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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

Hydrodynamic characterization of the redox chemistry of crown-encapsulated uranyl complexes

The redox properties of actinide-containing species strongly influence their reactivity, speciation, and interfacial behavior, but the experimental quantification of the electrochemical characteristics of molecular actinide complexes in nonaqueous media has not received the attention it deserves. Here, results from hydrodynamic methods and electrochemical simulations of U(VI)/U(V) redox are reported, including quantification of heterogeneous electron-transfer kinetics and estimation of chemical reversibility of U(VI)/U(V) interconversion at electrodes in acetonitrile-based electrolyte. The complexes investigated are recently reported U(VI) and U(V) complexes in which the uranyl ion (UO 2 n+ ) is encapsulated in a macrocyclic 18-crown-6-like moiety templated by a Pt(II) center. These complexes feature the most positive value U VI /U V reduction potential yet reported and are thus particularly relevant to study of facile U(V) generation from U(VI) precursors as well as uranium electroanalysis. Rotating disk electrode (RDE) studies have been used to quantify the diffusion coefficients of the U(VI) and U(V) complexes, and standard heterogeneous electron transfer rate constants ( k 0 ) for the redox have been determined using a conventional Koutecký-Levich analysis. Rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) studies have been used to directly interrogate the chemical reversibility of U(VI)-U(V) interconversion, confirming that reduction of the U(VI) complex at an Au disk is associated with formation of the U(V) analogue that can be readily re-oxidized at a Pt ring under hydrodynamic (rotating) conditions. Because measurements of the type reported here are generally associated with current flows that are larger than those found in corresponding quiescent (unstirred) conditions, our findings suggest that hydrodynamic methods could be advantageous for design of electroanalytical approaches to detection of actinide species and study of their redox properties.

actinides↗

Single phonon detection for dark matter via quantum evaporation and sensing of He 3

Dark matter is five times more abundant than ordinary visible matter in our Universe. While laboratory searches hunting for dark matter have traditionally focused on the electroweak scale, theories of low mass hidden sectors motivate new detection techniques. Extending these searches to lower mass ranges, well below 1 GeV / c 2 , poses new challenges as rare interactions with standard model matter transfer progressively less energy to electrons and nuclei in detectors. Here, we propose an approach based on phonon-assisted quantum evaporation combined with quantum sensors for detection of desorption events via tracking of spin coherence. The intent of our proposed dark matter sensors is to extend the parameter space to energy transfers in rare interactions to as low as a few meV for detection of dark matter particles in the keV / c 2 mass range. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Understanding Novel Lewis Acid Doping Mechanisms in Organic Semiconductors

Recent studies supported by this DOE grant have provided a more detailed understanding of the doping mechanism of organic semiconductors by the Lewis acid, tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (BCF). Our studies have examined the intermolecular semiconductor-dopant interactions as well as the thermodynamic feasibility of different doping mechanisms. Most notably, we found a different proposed doping scheme is much more thermodynamically favoured (exergonic) than our proposed two-step BCF doping mechanism. The state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical techniques of High-Field Multi-Dimensional Solid State NMR spectroscopy and Time-Dependent Density Functional theory (TD-DFT) and DFT were employed in this work. The data obtained helped identify the structural details and intermolecular interactions which impact the organic semiconductor doping efficiency for BCF and how these compare to the case of doping by the standard integer charge transfer dopant molecule F 4 TCNQ. We have, for the first time, assigned specific chemical shift values for the F 4 TCNQ molecules clustered outside of polymer chains as well as those intercalated between the polymer backbones. Further, we provide theoretical support for a novel doping mechanism which combines those proposed in previous literature involving the evolution of hydrogen gas along with a doping species more complex than the simple BCF·H 2 O. While our previously proposed doping mechanism was found to be highly thermodynamically unfavorable, the formation of large anion [BCF(OH)(OH 2 )BCF]- is the key change making the proposed mechanism exergonic while the elimination of gaseous H 2 helps drive the doping reaction.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Potential Cost Reduction in New Nuclear Deployments Based on Recent AP1000 Experience

