Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Integral Benchmarks”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,531 records · Page 85

Automating methods for estimating metabolite volatility

The volatility of metabolites can influence their biological roles and inform optimal methods for their detection. Yet, volatility information is not readily available for the large number of described metabolites, limiting the exploration of volatility as a fundamental trait of metabolites. Here, we adapted methods to estimate vapor pressure from the functional group composition of individual molecules (SIMPOL.1) to predict the gas-phase partitioning of compounds in different environments. We implemented these methods in a new open pipeline called volcalc that uses chemoinformatic tools to automate these volatility estimates for all metabolites in an extensive and continuously updated pathway database: the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) that connects metabolites, organisms, and reactions. We first benchmark the automated pipeline against a manually curated data set and show that the same category of volatility (e.g., nonvolatile, low, moderate, high) is predicted for 93% of compounds. We then demonstrate how volcalc might be used to generate and test hypotheses about the role of volatility in biological systems and organisms. Specifically, we estimate that 3.4 and 26.6% of compounds in KEGG have high volatility depending on the environment (soil vs. clean atmosphere, respectively) and that a core set of volatiles is shared among all domains of life (30%) with the largest proportion of kingdom-specific volatiles identified in bacteria. With volcalc , we lay a foundation for uncovering the role of the volatilome using an approach that is easily integrated with other bioinformatic pipelines and can be continually refined to consider additional dimensions to volatility. The volcalc package is an accessible tool to help design and test hypotheses on volatile metabolites and their unique roles in biological systems.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Time-Accurate Local Time Stepping and High-Order Time CESE Methods for Multi-Dimensional Flows Using Unstructured Meshes

With the wide availability of affordable multiple-core parallel supercomputers, next generation numerical simulations of flow physics are being focused on unsteady computations for problems involving multiple time scales and multiple physics. These simulations require higher solution accuracy than most algorithms and computational fluid dynamics codes currently available. This paper focuses on the developmental effort for high-fidelity multi-dimensional, unstructured-mesh flow solvers using the space-time conservation element, solution element (CESE) framework. Two approaches have been investigated in this research in order to provide high-accuracy, cross-cutting numerical simulations for a variety of flow regimes: 1) time-accurate local time stepping and 2) highorder CESE method. The first approach utilizes consistent numerical formulations in the space-time flux integration to preserve temporal conservation across the cells with different marching time steps. Such approach relieves the stringent time step constraint associated with the smallest time step in the computational domain while preserving temporal accuracy for all the cells. For flows involving multiple scales, both numerical accuracy and efficiency can be significantly enhanced. The second approach extends the current CESE solver to higher-order accuracy. Unlike other existing explicit high-order methods for unstructured meshes, the CESE framework maintains a CFL condition of one for arbitrarily high-order formulations while retaining the same compact stencil as its second-order counterpart. For large-scale unsteady computations, this feature substantially enhances numerical efficiency. Numerical formulations and validations using benchmark problems are discussed in this paper along with realistic examples.

Chang, Chau-Lyan↗

Measured and Simulated Acoustic Signature of a Full-Scale Aircraft with Airframe Noise Reduction Technology Installed

Microphone phased-array and pole-mounted microphone data gathered during the NASA Acoustics Research Measurements flight tests were used to benchmark results from companion full-scale aeroacoustics simulations. Conducted with the lattice Boltzmann solver PowerFLOW®, the simulations predicted the acoustic behavior of various tested aircraft configurations. Emphasis was placed on those flown during the third flight test - a Fowler flap-equipped Gulfstream G-III with and without noise abatement technology on the main landing gear. Direct comparisons between experimental and synthetic microphone phasedarray data were achieved by applying the same processing and deconvolution technique to both sets of data. To extend the validation of the computations to the metric used for noise certification, the Effective Perceived Noise Level, a high-fidelity digital model of the nose landing gear, which was excluded from earlier computations, was developed and integrated into the G-III aircraft geometry. The acoustic study presented here demonstrates that the simulated beamform maps and corresponding integrated farfield spectra accurately predict the locations and strengths of the prominent airframe noise sources present on the G-III aircraft.

