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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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DOE OSTI2024

The ReSWARM microgravity flight experiments: Planning, control, and model estimation for on‐orbit close proximity operations

Abstract On‐orbit close proximity operations involve robotic spacecraft maneuvering and making decisions for a growing number of mission scenarios demanding autonomy, including on‐orbit assembly, repair, and astronaut assistance. Of these scenarios, on‐orbit assembly is an enabling technology that will allow large space structures to be built in situ, using smaller building block modules. However, like many of these scenarios, robotic on‐orbit assembly involves several technical hurdles, such as changing system models. For instance, grappled modules moved by a free‐flying “assembler” robot can cause significant changes in the combined system inertia, which have cascading impacts on motion planning and control portions of the autonomy stack. Further, on‐orbit assembly and other scenarios require collision‐avoiding motion planning, particularly when operating in a “construction site” scenario of multiple assembler robots and structures. Multiple key technologies that address these complicating factors for autonomous microgravity close proximity operations are detailed in this work, in particular: (1) application of global long‐horizon planning, accomplished using offline and online sampling‐based planner options that consider the system dynamics; (2) adaptation of the recently proposed RATTLE information‐aware planning framework for on‐orbit reconfiguration model learning; and (3) connection with robust control tools to provide low‐level control robustness using current system knowledge. These approaches were demonstrated for an autonomous on‐orbit assembly use case by the RElative Satellite sWarming and Robotic Maneuvering (ReSWARM) experiments using NASA's Astrobee robots on the International Space Station. Results of the ReSWARM experiments are provided along with significant operational and implementation detail discussing the practicalities of hardware implementation and unique aspects of working with the Astrobee free‐flyer robots in microgravity. ReSWARM provides a base set of planning and control tools for robotic close proximity operations, demonstrates them in microgravity, and outlines some of the important hardware aspects that future autonomous free‐flyers will need to consider.

Robotics↗

DOE OSTI2019

The diameter effect in Bullseye powder

Detonation velocity as a function of charge diameter is reported for Alliant Bullseye powder. Results are compared to those of mixtures of ammonium nitrate mixed with aluminum and ammonium nitrate mixed with fuel oil. In addition, measurements of free surface velocity of flyers in contact with detonating Bullseye are presented and results are compared to those of hydrocode calculations using a Jones–Wilkins–Lee equation of state generated in a thermochemical code. Comparison to the experimental results shows that both the free surface and terminal velocities were under-predicted.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

DOE OSTI2018

Effect of peak stress and tensile strain-rate on spall in tantalum

Materials subjected to dynamic environments experience a complex and wide range of stress, strain, and strain-rate conditions. To have confidence in material models, an accurate, predictive capability is required. In this study, we present a series of flyer-plate impact tests on well characterized, high purity tantalum. The shock-waves generated at impact release from the free-surfaces, reflect, and interact to produce incipient spall fracture. By varying the flyer-plate material and impact velocity, both the peak stress and the strain-rate in the samples were controlled independently. Velocimetry was used on the rear free-surface of the samples to measure the shock-response and the spall strength. While this measurement provided the same spall strength for all cases, at approximately 5.1 GPa, when the samples were sectioned during post-mortem, the quantity and distribution of internal damage was markedly different. For the high-strain rate cases, voids remained small and isolated, whereas in the lower strain-rate experiments, the spall damage was far more localized, with a well-defined continuous spall plane. With the use of hydrocode simulations, this was discovered to result from how the different release rates affect the interaction volume inside the sample. Here, these results highlight the importance of careful sample recovery, and the risks of relying solely on free-surface velocity measurements.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2019

High velocity impact of an Fe/Cr/Mn/Ni high entropy alloy

A series of shock loading experiments were conducted on High Entropy Alloy (HEA) samples consisting of Fe/Cr/Mn/Ni in weight percentages of 25.2/23.5/24.8/26.5. Characterizing this transition metal alloy is a first step in understanding the shock compression response of this relatively new class of alloy. A single stage light gas gun was used to conduct a series of flyer plate symmetric impact experiments to obtain fundamental dynamic properties. Photonic Doppler Velocimetry (PDV) diagnostics were employed to measure the free surface velocity on the back of each target during dynamic compression. These experiments yielded four data points that are in reasonable agreement with an estimated Hugoniot for the material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2016

Spall fracture in additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V

Here, we present a study on the spall strength of additive manufactured (AM) Ti-6Al-4V. Samples were obtained from two pieces of selective laser melted (SLM, a powder bed fusion technique) Ti-6Al-4V such that the response to dynamic tensile loading could be investigated as a function of the orientation between the build layers and the loading direction. A sample of wrought bar-stock Ti-6Al-4V was also tested to act as a baseline representing the traditionally manufactured material response. A single-stage light gas-gun was used to launch a thin flyer plate into the samples, generating a region of intense tensile stress on a plane normal to the impact direction. The rear free surface velocity time history of each sample was recorded with laser-based velocimetry to allow the spall strength to be calculated. The samples were also soft recovered to enable post-mortem characterization of the spall damage evolution. Results showed that when the tensile load was applied normal to the interfaces between the build layers caused by the SLM fabrication process the spall strength was drastically reduced, dropping to 60% of that of the wrought material. However, when loaded parallel to the AM build layer interfaces the spall strength was found to remain at 95% of the wrought control, suggesting that when loading normal to the AM layer interfaces, void nucleation is facilitated more readily due to weaknesses along these boundaries. Quasi-static testing of the same sample orientations revealed a much lower degree of anisotropy, demonstrating the importance of rate-dependent studies for damage evolution in AM materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2022

