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At least 1,747 records · Page 97

Design, analysis and test verification of advanced encapsulation systems

An analytical methodology for advanced encapsulation designs was developed. From these methods design sensitivities are established for the development of photovoltaic module criteria and the definition of needed research tasks. Analytical models were developed to perform optical, thermal, electrical and analyses on candidate encapsulation systems. From these analyses several candidate systems were selected for qualification testing. Additionally, test specimens of various types are constructed and tested to determine the validity of the analysis methodology developed. Identified deficiencies and/or discrepancies between analytical models and relevant test data are corrected. Prediction capability of analytical models is improved. Encapsulation engineering generalities, principles, and design aids for photovoltaic module designers is generated.

Garcia, A., III↗

Spacelab Mission 2 pallet-only mode verification flight

The first two flights of Spacelab are intended to verify the utility and flexibility of all elements of the Spacelab inventory, incorporating an array of interchangeable components including pressurized manned laboratories, unpressurized platforms, and related support systems, which can be assembled in several different configurations of pallets and pressurized modules depending on the specific requirements of the mission. System performance will be monitored by flight instrumentation. Attention is given to Mission 2's unique payload-integration equipment and the general problem of mission planning.

Lester, R. C.↗

Analytical verification of undesirable properties of direct model reference adaptive control algorithms

The present investigation is concerned with a new method, called 'final approach analysis', which has been developed to analyze the dynamic properties of a class of direct adaptive control algorithms. Particular attention is given to the robustness of these algorithms to a number of aspects. These aspects are related to the generation of high frequencies in the plant control signal, to excessive bandwidth of the adaptive control loop resulting in excitation of unmodeled dynamics, and, consequently, leading to dynamic instability of the closed-loop adaptive system, and, thirdly, to noise corrupted measurements. The final approach analysis is useful because it can be used in a constructive way to adjust the adaptive gains so as to limit the closed-loop system bandwidth and to ameliorate some of the undesirable characteristics of existing adaptive algorithms.

Rohrs, C. E.↗

An experimental verification of laser-velocimeter sampling bias and its correction

The existence of 'sampling bias' in individual-realization laser velocimeter measurements is experimentally verified and shown to be independent of sample rate. The experiments were performed in a simple two-stream mixing shear flow with the standard for comparison being laser-velocimeter results obtained under continuous-wave conditions. It is also demonstrated that the errors resulting from sampling bias can be removed by a proper interpretation of the sampling statistics. In addition, data obtained in a shock-induced separated flow and in the near-wake of airfoils are presented, both bias-corrected and uncorrected, to illustrate the effects of sampling bias in the extreme.

Johnson, D. A.↗

Cryogenic fluid management experiment trunnion fatigue verification

A subcritical liquid hydrogen orbital storage and transfer experiment was designed for flight in the Shuttle cargo bay. The Cryogenic Fluid Management Experiment (CFME) includes a liquid hydrogen tank supported in a vacuum jacket by two fiberglass epoxy trunnion mounts. This composite material was selected for the trunnions since it provides desirable strength, weight and thermal characteristics for supporting cryogenic tankage. An experimental program was conducted to provide material property and fatigue data for S-glass epoxy composite materials at ambient and liquid hydrogen temperatures and to verify structural integrity of the CFME trunnion supports.

Bailey, W. J.↗

Design and verification of a cloud field optical simulator

A concept and an apparatus designed to investigate the reflected and transmitted distributions of light from optically thick clouds is presented. The Cloud Field Optical Simulator (CFOS) is a laboratory device which utilizes an array of incandescent lamps as a source, simulated clouds made from cotton or styrofoam as targets, and an array of silicon photodiodes as detectors. The device allows virtually any source-target-detector geometry to be examined. Similitude between real clouds and their CFOS cotton or styrofoam counterparts is established by relying on a linear relationship between optical depth and the ratio of reflected to transmitted light for a semiinfinite layer. Comparisons of principal plane radiances observed by the CFOS with Monte Carlo computations for a water cloud at 0.7 micron show excellent agreement. Initial applications of the CFOS are discussed.

