Publications

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Identifying small groups of lines, whose removal would cause a severe blackout, is critical for the secure operation of the electric power grid. We show how power grid vulnerability analysis can be studied as a mixed integer nonlinear programming (minlp) problem. Our analysis reveals a special structure in the formulation that can be exploited to avoid nonlinearity and approximate the original problem as a pure combinatorial problem. The key new observation behind our analysis is the correspondence between the Jacobian matrix (a representation of the feasibility boundary of the equations that describe the flow of power in the network) and the Laplacian matrix in spectral graph theory (a representation of the graph of the power grid). The reduced combinatorial problem is known as the network inhibition problem, for which we present a mixed integer linear programming formulation. Our experiments on benchmark power grids show that the reduced combinatorial model provides an accurate approximation, to enable vulnerability analyses of real-sized problems with more than 10,000 power lines.

We design and implement a multipixel spatial modulator for terahertz beams using active terahertz metamaterials. Our first-generation device consists of a 4 x 4 pixel array, where each pixel is an array of subwavelength-sized split-ring resonator elements fabricated on a semiconductor substrate, and is independently controlled by applying an external voltage. Through terahertz transmission experiments, we show that the spatial modulator has a uniform modulation depth of around 40% across all pixels, and negligible crosstalk, at the resonant frequency. This device can operate under small voltage levels, at room temperature, with low power consumption and reasonably high switching speed.

A need exists for developing codes and standards to support the wide-spread delivery of liquid hydrogen bulk fuel and fueling station storage. To develop these codes and standards the consequences of planned and unplanned hydrogen releases must be understood. The systems under consideration are mainly those used in supplying hydrogen for transportation. These systems include production storage tanks, tanker trucks and tanks located at vehicle fueling stations. Typically these systems store hydrogen in the saturated state at approximately 11 atmospheres. Storage vessels are heavily insulated and sometimes actively cooled to minimize the rate of hydrogen boil-off (intended hydrogen release).

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We conducted a series of modified Hopkinson pressure bar (HPB) experiments to evaluate a new, damped, high-shock accelerometer that has recently been developed by PCB Piezotronics Inc. Pulse shapers were used to create a long duration, non-dispersive stress pulse in an aluminum bar that interacted with a tungsten disk at the end of the incident bar. We measured stress at the aluminum bar-disk interface with a quartz gage and measured acceleration at the free-end of the disk with an Endevco brand 7270A and the new PCB 3991 accelerometers. The rise-time of the incident stress pulse in the aluminum bar was long enough and the disk length short enough so that the response of the disk can be approximated closely as rigid-body motion; an experimentally verified analytical model has been shown previously to support this assumption. Since the cross-sectional area and mass of the disk were known, we calculated acceleration of the rigid-disk from the quartz-gage force measurement and Newton's Second Law of Motion. Comparisons of accelerations calculated from the quartz-gage data and measured acceleration data show excellent agreement for acceleration pulses with the PCB accelerometer for peak amplitudes between 4,000 and 40,000 Gs , rise times as short as 40 microsec, and pulse durations between 150 and 320 microsec.

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Pure, amine-derivatized and nickel-doped sol-gel silica membranes have been developed on tubular Membralox-type commercial ceramic supports for the purpose of carbon dioxide separation from nitrogen under coal-fired power plant flue gas conditions. An extensive synthetic and permeation test study was carried out in order to optimize membrane CO{sub 2} permeance, CO{sub 2}:N{sub 2} separation factor and resistance against densification. Pure silica membranes prepared under optimized conditions exhibited an attractive combination of CO{sub 2} permeance of 2.0 MPU (1 MPU = 1 cm{sup 3}(STP) {center_dot} cm{sup -2} min{sup -1} atm{sup -1}) and CO{sub 2}:N{sub 2} separation factor of 80 with a dry 10:90 (v/v) CO{sub 2}:N{sub 2} feed at 25 C. However, these membranes exhibited flux decline phenomena under prolonged exposure to humidified feeds, especially in the presence of trace SO{sub 2} gas in the feed. Doping the membranes with nickel (II) nitrate salt was effective in retarding densification, as manifested by combined higher permeance and higher separation factor of the doped membrane compared to the pure (undoped) silica membrane after 168 hours exposure to simulated flue gas conditions.

