Brief Mindfulness Meditation Training Reduces Mind-Wandering: The Critical Role of Acceptance

PubMed Central

Rahl, Hayley A.; Lindsay, Emily K.; Pacilio, Laura E.; Brown, Kirk W.; Creswell, J. David

2016-01-01

Mindfulness meditation programs, which train individuals to monitor their present moment experience in an open or accepting way, have been shown to reduce mind-wandering on standardized tasks in several studies. Here we test two competing accounts for how mindfulness training reduces mind-wandering, evaluating whether the attention monitoring component of mindfulness training alone reduces mind-wandering or whether the acceptance training component is necessary for reducing mind-wandering. Healthy young adults (N=147) were randomized to either a 3-day brief mindfulness training condition incorporating instruction in both attention monitoring and acceptance, a mindfulness training condition incorporating attention monitoring instruction only, a relaxation training condition, or a reading control condition. Participants completed measures of dispositional mindfulness and treatment expectancies before the training session on Day 1 and then completed a 6-minute Sustained Attention Response Task (SART) measuring mind-wandering after the training session on Day 3. Acceptance training was important for reducing mind-wandering, such that the monitoring + acceptance mindfulness training condition had the lowest mind-wandering relative to the other conditions, including significantly lower mind-wandering relative to the monitor-only mindfulness training condition. In one of the first experimental mindfulness training dismantling studies to-date, we show that training in acceptance is a critical driver of mindfulness training reductions in mind-wandering. This effect suggests that acceptance skills may facilitate emotion regulation on boring and frustrating sustained attention tasks that foster mind-wandering, such as the SART. PMID:27819445

Using stamping punch force variation for the identification of changes in lubrication and wear mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voss, B. M.; Pereira, M. P.; Rolfe, B. F.; Doolan, M. C.

2017-09-01

The growth in use of Advanced High Strength Steels in the automotive industry for light-weighting and safety has increased the rates of tool wear in sheet metal stamping. This is an issue that adds significant costs to production in terms of manual inspection and part refinishing. To reduce these costs, a tool condition monitoring system is required and a firm understanding of process signal variation must form the foundation for any such monitoring system. Punch force is a stamping process signal that is widely collected by industrial presses and has been linked closely to part quality and tool condition, making it an ideal candidate as a tool condition monitoring signal. In this preliminary investigation, the variation of punch force due to different lubrication conditions and progressive wear are examined. Linking specific punch force signature changes to developing lubrication and wear events is valuable for die wear and stamping condition monitoring. A series of semi-industrial channel forming trials were conducted under different lubrication regimes and progressive die wear. Punch force signatures were captured for each part and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to determine the key Principal Components of the signature data sets. These Principal Components were linked to the evolution of friction conditions over the course of the stroke for the different lubrication regimes and mechanism of galling wear. As a result, variation in punch force signatures were correlated to the current mechanism of wear dominant on the formed part; either abrasion or adhesion, and to changes in lubrication mechanism. The outcomes of this study provide important insights into punch force signature variation, that will provide a foundation for future work into the development of die wear and lubrication monitoring systems for sheet metal stamping.

Feasibility Study of a Rotorcraft Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS): Usage and Structural Life Monitoring Evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dickson, B.; Cronkhite, J.; Bielefeld, S.; Killian, L.; Hayden, R.

1996-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate two techniques, Flight Condition Recognition (FCR) and Flight Load Synthesis (FIS), for usage monitoring and assess the potential benefits of extending the retirement intervals of life-limited components, thus reducing the operator's maintenance and replacement costs. Both techniques involve indirect determination of loads using measured flight parameters and subsequent fatigue analysis to calculate the life expended on the life-limited components. To assess the potential benefit of usage monitoring, the two usage techniques were compared to current methods of component retirement. In addition, comparisons were made with direct load measurements to assess the accuracy of the two techniques.

Advancements in satellite remote sensing for drought monitoring

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Drought monitoring is a key component for effective drought preparedness strategies, providing critical information on current conditions that can be used to trigger mitigation actions to lessen the impact of this natural hazard. However, drought can be both complex and challenging to monitor becau...

Efforts Toward an Early Warning Crop Monitor for Countries at Risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budde, M. E.; Verdin, J. P.; Barker, B.; Humber, M. L.; Becker-Reshef, I.; Justice, C. O.; Magadzire, T.; Galu, G.; Rodriguez, M.; Jayanthi, H.

2015-12-01

Assessing crop growing conditions is a crucial aspect of monitoring food security in the developing world. One of the core components of the Group on Earth Observations - Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) targets monitoring Countries at Risk (component 3). The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) has a long history of utilizing remote sensing and crop modeling to address food security threats in the form of drought, floods, pest infestation, and climate change in some of the world's most at risk countries. FEWS NET scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center and the University of Maryland Department of Geography have undertaken efforts to address component 3, by promoting the development of a collaborative Early Warning Crop Monitor (EWCM) that would specifically address Countries at Risk. A number of organizations utilize combinations of satellite earth observations, field campaigns, network partner inputs, and crop modeling techniques to monitor crop conditions throughout the world. Agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) provide agricultural monitoring information and reporting across a broad number of areas at risk and in many cases, organizations routinely report on the same countries. The latter offers an opportunity for collaboration on crop growing conditions among agencies. The reduction of uncertainty and achievement of consensus will help strengthen confidence in decisions to commit resources for mitigation of acute food insecurity and support for resilience and development programs. In addition, the development of a collaborative global EWCM will provide each of the partner agencies with the ability to quickly gather crop condition information for areas where they may not typically work or have access to local networks. Using a framework developed by GEOGLAM for monitoring crop conditions in support of the Agricultural Market Information System, we developed an EWCM system for countries at risk. We present the current status of that implementation and highlight achievements to date along with future plans to support the needs of the global agricultural monitoring community.

Brief mindfulness meditation training reduces mind wandering: The critical role of acceptance.

PubMed

Rahl, Hayley A; Lindsay, Emily K; Pacilio, Laura E; Brown, Kirk W; Creswell, J David

2017-03-01

Mindfulness meditation programs, which train individuals to monitor their present-moment experience in an open or accepting way, have been shown to reduce mind wandering on standardized tasks in several studies. Here we test 2 competing accounts for how mindfulness training reduces mind wandering, evaluating whether the attention-monitoring component of mindfulness training alone reduces mind wandering or whether the acceptance training component is necessary for reducing mind wandering. Healthy young adults (N = 147) were randomized to either a 3-day brief mindfulness training condition incorporating instruction in both attention monitoring and acceptance, a mindfulness training condition incorporating attention monitoring instruction only, a relaxation training condition, or an active reading-control condition. Participants completed measures of dispositional mindfulness and treatment expectancies before the training session on Day 1 and then completed a 6-min Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) measuring mind wandering after the training session on Day 3. Acceptance training was important for reducing mind wandering, such that the attention-monitoring plus acceptance mindfulness training condition had the lowest mind wandering relative to the other conditions, including significantly lower mind wandering than the attention-monitoring only mindfulness training condition. In one of the first experimental mindfulness training dismantling studies to-date, we show that training in acceptance is a critical driver of mindfulness-training reductions in mind wandering. This effect suggests that acceptance skills may facilitate emotion regulation on boring and frustrating sustained attention tasks that foster mind wandering, such as the SART. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Correlate Life Predictions and Condition Indicators in Helicopter Tail Gearbox Bearings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dempsey, Paula J.; Bolander, Nathan; Haynes, Chris; Branning, Jeremy; Wade, Daniel R.

2010-01-01

Research to correlate bearing remaining useful life (RUL) predictions with Helicopter Health Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) condition indicators (CI) to indicate the damage state of a transmission component has been developed. Condition indicators were monitored and recorded on UH-60M (Black Hawk) tail gearbox output shaft thrust bearings, which had been removed from helicopters and installed in a bearing spall propagation test rig. Condition indicators monitoring the tail gearbox output shaft thrust bearings in UH-60M helicopters were also recorded from an on-board HUMS. The spal-lpropagation data collected in the test rig was used to generate condition indicators for bearing fault detection. A damage progression model was also developed from this data. Determining the RUL of this component in a helicopter requires the CI response to be mapped to the damage state. The data from helicopters and a test rig were analyzed to determine if bearing remaining useful life predictions could be correlated with HUMS condition indicators (CI). Results indicate data fusion analysis techniques can be used to map the CI response to the damage levels.

A Hybrid Generalized Hidden Markov Model-Based Condition Monitoring Approach for Rolling Bearings

PubMed Central

Liu, Jie; Hu, Youmin; Wu, Bo; Wang, Yan; Xie, Fengyun

2017-01-01

The operating condition of rolling bearings affects productivity and quality in the rotating machine process. Developing an effective rolling bearing condition monitoring approach is critical to accurately identify the operating condition. In this paper, a hybrid generalized hidden Markov model-based condition monitoring approach for rolling bearings is proposed, where interval valued features are used to efficiently recognize and classify machine states in the machine process. In the proposed method, vibration signals are decomposed into multiple modes with variational mode decomposition (VMD). Parameters of the VMD, in the form of generalized intervals, provide a concise representation for aleatory and epistemic uncertainty and improve the robustness of identification. The multi-scale permutation entropy method is applied to extract state features from the decomposed signals in different operating conditions. Traditional principal component analysis is adopted to reduce feature size and computational cost. With the extracted features’ information, the generalized hidden Markov model, based on generalized interval probability, is used to recognize and classify the fault types and fault severity levels. Finally, the experiment results show that the proposed method is effective at recognizing and classifying the fault types and fault severity levels of rolling bearings. This monitoring method is also efficient enough to quantify the two uncertainty components. PMID:28524088

Monitoring components of GypsES

Treesearch

Lukas P. Schaub; F. William Ravlin; Jesse A. Logan; Shelby J. Fleischer

1991-01-01

The manager needs tools for assistance in planning and interpreting monitoring systems. We are building a system that designs sampling programs by interpreting data about Gypsy Moth, stand condition and management objectives. The system prioritizes areas within the management unit within budgetary constraints and defines the areas to be monitored. The system proposes...

Utilization of wireless structural health monitoring as decision making tools for a condition and reliability-based assessment of railroad bridges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flanigan, Katherine A.; Johnson, Nephi R.; Hou, Rui; Ettouney, Mohammed; Lynch, Jerome P.

