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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

AdditiveFOAM: A Continuum Multiphysics Code for Additive Manufacturing

AdditiveFOAM is a computational framework that simulates transport phenomena in Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes. It is built on OpenFOAM (Weller et al., 1998), the leading free, open-source software package for computational fluid dynamics (CFD). OpenFOAM offers an extensible platform for solving complex multiphysics problems using state-of-the-art finite volume methods. AdditiveFOAM leverages these capabilities to develop specialized tools aimed at addressing challenges in AM processing. Metal additive manufacturing, also known as metal 3D printing, is an advanced manufacturing technique that creates physical parts from a three-dimensional (3D) digital model by melting metal powder or wire feedstock. A significant area of research in metal AM focuses on process planning to mitigate anomalous features during printing that are deleterious to part performance (e.g., porosity and cracking), as well as controlling localized microstructure and material properties. Given the high costs and substantial time requirements associated with experimental methods for qualifying new materials and processes, there is a compelling incentive for researchers to utilize advanced computational simulations. In this context, AdditiveFOAM offers a simulation framework to better understand undesirable features in printing, thereby enhancing process planning and reducing the reliance on labor-intensive experimental campaigns.

Coleman, John [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Aqueous alteration of Cb-type asteroid Ryugu

The samples from the asteroid Ryugu, which returned to Earth in the winter of 2020 [1], were stored under pure Nitrogen conditions at the Extraterrestrial Materials Curation Center of ISAS. After basic description [2-3], they were distributed to six initial analysis teams in Japan in June 2021. The initial analysis "Stone" team, which was responsible for the analysis of coarse particles (>1 mm in size), consisted of about 150 scientists from Japan and abroad, and conducted a series of analyses We analyzed sixteen coarse Ryugu particles 1 ~ 8 mm in size: six from the 1st touch-down site and ten from the 2nd touch-down site. Individual coarse samples were cut by Xe-FIB or wire-saw to expose particular objects or textures to be exposed on the surface based on 3D structure and element distribution obtained by synchrotron X-ray CT analysis and XRF analysis, respectively. FE-SEM/EDS and FE-EPMA/WDS analysis were made on all polished sections. TEM observation of many FIB sections was made to see microstructures and to compare with carbonaceous chondrites. Many other analyses were carried out to characterize mineralogical and compositional properties and summary of the analysis procedures is described in [4]. X-ray CT analysis showed that all sixteen Ryugu particles are composed of fine-grained material, with no chondrules and CAIs larger than 100 μm in size. FE-EPMA observation showed that Ryugu samples are breccias, consisting of many small rock fragments of different compositions, lithologies, and histories. The most common lithology includes Mg-rich saponite and serpentine, dolomite, magnesite, hydroxyapatite, pyrrhotite, and magnetite as main constituents. The mineralogy of this major lithology supports the classification of Ryugu samples as CI chondrites, which experienced extensive aqueous alteration in Ryugu’s parent asteroid. Based on the obtained mineralogical properties, we performed chemical modeling of aqueous alteration of Ryugu’s parent asteroid [5]. Numerical simulations [6-8] to reproduce thermal history and impact-induced destruction of the Ryugu’s parent asteroid were also carried out using mineralogical and physical properties of the Ryugu samples. In the talk, I would like to explain the conditions of aqueous alteration occurred in the parent asteroid of Ryugu in order to show how the water in the asteroid changed the mineralogy and chemistry of the nebular dust.

T. Nakamura↗
DOE OSTI2025

X-ray Micro-Computed Tomography for Structural Analysis of All-Solid-State Battery at Pouch Cell Level

Characterizing the microstructure of all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) during fabrication and operation is vital for their advancement, particularly as scaling to pouch cell levels introduces challenges in probing large-scale microstructural evolution. This work highlights the potential of synchrotron X-ray micro-computed tomography (sXCT) as a nondestructive, rapid (<30 min), and high-resolution technique for visualizing and quantifying key microstructural features, including overhang, porosity, contact loss, active surface area, and tortuosity, in all-solid-state pouch cells. The large field of view (up to millimeters) of sXCT enables detailed analysis at an industry-relevant scale, bridging the gap between laboratory research and commercial applications. Furthermore, integrating realistic sXCT-derived 3D models into multiphysics simulations could provide insights into chemo-mechanical degradation, particularly at the edges of the pouch cells, offering a pathway for designing robust, high-performance ASSBs. This perspective establishes sXCT as an indispensable tool for advancing both the understanding and the engineering of next-generation energy storage systems.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS2018

