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At least 613 records · Page 34

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1994

Software analysis handbook: Software complexity analysis and software reliability estimation and prediction

This handbook documents the three software analysis processes the Space Station Software Analysis team uses to assess space station software, including their backgrounds, theories, tools, and analysis procedures. Potential applications of these analysis results are also presented. The first section describes how software complexity analysis provides quantitative information on code, such as code structure and risk areas, throughout the software life cycle. Software complexity analysis allows an analyst to understand the software structure, identify critical software components, assess risk areas within a software system, identify testing deficiencies, and recommend program improvements. Performing this type of analysis during the early design phases of software development can positively affect the process, and may prevent later, much larger, difficulties. The second section describes how software reliability estimation and prediction analysis, or software reliability, provides a quantitative means to measure the probability of failure-free operation of a computer program, and describes the two tools used by JSC to determine failure rates and design tradeoffs between reliability, costs, performance, and schedule.

Computer systems design↗

DOE OSTI2014

Tools for Accurate and Efficient Analysis of Complex Evolutionary Mechanisms in Microbial Genomes (Final Report)

I proposed to develop computationally efficient tools for accurate detection and reconstruction of microbes' complex evolutionary mechanisms, thus enabling rapid and accurate annotation, analysis and understanding of their genomes. To achieve this goal, I proposed to address three aspects. (1) Mathematical modeling. A major challenge facing the accurate detection of HGT is that of distinguishing between these two events on the one hand and other events that have similar "effects." I proposed to develop a novel mathematical approach for distinguishing among these events. Further, I proposed to develop a set of novel optimization criteria for the evolutionary analysis of microbial genomes in the presence of these complex evolutionary events. (2) Algorithm design. In this aspect of the project, I proposed to develop an array of efficient and accurate algorithms for analyzing microbial genomes based on the formulated optimization criteria. Further, I proposed to test the viability of the criteria and the accuracy of the algorithms in an experimental setting using both synthetic as well as biological data. (3) Software development. I proposed the final outcome to be a suite of software tools which implements the mathematical models as well as the algorithms developed.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Structural Sizing of a Tow-Steered Truss-Braced Wing Box Test Article

Tailoring of composite laminates is traditionally performed by changing the orientation of straight fibers in one or more plies. Modern automated fiber placement machines facilitate placement of bundles of curved fibers (tows) in a process called tow-steering, but additional variables must be used to define the shapes of tow-steered fiber paths. In this paper, the design of a tow-steered truss-braced wing test article called the Structural Wing Experiment Evaluating Truss-bracing 15-ft concept (SWEET-15) is discussed. The SWEET-15 test article is scaled to 18.6% of the span length and chord width of a full-scale vehicle. The test article is designed to withstand +2.5-g (positive limit) and -1.0-g (negative limit) maneuvering loads with a factor of safety of 1.5 under strength and buckling constraints. Design studies were performed using commercial finite element analysis and optimization software in conjunction with a tow-steering modeling tool called ATSCOOL (Automated Tool for Steered COmposite Optimizable Laminates) developed at NASA Langley Research center. A 6.4% weight reduction in the upper cover panels was achieved using a tow-steered layup configuration.

Structural Optimization↗

DOE OSTI2013

The Cementitious Barriers Partnership (CBP) Software Toolbox Capabilities In Assessing The Degradation Of Cementitious Barriers

