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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 1,513 records · Page 84

The Power and Energy Storage Systems Toolbox -- PSTess v.1.0

The Power and Energy Storage Systems Toolbox (PSTess) is a MATLAB-based computing package for dynamic simulation and analysis of utility-scale battery storage systems. This codebase is a fork of the Power Systems Toolbox Version 3.0, developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Cherry Tree Scientific Software. While PSTess shares a common lineage with PST, it is a substantially different application. As the name implies, the main distinguishing characteristic of PSTess is its ability to model inverter-based energy storage systems (ESS). The model that enables this is called ess.m, and it serves the dual role of representing ESS operational constraints and the generator/converter interface. With PSTess, the generator/converter interface is modeled as a controllable current source with the ability to modulate both active and reactive current. The model ess.m permits four-quadrant modulation, which allows it to represent a wide variety of inverter-based resources beyond energy storage when paired with an appropriate supplemental control model. Examples include utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants, type 4 wind plants, and static synchronous compensators (STATCOM). This capability is especially useful for modeling hybrid plants that combine energy storage with renewable resources. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. SAND2021-8322 O

Elliott, RyanT.↗

A Quartet of PIF bHLH Factors Provides a Transcriptionally Centered Signaling Hub That Regulates Seedling Morphogenesis through Differential Expression-Patterning of Shared Target Genes in Arabidopsis

Dark-grown seedlings exhibit skotomorphogenic development. Genetic and molecular evidence indicates that a quartet of Arabidopsis Phytochrome (phy)-Interacting bHLH Factors (PIF1, 3, 4, and 5) are critically necessary to maintaining this developmental state and that light activation of phy induces a switch to photomorphogenic development by inducing rapid degradation of the PIFs. Here, using integrated ChIP–seq and RNA–seq analyses, we have identified genes that are direct targets of PIF3 transcriptional regulation, exerted by sequence-specific binding to G-box (CACGTG) or PBE-box (CACATG) motifs in the target promoters genome-wide. In addition, expression analysis of selected genes in this set, in all triple pif-mutant combinations, provides evidence that the PIF quartet members collaborate to generate an expression pattern that is the product of a mosaic of differential transcriptional responsiveness of individual genes to the different PIFs and of differential regulatory activity of individual PIFs toward the different genes. Together with prior evidence that all four PIFs can bind to G-boxes, the data suggest that this collective activity may be exerted via shared occupancy of binding sites in target promoters.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

New Support for Hypotheses of an Ancient Ocean on Mars

A new analog for the giant polygons in the Chryse-Acidalia area suggests that those features may have formed in a major body of water - likely a Late Hesperian to Early Amazonian ocean. This analog -terrestrial polygons in subsea, passive margin basins derives from 3D seismic data that show similar-scale, polygonal fault systems in the subsurface of more than 50 terrestrial offshore basins. The terrestrial and martian polygons share similar sizes, basin-wide distributions, tectonic settings, and association with expected fine-grained sediments. Late Hesperian deposition from outflow floods may have triggered formation of these polygons, by providing thick, rapidly-deposited, fine-grained sediments necessary for polygonal fracturing. The restriction of densely occurring polygons to elevations below approx. -4000 m to -4100 m supports inferences that a body of water controlled their formation. Those same elevations appear to restrict occurrence of polygons in Utopia Planitia, suggesting that this analog may apply also to Utopia and that similar processes may have occurred across the martian lowlands.

