During the 1990's the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) developed methods for fire risk analysis to support its utility members in the preparation of responses to Generic Letter 88-20, Supplement 4, "Individual Plant Examination - External Events" (IPEEE). This effort produced a Fire Risk Assessment methodology for at-power that was used by the majority of US Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) in support of the IPEEE program and several NPPs oversees. Although these methods were acceptable for accomplishing the objectives of the IPEEE, EPRI and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recognized that these methods require upgrades to support current requirements for Risk-Informed/Performance-Based (RI/PB) applications. In 2001 EPRI and the NRC Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) embarked on a cooperative project to improve the state-of-the-art in fire risk assessment to support this new risk-informed environment in fire protection. This project produced a consensus document, NUREG/CR-6850 (EPRI 1011989), entitled "Fire PRA Methodology for Nuclear Power Facilities" which addresses fire risk for at-power operations. This report developed: 1) the process for identification and inclusion of the post-fire Human Failure Events (HFEs), 2) the methodology for assigning quantitative screening values to these HFEs, and 3) the initial considerations of performance shaping factors (PSFs) and related fire effects that may need to be addressed in developing best-estimate Human Error Probabilities (HEPs). However, this document does not describe a methodology to develop these best-estimate HEPs given the PSFs and the fire-related effects. In 2007 EPRI and NRC's RES embarked on another cooperative project to develop explicit guidance for estimating HEPs for human error events under fire generated conditions, building upon existing human reliability analysis (HRA) methods. This paper will describe the progress to date on the development and testing of the fire HRA methodology, which includes addressing the range of fire procedures used in existing plants, the range of strategies for main control room abandonment, and the potential impact of fire-induced spurious electrical effects on crew performance. In addition to developing a detailed HRA approach, one goal of the project is to develop a fire HRA scoping quantification approach that allows derivation of more realistic HEPs than those in the screening approach from NUREG/CR-6850 (EPRI 1011989), while requiring less analytic resources than a detailed HRA. In this approach, detailed HRA will be used only for the more complex actions that cannot meet the criteria for the scoping approach.
A simple and effective approach is presented to construct coarse spaces for overlapping Schwarz preconditioners. The approach is based on energy minimizing extensions of coarse trace spaces, and can be viewed as a generalization of earlier work by Dryja, Smith, and Widlund. The use of these coarse spaces in overlapping Schwarz preconditioners leads to condition numbers bounded by C(1 + H/δ)(1 + log(H/h)) for certain problems when coefficient jumps are aligned with subdomain boundaries. For problems without coefficient jumps, it is possible to remove the log(H/h) factor in this bound by a suitable enrichment of the coarse space. Comparisons are made with the coarse spaces of two other substructuring preconditioners. Numerical examples are also presented for a variety of problems.
Several antennas with integrated high-impedance surfaces are presented. The high-impedance surface is implemented as a composite right/left-handed (CRLH) metamaterial fabricated from a periodic structure characterized by a substrate, filled with an array of vertical vias and capped by capacitive patches. Omnidirectional antennas placed in close proximity to the high-impedance surface radiate hemispherically with an increase in boresight far-field pattern gain of up to 10 dB and a front-to-back ratio as high as 13 dB at 2.45 GHz. Several TEM rectangular horn antennas are realized by replacing conductor walls with high-impedance surfaces. The TEM horn antennas are capable of operating below the TE{sub 1,0} cutoff frequency of a standard all-metal horn antenna, enabling a reduction in antenna volume. Above the cutoff frequency the TEM horn antennas function similarly to standard rectangular horn antennas.
2008 BRIMS Conference - Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation
Best, Bradley J.; Dixon, Kevin R.; Speed, Ann; Fleetwood, Michael D.
This paper outlines a comparison between two cognitive modeling frameworks: Atomic Components of Thought - Rational (ACT-R; Anderson & Lebiere, 1998) and a framework under development at Sandia National Laboratories. Both frameworks are based on the cognitive psychological literature, although they represent different theoretical perspectives on cognition, with ACT-R being a production-rule-based system and the Sandia framework being a dynamical-systems or connectionist-type approach. This comparison involved a complex driving domain in which both the car being driven and the driver were equipped with sensors that provided information to each framework. The output of each framework was a classification of the real-world situation that the driver was in, e.g., being overtaken on the autobahn. Comparisons between the two frameworks included validation against human ratings of the driving situations via videotapes of driving sessions, along with twelve creation and performance metrics regarding the method and ease of framework population, processor requirements, and maximum real-time data sampling rate.