2017-04-01

The ability to quantitatively assess the condition of railroad bridges facilitates objective evaluation of their robustness in the face of hazard events. Of particular importance is the need to assess the condition of railroad bridges in networks that are exposed to multiple hazards. Data collected from structural health monitoring (SHM) can be used to better maintain a structure by prompting preventative (rather than reactive) maintenance strategies and supplying quantitative information to aid in recovery. To that end, a wireless monitoring system is validated and installed on the Harahan Bridge which is a hundred-year-old long-span railroad truss bridge that crosses the Mississippi River near Memphis, TN. This bridge is exposed to multiple hazards including scour, vehicle/barge impact, seismic activity, and aging. The instrumented sensing system targets non-redundant structural components and areas of the truss and floor system that bridge managers are most concerned about based on previous inspections and structural analysis. This paper details the monitoring system and the analytical method for the assessment of bridge condition based on automated data-driven analyses. Two primary objectives of monitoring the system performance are discussed: 1) monitoring fatigue accumulation in critical tensile truss elements; and 2) monitoring the reliability index values associated with sub-system limit states of these members. Moreover, since the reliability index is a scalar indicator of the safety of components, quantifiable condition assessment can be used as an objective metric so that bridge owners can make informed damage mitigation strategies and optimize resource management on single bridge or network levels.

Anomaly Detection Techniques with Real Test Data from a Spinning Turbine Engine-Like Rotor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdul-Aziz, Ali; Woike, Mark R.; Oza, Nikunj C.; Matthews, Bryan L.

2012-01-01

Online detection techniques to monitor the health of rotating engine components are becoming increasingly attractive to aircraft engine manufacturers in order to increase safety of operation and lower maintenance costs. Health monitoring remains a challenge to easily implement, especially in the presence of scattered loading conditions, crack size, component geometry, and materials properties. The current trend, however, is to utilize noninvasive types of health monitoring or nondestructive techniques to detect hidden flaws and mini-cracks before any catastrophic event occurs. These techniques go further to evaluate material discontinuities and other anomalies that have grown to the level of critical defects that can lead to failure. Generally, health monitoring is highly dependent on sensor systems capable of performing in various engine environmental conditions and able to transmit a signal upon a predetermined crack length, while acting in a neutral form upon the overall performance of the engine system.

An Evaluation of the Success Rate of Sermo Dam Management in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andriawan, A.; Sobriyah; Ikhsan, C.

2017-11-01

In dam operating and maintaining activities, there are some activities becoming the main function: the assessment of dam condition to keep monitoring and safeguarding the condition of dam as the main building. To achieve the maximum service, the maximal dam management is required as well and it should be followed with management evaluation. This case study was taken place in Sermo Dam of Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta during 2015 - 2017. The method applied in this study was descriptive quantitative one, conducting a research using primary and secondary data. In this research, the assessment of dam condition was viewed from 1 (one) component, dam body, so that the component weight was 100%. The value of dam body condition was obtained from data of Sermo Dam monitoring in 2015-2016 and from the result of field survey in 2017. The result of research showed that the condition values of Sermo Dam with dam body component were 92.66% in 2015, 92.99% in 2016, and 93.99% in 2017. The result also showed that the value of dam body condition tended to increase during 2015-2017. To maintain the condition, the maximal operation and maintenance of dam was recommended.

The New England forest: baseline for New England forest health monitoring

Treesearch

Robert T. Brooks; Thomas S Frieswyk; Douglas M. Griffith; Ellen Cooter; Luther Smith; Luther Smith

1992-01-01

The USDA Forest Service along with various cooperators has initiated Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) in New England to assess the condition and stressors of the region's forests, to analyze changes in these data over time, and to identify any relationships between forest condition and stressors. A major component of FHM in New England is 263 permanent plots located...

A Self-Aware Machine Platform in Manufacturing Shop Floor Utilizing MTConnect Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-02

condition monitoring , and equipment time to failure prediction in manufacturing 1 ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE PROGNOSTICS AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT SOCIETY 2014 589...Component Level Health Monitoring and Prediction One of the characteristics of a self-aware machine is to be able to detect its components...the annual conference of the prognostics and health management society. Filzmoser, P., Garrett, R. G., & Reimann, C . (2005). Mul- tivariate outlier

Results of neutron irradiation of GEM detector for plasma radiation detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jednorog, S.; Bienkowska, B.; Chernyshova, M.; Łaszynska, E.; Prokopowicz, R.; Ziołkowski, A.

2015-09-01

The detecting devices dedicated for plasma monitoring will be exposed for massive fluxes of neutron, photons as well as other rays that are components of fusion reactions and their product interactions with plasma itself or surroundings. In result detecting module metallic components will be activated becoming a source of radiation. Moreover, electronics components could change their electronic properties. The prototype GEM detector constructed for monitoring soft X-ray radiation in ITER oriented tokamaks was used for plasma monitoring during experimental campaign on tokamak ASDEX Upgrade. After that it became a source of gamma radiation caused by neutrons. The present work contains description of detector activation in the laboratory conditions.

Online Vibration Monitoring of a Water Pump Machine to Detect Its Malfunction Components Based on Artificial Neural Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahmawati, P.; Prajitno, P.

2018-04-01

Vibration monitoring is a measurement instrument used to identify, predict, and prevent failures in machine instruments[6]. This is very needed in the industrial applications, cause any problem with the equipment or plant translates into economical loss and they are mostly monitored component off-line[2]. In this research, a system has been developed to detect the malfunction of the components of Shimizu PS-128BT water pump machine, such as capacitor, bearing and impeller by online measurements. The malfunction components are detected by taking vibration data using a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System(MEMS)-based accelerometer that are acquired by using Raspberry Pi microcomputer and then the data are converted into the form of Relative Power Ratio(RPR). In this form the signal acquired from different components conditions have different patterns. The collected RPR used as the base of classification process for recognizing the damage components of the water pump that are conducted by Artificial Neural Network(ANN). Finally, the damage test result will be sent via text message using GSM module that are connected to Raspberry Pi microcomputer. The results, with several measurement readings, with each reading in 10 minutes duration for each different component conditions, all cases yield 100% of accuracies while in the case of defective capacitor yields 90% of accuracy.

Design and implementation of a structural health monitoring and alerting system for hospital buildings in the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ulusoy, Hasan S.; Kalkan, Erol; Fletcher, Jon Peter B.; Friberg, Paul; Leith, W. K.; Banga, Krishna

2012-01-01

This paper describes the current progress in the development of a structural health monitoring and alerting system to meet the needs of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to monitor hospital buildings instrumented in high and very high seismic hazard regions in the U.S. The system, using the measured vibration data, is primarily designed for post-earthquake condition assessment of the buildings. It has two essential components – sensing and analysis. The sensing component includes all necessary firmware and sensors to measure the response of the building; while the analysis component consists of several data processing modules integrated into an open source software package which compresses a large amount of measured data into useful information to assess the building’s condition before and after an event. The information can be used for a rapid building safety assessment, and to support decisions for necessary repairs, replacements, and other maintenance and rehabilitation measures.

Validation of Helicopter Gear Condition Indicators Using Seeded Fault Tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dempsey, Paula; Brandon, E. Bruce

2013-01-01

A "seeded fault test" in support of a rotorcraft condition based maintenance program (CBM), is an experiment in which a component is tested with a known fault while health monitoring data is collected. These tests are performed at operating conditions comparable to operating conditions the component would be exposed to while installed on the aircraft. Performance of seeded fault tests is one method used to provide evidence that a Health Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) can replace current maintenance practices required for aircraft airworthiness. Actual in-service experience of the HUMS detecting a component fault is another validation method. This paper will discuss a hybrid validation approach that combines in service-data with seeded fault tests. For this approach, existing in-service HUMS flight data from a naturally occurring component fault will be used to define a component seeded fault test. An example, using spiral bevel gears as the targeted component, will be presented. Since the U.S. Army has begun to develop standards for using seeded fault tests for HUMS validation, the hybrid approach will be mapped to the steps defined within their Aeronautical Design Standard Handbook for CBM. This paper will step through their defined processes, and identify additional steps that may be required when using component test rig fault tests to demonstrate helicopter CI performance. The discussion within this paper will provide the reader with a better appreciation for the challenges faced when defining a seeded fault test for HUMS validation.

Preliminary Development of Real Time Usage-Phase Monitoring System for CNC Machine Tools with a Case Study on CNC Machine VMC 250

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budi Harja, Herman; Prakosa, Tri; Raharno, Sri; Yuwana Martawirya, Yatna; Nurhadi, Indra; Setyo Nogroho, Alamsyah

2018-03-01

The production characteristic of job-shop industry at which products have wide variety but small amounts causes every machine tool will be shared to conduct production process with dynamic load. Its dynamic condition operation directly affects machine tools component reliability. Hence, determination of maintenance schedule for every component should be calculated based on actual usage of machine tools component. This paper describes study on development of monitoring system to obtaining information about each CNC machine tool component usage in real time approached by component grouping based on its operation phase. A special device has been developed for monitoring machine tool component usage by utilizing usage phase activity data taken from certain electronics components within CNC machine. The components are adaptor, servo driver and spindle driver, as well as some additional components such as microcontroller and relays. The obtained data are utilized for detecting machine utilization phases such as power on state, machine ready state or spindle running state. Experimental result have shown that the developed CNC machine tool monitoring system is capable of obtaining phase information of machine tool usage as well as its duration and displays the information at the user interface application.

GEOGLAM Crop Monitor Assessment Tool: Developing Monthly Crop Condition Assessments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGaughey, K.; Becker Reshef, I.; Barker, B.; Humber, M. L.; Nordling, J.; Justice, C. O.; Deshayes, M.

2014-12-01

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) developed the Global Agricultural Monitoring initiative (GEOGLAM) to improve existing agricultural information through a network of international partnerships, data sharing, and operational research. This presentation will discuss the Crop Monitor component of GEOGLAM, which provides the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) with an international, multi-source, and transparent consensus assessment of crop growing conditions, status, and agro-climatic conditions likely to impact global production. This activity covers the four primary crop types (wheat, maize, rice, and soybean) within the main agricultural producing regions of the AMIS countries. These assessments have been produced operationally since September 2013 and are published in the AMIS Market Monitor Bulletin. The Crop Monitor reports provide cartographic and textual summaries of crop conditions as of the 28th of each month, according to crop type. This presentation will focus on the building of international networks, data collection, and data dissemination.

Wireless acceleration sensor of moving elements for condition monitoring of mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinitsin, Vladimir V.; Shestakov, Aleksandr L.

