Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “distribution selection”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,243 records · Page 69

Galaxy populations in massive galaxy clusters to $z$ = 1.1: Color distribution, concentration, halo occupation number and red sequence fraction

We study the galaxy populations in 74 Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect selected clusters from the South Pole Telescope survey, which have been imaged in the science verification phase of the Dark Energy Survey. The sample extends up to z ~ 1.1 with 4 × 10 14 M⊙ ≤ M200 ≤ 3 × 10 15 M⊙. Using the band containing the 4000 Å break and its redward neighbour, we study the colour–magnitude distributions of cluster galaxies to ~m* + 2, finding that: (1)The intrinsic rest frame g – r colour width of the red sequence (RS) population is ~0.03 out to z ~ 0.85 with a preference for an increase to ~0.07 at z = 1, and (2) the prominence of the RS declines beyond z ~ 0.6. The spatial distribution of cluster galaxies is well described by the NFW profile out to 4R200 with a concentration of c g = 3.59$+0.20\atop{–0.18}$, 5.37$+0.27\atop{-0.24}$ and 1.38$+0.21\atop{-0.19}$ for the full, the RS and the blue non-RS populations, respectively, but with ~40 per cent to 55 per cent cluster to cluster variation and no statistically significant redshift or mass trends. The number of galaxies within the virial region N200 exhibits a mass trend indicating that the number of galaxies per unit total mass is lower in the most massive clusters, and shows no significant redshift trend. The RS fraction within R200 is (68 ± 3) per cent at z = 0.46, varies from ~55 per cent at z = 1 to ~80 per cent at z = 0.1 and exhibits intrinsic variation among clusters of ~14 per cent. Finally, we discuss a model that suggests that the observed redshift trend in RS fraction favours a transformation time-scale for infalling field galaxies to become RS galaxies of 2–3 Gyr.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Photometric redshifts and clustering of emission line galaxies selected jointly by DES and eBOSS

We present the results of the first test plates of the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. This paper focuses on the emission line galaxies (ELG) population targetted from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) photometry. We analyse the success rate, efficiency, redshift distribution, and clustering properties of the targets. From the 9000 spectroscopic redshifts targetted, 4600 have been selected from the DES photometry. The total success rate for redshifts between 0.6 and 1.2 is 71\% and 68\% respectively for a bright and faint, on average more distant, samples including redshifts measured from a single strong emission line. We find a mean redshift of 0.8 and 0.87, with 15 and 13\% of unknown redshifts respectively for the bright and faint samples. In the redshift range 0.6<z<1.2, for the most secure spectroscopic redshifts, the mean redshift for the bright and faint sample is 0.85 and 0.9 respectively. Star contamination is lower than 2\%. We measure a galaxy bias averaged on scales of 1 and 10~Mpc/h of 1.72 \pm 0.1 for the bright sample and of 1.78 \pm 0.12 for the faint sample. The error on the galaxy bias have been obtained propagating the errors in the correlation function to the fitted parameters. This redshift evolution for the galaxy bias is in agreement with theoretical expectations for a galaxy population with MB-5\log h < -21.0. We note that biasing is derived from the galaxy clustering relative to a model for the mass fluctuations. We investigate the quality of the DES photometric redshifts and find that the outlier fraction can be reduced using a comparison between template fitting and neural network, or using a random forest algorithm.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Turbulence Model Study for Pressure and Velocity Distributions for Molten Salts in a Crossflow Tube Bundle

