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DOE OSTI2024

Relithiation process for direct regeneration of cathode materials from spent lithium-ion batteries

A method for the regeneration of cathode material from spent lithium-ion batteries is provided. The method includes dissolving a lithium precursor in a polyhydric alcohol to form a solution. Degraded cathode material containing lithium metal oxides are dispersed into the solution under mechanical stirring, forming a mixture. The mixture is heat treated within a reactor vessel or microwave oven. During this heat treatment, lithium is intercalated into the degraded cathode material. The relithiated electrode material is collected by filtration, washing with solvents, and drying. The relithiated electrode material is then ground with a lithium precursor and thermally treated at a relatively low temperature for a predetermined time period to obtain regenerated cathode material.

Belharouak, Ilias↗

DOE OSTI2025

Boron Nitride-Driven Strengthening of Aluminum Composites via Friction Stir Processing

Friction stir welding and processing (FSW/P) has emerged as an effective solid-state joining technique for fabricating metal matrix composites (MMCs), offering improved mechanical properties through refined microstructural evolution. In this study, an aluminum-boron nitride nanoparticle (Al-BNNP) composite was synthesized via FSW, and its indentation-based mechanical properties were systematically evaluated. Microhardness mapping across the weld cross-section revealed a progressive increase in hardness toward the stir zone (SZ), attributed to severe plastic deformation, dynamic recrystallization (DRX), and the reinforcing effect of BNNPs. Profilometry-based indentation plastometry (PIP) inferred yield strength (YS) demonstrates a 47.8% increase compared to the base metal (BM) and a 75% improvement compared to FSP pure aluminum reported in literature. This enhancement is attributed to strengthening mechanisms, including grain boundary pinning, load transfer, and increased dislocation density. The strain rate sensitivity (SRS) measurements at the nanoscale demonstrated a substantial decrease in the SZ, correlated with ultrafine grain structures and strong BNNP-matrix interactions. Activation volume analysis revealed a significant reduction in the SZ, suggesting that dislocation motion is increasingly restricted by dislocation-dislocation and dislocation-particle interactions. These findings suggest that incorporating BNNPs in FSW/P enables tailoring the microstructure without thermal degradation of the secondary particles, thereby significantly enhancing the mechanical performance of aluminum composites, particularly for structural applications in aerospace and automotive industries.

Aluminum↗

DOE OSTI2022

Internet of Things Data Characterization Process: Pattern of Life Behavioral Data Study

The HoneyBee™ TARDIS LDRD team completed a data scoping study that identified the initial processes and procedures to baseline the normal and expected behaviors during operability and interoperability of Internet of Things (IoT) device networks. This research is the initial step in developing a process (or methodology) to inform a much broader information framework incorporating machine learning to determine device pattern-of-life which enables the detection of abnormal IoT behaviors on an individual device, as well as in the context of a larger network.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2026

Compositional Homogeneity in Rapidly Solidified 316L stainless steel produced by laser powder-bed fusion processing

The segregation of alloying elements in rapidly solidified 316L stainless steel produced using additive manufacturing technologies is widely reported throughout literature. The microstructure of thin walls manufactured from 316L stainless steel using laser powder bed fusion are examined for the presence of alloy segregation, i.e. the rejection of solutes to grain boundaries. Metallographic methods including mechanical polishing and chemical etching are used to prepare samples for microanalysis m

Jankowski, Alan F. [Sandia National Laboratories (↗

NASA NTRS1976

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: Preliminary Science Report

This document summarizes the experimental concepts and preliminary analyses (as of December 1975) for each of the 28 scientific experiments conducted during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project from July 15 to 24, 1975. The scientific topics are X- ray and extreme ultraviolet astronomy, solar astronomy, gamma- ray detectors, Earth studies (including the upper atmosphere, meteorological phenomena, hydrology, oceanography, geology, desert studies, and gravity field studies), microbiology, heavy cosmic particle interaction with live cells, vestibular system studies, and materials processing (including high-temperature and ambient-temperature processing of industrial materials and electrophoretic processing of biological materials) .

