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Articles in this issue include: From Ellen's desk; Advances in aerial payload vessels: Spherical aerogel shells hold vacuum; New materials deformation details emerge through combination of neutron and high-energy x-ray diffraction measurements; and Hans Herrmann named 2019 APS Fellow.
The increasingly large payloads of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) are exponentially increasing the threat to the nuclear enterprise. Current mitigation using RF interference is effective, but not feasible for fully autonomous systems and is prohibited in many areas. A new approach to UAS threat mitigation is needed that does not create radio interference but is effective against any type of vehicle. At the present time there is no commercial counter-UAS system that directly assaults the mems gyros and accelerometers in the Inertial Measurement Unit on the aircraft. But lab testing has revealed resonances in some IMUs that make them susceptible to moderate amplitude acoustic monotones. Sandia's energetic materials facility has enabled a quick and thorough exploration of UAS vulnerability to directed acoustic energy by using intense acoustic impulses to destabilize or down a UAS. We have: 1) detonated/deflagrated explosive charges of various sizes; 2) accurately measured impulse pressure and pulse duration; 3) determined what magnitude of acoustic insult to the IMU disrupts flight and for how long and; 4) determined if the air blast/shock wave on aircraft/propellers disrupts flight.
The Navigation and Meteorological Data from Multiple Sensors on Airborne Platform (NAVMET-AIR) value-added product encompasses the aafnaviwg data set in the ARM Data Center (ADC), known as the IWG file, named for the Inter-Agency Working Group for Airborne Data and Telemetry Systems (IWGADTS). Its purpose is to produce a suite of tools to promote standardization of instrument interface, data format, and data processing. This data set’s contents are navigational and meteorological state variables at 1 Hz. It also contains higher-order data flags created by ARM Aerial Facility (AAF) scientists to aid analysis such as periods when the aircraft is flying level, operating in maneuvers, or flying through cloud. Due to the nature of research flights, the payload of the aircraft consists of many duplicate and overlapping instruments to ensure, in case of instrument failure, there is a backup to record the data. Measurements from multiple instruments are consolidated into a single file. Each variable of this data set is carefully chosen from the onboard instrumentation and quality checked by AAF scientists to create this wholistic and most accurate data set for airborne research. This document is intended to be a hub towards the individual “read me” files produced for each campaign. For reference about what instrument was used for calculations on specific days, the read me files are located in the ARM IOP archive at the addresses listed, or access the IOP (intensive operational period) database at https://www.archive.arm.gov/.
In order to accurately compare the costs of two vehicles, the total cost of ownership (TCO) should consist of all costs related to both purchasing and operating the vehicle. This TCO analysis builds on previous work to provide a comprehensive perspective of all relevant vehicle costs of ownership. In this report, we present what we believe to be the most comprehensive explicit financial analysis of the costs that will be incurred by a vehicle owner. This study considers vehicle cost and depreciation, financing, fuel costs, insurance costs, maintenance and repair costs, taxes and fees, and other operational costs to formulate a holistic total cost of ownership and operation of multiple different vehicles. For each of these cost parameters that together constitute a comprehensive TCO, extensive literature review and data analysis were performed to find representative values in order to build a holistic TCO for vehicles of all size classes. The light- and heavy-duty vehicles selected for analysis in this report are representative of those that are on the road today and expected to be available in the future. Important additive analyses in this study include systematic analysis of vehicle depreciation, in-depth examination of insurance premium costs, comprehensive maintenance and repair estimates, analysis of all relevant taxes and fees, and considerations of specific costs applicable to commercial vehicles. We find that cars depreciate faster than light trucks and that older plug-in electric vehicles have a greater depreciation rate than newer electric vehicles. Light-duty vehicle (LDV) insurance costs show comparable costs for different powertrains, and lower costs for larger size classes. Medium- and heavy-duty vehicle (MHDV) insurance costs vary significantly by vocation. Electric and electrified powertrains have lower maintenance and repair costs than internal combustion engine (ICE) powertrains for all vehicle sizes, relative to vehicle price. MHDV maintenance and repair costs depend heavily on vocation and duty cycle. LDV taxes and fees are comparable across powertrain types and size classes, though marginally higher registration fees exist for alternative fuel vehicles. MHDV