Oehler, Dorothy Z.↗

Internship at the Office of the Chief Scientist

The NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) is part of the Center Management. The OCS adds value to the organization by encouraging and facilitating innovation and value to the Agency, Nation, and the scientific community through its well-developed, diverse, and strategically formed charter. The OCS provides the Center with the oversight and advice by facilitating and evaluating the Scientific Innovation Fund (SIF) and promoting science-based research partnerships. Additionally, the Office contributes to to the Agency by organizing annual Summer Series Colloquia, Workshops, and support to the Early Career Network, which allows for international and inter-agency collaborations. Working at the OCS allowed me to further learn about the working of the Office and how the Office engages and provides guidance with rest of the Center and the Agency. As part of my internship, I am working on developing the initial infrastructure required for the organization of the Standardized Distributed Workshop and further developing the layout for the Hibernation Workshop. The Standardized Distributed System workshop will investigate the scope of developing and using standardized distributed systems for a wide range of applications including satellite systems, aerospace-oriented systems, water-based systems, automobiles, and various other robotics applications. The goal of this workshop is to determine the feasibility of developing a standardized distributed system that can be customized for different technological applications, which will enable resource sharing, openness, robustness, and fault tolerance. This workshop will bring together experts from different fields, including satellite operations, unmanned aerial vehicles, aircraft operation and management, and artificial intelligence to provide a global evaluation of the aspects associated with the development and adoption of distributed systems. The workshop will also guide the participants through state of the art distributed systems, discuss some of the challenges in designing control systems with a distributed structure, and consider the future of distributed system based technologies for future applications. Additionally, I am also working on finalizing the details and documentation for the proposed Hibernation Workshop. This workshop will address the phenomenon of hibernation through three major aspects: hibernation on Earth, hibernation in space, and knowledge gaps in the approaches to future deep space exploration. The primary objective of the workshop is to explore the current state of science in the area of hibernation, and as a scientific community, explore the gaps and challenges preventing this scientific field from advancing to the next level. This workshop will consist of presentations, panel discussions, and breakout sessions focused on addressing this scientific field, and bringing experts from educational and commercial sectors together. As a part of my internship report, I will be document the process of planning these workshops and further provide a brief summary of my experience with the 2016 NASA Ames Summer Series and various professional visits.

ISU↗

Initial Validation of a Simulation System for Studying Interoperability in Future Air Traffic Management Systems

Future air traffic management systems will need to accommodate large numbers of increasingly diverse air vehicles with different operating paradigms. To support this trend, they will digitally share copious amounts of information via a common communication architecture. Operators will deploy programs that create and negotiate flight plans via the architecture’s communication protocols. These programs will autonomously make decisions that must be arbitrated by the architecture and robust to uncertainty. To study interoperability in air traffic management, a new airspace simulation system was composed by integrating a legacy airspace simulation, an air traffic control model, and a new research communication architecture. It was used to evaluate air traffic management concepts by adapting it to handle congested arrival traffic at Newark Liberty International Airport and executing simulations. Results demonstrated the ability of the simulation system to model in detail strategic traffic flow management, predeparture flight planning, and air traffic control working in concert. Subsequent studies can use the simulation system to study interoperability, autonomy, digital communication, and uncertainty in future air traffic management systems.

aircraft scheduling,traffic flow management,autono↗

Initial Validation of a Simulation System for Studying Interoperability in Future Air Traffic Management Systems

Future air traffic management systems will need to accommodate large numbers of increasingly diverse air vehicles with different operating paradigms. To support this trend, they will digitally share copious amounts of information via a common communication architecture. Operators will deploy programs that create and negotiate flight plans via the architecture’s communication protocols. These programs will autonomously make decisions that must be arbitrated by the architecture and robust to uncertainty. To study interoperability in air traffic management, a new airspace simulation system was composed by integrating a legacy airspace simulation, an air traffic control model, and a new research communication architecture. It was used to evaluate air traffic management concepts by adapting it to handle congested arrival traffic at Newark Liberty International Airport and executing simulations. Results demonstrated the ability of the simulation system to model in detail strategic traffic flow management, predeparture flight planning, and air traffic control working in concert. Subsequent studies can use the simulation system to study interoperability, autonomy, digital communication, and uncertainty in future air traffic management systems.

air traffic control↗

Initial Validation of a Simulation System for Studying Interoperability in Future Air Traffic Management Systems