The completion of Vogtle Units 3 and 4, despite significant cost and schedule overruns, a major bankruptcy, and a pandemic, demonstrates that the U.S. nuclear industry can still develop new supply chains, train a highly skilled workforce, and build large nuclear power plants. Vogtle, being a first-of-a-kind (FOAK) plant, faced overruns, but FOAK overruns can decrease with more deployments through a combination of design standardization and modularization, transferring and implementing lessons learned between consecutive projects, and innovation. This report quantifies the potential cost and schedule reductions in future AP1000 plants in the US and identifies the barriers in achieving those reductions. It starts with a summary and analysis of the cost and construction timeline data for AP1000 plants that started construction in the United States (Vogtle) and China. Motivated by the steep schedule reductions from the first to second series of AP1000 plants in China, a cost reduction model was developed to quantify potential reductions for future AP1000 builds in the US. Results show that within about 3 more builds, AP1000s can become economically attractive in large markets in the U.S., without leveraging the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) or Production Tax Credit (PTC), and much sooner if these tax credits are available. Importantly the financial risks for future AP1000 builds in the US might be much smaller than observed in the FOAK plants. The study also identifies various barriers for future builds including the availability of a supply chain and a skilled workforce, and emphasizes the importance of making investments to gather and implement lessons learned between consecutive projects.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

An Nginx-based Content Distribution Network for HEP

With the move to HTTP/WebDAV and JSON Web Tokens as a standard protocol for transfers within the WLCG distributed storage network, a large amount of off-the-shelf technologies become viable for meeting the requirements of a Storage Element (SE). In this work, we explore the capabilities and performance of the OpenResty framework, which extends the nginx server with the LuaJIT scripting language, to recreate the feature set of a SE. We demonstrate token-authenticated HTTP read, write, and WebDAV third-party copy features, as well as a storage federation with HTTP redirect, proxy, and caching capabilities. We further explore the performance scaling in terms of throughput and requests per second.

Aarora, Aashay [UC, San Diego]↗

Orbit Transfer Systems with Emphasis on Shuttle Applications, 1986-1991

A systems study is presented for a transportation system which will follow the interim upper stage and spinning solid upper stage. Included are concepts, concept comparisons, trends, parametric data, etc. associated with the future system. Relevant technical and programmatic information is developed. This information is intended to focus future activity to identify attractive options and to summarize the major issues associated with the future development of the system. To establish a common basis for identifying current transportation concepts, an orbit transfer vehicle (OTV) is defined as a propulsive (velocity producing) rocket or stage. When used with a crew transfer module, a manned sortie module or other payloads, the combination becomes an orbit transfer system (OTS). Standardization of OTV's and OTS's is required.

Source record↗

The chemical evolution of molecular clouds

The nonequilibrium chemistry of dense molecular clouds (10,000 to 1 million hydrogen molecules per cu cm) is studied in the framework of a model that includes the latest published chemical data and most of the recent theoretical advances. In this model the only important external source of ionization is assumed to be high-energy cosmic-ray bombardment; standard charge-transfer reactions are taken into account as well as reactions that transfer charge from molecular ions to trace-metal atoms. Schemes are proposed for the synthesis of such species as NCO, HNCO, and CN. The role played by adsorption and condensation of molecules on the surface of dust grains is investigated, and effects on the chemical evolution of a dense molecular cloud are considered which result from varying the total density or the elemental abundances and from assuming negligible or severe condensation of gaseous species on dust grains. It is shown that the chemical-equilibrium time scale is given approximately by the depletion times of oxygen and nitrogen when the condensation efficiency is negligible; that this time scale is probably in the range from 1 to 4 million years, depending on the elemental composition and initial conditions in the cloud; and that this time scale is insensitive to variations in the total density.

Iglesias, E.↗

IUE's legacy for the future: The final archive and goals for its implementation

Requirements for the IUE archive, and how the signal/noise (S/N) ratio in photometrically corrected images can be enhanced considerably by cross-correlating the fixed pattern in a data image with that in a suitable flat-field image are described. From these cross-correlations it is feasible to derive an accurate geometrical correction to apply to the data image before applying the intensity transfer functions. The standard IUE processing software does not generate a sufficiently accurate geometric correction so that typical spatial errors of 1 to 2 pixels conspire with the large fixed pattern in raw images to produce significant misregistration noise. Tests on flat-field images demonstrate that an explicit geometric correction procedure can avoid most of the misregistration noise and can thereby improve the S/N ratio of IUE data by factors of 1.5 to 2.4.

