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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 1,369 records · Page 76
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Application of BISON to UO 2 MiniFuel fission gas release analysis

There has been a recent push to accelerate fuel qualification by developing revolutionary capabilities to reduce irradiation periods, and thereby, reduce the time required to qualify a new fuel system. One such capability is the MiniFuel irradiation capsule designed to miniaturize fuel samples and irradiate “mini” fuel samples under isothermal temperature conditions. MiniFuel allows steady-state irradiations to decouple the traditionally coupled fission rate (i.e., power) and temperature parameters to understand and generate microstructures observed in fuel operated in a commercial reactor. Furthermore, this process offers the possibility to gather in situ data as well as postirradiation or transient data such as thermal conductivity, specific heat, fission gas diffusion and release, etc. However, accelerating fuel qualification is not solely reliant on generating large amounts of data but also on developing an informed test matrix designed to rapidly generate impactful data. Additionally, this process is reliant on fuel performance codes, such as BISON, to evaluate MiniFuel irradiations using existing material models. This process pinpoints model/data gaps, identifies desired irradiation conditions, and subsequently supports model validation and development. This work describes the use of BISON to perform a number of sensitivity studies designed to understand conditions that lead to fission gas release (FGR) under steady-state isothermal irradiation conditions and temperature transient conditions. The model is applied to a UO 2 MiniFuel example and shows an overall good qualitative agreement with experimental FGR annealing tests under different temperature conditions. It also accounts well for microstructural effects on FGR. When quantitatively compared with FGR data from previously irradiated 103 MWd/kgU UO 2 discs under thermal annealing, the model shows a less satisfactory agreement with the experimental data. Finally, a UO 2 MiniFuel test matrix is proposed to help to extend the model's operational range and validate the new FGR model capabilities to higher burnups and transient conditions.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2014

A diamond based neutron spectrometer for diagnostics of deuterium-tritium fusion plasmas

Single crystal Diamond Detectors (SDD) are being increasingly exploited for neutron diagnostics in high power fusion devices, given their significant radiation hardness and high energy resolution capabilities. The geometrical efficiency of SDDs is limited by the size of commercially available crystals, which is often smaller than the dimension of neutron beams along collimated lines of sight in tokamak devices. In this work, we present the design and fabrication of a 14 MeV neutron spectrometer consisting of 12 diamond pixels arranged in a matrix, so to achieve an improved geometrical efficiency. Each pixel is equipped with an independent high voltage supply and read-out electronics optimized to combine high energy resolution and fast signals (<30 ns), which are essential to enable high counting rate (>1 MHz) spectroscopy. The response function of a prototype SDD to 14 MeV neutrons has been measured at the Frascati Neutron Generator by observation of the 8.3 MeV peak from the {sup 12}C(n, α){sup 9}Be reaction occurring between neutrons and {sup 12}C nuclei in the detector. The measured energy resolution (2.5% FWHM) meets the requirements for neutron spectroscopy applications in deuterium-tritium plasmas.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1995

Metal-Matrix Composite Parts With Metal Inserts

Developmental fabrication process produces metal-matrix composite (MMC) parts with integral metal inserts. With inserts, MMC parts readily joined to similar parts by use of brazing, welding, or mechanical fasteners. Process conceived to make strong, lightweight components of structures erected in outer space. Also useful on Earth, in such automotive parts as rocker arms, cylinder liners, and pistons. Potential industrial applications include parts subjected to high stresses at high temperatures, as in power-generation, mining, and oil-drilling equipment.

Majkowski, T.↗
NASA NTRS2008

RT-MATRIX: Measuring Total Organic Carbon by Photocatalytic Oxidation of Volatile Organic Compounds

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) inevitably accumulate in enclosed habitats such as the International Space Station and the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) as a result of human metabolism, material off-gassing, and leaking equipment. Some VOCs can negatively affect the quality of the crew's life, health, and performance; and consequently, the success of the mission. Air quality must be closely monitored to ensure a safe living and working environment. Currently, there is no reliable air quality monitoring system that meets NASA's stringent requirements for power, mass, volume, or performance. The ultimate objective of the project -- the development of a Real-Time, Miniaturized, Autonomous Total Risk Indicator System (RT.MATRIX).is to provide a portable, dual-function sensing system that simultaneously determines total organic carbon (TOC) and individual contaminants in air streams.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2015

Nano-sized precipitate stability and its controlling factors in a NiAl-strengthened ferritic alloy