Empirical pressure drop correlations for various compositions of molten salts in crossflow across tube bundles/banks are limited due to the scarcity of experimental data for these fluids. This lack of experimental data presents a limitation when designing heat exchangers for Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) that utilize cross-flow configurations with turbulent molten salts flowing in the shell side. In an effort to provide a starting point for future design and experimental work, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) campaign is being conducted to estimate pressure drops over a range of Reynolds numbers, pitch to diameter ratios, and for both staggered and in-line tube banks. In an effort to continue this work, the study of various turbulence models were conducted to determine the applicability for steady RANS simulations. An in-line tube bank with FLiBe (LiF-BeF{sub 2}), a frequently selected molten salt in MSRs, was selected for these simulations. The estimated pressure drops and pressure and velocity distributions for each turbulence model was compared to determine the applicability. The k-ε turbulence model family was found to be the most appropriate model for steady Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes within this type of domain. Difference turbulence models were investigated for simulation of molten salt experiencing crossflow within an in-line tube bundle. The flow was simulated using a steady RANS formulation with different families of turbulence models. The different turbulence models provide a view of this specific flow behavior potential requirements and applicable for steady RANS. Of particular note, the k-ε models were able to converge easily within this domain. The predicted behavior for both models were observed to be mostly similar for both velocity and pressure distributions. Whereas, k-ω SST and SA models did not converge well and had observable differences for the predictions of pressure and velocity distributions. The global behaviors were generally similar, but the variations occurring suggest k-ω SST and SA turbulence models are not useful in the steady RANS formulation of this domain. When comparing to the empirical pressure drop, each turbulence model resulted in overpredictions ranging from 8.7% and 19.75% difference. The standard low-Re k-ε model having the lowest difference is likely the better model for simplified predictions for pressure drops. Further investigations will be conducted to determine the convergence issues for the k-ω SST and SA turbulence models. These might be due to the flow geometry or potentially a revision of the meshing is needed. The flow behavior may not be resolved using these models in a steady formulation due to inherent unsteadiness of the flow. (authors)

42 ENGINEERING↗

Astronaut Photography of Coral Reefs

Astronaut photographs of tropical coastal areas may contain information on submerged features, including coral reefs, up to depths of about 15 m in clear waters. Previous research efforts have shown that astronaut photographs can aid in estimating coral reef locations and extent on national, regional and global scales, and allow characterization of major geomorphological rim and lagoon features (Andrefouet et al. 2000, in preparation). They can be combined with traditional satellite data to help distinguish between clouds and lagoon features such as pinnacles (Andrefouet and Robinson, in review). Furthermore, astronaut photographs may provide reef scientists and managers with information on the location and extent of river plumes and sediment run off, or facilitate identification of land cover types, including mangroves (Webb et al., in press). Photographs included in the section were selected based on several criteria. The primary consideration of the editors was that the photographs represent a worldwide distribution of coral reefs, have extremely low visual interference by cloud cover, and display a spatial scale reasonable for examining reef-related features. Once photographs were selected, they were digitized from 2nd generation copies. The color and contrast were hand corrected to an approximation of natural color (required to account for spectral differences between photographs due to the color sensitivities of films used, and differences in sun angle and exposure of the photographs). None of the photographs shown here have been georeferenced to correct them to a map projection and scale. Any distortions in features due to slightly oblique look angles when the photographs were taken through spacecraft windows remain. When feasible, near vertical photographs have been rotated so that north is toward the top. An approximate scale bar and north arrow have added using distinctive features on each photograph with reference to a 1:1,000,000 scale navigation chart. Astronaut photographs provide a unique source of moderate resolution reef remote sensing data because of their global coverage and (immediate) availability in the public domain. The database of photographs can be searched an browsed online and high-resolution digital copies of photographs in this atlas can be accessed via the Website of Earth Science and Image Analysis at NASA's Johnson Space Center:

Robinson, Julie A.↗

Compiling software for a hierarchical distributed processing system

Compiling software for a hierarchical distributed processing system including providing to one or more compiling nodes software to be compiled, wherein at least a portion of the software to be compiled is to be executed by one or more nodes; compiling, by the compiling node, the software; maintaining, by the compiling node, any compiled software to be executed on the compiling node; selecting, by the compiling node, one or more nodes in a next tier of the hierarchy of the distributed processing system in dependence upon whether any compiled software is for the selected node or the selected node's descendents; sending to the selected node only the compiled software to be executed by the selected node or selected node's descendent.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Integrated End-to-end Performance Prediction and Diagnosis for Extreme Scientific Workflows