Microbiology↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Carbon Fiber Composite Processing Using Isothermal Resins

To meet future demand for single-aisle composite aircraft production, manufacturing rates are expected to increase by up to six times current production rates. Resin infusion is a manufacturing method that has potential to enable fabrication of structures at the desired rates. However, production cycle times with currently available commercial infusion resins cannot support the rates needed for an estimated 80 aircraft per month. Recently, rapid-curing isothermal resins were developed that can reduce the overall processing time. These resins can be infused, cured, and demolded at a single temperature below 100 °C, thereby eliminating the need for time consuming temperature ramps and shortening the overall cure time. In addition, the low temperatures enable use of low-cost tooling during production. This presentation will discuss the use of resin transfer molding to produce composites with rapid-curing isothermal resins, manufacturing considerations, and performance characteristics of the composites.

John M Gardner↗

NASA NTRS2026

Computational Materials for Qualification and Certification (CM4QC) Strategy Document: Maturation of Computational Materials Methods for Aviation-Focused Qualification and Certification of Metal Additive Manufacturing (as an Example of Process-Intensive Materials)

Although considerable scientific and technological advances have been made in recent years in additive manufacturing (AM) processes, these advances have not translated into significant market penetration of AM parts within the aviation industry. It is broadly acknowledged that using traditional qualification and certification (Q&C) approaches for AM components is one of the most significant barriers to broader adoption of AM, resulting in high costs, long product development and certification timelines, and complex design iterations during the product development cycle. A new approach is urgently needed. This document lays out a vision for a new Q&C paradigm with increased use of computational materials (CM) methods aimed at decreasing the time and cost of Q&C of process-intensive material (PIM) approaches in the aviation industry, with AM as the immediate use case. This vision was developed with substantial input from industry, regulatory agencies, government research organizations, and academia.

Edward H Glaessgen↗

NASA NTRS1984

Reports of Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program, 1984

Topics include outer planets and satellites; asteroids and comets; Venus; lunar origin and solar dynamics; cratering process; planetary interiors, petrology, and geochemistry; volcanic processes; aeolian processes and landforms; fluvial processes; geomorphology; periglacial and permafrost processes; remote sensing and regolith studies; structure, tectonics, and stratigraphy; geological mapping, cartography, and geodesy; and radar applications.

Henry E Holt↗

NASA NTRS1991

Parallel Processing and Expert Systems

Whether it be monitoring the thermal subsystem of Space Station Freedom, or controlling the navigation of the autonomous rover on Mars, NASA missions in the 90's cannot enjoy an increased level of autonomy without the efficient use of expert systems. Merely increasing the computational speed of uniprocessors may not be able to guarantee that real time demands are met for large expert systems. Speed-up via parallel processing must be pursued alongside the optimization of sequential implementations. Prototypes of parallel expert systems have been built at universities and industrial labs in the U.S. and Japan. The state-of-the-art research in progress related to parallel execution of expert systems was surveyed. The survey is divided into three major sections: (1) multiprocessors for parallel expert systems; (2) parallel languages for symbolic computations; and (3) measurements of parallelism of expert system. Results to date indicate that the parallelism achieved for these systems is small. In order to obtain greater speed-ups, data parallelism and application parallelism must be exploited.

Jerry C Yan↗

DOE OSTI2026

Large Scale Granulator Development Designed to Process Reclaimed Feedstock for Sustainable Additive Manufacturing Applications

This CRADA between UT-Battelle, LLC (Contractor) and re:3D Inc. (Participant) aims to develop an affordable large-scale granulator system designed to process reclaimed plastic feedstock suitable for additive manufacturing applications. The 24-month project will focus on testing, prototyping, and optimizing a shredder/granulator system. This project also focuses on the processing steps (e.g. washing and sorting) that can convert waste plastics, like discarded water bottles, into flake/granules which can be 3D printed using re:3D’s Fused Granular Fabrication (FGF) 3D printers. If successful, this could enable more localized 3D printing using recycled plastics, reducing waste and feedstock costs.