Linsky, J. L.↗

A pulsation phase-dependent dust shell model of OH 26.5 + 0.6

The spectral energy distribution of the radio-luminous OH/IR star 26.5 + 0.6 was modeled as a function of pulsation phase, using standard radiative-transfer techniques but with more self-consistent input parameters based partly on pulsation model calculations. The changes in spectral shape and overall intensity are easily explained in terms of the radial movement of the dust condensation radius with the changing luminosity of the star. The derived amplitude of the bolometric light curve is only 1.2 mag, considerably less than expected.

Suh, Kyung-Won↗

Computational Models of the Cardiovascular System and Its Response to Microgravity

Computational models of the cardiovascular system are powerful adjuncts to ground-based and in-flight experiments. We will provide NSBRI with a model capable of simulating the short-term effects of gravity on cardiovascular function. The model from this project will: (1) provide a rational framework which quantitatively defines interactions among complex cardiovascular parameters and which supports the critical interpretation of experimental results and testing of hypotheses. (2) permit predictions of the impact of specific countermeasures in the context of various hypothetical cardiovascular abnormalities induced by microgravity. Major progress has been made during the first 18 months of the program: (1) We have developed an operational first-order computer model capable of simulating the cardiovascular response to orthostatic stress. The model consists of a lumped parameter hemodynamic model and a complete reflex control system. The latter includes cardiopulmonary and carotid sinus reflex limbs and interactions between the two. (2) We have modeled the physiologic stress of tilt table experiments and lower body negative pressure procedures (LBNP). We have verified our model's predictions by comparing them with experimental findings from the literature. (3) We have established collaborative efforts with leading investigators interested in experimental studies of orthostatic intolerance, cardiovascular control, and physiologic responses to space flight. (4) We have established a standardized method of transferring data to our laboratory from the ongoing NSBRI bedrest studies. We use this data to estimate input parameters to our model and compare our model predictions to actual data to further verify our model. (5) We are in the process of systematically simulating current hypotheses concerning the mechanism underlying orthostatic intolerance by matching our simulations to stand test data from astronauts pre- and post-flight. (6) We are in the process of developing a JAVA version of the simulator which will be distributed amongst the cardiovascular team members. Future work on this project involves modifications of the model to represent a rodent (rat) model, further evaluation of the bedrest astronaut and animal data, and systematic investigation of specific countermeasures.

Kamm, Roger D.↗

Toward an Improved Single-Particle Model for Large Irregular Grains

To interpret remote spectral observations, scattering and absorption in a particulate surface are simulated via radiative transfer models. The standard model for this purpose among the planetary science community is the Hapke model. This model (like many others) uses two parameters to characterize the optical behavior of individual grains in a particulate surface, the single-scattering albedo omega and phase function p(g). These terms describe, respectively, the quantity and the angular distribution of light scattered by an individual grain. Unfortunately, these parameters are strictly optical. They can be rather difficult to interpret in terms of more interesting particle properties such as grain sizes, shapes, and compositions, that a remote sensing experiment might seek to discover. An equivalent slab approximation is typically used to relate omega to the grain size and optical constants of the material. This approach can mimic the wavelength-dependent absorption behavior of irregular grains, as long as the imaginary index kappa is much less than 1, the shape is equant, and the grain size D is much larger than the wavelength lambda. Unfortunately, the equivalent slab approach provides no information about p(g), which also has a strong dependence on optical constants and particle form.

Grundy, W. M.↗

Secure, Mobile, Wireless Network Technology Designed, Developed, and Demonstrated

