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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 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

A Numerical Simulation of Transport Phenomena During the Horizontal Single Belt Casting Process Using an Inclined Feeding System

Horizontal single belt casting (HSBC) has great potential to replace current conventional continuous casting (CCC) processes for sheet metal production, by directly casting 3 to 1 mm sheet for the automobile industry. In the present paper, two-dimensional mathematical models were developed to study transport phenomena, for the case of an inclined wall feeding system for a liquid aluminum wrought alloy (AA6111). Based on the commercial software ANSYS FLUENT 14.5 and user-defined functions, a two-layer turbulence model was used to examine the fluid flow emanating from a slot nozzle set above a water-cooled, high-speed, steel belt. The Volume of Fluid (VOF) method was used to predict the shape of the melt-air interface. A transformed coordinate system (x′, y′) was established in order to analyze the fluid flow on the inclined wall of the feeding system. The total pressure gauge gradient (∂p{sub total}/∂x) was used to describe the behavior of the melt film inside the slot nozzle of the head box. The modeling results show that during the melt film falling process, the total gauge pressure varies within the slot nozzle, which can decrease the stability of the falling film. The first impingement between the falling film and the inclined refractory wall of the feeding system gives rise to a local oscillation, and this influences the stability of the melt film moving downwards. At the rear meniscus position between the inclined wall and the moving belt, there is a clear vibration of the air-melt interface, together with a recirculation zone. The weak vibration of the air-melt interface could be induced by the periodic variation of the melt-air interface. Moreover, the formation of tiny air pockets is predicted. Finally, on the inclined wall of the feeding system, a suitable length of the transition area is needed to avoid over-acceleration of the melt film due to the force of gravity.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Causes of fuel–ablator mix inferred from modeling of monochromatic time-gated radiography of OMEGA cryogenic implosions

Here, we present evidence, in the context of OMEGA cryogenic target implosions, that laser imprint, known to be capable of degrading laser-direct-drive target performance, plays a major role in generating fuel–ablator mix. OMEGA cryogenic target implosions show a performance boundary correlated with acceleration-phase shell stability; for sufficiently low adiabats (where the adiabat is the ratio of the pressure to the Fermi pressure) and high in-flight aspect ratios (IFAR's), the neutron-weighted shell areal density and neutron yield relative to the clean simulated values sharply decline. Direct evidence of Rayleigh–Taylor fuel–ablator mixing was previously obtained using a Si Heα backlighter driven by an ~20-ps short pulse generated by OMEGA EP. The shadow cast by the shell shortly prior to stagnation, as diagnosed using backlit radiographs, shows a softening near the limb, which is evidence of an ablator–fuel mix region for a low-adiabat implosion (α ~ 1.9, IFAR = 14) but not for a moderate adiabat implosion (α ~ 2.5, IFAR = 10). We find good agreement between experimental and synthetic radiographs in simulations that model laser imprint and account for uncertainty in the initial ablator thickness. Furthermore, we further explore the role of other mechanisms such as classical instability growth at the fuel–ablator interface, species concentration diffusion, and long-wavelength drive and target asymmetries.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Phase-field model of freeze casting

Directional solidification of water-based solutions has emerged as a versatile technique for templating hierarchical porous materials. However, the underlying mechanisms of pattern formation remain incompletely understood. In this work, we present a detailed derivation and analysis of a quantitative phase-field model for simulating this nonequilibrium process. The phase-field model extends the thin-interface formulation of dilute binary alloy solidification with antitrapping to incorporate the highly anisotropic energetic and kinetic properties of the partially faceted ice-water interface. This interface is faceted in the basal plane normal to the ⟨0001⟩ directions and atomically rough in other directions within the basal plane. On the basal plane, the model reproduces a linear or nonlinear relationship between the interface growth rate and the kinetic undercooling that can be linked to experimental measurements. In both cases, spontaneous parity breaking of the solidification front is observed when the preferred growth direction is aligned with the temperature gradient. This phenomenon leads to the formation of partially faceted ice lamellae that drift laterally in one of the ⟨0001⟩ directions. Here, we demonstrate that the drifting velocity of the ice lamellae is controlled by the kinetics on the basal plane and converges as the thickness of the diffuse solid-liquid interface decreases. Furthermore, we examine the effect of the form of the kinetic anisotropy, which is chosen here such that the inverse of the kinetic coefficient varies linearly from a finite value in the ⟨0001⟩ directions to zero in all other directions within the basal plane, consistent with the assumption that the interface grows in local thermodynamic equilibrium in this plane. Our results indicate that the drifting velocity of ice lamellae is not affected by the slope of this linear relation, and the radius and undercooling at the tip of an ice lamella converge at relatively small slope values. Consequently, the phase-field simulations remain quantitative with computationally tractable choices of both the interface thickness and the slope assumed in the form of the kinetic anisotropy.

