By thermally cycling through their transformation temperature range, coarse-grained, polymorphic materials can be deformed superplastically, owing to the emergence of transformation mismatch plasticity (or transformation superplasticity) as a deformation mechanism. This mechanism is investigated under biaxial stress conditions during thermal cycling of unalloyed titanium, Ti-6Al-4V, and their composites (Ti/10 vol.% TiC{sub p}, Ti-6Al-4V/10 vol% TiC{sub p} and Ti-6Al-4V/5 vol.% TiB{sub w}). During gas-pressure dome bulging experiments, the dome height was measured as a function of forming time. Adapting existing models of biaxial doming to the case of transformation superplasticity where the strain-rate sensitivity is unity, we verify the operation of this deformation mechanism in all experimental materials, and compare the biaxial results to uniaxial thermal cycling results on the same materials. Finally, existing thickness distribution models are compared with experimentally measured profiles.

In this paper we will describe the synthesis of several amino- and nitro-substituted heterocycles, examples from a continuing research project targeted at the synthesis of new, insensitive energetic materials that possess at least 80% the power of HMX (28% more power than TATB). Recently we reported the synthesis and scale-up of the insensitive energetic material, 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide (LLM-105). The energy content (81% the power of HMX) and thermal stability of LLM-105 make it a viable candidate material for insensitive boosters and deep oil perforation. We will report on recent synthetic improvements and several performance and safety tests performed on LLM-105, including a 1 in. cylinder shot and plate dent. We will also report on the synthesis and characterization of 4-amino-3,5-dinitropyrazole (LLM-116), an interesting new insensitive energetic material with a measured crystal density of 1.90 g/cc, to our knowledge the highest density yet measured for a five-membered heterocycle containing amino- and nitro-substituents. LLM-116 was synthesized by reacting 3,5-dinitropyrazole with 1,1,1-trimethylhydrazinium iodide (TMHI) in DMSO in the presence of base. The synthesis and characterization of 4-amino-5-nitro-1,2,3-triazole (ANTZ) and 43-dinitro-1,2,3-triazole (DNTZ), first described by Baryshnikov and coworkers, will also be presented along with the synthesis of several new energetic materials derived from ANTZ and …

MSO is a good alternative to incineration for the treatment of a variety of organic wastes including obsolete explosives, low-level mixed waste streams, PCB contaminated oils, spent resins and carbon. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has demonstrated the MSO process for the effective destruction of explosives, explosives-contaminated materials, and other wastes on a 1.5 kg/hr bench-scale unit and in an integrated MSO facility capable of treating 8 kg/hr of low-level radioactive mixed wastes. LLNL, under the direction and support of the Joint Demilitarization Technology (JDT) program, is currently building an integrated MSO plant for destroying explosives, explosives-contaminated sludge and explosives-contaminated activated charcoal. In a parallel effort, LLNL also provides technical support to DOE for the implementation of the MSO technology at industrial scale at Richland, Washington. Over 30 waste streams have been demonstrated with LLNL-built MSO systems. In this paper we will present our latest experimental data, our operational experience with MSO and also discuss its process capabilities.

The thermal explosion of trinitrotoluene (TNT) is used as a basis for evaluating the performance of a new One-Dimensional-Time-to-Explosion (ODTX) apparatus. The ODTX experiment involves holding a 12.7 mm-diameter spherical explosive sample under confinement (150 MPa) at a constant elevated temperature until the confining pressure is exceeded by the evolution of gases during chemical decomposition. The resulting time to explosion as a function of temperature provides valuable decomposition kinetic information. A comparative analysis of the measurements obtained from the new unit and an older system is presented. Discussion on selected performance aspects of the new unit will also be presented. The thermal explosion of TNT is highly dependent on the material. Analysis of the time to explosion is complicated by historical and experimental factors such as material variability, sample preparation, temperature measurement and system errors. Many of these factors will be addressed. Finally, a kinetic model using a coupled thermal and heat transport code (chemical TOPAZ) was used to match the experimental data.

The last decade has seen a renaissance in inorganic scintillator development for gamma ray detection. Lead tungstate (PbWO4) has been developed for high energy physics experiments, and possesses exceptionally high density and radiation hardness, albeit with low luminous efficiency. Lutetium orthosilicate or LSO (Lu2SiO5:Ce) possesses a unique combination of high luminous efficiency, high density, and reasonably short decay time, and is now incorporated in commercial positron emission tomography (PET) cameras. There have been advances in understanding the fundamental mechanisms that limit energy resolution, and several recently discovered materials (such as LaBr3:Ce) possess energy resolution that approaches that of direct solid state detectors. Finally, there are indications that a neglected class of scintillator materials that exhibit near band-edge fluorescence could provide scintillators with sub-nanosecond decay times and high luminescent efficiency.