2017-09-01

Comprehensive analysis of the angular and linear accelerations of moving elements (shafts, gears) allows an increase in the quality of the condition monitoring of mechanisms. However, existing tools and methods measure either linear or angular acceleration with postprocessing. This paper suggests a new construction design of an angular acceleration sensor for moving elements. The sensor is mounted on a moving element and, among other things, the data transfer and electric power supply are carried out wirelessly. In addition, the authors introduce a method for processing the received information which makes it possible to divide the measured acceleration into the angular and linear components. The design has been validated by the results of laboratory tests of an experimental model of the sensor. The study has shown that this method provides a definite separation of the measured acceleration into linear and angular components, even in noise. This research contributes an advance in the range of methods and tools for condition monitoring of mechanisms.

Recommendations for strengthening the infrared technology component of any condition monitoring program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicholas, Jack R., Jr.; Young, R. K.

1999-03-01

This presentation provides insights of a long term 'champion' of many condition monitoring technologies and a Level III infra red thermographer. The co-authors present recommendations based on their observations of infra red and other components of predictive, condition monitoring programs in manufacturing, utility and government defense and energy activities. As predictive maintenance service providers, trainers, informal observers and formal auditors of such programs, the co-authors provide a unique perspective that can be useful to practitioners, managers and customers of advanced programs. Each has over 30 years experience in the field of machinery operation, maintenance, and support the origins of which can be traced to and through the demanding requirements of the U.S. Navy nuclear submarine forces. They have over 10 years each of experience with programs in many different countries on 3 continents. Recommendations are provided on the following: (1) Leadership and Management Support (For survival); (2) Life Cycle View (For establishment of a firm and stable foundation for a program); (3) Training and Orientation (For thermographers as well as operators, managers and others); (4) Analyst Flexibility (To innovate, explore and develop their understanding of machinery condition); (5) Reports and Program Justification (For program visibility and continued expansion); (6) Commitment to Continuous Improvement of Capability and Productivity (Through application of updated hardware and software); (7) Mutual Support by Analysts (By those inside and outside of the immediate organization); (8) Use of Multiple Technologies and System Experts to Help Define Problems (Through the use of correlation analysis of data from up to 15 technologies. An example correlation analysis table for AC and DC motors is provided.); (9) Root Cause Analysis (Allows a shift from reactive to proactive stance for a program); (10) Master Equipment Identification and Technology Application (To place the condition monitoring program in perspective); (11) Use of procedures for Predictive, Condition Monitoring and maintenance in general (To get consistent results); (12) Developing a scheme for predictive, condition monitoring personnel qualification and certification (To provide a career path and incentive to advance skill level and value to the company); (13) Analyst Assignment to Technologies and Related Duties (To make intelligent use of the skills of individuals assigned); (14) Condition Monitoring Analyst Selection Criteria (Key attributes for success are mentioned.); (15) Design and Modification to Support Monitoring (For old and new machinery to facilitate data acquisition); (16) Establishment of a Museum of Components and Samples Pulled from Service for Cause (For orientation and awareness training of operators and managers and exchange of information between analysts); (17) Goals (To promote a proactive program approach for machinery condition improvement).

GUI Type Fault Diagnostic Program for a Turboshaft Engine Using Fuzzy and Neural Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, Changduk; Koo, Youngju

2011-04-01

The helicopter to be operated in a severe flight environmental condition must have a very reliable propulsion system. On-line condition monitoring and fault detection of the engine can promote reliability and availability of the helicopter propulsion system. A hybrid health monitoring program using Fuzzy Logic and Neural Network Algorithms can be proposed. In this hybrid method, the Fuzzy Logic identifies easily the faulted components from engine measuring parameter changes, and the Neural Networks can quantify accurately its identified faults. In order to use effectively the fault diagnostic system, a GUI (Graphical User Interface) type program is newly proposed. This program is composed of the real time monitoring part, the engine condition monitoring part and the fault diagnostic part. The real time monitoring part can display measuring parameters of the study turboshaft engine such as power turbine inlet temperature, exhaust gas temperature, fuel flow, torque and gas generator speed. The engine condition monitoring part can evaluate the engine condition through comparison between monitoring performance parameters the base performance parameters analyzed by the base performance analysis program using look-up tables. The fault diagnostic part can identify and quantify the single faults the multiple faults from the monitoring parameters using hybrid method.

Smart sensor technology for advanced launch vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schoess, Jeff

1989-07-01

Next-generation advanced launch vehicles will require improved use of sensor data and the management of multisensor resources to achieve automated preflight checkout, prelaunch readiness assessment and vehicle inflight condition monitoring. Smart sensor technology is a key component in meeting these needs. This paper describes the development of a smart sensor-based condition monitoring system concept referred to as the Distributed Sensor Architecture. A significant event and anomaly detection scheme that provides real-time condition assessment and fault diagnosis of advanced launch system rocket engines is described. The design and flight test of a smart autonomous sensor for Space Shuttle structural integrity health monitoring is presented.

Reconstruction of in-plane strain maps using hybrid dense sensor network composed of sensing skin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Downey, Austin; Laflamme, Simon; Ubertini, Filippo

2016-12-01

The authors have recently developed a soft-elastomeric capacitive (SEC)-based thin film sensor for monitoring strain on mesosurfaces. Arranged in a network configuration, the sensing system is analogous to a biological skin, where local strain can be monitored over a global area. Under plane stress conditions, the sensor output contains the additive measurement of the two principal strain components over the monitored surface. In applications where the evaluation of strain maps is useful, in structural health monitoring for instance, such signal must be decomposed into linear strain components along orthogonal directions. Previous work has led to an algorithm that enabled such decomposition by leveraging a dense sensor network configuration with the addition of assumed boundary conditions. Here, we significantly improve the algorithm’s accuracy by leveraging mature off-the-shelf solutions to create a hybrid dense sensor network (HDSN) to improve on the boundary condition assumptions. The system’s boundary conditions are enforced using unidirectional RSGs and assumed virtual sensors. Results from an extensive experimental investigation demonstrate the good performance of the proposed algorithm and its robustness with respect to sensors’ layout. Overall, the proposed algorithm is seen to effectively leverage the advantages of a hybrid dense network for application of the thin film sensor to reconstruct surface strain fields over large surfaces.

Method and apparatus for monitoring machine performance

DOEpatents

Smith, Stephen F.; Castleberry, Kimberly N.

1996-01-01

Machine operating conditions can be monitored by analyzing, in either the time or frequency domain, the spectral components of the motor current. Changes in the electric background noise, induced by mechanical variations in the machine, are correlated to changes in the operating parameters of the machine.

Radio/antenna mounting system for wireless networking under row-crop agriculture conditions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Interest in and deployment of wireless monitoring systems is increasing in many diverse environments, including row-crop agricultural fields. While many studies have been undertaken to evaluate various aspects of wireless monitoring and networking, such as electronic hardware components, data-colle...

Aircraft Engine-Monitoring System And Display

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abbott, Terence S.; Person, Lee H., Jr.

1992-01-01

Proposed Engine Health Monitoring System and Display (EHMSD) provides enhanced means for pilot to control and monitor performances of engines. Processes raw sensor data into information meaningful to pilot. Provides graphical information about performance capabilities, current performance, and operational conditions in components or subsystems of engines. Provides means to control engine thrust directly and innovative means to monitor performance of engine system rapidly and reliably. Features reduce pilot workload and increase operational safety.

Development of GUI Type On-Line Condition Monitoring Program for a Turboprop Engine Using Labview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, Changduk; Kim, Keonwoo

2011-12-01

Recently, an aero gas turbine health monitoring system has been developed for precaution and maintenance action against faults or performance degradations of the advanced propulsion system which occurs in severe environments such as high altitude, foreign object damage particles, hot and heavy rain and snowy atmospheric conditions. However to establish this health monitoring system, the online condition monitoring program is firstly required, and the program must monitor the engine performance trend through comparison between measured engine performance data and base performance results calculated by base engine performance model. This work aims to develop a GUI type on-line condition monitoring program for the PT6A-67 turboprop engine of a high altitude and long endurance operation UAV using LabVIEW. The base engine performance of the on-line condition monitoring program is simulated using component maps inversely generated from the limited performance deck data provided by engine manufacturer. The base engine performance simulation program is evaluated because analysis results by this program agree well with the performance deck data. The proposed on-line condition program can monitor the real engine performance as well as the trend through precise comparison between clean engine performance results calculated by the base performance simulation program and measured engine performance signals. In the development phase of this monitoring system, a signal generation module is proposed to evaluate the proposed online monitoring system. For user friendly purpose, all monitoring program are coded by LabVIEW, and monitoring examples are demonstrated using the proposed GUI type on-condition monitoring program.

Framework for Structural Online Health Monitoring of Aging and Degradation of Secondary Systems due to some Aspects of Erosion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gribok, Andrei; Patnaik, Sobhan; Williams, Christian

This report describes the current state of research related to critical aspects of erosion and selected aspects of degradation of secondary components in nuclear power plants. The report also proposes a framework for online health monitoring of aging and degradation of secondary components. The framework consists of an integrated multi-sensor modality system which can be used to monitor different piping configurations under different degradation conditions. The report analyses the currently known degradation mechanisms and available predictive models. Based on this analysis, the structural health monitoring framework is proposed. The Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program began to evaluate technologies that couldmore » be used to perform online monitoring of piping and other secondary system structural components in commercial NPPs. These online monitoring systems have the potential to identify when a more detailed inspection is needed using real-time measurements, rather than at a pre-determined inspection interval. This transition to condition-based, risk informed automated maintenance will contribute to a significant reduction of operations and maintenance costs that account for the majority of nuclear power generation costs. There is unanimous agreement between industry experts and academic researchers that identifying and prioritizing inspection locations in secondary piping systems (for example, in raw water piping or diesel piping) would eliminate many excessive in-service inspections. The proposed structural health monitoring framework takes aim at answering this challenge by combining long-range guided wave technologies with other monitoring techniques, which can significantly increase the inspection length and pinpoint the locations that degraded the most. More widely, the report suggests research efforts aimed at developing, validating, and deploying online corrosion monitoring techniques for complex geometries, which are pervasive in NPPs.« less

ATLAS Eventlndex monitoring system using the Kibana analytics and visualization platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barberis, D.; Cárdenas Zárate, S. E.; Favareto, A.; Fernandez Casani, A.; Gallas, E. J.; Garcia Montoro, C.; Gonzalez de la Hoz, S.; Hrivnac, J.; Malon, D.; Prokoshin, F.; Salt, J.; Sanchez, J.; Toebbicke, R.; Yuan, R.; ATLAS Collaboration

2016-10-01

The ATLAS EventIndex is a data catalogue system that stores event-related metadata for all (real and simulated) ATLAS events, on all processing stages. As it consists of different components that depend on other applications (such as distributed storage, and different sources of information) we need to monitor the conditions of many heterogeneous subsystems, to make sure everything is working correctly. This paper describes how we gather information about the EventIndex components and related subsystems: the Producer-Consumer architecture for data collection, health parameters from the servers that run EventIndex components, EventIndex web interface status, and the Hadoop infrastructure that stores EventIndex data. This information is collected, processed, and then displayed using CERN service monitoring software based on the Kibana analytic and visualization package, provided by CERN IT Department. EventIndex monitoring is used both by the EventIndex team and ATLAS Distributed Computing shifts crew.

Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring of HVAC Components using Signal Unmixing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rahimpour, Alireza; Qi, Hairong; Fugate, David L

Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning units (HVAC) are a major electrical energy consumer in buildings. Monitoring of the operation and energy consumption of HVAC would increase the awareness of building owners and maintenance service providers of the condition and quality of performance of these units, enabling conditioned-based maintenance which would help achieving higher energy efficiency. In this paper, a novel non-intrusive load monitoring method based on group constrained non-negative matrix factorization is proposed for monitoring the different components of HVAC unit by only measuring the whole building aggregated power signal. At the first level of this hierarchical approach, power consumptionmore » of the building is decomposed to energy consumption of the HVAC unit and all the other electrical devices operating in the building such as lighting and plug loads. Then, the estimated power signal of the HVAC is used for estimating the power consumption profile of the HVAC major electrical loads such as compressors, condenser fans and indoor blower. Experiments conducted on real data collected from a building testbed maintained at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) demonstrate high accuracy on the disaggregation task.« less

FROM COAST TO OFFSHORE: SOME PROGRESS ON DEVELOPING MULTI-RESOURCE DESIGNS FOR GREAT LAKES MONITORING

EPA Science Inventory

In the next generation of monitoring the condition of very large aquatic systems, we need to explore designs that integrate across multiple aquatic resource types, including coastal subsystems, nearshore, and offshore components, which together make up the total hydroscape. This ...

Local-Level Prognostics Health Management Systems Framework for Passive AdvSMR Components. Interim Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ramuhalli, Pradeep; Roy, Surajit; Hirt, Evelyn H.

2014-09-12

This report describes research results to date in support of the integration and demonstration of diagnostics technologies for prototypical AdvSMR passive components (to establish condition indices for monitoring) with model-based prognostics methods. The focus of the PHM methodology and algorithm development in this study is at the localized scale. Multiple localized measurements of material condition (using advanced nondestructive measurement methods), along with available measurements of the stressor environment, enhance the performance of localized diagnostics and prognostics of passive AdvSMR components and systems.

Feasibility Study of a Rotorcraft Health and Usage Monitoring System ( HUMS): Usage and Structural Life Monitoring Evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dickson, B.; Cronkhite, J.; Bielefeld, S.; Killian, L.; Hayden, R.

1996-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate two techniques, Flight Condition Recognition (FCR) and Flight Load Synthesis (FLS), for usage monitoring and assess the potential benefits of extending the retirement intervals of life-limited components, thus reducing the operator's maintenance and replacement costs. Both techniques involve indirect determination of loads using measured flight parameters and subsequent fatigue analysis to calculate the life expended on the life-limited components. To assess the potential benefit of usage monitoring, the two usage techniques were compared to current methods of component retirement. In addition, comparisons were made with direct load measurements to assess the accuracy of the two techniques. The data that was used for the evaluation of the usage monitoring techniques was collected under an independent HUMS Flight trial program, using a commercially available HUMS and data recording system. The usage data collect from the HUMS trial aircraft was analyzed off-line using PC-based software that included the FCR and FLS techniques. In the future, if the technique prove feasible, usage monitoring would be incorporated into the onboard HUMS.

Smart rocks and wireless communication system for real-time monitoring and mitigation of bridge scour : a proof-of-concept study.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-12-01

This study aims to integrate commercial measurement and communication components into a scour : monitoring system with magnets or electronics embedded in smart rocks, and evaluate and improve its : performance in laboratory and field conditions for t...

An adaptive management process for forest soil conservation.

Treesearch

Michael P. Curran; Douglas G. Maynard; Ronald L. Heninger; Thomas A. Terry; Steven W. Howes; Douglas M. Stone; Thomas Niemann; Richard E. Miller; Robert F. Powers

2005-01-01

Soil disturbance guidelines should be based on comparable disturbance categories adapted to specific local soil conditions, validated by monitoring and research. Guidelines, standards, and practices should be continually improved based on an adaptive management process, which is presented in this paper. Core components of this process include: reliable monitoring...

Fault diagnosis of automobile hydraulic brake system using statistical features and support vector machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jegadeeshwaran, R.; Sugumaran, V.

2015-02-01

Hydraulic brakes in automobiles are important components for the safety of passengers; therefore, the brakes are a good subject for condition monitoring. The condition of the brake components can be monitored by using the vibration characteristics. On-line condition monitoring by using machine learning approach is proposed in this paper as a possible solution to such problems. The vibration signals for both good as well as faulty conditions of brakes were acquired from a hydraulic brake test setup with the help of a piezoelectric transducer and a data acquisition system. Descriptive statistical features were extracted from the acquired vibration signals and the feature selection was carried out using the C4.5 decision tree algorithm. There is no specific method to find the right number of features required for classification for a given problem. Hence an extensive study is needed to find the optimum number of features. The effect of the number of features was also studied, by using the decision tree as well as Support Vector Machines (SVM). The selected features were classified using the C-SVM and Nu-SVM with different kernel functions. The results are discussed and the conclusion of the study is presented.

Reusable rocket engine turbopump condition monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hampson, M. E.

1984-01-01

Significant improvements in engine readiness with reductions in maintenance costs and turn-around times can be achieved with an engine condition monitoring systems (CMS). The CMS provides health status of critical engine components, without disassembly, through monitoring with advanced sensors. Engine failure reports over 35 years were categorized into 20 different modes of failure. Rotor bearings and turbine blades were determined to be the most critical in limiting turbopump life. Measurement technologies were matched to each of the failure modes identified. Three were selected to monitor the rotor bearings and turbine blades: the isotope wear detector and fiberoptic deflectometer (bearings), and the fiberoptic pyrometer (blades). Signal processing algorithms were evaluated for their ability to provide useful health data to maintenance personnel. Design modifications to the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) high pressure turbopumps were developed to incorporate the sensors. Laboratory test fixtures have been designed for monitoring the rotor bearings and turbine blades in simulated turbopump operating conditions.

System and method for statistically monitoring and analyzing sensed conditions

DOEpatents

Pebay, Philippe P [Livermore, CA; Brandt, James M [Dublin, CA; Gentile, Ann C [Dublin, CA; Marzouk, Youssef M [Oakland, CA; Hale, Darrian J [San Jose, CA; Thompson, David C [Livermore, CA

2011-01-04

A system and method of monitoring and analyzing a plurality of attributes for an alarm condition is disclosed. The attributes are processed and/or unprocessed values of sensed conditions of a collection of a statistically significant number of statistically similar components subjected to varying environmental conditions. The attribute values are used to compute the normal behaviors of some of the attributes and also used to infer parameters of a set of models. Relative probabilities of some attribute values are then computed and used along with the set of models to determine whether an alarm condition is met. The alarm conditions are used to prevent or reduce the impact of impending failure.

System and method for statistically monitoring and analyzing sensed conditions

DOEpatents

Pebay, Philippe P [Livermore, CA; Brandt, James M [Dublin, CA; Gentile, Ann C [Dublin, CA; Marzouk, Youssef M [Oakland, CA; Hale, Darrian J [San Jose, CA; Thompson, David C [Livermore, CA

2011-01-25

A system and method of monitoring and analyzing a plurality of attributes for an alarm condition is disclosed. The attributes are processed and/or unprocessed values of sensed conditions of a collection of a statistically significant number of statistically similar components subjected to varying environmental conditions. The attribute values are used to compute the normal behaviors of some of the attributes and also used to infer parameters of a set of models. Relative probabilities of some attribute values are then computed and used along with the set of models to determine whether an alarm condition is met. The alarm conditions are used to prevent or reduce the impact of impending failure.

System and method for statistically monitoring and analyzing sensed conditions

DOEpatents

Pebay, Philippe P [Livermore, CA; Brandt, James M. , Gentile; Ann C. , Marzouk; Youssef M. , Hale; Darrian J. , Thompson; David, C [Livermore, CA

2010-07-13

A system and method of monitoring and analyzing a plurality of attributes for an alarm condition is disclosed. The attributes are processed and/or unprocessed values of sensed conditions of a collection of a statistically significant number of statistically similar components subjected to varying environmental conditions. The attribute values are used to compute the normal behaviors of some of the attributes and also used to infer parameters of a set of models. Relative probabilities of some attribute values are then computed and used along with the set of models to determine whether an alarm condition is met. The alarm conditions are used to prevent or reduce the impact of impending failure.

Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy for degradation monitoring of machinery lubricants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sosnovski, Oleg; Suresh, Pooja; Dudelzak, Alexander E.; Green, Benjamin

2018-02-01

Lubrication oil is a vital component of heavy rotating machinery defining the machine's health, operational safety and effectiveness. Recently, the focus has been on developing sensors that provide real-time/online monitoring of oil condition/lubricity. Industrial practices and standards for assessing oil condition involve various analytical methods. Most these techniques are unsuitable for online applications. The paper presents the results of studying degradation of antioxidant additives in machinery lubricants using Fluorescence Excitation-Emission Matrix (EEM) Spectroscopy and Machine Learning techniques. EEM Spectroscopy is capable of rapid and even standoff sensing; it is potentially applicable to real-time online monitoring.

Vibro-acoustic condition monitoring of Internal Combustion Engines: A critical review of existing techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delvecchio, S.; Bonfiglio, P.; Pompoli, F.

2018-01-01

This paper deals with the state-of-the-art strategies and techniques based on vibro-acoustic signals that can monitor and diagnose malfunctions in Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) under both test bench and vehicle operating conditions. Over recent years, several authors have summarized what is known in critical reviews mainly focused on reciprocating machines in general or on specific signal processing techniques: no attempts to deal with IC engine condition monitoring have been made. This paper first gives a brief summary of the generation of sound and vibration in ICEs in order to place further discussion on fault vibro-acoustic diagnosis in context. An overview of the monitoring and diagnostic techniques described in literature using both vibration and acoustic signals is also provided. Different faulty conditions are described which affect combustion, mechanics and the aerodynamics of ICEs. The importance of measuring acoustic signals, as opposed to vibration signals, is due since the former seem to be more suitable for implementation on on-board monitoring systems in view of their non-intrusive behaviour, capability in simultaneously capturing signatures from several mechanical components and because of the possibility of detecting faults affecting airborne transmission paths. In view of the recent needs of the industry to (-) optimize component structural durability adopting long-life cycles, (-) verify the engine final status at the end of the assembly line and (-) reduce the maintenance costs monitoring the ICE life during vehicle operations, monitoring and diagnosing system requests are continuously growing up. The present review can be considered a useful guideline for test engineers in understanding which types of fault can be diagnosed by using vibro-acoustic signals in sufficient time in both test bench and operating conditions and which transducer and signal processing technique (of which the essential background theory is here reported) could be considered the most reliable and informative to be implemented for the fault in question.