The inability to seamlessly disseminate data securely over a high-integrity, wireless broadband network has been identified as a primary technical barrier to providing an order-of-magnitude increase in aviation capacity and safety. Secure, autonomous communications to and from aircraft will enable advanced, automated, data-intensive air traffic management concepts, increase National Air Space (NAS) capacity, and potentially reduce the overall cost of air travel operations. For the first time ever, secure, mobile, network technology was designed, developed, and demonstrated with state-ofthe- art protocols and applications by a diverse, cooperative Government-industry team led by the NASA Glenn Research Center. This revolutionary technology solution will make fundamentally new airplane system capabilities possible by enabling secure, seamless network connections from platforms in motion (e.g., cars, ships, aircraft, and satellites) to existing terrestrial systems without the need for manual reconfiguration. Called Mobile Router, the new technology autonomously connects and configures networks as they traverse from one operating theater to another. The Mobile Router demonstration aboard the Neah Bay, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel stationed in Cleveland, Ohio, accomplished secure, seamless interoperability of mobile network systems across multiple domains without manual system reconfiguration. The Neah Bay was chosen because of its low cost and communications mission similarity to low-Earth-orbiting satellite platforms. This technology was successfully advanced from technology readiness level (TRL) 2 (concept and/or application formation) to TRL 6 (system model or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment). The secure, seamless interoperability offered by the Mobile Router and encryption device will enable several new, vehicle-specific and systemwide technologies to perform such things as remote, autonomous aircraft performance monitoring and early detection and mitigation of potential equipment malfunctions. As an additional benefit, team advancements were incorporated into open standards, ensuring technology transfer. Low-cost, commercial products incorporating the new technology are already available. Furthermore, these products are fully interoperable with legacy network technology equipment currently being used throughout the world.

Ivancic, William D.↗

A Multi-Parameter Approach for Calculating Crack Instability

An accurate fracture control analysis of spacecraft pressure systems, boosters, rocket hardware and other critical low-cycle fatigue cases where the fracture toughness highly impacts cycles to failure requires accurate knowledge of the material fracture toughness. However, applicability of the measured fracture toughness values using standard specimens and transferability of the values to crack instability analysis of the realistically complex structures is refutable. The commonly used single parameter Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) approach which relies on the key assumption that the fracture toughness is a material property would result in inaccurate crack instability predictions. In the past years extensive studies have been conducted to improve the single parameter (K-controlled) LEFM by introducing parameters accounting for the geometry or in-plane constraint effects]. Despite the importance of the thickness (out-of-plane constraint) effects in fracture control problems, the literature is mainly limited to some empirical equations for scaling the fracture toughness data] and only few theoretically based developments can be found. In aerospace hardware where the structure might have only one life cycle and weight reduction is crucial, reducing the design margin of safety by decreasing the uncertainty involved in fracture toughness evaluations would result in lighter hardware. In such conditions LEFM would not suffice and an elastic-plastic analysis would be vital. Multi-parameter elastic plastic crack tip field quantifying developments combined with statistical methods] have been shown to have the potential to be used as a powerful tool for tackling such problems. However, these approaches have not been comprehensively scrutinized using experimental tests. Therefore, in this paper a multi-parameter elastic-plastic approach has been used to study the crack instability problem and the transferability issue by considering the effects of geometrical constraints as well as the thickness. The feasibility of the approach has been examined using a wide range of specimen geometries and thicknesses manufactured from 7075-T7351 aluminum alloy.

Zanganeh, M.↗

Absolute Intercalibration of Spaceborne Microwave Radiometers

Absolute calibration of spaceborne microwave radiometer observations consists of accurate determination of antenna cold space spillover, cross-polarization contamination, and nonlinearity coefficients of the receivers. We deem the GMI sensor to be the most accurate calibrated spaceborne microwave radiometer due to its unique calibration design features and its carefully planned orbit maneuvers. We demonstrate how to transfer the GMI calibration to other spaceborne radiometers, whose operations have sufficient time overlap with GMI. Specifically, we show results for WindSat and AMSR2. The sensor intercalibration is based on brightness temperature matchups between GMI and the other instruments over both open ocean and rainforest scenes. To assess the calibration accuracy, we compare the intercalibrated brightness temperatures with radiative transfer model calculations. In addition, we provide in situ validation results for wind speed and water vapor retrievals from the intercalibrated sensors. The intercalibration methodology allows for the creation of a multidecadal climate data record from passive microwave satellite observations. Significance Statement Creating a long-term climate data record of satellite observations of ocean winds, water vapor, and other variables requires careful and accurate calibration of the various sensors that are used. In particular, it is important to achieve the best possible consistency between the measurements from all the different instruments. This is a challenging task as the configuration and accuracy of these instruments can differ widely. The purpose of our paper is to demonstrate and validate the basic methodology for performing this intercalibration. The backbone of our method is data observed by a well-calibrated sensor that measures the passive microwave emission from Earth’s surface and atmosphere. We show how to transfer its calibration standard to other sensors.