This report details recent progress for the ASCR funded project “Integrated End-to-end Performance Prediction and Diagnosis for Extreme Scientific Workflows”. We refer to the project as IPPD/2, reflecting the 2017 renewal under expanded scope and partners In IPPD/2, we increased our research scope to include data motion. We are focusing on three major aspects: a) observe how data is generated, distributed, and used; b) analyze how data is (repeatedly) consumed with a focus both on repeated patterns and anomalies; and c) explore how to optimize data motion. This new work on data motion will augment and complement IPPD/2’s research that focused on the computational aspects of tasks. We leverage and extend our existing tools and demonstrate our work on the Belle II workflow suite as well as on workflows from NSLS-II. The highlights of our work are as follows: Provenance for Workflows: Provenance is used to provide information enabling quality control, re-run computational workflows, and reproduce results. IPPD/2 has been building a scalable provenance management system that enables the capture of provenance from the high-level workflow through all relevant system levels in one integrated environment. Leveraging this work, our recent efforts have included using provenance as an enabling technique. Workload characterization: Leveraging provenance and analysis, we characterize data movement within network, storage, and memory over a variety of workloads. This characterization enables an understanding by performance analysts and application developers of the range of behaviors that could be expected. Performance Prediction for Workflows: The goal of modeling distributed workflows is to understand performance bottlenecks and enable more intelligent task scheduling to optimize selected metrics of interest (e.g., task throughput or output data rate). IPPD/2 has utilized both analytical and AI/ML modeling methodologies for performance modeling. Advanced Scheduling and Fault Modeling for Workflows: Scheduling of large-scale scientific workflows on geographically distributed resources is a challenging problem. To improve workflow throughput, we combined novel scheduling algorithms with task predictions from performance modeling and fault modeling. Dynamically Alleviating Bottlenecks in Workflows: Exploiting our provenance, analysis, and modeling efforts, we have explored and developed several techniques for dynamically detecting and alleviating bottlenecks in data movement. In particular, we have spent considerable effort demonstrating our techniques on production-like workflow configurations.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Characterization and Modeling of Contamination for Lyman Break Galaxy Samples at High Redshift

The selection of high-redshift sources from broadband photometry using the Lyman-break galaxy (LBG) technique is a well established methodology, but the characterization of its contamination for the faintest sources is still incomplete. We use the optical and near-IR data from four (ultra)deep Hubble Space Telescope legacy fields to investigate the contamination fraction of LBG samples at z∼5--8 selected using a color–color method. Our approach is based on characterizing the number count distribution of interloper sources, that is, galaxies with colors similar to those of LBGs, but showing detection at wavelengths shorter than the spectral break. Without sufficient sensitivity at bluer wavelengths, a subset of interlopers may not be properly classified, and contaminate the LBG selection. The surface density of interlopers in the sky gets steeper with increasing redshift of LBG selections. Since the intrinsic number of dropouts decreases significantly with increasing redshift, this implies increasing contamination from misclassified interlopers with increasing redshift, primarily by intermediate redshift sources with unremarkable properties (intermediate ages, lack of ongoing star formation and low/moderate dust content). Using Monte-Carlo simulations, we estimate that the CANDELS deep data have contamination induced by photometric scatter increasing from ∼2% at z∼5 to ∼6% at z∼8 for a typical dropout color ⩾1 mag, with contamination naturally decreasing for a more stringent dropout selection. Contaminants are expected to be located preferentially near the detection limit of surveys, ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 contaminants per arcmin{sup 2} at J{sub 125} = 30, depending on the field considered. This analysis suggests that the impact of contamination in future studies of z>10 galaxies needs to be carefully considered.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Exploiting non-linear scales in galaxy–galaxy lensing and galaxy clustering: A forecast for the dark energy survey

