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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
DOE OSTI2012

MARS-KS code validation activity through the atlas domestic standard problem

The 2 nd Domestic Standard Problem (DSP-02) exercise using the ATLAS integral effect test data was executed to transfer the integral effect test data to domestic nuclear industries and to contribute to improving the safety analysis methodology for PWRs. A small break loss of coolant accident of a 6-inch break at the cold leg was determined as a target scenario by considering its technical importance and by incorporating interests from participants. Ten calculation results using MARS-KS code were collected, major prediction results were described qualitatively and code prediction accuracy was assessed quantitatively using the FFTBM. In addition, special code assessment activities were carried out to find out the area where the model improvement is required in the MARS-KS code. The lessons from this DSP-02 and recommendations to code developers are described in this paper. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2010

Standard Problems for CFD Validation for NGNP - Status Report

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting research and development to support the resurgence of nuclear power in the United States for both electrical power generation and production of process heat required for industrial processes such as the manufacture of hydrogen for use as a fuel in automobiles. The project is called the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) Project, which is based on a Generation IV reactor concept called the very high temperature reactor (VHTR). The VHTR will be of the prismatic or pebble bed type; the former is considered herein. The VHTR will use helium as the coolant at temperatures ranging from 250°C to perhaps 1000°C. While computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has not previously been used for the safety analysis of nuclear reactors in the United States, it is being considered for existing and future reactors. It is fully recognized that CFD simulation codes will have to be validated for flow physics reasonably close to actual fluid dynamic conditions expected in normal operational and accident situations. The “Standard Problem” is an experimental data set that represents an important physical phenomenon or phenomena, whose selection is based on a phenomena identification and ranking table (PIRT) for the reactor in question. It will be necessary to build a database that contains a number of standard problems for use to validate CFD and systems analysis codes for the many physical problems that will need to be analyzed. The first two standard problems that have been developed for CFD validation consider flow in the lower plenum of the VHTR and bypass flow in the prismatic core. Both involve scaled models built from quartz and designed to be installed in the INL’s matched index of refraction (MIR) test facility. The MIR facility employs mineral oil as the working fluid at a constant temperature. At this temperature, the index of refraction of the mineral oil is the same as that of the quartz. This provides an advantage to the optics used for data gathering. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is used to take the data. The first standard problem represents several flow physics expected to be present in the lower plenum of the prismatic VHTR. In the lower plenum, heated helium coolant in the form of jets issues downward into the plenum and is then forced to turn ninety degrees and flow toward the exit duct. The lower plenum is filled with cylindrical graphite posts that hold up the core. Figure S-1 provides a plan view of the lower plenum. The red circles represent support posts holding up columns of heated blocks. Grey circles represent support posts under columns of reflector blocks. Helium enters the lower plenum at the junctions of the hexagonal blocks.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Pre-test CFD Calculations for a Bypass Flow Standard Problem

The bypass flow in a prismatic high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) is the flow that occurs between adjacent graphite blocks. Gaps exist between blocks due to variances in their manufacture and installation and because of the expansion and shrinkage of the blocks from heating and irradiation. Although the temperature of fuel compacts and graphite is sensitive to the presence of bypass flow, there is great uncertainty in the level and effects of the bypass flow. The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) program at the Idaho National Laboratory has undertaken to produce experimental data of isothermal bypass flow between three adjacent graphite blocks. These data are intended to provide validation for computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analyses of the bypass flow. Such validation data sets are called Standard Problems in the nuclear safety analysis field. Details of the experimental apparatus as well as several pre-test calculations of the bypass flow are provided. Pre-test calculations are useful in examining the nature of the flow and to see if there are any problems associated with the flow and its measurement. The apparatus is designed to be able to provide three different gap widths in the vertical direction (the direction of the normal coolant flow) and two gap widths in the horizontal direction. It is expected that the vertical bypass flow will range from laminar to transitional to turbulent flow for the different gap widths that will be available.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS1973

Photometric standards

Problem solving by means of photometric standards is discussed in the light of its application to variable star observations. The North Polar Sequence is covered in detail from both historical and functional standpoints, as are the so-called Kapteyn Areas and Harvard Standard Areas.