Khorrami, Mehdi R.↗

Localized Radial Basis Functions for Radiation Transport in Slab Geometry

Meshing the spatial domain for the neutron transport equation can be computationally expensive and labor-intensive. Mesh-free methods, such as radial basis function (RBF) approximations, may alleviate these concerns by using a pointwise solution of the transport equation instead of the standard volume-integrated solution using cells or elements. This allows for the use of any geometric description that can provide the material at solution points and the boundary normal directions for boundary points. RBFs give spectral convergence when used to solve differential equations, but only if they are infinitely smooth. This occurs when the RBFs are effectively flat, creating an ill-conditioned, dense system of equations. One simple way to alleviate this issue is to use localized RBFs. Global RBFs have been applied previously to the monoenergetic radiative transport equation in X-Y geometry using source iteration. In this summary, localized RBFs are applied to the multigroup neutron transport equation in slab geometry using Krylov iteration. The results show agreement with benchmark solutions, provided the coefficients for the RBF basis are properly chosen. (authors)

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Code validation of SAM using natural-circulation experimental data from the compact integral effects test (CIET) facility

The primary objective of this study is to validate the system analysis code, SAM, using experimental data from the Compact Integral Effects Test (CIET) experimental loop. SAM is a modern system analysis code being developed at Argonne National Laboratory for safety analysis of designs for advanced non-light water reactors (non-LWRs), such as sodium-cooled fast reactors, high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, and fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactors (FHRs). To support SAM code development for the wide range of non-LWR applications, it is of paramount importance to validate the code against experiments highly relevant to these reactor concepts. Additionally, the CIET facility, which was designed to reproduce the thermal-hydraulics response of FHRs under both forced- and natural-circulation conditions, has been identified and selected as one of the benchmark test facilities for SAM code validation. In this study, two sets of available CIET tests were selected for SAM code validation purposes, namely, power step change transient tests and steady-state natural-circulation tests. For all selected tests, SAM-predicted results show very good agreement with experimental data. The successful validation of SAM against these selected CIET experiments demonstrates that the computer code is well suited for thermal-hydraulics analysis of FHR designs.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Learning-based demand-supply-coupled charging station location problem for electric vehicle demand management

We present a learning-based, demand-supply-coupled optimization model for the charging station location problem (CSLP), aiming to integrate the concept of electric vehicle (EV) charging demand management into the planning of charging infrastructures. In stage one, a gradient boosting-based learning model is developed to predict the charging demand of a charging station based on 15 defined features. Next, in stage two, a demand–supply-coupled CSLP model is developed to optimize the total charging usage rates of both existing and newly selected charging stations. We design a gradient-based stochastic spatial search algorithm to solve the proposed model. A case study with 6-year charging event data from Kansas City Missouri is performed. Results show that the proposed method can generate satisfactory charging demand predictions, and can increase charging usage rates by 14%, outperforming two benchmark approaches. Furthermore, the results of this research are poised to guide agencies in identifying optimal locations for new charging stations.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

A NASA initiative: Software engineering for reliable complex systems

The objective is the development of methods, technology, and skills that will enable NASA to cost-effectively specify, build, and manage reliable software which can evolve and be maintained over an extended period. The need for such software is rooted in the increasing integration of software and computing components into NASA systems. Current NASA Software Engineering expertise was applied toward some of the largest reliable systems including: shuttle launch; ground support; shuttle simulation; minor control; satellite tracking; and scientific data systems. Unfortunately, no theory exists for reliable complex software systems. NASA is seeking to fill this theoretical gap through a number of approaches. One such approach is to conduct research on theoretical foundations for managing complex software systems. It includes: communication models, new and modified paradigms, and life-cycle models. Another approach is research in the theoretical foundations for reliable software development and validation. It focuses upon formal specifications, programming languages, software engineering systems, software reuse, formal verification, and software safety. Further approaches involve benchmarking a NASA software environment, experimentation within the NASA context, evolution of present NASA methodology, and transfer of technology to the space station software support environment.