Future air traffic management systems will need to accommodate large numbers of increasingly diverse air vehicles with different operating paradigms. To support this trend, they will digitally share copious amounts of information via a common communication architecture. Operators will deploy programs that create and negotiate flight plans via the architecture’s communication protocols. These programs will autonomously make decisions that must be arbitrated by the architecture and robust to uncertainty. To study interoperability in air traffic management, a new airspace simulation system was composed by integrating a legacy airspace simulation, an air traffic control model, and a new research communication architecture. It was used to evaluate air traffic management concepts by adapting it to handle congested arrival traffic at Newark Liberty International Airport and executing simulations. Results demonstrated the ability of the simulation system to model in detail strategic traffic flow management, predeparture flight planning, and air traffic control working in concert. Subsequent studies can use the simulation system to study interoperability, autonomy, digital communication, and uncertainty in future air traffic management systems.

air traffic control↗

Gaussian process analysis of electron energy loss spectroscopy data: multivariate reconstruction and kernel control

Abstract Advances in hyperspectral imaging including electron energy loss spectroscopy bring forth the challenges of exploratory and physics-based analysis of multidimensional data sets. The multivariate linear unmixing methods generally explore similarities in the energy dimension, but ignore correlations in the spatial domain. At the same time, Gaussian process (GP) explicitly incorporate spatial correlations in the form of kernel functions but is computationally intensive. Here, we implement a GP method operating on the full spatial domain and reduced representations in the energy domain. In this multivariate GP, the information between the components is shared via a common spatial kernel structure, while allowing for variability in the relative noise magnitude or image morphology. We explore the role of kernel constraints on the quality of the reconstruction, and suggest an approach for estimating them from the experimental data. We further show that spatial information contained in higher-order components can be reconstructed and spatially localized.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Phenomena identification and categorization by the required level of multiphysics coupling in FHR modeling and simulation

Here, this study identifies the phenomena that impact the accuracy of the multiphysics analysis of fluoride salt-cooled high temperature reactors (FHR) and categorizes the level of coupling needed to model these phenomena with sufficient accuracy in the context of three scenarios, namely, normal operation, station blackout, and simultaneous withdrawal of all control rods. Such a study is a necessary step prior to developing or extending existing multiphysics modeling and simulation tools. The identified multiphysics phenomena are categorized into the groups requiring ‘‘tight” and ‘‘loose” coupling. ‘‘Tight” coupling refers to phenomena that require iterative feedback between multiple physics modules/methods whereas ‘‘loose” coupling refers to phenomena that require only data from other physics that can be pre-calculated and shared in tabular or functional form. For the station blackout scenario, it was determined that no identified phenomena required tight coupling. For the rod withdrawal and normal operation scenarios, it is found that there is a large number of phenomena that require tight coupling between neutronics and thermal hydraulics.

42 ENGINEERING↗

General-purpose interface bus for multiuser, multitasking computer system

The architecture of a multiuser, multitasking, virtual-memory computer system intended for the use by a medium-size research group is described. There are three central processing units (CPU) in the configuration, each with 16 MB memory, and two 474 MB hard disks attached. CPU 1 is designed for data analysis and contains an array processor for fast-Fourier transformations. In addition, CPU 1 shares display images viewed with the image processor. CPU 2 is designed for image analysis and display. CPU 3 is designed for data acquisition and contains 8 GPIB channels and an analog-to-digital conversion input/output interface with 16 channels. Up to 9 users can access the third CPU simultaneously for data acquisition. Focus is placed on the optimization of hardware interfaces and software, facilitating instrument control, data acquisition, and processing.

Generazio, Edward R.↗

Fundamental Mechanisms Controlling Dislocation-Obstacle Interactions in Metals and Alloys

This project combined modeling and experimentation across micro-meso-macro length scales to investigate the role of long-range internal stresses associated with obstacles and dislocation populations, in the deformation response of cubic metals. In addition to unique insights into the physical behavior of metals, advances were also made in modeling techniques and tools at the meso and atomistic level, and new characterization methods were developed and disseminated to the scientific community. Twenty eight journal papers, two dissertations and three theses have served as vehicles to share the gained scientific knowledge, and two open-source software packages have been developed, maintained and distributed. Additional publications are in progress.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Fundamental Mechanisms Controlling Dislocation-Obstacle Interactions in Metals and Alloys

