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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1966

New developments in NASA quality assurance

The purpose of this talk is to examine and discuss NASA's basic quality concept, the policy and procedures which define and implement this concept and subsequently explore the NASA-Industry quality relationships which are essential to the success of NASA's quality assurance concept. It is important to emphasize that NASA's Quality Assurance program is predicated on the concept of an individually tailored quality program for each significant NASA procurement - particularly, large space systems. As a result, NASA's Quality Assurance program - to be effective - must be responsive to various technologies, hardware systems, and space missions. In addition, the program must be responsive to changing policies and practices in research, engineering and procurement. Key issues in the NASA-Contractor quality relationships in the framework of an over all NASA-Industry partnership include: (1) the necessity for NASA to effectively discharge its responsibility for providing clear and complete definition of quality requirements at all phases of the procurement cycle; (2) the right of the contractor to expect an explicit definition of NASA quality requirements in each RFP and contract and to request same if it is not provided; (3) the necessity for the contractor to have a dynamic and responsive quality program which is directed towards assuring that the hardware meets all technical requirements and to accomplish this in an effective and efficient manner; and (4) the critical need for investigation and study of the economic aspects of quality and an evaluation of our policies and practices based upon the results of such a study.

Condon, John E.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Telemetry and H-Gear Engineering Hardware Design and Delivery Standards

Telemetry and H-Gear Engineering, Org. 8430, is frequently required to design, manufacture, test, and deliver products directly to flight tests and important ground tests. Due to schedule or budget constraints, these deliveries often cannot follow the full product acceptance process laid out in Sandia's Realize Product Processes. Telemetry and H-Gear Engineering therefore created tailored quality expectations and outputs for products that fall into this category. This document describes these quality requirements and the reasons they have been put in place.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Regulating the properties of activated carbon for supercapacitors: impact of particle size and degree of aromatization of hydrochar

Hydrochar (HC), obtained by the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of biomass, is an excellent precursor for preparing activated carbon (AC). However, the effects of the intrinsic properties of HC on the microstructure and electrochemical properties of AC are largely unknown. Here, this study investigates the impact of particle size and the degree of aromatization of in-situ HC on the microstructure and electrochemical properties of AC. Our results show that a large particle size and a high degree of aromatization help protect the HC from overactivation by ZnCl 2 , resulting in an large specific surface area (SSA > 2000 m 2 /g) and high mesopore to micropore volume ratio value ( V mes /V mic > 0.3) of the AC. Electrochemical performance measurements show a maximum specific capacitance of 218 F/g at 0.5 A/g was achieved in all samples where the AC (AC180-10 h) was prepared by activating HC180-10 h with a large size, a high degree of aromatization, and abundant surface oxygen-containing functional groups. After AC180-10 h was assembled into a supercapacitor, the specific capacitance of AC180-10 h still reached 158 F/g at 0.5 A/g, and it showed excellent cycling stability. This study advances the understanding of the impact of HC particle size and degree of aromatization on AC properties, providing new insights into tailoring HC qualities so that improving improve the properties of AC.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

PowderJet: Spherical metal powder production via multi-orifice droplet-on-demand metal jetting

Leading metal additive manufacturing techniques, such as laser powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition, rely on high-quality spherical metal powders. However, traditional powder production methods like gas atomization face limitations, including low in-spec yield, asphericity, and internal porosity. We introduce PowderJet, a powder production platform that uses electromagnetic pulses to eject liquid metal droplets from a multi-orifice nozzle. Unlike stochastic methods, PowderJet tightly controls powder size, distribution, and purity through a droplet-on-demand approach. We detail the system’s design, operation, and performance using a combined experimental and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) framework. Initial results with Al4008 and Cu110 alloys demonstrate successful production, yielding unsieved aluminum powder batches with a mean diameter of 200 µm and a narrow size distribution (15 µm standard deviation). The produced powders are highly spherical, achieving a roundness > 0.95. PowderJet operates with a small melt volume (3 mL) and supports continuous refilling, enabling production rates between 30 and 140 cm³/hr depending on jetting frequency, number of orifices and particle size. CFD simulations show that future systems could achieve rates exceeding 1000 cm³/hr for particle sizes as small as 40 µm. PowderJet’s high yield of in-spec powder makes it ideal for producing precious or hazardous materials that are inefficient to manufacture using conventional methods. This platform offers a scalable, precise, and efficient solution for producing high-quality powders tailored for advanced manufacturing applications.