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The paper describes the preliminary evaluation of a 6 degree of freedom electrodynamic shaker system. The 8 by 8 inch (20.3 cm) table is driven by 12 electrodynamic shakers producing motion in all 6 rigid body modes. A small electrodynamic shaker system suitable for small component testing is described. The principal purpose of the system is to demonstrate the technology. The shaker is driven by 12 electrodynamic shakers each with a force capability of about 50 lbs (220 N). The system was developed through an informal cooperative agreement between Sandia National Laboratories, Team Corp. and Spectral Dynamics Corporation. Sandia provided the laboratory space and some development funds. Team provided the mechanical system, and Spectral Dynamics provided the control system. Spectral Dynamics was chosen to provide the control system partly because of their experience in MIMO control and partly because Sandia already had part of the system in house. The shaker system was conceived and manufactured by TEAM Corp. Figure 1 shows the overall system. The vibration table, electrodynamic shakers, hydraulic pumps, and amplifiers are all housed in a single cabinet. Figure 2 is a drawing showing how the electrodynamic shakers are coupled to the table. The shakers are coupled to the table through a hydraulic spherical pad bearing providing 5 degrees of freedom and one stiff degree of freedom. The pad bearing must be preloaded with a static force as they are unable to provide any tension forces. The horizontal bearings are preloaded with steel springs. The drawing shows a spring providing the vertical preload. This was changed in the final design. The vertical preload is provided by multiple strands of an O-ring material as shown in Figure 4. Four shakers provide excitation in each of the three orthogonal axes. The specifications of the shaker are outlined in Table 1. Four shakers provide inputs in each of the three orthogonal directions. By choosing the phase relationships between the shakers all six rigid body modes (three translation, and three rotations) can be excited. The system is over determined. There are more shakers than degrees of freedom. This provided an interesting control problem. The problem was approached using the input-output transformation matrices provided in the Spectral control system. Twelve accelerometers were selected for the control accelerometers (a tri-axial accelerometer at each corner of the table (see Figure 5). Figure 6 shows the nomenclature used to identify the shakers and control accelerometers. A fifth tri-axial accelerometer was placed at the center of the table, but it was not used for control. Thus we had 12 control accelerometers and 12 shakers to control a 6-dof shaker. The 12 control channels were reduced to a 6-dof control using a simple input transformation matrix. The control was defined by a 6x6 spectral density matrix. The six outputs in the control variable coordinates were transformed to twelve physical drive signals using another simple output transformation matrix. It was assumed that the accelerometers and shakers were well matched such that the transformation matrices were independent of frequency and could be deduced from rigid body considerations. The input/output transformations are shown in Equations 1 and 2.

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From 2002 through 2006, the Ground Based Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Research & Engineering (GNEMRE) program at Sandia National Laboratories defined and modified a process for merging different types of integrated research products (IRPs) from various researchers into a cohesive, well-organized collection know as the NNSA Knowledge Base, to support operational treaty monitoring. This process includes defining the KB structure, systematically and logically aggregating IRPs into a complete set, and verifying and validating that the integrated Knowledge Base works as expected.

Among the background signals commonly seen by Earth-monitoring satellites is the specular reflection of sunlight off of Earth's surface, commonly referred to as a glint. This phenomenon, involving liquid or ice surfaces, can result in the brief, intense illumination of satellite sensors appearing from the satellite perspective to be of terrestrial origin. These glints are important background signals to be able to identify with confidence, particularly in the context of analyzing data from satellites monitoring for transient surface or atmospheric events. Here we describe methods for identifying glints based on the physical processes involved in their production, including spectral fitting and polarization measurements. We then describe a tool that, using the WGS84 spheroidal Earth model, finds the latitude and longitude on Earth where a reflection of this type could be produced, given input Sun and satellite coordinates. This tool enables the user to determine if the surface at the solution latitude and longitude is in fact reflective, thus identifying the sensor response as a true glint or an event requiring further analysis.

Angular orientation errors of the real antenna for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) will manifest as undesired illumination gradients in SAR images. These gradients can be measured, and the pointing error can be calculated. This can be done for single images, but done more robustly using multi-image methods. Several methods are provided in this report. The pointing error can then be fed back to the navigation Kalman filter to correct for problematic heading (yaw) error drift. This can mitigate the need for uncomfortable and undesired IMU alignment maneuvers such as S-turns.

The behavior of a shocked tungsten carbide / epoxy mixture as it expands into a vacuum has been studied through a combination of experiments and simulations. X-ray radiography of the expanding material as well as the velocity measured for a stood-off witness late are used to understand the physics of the problem. The initial shock causes vaporization of the epoxy matrix, leading to a multi-phase flow situation as the epoxy expands rapidly at around 8 km/s followed by the WC particles moving around 3 km/s. There are also small amounts of WC moving at higher velocities, apparently due to jetting in the sample. These experiments provide important data about the multi-phase flow characteristics of this material.

The development of a set of safety codes and standards for hydrogen facilities is necessary to ensure they are designed and operated safely. To help ensure that a hydrogen facility meets an acceptable level of risk, code and standard development organizations are tilizing risk-informed concepts in developing hydrogen codes and standards.

The security of the widely-used cryptographic hash function SHA1 has been impugned. We have developed two replacement hash functions. The first, SHA1X, is a drop-in replacement for SHA1. The second, SANDstorm, has been submitted as a candidate to the NIST-sponsored SHA3 Hash Function competition.

Various sources of risk exist for all civil structures, one of which is seismic risk. As structures change in scale, the magnitude of seismic risk changes relative to risk from other sources. This paper presents an introduction to seismic hazard as applied to wind turbine structures. The existing design methods and research regarding seismic risk for wind turbines is then summarized. Finally a preliminary assessment is made based on current guidelines to understand how tower moment demand scales as rated power increases. Potential areas of uncertainty in the application of the current guidelines are summarized.

