b'Dr. Amey Rajendra Khanolkar Dr. Tsvetoslav Pavlov Dr. Cody A. DennettRussell L. HeathRussell L. HeathRussell L. Heath Distinguished Postdoctoral Associate Distinguished Postdoctoral Associate Distinguished Postdoctoral AssociateDr. Khanolkar, who holds aA native of Bulgaria who holds aDr. Dennett earned a doctorate in doctorate in mechanicaldoctorate in materials sciencenuclear science and engineering engineering from University offrom Imperial College London, from Massachusetts Institute of Washington, is working toDr. Pavlov is developing advancedTechnology. He is seeking to understand the impact oflaser flash analysis techniquesleverage the new power of in situ microstructure evolution onusing finite element analysis andmaterial property characterization thermal transport in nuclear fuelmultivariate optimization. The toolto explore degradation and materials, which is central tooffers three main improvements:evolution phenomenon. Micro-development of the next- 1. Versatility and cost-effectivenessstructure evolution of materials generation of high-performance(by evaluating three propertiesover the course of operations nuclear materials. Lasers havewith a single fast measurement);remains one of the greatest emerged as promising tools in this2. High-temperature capabilitychallenges in materials science. area because they provide direct(the model is designed to considerDr. Dennett uses an all-optical, access to thermal phenomena ina variety of physical phenomena,nondestructive method known as the sample without creatinge.g., radiation and vaporization); andcoherent surface acoustic phonon additional thermal interfaces thatspectroscopy (CSAPS) for direct could add to the complexity of a3. Flexibility (it can be applied tomaterial property evaluation in measurement. Laser-basedmost conventional laser flashnative environments. The approach methods also offer potential forsetups, such as those found at INL). could lead to better design monitoring of material responsecriteria for rapidly developing under extreme conditions in thematerials being proposed for nuclear core. service under extreme conditions.2019 Annual Report| 14'