Verdict is a collection of subroutines for evaluating the geometric qualities of triangles, quadrilaterals, tetrahedra, and hexahedra using a variety of functions. A quality is a real number assigned to one of these shapes depending on its particular vertex coordinates. These functions are used to evaluate the input to finite element, finite volume, boundary element, and other types of solvers that approximate the solution to partial differential equations defined over regions of space. This article describes the most recent version of Verdict and provides a summary of the main properties of the quality functions offered by the library. It finally demonstrates the versatility and applicability of Verdict by illustrating its use in several scientific applications that pertain to pre, post, and end-to-end processing.
Proceedings of the 16th International Meshing Roundtable, IMR 2007
Parrish, Michael; Borden, Michael; Staten, Matthew; Benzley, Steven
Hexahedral refinement increases the density of an all-hexahedral mesh in a specified region, improving numerical accuracy. Previous research using solely sheet refinement theory made the implementation computationally expensive and unable to effectively handle concave refinement regions and self-intersecting hex sheets. The Selective Approach method is a new procedure that combines two diverse methodologies to create an efficient and robust algorithm able to handle the above stated problems. These two refinement methods are: 1) element by element refinement and 2) directional refinement. In element by element refinement, the three inherent directions of a Hex are refined in one step using one of seven templates. Because of its computational superiority over directional refinement, but its inability to handle concavities, element by element refinement is used in all areas of the specified region except regions local to concavities. The directional refinement scheme refines the three inherent directions of a hexahedron separately on a hex by hex basis. This differs from sheet refinement which refines hexahedra using hex sheets. Directional refinement is able to correctly handle concave refinement regions. A ranking system and propagation scheme allow directional refinement to work within the confines of the Selective Approach Algorithm.
This paper presents methods and applications of sheet insertion in a hexahedral mesh. A hexahedral sheet is dual to a layer of hexahedra in a hexahedral mesh. Because of symmetries within a hexahedral element, every hexahedral mesh can be viewed as a collection of these sheets. It is possible to insert new sheets into an existing mesh, and these new sheets can be used to define new mesh boundaries, refine the mesh, or in some cases can be used to improve quality in an existing mesh. Sheet insertion has a broad range of possible applications including mesh generation, boundary refinement, R-adaptivity and joining existing meshes. Examples of each of these applications are demonstrated.
This paper describes a distributed-memory, embarrassingly parallel hexahedral mesh generator, pCAMAL (parallel CUBIT Adaptive Mesh Algorithm Library). pCAMAL utilizes the sweeping method following a serial step of geometry decomposition conducted in the CUBIT geometry preparation and mesh generation tool. The utility of pCAMAL in generating large meshes is illustrated, and linear speed-up under load-balanced conditions is demonstrated.
Higher performance is the main driver in the integrated circuit (IC) market, but along with added function comes the cost of increased input/output connections and larger die sizes. Space saving approaches aimed at solving these challenges includes two technologies; 3D stacking (3D-ICs) and flip chip assemblies. Emerging ICs require sub-micron scale interconnects which include vias for 3D-ICs and bump bonds for flip chips. Photolithographic techniques are commonly used to prepare templates followed by metal vapor deposition to create flip chip bump bonds. Both the lithography step and the metal properties required for bump bonding contribute to limiting this approach to a minimum bump size of ∼10 μm. Here, we present a wet chemistry approach to fabricating uniform bump bonds of tunable size and height down to the nanoscale. Nanosphere lithography (NSL), a "soft" lithographic technique, is used to create a bump bond template or mask for nanoscale bumps. Electrochemical deposition is also used through photoresist templates to create uniform bump bonds across large area wafers or dies. This template approach affords bumps with tunable diameters from 100s of nanometers to microns (allowing for tunable interconnect pitch and via diameters) while the use of constant current electoplating gives uniform bump height over large areas (>1 cm2).
