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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 1,441 records · Page 80
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Microwave-induced spin currents in ferromagnetic-insulator|normal-metal bilayer system

A microwave technique is employed to simultaneously examine the spin pumping and the spin Seebeck effect processes in a YIG|Pt bilayer system. The experimental results show that for these two processes, the spin current flows in opposite directions. The temporal dynamics of the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect exhibits that the effect depends on the diffusion of bulk thermal-magnons in the thermal gradient in the ferromagnetic-insulator|normal-metal system.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2026

Minimized aging of isocyanurate-based rigid cellular foams for buildings through tailored barrier facers and optimized formulation

The thermal resistivity (h·ft 2 ·°F/Btu/in.) of closed-cell rigid foam insulation materials significantly decreases over time. Diffusion-tight facers are designed to significantly enhance initial thermal resistivity and long-term thermal performance by preventing gas diffusion into the foam cells and inhibiting the escape of low thermal conductivity blowing agents. In addition to the gas diffusion property of the facer film, adhesion between the foam and the facer is crucial for achieving diffusion-tight bonding. Here, this study addresses the challenge of thermal aging by investigating how facer film properties and foam formulation influence the durability of thermal performance. A systematic evaluation was conducted to understand the effects of polymeric barrier films, surface treatments, facer coverage, and foam matrix rigidity on thermal resistivity over time. Key findings reveal that diffusion-tight facers, particularly those with metallized layers and compatible heat seal layers, significantly reduce gas exchange and improve foam-facer adhesion. The optimized system, incorporating barrier facers and a tailored polyisocyanurate foam formulation, achieved initial and aged thermal resistivity values after 200 days of approximately 8.3 and 7.4 h ft 2 ·°F/Btu/in., respectively representing only a 10 % reduction compared to a 17 % reduction observed in control samples without facers. Notably, polyurethane spray foams with facers exhibited only a 4 % reduction in thermal resistivity, compared to a 23 % decrease in control samples, demonstrating nearly six times better retention of thermal performance. This innovative facer technology presents a promising solution for reducing energy costs and represents a significant advancement in optimizing energy management for building envelopes in future technologies. This technology can also be adapted for other applications that necessitate the preservation of long-term thermal performance.

Wanasinghe, Shiwanka Vidarshi [Oak Ridge National ↗
NASA NTRS1986

Effects of thermal cycling on graphie-fiber-reinforced 6061 aluminum

Graphite-reinforced aluminum alloy metal-matrix composites are among materials being considered for structural components in dimensionally stable space structures. This application requires materials with low values of thermal expansions and high specific stiffnesses. They must remain stable during exposures to the space environment for periods extending to 20 years. The effects of thermal cycling on the thermal expansion behavior and mechanical properties of Thornel P100 graphite 6061 aluminum composites, as fabricated and after thermal processing to eliminate thermal strain hysteresis, have been investigated. Two groups of composites were studied: one was fabricated by hot roll bonding and the other by diffusion bonding. Processing significantly reduced strain hysteresis during thermal cycling in both groups and improved the ultimate tensile strength and modulus in the diffusion-bonded composites. Thermal cycling stabilized the as-fabricated composites by reducing the residual fabrication stress and increased the matrix strength by metallurgical aging. Thermal expansion behavior of both groups after processing was insensitive to thermal cycling. Data scatter was too large to determine effects of thermal cycling on the mechanical properties. The primary effects of processing and thermal cycling can be attributed to changes in the metallurgical condition and stress state of the matrix.

Dries, G. A.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Rheological Properties of Quasi-2D Fluids in Microgravity

Freely suspended smectic films of sub-micrometer thickness and lateral extensions of several millimeters are used to study thermally driven convection and diffusion in the film plane. The experiments were performed during a six minute microgravity phase of a TEXUS suborbital rocket flight (Texus 52, launched April 27, 2015). The project served as a preliminary test for a planned ISS Experiment with liquid crystal films (OASIS), and in addition it provided new experimental data on smectic films exposed to in-plane thermal gradients.We find an attraction of the smectic material towards the cold edge of the film in a temperature gradient, similar to a Soret effect. This process is reversed when this edge is heated up again. Thermal convection driven by two thermocontacts in the film is practically absent, even at temperature gradients up to 10 Kmm, thermally driven convection sets in when the hot post reaches the transition temperature to the nematic phase.An additional experiment was performed under microgravity conditions to test the stability of liquid crystal bridges in different smectic phases.