Davis, J. M.↗

ATOPS B-737 inner-loop control system linear model construction and verification

Nonlinear models and block diagrams of an inner-loop control system for the ATOPS B-737 Research Aircraft are presented. Continuous time linear model representations of the nonlinear inner-loop control systems are derived. Closed-loop aircraft simulations comparing nonlinear and linear dynamic responses to step inputs are used to verify the inner-loop control system models.

Broussard, J. R.↗

Cryogenic Fluid Management Experiment (CFME) trunnion verification testing

The Cryogenic Fluid Management Experiment (CFME) was designed to characterize subcritical liquid hydrogen storage and expulsion in the low-g space environment. The CFME has now become the storage and supply tank for the Cryogenic Fluid Management Facility, which includes transfer line and receiver tanks, as well. The liquid hydrogen storage and supply vessel is supported within a vacuum jacket to two fiberglass/epoxy composite trunnions which were analyzed and designed. Analysis using the limited available data indicated the trunnion was the most fatigue critical component in the storage vessel. Before committing the complete storage tank assembly to environmental testing, an experimental assessment was performed to verify the capability of the trunnion design to withstand expected vibration and loading conditions. Three tasks were conducted to evaluate trunnion integrity. The first determined the fatigue properties of the trunnion composite laminate materials. Tests at both ambient and liquid hydrogen temperatures showed composite material fatigue properties far in excess of those expected. Next, an assessment of the adequacy of the trunnion designs was performed (based on the tested material properties).

Bailey, W. J.↗

Design and verification of a cloud field optical simulator

A concept and an apparatus designed to investigate the reflected and transmitted distributions of light from optically thick clouds is presented. The Cloud Field Optical Simulator (CFOS) is a laboratory device which utilizes an array of incandescent lamps as a source, simulated clouds made from cotton or styrofoam as targets, and an array of silicon photodiodes as detectors. The device allows virtually any source-target-detector geometry to be examined. Similitude between real clouds and their CFOS cotton or styrofoam counterparts is established by relying on a linear relationship between optical depth and the ratio of reflected to transmitted light for a semi-infinite layer. Comparisons of principal plane radiances observed by the CFOS with Monte Carlo computations for a water cloud at 0.7 microns show excellent agreement.

Davis, J. M.↗

STP: A Mechanized Logic for Specification and Verification

A logic and proof theory that was mechanized and successfully applied to prove nontrivial properties of a fully distributed fault tolerant system is described. The system is close to achieving the critical balance in man machine interaction necesary for successful application by users other than the system developers. Motivation for the form of man machine interaction embodied by STP is discussed. A formal description of the logic and the proof theory is contained, and the description illustrated with an example. The use of STP in a large scale effort to prove nontrivial properties on SIFT, a distributed Software Implemented Fault Tolerant operating system for aircraft flight control is discussed. Finally, directions for further work are described.

Shostak, R. E.↗

The Hierarchical Specification and Mechanical Verification of the SIFT Design

The formal specification and proof methodology employed to demonstrate that the SIFT computer system meets its requirements are described. The hierarchy of design specifications is shown, from very abstract descriptions of system function down to the implementation. The most abstract design specifications are simple and easy to understand, almost all details of the realization were abstracted out, and are used to ensure that the system functions reliably and as intended. A succession of lower level specifications refines these specifications into more detailed, and more complex, views of the system design, culminating in the Pascal implementation. The section describes the rigorous mechanical proof that the abstract specifications are satisfied by the actual implementation.

Source record↗

Verification of an altitude decompression sickness prevention protocol for Shuttle operations utilizing a 10.s psi pressure stage