Fiber-optic sensors for sensing electrical current are attractive due to their inherent immunity to electromagnetic interference. Several groups have shown the use of Faraday rotation in magneto-optical materials as a function of current-induced magnetic field. In this work, fiber-optic sensors based on different mechanisms such as magnetic-fielddependent polarization coherence and power scattering effects in magneto-optical materials are demonstrated. These novel sensor configurations can have advantages in that they exhibit power-independent or polarization-independent operation which can ultimately lead to fewer components and relaxed light source requirements compared to fiber-optic current sensor systems based on Faraday rotation.
We have developed a system to measure the directional thermal emission from a surface, and in turn, calculate its emissivity. This approach avoids inaccuracies sometimes encountered with the traditional method for calculating emissivity, which relies upon subtracting the measured total reflectivity and total transmissivity from unity. Typical total reflectivity measurements suffer from an inability to detect backscattered light, and may not be accurate for high angles of incidence. Our design allows us to vary the measurement angle (θ) from near-normal to ∼80°, and can accommodate samples as small as 7 mm on a side by controlling the sample interrogation area. The sample mount is open-backed to eliminate shine-through, can be heated up to 200°C, and is kept under vacuum to avoid oxidizing the sample. A cold shield reduces the background noise and stray signals reflected off the sample. We describe the strengths, weaknesses, trade-offs, and limitations of our system design, data analysis methods, the measurement process, and present the results of our validation of this Variable-Angle Directional Emissometer.
Rare-earth-doped fibers, such as Er3+- and Yb3+-doped aluminosilicates can be advantageous in space-based systems due to their stability, their high-bandwidth transmission properties and their lightweight, small-volume properties. In such environments the effect of ionizing-radiation on the optical transmission of these fibers is of paramount importance. For the present work, gamma-radiation experiments were conducted in which un-pumped Yb3+ and Er3+ doped sample fibers were irradiated with a Cobalt-60 source under different dose-rate and temperature conditions. In-situ spectral transmittance data over the near IR was monitored during the irradiations for total doses of up to tens of krad (Si). It was found that there was a dose-rate dependence in which higher rates resulted in more photodarkening. Higher temperatures were not found to significantly affect the rate of photodarkening at the dose rates used.
Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Malone, Robert M.; Dolan, Daniel H.; Hacking, Richard G.; McKenna, Ian J.
A gated spectrometer has been designed for real-time, pulsed infrared (IR) studies at the National Synchrotron Light Source at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. A pair of 90-degree, off-axis parabolic mirrors are used to relay the light from an entrance slit to an output IR recording camera. With an initial wavelength range of 1500-4500 nm required, gratings could not be used in the spectrometer because grating orders would overlap. A magnesium oxide prism, placed between these parabolic mirrors, serves as the dispersion element. The spectrometer is doubly telecentric. With proper choice of the air spacing between the prism and the second parabolic mirror, any spectral region of interest within the InSb camera array's sensitivity region can be recorded. The wavelengths leaving the second parabolic mirror are collimated, thereby relaxing the camera positioning tolerance. To set up the instrument, two different wavelength (visible) lasers are introduced at the entrance slit and made collinear with the optical axis via flip mirrors. After dispersion by the prism, these two laser beams are directed to tick marks located on the outside housing of the gated IR camera. This provides first-order wavelength calibration for the instrument. Light that is reflected off the front prism face is coupled into a high-speed detector to verify steady radiance during the gated spectral imaging. Alignment features include tick marks on the prism and parabolic mirrors. This instrument was designed to complement singlepoint pyrometry, which provides continuous time histories of a small collection of spots from shock-heated targets.
The performance of a series connected photovoltaic array is limited by the photocell that is illuminated the least. This paper quantifies the effects of single-mode and multi-mode illumination and discusses the design parameters.
For AES-256, the entire key schedule, including the original secret key, can be recovered easily from a 32 consecutive byte portion of the key schedule.
A series of modal tests were performed to validate a finite-element model of a complex aerospace structure. Data were measured using various excitation methods to extract clean modes and damping values for a lightly damped system. Model validation was performed for one subassembly as well as for the full assembly to pinpoint the areas of the model that required updating and to better ascertain the quality of the joint models connecting the various components and subassemblies. After model updates were completed using the measured modal data, the model was validated using frequency response functions (FRFs) as the independent validation metric. Test and model FRFs were compared to determine the validity of the finite-element model.