fees depend on the vocation, weight rating, and state. Many electric tractor trailers would be affected by additional battery weight, reducing the available payload capacity, and this cost can be substantial. Electric vehicle charging for commercial vehicles can be time-consuming; labor rates can cause this cost to dominate TCO. With improved knowledge of each of the cost components, we calculate a lifetime TCO for comparison across vehicles of different types and attributes. For a simulated small sport utility vehicle in 2025, modeled using Autonomie, the hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) has the lowest cost, followed by the conventional ICE vehicle. For MHDV, TCO can be drastically different depending on the vocation. Long-haul vehicles typically have the lowest per-mile costs. Excluding labor costs, the class 4 delivery has a comparable TCO to the day cab. Vocational trucks, refuse trucks, and transit buses have a high per-mile cost of ownership due to maintenance and insurance. For all of these vehicles, the cost of operating the vehicle is heavily weighted by the labor of the driver, followed by the fuel costs. While the HEV begins as the lowest cost powertrain for passenger vehicles, fuel cells are forecast to reach cost parity by 2030 when hydrogen prices reach $\$ 5$/kg while battery electric vehicles (BEV) reach cost parity by 2035 at a battery cost of $\$ 98$ per usable kWh of capacity, with these two technologies being the lowest cost in 2050. For the class 8 day cab tractor, the HEV and ICE vehicle begin as the lowest cost powertrains, and the 250-mile BEV reduces in cost from the most expensive to the least expensive by 2030.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) provides for safe, permanent disposal of government-owned transuranic (TRU) and TRU mixed wastes. Receipt and disposal of waste at the WIPP site began in March 1999. The Sandia report, Consideration of Nuclear Criticality When Disposing of Transuranic Waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, addressed potential nuclear criticality safety issues based on the projected inventory characteristics known at the time [1]. As designs for inventory, waste forms, and disposal packages have changed, new analyses have been performed, and updates have been made to address any potential effects to the WIPP safety basis. New analyses performed include Saylor 2017 [2] and Brickner 2019 [3], which address certain waste containers with specified loadings under post-closure conditions. Both examined several hypothetical scenarios and included analyses to bound (from a criticality potential standpoint) credible configurations that could occur at WIPP during the repository regulatory post-closure disposal time period for feature, event, and process (FEP) considerations—10,000 years. During this post-closure period at WIPP, the screening of FEPs is governed by the risk-based standards and implementing regulations of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (i.e., 40 CFR 191 and 40 CFR 194, respectively) [4,5]. An FEP screening can be based on either a low-consequence or low-probability rationale. A low-probability rationale includes either (a) a qualitative rationale that the FEP is not credible or (b) a quantitative demonstration that the probability is less than 10-4 in 104 years. In this evaluation, a qualitative lowprobability rationale of not credible is used by demonstrating that bounding configurations of the waste are not critical. The demonstration of subcriticality is through quantitative calculations, but a probability of criticality is not evaluated. Rather, the rationale for this evaluation is that bounding configurations with an effective neutron multiplication factor (keff) well below the upper subcriticality limit (USL) make criticality incredible. Reference [2] documented a nuclear criticality assessment of the WIPP repository for disposal of dilute surplus plutonium materials using the Dilute and Dispose Approach and packaging in criticality control overpacks (CCOs). The CCO is the waste disposal container recently designed to allow for up to 380 fissile gram equivalent (FGE) 239 Pu per drum, which is a higher fissile loading than typical waste containers. The CCO consists of a criticality control container (CCC) positioned by upper and lower plywood spacers within a standard 55 gal drum. The CCC is used to establish a geometry control for fissile materials during transportation and WIPP emplacement operations. The current WIPP waste acceptance criteria for CCO payloads limit beryllium to less than or equal to 1% by weight of the waste contents and require the waste form to be non-machine compacted. Reference [2] considered two scenario progressions—room closure from salt creep, hereafter referred to as the reconfigured dry scenario, and flooding with brine, hereafter referred to as the reconfigured wet scenario. The subsequent drying out of the reconfigured wet scenarios was also considered. For all scenarios, subcriticality was maintained when 50 g of B 4 C (acting as a neutron absorber) per CCC was intermixed within the plutonium disposition waste form. The analysis used a waste form description that limits the amount of moderation that could be present within the waste form (i.e., it