microgravity↗
NASA NTRS1998

Frequency-Domain Analysis of Diffusion-Cooled Hot-Electron Bolometer Mixers

A new theoretical model is introduced to describe heterodyne mixer conversion efficiency and noise (from thermal fluctuation effects) in diffusion-cooled superconducting hot-electron bolometers. The model takes into account the non-uniform internal electron temperature distribution generated by Wiedemann-Franz heat conduction, and accepts for input an arbitrary (analytical or experimental) superconducting resistance-versus- temperature curve. A non-linear large-signal solution is solved iteratively to calculate the temperature distribution, and a linear frequency-domain small-signal formulation is used to calculate conversion efficiency and noise. In the small-signal solution the device is discretized into segments, and matrix algebra is used to relate the heating modulation in the segments to temperature and resistance modulations. Matrix expressions are derived that allow single-sideband mixer conversion efficiency and coupled noise power to be directly calculated. The model accounts for self-heating and electrothermal feedback from the surrounding bias circuit.

Skalare, A.↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE CIRCUMGALACTIC MEDIUM OF MASSIVE GALAXIES AT z {approx} 3: A TEST FOR STELLAR FEEDBACK, GALACTIC OUTFLOWS, AND COLD STREAMS

We present new results on the kinematics, thermal and ionization state, and spatial distribution of metal-enriched gas in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of massive galaxies at redshift {approx}3, using the Eris suite of cosmological hydrodynamic ''zoom-in'' simulations. The reference run adopts a blastwave scheme for supernova feedback that produces large-scale galactic outflows, a star formation recipe based on a high gas density threshold, metal-dependent radiative cooling, and a model for the diffusion of metals and thermal energy. The effect of the local UV radiation field is added in post-processing. The CGM (defined as all gas at R > 0.2 R{sub vir} = 10 kpc, where R{sub vir} is the virial radius) contains multiple phases having a wide range of physical conditions, with more than half of its heavy elements locked in a warm-hot component at T > 10{sup 5} K. Synthetic spectra, generated by drawing sightlines through the CGM, produce interstellar absorption-line strengths of Ly{alpha}, C II, C IV, Si II, and Si IV as a function of the galactocentric impact parameter (scaled to the virial radius) that are in broad agreement with those observed at high redshift by Steidel et al. The covering factor of absorbing material declines less rapidly with impact parameter for Ly{alpha} and C IV compared to C II, Si IV, and Si II, with Ly{alpha} remaining strong (W{sub Ly{alpha}} > 300 mA) to {approx}> 5 R{sub vir} = 250 kpc. Only about one third of all the gas within R{sub vir} is outflowing. The fraction of sightlines within one virial radius that intercept optically thick, N{sub H{sub I}}>10{sup 17.2} cm{sup -2} material is 27%, in agreement with recent observations by Rudie et al. Such optically thick absorption is shown to trace inflowing ''cold'' streams that penetrate deep inside the virial radius. The streams, enriched to metallicities above 0.01 solar by previous episodes of star formation in the main host and in nearby dwarfs, are the origin of strong (N{sub C{sub II}}>10{sup 13} cm{sup -2}) C II absorption with a covering factor of 22% within R{sub vir} and 10% within 2 R{sub vir}. Galactic outflows do not cause any substantial suppression of the cold accretion mode. The central galaxy is surrounded by a large O VI halo, with a typical column density N{sub O{sub VI}} {approx}> 10{sup 14} cm{sup -2} and a near unity covering factor maintained all the way out to 150 kpc. This matches the trends recently observed in star-forming galaxies at low redshift by Tumlinson et al. Our zoom-in simulations of this single system appear then to reproduce quantitatively the complex baryonic processes that determine the exchange of matter, energy, and metals between galaxies and their surroundings.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Bio-Oil Impact on Water Diffusion and Durability of Bitumen: Influence of Aging and Salinity

Bio-oils derived from inexpensive biomass offer environmentally friendly options for modifying bitumen for improved durability or rejuvenating aged material, although their impact on bitumen moisture resistance can be mixed. A better understanding of water diffusion into bitumen and its interactions with bio-oil compounds would aid the development of effective bio-oils. In this study, the effect of water exposure on bio-oil-modified bitumen blends was examined by de-wetting contact angle measurements and differential FTIR spectroscopy. The bio-oils improved the anti-stripping behavior of the bitumen but also increased water absorption which could weaken cohesive strength. Short-term thermal aging increased water diffusion for all bitumen blends including the control, probably due to the presence of more oxidized compounds. Negative peaks of alkanes and polar groups in the differential FTIR data suggest the co-diffusion of surfactant molecules towards the bitumen-water interface. Basic pH increased de-wetting of some bitumen blends from silica, possibly by attacking the silica surface itself. The presence of salt in solution altered the bitumen surface composition through the formation of salt complexes with bitumen or bio-oil compounds. In particular, the formation of calcium-carboxylate complexes appeared to greatly improve anti-stripping effects of bio-oils. Water diffusion into most of the bitumen blends was insensitive to pH or salt concentration except for a few notable outliers. Identifying the compounds responsible for increasing or decreasing water diffusion in these outlier cases would be valuable developing future bio-oil formations that avoid or promote those compounds.