Lead loss during processing of solution-derived Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT)-based thin-films can result in the formation of a Pb-deficient, nonferroelectric fluorite phase that is detrimental to dielectric properties. It has recently been shown that this nonferroelectric fluorite phase can be converted to the desired perovskite phase by postcrystallization treatment. Here, quantitative standard-based energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS) in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) is used to study cation distribution before and after this fluorite-to-perovskite transformation. Single-phase perovskite PbZr0.53 Ti0.47O3 (PZT 53 /47) and Pb0.88 La0.12 Zr0.68 Ti0.29O3 (PLZT 12/70/30) specimens that underwent this treatment were found to be chemically indistinguishable from the perovskite present in the multiphase specimens prior to the fluorite-to-perovskite transformation. Significant Zr-Ti segregation is found in PLZT 12/70/30, but not in PZT 53/47. Slight La-segregation was seen in rapidly crystallized PLZT, but not in more slowly crystallized PLZT.
The Doppler electron velocimeter (DEV) has been shown to be theoretically possible. This report attempts to answer the next logical question: Is it a practical instrument? The answer hinges upon whether enough electrons are available to create a time-varying Doppler current to be measured by a detector with enough sensitivity and bandwidth. The answer to both of these questions is a qualified yes. A target Doppler frequency of 1 MHz was set as a minimum rate of interest. At this target a theoretical beam current signal-to-noise ratio of 25-to-1 is shown for existing electron holography equipment. A detector is also demonstrated with a bandwidth of 1-MHz at a current of 10 pA. Additionally, a Linnik-type interferometer that would increase the available beam current is shown that would offer a more flexible arrangement for Doppler electron measurements over the traditional biprism.
The Arctic region is rapidly changing in a way that will affect the rest of the world. Parts of Alaska, western Canada, and Siberia are currently warming at twice the global rate. This warming trend is accelerating permafrost deterioration, coastal erosion, snow and ice loss, and other changes that are a direct consequence of climate change. Climatologists have long understood that changes in the Arctic would be faster and more intense than elsewhere on the planet, but the degree and speed of the changes were underestimated compared to recent observations. Policy makers have not yet had time to examine the latest evidence or appreciate the nature of the consequences. Thus, the abruptness and severity of an unfolding Arctic climate crisis has not been incorporated into long-range planning. The purpose of this report is to briefly review the physical basis for global climate change and Arctic amplification, summarize the ongoing observations, discuss the potential consequences, explain the need for an objective risk assessment, develop scenarios for future change, review existing modeling capabilities and the need for better regional models, and finally to make recommendations for Sandia's future role in preparing our leaders to deal with impacts of Arctic climate change on national security. Accurate and credible regional-scale climate models are still several years in the future, and those models are essential for estimating climate impacts around the globe. This study demonstrates how a scenario-based method may be used to give insights into climate impacts on a regional scale and possible mitigation. Because of our experience in the Arctic and widespread recognition of the Arctic's importance in the Earth climate system we chose the Arctic as a test case for an assessment of climate impacts on national security. Sandia can make a swift and significant contribution by applying modeling and simulation tools with internal collaborations as well as with outside organizations. Because changes in the Arctic environment are happening so rapidly, a successful program will be one that can adapt very quickly to new information as it becomes available, and can provide decision makers with projections on the 1-5 year time scale over which the most disruptive, high-consequence changes are likely to occur. The greatest short-term impact would be to initiate exploratory simulations to discover new emergent and robust phenomena associated with one or more of the following changing systems: Arctic hydrological cycle, sea ice extent, ocean and atmospheric circulation, permafrost deterioration, carbon mobilization, Greenland ice sheet stability, and coastal erosion. Sandia can also contribute to new technology solutions for improved observations in the Arctic, which is currently a data-sparse region. Sensitivity analyses have the potential to identify thresholds which would enable the collaborative development of 'early warning' sensor systems to seek predicted phenomena that might be precursory to major, high-consequence changes. Much of this work will require improved regional climate models and advanced computing capabilities. Socio-economic modeling tools can help define human and national security consequences. Formal uncertainty quantification must be an integral part of any results that emerge from this work.