limits the amount of water and polyethylene that could be present based on planned processing conditions). This analysis to evaluate increased limits on the amount of moderation that could be present was performed as a companion to Reference [2] to address concerns associated with verifying moisture and/or plastic contents of waste materials following packaging of dilute surplus plutonium in the CCO. To that end, this analysis used the models and methods from Reference [2] to evaluate a more generic base waste form consisting of water and polyethylene that is more similar (and nearly identical) to the generic waste forms utilized in other models/analyses supporting the TRU Package Transporter Model II (TRUPACTII) safety analysis [6] (all are without moderation controls). The waste form in this analysis uses a base mixture of 75% water and 25% polyethylene, the total amount of which is varied to determine the optimum moderation to fissile material (H/Pu) ratio. The fissile loading is maintained at up to 380 FGE 239 Pu (modeled as PuO 2 ) per CCO with an additional 545 g of beryllium (to bound the 1% by weight contents restriction) and 50 g of B 4 C intermixed per CCO. The beryllium content (1% by weight) is based on the total allowed waste weight (this does not include packaging and container weights). Figures ES-1 and ES-2 display summary results, showing that with this model including 50 g of B 4 C per CCO, the system keff remains under 0.85 for all moderator amounts and provides a significant margin against post-closure criticality under postulated bounding conditions for compaction. Figure ES-1 compares an infinite model with a room model at the initial emplacement spacing and under full radial compaction. Full radial compaction places each CCC in direct contact and does not credit any anticipated spacing associated with current post-closure geomechanical modeling of the repository [7]. The effects of variations in the H/Pu ratio were evaluated by varying the amount of the water/polyethylene component of the waste model, with fissile loading maintained at 380 239 Pu FGE. Similarly, Figure ES-2 illustrates how various amounts of B 4 C per CCO influence k eff at different radial compactions, all at the H/Pu ratio of 200 (in the room array model). Therefore, while the results from Saylor 2017 [2] modeled more realistic process limits associated with packaging of dilute surplus plutonium, this analysis demonstrates that limits on moderation (plastic and water content) are not necessary to ensure subcriticality in the WIPP repository, provided the requisite B 4 C absorber is present.
The following SNL document contains requested radiological survey information, as part of the documentation for the MLU shipment being performed by the LANL MLU team. The survey was performed in TA-5, on October 19th, 2021. This survey was for radiological coverage for the disassembly of two TRUPACTs, the assembly and loading of their payloads, and the reassembly of the TRUPACTs.
This SNL document contains requested radiological survey information, as part of the documentation for the MLU shipment performed by the LANL MLU team on October 20th. The survey was performed in TA-5, on October 20th, 2021. This survey was for radiological coverage for the disassembly of two TRUPACTs, the assembly and loading of their payloads, and the reassembly of the TRUPACTs.
The purpose of this technical report is to document the efforts to design and test two inlet systems for aerosol sampling suitable for deployment on a medium-sized fixed-wing Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS). This work, which was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, was conducted at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the ARM Aircraft Facility (AAF) starting in November 2017. The current work is a part of AAF efforts to instrument the ArcticShark (a mid-sized UAS owned and operated by the AAF) for atmospheric research and develop a scientific payload for deployment on a similar-sized UAS with minimal adaptation and integration. An aerosol inlet system is necessary to sample and transport ambient air sample to the scientific instrumentation with minimal distortions to the aerosols. Two isokinetic aerosol inlets were designed: the first is a simple passive system for a single instrument suitable to be installed in a wing pylon; the second is a system with active control designed to sample and distribute air among several heterogeneous instruments and to provide basic humidity control of the air sample so that the measured aerosol parameters should correspond to “dry” conditions (a common requirement). Both systems could be easily adapted for deployment on another platform and/or with a different set of instrumentation. Several conducted flight tests showed that the inlets’ performance met our design goals.
This user's guide provides an overview of Light Weight Radioisotope Heater Units (LWRHU), including aspects of its physical design and performance under normal operations. This guide also identifies the planning and execution involved in launching a nuclear payload. Physical characteristics, interfaces, and environmental characteristics of the LWRHU are discussed in detail. Information relating to project management interfaces and effort.