Incorporating Equipment Condition Assessment in Risk Monitors for Advanced Small Modular Reactors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Coble, Jamie B.; Coles, Garill A.; Meyer, Ryan M.

2013-10-01

Advanced small modular reactors (aSMRs) can complement the current fleet of large light-water reactors in the USA for baseload and peak demand power production and process heat applications (e.g., water desalination, shale oil extraction, hydrogen production). The day-to-day costs of aSMRs are expected to be dominated by operations and maintenance (O&M); however, the effect of diverse operating missions and unit modularity on O&M is not fully understood. These costs could potentially be reduced by optimized scheduling, with risk-informed scheduling of maintenance, repair, and replacement of equipment. Currently, most nuclear power plants have a “living” probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), which reflectsmore » the as-operated, as-modified plant and combine event probabilities with population-based probability of failure (POF) for key components. “Risk monitors” extend the PRA by incorporating the actual and dynamic plant configuration (equipment availability, operating regime, environmental conditions, etc.) into risk assessment. In fact, PRAs are more integrated into plant management in today’s nuclear power plants than at any other time in the history of nuclear power. However, population-based POF curves are still used to populate fault trees; this approach neglects the time-varying condition of equipment that is relied on during standard and non-standard configurations. Equipment condition monitoring techniques can be used to estimate the component POF. Incorporating this unit-specific estimate of POF in the risk monitor can provide a more accurate estimate of risk in different operating and maintenance configurations. This enhanced risk assessment will be especially important for aSMRs that have advanced component designs, which don’t have an available operating history to draw from, and often use passive design features, which present challenges to PRA. This paper presents the requirements and technical gaps for developing a framework to integrate unit-specific estimates of POF into risk monitors, resulting in enhanced risk monitors that support optimized operation and maintenance of aSMRs.« less

Combination of process and vibration data for improved condition monitoring of industrial systems working under variable operating conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruiz-Cárcel, C.; Jaramillo, V. H.; Mba, D.; Ottewill, J. R.; Cao, Y.

2016-01-01

The detection and diagnosis of faults in industrial processes is a very active field of research due to the reduction in maintenance costs achieved by the implementation of process monitoring algorithms such as Principal Component Analysis, Partial Least Squares or more recently Canonical Variate Analysis (CVA). Typically the condition of rotating machinery is monitored separately using vibration analysis or other specific techniques. Conventional vibration-based condition monitoring techniques are based on the tracking of key features observed in the measured signal. Typically steady-state loading conditions are required to ensure consistency between measurements. In this paper, a technique based on merging process and vibration data is proposed with the objective of improving the detection of mechanical faults in industrial systems working under variable operating conditions. The capabilities of CVA for detection and diagnosis of faults were tested using experimental data acquired from a compressor test rig where different process faults were introduced. Results suggest that the combination of process and vibration data can effectively improve the detectability of mechanical faults in systems working under variable operating conditions.

Frontotemporal hypoactivity during a reality monitoring paradigm is associated with delusions in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Thoresen, Christian; Endestad, Tor; Sigvartsen, Niels Petter B; Server, Andres; Bolstad, Ingeborg; Johansson, Mikael; Andreassen, Ole A; Jensen, Jimmy

2014-01-01

Impaired monitoring of internally generated information has been proposed to be one component in the development and maintenance of delusions. The present study investigated the neural correlates underlying the monitoring processes and whether they were associated with delusions. Twenty healthy controls and 19 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were administrated a reality monitoring paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging. During encoding participants were instructed to associate a statement with either a presented (viewed condition) or an imagined picture (imagined condition). During the monitoring session in the scanner, participants were presented with old and new statements and their task was to identify whether a given statement was associated with the viewed condition, imagined condition, or if it was new. Patients showed significantly reduced accuracy in the imagined condition with performance negatively associated with degree of delusions. This was accompanied with reduced activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left hippocampus in the patient group. The severity of delusions was negatively correlated with the blood-oxygenation-level dependent response in the left hippocampus. The results suggest that weakened monitoring is associated with delusions in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder, and that this may be mediated by a frontotemporal dysfunction.

Framework of sensor-based monitoring for pervasive patient care.

PubMed

Triantafyllidis, Andreas K; Koutkias, Vassilis G; Chouvarda, Ioanna; Adami, Ilia; Kouroubali, Angelina; Maglaveras, Nicos

2016-09-01

Sensor-based health systems can often become difficult to use, extend and sustain. The authors propose a framework for designing sensor-based health monitoring systems aiming to provide extensible and usable monitoring services in the scope of pervasive patient care. The authors' approach relies on a distributed system for monitoring the patient health status anytime-anywhere and detecting potential health complications, for which healthcare professionals and patients are notified accordingly. Portable or wearable sensing devices measure the patient's physiological parameters, a smart mobile device collects and analyses the sensor data, a Medical Center system receives notifications on the detected health condition, and a Health Professional Platform is used by formal caregivers in order to review the patient condition and configure monitoring schemas. A Service-oriented architecture is utilised to provide extensible functional components and interoperable interactions among the diversified system components. The framework was applied within the REMOTE ambient-assisted living project in which a prototype system was developed, utilising Bluetooth to communicate with the sensors and Web services for data exchange. A scenario of using the REMOTE system and preliminary usability results show the applicability, usefulness and virtue of our approach.

Framework of sensor-based monitoring for pervasive patient care

PubMed Central

Koutkias, Vassilis G.; Chouvarda, Ioanna; Adami, Ilia; Kouroubali, Angelina; Maglaveras, Nicos

2016-01-01

Sensor-based health systems can often become difficult to use, extend and sustain. The authors propose a framework for designing sensor-based health monitoring systems aiming to provide extensible and usable monitoring services in the scope of pervasive patient care. The authors’ approach relies on a distributed system for monitoring the patient health status anytime-anywhere and detecting potential health complications, for which healthcare professionals and patients are notified accordingly. Portable or wearable sensing devices measure the patient's physiological parameters, a smart mobile device collects and analyses the sensor data, a Medical Center system receives notifications on the detected health condition, and a Health Professional Platform is used by formal caregivers in order to review the patient condition and configure monitoring schemas. A Service-oriented architecture is utilised to provide extensible functional components and interoperable interactions among the diversified system components. The framework was applied within the REMOTE ambient-assisted living project in which a prototype system was developed, utilising Bluetooth to communicate with the sensors and Web services for data exchange. A scenario of using the REMOTE system and preliminary usability results show the applicability, usefulness and virtue of our approach. PMID:27733920

Testing the Feasibility of a Passive and Active Case Ascertainment System for Multiple Rare Conditions Simultaneously: The Experience in Three US States

PubMed Central

McDermott, Suzanne; Ruttenber, Margaret; Mann, Joshua; Smith, Michael G; Royer, Julie; Valdez, Rodolfo

2016-01-01

Background Owing to their low prevalence, single rare conditions are difficult to monitor through current state passive and active case ascertainment systems. However, such monitoring is important because, as a group, rare conditions have great impact on the health of affected individuals and the well-being of their caregivers. A viable approach could be to conduct passive and active case ascertainment of several rare conditions simultaneously. This is a report about the feasibility of such an approach. Objective To test the feasibility of a case ascertainment system with passive and active components aimed at monitoring 3 rare conditions simultaneously in 3 states of the United States (Colorado, Kansas, and South Carolina). The 3 conditions are spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, and fragile X syndrome. Methods Teams from each state evaluated the possibility of using current or modified versions of their local passive and active case ascertainment systems and datasets to monitor the 3 conditions. Together, these teams established the case definitions and selected the variables and the abstraction tools for the active case ascertainment approach. After testing the ability of their local passive and active case ascertainment system to capture all 3 conditions, the next steps were to report the number of cases detected actively and passively for each condition, to list the local barriers against the combined passive and active case ascertainment system, and to describe the experiences in trying to overcome these barriers. Results During the test period, the team from South Carolina was able to collect data on all 3 conditions simultaneously for all ages. The Colorado team was also able to collect data on all 3 conditions but, because of age restrictions in its passive and active case ascertainment system, it was able to report few cases of fragile X syndrome. The team from Kansas was able to collect data only on spina bifida. For all states, the implementation of an active component of the ascertainment system was problematic. The passive component appears viable with minor modifications. Conclusions Despite evident barriers, the joint passive and active case ascertainment of rare disorders using modified existing surveillance systems and datasets seems feasible, especially for systems that rely on passive case ascertainment. PMID:27574026

Overview of the forest health monitoring program

Treesearch

2000-01-01

This paper presents an overview of the Forest Health Monitoring Program (FHM), a partnership among the USDA Forest Service, State Foresters, universities, and the USDI Bureau of Land Management. The purpose of FHM is to annually assess the condition of the nation's forested ecosystems in a standardized way. There are four components of the program - Detection...

Overview of the Forest Health Monitoring Program

Treesearch

2000-01-01

This paper presents an overview of the Forest Health Monitoring Program (FHM), a partnership among the USDA Forest Service, State Foresters, universities, and the USDI Bureau of Land Management. The purpose of FHM is to annually assess the condition of the Nation's forested ecosystems in a standardized way. There are four components of the program-Detection...

Improved maintainability of space-based reusable rocket engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barkhoudarian, S.; Szemenyei, B.; Nelson, R. S.; Pauckert, R.; Harmon, T.

1988-01-01

Advanced, noninferential, noncontacting, in situ measurement technologies, combined with automated testing and expert systems, can provide continuous, automated health monitoring of critical space-based rocket engine components, requiring minimal disassembly and no manual data analysis, thus enhancing their maintainability. This paper concentrates on recent progress of noncontacting combustion chamber wall thickness condition-monitoring technologies.