Coherent B2-ordered NiAl-type precipitates have been used to reinforce solid-solution bodycentered- cubic iron for high-temperature application in fossil-energy power plants. In this study, the stability of nano-sized precipitates in a NiAl-strengthened ferritic alloy was investigated at 700 - 950°C using ultra-small angle X-ray scattering and electron microscopies. Here we show that the coarsening kinetics of NiAl-type precipitates is in excellent agreement with the ripening model in multicomponent alloys. We further demonstrate that the interfacial energy between the matrix and NiAl-type precipitates is strongly dependent to differences in the matrix/precipitate compositions. The results profile the ripening process in multicomponent alloys by illustrating controlling factors (i.e., interfacial energy, diffusivities, and element partitioning). As a result, the study provides guidelines to design and develop high-temperature alloys with stable microstructures for long-term service.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

A class of polysulfide catholytes for lithium-sulfur batteries: energy density, cyclability, and voltage enhancement

Liquid-phase polysulfide catholytes are attracting much attention in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries as they provide a facile dispersion and homogeneous distribution of the sulfur active material in the conductive matrix. However, the organic solvents used in lithium-polysulfide (Li-PS) batteries play an important role and have an impact on the physico-chemical characteristics of polysulfides. For instance, significantly higher voltages (similar to 2.7 V) of the S/S-n(2-) (4 <= n <= 8) redox couple are observed in Li-PS batteries with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvents. Accordingly, high power Li-PS batteries are presented here with the catholyte prepared with NMP solvent and operated with the highly reversible sulfur/long-chain polysulfide redox couple. On the other hand, a remarkable cyclability enhancement of the Li-PS battery is observed with the long-chain, ether-based tetraglyme (TEGDME) solvent. The voltage enhancement and the cyclability enhancement of the Li-PS batteries are attributed to the solvation effect, viscosity, and volatility of the solvents. Finally, highly concentrated polysulfide catholytes are successfully synthesized, with which high energy density Li-PS batteries are demonstrated by employing a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) fabric electrode.

Yu, XW↗
DOE OSTI2022

Implementation of a Binary Neural Network on a Passive Array of Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

The increasing scale of neural networks and their growing application space have produced demand for more energy- and memory-efficient artificial-intelligence-specific hardware. Avenues to mitigate the main issue, the von Neumann bottleneck, include in-memory and near-memory architectures, as well as algorithmic approaches. In this report we leverage the low-power and the inherently binary operation of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) to demonstrate neural network hardware inference based on passive arrays of MTJs. In general, transferring a trained network model to hardware for inference is confronted by degradation in performance due to device-to-device variations, write errors, parasitic resistance, and nonidealities in the substrate. To quantify the effect of these hardware realities, we benchmark 300 unique weight matrix solutions of a two-layer perceptron to classify the Wine dataset for both classification accuracy and write fidelity. Despite device imperfections, we achieve software-equivalent accuracy of up to 95.3% with proper tuning of network parameters in 15 x 15 MTJ arrays having a range of device sizes. The success of this tuning process shows that new metrics are needed to characterize the performance and quality of networks reproduced in mixed signal hardware.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

High Fidelity Computational Model for Fluidized Bed Experiments (Final Report)

MFiX was integrated with preconditioners and linear solver packages in Trilinos via MFIX, Fortran, C, and C++ wrappers. The MFIX wrapper interpreted the structure of the matrix and vector from MFiX while the Fortran wrapper transfers this information to a low-level language, C. C-wrapper transforms the memory semantic between Fortran and C++ language. C++ wrapper passes the matrix and vector to a Trilinos package and gets the solution. This solution was transferred to MFiX via C++, C, Fortran, MFIX wrapper. The framework is used to integrate first, second and third generation linear solvers in Trilinos with MFiX.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

An Accelerated Creep Testing (ACT) Program for Advanced Creep Resistant Alloys for High Temperature Fossil Energy (FE) Applications (Final Report)

The research objective of this study is to develop an accelerated creep testing (ACT) program for advanced creep resistant alloys for high temperature FE applications. This research produced a new ACT for metallic materials based on Time-Temperature-Stress Superposition (TTSSP). In TTSSP, there exists a fundamental relationship between creep resistance, time, temperature, and stress that can be manipulated to reduce test durations. In our study, the stepped isostress method was employed where step increases of load during creep testing accelerated the time-to-rupture. Well-posed constitutive models including sin-hyperbolic and Wilshire-Cano-Stewart where calibrated using the SSM data and employed to predict the conventional creep response of the material. In our best experiments, <100-hour tests on lnconel 718 at 750 deg C produced over a 64x acceleration of data when compared to conventional data from Japan's National Institute of Materials Science. The ACTs enable the rapid screening of candidate materials, where a small test matrix of short duration tests can be employed to determine the creep resistance (minimum-creep-strain-rate, stress-rupture, and creep deformation) of a material across decades.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
NASA NTRS1983