Sharov, A. S.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Leptogenesis in parity solutions to the strong CP problem and Standard Model parameters

We study the simplest theories with exact spacetime parity that solve the strong CP problem and successfully generate the cosmological baryon asymmetry via decays of right-handed neutrinos. Lower bounds are derived for the masses of the right-handed neutrinos and for the scale of spontaneous parity breaking, v R . For generic thermal leptogenesis, v R ≳ 10 12 GeV, unless the small observed neutrino masses arise from fine-tuning. We compute v R in terms of the top quark mass, the QCD coupling, and the Higgs boson mass and find this bound is consistent with current data at 1σ. Future precision measurements of these parameters may provide support for the theory or, if v R is determined to be below 10 12 GeV, force modifications. However, modified cosmologies do not easily allow reductions in v R — no reduction is possible if leptogenesis occurs in the collisions of domain walls formed at parity breaking, and at most a factor 10 reduction is possible with non-thermal leptogenesis. Standard Model parameters that yield low values for v R can only be accommodated by having a high degree of degeneracy among the right-handed neutrinos involved in leptogenesis. If future precision measurements determine v R to be above 10 12 GeV, it is likely that higher-dimensional operators of the theory will yield a neutron electric dipole moment accessible to ongoing experiments. This is especially true in a simple UV completion of the neutrino sector, involving gauge singlet fermions, where the bound from successful leptogenesis is strengthened to v R ≳ 10 13 GeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2013

RELAP5-3D Restart and Backup Verification Testing

Existing testing methodology for RELAP5-3D employs a set of test cases collected over two decades to test a variety of code features and run on a Linux or Windows platform. However, this set has numerous deficiencies in terms of code coverage, detail of comparison, running time, and testing fidelity of RELAP5-3D restart and backup capabilities. The test suite covers less than three quarters of the lines of code in the relap directory and just over half those in the environmental library. Even in terms of code features, many are not covered. Moreover, the test set runs many problems long past the point necessary to test the relevant features. It requires standard problems to run to completion. This is unnecessary for features can be tested in a short-running problem. For example, many trips and controls can be tested in the first few time steps, as can a number of fluid flow options. The testing system is also inaccurate. For the past decade, the diffem script has been the primary tool for checking that printouts from two different RELAP5-3D executables agree. This tool compares two output files to verify that all characters are the same except for those relating to date, time and a few other excluded items. The variable values printed on the output file are accurate to no more than eight decimal places. Therefore, calculations with errors in decimal places beyond those printed remain undetected. Finally, fidelity of restart is not tested except in the PVM sub-suite and backup is not specifically tested at all. When a restart is made from any midway point of the base-case transient, the restart must produce the same values. When a backup condition occurs, the code repeats advancements with the same time step. A perfect backup can be tested by forcing RELAP5 to perform a backup by falsely setting a backup condition flag at a user-specified-time. Comparison of the calculations of that run and those produced by the same input w/o the spurious condition should be identical. Backup testing is more difficult the other kinds of testing described above because it requires additional coding to implement. The testing system constructed and described in this document resolves all of these issues. A matrix of test features and short-running cases that exercise them is presented. A small information file that contains sufficient data to verify calculations to the last decimal place and bit is produced. This testing system is used to test base cases (called null testing) as well as restart and backup cases. The programming that implements these new capabilities is presented.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS1976

Computational alternatives to obtain time optimal jet engine control

Two computational methods to determine an open loop time optimal control sequence for a simple single spool turbojet engine are described by a set of nonlinear differential equations. Both methods are modifications of widely accepted algorithms which can solve fixed time unconstrained optimal control problems with a free right end. Constrained problems to be considered have fixed right ends and free time. Dynamic programming is defined on a standard problem and it yields a successive approximation solution to the time optimal problem of interest. A feedback control law is obtained and it is then used to determine the corresponding open loop control sequence. The Fletcher-Reeves conjugate gradient method has been selected for adaptation to solve a nonlinear optimal control problem with state variable and control constraints.