ABSTRACT The combination of galaxy–galaxy lensing (GGL) and galaxy clustering is a powerful probe of low-redshift matter clustering, especially if it is extended to the non-linear regime. To this end, we use an N-body and halo occupation distribution (HOD) emulator method to model the redMaGiC sample of colour-selected passive galaxies in the Dark Energy Survey (DES), adding parameters that describe central galaxy incompleteness, galaxy assembly bias, and a scale-independent multiplicative lensing bias Alens. We use this emulator to forecast cosmological constraints attainable from the GGL surface density profile ΔΣ(rp) and the projected galaxy correlation function wp, gg(rp) in the final (Year 6) DES data set over scales $r_p=0.3\!-\!30.0\, h^{-1} \, \mathrm{Mpc}$. For a $3{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ prior on Alens we forecast precisions of $1.9{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, $2.0{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, and $1.9{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ on Ωm, σ8, and $S_8 \equiv \sigma _8\Omega _m^{0.5}$, marginalized over all halo occupation distribution (HOD) parameters as well as Alens. Adding scales $r_p=0.3\!-\!3.0\, h^{-1} \, \mathrm{Mpc}$ improves the S8 precision by a factor of ∼1.6 relative to a large scale ($3.0\!-\!30.0\, h^{-1} \, \mathrm{Mpc}$) analysis, equivalent to increasing the survey area by a factor of ∼2.6. Sharpening the Alens prior to $1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ further improves the S8 precision to $1.1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, and it amplifies the gain from including non-linear scales. Our emulator achieves per cent-level accuracy similar to the projected DES statistical uncertainties, demonstrating the feasibility of a fully non-linear analysis. Obtaining precise parameter constraints from multiple galaxy types and from measurements that span linear and non-linear clustering offers many opportunities for internal cross-checks, which can diagnose systematics and demonstrate the robustness of cosmological results.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Controlled Placement of Trivalent Heteroatoms in MFI Zeolite Frameworks Using Structure-Directing Agents

MFI zeolites contain distinct confining pore environments, either smaller (∼0.55 nm) channels or larger (∼0.70 nm) intersections. The substitution of trivalent heteroatoms generates Brønsted acid sites of varying acid strength, which, together with their location within different pore environments, dictates the stability of transition states via electrostatic (ion-pair) and van der Waals interactions. Here, we report that structure-directing agents (SDAs) that control Al 3+ substitutional patterns during MFI crystallization analogously position other trivalent heteroatoms (Ga 3+ , Fe 3+ , B 3+ ), altering the distribution of acid sites between channels and intersections, as probed by low-temperature (403 K) toluene methylation kinetics. Heteroatom-substituted MFI crystallized with tetrapropylammonium result in low selectivity toward p-xylene (<30%), while those crystallized using (co-)SDAs containing peripheral hydrogen-bonding groups (e.g., ethylenediamine) show high p-xylene selectivity (∼80%). These selectivities are consistent with DFT-calculated Gibbs free energy barriers for intersection-dominant and channel-dominant active site distributions, respectively. Transition states to form each xylene isomer are similar in size and charge; thus, their rate constants decrease with acid strength similarly, causing isomer selectivity to depend strongly on confinement but not on acid strength. These generalizable synthetic strategies enable independently controlling acid site strength and location in MFI zeolites and, in turn, catalytic rates and selectivities.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Dissecting the Performance of Nanoporous Gold Catalysts for Oxygen-Assisted Coupling of Methanol with Fundamental Mechanistic and Kinetic Information

The utility of the surface reactivity observed for model systems under ultrahigh vacuum for predicting the performance of catalytic materials under ambient flow conditions is a highly debated topic in heterogeneous catalysis. Herein we show that vast differences in selectivity observed for methanol self-coupling across wide ranges of temperature and reactant pressure can be accurately predicted utilizing the kinetics and mechanism obtained from model studies on gold single crystals in ultrahigh vacuum regressed to fit transient pulse responses over nanoporous gold (Ag 0.03 Au 0.97 ) at low pressures. Specifically, microkinetic modeling of the complex sequence of elementary steps governing this reaction predicts the dramatic effect of reactant partial pressure on the product distribution and leads to conclusion that the gas phase partial pressures of both reactants and the reaction temperature determine the changes in selectivity to methyl formate formation. Moreover, thorough analysis of the reaction network indicates that the product distribution becomes increasingly insensitive to kinetic effects at pressures approaching 1 bar, leading toward 100% selectivity methyl formate. A rigorous kinetic sensitivity analysis also demonstrates the complex interplay of the kinetics of the elementary steps and the overall catalytic behavior.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Local Structure Analysis and Modelling of Lignin‐Based Carbon Composites through the Hierarchical Decomposition of the Radial Distribution Function