Energetics and optimum motion of oscillating lifting surfaces

Low-frequency, unsteady, lifting-line theory is used to characterize the energetics and optimum motion of an unswept rigid wing oscillating harmonically in an inviscid, incompressible flow. The energetics calculations account for the leading edge suction force, the power absorbed in the wing oscillations, and the energy loss rate produced by vortex shedding. Optimization is achieved by minimizing the average energy loss rate in relation to a given thrust, and a unique solution is found in the three dimensional case for low, reduced frequencies. The two-dimensional solution is nonunique, a condition which is examined in terms of the normal modes of the energy loss rate matrix. An invisible mode with a hydrodynamic efficiency of 100 pct is obtained in the two-dimensional case, causing the nonuniqueness of the solution by yielding no fixed positive thrust through perfect unsteady feathering.

Ahmadi, A. R.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Kinetics of diffusional droplet growth in a liquid/liquid two-phase system

A new powerful experimental technique based on holographic observations, developed at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, now permits observation of small liquid droplets coarsening. This technique was developed and used for mixed-dimensional coarsening studies. Experiments were conducted on an isopycnic two-phase alloy of succinonitrile and water, annealed isothermally over a four-month period. The succinonitrile-rich droplets precipitate from a water-rich liquid matrix having a density very close to that of the droplets. The matrix and droplets, however, have different optical indices. The results of these experiments, along with the results of computer simulation based on the quasi-static diffusion approximation developed at Rensselaer are reported. These results were published recently. Copies of these papers are attached to this report.

Glickman, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Aero-Thermo-Structural Analysis of Inlet for Rocket Based Combined Cycle Engines

NASA has been developing advanced space transportation concepts and technologies to make access to space less costly. One such concept is the reusable vehicles with short turn-around times. The NASA Glenn Research Center's concept vehicle is the Trailblazer powered by a rocket-based combined cycle (RBCC) engine. Inlet is one of the most important components of the RBCC engine. This paper presents fluid flow, thermal, and structural analysis of the inlet for Mach 6 free stream velocity for fully supersonic and supercritical with backpressure conditions. The results concluded that the fully supersonic condition was the most severe case and the largest stresses occur in the ceramic matrix composite layer of the inlet cowl. The maximum tensile and the compressive stresses were at least 3.8 and 3.4, respectively, times less than the associated material strength.

Shivakumar, K. N.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Using Temporal Fill Factor to Reduce Frame Reconstruction Rates

The newer active matrix display technologies such as TFT-LCD, DMD, PDP maintain their pixel values through the entire frame time, presenting a 100% temporal fill factor, in contrast to the duty cycle produced by the phosphor impulse response of the CRT. This sample-and-hold characteristic can be exploited to lower the displayed frame rate without affecting visual quality. The lower frame rate results in significantly lower transmission bandwidth, power, and cost.

Larimer, James↗
NASA NTRS2010

Design and Development of a Model to Simulate 0-G Treadmill Running Using the European Space Agency's Subject Loading System

Develop a model that simulates a human running in 0 G using the European Space Agency s (ESA) Subject Loading System (SLS). The model provides ground reaction forces (GRF) based on speed and pull-down forces (PDF). DESIGN The theoretical basis for the Running Model was based on a simple spring-mass model. The dynamic properties of the spring-mass model express theoretical vertical GRF (GRFv) and shear GRF in the posterior-anterior direction (GRFsh) during running gait. ADAMs VIEW software was used to build the model, which has a pelvis, thigh segment, shank segment, and a spring foot (see Figure 1).the model s movement simulates the joint kinematics of a human running at Earth gravity with the aim of generating GRF data. DEVELOPMENT & VERIFICATION ESA provided parabolic flight data of subjects running while using the SLS, for further characterization of the model s GRF. Peak GRF data were fit to a linear regression line dependent on PDF and speed. Interpolation and extrapolation of the regression equation provided a theoretical data matrix, which is used to drive the model s motion equations. Verification of the model was conducted by running the model at 4 different speeds, with each speed accounting for 3 different PDF. The model s GRF data fell within a 1-standard-deviation boundary derived from the empirical ESA data. CONCLUSION The Running Model aids in conducting various simulations (potential scenarios include a fatigued runner or a powerful runner generating high loads at a fast cadence) to determine limitations for the T2 vibration isolation system (VIS) aboard the International Space Station. This model can predict how running with the ESA SLS affects the T2 VIS and may be used for other exercise analyses in the future.

