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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,621 records · Page 90

Microstructure prediction for Ti-22Al-25Nb in laser powder bed fusion

This work presents a physics-informed framework for predicting solidification morphology and defect susceptibility in additively manufactured Ti–22Al–25Nb across a broad processing space. The framework integrates solidification microstructure selection (SMS) analysis with a single-track defect-based printability map to establish a unified methodology linking processing parameters to both interfacial morphology and manufacturability. Thermal gradients G and solidification rates R are first computed using the Thermo-Calc Additive Manufacturing (TC-AM) module, a finite-interface-dissipation (FID) phase-field (PF) model coupled with CALPHAD method is then employed to systematically distinguish planar and dendritic regimes as functions of $G$ and $R$. By superimposing the printability map onto the morphology projections, a comprehensive process–structure framework is obtained. Across most processing conditions, the predicted microstructure is predominantly dendritic, while planar growth emerges only under selected laser power $P$ and scan speed $v$ combinations. In addition to morphology classification, the framework quantifies the dendritic area fraction and introduces a width-based morphology descriptor to characterize the spatial extent of planar/dendritic regions within the melt pool. It provides mechanistic insight into the interplay between solidification physics and defect formation, offering practical guidance for parameter selection and microstructural control in Ti–22Al–25Nb additive manufacturing (AM).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Modelling uranium dioxide corrosion under repository conditions: A pore-scale study of the chemical and thermal processes

This paper investigates the corrosion behaviors of spent uranium dioxide (UO 2 ) fuel when placed in geological repositories. We performed pore-scale reactive transport simulations of the UO 2 corrosion process in a defective fuel rod with different orientations of breach or fracture on its clad. It is found that the corrosion rate has strong dependency on the breach orientation. The highest corrosion rate of UO 2 is calculated when the angle between the groundwater flow direction and the clad fracture reaches 180°. UO 2 corrosion simulations with different flow rates are compared. The results show the higher flow rate accelerates the corrosion of UO 2 fuel. The effect of pH on the corrosion process is also determined. It is indicated that higher pH can limit the corrosion of UO 2 by reducing the reaction rate. The dependence of reaction rate and time on reactive surface area is explored. Spent fuel with lower surface area demonstrates longer lifetime under corrosion conditions. A numerical model coupling thermal conduction and chemical reactions is developed to assess the impact of temperature on the process of UO 2 corrosion. The results show that higher temperature leads to larger corrosion rates for UO 2 . Here, the predicted reaction rates are higher in comparison with the isothermal results. Hence, our results can help improve the fundamental understanding of UO 2 corrosion in geological repositories for long-term storage of spent nuclear fuels and provide guidance for the safe operations and selection of appropriate repositories.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Separate measurement of the 5f 5/2 and 5f 7/2 unoccupied density of states of UO 2

Coupling High Energy Resolution Fluorescence Detection (HERFD) with electric dipole selection rules, the uranium 5f 5/2 and 5f 7/2 Unoccupied Densities of States (UDOS) have been determined in UF 4 , UO 2 and UCd 11 . Striking changes were observed between UF 4 (5f 2 ) to UCd 11 (5f 3 ), consistent with the Intermediate Coupling Model. Results for UO 2 were confirmed by Bremstrahlung Isochromat Spectroscopy (BIS). Conclusively, this new approach can be a powerful tool for shedding light on the hidden mysteries of Actinides 5f-electrons properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Analysis of double stub tuner control stability in a phased array antenna with strong cross-coupling

Active stub tuning with a fast ferrite tuner (FFT) has greatly increased the ability of fusion ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) systems (50–100 MHz) by allowing for the antenna system to respond dynamically to changes in the plasma load impedance such as during the L–H transition or edge localized modes (ELMs). A high power waveguide double-stub tuner is under development for use with the Alcator C-Mod lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) system at 4.6 GHz. The amplitude and relative phase shift between adjacent columns of an LHCD antenna are critical for control of the launched n || spectrum. Adding a double-stub tuning network will perturb the phase and amplitude of the forward wave particularly if the unmatched reflection coefficient is high. This effect can be compensated by adjusting the phase of the low power microwave drive for each klystron amplifier. Cross-coupling of the reflected power between columns of the launcher must also be considered. The problem is simulated by cascading a scattering matrix for the plasma provided by a linear coupling model with the measured launcher scattering matrix and that of the FFTs. The solution is advanced in an iterative manner similar to the time-dependent behavior of the real system. System performance is presented under a range of edge density conditions from under-dense to over-dense and a range of launched n || . Simulations suggest power reflection coefficients (Γ 2 ) of less than 1% with no contamination of the n || spectrum. Instability of the FFT tuning network can be difficult for certain plasma conditions and relative phasings, but reducing the control gain of the FFT network stabilizes the system.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Towards quantifying the reaction network around the sulfate–methane-transition-zone in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea, with a kinetic modeling approach