This project combined modeling and experimentation across micro-meso-macro length scales to investigate the role of long-range internal stresses associated with obstacles and dislocation populations, in the deformation response of cubic metals. In addition to unique insights into the physical behavior of metals, advances were also made in modeling techniques and tools at the meso and atomistic level, and new characterization methods were developed and disseminated to the scientific community. Twenty eight journal papers, two dissertations and three theses have served as vehicles to share the gained scientific knowledge, and two opensource software packages have been developed, maintained and distributed. Additional publications are in progress.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Control system software, simulation, and robotic applications

All essential existing capabilities needed to create a man-machine interaction dynamics and performance (MMIDAP) capability are reviewed. The multibody system dynamics software program Order N DISCOS will be used for machine and musculo-skeletal dynamics modeling. The program JACK will be used for estimating and animating whole body human response to given loading situations and motion constraints. The basic elements of performance (BEP) task decomposition methodologies associated with the Human Performance Institute database will be used for performance assessment. Techniques for resolving the statically indeterminant muscular load sharing problem will be used for a detailed understanding of potential musculotendon or ligamentous fatigue, pain, discomfort, and trauma. The envisioned capacity is to be used for mechanical system design, human performance assessment, extrapolation of man/machine interaction test data, biomedical engineering, and soft prototyping within a concurrent engineering (CE) system.

Frisch, Harold P.↗

The Influence of Nonlocal Metal–Dielectric Environments on Physical and Chemical Processes

Plasmonic nanolayers and laminar metallic/dielectric multilayers were originally developed for optical cloaking applications and lensing applications that could potentially image objects whose size was below the diffraction limit. These assemblies were initially formed from gold or silver nanorods grown within an alumina mesh. However, more recently, assemblies with similar properties have also been prepared by sequential thin-layer deposition of alternating layers of gold and magnesium fluoride (MgF 2 ). These metal/dielectric composite materials enable control of the dielectric constant in the directions perpendicular to the layers and balance the real and imaginary dielectric constants of the assembly such that the speed and the amplitude of the waves traveling through the assembly are not attenuated. In this Account, we will also focus on a few of the applications ranging from surface wetting to fluorescence quenching to enhancement of photochemical reactions. First, we will share an introduction to processes used to create these materials, which are combinations of low refractive index metals and transparent higher index materials arranged in a scalable repeating fashion. Two fabrication methods were employed: an electrochemical deposition of Ag nanorods into an anodized alumina matrix which produced materials with an anisotropic negative refractive index material within the plane of the film and lamellar metal/dielectric layers in which the negative index perpendicular to the growth direction. These alternating layers of plasmonic metals and dielectric materials were ultimately chosen to prepare films for further testing, because of their relative ease of fabrication. We will continue with a discussion of a few of the applications of both of these nonlocal dielectric composite materials including more specialized plasmonic, composite, and hyperbolic metamaterials including fluorescence quenching, photochemical reactions, and surface wetting. In each of these applications, the unique response caused by the enhancement of the electric field and the interface between hyperbolic materials and plasmonic materials as they interact photophysically with their near neighbors is presented. In each of the applications, the enhanced electric field extends from the composite substrate layer to interact with its near neighbors and beyond. Furthermore, the presence of this extended interaction can be observed in the form of decreased emission lifetime, enhancement of photochemical reaction rates, and changes in the surface energies measured by contact angle goniometry. In this Account, all of these situations will be addressed. Finally, we will conclude with a summary and vision for the future as well as a discussion of the unique challenges and opportunities available as research active faculty at an HBCU.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Technical Specification Surveillance Interval Extension Using Self-Diagnostics