Holcomb, Lee B.↗

Global dynamic modeling of a transmission system

The work performed on global dynamic simulation and noise correlation of gear transmission systems at the University of Akron is outlined. The objective is to develop a comprehensive procedure to simulate the dynamics of the gear transmission system coupled with the effects of gear box vibrations. The developed numerical model is benchmarked with results from experimental tests at NASA Lewis Research Center. The modal synthesis approach is used to develop the global transient vibration analysis procedure used in the model. Modal dynamic characteristics of the rotor-gear-bearing system are calculated by the matrix transfer method while those of the gear box are evaluated by the finite element method (NASTRAN). A three-dimensional, axial-lateral coupled bearing model is used to couple the rotor vibrations with the gear box motion. The vibrations between the individual rotor systems are coupled through the nonlinear gear mesh interactions. The global equations of motion are solved in modal coordinates and the transient vibration of the system is evaluated by a variable time-stepping integration scheme. The relationship between housing vibration and resulting noise of the gear transmission system is generated by linear transfer functions using experimental data. A nonlinear relationship of the noise components to the fundamental mesh frequency is developed using the hypercoherence function. The numerically simulated vibrations and predicted noise of the gear transmission system are compared with the experimental results from the gear noise test rig at NASA Lewis Research Center. Results of the comparison indicate that the global dynamic model developed can accurately simulate the dynamics of a gear transmission system.

Choy, F. K.↗

Wind turbine response in waked inflow: A modelling benchmark against full-scale measurements

Predicting the power and loads of wind turbines in waked inflow conditions still presents a major modelling challenge. It requires the accurate modelling of the atmospheric flow conditions, wakes of upstream turbines and the response of the turbine of interest. Rigorous validations of model frameworks against measurements of utility-scale wind turbines in such scenarios remain limited to date. In this study, six models of different fidelity are compared against measurements from the DanAero experiment. The two benchmark cases feature a full-wake and partial-wake scenario, respectively. The simulations are compared against local pressure forces and inflow velocities measured on several blade sections of the downstream turbine, as well as met mast measurements and standard SCADA data. Regardless of the model fidelity, reasonable agreements are found in terms of the wake characteristics and turbine response. For instance, the azimuth variation of the mean aerodynamic forces acting on the blade was captured with a mean relative error of 15-20%. Additionally, while various model-specific deficiencies could be identified, the study highlights the need for further full-scale measurement campaigns with even more extensive instrumentation. Furthermore, it is concluded that validations should not be limited to integrated and/or time-averaged quantities that conceal characteristic spatial or temporal variations.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Evaluation of Graph Pattern Matching Workloads in Graph Analysis Systems

Graph analysis has emerged as a powerful method for data scientists to represent, integrate, query, and explore heterogeneous data sources. As a result, graph data management and mining became a popular area of research, and led to the development of plethora of systems in recent years. Unfortunately, the number of emerging graph analysis systems and the wide range of applications, coupled with a lack of apples-to-apples comparisons, make it difficult to understand the trade-offs between different systems and the graph operations for which they are designed. A fair comparison of these systems is a challenging task for the following reasons: multiple data models, non-standardized serialization formats, various query interfaces to users, and diverse environments they operate in. To address these key challenges, in this paper we present a new benchmark suite by extending the Lehigh University Benchmark (LUBM) to cover the most common capabilities of various graph analysis systems. We provide the design process of the benchmark, which generalizes the workflow for data scientists to conduct the desired graph analysis on different graph analysis systems. Equipped with this extended benchmark suite, we present performance comparison for nine subgraph pattern retrieval operations over six graph analysis systems, namely NetworkX, Neo4j, Jena, Titan, GraphX, and uRiKA. Through the proposed benchmark suite, this study reveals both quantitative and qualitative findings in (1) implications in loading data into each system; (2) challenges in describing graph patterns for each query interface; and (3) different sensitivity of each system to query selectivity. We envision that this study will pave the road for: (i) data scientists to select the suitable graph analysis systems, and (ii) data management system designers to advance graph analysis systems.