Monitoring Urban Quality of Life: The Porto Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santos, Luis Delfim; Martins, Isabel

2007-01-01

This paper describes the monitoring system of the urban quality of life developed by the Porto City Council, a new tool being used to support urban planning and management. The two components of this system--a quantitative approach based on statistical indicators and a qualitative analysis based on the citizens' perceptions of the conditions of…

Method for assessing motor insulation on operating motors

DOEpatents

Kueck, John D.; Otaduy, Pedro J.

1997-01-01

A method for monitoring the condition of electrical-motor-driven devices. The method is achieved by monitoring electrical variables associated with the functioning of an operating motor, applying these electrical variables to a three phase equivalent circuit and determining non-symmetrical faults in the operating motor based upon symmetrical components analysis techniques.

A method for turbine blade temperature data segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Chi; Wang, Li; Gao, Shan

2017-08-01

Turbine blade, as one of the key components of the engine, operates in the badly working conditions. In order to better monitor the temperature status of turbine blades, research on temperature distribution of working blades is significant. The paper applies discrete Fourier transform to develop mathematical models, and the changes of period and peaks are summarized. The changing trends of temperature are reflected in each blade. The trends can be treated as one of the bases of the blade condition monitoring and fault diagnosis.

Instrumentation used for hydraulic testing of potential water-bearing formations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site in southeastern New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Basler, J.A.

1983-01-01

Requirements for testing hydrologic test wells at the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico, necessitated the use of inflatable formation packers and pressure transducers. Observations during drilling and initial development indicated small formation yields which would require considerable test times by conventional open-casing methods. A pressure-monitoring system was assembled for performance evaluation utilizing commercially available components. Formation pressures were monitored with a down-hole strain-gage transducer. An inflatable packer equipped with a 1/4-inch-diameter steel tube extending through the inflation element permitted sensing formation pressures in isolated test zones. Surface components of the monitoring system provided AC transducer excitation, signal conditioning for recording directly in engineering units, and both analog and digital recording. Continuous surface monitoring of formation pressures provided a means of determining test status and projecting completion times during any phase of testing. Maximum portability was afforded by battery operation with all surface components mounted in a small self-contained trailer. (USGS)

In-vacuum sensors for the beamline components of the ITER neutral beam test facility.

PubMed

Dalla Palma, M; Pasqualotto, R; Sartori, E; Spagnolo, S; Spolaore, M; Veltri, P

2016-11-01

Embedded sensors have been designed for installation on the components of the MITICA beamline, the prototype ITER neutral beam injector (Megavolt ITER Injector and Concept Advancement), to derive characteristics of the particle beam and to monitor the component conditions during operation for protection and thermal control. Along the beamline, the components interacting with the particle beam are the neutralizer, the residual ion dump, and the calorimeter. The design and the positioning of sensors on each component have been developed considering the expected beam-surface interaction including non-ideal and off-normal conditions. The arrangement of the following instrumentation is presented: thermal sensors, strain gages, electrostatic probes including secondary emission detectors, grounding shunt for electrical currents, and accelerometers.

Organic micropollutant removal from wastewater effluent-impacted drinking water sources during bank filtration and artificial recharge.

PubMed

Maeng, Sung Kyu; Ameda, Emmanuel; Sharma, Saroj K; Grützmacher, Gesche; Amy, Gary L

2010-07-01

Natural treatment systems such as bank filtration (BF) and artificial recharge (via an infiltration basin) are a robust barrier for many organic micropollutants (OMPs) and may represent a low-cost alternative compared to advanced drinking water treatment systems. This study analyzes a comprehensive database of OMPs at BF and artificial recharge (AR) sites located near Lake Tegel in Berlin (Germany). The focus of the study was on the derivation of correlations between the removal efficiencies of OMPs and key factors influencing the performance of BF and AR. At the BF site, shallow monitoring wells located close to the Lake Tegel source exhibited oxic conditions followed by prolonged anoxic conditions in deep monitoring wells and a production well. At the AR site, oxic conditions prevailed from the recharge pond along monitoring wells to the production well. Long residence times of up to 4.5 months at the BF site reduced the temperature variation during soil passage between summer and winter. The temperature variations were greater at the AR site as a consequence of shorter residence times. Deep monitoring wells and the production well located at the BF site were under the influence of ambient groundwater and old bank filtrate (up to several years of age). Thus, it is important to account for mixing with native groundwater and other sources (e.g., old bank filtrate) when estimating the performance of BF with respect to removal of OMPs. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to investigate correlations between OMP removals and hydrogeochemical conditions with spatial and temporal parameters (e.g., well distance, residence time and depth) from both sites. Principal component-1 (PC1) embodied redox conditions (oxidation-reduction potential and dissolved oxygen), and principal component-2 (PC2) embodied degradation potential (e.g., total organic carbon and dissolved organic carbon) with the calcium carbonate dissolution potential (Ca(2+) and HCO(3)(-)) for the BF site. These two PCs explained a total variance of 55% at the BF site. At the AR site, PCA revealed redox conditions (PC1) and degradation potential with temperature (PC2) as principal components, which explained a total variance of 56%. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CONDITION OF ESTUARIES OF CALIFORNIA FOR 1999: A STATISTICAL SUMMARY

EPA Science Inventory

As a part of the National Coastal Assessment (NCA), the Western Pilot Study under the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) initiated a five year Coastal component in 1999. The objectives of the program were: to assess the condition of estuarine resources of Was...

CONDITION OF ESTUARIES OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES FOR 1999: A STATISTICAL SUMMARY

EPA Science Inventory

As a part of the National Coastal Assessment, the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) initiated a five-year Western Coastal component in 1999. The objectives of the program were: to assess the condition of estuarine resources of Washington, Oregon and Californ...

Packaging of structural health monitoring components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kessler, Seth S.; Spearing, S. Mark; Shi, Yong; Dunn, Christopher T.

2004-07-01

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) technologies have the potential to realize economic benefits in a broad range of commercial and defense markets. Previous research conducted by Metis Design and MIT has demonstrated the ability of Lamb waves methods to provide reliable information regarding the presence, location and type of damage in composite specimens. The present NSF funded program was aimed to study manufacturing, packaging and interface concepts for critical SHM components. The intention is to be able to cheaply manufacture robust actuating/sensing devices, and isolate them from harsh operating environments including natural, mechanical, or electrical extremes. Currently the issues related to SHM system durability have remained undressed. During the course of this research several sets of test devices were fabricated and packaged to protect the piezoelectric component assemblies for robust operation. These assemblies were then tested in hot and wet conditions, as well as in electrically noisy environments. Future work will aim to package the other supporting components such as the battery and wireless chip, as well as integrating all of these components together for operation. SHM technology will enable the reduction or complete elimination of scheduled inspections, and will allow condition-based maintenance for increased reliability and reduced overall life-cycle costs.

Investigation of Data Fusion Applied to Health Monitoring of Wind Turbine Drive train Components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dempsey, Paula J.; Sheng, Shuangwen

2011-01-01

The research described was performed on diagnostic tools used to detect damage to dynamic mechanical components in a wind turbine gearbox. Different monitoring technologies were evaluated by collecting vibration and oil debris data from tests performed on a "healthy" gearbox and a damaged gearbox in a dynamometer test stand located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The damaged gearbox tested was removed from the field after experiencing component damage due to two losses of oil events and was retested under controlled conditions in the dynamometer test stand. Preliminary results indicate oil debris and vibration can be integrated to assess the health of the wind turbine gearbox.

Real-time diagnostics for a reusable rocket engine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guo, T. H.; Merrill, W.; Duyar, A.

1992-01-01

A hierarchical, decentralized diagnostic system is proposed for the Real-Time Diagnostic System component of the Intelligent Control System (ICS) for reusable rocket engines. The proposed diagnostic system has three layers of information processing: condition monitoring, fault mode detection, and expert system diagnostics. The condition monitoring layer is the first level of signal processing. Here, important features of the sensor data are extracted. These processed data are then used by the higher level fault mode detection layer to do preliminary diagnosis on potential faults at the component level. Because of the closely coupled nature of the rocket engine propulsion system components, it is expected that a given engine condition may trigger more than one fault mode detector. Expert knowledge is needed to resolve the conflicting reports from the various failure mode detectors. This is the function of the diagnostic expert layer. Here, the heuristic nature of this decision process makes it desirable to use an expert system approach. Implementation of the real-time diagnostic system described above requires a wide spectrum of information processing capability. Generally, in the condition monitoring layer, fast data processing is often needed for feature extraction and signal conditioning. This is usually followed by some detection logic to determine the selected faults on the component level. Three different techniques are used to attack different fault detection problems in the NASA LeRC ICS testbed simulation. The first technique employed is the neural network application for real-time sensor validation which includes failure detection, isolation, and accommodation. The second approach demonstrated is the model-based fault diagnosis system using on-line parameter identification. Besides these model based diagnostic schemes, there are still many failure modes which need to be diagnosed by the heuristic expert knowledge. The heuristic expert knowledge is implemented using a real-time expert system tool called G2 by Gensym Corp. Finally, the distributed diagnostic system requires another level of intelligence to oversee the fault mode reports generated by component fault detectors. The decision making at this level can best be done using a rule-based expert system. This level of expert knowledge is also implemented using G2.

Orbit Transfer Rocket Engine Technology Program: Advanced engine study, task D.1/D.3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martinez, A.; Erickson, C.; Hines, B.

1986-01-01

Concepts for space maintainability of OTV engines were examined. An engine design was developed which was driven by space maintenance requirements and by a failure mode and effects (FME) analysis. Modularity within the engine was shown to offer cost benefits and improved space maintenance capabilities. Space operable disconnects were conceptualized for both engine change-out and for module replacement. Through FME mitigation the modules were conceptualized to contain the least reliable and most often replaced engine components. A preliminary space maintenance plan was developed around a controls and condition monitoring system using advanced sensors, controls, and condition monitoring concepts. A complete engine layout was prepared satisfying current vehicle requirements and utilizing projected component advanced technologies. A technology plan for developing the required technology was assembled.

An Improved Gaussian Mixture Model for Damage Propagation Monitoring of an Aircraft Wing Spar under Changing Structural Boundary Conditions.

