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At least 1,567 records · Page 87

Technical Findings, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations Resulting from the Helios Prototype Vehicle Mishap

The Helios Prototype was originally planned to be two separate vehicles, but because of resource limitations only one vehicle was developed to demonstrate two missions. The vehicle consisted of two configurations, one for each mission. One configuration, designated HP01, was designed to operate at extremely high altitudes using batteries and high-efficiency solar cells spread across the upper surface of its 247-foot wingspan. On August 13, 2001, the HP01 configuration reached an altitude of 96,863 feet, a world record for sustained horizontal flight by a winged aircraft. The other configuration, designated HP03, was designed for long-duration flight. The plan was to use the solar cells to power the vehicle's electric motors and subsystems during the day and to use a modified commercial hydrogen-air fuel cell system for use during the night. The aircraft design used wing dihedral, engine power, elevator control surfaces, and a stability augmentation and control system to provide aerodynamic stability and control. At about 30 minutes into the second flight of HP03, the aircraft encountered a disturbance in the way of turbulence and morphed into an unexpected, persistent, high dihedral configuration. As a result of the persistent high dihedral, the aircraft became unstable in a very divergent pitch mode in which the airspeed excursions from the nominal flight speed about doubled every cycle of the oscillation. The aircraft s design airspeed was subsequently exceeded and the resulting high dynamic pressures caused the wing leading edge secondary structure on the outer wing panels to fail and the solar cells and skin on the upper surface of the wing to rip away. As a result, the vehicle lost its ability to maintain lift, fell into the Pacific Ocean within the confines of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility, and was destroyed. This paper describes the mishap and its causes, and presents the technical recommendations and lessons learned for improving the design, analysis, and testing methods and techniques required for this class of vehicle.

Noll, Thomas E.↗

Cognitive Systems Engineering: The Next 30 Years

This presentation is part of panel discussion on Cognitive Systems Engineering. The purpose of this panel is to discuss the challenges and future directions of Cognitive Systems Engineering for the next 30 years. I intended to present the work we have been doing with the Aviation Safety program and Space Human Factors Engineering project on Work Domain Analysis and some areas of Research Focus. Specifically, I intend to focus on the shift on the need to understand and model attention in mixed-initiative systems, the need for methods which can generate results to be used in trade-off decisions, and the need to account for a range of human behavior in the design.

Feary, Michael↗

Impact Testing of Aluminum 2024 and Titanium 6Al-4V for Material Model Development

One of the difficulties with developing and verifying accurate impact models is that parameters such as high strain rate material properties, failure modes, static properties, and impact test measurements are often obtained from a variety of different sources using different materials, with little control over consistency among the different sources. In addition there is often a lack of quantitative measurements in impact tests to which the models can be compared. To alleviate some of these problems, a project is underway to develop a consistent set of material property, impact test data and failure analysis for a variety of aircraft materials that can be used to develop improved impact failure and deformation models. This project is jointly funded by the NASA Glenn Research Center and the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center. Unique features of this set of data are that all material property data and impact test data are obtained using identical material, the test methods and procedures are extensively documented and all of the raw data is available. Four parallel efforts are currently underway: Measurement of material deformation and failure response over a wide range of strain rates and temperatures and failure analysis of material property specimens and impact test articles conducted by The Ohio State University; development of improved numerical modeling techniques for deformation and failure conducted by The George Washington University; impact testing of flat panels and substructures conducted by NASA Glenn Research Center. This report describes impact testing which has been done on aluminum (Al) 2024 and titanium (Ti) 6Al-4vanadium (V) sheet and plate samples of different thicknesses and with different types of projectiles, one a regular cylinder and one with a more complex geometry incorporating features representative of a jet engine fan blade. Data from this testing will be used in validating material models developed under this program. The material tests and the material models developed in this program will be published in separate reports.