Materials science↗
DOE OSTI2020

Phase Transformation of Thermally Aged and Neutron Irradiated Duplex Stainless Steel Used in LWRs. Final report

The lifetime of reactor components made of duplex stainless steels can be limited by the embrittlement from thermal aging, neutron irradiation or a synergistic effect between thermal aging and neutron irradiation. There is still a large scientific knowledge gap in understanding the phase evolution in duplex stainless steels upon thermal aging with or without neutron irradiation, the synergistic effect between thermal aging and neutron irradiation, and the impacts of structural evolution on material mechanical responses. In this project, totally, five major tasks were completed through this project: a) the in-situ WAXS tensile tests of thermally aged cast duplex stainless steels, b) the EXAFS investigation of thermally aged cast austenitic stainless steel and welds of austenite sainless steel, c) the characterization of irradiation effect on neutron irradiated CASS using APT, d) characterize the ferrite hardening of neutron irradiated CASS using nanoindentation, and e) the FEM modelling to validate the in-situ WAXS tensile tests and to simulate the stress/strain distribution during deformation for thermally aged duplex stainless steel. In summary, the thermal aging without neutron irradiation can significantly increase the strength of ferrite phase through the spinodal decomposition and G-phase precipitations. The in-situ X-ray experiments show that the hardening effect in ferrite phase can significantly alter the load partition between the ferrite and austenite phases. Atom probe tomography characterizations on samples irradiated to 0.08, 3, 5, 10, 20, and 40 dpa shows that neutron irradiation has dominated the microstructural evolution after 3 dpa, and the spinodal decomposition has saturated yet even at 40 dpa based on the quantified wavelength and amplitude.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Calculation Accuracy and Efficiency of a Transient Model for Submerged Entry Nozzle Clogging

A transient numerical model was proposed and validated by the current authors for nozzle clogging (Barati et al. in Powder Technol 329:181-98, 2018). The model can reproduce the experiment in pilot scale satisfactorily. In the present article, the main objective is to validate the model for application in industry process continuous casting of steel, referring to the model accuracy and calculation efficiency. The results have shown that for the complex geometry of submerged entry nozzle (SEN), where it is difficult to create hexahedron mesh in the entire domain, a mixed mesh type is recommended, i.e., the wedge mesh for regions adjacent to SEN walls and the tetrahedron mesh for inner regions. Another challenge to the calculation of real SEN clogging is the huge number of particles involved in the industry process. An artificial factor, the N-factor, has to be introduced to reduce the calculation cost. A dimensionless number (α) is defined to limit the N-factor and ensure the modeling accuracy. Simulation of a test case has indicated that by an appropriate N-factor (1000, corresponding to α = 6 × 10{sup −5}), the calculation time would be reduced significantly to a reasonable time.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Evolution of A-Type Macrosegregation in Large Size Steel Ingot After Multistep Forging and Heat Treatment