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We report on the development of antenna-coupled Voltage-biased Superconducting Bolometers (VSBs) which use Transition-edge Sensors (TES). Antenna coupling can greatly simplify the fabrication of large multi-frequency bolometer arrays compared to horn-coupled techniques. This simplification can make it practical to implement 1000+ element arrays that fill the focal plane of mm/sub-mm wave telescopes. We have designed a prototype device with a double-slot dipole antenna, integrated band-defining filters, and a membrane-suspended bolometer. A test chip has been constructed and will be tested shortly.

X-ray sources in the 3-7 keV energy regime can be produced by laser-irradiating mid- and high-Z gas-filled targets with high-powered lasers. A series of experiments have been performed using underdense targets that are supersonically heated with {approx} 35 kJ of 0.35 {micro}m laser light. These targets were cylindrical Be enclosures that were filled with 1-2 atms of Xe or Ar gas. L-shell x-ray emission is emitted from the plasma and detected by Bragg crystal spectrometers and x-ray diodes. Absolute flux measurements show conversion efficiencies of {approx} 10% in the multi-kilovolt x-ray emission. These sources can be used as bright x-ray backlighters or for material testing.

Point defects induced in high quality optical-grade based silica by high power (>30 J/cm{sup 2}) 355 nm laser pulses have been investigated to elucidate the nature of laser damage in transparent optics designed for use at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Six defects have been identified: the NBOHC (non-bridging oxygen hole center), a STE (self-trapped exciton), an ODC (oxygen-deficient center), interstitial oxygen, the E'{sub {gamma}}, and E'{sub 74}. The former four defects were identified and spatially resolved in the damage craters using cathodoluminescence (CL) microanalysis (spectroscopy and microscopy). The latter two defects were identified using ESR spectroscopy at cryogenic temperatures. These defects are unlikely to be a prime factor in damage growth by subsequent laser pulses. Their concentration is too low to effect a high enough temperature rise by a volume absorption mechanism.

In this paper we introduce a new indexing scheme for progressive traversal and visualization of large regular grids. We demonstrate the potential of our approach by providing a tool that displays at interactive rates planar slices of scalar field data with very modest computing resources. We obtain unprecedented results both in terms of absolute performance and, more importantly, in terms of scalability. On a laptop computer we provide real time interaction with a 2048{sup 3} grid (8 Giga-nodes) using only 20MB of memory. On an SGI Onyx we slice interactively an 8192{sup 3} grid (1/2 tera-nodes) using only 60MB of memory. The scheme relies simply on the determination of an appropriate reordering of the rectilinear grid data and a progressive construction of the output slice. The reordering minimizes the amount of I/O performed during the out-of-core computation. The progressive and asynchronous computation of the output provides flexible quality/speed tradeoffs and a time-critical and interruptible user interface.

There has long been interest in the use of oxygenated hydrocarbon additives to conventional fuels. These oxygenates have been shown to reduce soot emissions in diesel engines and CO emissions in spark-ignition engines; and often allow diesel operation with decreased NO{sub x}. The current widely used additive, MTBE is targeted for elimination as a gasoline additive due to its damaging effects on the environment. This creates a need for alternative oxygenated additives; and more importantly, amplifies the importance to fully understand the thermochemical and kinetic properties on these oxyhydrocarbons fuels and for their intermediate and radical breakdown products. We use CBS-Q and density-functional methods with isodesmic reactions (with group balance when possible) to compute thermodynamic quantities for these species. We have studied hydrocarbons with multiple substituted methoxy groups. In several cases, multioxygenated species are evaluated that may have potential use as new oxygenated fuel additives. Thermodynamic quantities (H{sub 298}{sup 0}, S{sub 298}{sup 0}, C{sub p}(T)) as well as group additivity contributions for the new oxygenated groups are reported. We also report trends in bond-energies with increasing methoxy substitution.

We utilize monthly {sup 14}C data derived from coral archives in conjunction with ocean circulation models to address two questions: (1) how does the shallow circulation of the tropical Pacific vary on seasonal to decadal time scales and (2) which dynamic processes determine the mean vertical structure of the equatorial Pacific thermocline. Our results directly impact the understanding of global climate events such as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). To study changes in ocean circulation and water mass distribution involved in the genesis and evolution of ENSO and decadal climate variability, it is necessary to have records of climate variables several decades in length. Continuous instrumental records are limited because technology for continuous monitoring of ocean currents has only recently been available, and ships of opportunity archives such as COADS contain large spatial and temporal biases. In addition, temperature and salinity in surface waters are not conservative and thus can not be independently relied upon to trace water masses, reducing the utility of historical observations. Radiocarbon ({sup 14}C) in sea water is a quasi-conservative water mass tracer and is incorporated into coral skeletal material, thus coral {sup 14}C records can be used to reconstruct changes in shallow circulation that would …

This paper discusses our efforts to improve the performance of the high-accuracy (HIAC) volume rendering system, based on cell projection, which is used to display unstructured, scientific data sets for analysis. The parallelization of HIAC, using the pthreads and MPI API's, resulted in significant speedup, but interactive frame rates are not yet attainable for very large data sets.