We present a kinetic model based upon pore water data collected from eight sites drilled during the second Ulleung Basin gas hydrate drilling expedition (UBGH2) in 2010. Three sites were drilled at locations where acoustic chimneys were identified in seismic data, and the rest were drilled on non-chimney (i.e. background) environments. Our model, coupled a comprehensive compositional and isotopic data set, is used to illustrate the different biogeochemical processes at play in those two environments, in terms of reactions around the sulfate-methane-transition-zone (SMTZ). Organic matter decomposition is an important process for production of methane, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and consumption of sulfate in the non-chimney sites, whereas anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) dominates both carbon and sulfur cycles in the chimney environment. Different sources of methane mediate AOM in the two settings. Internally produced methane through CO₂ reduction (CR) and methanogenesis fuels AOM in the non-chimney sites, whereas AOM is sustained by methane from external sources in the chimney sites. We also simulate the system evolution from non-chimney to chimney conditions by increasing the bottom methane supply to a non-chimney setting. We show that the higher CH₄ flux leads to a higher microbial activity of AOM, and more organic matter decomposition through methanogenesis. A higher methanogenesis rate and a smaller CR contribution relative to AOM in the chimney sites is responsible for the isotopically light DIC and heavy methane in this environment, relative to the non-chimney sites.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Comparative verification of hydro-mechanical fracture behavior: Task G of international research project DECOVALEX–2023

Numerical simulations become a necessity when experimental approaches cannot cover the required physical and time scale of interest. One of such area is a simulation of long-term host rock behaviors for nuclear waste disposal and simulation tools involved in the assessment must go through rigorous validation tests. The DECOVALEX project (Development of COupled models and their VAlidation against EXperiments) is dedicated to this purpose by international participants. This work is part of the ongoing phase DECOVALEX–2023 (D–2023, Task G) particularly aiming to simulate fracture behaviors under various conditions. Here, in this study, we cross-verified a variety of numerical methods including continuous and discontinuous approaches against four benchmark exercises with emphasis on numerical accuracy and parameterization of the various numerical approaches. The systematic inter-comparisons of test cases highlight advantages and disadvantages of the different numerical models. Numerical details on discretization effects (e.g. mesh density and orientation) and domain size were investigated in detail for practical applications. It became evident that meticulous attention to mesh resolution and domain size is imperative for achieving accurate numerical simulations, even for static cracks. Moreover, when comparing numerical methods to closed-form solutions for static cracks, all models successfully reproduced the maximum crack opening but encountered challenges near the crack tips. Finally, the paper discusses how to convert between and therefore compare parameters of various numerical approaches. Our benchmark studies reveal that each model necessitates a distinct number of parameters, even in simple scenarios like static crack aperture benchmarks. It is generally more practical to employ fewer parameters to mitigate model over-parameterization and enhance experimental feasibility.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Predicting extreme anisotropy and shape variations in impact testing of tantalum single crystals

We report recent Taylor cylinder impact tests carried out for Ta single crystals showed strong variations in dimensional changes for different crystallographic directions aligned with the cylindrical axis. In order to capture the effect of crystallography on the deformation characteristics and final shapes of the impacted cylinders, a single crystal material subroutine is adapted and embedded in the solid mechanics/dynamics Finite Element solver Abaqus to simulate the aforementioned single crystal Ta Taylor impact experiments. Details of the coupled model implementation, and insights on the role played by single crystal anisotropic flow on the deformation behavior across a broad range of strain rates and temperatures for different single crystal orientations are presented and discussed. We demonstrate the predictive capability of the adopted crystal plasticity model to capture the significant role played by crystal orientation-induced anisotropy, as well as strain hardening and adiabatic heating, on the dynamic deformation response of crystalline materials. This re-emphasizes the need of microstructure-aware models to improve the accuracy of simulations for high-consequence engineering design.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A novel partitioning method for block-structured adaptive meshes