Pereira, J. Michael↗

Lanczos eigensolution method for high-performance computers

The theory, computational analysis, and applications are presented of a Lanczos algorithm on high performance computers. The computationally intensive steps of the algorithm are identified as: the matrix factorization, the forward/backward equation solution, and the matrix vector multiples. These computational steps are optimized to exploit the vector and parallel capabilities of high performance computers. The savings in computational time from applying optimization techniques such as: variable band and sparse data storage and access, loop unrolling, use of local memory, and compiler directives are presented. Two large scale structural analysis applications are described: the buckling of a composite blade stiffened panel with a cutout, and the vibration analysis of a high speed civil transport. The sequential computational time for the panel problem executed on a CONVEX computer of 181.6 seconds was decreased to 14.1 seconds with the optimized vector algorithm. The best computational time of 23 seconds for the transport problem with 17,000 degs of freedom was on the the Cray-YMP using an average of 3.63 processors.

Bostic, Susan W.↗

Infusible acrylic thermoplastic resins: Tailoring of chemorheological properties

Infusible liquid resins that polymerize into a thermoplastic are desirable for many applications. Similar to unsaturated and vinylester thermosetting systems, they consist of polymers dissolved in reactive monomer. This work presents a method to decrease cycle time by tuning the molecular weight and concentration of the predissolved polymer in the resin. Variation of these properties allows precise control of the viscosity which in turn controls the time at which peak exotherm is reached, the maximum temperature for a given part thickness, and cure time. In this work, predictive models for the viscosity dependence on molecular weight, polymer concentration, shear rate, and temperature are developed. Two fiberglass panels are fabricated and tested; one with a lower molecular weight ($M_w$~30 kg mol –1 ) poly(methyl methacrylate) dissolved in methyl methacrylate and the second with higher molecular weight ($M_w$~500 kg mol –1 ) predissolved polymer in the resin. Mechanical properties are indistinguishable but the lower molecular weight panel cures up to three times faster.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Work Plan for the Site-wide SSHAC Level 3 Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis at INL

This work plan provides the overall framework, key activities, key tasks, and schedule for the execution of a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The probabilistic seismic hazard analysis will follow processes and procedures appropriate for the Senior Seismic Hazard Analysis Committee (SSHAC) Level 3 study provided in U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission guidance, NUREG-2213. The SSHAC Level 3 probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) is being conducted as an INL site-wide effort. The work plan was developed and revised by participants who will perform the SSHAC Level 3 PSHA. The work plan also includes the quality assurance requirements commensurate with American Society of Mechanical Engineers Nuclear Quality Assurance NQA 1 2008/2009 and 2011 Addendum for design nuclear facilities under the U.S. Department of Energy and U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The scope of the SSHAC Level 3 PSHA is designed to produce the mean-centered definition of the seismic hazard with the appropriate treatment of uncertainties supported by the associated technical justifications. The SSHAC Level 3 study will properly implement and completely document the activities of evaluation, integration, and documentation. The evaluation process will consider data, models, and methods proposed by the larger technical community that are relevant to the PSHA at INL. The integration process will build seismic-source and ground-motion characterization models that represent the center, body, and range of technically defensible interpretations, taking into consideration the outcomes of the evaluation process. Key tasks and activities—such as a project kickoff meeting, three workshops, four formal working meetings, and a briefing meeting with the Participatory Peer Review Panel—will occur for the seven-member technical integration teams to construct seismic-source and ground-motion-characterization models. Both preliminary and final hazard-input documents will be developed to perform sensitivity analyses and the final PSHA, respectively. The entire study will be thoroughly documented in draft and final reports. The Participatory Peer Review Panel will review the SSHAC Level 3 study from start to finish, including the draft and final INL Site-wide PSHA reports, so they can provide a closure letter documenting the study’s adherence to SSHAC processes and technical adequacy of the final products.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Analysis of fatigue, fatique-crack propagation, and fracture data

Analytical methods have been developed for consolidation of fatigue, fatigue-crack propagation, and fracture data for use in design of metallic aerospace structural components. To evaluate these methods, a comprehensive file of data on 2024 and 7075 aluminums, Ti-6A1-4V, and 300M and D6Ac steels was established. Data were obtained from both published literature and unpublished reports furnished by aerospace companies. Fatigue and fatigue-crack-propagation analyses were restricted to information obtained from constant-amplitude load or strain cycling of specimens in air at room temperature. Fracture toughness data were from tests of center-cracked tension panels, part-through crack specimens, and compact-tension specimens.