Hung, Albert M.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Monte Carlo simulation of steady state shock structure including cosmic ray mediation and particle escape

Both hydrodynamic calculations (Drury and Volk, 1981, and Axford et al., 1982) and kinetic simulations imply the existence of thermal subshocks in high-Mach-number cosmic-ray-mediated shocks. The injection efficiency of particles from the thermal background into the diffusive shock-acceleration process is determined in part by the sharpness and compression ratio of these subshocks. Results are reported for a Monte Carlo simulation that includes both the back reaction of accelerated particles on the inflowing plasma, producing a smoothing of the shock transition, and the free escape of particles allowing arbitrarily large overall compression ratios in high-Mach-number steady-state shocks. Energy spectra and estimates of the proportion of thermal ions accelerated to high energy are obtained.

Ellison, D. C.↗
DOE OSTI2014

CONDUCTION IN LOW MACH NUMBER FLOWS. I. LINEAR AND WEAKLY NONLINEAR REGIMES

Thermal conduction is an important energy transfer and damping mechanism in astrophysical flows. Fourier's law, in which the heat flux is proportional to the negative temperature gradient, leading to temperature diffusion, is a well-known empirical model of thermal conduction. However, entropy diffusion has emerged as an alternative thermal conduction model, despite not ensuring the monotonicity of entropy. This paper investigates the differences between temperature and entropy diffusion for both linear internal gravity waves and weakly nonlinear convection. In addition to simulating the two thermal conduction models with the fully compressible Navier-Stokes equations, we also study their effects in the reduced ''soundproof'' anelastic and pseudoincompressible (PI) equations. We find that in the linear and weakly nonlinear regime, temperature and entropy diffusion give quantitatively similar results, although there are some larger errors in the PI equations with temperature diffusion due to inaccuracies in the equation of state. Extrapolating our weakly nonlinear results, we speculate that differences between temperature and entropy diffusion might become more important for strongly turbulent convection.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1977

Induced gyroresonant emission of extraordinary mode radiation

Induced amplification of extraordinary-mode electromagnetic waves in a magnetized plasma is investigated. The analysis is performed for a plasma which consists of two components: a relatively dense species of thermal plasma and a diffuse population of suprathermal electrons characterized by a loss cone-type distribution. The excitation mechanism is primarily due to the interaction of the electromagnetic waves with the energetic electrons via the relativistic cyclotron resonance which arises because of the momentum dependence of the gyrofrequency. The present study is particularly concerned with waves propagating perpendicularly and nearly perpendicularly with respect to the external magnetic field, since it is expected that for these cases the cyclotron damping due to thermal electrons is vanishingly small and the growth rates are maximum. The results indicate that excitation occurs primarily for frequencies near the first two gyroharmonics.

Freund, H. P.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Two-dimensional chaotic thermostat and behavior of a thermalized charge in a weak magnetic field

A two-dimensional version of a chaotic thermostat is investigated. Its structure follows the concept previously introduced by the author [G. J. Morales, Phys. Rev. E 97, 032203 (2018)] to generate a one-dimensional chaotic thermostat, namely, the usual friction force of a deterministic thermostat is supplemented with a self-consistent fluctuating force that depends on the drag coefficient associated with coupling to the heat bath. Azimuthal symmetry requires the thermostat to have two internal degrees of freedom, thus the Martyna-Klein-Tuckerman [G. J. Martyna et al., J. Chem. Phys. 97, 2635 (1992)] model is chosen for the heat bath. The unmagnetized system exhibits two-dimensional diffusive behavior, achieves symmetric Maxwellian velocity distributions in the absence of an external potential, and satisfies the Einstein relation when an external force is applied. The velocity fluctuations display the characteristic exponential frequency spectrum associated with chaotic systems. The model is used to explore the diffusive motion of a thermalized charge in a weak magnetic field and the associated Hall and Pedersen mobilities. Over a range of magnetic field strengths the charge exhibits absolute negative mobility.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Thermal flux limited electron Kapitza conductance in copper-niobium multilayers

