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Your search keyword '"Ferry, Sara E."' showing total 12 results
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12 results on '"Ferry, Sara E."'

1. Long-Term Research & Design Strategies for Fusion Energy Materials

Author

Cohen-Tanugi, David, Stapelberg, Myles G., Short, Michael P., Ferry, Sara E., Whyte, Dennis G., Hartwig, Zachary S., and Buonassisi, Tonio

Subjects
Condensed Matter - Materials Science
Abstract

Fusion energy is at an important inflection point in its development: multiple government agencies and private companies are now planning fusion pilot plants to deliver electricity to the grid in the next decade. However, realizing fusion as a technically and economically viable energy source depends on developing and qualifying materials that can withstand the extreme environment inside a fusion power plant. This Perspective seeks to engage the broader materials science community in this long-term effort. We first outline the principal materials challenges and research opportunities for fusion. Next, we argue that fusion is distinct from other energy applications with respect to materials, not just in the magnitude and complexity of the technical challenges but also in the present level of uncertainty in materials design requirements. To address this, we finally propose a research framework based on an iterative co-evolution of materials science and fusion power plant design requirements., Comment: 27 pages, 3 figures

Published
2023

6. The LIBRA Experiment: Investigating Robust Tritium Accountancy in Molten FLiBe Exposed to a D-T Fusion Neutron Spectrum

Author

Ferry, Sara E., Woller, Kevin B., Peterson, Ethan E., Sorensen, Caroline, and Whyte, Dennis G.

Abstract

AbstractThe Liquid Immersion Blanket: Robust Accountancy (LIBRA) experiment will be a first-of-a-kind experiment to explore and develop the liquid immersion blanket (LIB) concept. The LIB is a radically simple molten–LiF-BeF2(FLiBe)–salt tritium breeding blanket for deuterium-tritium (D-T)–fueled fusion power plants (FPPs) achieving a high tritium breeding ratio (TBR) in neutronics models. However, tritium breeding in FLiBe is inherently difficult to study experimentally. As a result, the coupled issues of FLiBe radiochemistry and tritium (T) transport are poorly understood. LIBRA approaches this challenge by simulating an FPP blanket environment using a D-T neutron generator and 1000 kg of FLiBe. LIBRA will investigate T breeding, containment, and extraction, coupled with FLiBe redox control and radiochemistry. The primary goal of LIBRA is to demonstrate robust T accountancy in blanket prototypical conditions. Here, T accountancy encompasses accurate predictions of T breeding in the FLiBe; detection and measurement of all T bred in LIBRA; and speciation of the T extracted from the FLiBe. Initial neutronics simulations of LIBRA indicate that a global TBR of 1 is possible, where the TBR is defined as the number of tritons bred and extracted from FLiBe relative to the number of neutrons produced by D-T fusion reactions in the neutron generator. In this paper, we present the LIBRA concept and its scientific goals in the context of T breeding experiments. We also consider the potential impact of the LIB on the future fusion power industry, motivating further development of FLiBe-based T breeding research activities such as LIBRA.

Published
2023
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8. Applications of Transient Grating Spectroscopy to Radiation Materials Science

Author

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Yang, Yang, Vega-Flick, Alejandro, Short, Michael P, Dennett, Cody Andrew, Ferry, Sara E, Eliason, Jeffrey Kristian, Maznev, Alexei, Nelson, Keith Adam, Mishra, Vikash K., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Yang, Yang, Vega-Flick, Alejandro, Short, Michael P, Dennett, Cody Andrew, Ferry, Sara E, Eliason, Jeffrey Kristian, Maznev, Alexei, Nelson, Keith Adam, and Mishra, Vikash K.

Abstract

The ability to study radiation damage in situ will directly enable the rapid innovation and qualification of materials for nuclear applications by allowing direct observation of the effects of radiation damage accumulation. This is a challenging task, as the measurement technique must be noncontact, nondestructive, rapid, and still allow for online irradiation without interference. Applicable methods of mechanical spectroscopy are surveyed, noting their potential usefulness for characterizing radiation-induced microstructural changes in situ. The transient grating (TG) spectroscopy technique appears most suited for these studies, due to its noncontact, nondestructive nature, its ability to rapidly probe materials to the depth of ion irradiation, and the large number of deconvolvable components extractable from its signal. Work is proposed to separate the individual mechanisms of irradiation damage using in situ and ex situ TG spectroscopy, through a suite of single-effect and integrated experiments., National Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research Fellowship Program (Grant No. 1122374), National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant No. CHE- 1111557)

Published
2017

9. Bridging the gap to mesoscale radiation materials science with transient grating spectroscopy

Author

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Dennett, Cody Andrew, Cao, Penghui, Vega-Flick, Alejandro, Ferry, Sara E, Maznev, Alexei, Nelson, Keith Adam, Short, Michael P, Every, Arthur G., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Dennett, Cody Andrew, Cao, Penghui, Vega-Flick, Alejandro, Ferry, Sara E, Maznev, Alexei, Nelson, Keith Adam, Short, Michael P, and Every, Arthur G.