Multi-Scale Modeling of Low-Density Carbon-Phenolic Ablators

Protecting a spacecraft during atmospheric entry is one of highest risk factors that needs to be mitigated during design of a space exploration mission. At entry speeds from space, air turns into high-temperature plasma, and spacecraft Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) are needed to protect the vehicle payload. Modern successful material architectures of spacecraft shields use a porous carbon fiber substrate impregnated with phenolic as an ablator material. In the lecture, efforts to build a Predictive Material Modeling framework for porous ablators from micro-scale to macro-scale will be presented. Several numerical methods and techniques will be summarized that use voxelized images to compute geometrical properties of the porous substrate. These computed properties include porosity, specific surface area and tortuosity that are otherwise indirectly measured through experimental techniques. Direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC), a particle-based method for approximating the Boltzmann equation, is used to compute the permeability coefficient of the porous substrate based on its digitized representation. The method computes the flow within the microstructure, where the size of the pores may approach the mean-free-path of the flow. Finally, a high-fidelity model implemented in PATO (Porous-material Analysis Toolbox) is discussed, and some examples of ablative material response are presented, including for the first time 3D simulations of the full tiled heat shield for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) capsule.

Ablators↗
DOE OSTI2026

Comparison of automated chemical-guided segmentation and human annotation of soil organic matter in X-ray microcomputed tomography imaging in contrasted soil types

Soil organic matter (OM) formation and persistence is strongly influenced by the spatial distribution of organic substrates and microscale soil heterogeneity by dictating OM accessibility to microorganisms. However, traditional size and/or density fractionation techniques disrupt aggregate architecture, eliminating spatial information needed to fully understand intra-aggregate OM distribution. To quantify three-dimensional OM spatial distribution and automate segmentation in X-ray microcomputed tomography (µCT) imaging without human annotation bias, we developed an iodine gas vapor (I2) based staining workflow that eliminates labor-intensive manual annotation while maintaining segmentation accuracy, using aggregates from four taxonomically diverse soils (Xerofluvent, Haploxeroll Sphagnofibrist, Palehumult) with an 8-fold range of soil organic carbon. Human annotation of 10 µCT slices by the experienced and inexperienced annotators resulted in variations up to 3% in the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), reflecting a degree of inherent subjectivity of manual labeling. Such inconsistencies are expected to compound as the number of manually annotated slices increases. Dual-energy µCT imaging at 33.1 keV (below the iodine (I) K-edge) and 33.2 keV (above the I K-edge) was used to resolve aggregate microstructure following I2 staining. The automated image subtraction pipeline identified OM regions by the I Kedge induced brightness increases, achieving DSC values of 0.58–0.83 relative to an experienced annotator. Sensitivity analyses revealed that the reconstruction alpha value—optimized via the open-source tool TomocuPy—and the 3D registration slice count were the primary determinants of accuracy, providing a novel benchmark for dual-energy soil imaging. The pipeline without GPU acceleration achieved 9.6 to 43.2 times faster than manual annotation. Using GPU-accelerated image post-processing and affine transformation matrices, the pipeline successfully segmented OM elements for large-scale datasets (3232×3232 pixel, 2048 slices) within ~5200 s from raw file acquisition to segmented output. The high-throughput approach enables the quantification of OM spatial distribution across diverse and heterogeneous soil.

Soil microbial biomass↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Response of Ablative Thermal Protection Materials to Degradation in Low Earth Orbit –Characterization of Specimens from MISSE-13

The environment of low Earth orbit presents unique material interactions due to the presence of atomic oxygen and solar spectrum UV. A variety of degradation mechanisms can occur depending, inlarge part, on the specific material system involved. This talk will review the characterization of two ablative materials, PICA-D and HEEET, as well as relevant adhesive joints and coatings. PICA-D is a variant of the phenolic impregnated carbon ablator (PICA) and is the baseline thermal protection system (TPS) on Dragonfly and the lander for Mars Sample Return (MSR). HEEET is a 3D woven system from which MSR’s Earth entry TPS is derived. The samples for these materials were flown in orbit during the Materials International Space Station Experiment-13 (MISSE-13) which launched on March 6, 2020 and returned to Earth on January 13, 2021. Changes to surface microstructure and reflectivity will be presented along with tomographic analysis. The effect of differential erosion rates on the composites and the impacts of the orbit environment on coating performances will be discussed in the context of TPS performance and mission design aspects.