The Cementitious Barriers Partnership (CBP) Project is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaboration supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) Office of Tank Waste and Nuclear Materials Management. The CBP program has developed a set of integrated tools (based on state-of-the-art models and leaching test methods) that help improve understanding and predictions of the long-term structural, hydraulic and chemical performance of cementitious barriers used in nuclear applications. Tools selected for and developed under this program have been used to evaluate and predict the behavior of cementitious barriers used in near-surface engineered waste disposal systems for periods of performance up to 100 years and longer for operating facilities and longer than 1000 years for waste disposal. The CBP Software Toolbox has produced tangible benefits to the DOE Performance Assessment (PA) community. A review of prior DOE PAs has provided a list of potential opportunities for improving cementitious barrier performance predictions through the use of the CBP software tools. These opportunities include: 1) impact of atmospheric exposure to concrete and grout before closure, such as accelerated slag and Tc-99 oxidation, 2) prediction of changes in Kd/mobility as a function of time that result from changing pH and redox conditions, 3) concrete degradation from rebar corrosion due to carbonation, 4) early age cracking from drying and/or thermal shrinkage and 5) degradation due to sulfate attack. The CBP has already had opportunity to provide near-term, tangible support to ongoing DOE-EM PAs such as the Savannah River Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF) by providing a sulfate attack analysis that predicts the extent and damage that sulfate ingress will have on the concrete vaults over extended time (i.e., > 1000 years). This analysis is one of the many technical opportunities in cementitious barrier performance that can be addressed by the DOE-EM sponsored CBP software tools. Modification of the existing tools can provide many opportunities to bring defense in depth in prediction of the performance of cementitious barriers over time.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2012

Incorporation of Multi-Member Substructure Capabilities in FAST for Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines: Preprint

FAST, developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is an aero-hydro-servo-elastic tool widely used for analyzing onshore and offshore wind turbines. This paper discusses recent modifications made to FAST to enable the examination of offshore wind turbines with fixed-bottom, multi-member support structures (which are commonly used in transitional-depth waters). ; This paperaddresses the methods used for incorporating the hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loading on multi-member structures in FAST through its hydronamic loading module, HydroDyn. Modeling of the hydrodynamic loads was accomplished through the incorporation of Morison and buoyancy loads on the support structures. Issues addressed include how to model loads at the joints of intersecting members and ontapered and tilted members of the support structure. Three example structures are modeled to test and verify the solutions generated by the modifications to HydroDyn, including a monopile, tripod, and jacket structure. Verification is achieved through comparison of the results to a computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-derived solution using the commercial software tool STAR-CCM+.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2019

Estimation of split renal function using different volumetric methods: inter- and intraindividual comparison between MRI and CT

Purpose: This study aims to determine whether contrast-enhanced (CE)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is comparable to CE-computed tomography (CT) for estimation of split renal function (SRF). For this purpose, two different kidney volumetry methods, the renal cortex volumetry (RCV) and modified ellipsoid volume (MELV), are compared for both acquisition types (CT vs. MRI) with regard to accuracy and reliability, subsequently referred to as RCV{sub CT}/RCV{sub MRI} and MELV{sub CT}/MELV{sub MRI}. Methods: This retrospective study included 29 patients (18 men and 11 women; mean age 62.8 ± 12.4 years) who underwent CE-MRI and CE-CT of the abdomen within a period of 3 months. Two independent readers (R1/R2) performed RCV and MELV in all datasets with corresponding semiautomated software tools. RCV was performed with datasets in the arterial phase and MELV in the venous phase. Statistics were calculated using one-way ANOVA, two-tailed Student’s t test, Pearson´s correlation, and Bland–Altman plots with p ≤ 0.05 being considered statistically significant. Results: In all datasets, SRF was almost identical for both volumetry methods with a mean difference of < 1%. Bland–Altman analysis comparing RCV in CT and MRI showed very good agreement for R1/R2. Interreader agreement was strong for RCV{sub CT} and good for RCV{sub MRI} (r = 0.89; r = 0.69). MELV{sub CT/MRI} interreader agreement was only moderate (r = 0.54; r = 0.50) with a high range of values. Intrareader agreement was excellent for all measurements, except MELV{sub MRI} which showed a high mean bias and range of values (RCV{sub CT}: r = 0.93, RCV{sub MRI}: r = 0.98, MELV{sub CT}: r = 0.89, MELV{sub MRI}: r = 0.54). Conclusion: Renal volumetric estimates of SRF are almost as accurate and reliable with CE-MRI as with CE-CT using RCV method. In distinction, the calculation of SRF using MELV was inferior to RCV with respect to accuracy and reliability. Thus, RCV method is recommended to estimate SRF, primarily using CT datasets. However, RCV with MRI datasets for kidney volumetry allows for comparable accuracy and reliability while sparing patients and healthy donors of unnecessary radiation exposure.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

NASA NTRS1983

Forecasting trends in NASA flight software development tools

The experience gained in the design and development of Shuttle flight and ground support embedded software systems along with projections of increasing role and size of software in the proposed Space Station and other future NASA projects provides the basis for forecasting substantial changes in the tools and methodologies by which embedded software systems are developed and acquired. Similar changes in software architectures and operator interfaces will lead to substantial changes in the approach and techniques involved in software test and system integration. Increasing commonality among different flight systems and between flight and supporting ground systems is projected, along with a more distributed approach to software acquisition in highly complex projects such as Space Station.