ElectroNeedles technology was developed as part of an earlier Grand Challenge effort on Bio-Micro Fuel Cell project. During this earlier work, the fabrication of the ElectroNeedles was accomplished along with proof-of-concept work on several electrochemically active analytes such as glucose, quinone and ferricyanide. Additionally, earlier work demonstrated technology potential in the field of immunosensors by specifically detecting Troponin, a cardiac biomarker. The current work focused upon fabrication process reproducibility of the ElectroNeedles and then using the devices to sensitively detect p-cresol, a biomarker for kidney failure or nephrotoxicity. Valuable lessons were learned regarding fabrication assurance and quality. The detection of p-cresol was accomplished by electrochemistry as well as using fluorescence to benchmark ElectroNeedles performance. Results from these studies will serve as a guide for the future fabrication processes involving ElectroNeedles as well as provide the groundwork necessary to expand technology applications. One paper has been accepted for publication acknowledging LDRD funding (K. E. Achyuthan et al, Comb. Chem. & HTS, 2008). We are exploring the scope for a second paper describing the applications potential of this technology.
This report summarizes design and modeling activities for the MEMS passive shock sensor. It provides a description of past design revisions, including the purposes and major differences between design revisions but with a focus on Revisions 4 through 7 and the work performed in fiscal year 2008 (FY08). This report is a reference for comparing different designs; it summarizes design parameters and analysis results, and identifies test structures. It also highlights some of the changes and or additions to models previously documented [Mitchell et al. 2006, Mitchell et al. 2008] such as the way uncertainty thresholds are analyzed and reported. It also includes dynamic simulation results used to investigate how positioning of hard stops may reduce vibration sensitivity.
In this project, we have developed a novel platform for capturing, transport, and separating target analytes using the work harnessed from biomolecular transport systems. Nanoharvesters were constructed by co-organizing kinesin motor proteins and antibodies on a nanocrystal quantum dot (nQD) scaffold. Attachment of kinesin and antibodies to the nQD was achieved through biotin-streptavidin non-covalent bonds. Assembly of the nanoharvesters was characterized using a modified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that confirmed attachment of both proteins. Nanoharvesters selective against tumor necrosis factor-{alpha} (TNF-{alpha}) and nuclear transcription factor-{kappa}B (NF-{kappa}B) were capable of detecting target antigens at <100 ng/mL in ELISAs. A motility-based assay was subsequently developed using an antibody-sandwich approach in which the target antigen (TNF-{alpha}) formed a sandwich with the red-emitting nanoharvester and green-emitting detection nQD. In this format, successful sandwich formation resulted in a yellow emission associated with surface-bound microtubules. Step-wise analysis of sandwich formation suggested that the motility function of the kinesin motors was not adversely affected by either antigen capture or the subsequent binding of the detection nQDs. TNF-{alpha} was detected as low as {approx}1.5 ng/mL TNF-{alpha}, with 5.2% of the nanoharvesters successfully capturing the target analyte and detection nQDs. Overall, these results demonstrate the ability to capture target protein analytes in vitro using the kinesin-based nanoharvesters in nanofluidic environments. This system has direct relevance for lab-on-a-chip applications where pressure-driven or electrokinetic movement of fluids is impractical, and offers potential application for in vivo capture of rare proteins within the cytoplasmic domain of live cells.
The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is an ambitious National Science Foundation sponsored project intended to accumulate and disseminate ecologically informative sensor data from sites among 20 distinct biomes found within the United States and Puerto Rico over a period of at least 30 years. These data are expected to provide valuable insights into the ecological impacts of climate change, land-use change, and invasive species in these various biomes, and thereby provide a scientific foundation for the decisions of future national, regional, and local policy makers. NEON's objectives are of substantial national and international importance, yet they must be achieved with limited resources. Sandia National Laboratories was therefore contracted to examine four areas of significant systems engineering concern; specifically, alternatives to commercial electrical utility power for remote operations, approaches to data acquisition and local data handling, protocols for secure long-distance data transmission, and processes and procedures for the introduction of new instruments and continuous improvement of the sensor network. The results of these preliminary systems engineering evaluations are presented, with a series of recommendations intended to optimize the efficiency and probability of long-term success for the NEON enterprise.
We designed, fabricated and measured the performance of nanoelectromechanical (NEMS) switches. Initial data are reported with one of the switch designs having a measured switching time of 400 ns and an operating voltage of 5 V. The switches operated laterally with unmeasurable leakage current in the 'off' state. Surface micromachining techniques were used to fabricate the switches. All processing was CMOS compatible. A single metal layer, defined by a single mask step, was used as the mechanical switch layer. The details of the modeling, fabrication and testing of the NEMS switches are reported.
