performed where the fuel/cladding chemical interaction (FCCI) was modeled using Fickian and Soret Effect driven diffusion of rare earth fission products to the cladding surface and interact with the cladding. The examination of the MFF-3 and MFF-5 pins included neutron radiography, axial profilometry including pin bow and length measurements, precision gamma scanning, plenum gas puncturing to measure fission gas release, detailed chemical/isotopic analyses of fuel samples to confirm burnup calculations, and metallography of pin cross-sections, including micro-hardness measurements of fuel and cladding.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Surface Effects on the Dynamic Behavior of Vortices in Type II Superconducting Strips with Periodic and Conformal Pinning Arrays

Using molecular dynamics techniques, we simulate the vortex behavior in a type II superconducting strip in the presence of triangular and two types of conformal pinning arrays, one with a pinning gradient perpendicular to the driving force (C1) and the other parallel (C2), at zero temperature. A transport force is applied in the infinite direction of the strip, and the magnetic field is increased until the rate between the density of vortices (n{sub v}) and pinning (n{sub p}) reaches n{sub v}/n{sub p} = 1.5. Our results show a monotonic increase, by steps, of the vortex density with the applied magnetic field. Besides, each pinning lattice presents a different vortex penetration delay. For the triangular pinning array, different than the case of infinite films, here the system exhibits only one pronounced depinning force peak at n{sub v}/n{sub p} = 1. However, the depinning force peak is present for only one value of field, in the range of fields where n{sub v}/n{sub p} = 1 is stable. For the case of conformal pinning arrays, in analogy to what is observed in infinite films, no commensurability depinning force peaks were found. In the present case, the C1 array is more efficient at low fields, all arrays are equivalent in the intermediate fields, and the C2 array is more efficient for high fields. We also show that for the C1 array at high fields, vortices depin following the conformal arches, from the edge to the center. For the C2 array, the depinning force is higher when compared to that of C1, because this particular conformal structure prevents the formation of easy vortex flow channels.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

CFD analysis of a solid pin-fueled small modular fluoride salt-cooled reactor

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study is performed for the pre-conceptual solid pin-fueled small modular fluoride salt-cooled reactor developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The solid and fluid regions in a 1/12th section of a fuel assembly are modeled. The solid region includes fuel and non-fuel pins, with heat generation in the active region of the fuel pins. Two different power profiles, uniform and center-peaked, are considered. The FLiBe coolant flows from the bottom to the top of the core, parallel to the bank of fuel and non-fuel pins. The k-ω shear-stress transport (SST) model is chosen as the baseline turbulence model. The effects of grid refinement, inlet turbulence specification, and turbulence models on the temperature and pressure drop predictions are studied. Turbulence model sensitivity is investigated by comparing the results from the k-ω SST model with other two-equation models (k-ω baseline or BSL and k-ε realizable) as well as with anisotropic Reynolds stress transport models (linear pressure-strain and stress-BSL). Here the results show that the choice of turbulence model has a significant impact on the pin temperature and bundle pressure drop predictions. The results from the baseline turbulence model show good agreement between the fuel pin temperatures and bundle pressure drop values predicted using a subchannel model previously developed by the authors of the present study.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Jamming, fragility and pinning phenomena in superconducting vortex systems

Abstract We examine driven superconducting vortices interacting with quenched disorder under a sequence of perpendicular drive pulses. As a function of disorder strength, we find four types of behavior distinguished by the presence or absence of memory effects. The fragile and jammed states exhibit memory, while the elastic and pinning dominated regimes do not. In the fragile regime, the system organizes into a pinned state during the first pulse, flows during the second perpendicular pulse, and then returns to a pinned state during the third pulse which is parallel to the first pulse. This behavior is the hallmark of the fragility proposed for jamming in particulate matter. For stronger disorder, we observe a robust jamming state with memory where the system reaches a pinned or reduced flow state during the perpendicular drive pulse, similar to the shear jamming of granular systems. We show signatures of the different states in the spatial vortex configurations, and find that memory effects arise from coexisting elastic and pinned components of the vortex assembly. The sequential perpendicular driving protocol we propose for distinguishing fragile, jammed, and pinned phases should be general to the broader class of driven interacting particles in the presence of quenched disorder.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Vortex Ordering and Dynamics of Santa Fe Artificial Ice Pinning Arrays

We numerically examine the ordering, pinning, and flow of superconducting vortices interacting with a Santa Fe artificial ice pinning array. We find that as a function of magnetic field and pinning density, a wide variety of vortex states occur, including ice rule obeying states and labyrinthine patterns. In contrast to square pinning arrays, we find no sharp peaks in the critical current due to the inherent frustration effect imposed by the Santa Fe ice geometry; however, there are some smoothed peaks when the number of vortices matches the number of pinning sites. For some fillings, the Santa Fe array exhibits stronger pinning than the square array due to the suppression of one-dimensional flow channels when the vortex motion in the Santa Fe lattice occurs through the formation of both longitudinal and transverse flow channels.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Magnetoresistive detection of strongly pinned uncompensated magnetization in antiferromagnetic FeMn