Jaske, C. E.↗

Elastic-plastic models for multi-site damage

This paper presents recent developments in advanced analysis methods for the computation of stress site damage. The method of solution is based on the p-version of the finite element method. Its implementation was designed to permit extraction of linear stress intensity factors using a superconvergent extraction method (known as the contour integral method) and evaluation of the J-integral following an elastic-plastic analysis. Coarse meshes are adequate for obtaining accurate results supported by p-convergence data. The elastic-plastic analysis is based on the deformation theory of plasticity and the von Mises yield criterion. The model problem consists of an aluminum plate with six equally spaced holes and a crack emanating from each hole. The cracks are of different sizes. The panel is subjected to a remote tensile load. Experimental results are available for the panel. The plasticity analysis provided the same limit load as the experimentally determined load. The results of elastic-plastic analysis were compared with the results of linear elastic analysis in an effort to evaluate how plastic zone sizes influence the crack growth rates. The onset of net-section yielding was determined also. The results show that crack growth rate is accelerated by the presence of adjacent damage, and the critical crack size is shorter when the effects of plasticity are taken into consideration. This work also addresses the effects of alternative stress-strain laws: The elastic-ideally-plastic material model is compared against the Ramberg-Osgood model.

Actis, Ricardo L.↗

Design of Multilayer Insulation for the Multipurpose Hydrogen Test Bed

Multilayer insulation (MLI) is a critical component for future, long term space missions. These missions will require the storage of cryogenic fuels for extended periods of time with little to no boil-off and MLI is vital due to its exceptional radiation shielding properties. Several MLI test articles were designed and fabricated which explored methods of assembling and connecting blankets, yielding results for evaluation. Insight gained, along with previous design experience, will be used in the design of the replacement blanket for the Multipurpose Hydrogen Test Bed (MHTB), which is slated for upcoming tests. Future design considerations are discussed which include mechanical testing to determine robustness of such a system, as well as cryostat testing of samples to give insight to the loss of thermal performance of sewn panels in comparison to the highly efficient, albeit laborious application of the original MHTB blanket.

Marlow, Weston A.↗

Failure Predictions of Out-of-Autoclave Sandwich Joints with Delaminations under Flexure Loads

An analysis and a test program was conducted to investigate the damage tolerance of composite sandwich joints. The joints contained a single circular delamination between the face-sheet and the doubler. The coupons were fabricated through out-of-autoclave (OOA) processes, a technology NASA is investigating for joining large composite sections. The four-point bend flexure test was used to induce compression loading into the side of the joint where the delamination was placed. The compression side was chosen since it tends to be one of the most critical loads in launch vehicles. Autoclave cure was used to manufacture the composite sandwich sections, while the doubler was co-bonded onto the sandwich face-sheet using an OOA process after sandwich panels were cured. A building block approach was adopted to characterize the mechanical properties of the joint material, including the fracture toughness between the doubler and facesheet. Twelve four-point-bend samples were tested, six in the sandwich core ribbon orientation and six in sandwich core cross-ribbon direction. Analysis predicted failure initiation and propagation at the pre-delaminated location, consistent with experimental observations. A building block approach using fracture analyses methods predicted failure loads in close agreement with tests. This investigation demonstrated a small strength reduction due to a flaw of significant size compared to the width of the sample. Therefore, concerns of bonding an OOA material to an in-autoclave material was mitigated for the geometries, materials, and load configurations considered.