Garman, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Adaptation of G-TAG Software for Validating Touch-and-Go Comet Surface Sampling Design Methodology

The G-TAG software tool was developed under the R&TD on Integrated Autonomous Guidance, Navigation, and Control for Comet Sample Return, and represents a novel, multi-body dynamics simulation software tool for studying TAG sampling. The G-TAG multi-body simulation tool provides a simulation environment in which a Touch-and-Go (TAG) sampling event can be extensively tested. TAG sampling requires the spacecraft to descend to the surface, contact the surface with a sampling collection device, and then to ascend to a safe altitude. The TAG event lasts only a few seconds but is mission-critical with potentially high risk. Consequently, there is a need for the TAG event to be well characterized and studied by simulation and analysis in order for the proposal teams to converge on a reliable spacecraft design. This adaptation of the G-TAG tool was developed to support the Comet Odyssey proposal effort, and is specifically focused to address comet sample return missions. In this application, the spacecraft descends to and samples from the surface of a comet. Performance of the spacecraft during TAG is assessed based on survivability and sample collection performance. For the adaptation of the G-TAG simulation tool to comet scenarios, models are developed that accurately describe the properties of the spacecraft, approach trajectories, and descent velocities, as well as the models of the external forces and torques acting on the spacecraft. The adapted models of the spacecraft, descent profiles, and external sampling forces/torques were more sophisticated and customized for comets than those available in the basic G-TAG simulation tool. Scenarios implemented include the study of variations in requirements, spacecraft design (size, locations, etc. of the spacecraft components), and the environment (surface properties, slope, disturbances, etc.). The simulations, along with their visual representations using G-View, contributed to the Comet Odyssey New Frontiers proposal effort by indicating problems and/or benefits of different approaches and designs.

Mandic, Milan↗

NASA NTRS2018

Virtual Exercise Training Software System

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a virtual exercise training software system (VETSS) capable of providing real-time instruction and exercise feedback during exploration missions. A resistive exercise instructional system was developed using a Microsoft Kinect depth-camera device, which provides markerless 3-D whole-body motion capture at a small form factor and minimal setup effort. It was hypothesized that subjects using the newly developed instructional software tool would perform the deadlift exercise with more optimal kinematics and consistent technique than those without the instructional software. Following a comprehensive evaluation in the laboratory, the system was deployed for testing and refinement in the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) analog.

Vu, L.↗

DOE OSTI2013

The Cementitious Barriers Partnership (CBP) Software Toolbox Capabilities in Assessing the Degradation of Cementitious Barriers - 13487

The Cementitious Barriers Partnership (CBP) Project is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaboration supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) Office of Tank Waste and Nuclear Materials Management. The CBP program has developed a set of integrated tools (based on state-of-the-art models and leaching test methods) that help improve understanding and predictions of the long-term structural, hydraulic and chemical performance of cementitious barriers used in nuclear applications. Tools selected for and developed under this program have been used to evaluate and predict the behavior of cementitious barriers used in near-surface engineered waste disposal systems for periods of performance up to 100 years and longer for operating facilities and longer than 1000 years for waste disposal. The CBP Software Toolbox has produced tangible benefits to the DOE Performance Assessment (PA) community. A review of prior DOE PAs has provided a list of potential opportunities for improving cementitious barrier performance predictions through the use of the CBP software tools. These opportunities include: 1) impact of atmospheric exposure to concrete and grout before closure, such as accelerated slag and Tc-99 oxidation, 2) prediction of changes in K{sub d}/mobility as a function of time that result from changing pH and redox conditions, 3) concrete degradation from rebar corrosion due to carbonation, 4) early age cracking from drying and/or thermal shrinkage and 5) degradation due to sulfate attack. The CBP has already had opportunity to provide near-term, tangible support to ongoing DOE-EM PAs such as the Savannah River Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF) by providing a sulfate attack analysis that predicts the extent and damage that sulfate ingress will have on the concrete vaults over extended time (i.e., > 1000 years). This analysis is one of the many technical opportunities in cementitious barrier performance that can be addressed by the DOE-EM sponsored CBP software tools. Modification of the existing tools can provide many opportunities to bring defense in depth in prediction of the performance of cementitious barriers over time. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2016