Here we observed and studied pinned uncompensated magnetization in an antiferromagnet using magnetoresistance measurements. For this, we developed antiferromagnet-ferromagnet spin valves (AFSVs) that consist of an antiferromagnetic layer and a ferromagnetic one, separated by a nonmagnetic conducting spacer. In an AFSV, the uncompensated magnetization in the antiferromagnet affects scattering of spin-polarized electrons giving rise to giant magnetoresitance (GMR). By measuring angular dependence of AFSVs' resistance, we detected pinned uncompensated magnetization responsible for the exchange bias effect in an antiferromagnet- only exchange bias system Cu/FeMn/Cu. The fact that GMR measured in this system persists up to 110 kOe indicates that the scattering occurs on strongly pinned uncompensated magnetic moments in FeMn. This strong pinning can be explained if this pinned uncompensated magnetization is a thermodynamically stable state and coupled to the antiferromagnetic order parameter. Finally, using the AFSV technique, we confirmed that the two interfaces between FeMn and Cu are magnetically different: The uncompensated magnetization is pinned only at the interface with the bottom Cu layer.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Thermal hysteresis of the Campbell response as a probe for bulk pinning landscape spectroscopy

In type-II superconductors, the macroscopic response of vortex matter to an external perturbation depends on the local interaction of flux lines with the pinning landscape (pinscape). The (Campbell) penetration depth λ C of an ac field perturbation is often associated with a phenomenological pinning curvature. However, this basic approach is unable to capture thermal hysteresis effects observed in a variety of superconductors. The recently developed framework of strong-pinning theory has established a quantitative relationship between the microscopic pinscape and macroscopic observables. Specifically, it identifies history-dependent vortex arrangements as the primary source for thermal hysteresis in the Campbell response. In this work, we show that this interpretation is well-suited to capture the experimental results of the clean superconductor NbSe 2 , as observed through Campbell response (linear ac susceptibility) and small-angle neutron scattering measurements. Furthermore, we exploit the hysteretic Campbell response upon thermal cycling to extract the temperature dependence of microscopic pinning parameters from bulk measurements, specifically the pinning force and pinning length. Finally, this spectroscopic tool may stimulate further pinscape characterization in other superconducting systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Nonlinear transport, dynamic ordering, and clustering for driven skyrmions on random pinning

Using numerical simulations, we examine the nonlinear dynamics of skyrmions driven over random pinning. For weak pinning, the skyrmions depin elastically, retaining sixfold ordering; however, at the onset of motion there is a dip in the magnitude of the structure factor peaks due to a decrease in positional ordering, indicating that the depinning transition can be detected using the structure factor even within the elastic depinning regime. At higher drives, the moving skyrmion lattice regains full ordering. For increasing pinning strength, we find a transition from elastic to plastic depinning that is accompanied by a sharp increase in the depinning threshold due to the proliferation of topological defects, similar to the peak effect found at the elastic to plastic depinning transition in superconducting vortex systems. For strong pinning and strong Magnus force, the skyrmions in the moving phase can form a strongly clustered or phase-separated state with highly modulated skyrmion density, similar to that recently observed in continuum-based simulations for strong disorder. As the Magnus force is decreased, the density phase-separated state crosses over to a dynamically phase-separated state with uniform density but with flow localized in bands of motion, while in the strongly damped limit, both types of phase-separated states are lost. In the strong pinning limit, we find highly nonlinear velocity-force curves in the transverse and longitudinal directions, along with distinct regions of negative differential conductivity in the plastic flow regime. The negative differential conductivity is absent in the overdamped limit. In conclusion, the Magnus force is responsible for both the negative differential conductivity and the clustering effects since it causes faster moving skyrmions to partially rotate around slower moving or pinned skyrmions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Dissolution of a Can Carrier Pin in Concentrated Nitric Acid

H=Canyon will be dissolving Fast Critical Assembly (FCA) fuel from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). The FCA fuel will be dissolved in the electrolytic dissolver in a solution that is a 50 wt.% nitric acid (HNO 3 ), 0.5 g/l gadolinium (Gd), and 0.05 M potassium fluoride (KF). The nitric acid concentration is expected to decrease during the batch process from 10.3 to 7 M. The temperature of the nitric acid solution may be as low as 15 °C. The fuel can will be placed in the dissolver basket insert utilizing a reusable charging device. The charging device is a coated stainless-steel rod with a clevis design. The charging device employs a linchpin to secure the FCA fuel can as it is being charged into the H-canyon dissolver. Prior to beginning the electrolytic dissolution process, the pin will be dissolved, the fuel can will remain in the dissolver basket insert and the charging device will be removed. Currently the time necessary for complete dissolution of the pin is unknown and thus the timing of the removal of the charging device cannot be planned. This process is to be performed remotely and therefore complete dissolution of the pin will not be able to be visually determined. The pin will be made of a material that dissolves in the concentrated nitric acid solution in the dissolver. The facility desired to know the time that the pin would be dissolved so that the charging device for the FCA can could be removed from the dissolver. In particular, the pin dissolution time as a function of the nitric acid concentration and the temperature was desired. The facility would like to ensure that the solution environment was such that the charging device could be removed within an operational shift (8-12 hours).