MISSE↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Response of Ablative Thermal Protection Materials to Degradation in Low Earth Orbit – Characterization of Specimens from MISSE-13

The environment of low Earth orbit presents unique material interactions due to the presence of atomic oxygen and solar spectrum UV. A variety of degradation mechanisms can occur depending, in large part, on the specific material system involved. This talk will review the characterization of two ablative materials, PICA-D and HEEET, as well as relevant adhesive joints and coatings. PICA-D is a variant of the phenolic impregnated carbon ablator (PICA) and is the baseline thermal protection system (TPS) on Dragonfly and the lander for Mars Sample Return (MSR). HEEET is a 3D woven system from which MSR’s Earth entry TPS is derived. The samples for these materials were flown in orbit during the Materials International Space Station Experiment-13 (MISSE-13) which launched on March 6, 2020 and returned to Earth on January 13, 2021. Changes to surface microstructure and reflectivity will be presented along with tomographic analysis. The effect of differential erosion rates on the composites and the impacts of the orbit environment on coating performances will be discussed in the context of TPS performance and mission design aspects.

MISSE↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

AI-Enhanced Computational Tools for Entry Systems Modeling

To advance the understanding of complex atmospheric entry phenomena, NASA’s Entry Systems Modeling (ESM) team [1] has developed high-fidelity computational tools addressing multiscale challenges, from material microstructures to full-scale heatshield response. This abstract highlights a subset of ESM tools, focusing on AI integration to enhance workflows and predictive modeling. - PuMA [2] computes effective material properties from high-resolution micro-CT scans, supporting TPS analysis for NASA missions. - TomoSAM [3] automates 3D tomography dataset segmentation for PuMA using the Segment Anything Model, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy. - PATO [4] models porous reactive materials under extreme conditions, with advancements such as unified solvers, mechanical erosion, and TPS coatings for NASA missions. - arcjetCV [5] employs deep learning to analyze arc jet test footage, measuring recession rates, shape changes, and shock standoff distances, bridging simulations, and experiments to reveal TPS ablation behavior. - ARCHeS [6] simulates arc heater plasma flows, modeling turbulence, radiation, and electromagnetic interactions to optimize arc heater performance, validate TPS under extreme conditions, and serve as a foundation for developing digital twins of arc heater facilities. - SPARTA [7] simulates rarefied hypersonic flows and gas-surface interactions for planetary entry missions, leveraging GPU architectures for scalable and efficient aerothermal and ablation analyses. AI-driven solutions, such as deep learning segmentation, have streamlined workflows in ESM tools and still hold significant potential to further accelerate processes and enhance automation in entry systems modeling. [1] Haskins, J.B. (2023), [2] Ferguson, J.C. (2018), [3] Meurisse, J.B.E. (2018), [4] Semeraro, F. (2023), [5] Quintart, A. (2024) [6] Meurisse, J.B.E. (2022), [7] Plimpton, S.J. (2019)

Predictive Modeling↗
DOE OSTI2025

Quantifying Impacts of Biomass Pelletization on Fast Pyrolysis Using a Single-Particle Reactor, X-ray Computed Tomography, and Computational Modeling