A-type macrosegregation refers to the channel chemical heterogeneities that can be formed during solidification in large size steel ingots. In this research, a combination of experiment and simulation was used to study the influence of open die forging parameters on the evolution of A-type macrosegregation patterns during a multistep forging of a 40 metric ton (MT) cast, high-strength steel ingot. Macrosegregation patterns were determined experimentally by macroetch along the longitudinal axis of the forged and heat-treated ingot. Mass spectroscopy, on more than 900 samples, was used to determine the chemical composition map of the entire longitudinal sectioned surface. FORGE NxT 1.1 finite element modeling code was used to predict the effect of forging sequences on the morphology evolution of A-type macrosegregation patterns. For this purpose, grain flow variables were defined and implemented in a large scale finite element modeling code to describe oriented grains and A-type segregation patterns. Examination of the A-type macrosegregation showed four to five parallel continuous channels located nearly symmetrical to the axis of the forged ingot. In some regions, the A-type patterns became curved or obtained a wavy form in contrast to their straight shape in the as-cast state. Mass spectrometry analysis of the main alloying elements (C, Mn, Ni, Cr, Mo, Cu, P, and S) revealed that carbon, manganese, and chromium were the most segregated alloying elements in A-type macrosegregation patterns. The observed differences were analyzed using thermodynamic calculations, which indicated that changes in the chemical composition of the liquid metal can affect the primary solidification mode and the segregation intensity of the alloying elements. Finite element modeling simulation results showed very good agreement with the experimental observations, thereby allowing for the quantification of the influence of temperature and deformation on the evolution of the shape of the macrosegregation channels during the open die forging process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Dielectric, ferroelectric, and thermodynamic properties of silicone oil modified PVDF films for energy storage application

Silicone oil modified poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (P(VDF-HFP)) films were fabricated by the blending, casting, and hot-molding methods. The dielectric constant was increased for the 7.4 wt. % and 17.0 wt. % silicone oil modified P(VDF-HFP) films, while the dielectric loss for all blend films are decreased. D-E loops of 7.4 wt. % and 17.0 wt. % silicone oil modified P(VDF-HFP) films become slimmer than the pristine P(VDF-HFP) films. The maximum discharged energy density of 10.3 J/cm{sup 3} was obtained in 7.4 wt. % silicone oil modified P(VDF-HFP) films at the external electric field of 398 kV/mm. The Gibbs energy, miscibility, and phase behavior of binary mixture of P(VDF-HFP) silicone oil were investigated using molecular simulations and the extended Flory–Huggins model revealing favorable interactions and compatibility between P(VDF-HFP) and silicone oil.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS1986

Geometric-optical bidirectional reflectance modeling of a conifer forest canopy

A geometric-optical forest canopy model that treats conifers as cones casting shadows on a contrasting background explains the major anisotropies in bidirectional reflectance measurements of a conifer forest canopy. The model uses parallel-ray geometry to describe the illumination and viewing of conifers as three-dimensional cones. Both computer simulation and analytical closed-form expressions are implemented. The results show a good qualitative agreement with the directional reflectance measurements of the conifer stand, indicating that the three-dimensional nature of the canopy is a key factor in determining its directional reflectance.

Li, X.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Characteristics of the Hot Workability of an AZ91D Magnesium Alloy Using 3D Processing Maps

Hot compression tests were carried out on an a homogenized as-cast AZ91D magnesium alloy at temperatures ranging from 220 °C to 380 °C and strain rates ranging from 0.001 to 10 s{sup −1} by means of a Gleeble-3500 thermo mechanical simulator. True stress-–true strain curves were given. A constitutive modeling of the homogenized alloy was proposed to describe the flow characteristic. The deformation activation energy was estimated to be 142.27 kJ mol{sup −1}. Continuous three-dimensional (3D) processing maps were developed based on the true stress–true strain data as a function of strain, temperature, and strain rate. A detailed interpretation of the established 3D processing maps was conducted. The results showed that the variation of the 3D processing maps was significantly strain dependent. Dynamic recrystallization domains with high-power dissipation efficiencies and instability domains with negative instability coefficient were identified from the 3D power dissipation maps and the 3D instability maps, respectively. It was also revealed that the instability domains distinctly became enlarged with the increasing strain. Optimized temperature and strain rate ranges at various strains were determined. Furthermore, hot workability characteristics were clarified through examining the microstructures obtained under conditions falling within stability and instability domains with various strains. The results proved that the developed 3D processing maps can provide an accurate prediction of the hot deformation behavior for the homogenized AZ91D alloy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