A mesh convergence study shows that shock arrival times converge for basic flow shots. Sensitivity study reveals a surprisingly high sensitivity to the placement of the HE package. Bayesian inference tools used on the experimental datasets suggest this is a real effect. Sensitivity analysis of ambient conditions such as temperature and pressure reveal minimal effect. Porting of pressure data from QUINOA simulations to perform structural analysis on the aeroshell geometry was successful, and shows a strong dependence of payload response to the angle of attack.
This document examines several scalable, low Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C), neutron sensing technologies and provides an assessment of their technical readiness level (TRL) for space missions. The identification and maturation of low SWaP-C neutron sensing technologies for use in space would make neutron sensing accessible to a variety of missions currently unable to meet the payload demands.
During this project DTNA advanced heavy-duty transportation technologies to produce the eCascadia 2.0, a fully commercialized Class 7/8 electric tractor with the range and durability to meet the needs of 70% of freight movement in the United States. The eCascadia2.0 provides flexibility, operational performance, efficiency, and maintenance cost savings to the end user. The most direct outcome of this project is a commercially viable zero-emission heavy duty option with a 250-mile daily range and sufficient payload for regional haul duty cycles. The larger outcome is an acceleration of the market transformation away from petroleum-based fuels. DTNA’s comprehensive sales team, dealer network, customer network and maintenance and support teams will ensure that this is not a standalone zero-emission truck, but rather one that can be produced, marketed, and operated at scale to realize vast greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions reductions, while also bringing zero emission vehicles closer to cost parity.
As was established in a previous milestone report for FY20, W-13 continues to be tasked with analyses that require knowledge of in-flight environments and require an in-house capability to generate such environments. To this end, FY21 work included obtaining and benchmarking the use of such tools for an in-house capability. With these tools available for analysis tasks, ongoing work has been to continue the development of analysis capabilities and understanding while specifically using the tools for Responsive Development Experiment (ReDX) flights in the Stockpile Responsiveness Program (SRP). In FY23, design and analysis of ReDX flight 3A continued while targeting an FY24 launch date. This report shows that a variety of vehicle characterization and flight analysis tools were used in W-13, under the Delivery Environments Program. This work was performed in order to aid in vehicle design by predicting flight stability, trajectory, and induced environments while adapting to a series of changing internal payload configurations that resulted in significant changes to mass properties and associated flight stability.
This project aimed to enhance the range and reduce the operating costs of battery electric Class 8 trucks traveling over 250 miles daily. This was achieved through the development and implementation of an intelligent-Energy Management System (i-EMS) that leverages vehicle and operations data, physics-aware machine learning algorithms, and vehicle-to-cloud (V2C) connectivity. The project hypothesized that advanced machine learning algorithms and real-time data analytics could significantly improve the energy efficiency and range of these trucks. Key objectives included developing a physics-aware machine learning algorithm, implementing an i-EMS with V2C connectivity and physics-aware spatial data analytics (PSDA), and validating the system’s effectiveness with fleet partners HEB Companies and Murphy Logistics. Extensive data collection from vehicle operations, including vehicle characteristics, road conditions, and payload, was conducted. A machine learning algorithm was developed to predict energy consumption and enable proactive decision-making. The i-EMS was implemented on two Volvo VNR BEVs, with operators receiving charging and routing recommendations. Charging stations were installed at depot locations in Texas and Minnesota, with an additional on-route charger in Minnesota. Significant findings included a 14% range improvement for Murphy Logistics on a highway-driving eco-route and a 22% range improvement for HEB Companies on a city-driving eco-route. The i-EMS utilized rule-based methods and physics-based algorithms to predict and reduce energy consumption, with real-time monitoring and analysis through V2C connectivity enabling proactive decision-making. The project demonstrated the feasibility and economic viability of battery electric Class 8 trucks for long-haul operations, showcasing the potential of physics-aware machine learning in optimizing energy management. The successful implementation of the i-EMS in real-world scenarios validates its practical application and effectiveness, paving the way for the widespread adoption of battery electric vehicles in the freight transportation industry.