We propose a novel partitioning method for block-structured adaptive meshes utilizing the meshless Lagrangian particle concept. With the observation that an optimum partitioning has high analogy to the relaxation of a multi-phase fluid to steady state, physically motivated model equations are developed to characterize the background mesh topology and are solved by multi-phase smoothed-particle hydrodynamics. In contrast to well established partitioning approaches, all optimization objectives are implicitly incorporated and achieved during the particle relaxation to stationary state. Distinct partitioning sub-domains are represented by colored particles and separated by a sharp interface with a surface tension model. In order to obtain the particle relaxation, special viscous and skin friction models, coupled with a tailored time integration algorithm are proposed. Numerical experiments show that the present method has several important properties: generation of approximately equal-sized partitions without dependence on the mesh-element type, optimized interface communication between distinct partitioning sub-domains, continuous domain decomposition which is physically localized and implicitly incremental. Therefore it is particularly suitable for load-balancing of high-performance CFD simulations.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Effect of thermal environments on fast charging Li-ion batteries

Battery thermal management systems (BTMSs) are expected to keep the battery temperature at a moderate level (~30 °C) to minimize the thermally exacerbated degradation. However, during fast charging, a strong cooling system is required to restrict the temperature rise of Li-ion batteries (LiBs), which significantly increases the cost and weight of battery packs, and induces a large temperature variation inside the battery. Here, in this work, we find that all these drawbacks could be relieved by allowing LiBs to charge at higher temperatures. Since the fast charging of a LiB only takes a tiny fraction of its lifetime, the aging rate is limited even at a charging temperature of 60 °C. Three types of thermal environments are proposed: kept constant at 30 °C, preheated to 60 °C, and adiabatic fast charging. With an experimentally validated electrochemical-thermal (ECT) coupled model, we explore the interplay between thermal management and the fast-charging performance. It is found that a gradually increasing temperature profile is the best option to balance the lithium plating and thermal management of the battery. Combining adiabatic fast charging with a preheating step, we can achieve minimal cooling need, perfect temperature uniformity within a battery, and fast-charging capability simultaneously.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Effect of Si impurities on microstructure and tensile properties of a cast Al-Mg-Fe alloy

Al-Mg alloys are attractive for structural castings owing to their superior strength and ductility in the as-cast state. However, given the tight tolerance for impurities, Al-Mg alloys produced from secondary sources still face multiple challenges. Here, we report the effect of increased Si impurity (0.05–1.6 wt%), which is commonly found in secondary Al sources, on microstructure and tensile properties of a cast Al-4.3Mg-1.6Fe (wt%) alloy, commercially referred to as Castaduct-42 alloy. Microstructural characterization revealed that Si addition increased the volume fraction, size, and aspect ratio of primary Al13Fe4 intermetallic particles as well as the volume fraction of other binary and ternary eutectic phases. Tensile testing results demonstrated that increasing Si impurities from 0.05 to 1.6 wt% reduced ductility from 14.3 ± 1.4 % to 2.2 ± 1.0 %. A particle cracking damage accumulation model coupled with failure analysis indicated primary Al13Fe4 intermetallic particles to be the major contributing factor to the deterioration in ductility with increasing Si content. Additionally, the stabilizing effect of Si on primary Al 13 Fe 4 was inconsistent with the CALPHAD calculation results based on existing CALPHAD databases which predict a slightly decreasing primary Al13Fe4 phase fraction with increasing Si concentration. This work provides new insights into the phase stability and mechanical behavior of the lesser studied Al-Mg-Fe-Si alloy system that will contribute to the development of sustainable cast Al-Mg based alloys.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Lattice misorientation evolution and grain refinement in Al-Si alloys under high-strain shear deformation

The starting microstructure of an alloy can be tailored to achieve varying degrees of microstructural refinement and enhance mechanical properties through severe plastic shear deformation during solid-phase processing. Crystal plasticity-based grain misorientation modeling, coupled with systematic pin-on-disk tribometry-based subsurface shear deformation experiments on as-cast Al-xSi alloys (x = 0, 1, 4 at %), was conducted. The post-deformation microstructural analysis, through a combined computational and experimental approach, conclusively shows that the initial volume fraction of the hard Si phase enhances the evolution of local lattice misorientation, leading to efficient grain refinement during severe plastic shear deformation. The shear–deformation-induced nanostructure resulted in more than double the nanoindentation hardness in the processed alloy.