The pore structure and density of lignocellulosic feedstocks dictate intraparticle transport phenomena and thereby play an important role in thermochemical conversion processes such as fast pyrolysis for biofuel and biochemical production. Variations in microstructure are inherent from different biomass species and can be introduced by preprocessing techniques such as cutting and pelletization. Morphological changes also occur during conversion and lead to vastly different pore structures and behavior during pyrolysis, which impact required conversion times and product distributions. The current work presents a comprehensive comparison of fast pyrolysis of neat and pelletized pine feedstocks, which includes single-particle experiments, modeling, and 3D imaging by X-ray computed tomography (XCT). The particle-scale model included anisotropic heat and mass transport in a shrinking particle with pyrolysis reactions based on the CRECK mechanism with boundary conditions informed by reactor-scale simulations of the single-particle reactor. The models were validated by measurements of the temperature and mass loss from single-particle pyrolysis experiments of neat and pelletized pine. Quantitative analysis of XCT geometries revealed that pyrolytic conversion yielded chars with increased porosity and permeability compared to the unpyrolyzed materials, along with decreased tortuosity and anisotropy. Pelletization of the pine feedstock resulted in a much denser, less permeable material, which converted slower and produced more residual char after pyrolysis compared to neat pine. The results from particle modeling revealed that accounting for the dynamic and anisotropic heat and mass transport caused by differences in pore structure is critical to achieving agreement with experimental results. Overall, this study highlights the dramatic differences in conversion behavior imparted by pelletization and the importance of capturing microstructural attributes in computational models to guide the design and optimization of pyrolysis processes for specific biomass feedstocks.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2024

From irregular to regular eutectic growth in the Al-Al 3 Ni system: In situ observations during directional solidification

Here we investigate the irregular eutectic growth dynamics of the Al-Al 3 Ni alloy, in which one of the solid phases (Al 3 Ni) grows faceted from the liquid. Leveraging in situ optical microscopy and synchrotron transmission x-ray microscopy, we address the question of the degree of coupling between Al and Al 3 Ni at the growth front and that of the shape of the microstructures left behind in the bulk solid during directional solidification. Real-time optical observations bring evidence for a morphological transition from a eutectic-grain dependent, irregular eutectic growth at low solidification velocity V (typically 1 μm s -1 ), to a weakly anisotropic, regular growth at higher V ( reaching 10 μm s -1 ). Unprecedented x-ray nano-imaging of the solid–liquid interface, and 3D characterization of the growth patterns, were made possible by a new DS setup at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s NSLS-II. At low V, the leading tips of partly faceted Al 3 Ni crystals are observed to grow not far ahead of the Al growth front. Correlating in situ images and postmortem 3D tomographic reconstructions reveals that the presence of faceted and non-faceted regions of Al 3 Ni crystals in the solid is a direct consequence of coupling and decoupling during DS, respectively. Upon increasing V, the lead distance of Al 3 Ni vanishes, and the shape of Al 3 Ni ceases to be governed by faceted growth. These observations cast light onto the basic mechanisms (faceted growth, diffusive coupling, and the dynamics of trijunctions) governing a faceted to rod-like transition upon increasing V in the Al 3 Ni system, with broad implications to a large class of irregular eutectics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Direct measurement of microwave loss in Nb films for superconducting qubits

Niobium films are a key component in modern two-dimensional superconducting qubits, yet their contribution to the total qubit decay rate is not fully understood. The presence of different layers of materials and interfaces makes it difficult to identify the dominant loss channels in present two-dimensional qubit designs. In this paper, we present the study that directly correlates measurements of RF losses in such films to material parameters by investigating a high-power impulse magnetron sputtered (HiPIMS) film atop a three-dimensional niobium superconducting radio frequency (SRF) resonator. By using a 3D SRF structure, we are able to isolate the niobium film loss from other contributions. Our findings indicate that microwave dissipation in the HiPIMS-prepared niobium films, within the quantum regime, resembles that of record-high intrinsic quality factor of bulk niobium SRF cavities, with lifetimes extending into seconds. Microstructure and impurity level of the niobium film do not significantly affect the losses. These results set the scale of microwave losses in niobium films and show that niobium losses do not dominate the observed coherence times in present two-dimensional superconducting qubit designs, instead highlighting the dominant role of the dielectric oxide in limiting the performance. We can also set a bound for when niobium film losses will become a limitation for qubit lifetimes.