Caldwell, E. C.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Heat Source Characterization in a TREAT Fuel Particle Using Coupled Neutronics-BCMC Calculations

This work presents a multi-physics, multi-scale approach to modeling the Transient Test Reactor (TREAT) currently prepared for restart at the Idaho National Laboratory. TREAT fuel is made up of microscopic fuel grains (r ˜ 20µm) dispersed in a graphite matrix. The novelty of this work is in coupling a binary collision Monte-Carlo (BCMC) model to the Finite Element based code Moose for solving a microsopic heat-conduction problem whose driving source is provided by the BCMC model tracking fission fragment energy deposition. This microscopic model is driven by a transient, engineering scale neutronics model coupled to an adiabatic heating model. The macroscopic model provides local power densities and neutron energy spectra to the microscpic model. Currently, no feedback from the microscopic to the macroscopic model is considered. TREAT transient 15 is used to exemplify the capabilities of the multi-physics, multi-scale model, and it is found that the average fuel grain temperature differs from the average graphite temperature by 80 K despite the low-power transient. The large temperature difference has strong implications on the Doppler feedback a potential LEU TREAT core would see, and it underpins the need for multi-physics, multi-scale modeling of a TREAT LEU core.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Explainable machine learning for incipient anomaly detection in compact molten salt heat exchanger with overlapping feature distributions

High-temperature molten salt-cooled reactors (MSCRs) are a promising next-generation nuclear technology option, offering efficient power conversion and inherent safety features. However, the reliability of these systems depends on the robust operation of heat exchangers (HXs), which are susceptible to failure due to temperature gradients and channel plugging caused by fluid freezing. Conventional monitoring methods, relying on inlet and outlet measurements, lack the spatial resolution needed to detect early-stage faults. We propose a novel design of a compact salt-to-salt matrix-type HX design consisting of interleaved arrays of parallel tubes, with integrated synthetic fiber optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS) to enable localized detection of incipient faults. To evaluate performance of this design, we generate high-fidelity synthetic data using heat transfer computational modeling to simulate channel plugging, and introduce sensor noise for realistic modeling of measurements. The dataset comprises of 97% normal operation and 3% anomaly cases, with each anomaly class representing 1% of the data. These early anomalies result in overlapping temperature profiles between normal and faulty channels, producing a non-separable dataset that challenges traditional classification techniques. We benchmark eight supervised machine learning (ML) models and demonstrate that XGBoost achieves the highest performance. To improve transparency, we develop an explainability framework combining Shapley values and partially ordered sets (POSETs) to quantify and structurally analyze feature importance. This approach identifies both dominant predictors and ambiguous feature relationships, enhancing trust and interpretability. Our results highlight the potential of combining DTS and explainable ML with intelligent feature selection to improve predictive maintenance and ensure operational resilience in advanced nuclear systems.

Prantikos, Konstantinos [Argonne National Laborato↗
DOE OSTI2019

First-principles calculations of solute transport in zirconium: Vacancy-mediated diffusion with metastable states and interstitial diffusion

Zirconium alloys are the most widely used nuclear fuel cladding materials for light water power reactors where irradiation damage causes solute redistribution, leading to degradation of alloy properties such as corrosion resistance. Designing radiation-tolerant zirconium alloys requires a thorough understanding of the atomic-scale transport behavior of the alloying elements in Zr. In this work, we perform density function theory calculations to investigate the diffusion of Sn, Cr, Fe, Be, Al, and Ni in the hexagonal close-packed (HCP) Zr matrix. We develop a methodology to accurately model the metastable vacancy states along the basal migration path, known to occur in group IV metals. We compute the vacancy-mediated solute diffusion coefficients and drag ratios using the kinetic Monte Carlo method and an analytic Green's function method—the agreement between the two validates our methodology. The computed diffusion coefficients of Sn and Al show good agreement with the experimental data and we expect these solutes to diffuse via the vacancy-mediated mechanism. We use a Green's function approach, parameterized with data from density functional theory calculations, to compute the interstitial diffusion coefficients of Cr, Fe, Be, and Ni in the HCP Zr lattice. The computed diffusion coefficients of Cr, Ni, and Be agree with the experimental measurements within one order of magnitude, while those of Fe are within two orders of magnitude of the experimental measurements. The drag ratios for Cr, Fe, Be, and Ni are positive up to 1235 K, which suggests that nonequilibrium vacancy fluxes could drag these solutes toward sinks such as dislocation loops and grain boundaries. We also compute the transport coefficients without including the metastable states, and using the eight- and thirteen-frequency model. Our results show significant differences in drag ratio for the eight- and thirteen-frequency model predictions compared with the Green's function methodology, but smaller errors in the solute diffusivity. Combining interstitial and vacancy-mediated diffusivities, we predict the unusual result that increased vacancy concentration slows down solute diffusivity, while a sufficiently high vacancy concentration can change the dominant mechanism to an accelerated vacancy-mediated diffusion.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