Some thermocouple experiments were carried out in order to obtain sensitivity of thermocouple readings to fluctuations in flames and to determine if the average thermocouple reading was representative of the local volume temperature for fluctuating flames. The thermocouples considered were an exposed junction thermocouple and a fully sheathed thermocouple with comparable time constants. Either the voltage signal or indicated temperature for each test was recorded at sampling rates between 300-4,096 Hz. The trace was then plotted with respect to time or sample number so that time variation in voltage or temperature could be visualized and the average indicated temperature could be determined. For experiments where high sampling rates were used, the signal was analyzed using Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) to determine the frequencies present in the thermocouple signal. This provided a basic observable as to whether or not the probe was able to follow flame oscillations. To enhance oscillations, for some experiments, the flame was forced. An analysis based on thermocouple time constant, coupled with the transfer function for a sinusoidal input was tested against the experimental results.
The micro- to nano-sized nature of layered materials, particularly characteristic of naturally occurring clay minerals, limits our ability to fully interrogate their atomic dispositions and crystal structures. The low symmetry, multicomponent compositions, defects, and disorder phenomena of clays and related phases necessitate the use of molecular models and modern simulation methods. Computational chemistry tools based on classical force fields and quantum-chemical methods of electronic structure calculations provide a practical approach to evaluate structure and dynamics of the materials on an atomic scale. Combined with classical energy minimization, molecular dynamics, and Monte Carlo techniques, quantum methods provide accurate models of layered materials such as clay minerals, layered double hydroxides, and clay-polymer nanocomposites.
This document is a safety analysis of a novel neutron detection technology developed by Sandia National Laboratories. This technology is comprised of devices with tiny channels containing high pressure {sup 3}He. These devices are further integrated into large scale neutron sensors. Modeling and preliminary device testing indicates that the time required to detect the presence of special nuclear materials may be reduced under optimal conditions by several orders of magnitude using this approach. Also, these devices make efficient use of our {sup 3}He supply by making individual devices more efficient and/or extending the our limited {sup 3}He supply. The safety of these high pressure devices has been a primary concern. We address these safety concerns for a flat panel configuration intended for thermal neutron detection. Ballistic impact tests using 3 g projectiles were performed on devices made from FR4, Silicon, and Parmax materials. In addition to impact testing, operational limits were determined by pressurizing the devices either to failure or until they unacceptably leaked. We found that (1) sympathetic or parasitic failure does not occur in pressurized FR4 devices (2) the Si devices exhibited benign brittle failure (sympathetic failure under pressure was not tested) and (3) the Parmax devices failed unacceptably. FR4 devices were filled to pressures up to 4000 + 100 psig, and the impacts were captured using a high speed camera. The brittle Si devices shattered, but were completely contained when wrapped in thin tape, while the ductile FR4 devices deformed only. Even at 4000 psi the energy density of the compressed gas appears to be insignificant compared to the impact caused by the incoming projectile. In conclusion, the current FR4 device design pressurized up to 4000 psi does not show evidence of sympathetic failure, and these devices are intrinsically safe.
Strengthening the crystal lattice of lanthanide halides, which are brittle, anisotropic, ionic crystals, may prove to increase the availability and ruggedness of these scintillators for room-temperature gamma-ray spectroscopy applications. Eight aliovalent dopants for CeBr{sub 3} were explored in an effort to find the optimal aliovalent strengthening agent. Eight dopants, CaBr{sub 2}, SrBr{sub 2}, BaBr{sub 2}, ZrBr{sub 4}, HfBr{sub 4}, ZnBr{sub 2}, CdBr[sub 2}, and PbBr{sub 2}, were explored at two levels of doping, 500 and 1000 ppm. From each ingot, samples were harvested for radioluminescence spectrum measurement and scintillation testing. Of the eight dopants explored, only BaBr{sub 2} and PbBr{sub 2} were found to clearly decrease total light yield. ZnBr{sub 2} and CdBr{sub 2} dopants both affected the radioluminescence emission spectrum very little as compared to undoped CeBr{sub 3}. HfBr{sub 2}- and ZnBr{sub 4}-doped CeBr{sub 3} exhibited the highest light yields.
Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering
This paper is a sequel on the topic of localized Lagrange multipliers (LLM) for applications of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) between finite-element models of an acoustic fluid and an elastic structure. The prequel paper formulated the spatial-discretization methods, the LLM interface treatment, the time-marching partitioned analysis procedures, and the application to 1D benchmark problems. Here, we expand on formulation aspects required for successful application to more realistic 2D and 3D problems. Additional topics include duality relations at the fluid-structure interface, partitioned vibration analysis, reduced-order modeling, handling of curved interface surfaces, and comparison of LLM with other coupling methods. Emphasis is given to non-matching fluid-structure meshes. We present benchmark examples that illustrate the benefits and drawbacks of competing interface treatments. Realistic application problems involving the seismic response of two existing dams are considered. These include 2D modal analyses of the Koyna gravity dam, transient-response analyses of that dam with and without reduced-order modeling, incorporation of nonlinear cavitation effects, and the 3D transient-response analysis of the Morrow Point arch dam.
Proposed for publication in Polymer Degradation and Stability.
Long-term (up to 1000 days) accelerated oven-aging studies on a commercial fluorosilicone o-ring seal are used to predict the sealing lifetime at room temperature (23 C). The study follows force decay (relaxation) on squeezed o-ring material using isothermal compression stress relaxation (CSR) techniques. The relaxation is normally a complex mix of reversible physical effects and non-reversible chemical effects but we utilize an over-strain approach to quickly achieve physical equilibrium. This allows us to concentrate the measurements on the chemical relaxation effects of primary interest to lifetime assessment. The long-term studies allow us to access a fairly broad temperature range (80-138 C) which results in improved modeling of the temperature dependence of the accelerated data. Non-Arrhenius behavior is observed with evidence of a significant lowering of the activation energy at the lowest accelerated aging temperature (80 C). This observation is consistent with numerous recent accelerated aging studies that probed temperature ranges large enough to observe similar non-Arrhenius behavior. The extrapolated predictions imply that significant loss of sealing force requires on the order of 50-100 years at 23 C. Field aging results out to 25 years at 23 C are shown to be in reasonable accord with the significant change in Arrhenius slope observed from the accelerated aging study.
We demonstrate that a wide variety of current-pulse shapes can be generated using a linear-transformer-driver (LTD) module that drives an internal water-insulated transmission line. The shapes are produced by varying the timing and initial charge voltage of each of the module's cavities. The LTD-driven accelerator architecture outlined in [Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 10, 030401 (2007)] provides additional pulse-shaping flexibility by allowing the modules that drive the accelerator to be triggered at different times. The module output pulses would be combined and symmetrized by water-insulated radial-transmission-line impedance transformers [Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 11, 030401 (2008)].
This report documents a study of sample counting results for wipes from routine surface area monitoring conducted at the Responsive Neutron Generator Product Deployment Center (RNGPDC) at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The study was initiated in November 2006, with two samples suspected of containing erbium tritide, after some samples were found to exhibit higher tritium counting rates upon recount at a later time. The main goal of the study was to determine whether the current practice of analyzing tritium wipe samples once, within a few days of sample collection, is adequate to accurately quantify the amount of tritium on the sample when tritides may be present. Recommendations are made toward routine recounting of vials suspected of containing particulate forms of tritium.
Fundamentals of ion transport in nanopores were studied through a joint experimental and computational effort. The study evaluated both nanoporous polymer membranes and track-etched nanoporous polycarbonate membranes. The track-etched membranes provide a geometrically well characterized platform, while the polymer membranes are more closely related to ion exchange systems currently deployed in RO and ED applications. The experimental effort explored transport properties of the different membrane materials. Poly(aniline) membranes showed that flux could be controlled by templating with molecules of defined size. Track-etched polycarbonate membranes were modified using oxygen plasma treatments, UV-ozone exposure, and UV-ozone with thermal grafting, providing an avenue to functionalized membranes, increased wettability, and improved surface characteristic lifetimes. The modeling effort resulted in a novel multiphysics multiscale simulation model for field-driven transport in nanopores. This model was applied to a parametric study of the effects of pore charge and field strength on ion transport and charge exclusion in a nanopore representative of a track-etched polycarbonate membrane. The goal of this research was to uncover the factors that control the flux of ions through a nanoporous material and to develop tools and capabilities for further studies. Continuation studies will build toward more specific applications, such as polymers with attached sulfonate groups, and complex modeling methods and geometries.