Hong, Seokyong↗

A compact solution to computational acoustics

This paper demonstrates that the linearized, dimensional Euler equations for acoustic computation can be accurately solved as a set of decoupled first-order wave equations, and that if ordered properly, this system of simple waves has unambiguous, easily implemented boundary conditions, allowing waves of same group speeds to pass through numerical boundaries or comply with wall conditions. Thus, the task of designing a complex multi-dimensional scheme with approximate far-field boundary conditions reduces to the design of higher order schemes for the one-dimensional simple wave equation. A compact finite-difference scheme and a characteristically exact but numerically n(th) order accurate boundary condition are introduced for solving the first order wave equation. Spanning a three-point two-level stencil, this low-dispersion implicit scheme has a third order spatial accuracy when used on nonuniform meshes, fourth order accurate on uniform meshes, and a temporal accuracy of second order due to the choice of trapezoidal integration for algorithmic simplicity. The robustness and accuracy of the scheme are demonstrated through a series of numerical experiments and comparisons with published results. When tested on the one-dimensional wave equation on a uniform grid, this scheme allows a Gaussian wave packet to pass through any finite domain with low numerical dispersion characteristic of a spatially fourth-order scheme and reflections at numerical boundaries maintained below truncation error. On highly stretched and irregular grids, only mild dispersions are found in the solution while solutions by other methods fail or are severely distorted. Yet, this scheme is no more sophisticated to solve or implement than the Crank-Nicolson scheme. This scheme has been tested on four categories of the ICASE/LaRC benchmark problems, which include propagation of acoustic and convective waves in Cartesian and cylindrical domains, reflection of acoustic wave at stationary/moving boundaries, and sound generation by gust-blade interaction.

Fung, K.-Y.↗

How can a diverse set of integral and semi-integral measurements inform identification of discrepant nuclear data?

Nuclear data are used for a variety of applications, including criticality safety, reactor performance, and material safeguards. Despite the breadth of use-cases, the effective neutron multiplication factor, keff, of ICSBEP critical assemblies are primarily used for nuclear data validation; these are sensitive to specific energy regions and nuclides and are unable to uniquely constrain nuclear data. As a consequence, general-purpose nuclear data libraries, such as ENDF/B-VIII.0, may have deficiencies that, while not apparent in criticality applications, negatively impact other applications, such as non-destructive analysis of special nuclear material and neutron diagnosed subcritical experiments. Recent work by the Experiments Underpinned by Computational Learning for Improvements in Nuclear Data (EUCLID) project developed a machine learning tool, RAFIEKI, which uses random forests and the SHAP metric to determine which nuclear data contribute most to predicted bias between measured and simulated responses (e.g. keff). This paper contrasts RAFIEKI analysis applied to keff only against RAFIEKI analysis with keff paired with either LLNL pulsed sphere measurements or subcritical benchmarks. Two examples show that a) including pulsed sphere measurements substantially increases 9Be nuclear data importance to bias between 2 and 15 MeV, and b) including subcritical benchmarks has the potential for disentangling compensating errors between 240Pu (n,el) and (n,il) cross-sections between 0.1 and 10 MeV. These results show that RAFIEKI analysis applied to response sets that include, but go beyond, keff can aid nuclear data evaluators in identifying issues in nuclear data.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Bay Area Regional Energy: Network Integrated Commercial Retrofits (BRICR) Project. Final Report