Atomization↗
DOE OSTI2025

Impact of low-chemical storage pretreatment of loblolly pine bark on biochar from microwave pyrolysis

Forest product residues such as bark represent a low-cost, abundant feedstock for bioenergy, but their high ash and alkali and alkaline earth metal (AAEM) content limit thermochemical conversion efficiency. This study evaluates the use of low-severity chemical pretreatments during anaerobic storage to improve the performance of microwave pyrolysis for loblolly pine bark. Bark was treated with dilute sulfuric acid (0.1% and 1%, w/w) or sodium hydroxide (4%, w/w) and incubated anaerobically for one or two weeks to simulate in-pile biorefinery storage. The most effective treatment—1% H2SO4 for two weeks—reduced AAEM content by 35.7% and increased bio-oil yield by 11% compared to untreated controls, while also reducing pyrolysis gas production. In contrast, alkali treatment did not reduce AAEM levels and led to decreased bio-oil yields with increased gas formation. Although biochar yields were relatively stable across treatments, their physicochemical characteristics varied significantly. Acid-treated bark yielded biochars with higher carbon content, lower O/C and H/C ratios, greater surface area, and enhanced heating values. These improvements suggest that chemical pretreatment during storage can tailor biochar quality for specific end uses. Biochars produced under optimized conditions exhibited properties suitable for soil amendment, carbon sequestration, and solid fuel applications. This integrated approach—combining storage, mild chemical conditioning, and microwave pyrolysis—provides a viable pathway to enhance the value and sustainability of bark-derived bioenergy products.

09 - BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Sierra/SD – Verification Test Manual – 5.22

Verification and validation (V&V) of scientific computing programs are important at Sandia National Labs due to the expanding role of computational simulation in managing the United States nuclear stockpile. The complexities of structural response calculations used to analyze physical problems, the varieties of codes applied to the calculations, and the importance of accurate predictions when assessing field conditions demand confidence in the consistency and accuracy of computer codes. Confidence in the accuracy of the predictions arising from computer simulations must ultimately be gained through verification and validation. The Sierra salinas structural dynamics analysis code, Sierra/SD, is used at the DOE Laboratories, and in several DOD projects. The roles of Sierra/SD in the qualification of weapon systems and components for normal and hostile environments throughout the Stockpile-to-Target Sequence include to, • Redesign weapon components. • Certify weapon components and systems for target environments such as hypersonic vehicles. • Certify that components will survive the thermal mechanical shock loads associated with hostile environments. • Evaluate current stockpile issues, including issues associated with uncertainty quantification. • Address many other problems that are encountered in stockpile management. The Sierra/SD verification plan is described, and an evolving set of key verification tests are described in detail. The verification tests ensure the correctness of the mathematics and numerical algorithms associated with functionality describing engineering phenomena. Development is in accordance with a set of tailored Software Quality Engineering (SQE) practices. SQE practices guide the overall verification and validation effort.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1983

AFTI/F-16 flight test results and lessons

The AFTI/F-16 flight test program is summarized, and several design issues of general interest are addressed. A brief description is given of the test vehicle, its flight control modes, and the flight envelopes in which testing was performed. Flight test results are summarized by addressing benefits experienced in flight control task-tailoring, handling qualities in mission tasks, aircraft structure considerations, digital flight control system performance, and human factors. Finally, several design issues relevant to future fighter aircraft are examined, including degraded flight control, system complexity, simplex information in redundant systems, and single failure propagation in redundant systems.

Ishmael, S. D.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Quality Practices for Highly-Constrained Projects

The presentation provides guidance and recommendations for the implementation of quality practices for space system development projects that have constraints, such that the full suite of traditional or "best" standard practices cannot be applied.