Studies of the Impact of Magnetic Field Uncertainties on Physics Parameters of the Mu2e Experiment

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for a signature of charged lepton flavor violation, an effect prohibitively too small to be observed within the Standard Model of particle physics. Therefore, its observation is a signal of new physics. The signature that Mu2e will search for is the ratio of the rate of neutrinoless coherent conversion of muons into electrons in the field of a nucleus, relative to the muon capture rate by the nucleus. The conversion process is an example of charged lepton flavor violation. This experiment aims at a sensitivity of four orders of magnitude higher than previous related experiments. The desired sensitivity implies highly demanding requirements of accuracy in the design and conduct of the experiment. It is therefore important to investigate the tolerance of the experiment to instrumental uncertainties and provide specifications that the design and construction must meet. This is the core of the work reported in this thesis. The design of the experiment is based on three superconducting solenoid magnets. The most important uncertainties in the magnetic field of the solenoids can arise from misalignments of the Transport Solenoid, which transfers the beam from the muon production area to the detector area and eliminates beam-originating backgrounds. In this thesis, the field uncertainties induced by possible misalignments and their impact on the physics parameters of the experiment are examined. The physics parameters include the muon and pion stopping rates and the scattering of beam electrons off the capture target, which determine the signal, intrinsic background and late-arriving background yields, respectively. Additionally, a possible test of the Transport Solenoid alignment with low momentum electrons is examined, as an alternative option to measure its field with conventional probes, which is technically difficult due to mechanical interference. Misalignments of the Transport Solenoid were simulated using standard magnetic field cal- culation tools. Particle transport was simulated using the Mu2e Offline software, which includes realistic models of particle interactions with materials in the full Mu2e geometry. The physics parameters were found tolerant within the precision requirements of the experiment for rigid-body type of misalignments, which are the most dangerous, up to a maximum coil displacement of nearly 10 mm. With the appropriate choice of low momentum electron detector, the proposed Transport Solenoid test is found to be sensitive to such misalignments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

NASA NTRS2015

NASA's Space Launch System Program Update

Hardware and software for the world's most powerful launch vehicle for exploration is being welded, assembled, and tested today in high bays, clean rooms and test stands across the United States. NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) continued to make significant progress in 2014 with more planned for 2015, including firing tests of both main propulsion elements and the program Critical Design Review (CDR). Developed with the goals of safety, affordability, and sustainability, SLS will still deliver unmatched capability for human and robotic exploration. The initial Block 1 configuration will deliver more than 70 metric tons of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). The evolved Block 2 design will deliver some 130 metric tons to LEO. Both designs offer enormous opportunity and flexibility for larger payloads, simplifying payload design as well as ground and on-orbit operations, shortening interplanetary transit times, and decreasing overall mission risk. Over the past year, every vehicle element has manufactured or tested hardware. An RS-25 liquid propellant engine was hotfire-tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss. for the first time since 2009 exercising and validating the new engine controller, the renovated A-1 test stand, and the test teams. Four RS-25s will power the SLS core stage. A qualification five-segment solid rocket motor incorporating several design, material, and process changes was scheduled to be test-fired in March at the prime contractor's facility in Utah. The booster also successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) validating the planned design. All six major manufacturing tools for the core stage are in place at the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana, and have been used to build numerous pieces of confidence, qualification, and even flight hardware, including barrel sections, domes and rings used to assemble the world's largest rocket stage. SLS Systems Engineering accomplished several key tasks including vehicle avionics software and hardware build and testing, scale model acoustic and base heating tests. Construction of the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) began. Advanced development provided a look into the future of SLS. Shell buckling knockdown factor testing refined decades-old design margins that added thousands of pounds to rocket payloads. Adaptive manufacturing and structured light scanning development promised to cut the cost and time associated with manufacturing and testing. This paper will provide an overview of the progress made over the past year and provide a glimpse of 2015 milestones and beyond on the way to the first launch in 2018.