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We present two indirect drive inertial fusion targets driven by heavy ions beams for fusion energy production. Because there are uncertainties in the ion beam focal spot size and uncertainties in the accelerator cost, we have tried to design targets that cover a large parameter space. One of the designs requires small ion beam focal spots but produces more than adequate gain at low driver energy (gain 130 from 3.3 MJ of beam energy). The other design allows a large beam spot, but requires more driver energy (gain 55 from 6.7 MJ of beam energy). Target physics issues as well as the implications for the accelerator from each design are discussed.

Damage in a material includes localized softening or cracks in a structural component due to high operational loads, or the presence of flaws in a structure due to various manufacturing processes. Methods that identify the presence, the location and the severity of damage in the structure are useful for non-destructive evaluation procedures that are typically employed in agile manufacturing and rapid prototyping systems. The current state-of-the art techniques for these inverse problems are computationally intensive or ill conditioned when insufficient data exists. Early work by a number of researchers has shown that data mining techniques can provide a potential solution to this problem. In this paper, they investigate the use of data mining techniques for predicting failure in a variety of 2D and 3D structures using artificial neural networks (ANNs) and decision trees. This work shows that if the correct features are chosen to build the model, and the model is trained on an adequate amount of data, the model can then correctly classify the failure event as well as predict location and severity of the damage in these structures.

We describe an application of probabilistic modeling to the problem of recognizing radio galaxies with a bent-double morphology. The type of galaxies in question contain distinctive signatures of geometric shape and flux density that can be used to be build a probabilistic model that is then used to score potential galaxy configurations. The experimental results suggest that even relatively simple probabilistic models can be useful in identifying galaxies of interest in an automatic manner.

We are working on a composite thin-disk laser design that can be scaled as a source of high brightness laser power for tactical engagement and other high average power applications. The key component is a diffusion-bonded composite comprising a thin gain-medium and thicker cladding that is strikingly robust and resolves prior difficulties with high average power pumping/cooling and the rejection of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). In contrast to high power rods or slabs, the one-dimensional nature of the cooling geometry and the edge-pump geometry scale gracefully to very high average power. The crucial design ideas have been verified experimentally. Progress this last year included: extraction with high beam quality using a telescopic resonator, a heterogeneous thin film coating prescription that meets the unusual requirements demanded by this laser architecture, thermal management with our first generation cooler. Progress was also made in design of a second-generation laser.

The explosive TATB is used in the Department of Energy's main charges and boosters, where its extraordinary insensitivity to impact, spark and heat make it highly advantageous. This IHE is also used in booster applications in naval weapons, and is being tested as a main charge fill for hard target penetrator projectiles. (Slides 2-5) In order to meet demand, a continuing supply of TATB will be required. However, no production base exists in the U.S. for TATB production, and processes once used to make TATB are relatively expensive, complicated, and considered environmentally hazardous (Slide 6). The primary objective of this project is to reestablish the industrial base for TATB production, using LLNL's new Vicarious Nucleophilic Substitution (VNS) methodology. A secondary objective is to enable a reduction in the cost of TATB production, thus making this explosive attractive to U.S. Department of Defense and commercial customers. This presentation will update information presented at the 1998 NDIA IM & EM meeting held in San Diego, California.

An artificial neural network (ANN) method is developed for treating the spatial variable of the one-group slab-geometry discrete ordinates (S{sub N}) equations in a homogeneous medium with linearly anisotropic scattering. This ANN method takes advantage of the function approximation capability of multilayer ANNs. The discrete ordinates angular flux is approximated by a multilayer ANN with a single input representing the spatial variable x and N outputs representing the angular flux in each of the discrete ordinates angular directions. A global objective function is formulated which measures how accurately the output of the ANN approximates the solution of the discrete ordinates equations and boundary conditions at specified spatial points. Minimization of this objective function determines the appropriate values for the parameters of the ANN. Numerical results are presented demonstrating the accuracy of the method for both fixed source and incident angular flux problems.

Numerical simulation of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser performance and automated control of laser setup process are crucial to the project's success. These functions will be performed by two closely coupled computer codes: the virtual beamline (VBL) and the laser operations performance model (LPOM).

Numerical analysis software packages which employ a coarse first mesh or an inadequate initial mesh need to undergo a cumbersome and time consuming mesh refinement studies to obtain solutions with acceptable accuracy. Hence, it is critical for numerical methods such as finite element analysis to be able to determine a good initial mesh density for the subsequent finite element computations or as an input to a subsequent adaptive mesh generator. This paper explores the use of data mining techniques for obtaining an initial approximate finite element density that avoids significant trial and error to start finite element computations. As an illustration of proof of concept, a square plate which is simply supported at its edges and is subjected to a concentrated load is employed for the test case. Although simplistic, the present study provides insight into addressing the above considerations.

This article reports the results of observations of V4633 Sgr (Nova Sagittarii 1998) during 1998-2000.

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