Damage↗

Robust Operation of Soft Open Points in Active Distribution Networks with High Penetration of Photovoltaic Integration

Distributed generators (DGs) including photovoltaic panels (PVs) have been integrated dramatically in active distribution networks (ADNs). Due to the strong volatility and uncertainty, the high penetration of PV generation immensely exacerbates the conditions of voltage violation in ADNs. However, the emerging flexible interconnection technology based on soft open points (SOPs) provides increased controllability and flexibility to the system operation. For fully exploiting the regulation ability of SOPs to address the problems caused by PV, this paper proposes a robust optimization method to achieve the robust optimal operation of SOPs in ADNs. A two-stage adjustable robust optimization model is built to tackle the uncertainties of PV outputs, in which robust operation strategies of SOPs are generated to eliminate the voltage violations and reduce the power losses of ADNs. A column-and-constraint generation (C&CG) algorithm is developed to solve the proposed robust optimization model, which are formulated as second-order cone program (SOCP) to facilitate the accuracy and computation efficiency. Here, case studies on the modified IEEE 33-node system and comparisons with the deterministic optimization approach are conducted to verify the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Stress, stability, and vibration of complex, branched shells of revolution.

A comprehensive computer program, designated BOSOR4, for analysis of the stress, stability, and vibration of segmented, ring-stiffened, branched shells of revolution and prismatic shells and panels is described. The program performs large-deflection axisymmetric stress analysis, small-deflection nonsymmetric stress analysis, modal vibration analysis with axisymmetric nonlinear prestress included, and buckling analysis with axisymmetric or nonsymmetric prestress. One of the main advantages of the code is the provision for realistic engineering details such as eccentric load paths, internal supports, arbitrary branching conditions, and a library of wall constructions. The program is based on the finite-difference energy method, which is very rapidly convergent with increasing numbers of mesh points.

Bushnell, D.↗

Stress, stability and vibration of complex, branched shells of revolution

A comprehensive computer program, designated BOSOR4, for analysis of the stress, stability, and vibration of segmented, ring-stiffened, branched shells of revolution and prismatic shells and panels is described. The program performs large-deflection axisymmetric stress analysis, small-deflection nonsymmetric stress analysis, modal vibration analysis with axisymmetric nonlinear prestress included, and buckling analysis with axisymmetric or nonsymmetric prestress. One of the main advantages of the code is the provision for realistic engineering details such as eccentric load paths, internal supports, arbitrary branching conditions, and a 'library' of wall constructions. The program is based on the finite-difference energy method, which is very rapidly convergent with increasing numbers of mesh points. The organization of the program is briefly described with the flow of calculations charted for each of the types of analysis. Overlay charts and core storage requirements are given for the CDC 6600, IBM 370/165, and UNIVAC 1108 versions of BOSOR4.

Bushnell, D.↗

A first-order time-domain Green's function approach to supersonic unsteady flow

A time-domain Green's Function Method for unsteady supersonic potential flow around complex aircraft configurations is presented. The focus is on the supersonic range wherein the linear potential flow assumption is valid. The Green's function method is employed in order to convert the potential-flow differential equation into an integral one. This integral equation is then discretized, in space through standard finite-element technique, and in time through finite-difference, to yield a linear algebraic system of equations relating the unknown potential to its prescribed co-normalwash (boundary condition) on the surface of the aircraft. The arbitrary complex aircraft configuration is discretized into hyperboloidal (twisted quadrilateral) panels. The potential and co-normalwash are assumed to vary linearly within each panel. Consistent with the spatial linear (first-order) finite-element approximations, the potential and co-normalwash are assumed to vary linearly in time. The long range goal of our research is to develop a comprehensive theory for unsteady supersonic potential aerodynamics which is capable of yielding accurate results even in the low supersonic (i.e., high transonic) range.