Basso, R. J.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Phase field benchmark problems for dendritic growth and linear elasticity

We present the second set of benchmark problems for phase field models that are being jointly developed by the Center for Hierarchical Materials Design (CHiMaD) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) along with input from other members in the phase field community. As the integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) approach to materials design has gained traction, there is an increasing need for quantitative phase field results. New algorithms and numerical implementations increase computational capabilities, necessitating standard problems to evaluate their impact on simulated microstructure evolution as well as their computational performance. We propose one benchmark problem for solidifiication and dendritic growth in a single-component system, and one problem for linear elasticity via the shape evolution of an elastically constrained precipitate. We demonstrate the utility and sensitivity of the benchmark problems by comparing the results of 1) dendritic growth simulations performed with different time integrators and 2) elastically constrained precipitate simulations with different precipitate sizes, initial conditions, and elastic moduli. As a result, these numerical benchmark problems will provide a consistent basis for evaluating different algorithms, both existing and those to be developed in the future, for accuracy and computational efficiency when applied to simulate physics often incorporated in phase field models.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1978

Radiative transfer calculated from a Markov chain formalism

The theory of Markov chains is used to formulate the radiative transport problem in a general way by modeling the successive interactions of a photon as a stochastic process. Under the minimal requirement that the stochastic process is a Markov chain, the determination of the diffuse reflection or transmission from a scattering atmosphere is equivalent to the solution of a system of linear equations. This treatment is mathematically equivalent to, and thus has many of the advantages of, Monte Carlo methods, but can be considerably more rapid than Monte Carlo algorithms for numerical calculations in particular applications. We have verified the speed and accuracy of this formalism for the standard problem of finding the intensity of scattered light from a homogeneous plane-parallel atmosphere with an arbitrary phase function for scattering. Accurate results over a wide range of parameters were obtained with computation times comparable to those of a standard 'doubling' routine. The generality of this formalism thus allows fast, direct solutions to problems that were previously soluble only by Monte Carlo methods. Some comparisons are made with respect to integral equation methods.

Esposito, L. W.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Diffraction by a finite strip

A new approach is presented to diffraction problems involving plane strip barriers or slit apertures. These are problems that display the effects of multiple interacting edges. The approach taken here provides exact, compact solutions. The theory is introduced through a series of examples that are, in fact, the 'standard' problems of the subject, diffraction of a plane oblique wave by a slit, for example. In each case, the solutions are found to depend explicitly on a single 'special' function and its Fourier transform. These fundamental functions are described, with the emphasis placed on practical computational methods. The example problems are all couched in the language of acoustics.

Williams, M. H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The min-conflicts heuristic: Experimental and theoretical results

This paper describes a simple heuristic method for solving large-scale constraint satisfaction and scheduling problems. Given an initial assignment for the variables in a problem, the method operates by searching through the space of possible repairs. The search is guided by an ordering heuristic, the min-conflicts heuristic, that attempts to minimize the number of constraint violations after each step. We demonstrate empirically that the method performs orders of magnitude better than traditional backtracking techniques on certain standard problems. For example, the one million queens problem can be solved rapidly using our approach. We also describe practical scheduling applications where the method has been successfully applied. A theoretical analysis is presented to explain why the method works so well on certain types of problems and to predict when it is likely to be most effective.

Minton, Steven↗
DOE OSTI2018

A note on the S-matrix bootstrap for the 2d O(N) bosonic model

In this work we apply the S-matrix bootstrap maximization program to the 2d bosonic O ( N ) integrable model which has N species of scalar particles of mass m and no bound states. Since in previous studies theories were defined by maximizing the coupling between particles and their bound states, the main problem appears to be to find what other functional can be used to define this model. Instead, we argue that the defining property of this integrable model is that it resides at a vertex of the convex space determined by the unitarity and crossing constraints. Thus, the integrable model can be found by maximizing any linear functional whose gradient points in the general direction of the vertex, namely within a cone determined by the normals to the faces intersecting at the vertex. This is a standard problem in applied mathematics, related to semi-definite programming and solvable by fast available numerical algorithms. The information provided by the numerical solution is enough to reproduce the known analytical solution without using integrability, namely the Yang-Baxter equation. This situation seems quite generic so we expect that other theories without continuous parameters can also be found by maximizing linear functionals in the convex space of allowed S-matrices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2010