Wang, Peter [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL),↗

NASA NTRS2026

Smart Process Planning for Automated Fiber Placement

Many industries, including aerospace, automotive, wind energy, maritime, and sporting goods, rely on strong, lightweight materials called composites. These materials are made by layering fibers, which can come in the form of narrow strips or wider sheets, and setting them in a polymer matrix. One of the most advanced ways to make these parts is through automated fiber placement, where a machine lays down the fibers in precise patterns. This method can create very efficient and strong designs, but it is complex, expensive, and often depends heavily on the experience of skilled engineers. Today, the design, manufacturing, and inspection stages of composite production are usually handled separately. This separation means that important information, such as how a part will be built or what defects might occur, is not always shared between stages. As a result, parts may not be as lightweight, strong, or defect-free as possible, and the process can take longer and cost more. This research develops a smart process planning system that connects design, manufacturing, and inspection into one continuous process. Built as software that works with existing tools, the system can automatically plan how the fibers are placed, predicting and reducing defects while improving both manufacturability and strength. The system optimizes not only individual layers but also how defects are distributed across all layers, preventing them from stacking up in ways that weaken the final part. It also uses inspection results from completed parts to improve future designs, creating a feedback loop where each stage informs the others. The system was tested by designing a composite panel using this new approach and comparing it to a panel made with state-of-the-art manual planning methods. The results showed that the system could intentionally control where defects appeared and increase the efficiency of the planning process. By unifying design, manufacturing, and inspection, this research shows a way to make advanced composite manufacturing more efficient, consistent, and cost-effective. This approach lowers the barrier to using automated fiber placement and opens the door for its wider adoption not only in aerospace but also in industries such as automotive, wind energy, maritime, and sporting goods, where strong and lightweight structures are essential.

Computer-Aided Process Planning↗

DOE OSTI2026

October 2025 Semiannual Composite Salt Waste Processing Facility Decontaminated Salt Solution Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure Results

The aqueous waste from the Salt Waste Processing Facility is sampled semiannually for transfers to the Saltstone Disposal Facility. Salt solution is treated at the Saltstone Production Facility and disposed of in the Saltstone Disposal Facility. Per request of customer, X-TTR-Z-00027, Revision 0, one Saltstone Processing Facility Decontaminated Salt Solution and Z area premix material for the October 2025 semiannual Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure sample. The sample contained 60:40 (by weight) of slag and fly ash (referred to as the “Cement-Free grout sample”). Results from the technical report support Task 2: ‘Grout Leaching Analyses’ of the Task Technical Request prepared by Savannah River Mission Completion. At 51 days cured, the Saltstone sample was collected and shipped to a certified laboratory for analysis using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure. The October 2025 Semiannual Cement-Free grout sample met 61 79.268.48 requirements for a non-hazardous waste form with respect to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act metals and Underlying Hazardous Constituents and met the Saltstone Production Facility Waste Acceptance Criteria that was in effect at the time of the sample collection at the Salt Waste Processing Facility.

Hsieh, Madison [Savannah River National Laboratory↗

NASA NTRS2019

Heat Transfer Enhancement in Cryogenic Quenching Process

This paper reports a heat transfer advancement in the cryogenic quenching process. An experiment was performed to evaluate the enhancement of quenching heat transfer by the use of metal tubes with low thermal conductivity coating layers. Four coating thicknesses with various coolant mass flow rates of liquid nitrogen were investigated. The results indicated that the tube inner surface coating greatly enhanced the quenching efficiency. The quenching efficiency was found to increase with increasing number of coating layers, and the efficiency also increased with decreasing mass flow rates. In general, the efficiencies cover a range between 40.6% and 80%. Comparing to the bare surface case, the percentage increase in the quenching efficiency was the minimum at 4.2% for a single coated layer at the highest flow rate and the maximum of 109.1% for four coated layers at the lowest flow rate. The coated tubes could save up to 53% in the amount of cryogen consumption.