The interplay between the contributions of electron thermal flux and interface scattering to the Kapitza conductance across metal-metal interfaces through measurements of thermal conductivity of copper-niobium multilayers was studied. Thermal conductivities of copper-niobium multilayer films of period thicknesses ranging from 5.4 to 96.2 nm and sample thicknesses ranging from 962 to 2677 nm are measured by time-domain thermoreflectance over a range of temperatures from 78 to 500 K. The Kapitza conductances between the Cu and Nb interfaces in multilayer films are determined from the thermal conductivities using a series resistor model and are in good agreement with the electron diffuse mismatch model. The results for the thermal boundary conductance between Cu and Nb are compared to literature values for the thermal boundary conductance across Al-Cu and Pd-Ir interfaces, and demonstrate that the interface conductance in metallic systems is dictated by the temperature derivative of the electron energy flux in the metallic layers, rather than electron mean free path or scattering processes at the interface.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Temperature-dependent Spectral Emission of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Quantum Emitters on Conductive and Dielectric Substrates

We report a reduction in the linewidth and suppression of spectral diffusion of quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride supported on a conductive substrate. In this work, we observe a temperature-dependent reduction in the spectral emission linewidth for CVD-grown and exfoliated crystals on conductive ITO relative to those seen on silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) substrates. We show that the inhomogeneous linewidth can be suppressed by 45% as a result of using a conductive substrate. We investigate the zero-phonon line profile at temperatures ranging from 4 to 300 K and decompose the effects of thermal broadening and spectral diffusion at each temperature by Voigt fitting. The temperature dependence of homogeneous and inhomogeneous components of the broadening is discussed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS1980

The correlation of the cosmic X-ray background with the light of galaxies

Models for the origin of the cosmic X-ray background (CXB) radiation attribute it to numerous weak, unresolved discrete sources (e.g., active galactic nuclei), to some diffuse emission mechanism (e.g., thermal bremmstrahlung from a hot intergalactic plasma), or to an unresolved population of discrete sources which evolve substantially with redshift (e.g., quasars). It is shown that the comparison of the CXB flux variations with flux variations in the light from galaxies can measure the relative contribution of these possible sources of the CXB. Applying the technique to available Uhuru data, it is found that the absence of correlation between the optical flux variations and the X-ray flux variations sets an upper limit of approximately 50% on the fraction of the CXB originating with any classes of X-ray sources substantially represented among bright (apparent photographic magnitude less than or equal to 15.5) galaxies. The data are consistent with nearly all of the CXB being due to diffuse emission or to a class of sources whose density increases rapidly with redshift.

Turner, E. L.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Ice Growth Model for Polar Water Capture Systems

In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) is essential to NASA’s goal of sustainable and cost-effective missions to the Moon and beyond. Water has become a particular source of interest since its discovery in the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) of the Moon. This water exists as ice bound within the regolith, so one mode of capture is heating to sublimation temperatures and capturing at very low pressure. It then can be stored in ice form and transported out of the PSR and to a sunlit ridge, where processes such as electrolysis can be performed[2]. An understanding of frost growth dynamics under rarefied conditions is necessary for successful water capture and storage due to transient thermal properties of frost. A Diffusion-Limited Aggregation (DLA) approach was taken to analytically model bulk thermal conductivity changes of the growing frost layer under varying wall temperatures and frost layer porosities. The model utilizes well-known correlations for effective thermal conductivity and records the values as the frost layer thickness increases. This thermal conductivity can be applied to a known temperature change and be used to evaluate heat flux through the combined frost layer and tank wall for either a flat plate or cylindrical geometry. An experiment is described that will evaluate this model using one-dimensional frost growth on a horizontal, flat plate under low-pressure. The ice growth will be measured using a millimeter-scale photogrammetry camera system and a load cell measured transient mass growth.

In situ Resource Utilization↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Ice Growth Model for Polar Water Capture Systems

In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) is essential to NASA’s goal of sustainable and cost-effective missions to the Moon and beyond. Water has become a particular source of interest since its discovery in the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) of the Moon. This water exists as ice bound within the regolith, so one mode of capture is heating to sublimation temperatures and capturing at very low pressure. It then can be stored in ice form and transported out of the PSR and to a sunlit ridge, where processes such as electrolysis can be performed[2]. An understanding of frost growth dynamics under rarefied conditions is necessary for successful water capture and storage due to transient thermal properties of frost. A Diffusion-Limited Aggregation (DLA) approach was taken to analytically model bulk thermal conductivity changes of the growing frost layer under varying wall temperatures and frost layer porosities. The model utilizes well-known correlations for effective thermal conductivity and records the values as the frost layer thickness increases. This thermal conductivity can be applied to a known temperature change and be used to evaluate heat flux through the combined frost layer and tank wall for either a flat plate or cylindrical geometry. An experiment is described that will evaluate this model using one-dimensional frost growth on a horizontal, flat plate under low-pressure. The ice growth will be measured using a millimeter-scale photogrammetry camera system and a load cell measured transient mass growth.

ice growth↗