Dark matter decaying into a Fermi sea of neutrinos

We study the possible decay of a coherently oscillating scalar field, interpreted as dark matter, into light fermions. Specifically, we consider a scalar field with sub-eV mass decaying into a Fermi sea of neutrinos. We recognize the similarity between our scenario and inflationary preheating where a coherently oscillating scalar field decays into standard model particles. Like the case of fermionic preheating, we find that Pauli blocking controls the dark matter decay into the neutrino sea. The radius of the Fermi sphere depends on the expansion of the universe leading to a time varying equation of state of dark matter. This makes the scenario very rich and we show that the decay rate might be different at different cosmological epochs. We categorize this in two interesting regimes and then study the cosmological perturbations to find the impact on structure formation. We find that the decay may help in alleviating some of the standard problems related to cold dark matter.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

A precision test of averaging in AdS/CFT

We reconsider the role of wormholes in the AdS/CFT correspondence. We focus on Euclidean wormholes that connect two asymptotically AdS or hyperbolic regions with $\mathbb{S}$ 1 × $\mathbb{S}$ d-1 boundary. There is no solution to Einstein’s equations of this sort, as the wormholes possess a modulus that runs to infinity. To find on-shell wormholes we must stabilize this modulus, which we can do by fixing the total energy on the two boundaries. Such a wormhole gives the saddle point approximation to a non-standard problem in quantum gravity, where we fix two asymptotic boundaries and constrain the common energy. Crucially the dual quantity does not factorize even when the bulk is dual to a single CFT, on account of the fixed energy constraint. From this quantity we extract a smeared version of the microcanonical spectral form factor. For a chaotic theory this quantity is self-averaging, i.e. well-approximated by averaging over energy windows, or over coupling constants. We go on to give a precision test involving the microcanonical spectral form factor where the two replicas have slightly different coupling constants. In chaotic theories this form factor is known to smoothly decay at a rate universally predicted in terms of one replica physics, provided that there is an average either over a window or over couplings. We compute the expected decay rate for holographic theories, and the form factor from a wormhole, and the two exactly agree for a wide range of two-derivative effective field theories in AdS. This gives a precision test of averaging in AdS/CFT. Our results interpret a number of confusing facts about wormholes and factorization in AdS and suggest that we should regard gravitational effective field theory as a mesoscopic description, analogous to semiclassical mesoscopic descriptions of quantum chaotic systems.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Applications of the worldline Monte Carlo formalism in quantum mechanics

Highlights: Universal approach to the numerical computation of the Euclidean path integral. Inspired by recent work in relativistic quantum field theory. Here adapted to non-relativistic quantum mechanics. Worked out for the computation of propagators and ground-state energies. Special smoothing procedure for singular potentials. -- Abstract: In recent years efficient algorithms have been developed for the numerical computation of relativistic single-particle path integrals in quantum field theory. Here, we adapt this “worldline Monte Carlo” approach to the standard problem of the numerical approximation of the non-relativistic path integral, resulting in a formalism whose characteristic feature is the fast, non-recursive generation of an ensemble of trajectories that is independent of the potential, and is thus universally applicable. The numerical implementation discretises the trajectories with respect to their time parametrisation but maintains a continuous spatial domain. In the case of singular potentials, the discretised action gets adapted to the singularity through a “smoothing” procedure. We show for a variety of examples (the harmonic oscillator in various dimensions, the modified Pöschl–Teller potential, delta-function potentials, the Coulomb and Yukawa potentials) that the method allows one to obtain fast and reliable estimates for the Euclidean propagator and use them in a certain time window suitable for extracting the ground state energy. Usually Monte Carlo calculations in quantum mechanics are performed using algorithms that involve a more specific adaptation to the potential, and we briefly compare our method with the most widely used such algorithms, which are of Metropolis type. As an aside, we apply it for studying the classical limit where nearly classical trajectories are expected to dominate in the path integral. We expect the advances made here to be useful also in the relativistic case.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