PubMed

Qiu, Lei; Yuan, Shenfang; Mei, Hanfei; Fang, Fang

2016-02-26

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) technology is considered to be a key technology to reduce the maintenance cost and meanwhile ensure the operational safety of aircraft structures. It has gradually developed from theoretic and fundamental research to real-world engineering applications in recent decades. The problem of reliable damage monitoring under time-varying conditions is a main issue for the aerospace engineering applications of SHM technology. Among the existing SHM methods, Guided Wave (GW) and piezoelectric sensor-based SHM technique is a promising method due to its high damage sensitivity and long monitoring range. Nevertheless the reliability problem should be addressed. Several methods including environmental parameter compensation, baseline signal dependency reduction and data normalization, have been well studied but limitations remain. This paper proposes a damage propagation monitoring method based on an improved Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). It can be used on-line without any structural mechanical model and a priori knowledge of damage and time-varying conditions. With this method, a baseline GMM is constructed first based on the GW features obtained under time-varying conditions when the structure under monitoring is in the healthy state. When a new GW feature is obtained during the on-line damage monitoring process, the GMM can be updated by an adaptive migration mechanism including dynamic learning and Gaussian components split-merge. The mixture probability distribution structure of the GMM and the number of Gaussian components can be optimized adaptively. Then an on-line GMM can be obtained. Finally, a best match based Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence is studied to measure the migration degree between the baseline GMM and the on-line GMM to reveal the weak cumulative changes of the damage propagation mixed in the time-varying influence. A wing spar of an aircraft is used to validate the proposed method. The results indicate that the crack propagation under changing structural boundary conditions can be monitored reliably. The method is not limited by the properties of the structure, and thus it is feasible to be applied to composite structure.

Model-Based Sensor Placement for Component Condition Monitoring and Fault Diagnosis in Fossil Energy Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mobed, Parham; Pednekar, Pratik; Bhattacharyya, Debangsu

Design and operation of energy producing, near “zero-emission” coal plants has become a national imperative. This report on model-based sensor placement describes a transformative two-tier approach to identify the optimum placement, number, and type of sensors for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis in fossil energy system operations. The algorithms are tested on a high fidelity model of the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant. For a condition monitoring network, whether equipment should be considered at a unit level or a systems level depends upon the criticality of the process equipment, its likeliness to fail, and the level of resolution desiredmore » for any specific failure. Because of the presence of a high fidelity model at the unit level, a sensor network can be designed to monitor the spatial profile of the states and estimate fault severity levels. In an IGCC plant, besides the gasifier, the sour water gas shift (WGS) reactor plays an important role. In view of this, condition monitoring of the sour WGS reactor is considered at the unit level, while a detailed plant-wide model of gasification island, including sour WGS reactor and the Selexol process, is considered for fault diagnosis at the system-level. Finally, the developed algorithms unify the two levels and identifies an optimal sensor network that maximizes the effectiveness of the overall system-level fault diagnosis and component-level condition monitoring. This work could have a major impact on the design and operation of future fossil energy plants, particularly at the grassroots level where the sensor network is yet to be identified. In addition, the same algorithms developed in this report can be further enhanced to be used in retrofits, where the objectives could be upgrade (addition of more sensors) and relocation of existing sensors.« less

Carving Metacognition at Its Joints: Protracted Development of Component Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Leary, Allison; Sloutsky, Vladimir

2017-01-01

Two experiments investigated the development of metacognitive monitoring and control, and conditions under which children engage these processes. In Experiment 1, 5-year-olds (N = 30) and 7-year-olds (N = 30), unlike adults (N = 30), showed little evidence of either monitoring or control. In Experiment 2, 5-year-olds (N = 90) were given…

Method for assessing motor insulation on operating motors

DOEpatents

Kueck, J.D.; Otaduy, P.J.

1997-03-18

A method for monitoring the condition of electrical-motor-driven devices is disclosed. The method is achieved by monitoring electrical variables associated with the functioning of an operating motor, applying these electrical variables to a three phase equivalent circuit and determining non-symmetrical faults in the operating motor based upon symmetrical components analysis techniques. 15 figs.

What are we monitoring and why? Using geomorphic principles to frame eco-hydrological assessments of river condition.

PubMed

Brierley, Gary; Reid, Helen; Fryirs, Kirstie; Trahan, Nadine

2010-04-01

Monitoring and assessment are integral components in adaptive management programmes that strive to improve the condition of river systems. Unfortunately, these procedures are generally applied with an emphasis upon biotic attributes and water quality, with limited regard for the geomorphic structure, function and evolutionary trajectory of a river system. Geomorphic principles convey an understanding of the landscape context within which ecohydrologic processes interact. Collectively, geo-eco-hydrologic understanding presents a coherent biophysical template that can be used to frame spatially and temporally rigorous approaches to monitoring that respect the inherent diversity, variability and complexity of any given river system. This understanding aids the development of management programmes that 'work with nature.' Unless an integrative perspective is used to monitor river condition, conservation and rehabilitation plans are unlikely to reach their true potential. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Semi-supervised vibration-based classification and condition monitoring of compressors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Potočnik, Primož; Govekar, Edvard

2017-09-01

Semi-supervised vibration-based classification and condition monitoring of the reciprocating compressors installed in refrigeration appliances is proposed in this paper. The method addresses the problem of industrial condition monitoring where prior class definitions are often not available or difficult to obtain from local experts. The proposed method combines feature extraction, principal component analysis, and statistical analysis for the extraction of initial class representatives, and compares the capability of various classification methods, including discriminant analysis (DA), neural networks (NN), support vector machines (SVM), and extreme learning machines (ELM). The use of the method is demonstrated on a case study which was based on industrially acquired vibration measurements of reciprocating compressors during the production of refrigeration appliances. The paper presents a comparative qualitative analysis of the applied classifiers, confirming the good performance of several nonlinear classifiers. If the model parameters are properly selected, then very good classification performance can be obtained from NN trained by Bayesian regularization, SVM and ELM classifiers. The method can be effectively applied for the industrial condition monitoring of compressors.

An integrated condition-monitoring method for a milling process using reduced decomposition features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jie; Wu, Bo; Wang, Yan; Hu, Youmin

2017-08-01

Complex and non-stationary cutting chatter affects productivity and quality in the milling process. Developing an effective condition-monitoring approach is critical to accurately identify cutting chatter. In this paper, an integrated condition-monitoring method is proposed, where reduced features are used to efficiently recognize and classify machine states in the milling process. In the proposed method, vibration signals are decomposed into multiple modes with variational mode decomposition, and Shannon power spectral entropy is calculated to extract features from the decomposed signals. Principal component analysis is adopted to reduce feature size and computational cost. With the extracted feature information, the probabilistic neural network model is used to recognize and classify the machine states, including stable, transition, and chatter states. Experimental studies are conducted, and results show that the proposed method can effectively detect cutting chatter during different milling operation conditions. This monitoring method is also efficient enough to satisfy fast machine state recognition and classification.

In-vacuum sensors for the beamline components of the ITER neutral beam test facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dalla Palma, M., E-mail: mauro.dallapalma@igi.cnr.it; Pasqualotto, R.; Spagnolo, S.

2016-11-15

Embedded sensors have been designed for installation on the components of the MITICA beamline, the prototype ITER neutral beam injector (Megavolt ITER Injector and Concept Advancement), to derive characteristics of the particle beam and to monitor the component conditions during operation for protection and thermal control. Along the beamline, the components interacting with the particle beam are the neutralizer, the residual ion dump, and the calorimeter. The design and the positioning of sensors on each component have been developed considering the expected beam-surface interaction including non-ideal and off-normal conditions. The arrangement of the following instrumentation is presented: thermal sensors, strainmore » gages, electrostatic probes including secondary emission detectors, grounding shunt for electrical currents, and accelerometers.« less

Wireless microsensors for health monitoring of aircraft structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varadan, Vijay K.

2003-01-01

The integration of MEMS, IDTs (interdigital transducers) and required microelectronics and conformal antennas to realize programmable, robust and low cost passive microsensors suitable for many military structures and systems including aircraft, missiles and munitions is presented in this paper. The technology is currently being applied to the structural health monitoring of critical aircraft components. The approach integrates acoustic emission, strain gauges, MEMS accelerometers, gyroscopes and vibration monitoring devices with signal processing electronics to provide real-time indicators of incipient failure of aircraft components with a known history of catastrophic failure due to fracture. Recently a combination of the need for safety in the air and the desire to control costs is encouraging the use of in-flight monitoring of aircraft components and systems using light-weight, wireless and cost effective microsensors and MEMS. An in-situ Aircraft structural health monitoring (ASHM) system, with sensors embedded in the composite structure or surface-mounted on the structure, would permit the timely detection of damage in aircraft. Micromachining offers the potential for fabricating a range of microsensors and MEMS for structural applications including load, vibration and acoustics characterization and monitoring. Such microsensors are extremely small; they can be embedded into structural materials, can be mass-produced and are therefore potentially cheap. Additionally a range of sensor types can be integrated onto a single chip with built-in electronics and ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), providing a low power Microsystems. The smart sensors are being developed using the standard microelectronics and micromachining in conjunction with novel Penn State smart electronics or wireless communication systems suitable for condition monitoring of aircraft structures in-flight. A hybrid accelerometer and gyroscope in a single chip suitable for inertial navigation system and other microsensors for health monitoring and condition-based maintenance of structures, drag sensing and control of aircraft, strain and deflection of structures and systems, ice sensing on aircraft, remote temperature and humidity measurement of propellant in munitions, chemical sensing, etc. are discussed.

NASA Glenn Research Center's Fuel Cell Stack, Ancillary and System Test and Development Laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loyselle, Patricia L.; Prokopius, Kevin P.; Becks, Larry A.; Burger, Thomas H.; Dick, Joseph F.; Rodriguez, George; Bremenour, Frank; Long, Zedock

2011-01-01

At the NASA Glenn Research Center, a fully operational fuel cell test and evaluation laboratory is available which is capable of evaluating fuel cell components and systems for future NASA missions. Components and subsystems of various types can be operated and monitored under a variety of conditions utilizing different reactants. This fuel cell facility can test the effectiveness of various component and system designs to meet NASA's needs.

Effectiveness monitoring for the aquatic and riparian component of the Northwest Forest Plan: conceptual framework and options.

Treesearch

Gordon H. Reeves; David B. Hohler; David P. Larsen; David E. Busch; Kim Kratz; Keith Reynolds; Karl F. Stein; Thomas Atzet; Polly Hays; Michael Tehan

2004-01-01

An Aquatic and Riparian Effectiveness Monitoring Plan (AREMP) for the Northwest Forest Plan is intended to characterize the ecological condition of watersheds and aquatic ecosystems. So to determine the effectiveness of the Northwest Forest Plan to meet relevant objectives, this report presents the conceptual foundation of options for use in pilot testing and...

Carving Metacognition at Its Joints: Protracted Development of Component Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Leary, Allison P.; Sloutsky, Vladimir M.