The three-dimensional morphology of growing dendrites

The processes controlling the morphology of dendrites have been of great interest to a wide range of communities, since they are examples of an out-of-equilibrium pattern forming system, there is a clear connection with battery failure processes, and their morphology sets the properties of many metallic alloys. We determine the three-dimensional morphology of free growing metallic dendrites using a novel X-ray tomographic technique that improves the temporal resolution by more than an order of magnitude compared to conventional techniques. These measurements show that the growth morphology of metallic dendrites is surprisingly different from that seen in model systems, the morphology is not self-similar with distance back from the tip, and that this morphology can have an unexpectedly strong influence on solute segregation in castings. These experiments also provide benchmark data that can be used to validate simulations of free dendritic growth.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Multi-Commodity Traffic Signal Control and Routing With Connected Vehicles

We report a real-time traffic management policy that integrates traffic signal control and multi-commodity routing of connected vehicles in networks with multiple destinations is developed. The proposed policy is based on a multi-commodity formulation of the store-and-forward model and assumes all vehicles are able to exchange information with the infrastructure. Vehicles share information about their current location and final destination. Based on this information, the strategy determines both optimized signal timings at every intersection and vehicle-specific routing information at every link of the network. The control actions, i.e., signal times and routing information, are updated at every cycle and delivered by a finite horizon optimal control problem cast into a rolling horizon framework. The underlying optimization problem is convex, and thus the method is suitable for real-time operation in large networks. The method is validated via a micro-simulation study in networks with up to twenty intersections and, in all simulations, outperforms a real-time traffic-responsive signal control strategy that is based on a single-commodity store-and-forward model. The scalable computation effort for increasing network sizes and prediction horizon confirms the computational efficiency of the method.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Modelling the development of capillary pressure in freshly 3D-printed concrete elements

3D concrete printing is a promising technology recently developed to automate construction. Since no formwork is used in this technology to support and protect fresh concrete, there are two aspects which considerably accelerate the development of capillary pressure in 3D-printed concrete in comparison to conventionally placed concrete: i) high stiffness of 3D-printed needed to provide sufficient buildability, and ii) very early and fast evaporation of pore water. Accelerated development of capillary pressure may lead to severe plastic shrinkage cracking in 3D-printed elements and, hence, need to be mitigated. This investigation aims at providing a poromechanical model for capillary pressure development in 3D-printed elements. To simulate the development of capillary pressure and plastic shrinkage, environmental factors, material properties, and element geometry need to be considered as a whole. The model inputs – coefficient of permeability, static bulk modulus, air entry pressure and chemical shrinkage rate – were determined experimentally. The model was validated for two fine-grained concretes. Both 3D-printed materials yielded faster capillary pressure increase in comparison to cast concrete, while partial substitution of cement with silica fume further accelerated the capillary pressure development. Furthermore, due to the lower permeability of the mixture containing silica fume, the gradient of capillary pressure between 3D-printed layers increased, as did the gradient of plastic shrinkage.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Modeling and projecting implosion performance for the National Ignition Facility

Steady progress is being made in inertial confinement fusion experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Nonetheless, substantial further progress is still needed to reach the ultimate goal of fusion ignition. Closing the remaining gap will require either improving the quality of current implosions, increasing the implosion scale (and correspondingly the energy delivered by NIF), or some combination of the two. But how much of an improvement in implosion quality or energy scale is required to reach ignition? To reliably answer this question, an accurate understanding of current and past experiments is first required. Previous modeling efforts of NIF implosions have shown the need to resolve a wide range of scales (from microns to millimeters) as well as a faithful representation of the genuinely three-dimensional (3D) character of the stagnation process. Modeling NIF implosions is further complicated by the many perturbation sources that have been found to influence integrated implosion performance: flux asymmetries from the surrounding hohlraum, engineering features such as support tents and fill tubes, surface defects and contaminants, and more recently the radiation shadow cast by the fill tube on the capsule. A model including all of these effects, and with adequate resolution, challenges current computing capabilities but has recently become feasible on the largest computers. Here, we review the status of these multi-effect, 3D simulations of NIF implosions, their comparison to experimental data, and preliminary results on scaling these simulations to the threshold of ignition on NIF.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