Abdisatarov, B.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Structure–Property Relationships of Recycled Lithium-Ion Battery Cathodes: Microstructure Optimization Using Virtual Materials Testing

The increasing demand for sustainable battery technologies requires effective recycling strategies for end-of-life lithium-ion battery cathodes. In this study, virtual materials testing, a well-established framework for modeling conventionally manufactured NMC-based cathodes, is applied to partially recycled cathodes. To this end, virtual cathodes consisting of mixtures of pristine and recycled NMC particles are utilized to systematically analyze structure–property relationships depending on mixing ratios and different spatial arrangement strategies. For this purpose, a stochastic 3D model is developed that is capable of generating virtual cathodes with arbitrary volume fractions of active materials and mixing ratios of pristine and recycled NMC particles. Particularly, the stochastic 3D model can mimic the different size distributions of pristine and recycled particles that are observed in image data. Additionally, the model allows the structuring of pristine and recycled NMC either uniformly mixed or layer-wise arranged, mimicking single- and dual-layer cathodes. Subsequently, a systematic computational analysis is conducted to assess the influence of increasing active material ratios of recycled particles, ranging from 0 % to 100 %, while maintaining a constant overall active material volume fraction. The impact of particle mixing on cathode performance is evaluated by examining transport-relevant geometrical descriptors and effective properties, such as geodesic tortuosity, specific surface area, and tortuosity factor.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Scan‐Path‐ and Initial‐State‐Dependent Superdomain Switching in (111)‐Oriented PZT

Polarization switching in ferroelectric materials arises from the collective evolution of complex domain hierarchies, yet deterministic control over these processes remains challenging. Here, we investigate scan-path- and initial-state-dependent switching in epitaxial (111)-oriented PbZr 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 3 thin films using automated AFM-based writing combined with quantitative 3D piezoresponse force microscopy. We show that the scan trajectory acts as an experimentally accessible control parameter for superdomain formation. Box-in-box raster scans reproducibly stabilize ordered stripe superdomains with a reduced subset of symmetry-allowed variants, whereas spiral trajectories generate frustrated mixed-variant states with a broader distribution of final microstructures. Automated pulsing experiments further show that the local superdomain configuration at the nucleation site strongly influences the final written morphology. Phase-field modeling qualitatively reproduces the contrast between representative initial-state geometries and supports the role of compatibility constraints among competing ferroelastic pathways. These findings establish scan-path and initial-state engineering as practical handles to program ferroic order in hierarchical ferroelectric domain structures.

Vasudevan, Rama K. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Massively parallel phase-field simulations targeting exascale

The interface thickness in the phase-field (PF) method limits its simulation scales. Consequently, large-scale PF simulations become prohibitively expensive for resolving the extremely fine microstructures that typically form during rapid solidification processing. This challenge is significant in predicting microstructure evolution in metal additive manufacturing and has been identified by the United States Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project. Here, to address this, we develop a multi-GPU and MPI-based massively parallel simulation code, utilizing state-of-the-art algorithms, software, and libraries, for large-scale three-dimensional (3D) PF simulations. We report the first GPU-parallel PF simulations on Frontier (currently the second TOP500 exascale cluster) and Summit machines, taking dendritic growth as an example problem. We evaluate the parallel performance of our implementation using scaling studies with more than 24 000 GPUs (among the largest known computations to date) and the acceleration performance using large-scale simulations of dendritic growth in 3D. Finally, massively parallel GPUs in these supercomputers enabled the first coupled multiscale simulations of laser melting and subsequent dendritic solidification on the scale of a full melt-pool, demonstrating the feasibility of performing PF simulations with a point total over 2 billion grid points within an acceptable time.

Exascale↗
NASA NTRS2023

A 3D Printable Alloy Designed for Extreme Environments

Multiprincipal-element alloys are an enabling class of materials owing to their impressive mechanical and oxidation-resistant properties, especially in extreme environments. Here we develop a new oxide-dispersion-strengthened NiCoCr-based alloy using a model-driven alloy design approach and laser-based additive manufacturing. This oxide-dispersion-strengthened alloy, called GRX-810, uses laser powder bed fusion to disperse nanoscale Y 2 O 3 particles throughout the microstructure without the use of resource-intensive processing steps such as mechanical or in situ alloying. We show the successful incorporation and dispersion of nanoscale oxides throughout the GRX-810 build volume via high-resolution characterization of its microstructure. The mechanical results of GRX-810 show a twofold improvement in strength, over 1,000-fold better creep performance and twofold improvement in oxidation resistance compared with the traditional polycrystalline wrought Ni-based alloys used extensively in additive manufacturing at 1,093 °C. The success of this alloy highlights how model-driven alloy designs can provide superior compositions using far fewer resources compared with the ‘trial-and-error’ methods of the past. These results showcase how future alloy development that leverages dispersion strengthening combined with additive manufacturing processing can accelerate the discovery of revolutionary materials.