May, Todd↗

NASA NTRS2015

NASA's Space Launch System Program Update

May, Todd↗

NASA NTRS1994

Assembly flow simulation of a radar

A discrete event simulation model has been developed to predict the assembly flow time of a new radar product. The simulation was the key tool employed to identify flow constraints. The radar, production facility, and equipment complement were designed, arranged, and selected to provide the most manufacturable assembly possible. A goal was to reduce the assembly and testing cycle time from twenty-six weeks. A computer software simulation package (SLAM 2) was utilized as the foundation for simulating the assembly flow time. FORTRAN subroutines were incorporated into the software to deal with unique flow circumstances that were not accommodated by the software. Detailed information relating to the assembly operations was provided by a team selected from the engineering, manufacturing management, inspection, and production assembly staff. The simulation verified that it would be possible to achieve the cycle time goal of six weeks. Equipment and manpower constraints were identified during the simulation process and adjusted as required to achieve the flow with a given monthly production requirement. The simulation is being maintained as a planning tool to be used to identify constraints in the event that monthly output is increased. 'What-if' studies have been conducted to identify the cost of reducing constraints caused by increases in output requirement.

Rutherford, W. C.↗

DOE OSTI2018

BubbleCluster v4

The BubbleCluster algorithm was developed to help address the limitations of traditional genetic mapping tools when presented with large amounts of data. The BubbleCluster software is a tool for the initial stage in the genetic mapping pipeline -- clustering genetic markers into linkage groups. BubbleCluster was designed to tackle large genetic marker data sets, and has been tested on input of up to 1.6M markers. Input format is identical to that of the popular MSTMap package, aiding useability.

Buluc, Aydin↗

DOE OSTI2024

Mnemosyne

SAND2024-08570O Mnemosyne is an interactive tool for finding, retrieving, and exploring information about U.S. nuclear tests documented in the National Nuclear Security Administration’s NV-209 report. It also acts as an information architecture and codebase for integrating additional information and computational tools related to these tests at the unclassified and classified levels. Users can search by any number of nuclear test attributes—name, yield range, altitude ranges, purpose of a test—and find all matching tests. Users can also retrieve specific test information published in NV-209. The tool displays geospatial and topological data about test location, and it provides an information architecture for storing additional contextual material, such as photographs. Mnemosyne provides a capability of interfacing with HYCHEM, Sandia's nuclear detonation optical waveform tool. The software is designed for use by government, academia, military, and research institutions. The software will likely be advanced to integrate seismic data and the nuclear detonation optical signal simulation code radCTH. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Fisher, Dustin↗

NASA NTRS1978

UNIX as an environment for producing numerical software

The UNIX operating system supports a number of software tools; a mathematical equation-setting language, a phototypesetting language, a FORTRAN preprocessor language, a text editor, and a command interpreter. The design, implementation, documentation, and maintenance of a portable FORTRAN test of the floating-point arithmetic unit of a computer is used to illustrate these tools at work.

Schryer, N. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Integration of an expert system into a user interface language demonstration

The need for a User Interface Language (UIL) has been recognized by the Space Station Program Office as a necessary tool to aid in minimizing the cost of software generation by multiple users. Previous history in the Space Shuttle Program has shown that many different areas of software generation, such as operations, integration, testing, etc., have each used a different user command language although the types of operations being performed were similar in many respects. Since the Space Station represents a much more complex software task, a common user command language--a user interface language--is required to support the large spectrum of space station software developers and users. To assist in the selection of an appropriate set of definitions for a UIL, a series of demonstration programs was generated with which to test UIL concepts against specific Space Station scenarios using operators for the astronaut and scientific community. Because of the importance of expert system in the space station, it was decided that an expert system should be embedded in the UIL. This would not only provide insight into the UIL components required but would indicate the effectiveness with which an expert system could function in such an environment.

Stclair, D. C.↗