The BRICR project applied large-scale building energy modeling concepts with the aim of reducing the cost of energy efficiency targeting, design, and project development, and measurement of energy savings for energy efficiency programs implemented by local governments that serve small and medium commercial buildings (SMB). The project leveraged the services and resources of existing local government energy programs serving disadvantaged and hard-to-reach SMB customers. In contrast to programs run by utilities, local government programs generally do not have direct access to energy billing records for an entire class of customers in a geographic area, which prior research demonstrated useful for large-scale building energy model baseline development and calibration. , However, local governments are rich in public records that offer important clues about physical attributes and uses that, along with behavior, determine energy use. Relying only on public records, BRICR demonstrated development of credible baseline energy models for 3,792 office, retail, and hotel buildings. Publicly disclosed annual energy use data from a local energy benchmarking program and anonymized data from the Building Performance Database, the nation’s largest dataset about energy-related characteristics of buildings, were utilized to validate and calibrate energy models via an innovative method comparing distributions of energy intensity by fuel type for portfolios of buildings of similar size, vintage, and use. Portfolio calibration does not provide certainty that an energy model fits an individual building; the method is useful when billing data is not accessible – a common situation for researchers, energy service providers and ESCOs, local governments, and any party other than a utility. A software component was developed, the BRICR gem, which automates simulation when relevant data is added or edited by the user to a file saved in the standardized BuildingSync XML schema for energy audit data. The component was demonstrated as a simplified means to generate a mass of energy models corresponding to public records containing basic attributes such as building scale, location, use, year built, and aspect ratio in combination with building energy code prototype data corresponding to use and vintage. The component was also demonstrated as a simplified means to automate energy simulation when attributes are revised; the intention was to enable iterative improvement of the baseline model and energy savings estimates for common energy conservation measures as users revise relevant attributes based on their observations. In the context of institutional change and uncertainty for the participating local government energy programs, 13 whole building retrofits were completed. Impacts were measured by applying the CalTRACK2.0 methods to standardize measurement of normalized metered energy consumption. The GRIDMeter methods of stratified sampling and individual load shape analysis were applied to adjust for impacts of the effect of COVID-19 on retrofitted buildings in the context of all local buildings of similar size and use. Excluding impacts of the pandemic, retrofitted buildings demonstrated between 1.6% and 25.1% reduction in energy use. The project contributed use cases and feedback that helped inform evolution of the software tools and data formats that were combined for the first time in the BRICR project.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Newton-Krylov method in solving drift-flux two-phase flow problems for both pre-CHF and post-CHF conditions at steady state

Furthermore, this paper presents numerical simulations of two-phase flow heat transfer for both pre-CHF and post-CHF conditions typical in light water nuclear reactors. The conjugate heat transfer problem is modeled with one-dimensional drift-flux two-phase flow model for coolant flow and two-dimensional heat conduction equation in solid walls. Fully implicit time integration schemes were employed, and the resulted non-linear equations were solved with a Newton-Krylov method. For the drift-flux two-phase flow model, the EPRI drift-flux closure correlation is used to model the relative motion between the two phases. Additional closure correlations were adopted from REALP5-3D to determine two-phase flow regime, wall boiling heat and mass transfer, interfacial heat and mass transfer, and two-phase flow frictional pressure drop. Three sets of experiments were used for code validation, including Bartolomei subcooled flow boiling in vertical pipes, FRIGG boiling tests in vertical bundles, and Bennett heated tube tests. RELAP5-3D simulation results were also provided to perform code-to-code benchmark. Overall, numerical results of this work showed good agreements with both experimental data and RELAP5-3D simulation results. Discrepancy between them were also identified in post-CHF region, which suggests necessary further improvement.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Performance Assessment of Different Pulse Reconstruction Algorithms for the ATHENA X-Ray Integral Field Unit

The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) microcalorimeter, on-board Athena, with its focal plane comprising 3840 Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) operating at 90 mK, will provide unprecedented spectral-imaging capability in the 0.2-12 keV energy range. It will rely on the on-board digital processing of current pulses induced by the heat deposited in the TES absorber, as to recover the energy of each individual events. Assessing the capabilities of the pulse reconstruction is required to understand the overall scientific performance of the X-IFU, notably in terms of energy resolution degradation with both increasing energies and count rates. Using synthetic data streams generated by the X-IFU End-to-End simulator, we present here a comprehensive benchmark of various pulse reconstruction techniques, ranging from standard optimal filtering to more advanced algorithms based on noise covariance matrices. Beside deriving the spectral resolution achieved by the different algorithms, a first assessment of the computing power and ground calibration needs is presented. Overall, all methods show similar performances, with the reconstruction based on noise covariance matrices showing the best improvement with respect to the standard optimal filtering technique. Due to prohibitive calibration needs, this method might however not be applicable to the X-IFU and the best compromise currently appears to be the so-called resistance space analysis which also features very promising high count rate capabilities.