Abstract

Direct mesoscale measurements of radiation-induced changes in the mechanical properties of bulk materials remain difficult to perform. Most widely used characterization techniques are either macro- or microscale in nature, focusing on overall properties or overly small areas for analysis. Linking the atomic structure of irradiated materials directly with their radiation-affected properties remains one of the largest unmet challenges in radiation materials science. By measuring the change in surface acoustic wave speed as a function of relative orientation on metallic single crystals, we demonstrate that transient grating (TG) spectroscopy experiments have the sensitivity necessary to detect radiation-induced material property changes. We also show that classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can be used to accurately simulate orientation-based changes in surface acoustic wave speed in TG experiments, by comparing with experimental measurements and theoretical predictions. The agreement between theory, simulation, and experiment gives confidence in classical MD as a predictive tool to simulate defect-based changes in elastic properties, which cannot yet be fully treated by theory. This ability is of critical importance for the informed use of TG spectroscopy to measure material property changes induced by radiation damage, which may vary by amounts formerly too small for reliable in situ detection. Finally, our MD simulation framework is used to study the effect of an imposed vacancy population on the acoustic response of several materials. The results of these studies indicate that TG experiments are well suited to the ex situ and in situ study of radiation-induced material property changes., National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1122374), National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CHE-1111557), Transatomic Power (Award 023875-001), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (MIT Nuclear Education Faculty Development Program. Grant NRC-HQ- 84-15-G-0045)

Published
2016

11. Bridging the gap to mesoscale radiation materials science with transient grating spectroscopy

Author

Alejandro Vega-Flick, Arthur G. Every, Keith A. Nelson, Sara E. Ferry, Penghui Cao, Cody A. Dennett, Alexei Maznev, Michael P. Short, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Dennett, Cody Andrew, Cao, Penghui, Vega-Flick, Alejandro, Ferry, Sara E, Maznev, Alexei, Nelson, Keith Adam, and Short, Michael P

Subjects
Materials science, Radiation material science, Bridging (networking), business.industry, Mesoscale meteorology, 02 engineering and technology, Grating, 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology, 01 natural sciences, 0103 physical sciences, Optoelectronics, 010306 general physics, 0210 nano-technology, Spectroscopy, business
Abstract

Direct mesoscale measurements of radiation-induced changes in the mechanical properties of bulk materials remain difficult to perform. Most widely used characterization techniques are either macro- or microscale in nature, focusing on overall properties or overly small areas for analysis. Linking the atomic structure of irradiated materials directly with their radiation-affected properties remains one of the largest unmet challenges in radiation materials science. By measuring the change in surface acoustic wave speed as a function of relative orientation on metallic single crystals, we demonstrate that transient grating (TG) spectroscopy experiments have the sensitivity necessary to detect radiation-induced material property changes. We also show that classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can be used to accurately simulate orientation-based changes in surface acoustic wave speed in TG experiments, by comparing with experimental measurements and theoretical predictions. The agreement between theory, simulation, and experiment gives confidence in classical MD as a predictive tool to simulate defect-based changes in elastic properties, which cannot yet be fully treated by theory. This ability is of critical importance for the informed use of TG spectroscopy to measure material property changes induced by radiation damage, which may vary by amounts formerly too small for reliable in situ detection. Finally, our MD simulation framework is used to study the effect of an imposed vacancy population on the acoustic response of several materials. The results of these studies indicate that TG experiments are well suited to the ex situ and in situ study of radiation-induced material property changes., National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1122374), National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CHE-1111557), Transatomic Power (Award 023875-001), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (MIT Nuclear Education Faculty Development Program. Grant NRC-HQ- 84-15-G-0045)

Published
2016

12. Applications of Transient Grating Spectroscopy to Radiation Materials Science

Author

Jeffrey K. Eliason, Cody A. Dennett, Vikash K. Mishra, Sara E. Ferry, Alejandro Vega-Flick, Michael P. Short, Alexei Maznev, Yang Yang, Keith A. Nelson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Yang, Yang, Vega-Flick, Alejandro, Short, Michael P, Dennett, Cody Andrew, Ferry, Sara E, Eliason, Jeffrey Kristian, Maznev, Alexei, and Nelson, Keith Adam

Subjects
010302 applied physics, Radiation material science, Materials science, business.industry, General Engineering, Analytical chemistry, 02 engineering and technology, Grating, 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology, 01 natural sciences, Signal, Interference (communication), 0103 physical sciences, Radiation damage, Optoelectronics, General Materials Science, Transient (oscillation), Irradiation, 0210 nano-technology, Spectroscopy, business
Abstract

The ability to study radiation damage in situ will directly enable the rapid innovation and qualification of materials for nuclear applications by allowing direct observation of the effects of radiation damage accumulation. This is a challenging task, as the measurement technique must be noncontact, nondestructive, rapid, and still allow for online irradiation without interference. Applicable methods of mechanical spectroscopy are surveyed, noting their potential usefulness for characterizing radiation-induced microstructural changes in situ. The transient grating (TG) spectroscopy technique appears most suited for these studies, due to its noncontact, nondestructive nature, its ability to rapidly probe materials to the depth of ion irradiation, and the large number of deconvolvable components extractable from its signal. Work is proposed to separate the individual mechanisms of irradiation damage using in situ and ex situ TG spectroscopy, through a suite of single-effect and integrated experiments., National Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research Fellowship Program (Grant No. 1122374), National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant No. CHE- 1111557)

Published
2015

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