Freedman, M. I.↗

Graphite/epoxy composite stiffened panel fabrication development

This report describes the manufacturing development procedures used to fabricate a series of carbon/epoxy panels with integrally molded stiffeners. Panel size was started at 6 inches by 18 inches and one stiffener and increased to 30 inches by 60 inches and six integral stiffeners. Stiffener concepts were optimized for minimum weight (or mass) to carry stress levels from 1500 lbs/inch to 25,000 lbs/inch compression load. Designs were created and manufactured with a stiffener configuration of integrally molded hat, J, I, sine wave I, solid blade, and honeycomb blade shapes. Successful and unsuccessful detail methods of tooling, lay-up methods, and bagging methods are documented. Recommendations are made for the best state-of-the-art manufacturing technique developed for type of stiffener construction.

Palmer, R. J.↗

Compression behavior of delaminated composite plates

The response of delaminated composite plates to compressive in-plane loads was investigated. The delaminated region may be either circular or elliptical, and may be located between any two plies of the laminate. For elliptical delaminations, the axes of the ellipse may be arbitrarily oriented with respect to the applied loads. A model was developed that describes the stresses, strains, and deformation of the sublaminate created by the delamination. The mathematical model is based on a two dimensional nonlinear plate theory that includes the effects of transverse shear deformation. The model takes into account thermal and moisture induced strains, transverse pressures acting on the sublaminate, and contact between the sublaminate and plate. The solution technique used is the Ritz method. A computationally efficient computer implementation of the model was developed. The code can be used to predict the nonlinear-load-strain behavior of the sublaminate including the buckling load, postbuckling behavior, and the onset of delamination growth. The accuracy of the code was evaluated by comparing the model results to benchmark analytical solutions. A series of experiments was conducted on Fiberite T300/976 graphite/epoxy laminates bonded to an aluminum honeycomb core forming a sandwich panel. Either circles or ellipses made from Teflon film were embedded in the laminates, simulating the presence of a delamination. Each specimen was loaded in compression and the strain history of the sublaminate was recorded far into the postbuckling regime. The extent of delamination growth was evaluated by C-scan examination of each specimen. The experimental data were compared to code predictions. The code was found to describe the data with reasonable accuracy. A sensitivity study examined the relative importance of various material properties, the delamination dimensions, the contact model, the transverse pressure differential, the critical strain energy release rate, and the relative growth direction on the buckling load, the postbuckling behavior, and the growth load of the sublaminate.

Peck, Scott O.↗

The Visible Human Project of the National Library of Medicine: Remote access and distribution of a multi-gigabyte data set

As part of the 1986 Long-Range Plan for the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the Planning Panel on Medical Education wrote that NLM should '...thoroughly and systematically investigate the technical requirements for and feasibility of instituting a biomedical images library.' The panel noted the increasing use of images in clinical practice and biomedical research. An image library would complement NLM's existing bibliographic and factual database services and would ideally be available through the same computer networks as are these current NLM services. Early in 1989, NLM's Board of Regents convened an ad hoc planning panel to explore possible roles for the NLM in the area of electronic image libraries. In its report to the Board of Regents, the NLM Planning Panel on Electronic Image Libraries recommended that 'NLM should undertake a first project building a digital image library of volumetric data representing a complete, normal adult male and female. This Visible Human Project will include digitized photographic images for cryosectioning, digital images derived from computerized tomography, and digital magnetic resonance images of cadavers.' The technologies needed to support digital high resolution image libraries, including rapid development; and that NLM encourage investigator-initiated research into methods for representing and linking spatial and textual information, structural informatics. The first part of the Visible Human Project is the acquisition of cross-sectional CT and MRI digital images and cross-sectional cryosectional photographic images of a representative male and female cadaver at an average of one millimeter intervals. The corresponding cross-sections in each of the three modalities are to be registerable with one another.

Ackerman, Michael J.↗