As part of the Light Water Reactor Sustainability program, an ongoing research effort is being conducted on technical specifications surveillance interval extension of digital equipment in nuclear power plants. The research team is led by Idaho National Laboratory and includes Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Technology Resources, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This research focuses on developing methods for applying the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)–approved guidance to implement a licensee-controlled, risk-informed surveillance frequency change program in digital instrumentation and control (I&C) systems that include self-diagnostics and online monitoring (OLM) capabilities. Although approved methods exist for extending technical specifications (TS) surveillance test intervals (STIs) for general equipment, including analog I&C equipment, gaps remain in technology and guidance on crediting newer digital equipment’s internal self-diagnostics and OLM characteristics. Previous research described a general methodology for crediting internal self-diagnostics for extending surveillance test intervals. The methodology used self-diagnostics to detect—and credited recovery from—failure. Self-diagnostics were also applied for performance monitoring during the extended surveillance interval. This report discusses the status of recent activities to evaluate the previously developed methodology using a pilot study. Although both a utility partner for a pilot study and a specific digital asset were identified in FY2020, delays in obtaining proprietary information resulted in a limited ability to fully evaluate the methodology, and further interactions were complicated by the COVID pandemic. Therefore, at that time, the use of public-domain information—along with current processes for surveillance interval extension through a surveillance frequency control program—identified the need to fully assess diagnostic coverage as part of the pilot study. Furthermore, self-diagnostics were also identified as a potential option to replace the drift analyses conducted as part of current STI extension procedures. In FY2022, the project was reconstituted with the industry partner, and information and data were made available by the industry partner to the research team for review. The shared information included failure event descriptions and data for a digital I&C system since its implementation, as well as recent STI extension interval reports developed by the utility partner on that digital I&C system. This report presents an evaluation of this information and data and describes an application of the proposed methodology cited above. The methodology seeks to take advantage of the self-diagnostics and OLM capabilities to reduce risk or reduce the level of qualitative monitoring assessment needed to perform a risk-informed STI extension using existing NRC approved guidance or both. Addressing these issues of STI extension by crediting self-diagnostics is likely to result in benefits for current and future nuclear power plant (NPP) operations, including lowering the barriers to adoption of digital I&C systems and increasing cost savings by deferring or eliminating unneeded preventive maintenance (tasks or checks or activities). Specifically, self-diagnostic and OLM capabilities of newer digital equipment being installed in non-safety and safety applications are designed to detect failures, provide early warning of potential failures, and notify plant operators to take appropriate action to reduce out of service (OOS) time thus protecting safety margins. Moreover, the equipment is expected to provide information that time-related operational degradation is identified early to ensure timely and planned corrective actions instead of a reactive and unplanned approach ahead of an extended-surveillance interval.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Shaping the FutureWorkforce: Challenges and Lessons Learned in HPC Education from National Labs and Computing Centers

Workforce training at national laboratories and computing centers is essential and typically falls into two categories: foundational training for newcomers and advanced training for experienced users. Foundational topics—such as version control, build systems, and basic HPC usage—are largely transferable across institutions, while cluster-specific training varies due to differences in hardware, job schedulers, and local workflows. Training on emerging technologies is split between hardware-specific content and broadly applicable programming paradigms. Here, to reduce redundancy and increase impact, national labs, computing centers, and vendors are collaborating through initiatives like the HPC Training Working Group to share best practices, co-develop materials, and broaden outreach. These coordinated efforts aim to make HPC training more accessible, scalable, and consistent across the community.

HPC↗

A robot arm simulation with a shared memory multiprocessor machine

A parallel processing scheme for a single chain robot arm is presented for high speed computation on a shared memory multiprocessor. A recursive formulation that is derived from a virtual work form of the d'Alembert equations of motion is utilized for robot arm dynamics. A joint drive system that consists of a motor rotor and gears is included in the arm dynamics model, in order to take into account gyroscopic effects due to the spinning of the rotor. The fine grain parallelism of mechanical and control subsystem models is exploited, based on independent computation associated with bodies, joint drive systems, and controllers. Efficiency and effectiveness of the parallel scheme are demonstrated through simulations of a telerobotic manipulator arm. Two different mechanical subsystem models, i.e., with and without gyroscopic effects, are compared, to show the trade-off between efficiency and accuracy.

Kim, Sung-Soo↗