Gwalani, Bharat↗

Liquid lithium divertor analysis using coupled plasma material interaction model

A liquid lithium divertor can improve performance of future fusion devices by creating efficient power exhaust and improving the energy confinement via pumping of the hydrogen isotopes. In addition, significantly higher heat fluxes can be handled if controlled vapor shielding is used to redistribute the divertor heat flux over a wider area. Design and optimization of such a system calls for an analysis model which includes a strong two-way coupling between the plasma and divertor material. The incoming plasma heat and particle flux will affect the divertor surface temperature, which is a defining factor of the lithium evaporative and sputtered flux going into the plasma. Results of the coupled model based on the plasma edge code SOLPS-ITER and the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code ANSYS-CFX will be presented for different configurations. An analytical slab flow model is used as a heat transfer boundary condition for SOLPS, defining particle flux from the wall via calculation of the surface temperature. At the final step, results of the SOLPS analysis are verified using a 3D CFD magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) analysis which uses heat and particle flux from SOLPS as a boundary condition. In addition to plasma heat flux, both analytical and CFD temperature models include several plasma material interaction effects, such as lithium evaporation, condensation and sputtering based on deuterium target flux. New adatom sputtering model based on the available experimental data is presented. Analytical model is expanded to include free surface axisymmetric configurations. Results of parametric studies of the divertor configurations with different lithium inlet temperature and velocity will be presented leading to the optimal design resulting in the lowest possible lithium contamination in the core.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

A simultaneous understanding of jet and hadron suppression

In the context of the hybrid strong/weak coupling model for jet quenching, we perform a global fit to hadron and jet data in the most central bins both at RHIC and LHC. The qualitative and quantitative success of the analysis is attributed to the fact that the model correctly captures the fact that wider jets lose, on average, more energy than the narrower ones, to which high energy hadrons belong. We show how one can understand the relative jet and hadron suppression by analyzing the jet fragmentation functions, and also discuss the role of plasma finite resolution effects.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Heavy and light flavor jet quenching in heavy-ion collisions in a perturbative QCD approach

In this work, we study the flavor dependence of jet quenching in heavy-ion collisions. A next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD framework is applied to account for both quark and gluon contributions to light and heavy flavor hadron productions. A linear Boltzmann transport model coupled to hydrodynamic simulation is utilized to study the nuclear modification of heavy and light flavor jets in the dynamically evolving quark-gluon plasma. Within our jet quenching framework, we obtain a nice description of the nuclear modification factors of charged hadrons, D mesons, B mesons and B–decayed D mesons over a wide range of transverse momentum (8-300 GeV). Our result shows that perturbative QCD is sufficient to explain the color, mass and energy dependence of parton energy loss and jet quenching in heavy-ion collisions.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Search for high-mass resonances decaying into τ-lepton pairs in pp collisions at s = 7 TeV

A search for high-mass resonances decaying into tau-lepton pairs is performed using a data sample of pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 inverse femtobarns. The number of observed events is in agreement with the standard model prediction. An upper limit on the product of the resonance cross section and branching fraction into tau-lepton pairs is calculated as a function of the resonance mass. Using the sequential standard model resonance Z'(SSM) and the superstring-inspired E(6) model with resonance Z'(psi) as benchmarks, resonances with standard model couplings with masses below 1.4 and 1.1 TeV, respectively, are excluded at 95% confidence level.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Collision-energy dependence of deuteron cumulants and proton-deuteron correlations in Au+Au collisions at RHIC

We report the first measurements of cumulants, up to 4th order, of deuteron number distributions and proton-deuteron correlations in Au+Au collisions recorded by the STAR experiment in phase-I of Beam Energy Scan (BES) program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Deuteron cumulants, their ratios, and proton-deuteron mixed cumulants are presented for different collision centralities covering a range of center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 7.7$ to 200 GeV. It is found that the cumulant ratios at lower collision energies favor a canonical ensemble over a grand canonical ensemble in thermal models. An anti-correlation between proton and deuteron multiplicity is observed across all collision energies and centralities, consistent with the expectation from global baryon number conservation. The UrQMD model coupled with a phase-space coalescence mechanism qualitatively reproduces the collision-energy dependence of cumulant ratios and proton-deuteron correlations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