Abstract Carbonized lignin has been proposed as a sustainable and domestic source of activated, amorphous, graphitic, and nanostructured carbon for many industrial applications as the structure can be tuned through processing conditions. However, the inherent variability of lignin and its complex physicochemical structure resulting from feedstock and pulping selection make the Process‐Structure‐Property‐Performance (PSPP) relationships hard to define. In this work, radial distribution functions (RDFs) from synchrotron X‐ray and neutron scattering of lignin‐based carbon composites (LBCCs) are investigated using the Hierarchical Decomposition of the Radial Distribution Function (HDRDF) modelling method to characterize the local atomic environment and develop quantitative PSPP relationships. PSPP relationships for LBCCs defined by this work include crystallite size dependence on lignin feedstock as well as increasing crystalline volume fraction, nanoscale composite density, and crystallite size with increasing reduction temperature.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

The spatial correlation function of rich clusters of galaxies

A series of objective statistical estimators is applied to directly study the three-dimensional distribution of rich clusters, using a recently completed redshift sample of 104 Abell clusters out to distance class four and galactic latitude of 30 deg or more. The sample and the relevant positional and redshift selection effects are discussed, and the two-point angular correlation function and nearest-neighbor distribution of clusters in the sample are determined, as well as in the larger D = 5+6 sample and in several subsamples of different richness classes and latitude zones. The redshift correlation function of clusters for various angular separations on the sky is examined as a test for the reality of the observed angular correlations. The two-point spatial correlation function of clusters in the sample is determined, and the consistency among the three observed correlation functions is tested. A model that describes all the observed correlations is presented.

Bahcall, N. A.↗

Dynamic frequency control in power networks

Node controllers in power distribution networks in accordance with embodiments of the invention enable dynamic frequency control. One embodiment includes a node controller comprising a network interface a processor; and a memory containing a frequency control application; and a plurality of node operating parameters describing the operating parameters of a node, where the node is selected from a group consisting of at least one generator node in a power distribution network wherein the processor is configured by the frequency control application to calculate a plurality of updated node operating parameters using a distributed process to determine the updated node operating parameter using the node operating parameters, where the distributed process controls network frequency in the power distribution network; and adjust the node operating parameters.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Effect of Grain Boundary and Crystallographic Orientation on the Stress Corrosion Behavior of an Al-Zn-Mg Alloy

The effect of grain boundary and crystallographic orientation on the stress corrosion behavior of an Al-4.5Zn-1.4Mg alloy was investigated by comparing the performance of constant load stress corrosion test (CLSCT) and tensile test of specimens parallel to the longitudinal and transverse directions of the extruded plate. The results revealed that the strength of the longitudinal and transverse specimens decreased by 9.68 and 18.13%, respectively, after 10-day CLSCT. The transverse specimens show poor resistance to stress corrosion cracking (SCC). The grain boundaries (GB) of the longitudinal section are less dense, and more of them are distributed along the extrusion direction compared with the cross section with selected areas of the same size. The SCC of all specimens starts from the side faces of the specimen, and it is dominated by intergranular cracking. But the corrosion of the transverse specimens was more serious. The cracks of all specimens tend to propagate along the GBs with misorientation of about 50°-60°, and the difference of Schmidt factor (SF) values of grains on both sides of the crack is significantly large. The crack of longitudinal specimens propagates relatively parallel to the tensile direction, while propagation of the crack in transverse specimens is more zigzag.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Impact of particle size on distribution and human exposure of flame retardants in indoor dust

Highlights: • Indoor dust from office/public microenvironments/cars were separated into 6 size fractions. • FR distribution was dependent on Kow/dust surface area/TOC/FR migration pathway. • OPFR bioaccessibility was 1.8–82%, bioaccessible PBDEs/NBFRs/DPs were < detection limit. • Human exposure to FR was dependent on dust particle size and bioaccessibility. The effect of dust particle size on the distribution and bioaccessibility of flame retardants (FRs) in indoor dust remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed 20 FRs (including 6 organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), 8 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), 4 novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs), and 2 dechlorane plus (DPs)) in composite dust samples from offices, public microenvironments (PME), and cars in Nanjing, China. Each composite sample (one per microenvironment) was separated into 6 size fractions (F1–F6: 200–2000 µm, 150–200 µm, 100–150 µm, 63–100 µm, 43–63 µm, and 9). Bioaccessibility of FRs was measured by the physiologically-based extraction test, with OPFR bioaccessibility being 1.8–82% while bioaccessible PBDEs, NBFRs, and DPs were under detection limits due to their high hydrophobicity. The OPFR bioaccessibility in 200–2000 µm fraction was significantly higher than that of <43 µm fraction, but with no difference among the other four fractions. Risk assessment was performed for the most abundant OPFR-tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate. The average daily dose (ADD) values were the highest for the <43 µm fraction for all three types of dust using total concentrations, but no consistent trend was found among the three types of dust if based on bioaccessible concentrations. Our results indicated that dust size impacted human exposure estimation of FRs due to their variability in distribution and bioaccessibility among different fractions. For future risk assessment, size selection for dust sampling should be standardized and bioaccessibility of FRs should not be overlooked.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Transmission-distribution long-term volt-var planning considering reactive power support capability of distributed PV