microcalorimeters↗

Evaluation of effective-stress-function algorithm for nuclear fuel simulation

In a pressurized water reactor (PWR), the mechanical integrity of nuclear fuel is the most critical issue as it is an important barrier for fission products released into the environment. The integrity of zirconium cladding that surrounds uranium oxide can be threatened during off-normal operation owing to a pellet-cladding mechanical interaction (PCMI). To analyze the fuel and cladding behavior during off-operation, the fuel performance code should calculate an inelastic analysis in two - or three-dimensional calculations. In this paper, the effective stress function (ESF) algorithm based on a two-dimensional FE module has been implemented to simulate the inelastic behavior of the cladding with stability and accuracy. The ESF algorithm solves the governing equations of the inelastic constitutive behavior by calculating the zero of the appropriate effective-stress-function. To verify the accuracy of the ESF algorithm for an inelastic analysis, a code-to-code benchmark was performed using the commercial FE code, ANSYS 13.0. To demonstrate the stability and convergence of the implemented algorithm, the number of iterations in the ESF algorithm was compared with that in a sequential algorithm in the case of an inelastic problem. Consequently, the evaluation results demonstrate that the implemented ESF algorithm improves the efficiency of the computation without a loss of accuracy for an inelastic analysis. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Search for a heavy pseudoscalar Higgs boson decaying to a 125 GeV Higgs boson and a Z boson in final states with two tau and two light leptons in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV

A search for a heavy pseudoscalar Higgs boson, A, decaying to a 125 GeV Higgs boson h and a Z boson is presented. The h boson is identified via its decay to a pair of tau leptons, while the Z boson is identified via its decay to a pair of electrons or muons. The search targets the production of the A boson via the gluon-gluon fusion process, gg → A, and in association with bottom quarks, $b\overline{b}A$. The analysis uses a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb −1 collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV. Constraints are set on the product of the cross sections of the A production mechanisms and the A → Zh decay branching fraction. The observed (expected) upper limit at 95% confidence level ranges from 0.049 (0.060) pb to 1.02 (0.79) pb for the gg → A process and from 0.053 (0.059) pb to 0.79 (0.61) pb for the $b\overline{b}A$ process in the probed range of the A boson mass, mA, from 225 GeV to 1 TeV. The results of the search are used to constrain parameters within the $M^{125}_{h,EFT}$ benchmark scenario of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Values of tan β below 2.2 are excluded in this scenario at 95% confidence level for all mA values in the range from 225 to 350 GeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Improved deep learning prediction of antigen–antibody interactions

Identifying antibodies that neutralize specific antigens is crucial for developing effective immunotherapies, but this task remains challenging for many target antigens. The rise of deep learning–based computational approaches presents a promising avenue to address this challenge. Here, we assess the performance of a deep learning approach through two benchmark tests aimed at predicting antibodies for the receptor-binding domain of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein. Three different strategies for constructing input sequence alignments are employed for predicting structural models of antigen–antibody complexes. In our initial testing set, which comprises known experimental structures, these strategies collectively yield a significant top-ranked prediction for 61% of cases and a success rate of 47%. Notably, one strategy that utilizes the sequences of known antigen binders outperforms the other two, achieving a precision of 90% in a subsequent test set of ~1,000 antibodies, balanced between true and control antibodies for the antigen, albeit with a lower recall of 25%. Our results underscore the potential of integrating deep learning methods with single B cell sequencing techniques to enhance the prediction accuracy of antigen–antibody interactions.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