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Dynamic influence of pinning points on marine ice-sheet stability: a numerical study in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica

The East Antarctic ice sheet is likely more stable than its West Antarctic counterpart because its bed is largely lying above sea level. However, the ice sheet in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, contains marine sectors that are in contact with the ocean through overdeepened marine basins interspersed by grounded ice promontories and ice rises, pinning and stabilising the ice shelves. In this paper, we use the ice-sheet model BISICLES to investigate the effect of sub-ice-shelf melting, using a series of scenarios compliant with current values, on the ice-dynamic stability of the outlet glaciers between the Lazarev and Roi Baudouin ice shelves over the next millennium. Overall, the sub-ice-shelf melting substantially impacts the sea-level contribution. Locally, we predict a short-term rapid grounding-line retreat of the overdeepened outlet glacier Hansenbreen, which further induces the transition of the bordering ice promontories into ice rises. Furthermore, our analysis demonstrated that the onset of the marine ice-sheet retreat and subsequent promontory transition into ice rise is controlled by small pinning points, mostly uncharted in pan-Antarctic datasets. Pinning points have a twofold impact on marine ice sheets. They decrease the ice discharge by buttressing effect, and they play a crucial role in initialising marine ice sheets through data assimilation, leading to errors in ice-shelf rheology when omitted. Our results show that unpinning increases the sea-level rise by 10%, while omitting the same pinning point in data assimilation decreases it by 10%, but the more striking effect is in the promontory transition time, advanced by two centuries for unpinning and delayed by almost half a millennium when the pinning point is missing in data assimilation. As a result, pinning points exert a subtle influence on ice dynamics at the kilometre scale, which calls for a better knowledge of the Antarctic margins.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Contact stresses in pin-loaded orthotropic plates

The effects of pin elasticity, friction, and clearance on the stresses near the hole in a pin-loaded orthotropic plate are described. The problem is modeled as a contact elasticity problem using complex variable theory, the pin and the plate being two elastic bodies interacting through contact. This modeling is in contrast to previous works which assumed that the pin is rigid or that it exerts a known cosinusoidal radial traction on the hole boundary. Neither of these approaches explicitly involves a pin. A collocation procedure and iteration were used to obtain numerical results for a variety of plate and pin elastic properties and various levels of friction and clearance. Collocation was used to enforce the boundary and iteration was used to find the contact and no-slip regions on the boundary. Details of the numerical scheme are discussed.

Hyer, M. W.↗

Verification of the SRB motor case pin retainer band tips

The pin retainer band is a 1-1/4 in. wide by about 1/32 in. thick steel band that is stretched over the pins circumferentially at the joints of the solid rocket booster (SRB) motor case segments. Its purpose is to hold the retaining pins in place during flight. Since the band is thin and is mounted stretched, or under tension, over the pins which are greased in place, it is necessary to protect it thermally. Three typical areas of the band location on the SRB motor case joints were chosen for verifying the cork thermal prection system (TPS) performance on the band: the joint in front of the attach ring, at the aft skirt joint in front of the kick ring and in an unperturbed area at the forward segments of the SRB motor cases. The kick ring area pin retainer band cork TPS passed the test requirements in the region where there are no phenolic splice caps. In the splice cap areas where the band TPS is closed out around the splice with K5NA, additional amounts of K5NA material is required to adequately protect the steel band. TPS requirements were easily met in the one location where the ends of the steel band are joined together after installation and tensioning. The attack ring area pin retainer band TPS did not quite pass the heat load requirements with the .375 in. thick cork TPS as used for the kick ring area band. It is recommended that the cork thickness here be increased to .50 in. The unperturbed area band TPS presented no problems.

Karu, Z. S.↗

Optimization of pin bearing joint strength for segmented graphite/epoxy filament wound case in Space Shuttle

An attempt is made to demonstrate the feasibility of a composite joint in a segmented, graphite/epoxy filament-wound composite case for the Space Shuttle's Solid Rocket Motors. The joint's required ultimate line load is of the of 82,000 lb/in. By optimizing composite layup, and the ratios of pin diameter/specimen thickness, edge distance/pin diameter, and specimen width/pin diameter, a pin bearing joint strength of 85 ksi was obtained. Double pin testing disclosed that the pin close to the composite joint carries a higher load than the outboard pin. Pin bearing strength is noted to vary with matrix resin system.

Munjal, A. K.↗

Contact stresses in pin-loaded orthotropic plates

The effects of pin elasticity, friction, and clearance on the stresses near the hole in a pin-loaded orthotropic plate are described. The problem is modeled as a contact elasticity problem using complex variable theory, the pin and the plate being two elastic bodies interacting through contact. This modeling is in contrast to previous works which assumed that the pin is rigid or that it exerts a known cosinusoidal radial traction on the hole boundary. Neither of these approaches explicitly involves a pin. A collocation procedure and iteration were used to obtain numerical results for a variety of plate and pin elastic properties and various levels of friction and clearance. Collocation was used to enforce the boundary and iteration was used to find the contact and no-slip regions on the boundary. Details of the numerical scheme are discussed.

Hyer, M. W.↗