Solar-powered stratospheric balloons achieved major advancements in test flights, developmental milestones, and operational achievements this year. A solar-powered stratospheric balloon system known as the heliotrope, has emerged as a low-cost platform capable of carrying several pounds of scientific payload to altitudes ranging from 50,000 to 75,000 feet (Bowman et al., 2020; Image 1) for multi-hour level flights. This innovative system has facilitated groundbreaking scientific discoveries in areas such as infrasound and atmospheric composition. Unlike sealed weather balloons that burst, these balloons remain buoyant by retaining hot air within their open envelopes. Because they are solar-powered, they remain aloft as long as the sun remains unobscured.
The DarkNESS (Dark Matter Nano-satellite Equipped with Skipper Sensors) mission aims to deploy a skipper-CCD CubeSat Observatory to search for dark matter (DM) from Low Earth Orbit. This mission will employ novel skipper-CCDs to investigate O(keV) X-rays from decaying DM, as well as electron recoils from strongly-interacting sub-GeV DM. The DarkNESS mission will be the first space deployment of skipper-CCDs, and the DarkNESS team is developing a skipper-CCD instrument that is compatible with the CubeSat platform. DarkNESS has recently progressed from laboratory validation to a Critical Design Review (CDR) phase, with a launch opportunity anticipated in late 2025. The implementation of the DarkNESS skipper-CCD payload on the CubeSat platform will pave the way for future demonstrators of space-based imagers for X-ray and single-electron counting applications.
The purpose of this technical report is to document the efforts to design and test two inlet systems for aerosol sampling suitable for deployment on a medium-sized fixed-wing Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS). This work, which was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, was conducted at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the ARM Aircraft Facility (AAF) starting in November 2017. The current work is a part of AAF efforts to instrument the ArcticShark (a mid-sized UAS owned and operated by the AAF) for atmospheric research and develop a scientific payload for deployment on a similar-sized UAS with minimal adaptation and integration. An aerosol inlet system is necessary to sample and transport ambient air sample to the scientific instrumentation with minimal distortions to the aerosols. Two isokinetic aerosol inlets were designed: the first is a simple passive system for a single instrument suitable to be installed in a wing pylon; the second is a system with active control designed to sample and distribute air among several heterogeneous instruments and to provide basic humidity control of the air sample so that the measured aerosol parameters should correspond to “dry” conditions (a common requirement). Both systems could be easily adapted for deployment on another platform and/or with a different set of instrumentation. Several conducted flight tests showed that the inlets’ performance met our design goals.
The Large Amplitude Motion Platform (LAMP) at NREL represents a significant advancement in the controlled testing of Wave Energy Converters (WECs) under laboratory conditions. Originally designed by E2M as a six-degree-of-freedom (DOF) Stewart platform for flight simulation, LAMP has been adapted by NREL to facilitate the mounting and evaluation of WECs. This adaptation enables dry testing of WECs using motion profiles similar to the ocean, facilitating the iterative design, testing, and validation of WEC performance prior to ocean deployments. This report presents the initial work completed to characterize LAMP, with particular emphasis on its stability and operational capabilities across various single and multi-degree-of-freedom (DOF) motion profiles. The report includes planned comparisons at three distinct mass payloads, aimed at assessing the platform's positional accuracy, frequency response, and endurance over extended runtime periods. These experimental tests are critical for establishing the platform's limitations and ensuring that the data generated during WEC validation is both accurate and reproducible. The outcomes of this study not only contribute to a deeper understanding of LAMP's capabilities but also lay the groundwork for future advancements in WEC testing methodologies. By providing robust and reliable performance data within a controlled laboratory setting, the findings are expected to significantly enhance the development and commercialization of marine energy technologies. This report presents the initial findings of the LAMP Characterization work and proposed steps to further understand and characterize LAMP. Data collected during this work can be found on MHKDR at: https://mhkdr.openei.org/submissions/602 Note that this report shares the measured/found instantaneous maximum operating range of LAMP. For most applications the maximum operating range cannot be used for system health and longevity. The operating range and capabilities of LAMP will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, single-DOF position, velocity, and acceleration values presented in Table 4a-c, and Table 5 should be taken as instantaneous absolute maximum values. Future use of LAMP will likely be limited to smaller values.