A PIC Bootstrapping Strategy for Exascale CFD-DEM Simulation

The exascale computing era comes with the release of MFIX-Exa, a new code for studying gas-particle fluidization using CFD-DEM and PIC models on massively parallel, heterogeneous high-performance computing architectures. However, as compute resources continue to grow in scale and complexity, so too does the impetus to use them efficiently. Here, we propose a novel bootstrapping method to minimize neglected simulation time and cast the approach more broadly among a growing field of multi-fidelity methods.

Porcu, Roberto↗
DOE OSTI2019

Phase Transformation Kinetics and Alloy Microsegregation in High Pressure Die Cast Magnesium Alloys (Final Report)

The primary objective of this project is to conduct a systematic, quantitative study of phase transformation kinetics and microsegregation in HPDC Mg alloys in both as-cast and heat treated conditions. These results will be used to develop and validate physics-based phase transformation kinetics micro-models that quantitatively capture microstructural evolution and microsegregation during HPDC and heat treatment of Mg alloys. Finally, this knowledge will be transferred to industry and the wider research community through these micro-models and the experimental data that will be stored in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advanced Automotive Cast Magnesium Alloys Repository, as well as a new repository, the University of Michigan Department of Energy Predictive Integrated Structural Materials Science (UM DOE PRISMS) Materials Commons. To accomplish these goals, a systematic and comprehensive experimental study is being combined with computational modeling and simulation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Cast of Thousands: How the IDEAS Productivity Project Has Advanced Software Productivity and Sustainability

Computational and data-enabled science and engineering are revolutionizing advances throughout science and society, at all scales of computing. For example, teams in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project have been tackling new frontiers in modeling, simulation, and analysis by exploiting unprecedented exascale computing capabilities—building an advanced software ecosystem that supports next-generation applications and addresses disruptive changes in computer architectures. However, concerns are growing about the productivity of the developers of scientific software. Members of the Interoperable Design of Extreme-scale Application Software project serve as catalysts to address these challenges through fostering software communities, incubating and curating methodologies and resources, and disseminating knowledge to advance developer productivity and software sustainability. This article discusses how these synergistic activities are advancing scientific discovery—mitigating technical risks by building a firmer foundation for reproducible, sustainable science at all scales of computing, from laptops to clusters to exascale and beyond.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1987

Bone density in limb-immobilized beagles: An animal model for bone loss in weightlessness

Prolonged weightlessness is man in space flight results in a slow progressive demineralization of bone accompanied by an increased calcium output in the urine resulting in negative calcium balances. This possibly irreversible bone loss may constitute a serious limiting factor to long duration manned space flight. In order to seek and test preventative measures an appropriate ground based animal model simulating weightlessness is necessary. Use of the mature Beagle in limb immobilization has been documented as an excellent model for orthopedic research since this animal most closely simulates the phenomenom of bone loss with regards to growth, remodeling, structure, chemistry and mineralization. The purpose of this project is to develop a research protocol for the study of bone loss in Beagles during and after cast immobilization of a hindleg; research will then be initiated.

Wolinsky, Ira↗
NASA NTRS1993

Pseudospectral simulation of compressible turbulence using logarithmic variables

The direct numerical simulation of dissipative, highly compressible turbulent flow is performed using a pseudospectral Fourier technique. The governing equations are cast in a form where the important physical variables are the fluid velocity and the natural logarithms of the fluid density and temperature. Bulk viscosity is utilized to model polyatomic gases more accurately and to ensure numerical stability in the presence of strong shocks. Numerical examples include three-dimensional supersonic homogeneous turbulence and two-dimensional shock-turbulence interactions.

Shebalin, John V.↗