Katherine Wentz↗

Detecting Process Equipment Failures Using Acoustic Data and Machine Learning

Nuclear power plant (NPP) process equipment such as fans, motors, valves, and pumps generate frequent or continuous noise, and deviations from the normal operational sounds made by this equipment can indicate potential issues. These deviations can be identified via automated acoustic anomaly detection, which involves using acoustic sensors (i.e., microphones) alongside detection algorithms to continuously monitor for changes in acoustic signatures. This task is made challenging by the substantial background noise that exists, such as operators opening and closing doors, manipulating valves, and conversing—in addition to typical plant noises. In collaboration with a nuclear power utility partner, this effort assessed the efficacy of acoustic anomaly detection when using a specific acoustic sensor that compresses data into a fixed set of features that are transferable over a standard Internet of Things communication protocol, thereby improving usability but potentially degrading detection performance. Two methods of performing automated acoustic anomaly detection were evaluated: one-class support vector machine (OC-SVM) and isolation forest (iForest). To enable the use of high-quality acoustic data encompassing both normal and anomalous conditions, the study utilized the publicly available Malfunctioning Industrial Machine Investigation and Inspection dataset, which includes real measured acoustic sensor data for a range of equipment types, model numbers, and signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), along with a benchmark set of detection results. Using this dataset, the methods were tested and then compared against the benchmark results. The results indicated that although the specific acoustic sensor did not enable as rich a feature set extraction, the proposed methods with the limited feature set performed just as well. This provides solid justification for both the methods and the use of the proposed acoustic sensor.

46 - INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AN↗

Standards Development Activities at White Sands Test Facility

The development of standards and standard activities at the JSC White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) has been expanded to include the transfer of technology and standards to voluntary consensus organizations in five technical areas of importance to NASA. This effort is in direct response to the National Technology Transfer Act designed to accelerate transfer of technology to industry and promote government-industry partnerships. Technology transfer is especially important for WSTF, whose longterm mission has been to develop and provide vital propellant safety and hazards information to aerospace designers, operations personnel, and safety personnel. Meeting this mission is being accomplished through the preparation of consensus guidelines and standards, propellant hazards analysis protocols, and safety courses for the propellant use of hydrogen, oxygen, and hypergols, as well as the design and inspection of spacecraft pressure vessels and the use of pyrovalves in spacecraft propulsion systems. The overall WSTF technology transfer program is described and the current status of technology transfer activities are summarized.

Baker, D. L.↗

Investigation of energy transfer in the ignition mechanism of a NASA standard initiator

The principal objective of the proposed research was to construct a detailed computer model of the NASA Standard Initiator (NSI). The NSI plays a critical role in initiating various pyrotechnic events in the National Space Transportation System and is also used in Shuttle payload applications. Several initiators failed when being tested at very low temperatures (4 to 20 K). During subsequent investigation an unacceptable high failure rate was found even at higher temperatures (100 to 150 K) but the precise cause of failure was not determined. The modelling work was undertaken to investigate reasons for failure and to predict the performance of alternate firing schemes. The work has shown that the most likely cause of failure at low temperature is poor thermal contact between the electrically heated bridgewire and the pyrotechnic charge. This problem may be masked if there is good thermal contact between the bridgewire and the alumina charge cup. The high thermal conductivity of alumina at cryogenic temperatures was overlooked in previous analyses, which assumed that the charge cup acted as a thermal insulator.

Varghese, Philip L.↗

Comparison of observed and modeled longwave radiances

Calculated LW radiances based on NMC profiles of temperature and humidities for the month of July 1985 are obtained using standard procedures for performing radiative transfer calculations, and are within 3 percent (against a standard deviation of 4 percent) for global daytime land comparsions and within 1 percent (against a standard deviation of 1.5 percent) for a case study located over North America. The calculated values over the global data set show a slight trend with the surface temperature, and since there is no obvious trend with the column amount of water vapor, it is argued that the trend with temperature is evidence that absorption by other components (i.e., CO2O3 and other trace gases not included in these calculations) in the model could be improved.

Stone, Kenneth↗