Streamlined quality↗
DOE OSTI2026

Opportunities and Challenges for Hydrotreating of Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis Oil to Fuels

Catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) provides a versatile platform for producing fuels to combat climate change and meet decarbonizing targets. In this contribution, we will discuss the hydroprocessing of CFP oils to a variety of fuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), diesel, and marine fuel. Both standalone and co-hydroprocessing with petroleum streams will be covered. Hydrotreating CFP oil at temperatures around 400 Degrees Celsius can produce a highly deoxygenated product with oxygen contents below the detection limit. However, the quality of fuel fractions produced has been a problem, manifesting as low octane numbers for the gasoline-range fraction and low cetane numbers for the diesel-range fraction. Incorporating an initial transition zone for hydrogenation during hydrotreating was shown to dramatically increase the diesel fraction cetane number from 24 to 45. A similar approach enabled the production of a cycloalkane-rich SAF fraction meeting key ASTM 4054 guidelines with respect to density, viscosity, heating value, volatility, freeze and flash point. Over 400 hours of hydrotreating for SAF was demonstrated with no signs of catalyst bed fouling, measured by pressure drop over the catalyst bed. Compared to other fuels, marine fuel is unique in that it does not require complete deoxygenation. We investigated the minimum hydrotreating requirements to produce fuel compatible with very low sulfur fuel oil, and the results suggested 30% reduction in hydrotreating costs for this approach. Co-hydroprocessing offers an opportunity to take advantage of refinery infrastructure and economies of scale although the operation is less flexible with respect to operating conditions. Co-hydroprocessing CFP oil with petroleum streams gave efficient deoxygenation at milder conditions (e.g. at temperatures of 320 Degrees Celsius) than required for standalone hydrotreating. Over 90% incorporation of biogenic carbon in the CFP oil was confirmed by carbon-14 analysis. Hydrotreating of CFP oil, whether by standalone or co-processing, can produce a variety of fuel cuts, whose quality can be tailored by changing process conditions. Challenges remain, including long-term catalyst performance and determining CFP oil quality requirements.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS1995

The Experience Factory: Strategy and Practice

The quality movement, that has had in recent years a dramatic impact on all industrial sectors, has recently reached the system and software industry. Although some concepts of quality management, originally developed for other product types, can be applied to software, its specificity as a product which is developed and not produced requires a special approach. This paper introduces a quality paradigm specifically tailored on the problem of the systems and software industry. Reuse of products, processes and experiences originating from the system life cycle is seen today as a feasible solution to the problem of developing higher quality systems at a lower cost. In fact, quality improvement is very often achieved by defining and developing an appropriate set of strategic capabilities and core competencies to support them. A strategic capability is, in this context, a corporate goal defined by the business position of the organization and implemented by key business processes. Strategic capabilities are supported by core competencies, which are aggregate technologies tailored to the specific needs of the organization in performing the needed business processes. Core competencies are non-transitional, have a consistent evolution, and are typically fueled by multiple technologies. Their selection and development requires commitment, investment and leadership. The paradigm introduced in this paper for developing core competencies is the Quality Improvement Paradigm which consists of six steps: (1) Characterize the environment, (2) Set the goals, (3) Choose the process, (4) Execute the process, (5) Analyze the process data, and (6) Package experience. The process must be supported by a goal oriented approach to measurement and control, and an organizational infrastructure, called Experience Factory. The Experience Factory is a logical and physical organization distinct from the project organizations it supports. Its goal is development and support of core competencies through capitalization and reuse of its cycle experience and products. The paper introduces the major concepts of the proposed approach, discusses their relationship with other approaches used in the industry, and presents a case in which those concepts have been successfully applied.

Basili, Victor R.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Physically constrained 3D diffusion for inverse design of fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials

Designing fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPCs) with a tailored nonlinear stress-strain response is crucial for applications such as energy absorption in crash structures, flexible robotics, and impact-resistant protective gear. However, the inherent complexities of composite materials and the multitude of parameters involved, render traditional design and optimization methods inadequate for achieving effective inverse design of composites. In this paper, we present an AI-based inverse design framework that effectively and efficiently generates FRPCs with targeted nonlinear stress-strain responses. We introduce a physically constrained diffusion model (PC3D_Diffusion) capable of managing the complexities of composite materials and producing detailed, high-quality designs. We propose a loss-guided, learning-free approach to generate physically feasible microstructure designs by explicitly enforcing physical constraints during the generation process. For training purposes, 1.35 million FRPC samples were created, and their corresponding stress-strain curves were computed using established physics-based computational models. The results show that PC3D_Diffusion consistently generates high-quality designs with tailored mechanical behaviors, while guaranteeing compliance with the physical constraints. PC3D_Diffusion advances FRPC inverse design and may facilitate the inverse design of other 3D materials, offering potential applications in industries reliant on materials with custom mechanical properties.