Design and Testing of a Prototype Eddy Current Actuated Valve for the ITER Shattered Pellet Injection System

Reliably mitigating disruptions is essential for ITER to meet its long-term operational research plan without damage to the in-vessel components. Currently, the shattered pellet injection (SPI) technique is the most effective radiator of thermal energy and has been chosen for the baseline disruption mitigation system (DMS) for ITER. The SPI process uses cryogenic temperatures to desublimate material into the barrel of a pipe gun forming a solid cylindrical pellet. Pellets for ITER will initially be hydrogen and hydrogen-neon mixtures. Once formed, pellets are dislodged and accelerated using high-pressure gas (40-60 bar) delivered by a fast-opening valve. The solenoid valves currently used for SPI experiments will not operate in an ITER environment due to the large background magnetic field. An ITER prototype fast-opening valve, called a flyer plate valve (FPV), has been designed and has undergone a wide range of testing. The FPV operates by pulsing current through a pancake coil that is closely coupled with a ``flyer plate.'' The flyer plate is an aluminum plate in which eddy currents are generated creating a repulsive force from the pancake coil. The force generated in the flyer plate rapidly lifts the valve tip off the seat and delivers a pulse of gas to the rear of the pellet, breaking it free from the barrel and accelerating the pellet downstream to its intended target. The design of the valve has been iterated on over the lifetime of this project, as the DMS for ITER shifted from massive gas injection (MGI) to SPI. The most recent design has been tested, and operational ranges have been mapped. The valve must survive 3000+ cycles in an ITER-like magnetic field. The principal functional requirement of this valve is to reliably dislodge and accelerate hydrogen (or H-Ne mixture) pellets into ITER. The valve was mated with an ITER SPI test stand and has been shown to be capable of launching pellets reliably. The valve and power supply design will be discussed in this article, along with the various testing setups used to determine the feasibility of this valve for use on ITER.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Effect of macroscopic surface defects on dynamic damage: An experimental and numerical study

This study examines the impact of macroscopic surface defects on the dynamic ductile damage behavior of polycrystalline metals using plate-impact experiments. Defects of various shapes (flat, round, and point) were manufactured on the free or impact surfaces of annealed copper specimens. The experiments were diagnosed with photon Doppler velocimetry measurements and soft recovery techniques. The experimental results revealed that defect shape and location significantly affect velocity–time profiles and void distribution. In order to understand the dynamics of shock propagation and corresponding ductile damage evolution within the target specimens, the impact experiments were modeled with a calibrated Tepla model, a dynamic ductile damage model for polycrystalline metals [Nguyen et al., Int. J. Solids Struct. 329, 113833 (2026)]. Overall, our resulting simulated velocity showed good agreement with measured velocity, and our simulated porosity distributions qualitatively matched experimental data. Based on our simulation results, defects on the free surface were found to distort rarefaction waves and therefore the corresponding spall planes. On the other hand, defects on the impact surface generated a delayed shock when the flyer plate and the defected target area were in contact, leading to distortion of the spall plane. The distortion of the spall plane resulted in a non-uniform distribution of voids within the defected specimens. Lastly, we examined the role of local work hardening due to the defect manufacturing process on the velocity and porosity distribution, using Tepla simulations with a simplified representation of local hardening. This investigation highlights the importance of defect geometry, location, and local hardening associated with defect generation in dynamic ductile damage processes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2022

High-Strain Rate Spall Strength Measurement for CoCrFeMnNi High-Entropy Alloy

In this study, we experimentally investigate the high stain rate and spall behavior of Cantor high-entropy alloy (HEA), CoCrFeMnNi. First, the Hugoniot equations of state (EOS) for the samples are determined using laser-driven CoCrFeMnNi flyers launched into known Lithium Fluoride (LiF) windows. Photon Doppler Velocimetry (PDV) recordings of the velocity profiles find the EOS coefficients using an impedance mismatch technique. Following this set of measurements, laser-driven aluminum flyer plates are accelerated to velocities of 0.5–1.0 km/s using a high-energy pulse laser. Upon impact with CoCrFeMnNi samples, the shock response is found through PDV measurements of the free surface velocities. From this second set of measurements, the spall strength of the alloy is found for pressures up to 5 GPa and strain rates in excess of 106 s−1. Further analysis of the failure mechanisms behind the spallation is conducted using fractography revealing the occurrence of ductile fracture at voids presumed to be caused by chromium oxide deposits created during the manufacturing process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2017