two-phase flow↗

NASA NTRS2026

Fatigue Behavior of Laser Powder Bed Fused HAYNES 214: Effects of Different Surface Treatments

In this study, under NASA’s Rapid and Analysis Manufacturing Propulsion Technology (RAMPT) project, effects of different surface post-treatments on surface texture and fatigue behavior of L-PBF Alloy 214 were investigated. Various subtractive SPTs including abrasive flow machining (AFM), machining (M), shot peening (SP), vapormatt (VM), dry electropolishing (DE), chemical milling (CM), chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), electro chemical (ECP) were applied to study the variations of the surface texture, microstructure and uniaxial fatigue behavior under fully reversed strain-controlled condition at four different strain amplitudes of 0.005, 0.004, 0.003, and 0.0025 mm/mm. The insights gained regarding the relationship between structural and mechanical properties for different SPTs can help establish guidelines for selecting the most effective process to enhance the performance of Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) Alloy 214, especially for critical aerospace applications.

Post-Processing↗

DOE OSTI2026

Refractory-based thermal energy storage for industrial process heat: one-dimensional modeling, control, and optimization

The variable and weather-dependent output of wind and solar power plants present a substantial challenge for planning and operating electricity-systems, particularly in the absence of cost-effective and dispatchable energy storage technologies. This study investigates a high-temperature, electrically heated, refractory-based thermal energy storage (RTES) system that stores electrical energy as sensible heat in dense ceramic bricks over the 950–1800 °C range. The stored heat can be discharged as a controlled hot-gas stream for industrial heating, fuel substitution in high-temperature processes, or electricity generation. The main novelty is a comprehensive modelling, control, mapping, and optimization framework that integrates one-dimensional transient gas–solid heat transfer, fan-assisted discharge, bypass-flow regulation, reheating logic, fan-power evaluation, insulation-loss assessment, and genetic-algorithm-based design optimization. The model uses feedback from outlet temperature and delivered power to regulate discharge, while a two-stage genetic algorithm optimizes brick-channel geometry, gas-flow operation, and multilayer insulation thicknesses. Storage capacities below 50 MWh and discharge powers of 5–30 MW are analyzed to evaluate hold time, thermal delivery, fan-power penalty, heat loss, state-of-charge evolution, and indicative capital cost. Results demonstrate that optimized and well-insulated refractory-based thermal energy storage units can provide stable, efficient, and repeatable heat delivery over multiple discharge cycles. The generated performance and cost maps support modular refractory thermal energy storage as a practical option for large-scale integration of wind and solar generation and for high-temperature industrial process heat.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2026

Chronology of ungrouped achondrites Northwest Africa 11119 and 7325/8486: implications for early evolution of a heterogeneous crust on a differentiated planetesimal

The chronology of ungrouped achondrites provides key insights into the timeline of igneous activity in the early Solar System. Two ungrouped achondrites – Northwest Africa (NWA) 11119 (andesite-dacite) and NWA 8486 and its pair NWA 7325 (olivine gabbro) – are the focus of this study, where their chronologies are investigated using multiple high-resolution techniques. Here we report the lead-lead (207Pb-206Pb) and manganese-chromium (53Mn-53Cr) systematics of NWA 11119, as well as the 207Pb-206Pb systematics of NWA 8486 alongside aluminum-magnesium (26Al-26Mg) systematics for NWA 7325. The U-corrected 207Pb-206Pb ages of NWA 11119 and the combined ages of NWA 7325/8486 are 4566.4 ± 0.8 Ma and 4563.8 ± 1.9 Ma, respectively. Additionally, we report the 53Mn-53Cr age of NWA 11119 to be 4564.4 ± 2.5 Ma and the 26Al-26Mg age of NWA 7325/8486 to be 4563.1 ± 0.3 Ma. The formation of NWA 11119 requires partial melting of a (likely chondritic) source reservoir leading to eruption of Si rich, alkali depleted magmas, while NWA 7325/8486 likely formed from a chemically fractionated reservoir with superchondritic Al/Mg. The clear geochemical and isotopic similarities of these achondrites, combined with the chronology reported here, is suggestive of formation of these two ungrouped achondrites on a common parent body which likely formed in the inner Solar System and experienced early differentiation under reducing conditions. If these achondrites did share a parent body, it would suggest that primary asteroids in the early Solar System commonly produced mineralogically and geochemically heterogeneous crusts. While mineralogical and geochemical heterogeneity is known to exist in the (mostly mafic) crust of asteroid Vesta, our findings show that even more significant crustal heterogeneity (representing felsic and mafic compositions) may exist on other asteroids.