Timothy M. Smith↗
DOE OSTI2025

Investigation of the temperature-dependent failure processes in PVD Cr-coated ZIRLO nuclear fuel cladding using in situ X-ray micro-tomography imaging

In this work, an accident tolerant fuel cladding system with Cr coating deposited using physical vapour deposition (PVD) method onto commercial Optimized ZIRLO™ was studied. The cladding tubes were machined into C-rings and loaded to failure under compression with real-time synchrotron micro-X-ray computed tomography (XCT) imaging at room temperature (RT), 345 °C, 650 °C and 950 °C in argon (Ar) atmosphere. The mechanical behaviour and failure processes were found strongly temperature-dependent where the Cr coating showed brittle fracture at RT and 345 °C, ductile fracture at 650 °C and a reversion to brittle fracture at 950 °C. Nanoindentation measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging were conducted on the materials after high temperature testing. It was found that recrystallisation of the Cr coating occurred at elevated temperatures, which significantly affected its local properties hence the failure behaviour at different temperatures. This work represents the first in situ 3D XCT observation of progressive failure processes in PVD Cr-coated ZIRLO claddings up to 950 °C providing critical insights into its brittle-to-ductile transition (BDTT) behaviour and subsequent ductile-to-brittle reversion with the increase in temperature. Moreover, results are compared with other PVD Cr-coated Zircaloy materials from open literature; the influences of the coating microstructure and local properties on the failure stress/strain and fracture processes are discussed.

Yuan, Guanjie↗
NASA NTRS2013

Coarsening in Solid-liquid Mixtures: Overview of Experiments on Shuttle and ISS

The microgravity environment on the Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS) provides the ideal condition to perform experiments on Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures (CSLM) as deleterious effects such as particle sedimentation and buoyancy-induced convection are suppressed. For an ideal system such as Lead-Tin in which all the thermophysical properties are known, the initial condition in microgravity of randomly dispersed particles with local clustering of solid Tin in eutectic liquid Lead-Tin matrix, permitted kinetic studies of competitive particle growth for a range of volume fractions. Verification that the quenching phase of the experiment had negligible effect of the spatial distribution of particles is shown through the computational solution of the dynamical equations of motion, thus insuring quench-free effects from the coarsened microstructure measurements. The low volume fraction experiments conducted on the Shuttle showed agreement with transient Ostwald ripening theory, and the steady-state requirement of LSW theory was not achieved. More recent experiments conducted on ISS with higher volume fractions have achieved steady-state condition and show that the kinetics follows the classical diffusion limited particle coarsening prediction and the measured 3D particle size distribution becomes broader as predicted from theory.

Ostwald ripening↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Multiscale Modeling of Woven Ablative Thermal Protection System Materials

The NASA Entry Systems Modeling project maintains a portfolio of computational model and tool development activities focused on reducing performance uncertainties in ablative Thermal Protection System (TPS) materials for NASA missions. The development activities span material scale and strive to allow microstructural characterization of material structure and properties, mesoscale analyses of damage, and macroscale evaluation of heatshield performance and recession in a given aerothermodynamic environment. This talk will detail the application of developed capabilities at all three scales to the woven TPS material that the Agency has selected as the heatshield for the Mars Sample Return Earth Entry System (MSR-EES) mission – 3D Mid-Density Carbon Phenolic (3MDCP). Each of the applications focuses on driving down uncertainties in material performance and thus risk for MSR-EES and other future missions that may leverage woven TPS. At the microscale, machine learning techniques are used to characterize images from destructive microscopy and inform structural variability. At the mesoscale, Lagrangian techniques are used to simulate ballistic impact and interpret damage modes noted in experiments. At the macroscale, coupled flow-material response techniques are validated by Arc Jet testing to enable heatshield design for missions with massive ablation.

Justin B Haskins↗