Xu, Pei [Clemson Univ., SC (United States)]↗
NASA NTRS1979

Safety considerations in the design and operation of large wind turbines

The engineering and safety techniques used to assure the reliable and safe operation of large wind turbine generators utilizing the Mod 2 Wind Turbine System Program as an example is described. The techniques involve a careful definition of the wind turbine's natural and operating environments, use of proven structural design criteria and analysis techniques, an evaluation of potential failure modes and hazards, and use of a fail safe and redundant component engineering philosophy. The role of an effective quality assurance program, tailored to specific hardware criticality, and the checkout and validation program developed to assure system integrity are described.

Reilly, D. H.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Controlled optical properties via chemical composition tuning in molybdenum-incorporated β-Ga 2 O 3 nanocrystalline films

An approach is presented to design refractory-metal incorporated Ga2O3-based materials with controlled structural and optical properties. The molybdenum (Mo)-content in Ga2O3 was varied from 0 to 11 at% in the sputter-deposited Ga-Mo-O films. Molybdenum was found to significantly affect the structure and optical properties. While low Mo-content (≤4 at%) results in the formation of single-phase (β-Ga2O3), higher Mo-content results in amorphization. Chemically-induced band gap variability (Eg~1 eV) coupled with structure-modification indicates the electronic-structure changes in Ga-Mo-O. The linear relationship between chemical-composition and optical properties suggests that tailoring the optical-quality and performance of Ga-Mo-O films is possible by tuning the Mo-content.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2026

Developing Scenario‐Based Strategies for Health, Climate, and Environmental Preparedness: The One Health, One Earth Approach

Climate change amplifies many threats to human health. Despite advances in understanding climate change dynamics and impacts, there remains a critical gap in translating scientific knowledge into equitable, and community-driven health interventions. The inaugural One Earth, One Health workshop sought to explore this gap through human-centered design exercises involving interdisciplinary researchers from climate and Earth sciences, engineering, epidemiology, microbiology, and environmental health. Although participants did not co-develop solutions with affected communities, they used stakeholder role-playing to guide ideation and lay groundwork for actionable plans. Through these methods, participants identified community needs and proposed prototype solutions to alleviate health threats exacerbated by global environmental change. Prototypes were organized around infectious diseases, extreme weather, and air quality, as illustrative themes rather than an exhaustive set of risks. Key solutions included strategies for anticipatory systems and early warning (e.g., integrating environmental signals with health data), inclusive communication and infrastructure needs for responding to extreme weather events, and integrated platforms visualizing air quality trends to support tailored, context-aware guidance beyond one-size-fits-all alerts. The workshop highlighted opportunities such as leveraging machine learning, Earth observation, and real-time surveillance to protect communities, but also noted barriers including data quality, technological redundancy, privacy, and governance challenges. Additionally, participants emphasized the need for interdisciplinary teams capable of collaborating across sectors, breaking down silos and addressing gaps in training and education. Overall, the workshop illustrates how process-driven, human-centered approaches can help surface user needs and generate testable prototype concepts, while underscoring the importance of direct community partnership for implementation.

Abadi, Azar M. [University of Alabama, Birmingham,↗
NASA NTRS1996

Flight Dynamics Mission Support and Quality Assurance Process

This paper summarizes the method of the Computer Sciences Corporation Flight Dynamics Operation (FDO) quality assurance approach to support the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center Flight Dynamics Support Branch. Historically, a strong need has existed for developing systematic quality assurance using methods that account for the unique nature and environment of satellite Flight Dynamics mission support. Over the past few years FDO has developed and implemented proactive quality assurance processes applied to each of the six phases of the Flight Dynamics mission support life cycle: systems and operations concept, system requirements and specifications, software development support, operations planing and training, launch support, and on-orbit mission operations. Rather than performing quality assurance as a final step after work is completed, quality assurance has been built in as work progresses in the form of process assurance. Process assurance activities occur throughout the Flight Dynamics mission support life cycle. The FDO Product Assurance Office developed process checklists for prephase process reviews, mission team orientations, in-progress reviews, and end-of-phase audits. This paper will outline the evolving history of FDO quality assurance approaches, discuss the tailoring of Computer Science Corporations's process assurance cycle procedures, describe some of the quality assurance approaches that have been or are being developed, and present some of the successful results.

Oh, InHwan↗