Cartwright, Julia [University of Leicester, UK]↗

DOE OSTI2026

Purpose, Design, and Analysis of the NSTX-U Centerstack Casing Lateral Support Shims

The National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U) centerstack casing surrounds the central magnet core of NSTXU. It provides the inner vacuum boundary of the plasma chamber and supports the radially inboard plasma facing components lining the plasma chamber. The casing is supported like a cantilever, fixed at the lower flange by a connection to the TF Bundle through a G-10 ring. It is flexibly supported at the top by bellows, and insulated shims intended to react the largest part of the inventory of the disruption loads at the upper support, thereby protecting the upper and lower connections from excessive loads. A large part of the qualification of the casing and tiles requires addressing and quantifying disruption loads. These have been estimated based on extensions of the behavior of NSTX during its run period roughly 15 years ago. Structural qualification of the Upgrade used these estimates of the loading as input to calculations to demonstrate adequacy for a “most probable” disruption. The estimates are included in a requirements document to guide conservative design of all components loaded by disruptions. However, the changes made for the upgrade made the extrapolation of disruption behavior uncertain. Disruptions include axisymmetric loading from axisymmetric currents induced in the vessel shells. In addition, more complex currents called Halo currents are a result of plasma poloidal currents impinging on the casing. The halo currents add another layer of uncertain behavior and net lateral loading to the casing. As a result, NSTX-U is equipped with a number of instruments intended to assess the nature and severity of disruptions. The casing shims are required for lateral support of the casing, but these have also been converted to load cells to provide another measure of the magnitude of symmetric and asymmetric loading. Some of the logic in the development of the requirements document are presented. Electromagnetic analysis of axisymmetric and halo loading is described. Global simulations of the casing transient dynamic response, and local analysis and testing of the shim/load cell are included. The shim load cells and other instrumentation will be an important guide in planning NSTX-U experiments beyond its next run period expected in late 2026 or early 2027.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Process-level cost analysis of hybrid manufacturing pathways for aerospace structural components

Hybrid manufacturing is a promising route for producing complex aerospace components, yet systematic cost benchmarking across multiple additive-subtractive pathways remains limited. This study presents a comprehensive process-based cost analysis of seven hybrid manufacturing routes, including laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF), powder- and wire-directed energy deposition (DED), wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), additive friction stir deposition (AFSD), metal binder jetting (MBJ), and agility forging, followed by scanning and finish machining. Parametric cost models incorporating direct material, labor, and energy costs were developed. L-PBF results are discussed in detail for a pickle fork component and directly compared with commercial pricing. Across all hybrid routes, labor emerged as the dominant cost driver, contributing more than 70% of total manufacturing cost in some cases. AFSD exhibited the lowest cost for aluminum components, with MBJ being its 316 L stainless steel counterpart, after accounting for geometric scaling. Benchmarking against industrial quotes suggests that hybrid manufacturing can achieve cost levels comparable to those of commercial services, although labor-intensive processes exhibit greater deviation. The analysis highlights automation of material handling, setup, and supervision as key opportunities for improving economic competitiveness. Overall, the proposed framework provides a quantitative basis for evaluating and optimizing hybrid manufacturing pathways for aerospace applications.

Baruah, Sweta [ORNL] (ORCID:0009000174256207)↗