High penetration of grid-edge, inverter-based photovoltaic (PV) can cause significant voltage fluctuations not only at the distribution but also at the sub-transmission levels due to PV output intermittency. Traditional reactive power planning approaches do not consider intermittency, nor the possibility of coordinating the control of existing and future volt-ampere reactive resources. This paper proposes a reactive power planning tool for sub-transmission systems to mitigate voltage violations and fluctuations caused by high PV penetration and intermittency with a minimum investment cost. The planning tool coordinates with an optimization-based volt-var operational tool for: a) modeling the coordination of all existing var assets in both sub-transmission and distribution systems to reduce the need of new equipment, and b)selecting a set of scenarios with voltage violations, derived from PV intermittency c) testing the final investment decision. The tool obtains an investment need for each intermittency scenario with a proposed optimal power-flow framework with efficient techniques to handle a high number of discrete variables. Two options are provided for final planning decision: i) a conservative direct combination of investment need solutions and ii) a machine learning-based selection of representative investment needs at most time steps. The final investment decision options are verified using a realistic large-scale sub-transmission system and 5-minute PV and load data. The results show a significant voltage performance improvement with a lower investment cost for additional var equipment compared to conventional approaches.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Digital data acquisition system implementation at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory

A Digital Data Acquisition System (DDAS) composed of 16-channel FPGA-programmable modules running 12-bit 100 Mega-Samples Per Second (MSPS) ADCs has been implemented on three different experimental arrays at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) encompassing charged particle spectroscopy, high and low energy-resolution photon detection, and neutron time-of-flight measurements. DDAS has increased the experimental capabilities of each array by providing energy and time measurements with nearly zero dead-time, low energy thresholds, and large dynamic range. The performance of the DDAS Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC)s was characterized, and energy and time resolutions were compared with traditional analog systems. We have demonstrated a 14- to 15-bit peak-sensing equivalent resolution when applied to semiconductor detectors and 500 ps time resolution for LaBr 3 detectors measuring coincident radiation with signal amplitudes of ≈13% of the input range of the ADC. Details regarding the operation of the system at NSCL including digital filtering, triggering, clock distribution, and event-building are discussed along with applications to selected detector systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

The modeling of risk perception in the use of structural health monitoring information for optimal maintenance decisions

This paper proposes an approach to select a maintenance strategy from a predefined set of choices considering the decision maker’s behavioral risk profile. It is assumed that the damage state is characterized by a continuous state parameter probabilistically inferred from observable sensor data. This work applies an engineering application of consequence-based decision-making incorporating the acceptable risk intensity of the decision-maker, i.e., the decision-maker’s (individual or an organization) valuation of the outcome of a decision, using a risk profile model. The utility of a decision-maker is subjective, and this paper considers the fact that different decision-makers mentally assign a different importance factor (the utility) to the seriousness or urgency to take necessary actions with the increasing intensity of structural damage. The approach herein incorporates a layer of human psychology on selecting appropriate maintenance strategies that not only depend on the posterior distribution of unmeasurable damage state but also consider the behavioral risk profile of the decision-maker. Further, the collective decision-making of an organization consisting of many individuals is also investigated. The approach is exemplified in a case study involving life cycle monitoring of a miter gate, part of a lock system enabling navigation of inland waterways.

42 ENGINEERING↗