A Novel Approach for Plate Impact Experiments to Determine the Dynamic Behavior of Materials Under Extreme Conditions

Here we present a unique approach to plate impact experiments for characterization of dynamic material behavior under extreme conditions, i.e., ultra-high strain-rates (~10 6 /s) and test temperatures up to 1000 °C. Strategic modifications are made to the existing singlestage gas-gun facility at CWRU to enable this approach. These include an extension of the gun barrel at the breech end of the gas-gun, which now incorporates a precision machined steel housing that carries a vertical heater well to accommodate an 800 W resistance coil heater with axial and rotational degrees of freedom. This custom designed heater assembly enables specimens placed on the flyer plate carried by the sabot to be heated uniformly across the diameter in a 100 mTorr vacuum prior to impact at the breech end of the gun barrel. A new sabot design is utilized to minimize heat transfer from the heated flyer plate to the sabot body. Using this modified gas-gun facility, the dynamic strength of pre-heated commercial purity polycrystalline aluminum samples is investigated at the onset of plastic flow in response to weak normal shock compression at test temperatures ranging from room to near melt point of aluminum. Lastly, the dynamic strength of aluminum samples, as inferred from the measured normal particle velocity history at the free (rear) surface of the target plate, show progressive weakening with increasing specimen temperatures in the temperature range 23–643 °C; at higher test temperatures, however, the rate of softening in dynamic strength is observed to weaken and even reverse as the sample temperatures approach the melt point of aluminum (test temperature ~643 °C).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2020

Shock recompaction of spall damage

Spall fracture is a high strain-rate damage phenomenon associated with shock or impulsive loading events. When a material that has been subjected to shock compression is allowed to release, rarefaction waves propagate into the sample and reduce the internal stress to zero. If multiple rarefaction waves intersect, they generate tension which, if sufficient, can nucleate voids in the material. It has been observed in several works investigating spall fracture that although the shock-wave profiles suggested spall occurred, imaging of the recovered sample revealed no voids or cracks. In this study, we aim to determine whether a second shock event could recompact existing spall damage, and if so, what form does the microstructure at the recompaction interface have? Through a series of gas-gun flyer-plate impact experiments, we demonstrate that modest shock stresses of 2 GPa–3 GPa are enough to both fully compact a damaged copper target back to a state of zero porosity and, furthermore, drive recrystallization of the interface such that there is a new bond formed where the free surfaces were brought together.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2017

A dislocation density-based continuum model of the anisotropic shock response of single crystal α-cyclotrimethylene trinitramine

Here, we have developed a model for the finite deformation thermomechanical response of α-cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (RDX). Our model accounts for nonlinear thermoelastic lattice deformation through a free energy-based equation of state developed by Cawkwell et al. (2016) in combination with temperature and pressure dependent elastic constants, as well as dislocation-mediated plastic slip on a set of slip systems motivated by experimental observation. The kinetics of crystal plasticity are modeled using the Orowan equation relating slip rate to dislocation density and the dislocation velocity developed by Austin and McDowell (2011), which naturally accounts for transition from thermally activated to dislocation drag limited regimes. Evolution of dislocation density is specified in terms of local ordinary differential equations reflecting dislocation–dislocation interactions. This paper presents details of the theory and parameterization of the model, followed by discussion of simulations of flyer plate impact experiments. Impact conditions explored within this combined simulation and experimental effort span shock pressures ranging from 1 to 3 GPa for four crystallographic orientations and multiple specimen thicknesses. Simulation results generated using this model are shown to be in strong agreement with velocimetry measurements from the corresponding plate impact experiments. Finally, simulation results are used to motivate conclusions about the nature of dislocation-mediated plasticity in RDX.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2018

Spall response of single-crystal copper

We performed a series of systematic spall experiments on single-crystal copper in an effort to determine and isolate the effects of crystal orientation, peak stress, and unloading strain rate on the tensile spall strength. Strain rates ranging from 0.62 to 2.2 × 10 6 s -1 and peak shock stresses in the 5–14 GPa range, with one additional experiment near 50 GPa, were explored as part of this work. Gun-driven impactors, called flyer plates, generated flat top shocks followed by spall. This work highlights the effect of crystal anisotropy on the spall strength by showing that the spall strength decreases in the following order: [100], [110], and [111]. Over the range of stresses and strain rates explored, the spall strength of [100] copper depends strongly on both the strain rate and shock stress. Except at the very highest shock stress, the results for the [100] orientation show linear relationships between the spall strength and both the applied compressive stress and the strain rate. In addition, hydrodynamic computer code simulations of the spall experiments were performed to calculate the relationship between the strain rate near the spall plane in the target and the rate of free surface velocity release during the pullback. As expected, strain rates at the spall plane are much higher than the strain rates estimated from the free surface velocity release rate. We have begun soft recovery experiments and molecular dynamics calculations to understand the unusual recompression observed in the spall signature for [100] crystals.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