Algorithmic properties of the midpoint predictor-corrector time integration algorithm are examined. In the case of a finite number of iterations, the errors in angular momentum conservation and incremental objectivity are controlled by the number of iterations performed. Exact angular momentum conservation and exact incremental objectivity are achieved in the limit of an infinite number of iterations. A complete stability and dispersion analysis of the linearized algorithm is detailed. The main observation is that stability depends critically on the number of iterations performed.

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) maintains a neutron calibration facility which supports the calibration, maintenance, and repair of Radiation Protection Instruments. The SNL neutron reference fields are calibrated using the following methodology: Fluence rate is initially established by calculation using the NIST traceable source emission rate (decay corrected). Correction factors for the effects of room return or scatter, and source anisotropy are then developed by using a suitable radiation transport code to model the geometry of the facility. The conventionally true neutron dose rates are then determined using the appropriate fluence-todose equivalent conversion coefficients at several reference positions. This report describes the impact on calculated neutron dose rates of switching from NCRP-38 to CRP-74 neutron flux-todose equivalent rate conversion factors. This switch is driven by recent changes to dosimetry requirements addressed in 10 CFR 835 (Occupational Radiation Protection).

This report documents the status of the Sandia National Laboratories' Wind Plant Reliability Database. Included in this report are updates on the form and contents of the Database, which stems from a fivestep process of data partnerships, data definition and transfer, data formatting and normalization, analysis, and reporting. Selected observations are also reported.

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A sensitivity study was performed utilizing a three dimensional finite element model to assess allowable cavern field sizes for strategic petroleum reserve salt domes. A potential exists for tensile fracturing and dilatancy damage to salt that can compromise the integrity of a cavern field in situations where high extraction ratios exist. The effects of salt creep rate, depth of salt dome top, dome size, caprock thickness, elastic moduli of caprock and surrounding rock, lateral stress ratio of surrounding rock, cavern size, depth of cavern, and number of caverns are examined numerically. As a result, a correlation table between the parameters and the impact on the performance of storage field was established. In general, slower salt creep rates, deeper depth of salt dome top, larger elastic moduli of caprock and surrounding rock, and a smaller radius of cavern are better for structural performance of the salt dome.

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Planning is an important part of computational model verification and validation (V&V) and the requisite planning document is vital for effectively executing the plan. The document provides a means of communicating intent to the typically large group of people, from program management to analysts to test engineers, who must work together to complete the validation activities. This report provides guidelines for writing a validation plan. It describes the components of such a plan and includes important references and resources. While the initial target audience is the DART Full System Model teams in the nuclear weapons program, the guidelines are generally applicable to other modeling efforts. Our goal in writing this document is to provide a framework for consistency in validation plans across weapon systems, different types of models, and different scenarios. Specific details contained in any given validation plan will vary according to application requirements and available resources.

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Tensions between the energy and water sectors occur when demand for electric power is high and water supply levels are low. There are several regions of the country, such as the western and southwestern states, where the confluence of energy and water is always strained due to population growth. However, for much of the country, this tension occurs at particular times of year (e.g., summer) or when a region is suffering from drought conditions. This report discusses prior work on the interdependencies between energy and water. It identifies the types of power plants that are most likely to be susceptible to water shortages, the regions of the country where this is most likely to occur, and policy options that can be applied in both the energy and water sectors to address the issue. The policy options are designed to be applied in the near term, applicable to all areas of the country, and to ease the tension between the energy and water sectors by addressing peak power demand or decreased water supply.

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The basis of this work is a paraphrase of a well-known aphorism regarding system models that is extended to the object being modeled, begging your indulgence: “Essentially, all systems are broken, but some do useful work.” (Box, 1987).

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Over the past several years, verifying and validating complex codes at Sandia National Laboratories has become a major part of code development. These aspects tackle two important parts of simulation modeling: determining if the models have been correctly implemented - verification, and determining if the correct models have been selected - validation. In this talk, we will focus on verification and discuss the basics of code verification and its application to a few codes and problems at Sandia.

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This report supplements audit 2008-E-0009, conducted by the ES&H, Quality, Safeguards & Security Audits Department, 12870, during fall and winter of FY 2008. The study evaluates slips, trips and falls, the leading cause of reportable injuries at Sandia. In 2007, almost half of over 100 of such incidents occurred in parking lots. During the course of the audit, over 5000 observations were collected in 10 parking lots across SNL/NM. Based on benchmarks and trends of pedestrian behavior, the report proposes pedestrian-friendly features and attributes to improve pedestrian safety in parking lots. Less safe pedestrian behavior is associated with older parking lots lacking pedestrian-friendly features and attributes, like those for buildings 823, 887 and 811. Conversely, safer pedestrian behavior is associated with newer parking lots that have designated walkways, intra-lot walkways and sidewalks. Observations also revealed that motorists are in widespread noncompliance with parking lot speed limits and stop signs and markers.

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During the 110th Congress (calendar years 2007 and 2008), Matthew Allen, a Sandian nuclear scientist, served as a Congressional Fellow on the Committee on Homeland Security in the House of Representatives. This report is an informative account of the role staffers play in assisting the members of Congress in their oversight and legislative duties. It is also a personal account of Matthew Allen's experience as a committee staffer in the House of Representatives.

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