Three test series involving 173-man tess were conducted to define and verify a pre-extravehicular activity (EVA) denitrogenation procedure that would provide acceptable protection against altitude decompression sickness while minimizing the required duration of oxygen (O2) prebreathe in the suit prior to EVA. The tests also addressed the safety, in terms of incidence of decompression sickness, of conducting EVA's on consecutive days rather than on alternate days. The tests were conducted in an altitude chamber, subjects were selected as representative of the astronaut population, and EVA periods were simulated by reducing the chamber pressure to suit pressure while the subjects breathed O2 with masks and worked at EVA representative work rates. A higher than anticipated incidence of both venous bubbles (55%) and symptoms (26%) was measured following all denitrogenation protocols in this test. For the most part, symptoms were very minor and stabilized, diminished, or disappeared in the six-hour tests. Instances of clear, possible, or potential systemic symptoms were encountered only after use of the unmodified 10.2 psi protocol and not after the modified 10.2 psi protocol, the 3.5-hour O2 prebreathed protocol, or the 4.0-hour O2 prebreathe protocol. The high incidence of symptoms is ascribed to the type and duration of exercise and the sensitivity of the reporting technique to minor symptoms. Repeated EVA exposures after only 17 hours did not increase symptom or bubble incidence.

Waligora, J. M.↗

Verification of the accuracy of GEM-L2 in response to criticism by Lambeck and Coleman

The objective was to evaluate the accuracy of the Goddard Earth Model (GEM)-L2 and its improvement in estimating Lageos orbits in order to provide better baselines for plate tectonics, improved polar motion and Earth rotation. Analyses and comparisons with other models are made to verify accuracy in contrast to the Lambeck and Coleman result which denied the authors' accuracy estimates. The analysis presented completely verifies the accuracy of the GEM-L2 model and disproves the statistical methods of Lambeck and Coleman rejecting the accuracy of GEM-L2 as published in their report. The baselines derived from Lageos with GEM-L2 were estimated to have a 2 cm uncertainty due to the errors in the GEM-L2 gravity model which is supported by the results given. The calibration tests indicate that the errors in GEM-L2 should be reduced by about 30 percent which is in the opposite direction to the result obtained by Lambeck and Coleman.

Lerch, F. J.↗

Design, analysis and test verification of advanced encapsulation systems

The analytical methodology for advanced encapsulation designs for the development of photovoltaic modules is presented. Analytical models are developed to test optical, thermal, electrical and structural properties of the various encapsulation systems. Model data is compared to relevant test data to improve model accuracy and develop general principles for the design of photovoltaic modules.

Garcia, A., III↗

Design, analysis and test verification of advanced encapsulation systems

Investigations into transparent conductive polymers were begun. Polypyrrole was electrochemically deposited, but the film characteristics were poor. A proprietary polymer material supplied by Polaroid was evaluated and showed promise as a readily processable material. A method was developed for calculating the magnitude and location of the maximum electric field for the family of solar-cell-like shapes. A method for calculating the lines of force for three dimensional electric fields was developed and applied to a geometry of interest to the photovoltaic program.

Garcia, A., III↗

Identification and verification of frequency-domain models for XV-15 tilt-rotor aircraft dynamics

Frequency-domain methods are used to extract the open-loop dynamics of the XV-15 tilt-rotor aircraft from flight test data for the cruise condition (V = 170 knots). The frequency responses are numerically fitted with transfer-function forms to identify equivalent model characteristics. The associated handling quality parameters meet or exceed Level 2, Category A, requirements for fixed-wing military aircraft. Step response matching is used to verify the time-domain fidelity of the transfer-function models for the cruise and hover flight conditions. The transient responses of the model and aircraft are in close agreement in all cases, except for the normal acceleration response to elevator deflection in cruise. This discrepancy is probably due to the unmodeled rotor rpm dynamics. The utility of the frequency-domain approach for dynamics identification and analysis is clearly demonstrated.

Tischler, M. B.↗

Acceleration and transport processes - Verification and observations

The general problem of diffusive transport and acceleration of energetic charged particles is considered. The transport of solar-flare particles, solar modulation of galactic cosmic rays and shock acceleration processes on the solar wind are examined and observational tests are summarized. It is concluded that the basic diffusive transport equation is a useful approximation in situations like the solar wind, where turbulent scattering by magnetic irregularities is sufficient to maintain near isotropy. The application of this equation to the interstellar medium andd other, more distant astrophysical regimes is then discussed and implications for gamma-ray astrophysics are outlined. Finally the evidence for interstellar turbulence is reviewed and its consequences briefly discussed.

Jokipii, J. R.↗