2017-01-01

Two experiments investigated the development of metacognitive monitoring and control, and conditions under which children engage these processes. In Experiment 1, 5-year-olds (N = 30) and 7-year-olds (N = 30), unlike adults (N = 30), showed little evidence of either monitoring or control. In Experiment 2, 5-year-olds (N = 90) were given…

Effective components of feedback from Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) in youth mental health care: study protocol of a three-arm parallel-group randomized controlled trial

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Routine Outcome Monitoring refers to regular measurements of clients’ progress in clinical practice, aiming to evaluate and, if necessary, adapt treatment. Clients fill out questionnaires and clinicians receive feedback about the results. Studies concerning feedback in youth mental health care are rare. The effects of feedback, the importance of specific aspects of feedback, and the mechanisms underlying the effects of feedback are unknown. In the present study, several potentially effective components of feedback from Routine Outcome Monitoring in youth mental health care in the Netherlands are investigated. Methods/Design We will examine three different forms of feedback through a three-arm parallel-group randomized controlled trial. 432 children and adolescents (aged 4 to 17 years) and their parents, who have been referred to mental health care institution Pro Persona, will be randomly assigned to one of three feedback conditions (144 participants per condition). Randomization will be stratified by age of the child or adolescent and by department. All participants fill out questionnaires at the start of treatment, one and a half months after the start of treatment, every three months during treatment, and at the end of treatment. Participants in the second and third feedback conditions fill out an additional questionnaire. In condition 1, clinicians receive basic feedback regarding clients’ symptoms and quality of life. In condition 2, the feedback of condition 1 is extended with feedback regarding possible obstacles to a good outcome and with practical suggestions. In condition 3, the feedback of condition 2 is discussed with a colleague while following a standardized format for case consultation. The primary outcome measure is symptom severity and secondary outcome measures are quality of life, satisfaction with treatment, number of sessions, length of treatment, and rates of dropout. We will also examine the role of being not on track (not responding to treatment). Discussion This study contributes to the identification of effective components of feedback and a better understanding of how feedback functions in real-world clinical practice. If the different feedback components prove to be effective, this can help to support and improve the care for youth. Trial registration Dutch Trial Register NTR4234 PMID:24393491

Portable system and method combining chromatography and array of electrochemical sensors

DOEpatents

Zaromb, Solomon; Stetter, Joseph R.

1989-01-01

A portable system for analyzing a fluid sample includes a small, portable, low-pressure and low-power chromatographic analyzer and a chemical parameter spectrometry monitor including an array of sensors for detecting, identifying and measuring the concentrations of a variety of components in the eluent from the chromatographic analyzer. The monitor includes one or more operating condition controllers which may be used to change one or more of the operating conditions during exposure of the sensors to the eluent from the chromatography analyzer to form a response pattern which is then compared with a library of previously established patterns. Gas and liquid chromatographic embodiments are disclosed. In the gas embodiment, the operating condition controllers include heated filaments which may convert electrochemically inactive components to electrochemically active products. In the liquid chromatography embodiment, low-power, liquid-phase equivalents of heated filaments are used with appropriate sensors. The library response patterns may be divided into subsets and the formed pattern may be assigned for comparison only with the patterns of a particular subset.

Condition monitoring of 3G cellular networks through competitive neural models.

PubMed

Barreto, Guilherme A; Mota, João C M; Souza, Luis G M; Frota, Rewbenio A; Aguayo, Leonardo

2005-09-01

We develop an unsupervised approach to condition monitoring of cellular networks using competitive neural algorithms. Training is carried out with state vectors representing the normal functioning of a simulated CDMA2000 network. Once training is completed, global and local normality profiles (NPs) are built from the distribution of quantization errors of the training state vectors and their components, respectively. The global NP is used to evaluate the overall condition of the cellular system. If abnormal behavior is detected, local NPs are used in a component-wise fashion to find abnormal state variables. Anomaly detection tests are performed via percentile-based confidence intervals computed over the global and local NPs. We compared the performance of four competitive algorithms [winner-take-all (WTA), frequency-sensitive competitive learning (FSCL), self-organizing map (SOM), and neural-gas algorithm (NGA)] and the results suggest that the joint use of global and local NPs is more efficient and more robust than current single-threshold methods.

Condition monitoring of Electric Components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaman, Ishtiaque

A universal non-intrusive model of a flexible antenna array is presented in this paper to monitor and identify the failures in electric machines. This adjustable antenna is designed to serve the purpose of condition monitoring of a vast range of electrical components including Induction Motor (IM), Printed Circuit Board (PCB), Synchronous Reluctance Motor (SRM), Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine (PMSM) etc. by capturing the low frequency magnetic field radiated around these machines. The basic design and specification of the proposed antenna array for low frequency components is portrayed first. The design of the antenna is adjustable to fit for an extensive variety of segments. Subsequent to distinguishing the design and specifications of the antenna, the ideal area of the most delicate stray field has been identified for healthy current streaming around the machineries. Following this, short circuit representing faulty situation has been introduced and compared with the healthy cases. Precision has been found recognizing the faults using this one generic model of Antenna and the results are presented for three different machines i.e. IM, SRM and PMSM. Finite element method has been used to design the antenna and detect the optimum location and faults in the machines. Finally, a 3D Printer is proposed to be employed to build the antenna as per the details tended to in this paper contingent upon the power segments.

Wear detection by means of wavelet-based acoustic emission analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baccar, D.; Söffker, D.

2015-08-01

Wear detection and monitoring during operation are complex and difficult tasks especially for materials under sliding conditions. Due to the permanent contact and repetitive motion, the material surface remains during tests non-accessible for optical inspection so that attrition of the contact partners cannot be easily detected. This paper introduces the relevant scientific components of reliable and efficient condition monitoring system for online detection and automated classification of wear phenomena by means of acoustic emission (AE) and advanced signal processing approaches. The related experiments were performed using a tribological system consisting of two martensitic plates, sliding against each other. High sensitive piezoelectric transducer was used to provide the continuous measurement of AE signals. The recorded AE signals were analyzed mainly by time-frequency analysis. A feature extraction module using a novel combination of Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) and Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) were used for the first time. A detailed correlation analysis between complex signal characteristics and the surface damage resulting from contact fatigue was investigated. Three wear process stages were detected and could be distinguished. To obtain quantitative and detailed information about different wear phases, the AE energy was calculated using STFT and decomposed into a suitable number of frequency levels. The individual energy distribution and the cumulative AE energy of each frequency components were analyzed using CWT. Results show that the behavior of individual frequency component changes when the wear state changes. Here, specific frequency ranges are attributed to the different wear states. The study reveals that the application of the STFT-/CWT-based AE analysis is an appropriate approach to distinguish and to interpret the different damage states occurred during sliding contact. Based on this results a new generation of condition monitoring systems can be build, able to evaluate automatically the surface condition of machine components with sliding surfaces.

Development of structural health monitoring and early warning system for reinforced concrete system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Iranata, Data, E-mail: iranata-data@yahoo.com, E-mail: data@ce.its.ac.id; Wahyuni, Endah; Murtiadi, Suryawan

Many buildings have been damaged due to earthquakes that occurred recently in Indonesia. The main cause of the damage is the large deformation of the building structural component cannot accommodate properly. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the Structural Health Monitoring System (SHMS) to measure precisely the deformation of the building structural component in the real time conditions. This paper presents the development of SHMS for reinforced concrete structural system. This monitoring system is based on deformation component such as strain of reinforcement bar, concrete strain, and displacement of reinforced concrete component. Since the deformation component has exceeded the limitmore » value, the warning message can be sent to the building occupies. This warning message has also can be performed as early warning system of the reinforced concrete structural system. The warning message can also be sent via Short Message Service (SMS) through the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network. Hence, the SHMS should be integrated with internet modem to connect with GSM network. Additionally, the SHMS program is verified with experimental study of simply supported reinforced concrete beam. Verification results show that the SHMS has good agreement with experimental results.« less

Tool Condition Monitoring in Micro-End Milling using wavelets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubey, N. K.; Roushan, A.; Rao, U. S.; Sandeep, K.; Patra, K.

2018-04-01

In this work, Tool Condition Monitoring (TCM) strategy is developed for micro-end milling of titanium alloy and mild steel work-pieces. Full immersion slot milling experiments are conducted using a solid tungsten carbide end mill for more than 1900 s to have reasonable amount of tool wear. During the micro-end milling process, cutting force and vibration signals are acquired using Kistler piezo-electric 3-component force dynamometer (9256C2) and accelerometer (NI cDAQ-9188) respectively. The force components and the vibration signals are processed using Discrete Wavelet Transformation (DWT) in both time and frequency window. 5-level wavelet packet decomposition using Db-8 wavelet is carried out and the detailed coefficients D1 to D5 for each of the signals are obtained. The results of the wavelet transformation are correlated with the tool wear. In case of vibration signals, de-noising is done for higher frequency components (D1) and force signals were de-noised for lower frequency components (D5). Increasing value of MAD (Mean Absolute Deviation) of the detail coefficients for successive channels depicted tool wear. The predictions of the tool wear are confirmed from the actual wear observed in the SEM of the worn tool.

Improving online risk assessment with equipment prognostics and health monitoring

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Coble, Jamie B.; Liu, Xiaotong; Briere, Chris

The current approach to evaluating the risk of nuclear power plant (NPP) operation relies on static probabilities of component failure, which are based on industry experience with the existing fleet of nominally similar light water reactors (LWRs). As the nuclear industry looks to advanced reactor designs that feature non-light water coolants (e.g., liquid metal, high temperature gas, molten salt), this operating history is not available. Many advanced reactor designs use advanced components, such as electromagnetic pumps, that have not been used in the US commercial nuclear fleet. Given the lack of rich operating experience, we cannot accurately estimate the evolvingmore » probability of failure for basic components to populate the fault trees and event trees that typically comprise probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) models. Online equipment prognostics and health management (PHM) technologies can bridge this gap to estimate the failure probabilities for components under operation. The enhanced risk monitor (ERM) incorporates equipment condition assessment into the existing PRA and risk monitor framework to provide accurate and timely estimates of operational risk.« less

Batch Statistical Process Monitoring Approach to a Cocrystallization Process.

PubMed

Sarraguça, Mafalda C; Ribeiro, Paulo R S; Dos Santos, Adenilson O; Lopes, João A

2015-12-01

Cocrystals are defined as crystalline structures composed of two or more compounds that are solid at room temperature held together by noncovalent bonds. Their main advantages are the increase of solubility, bioavailability, permeability, stability, and at the same time retaining active pharmaceutical ingredient bioactivity. The cocrystallization between furosemide and nicotinamide by solvent evaporation was monitored on-line using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a process analytical technology tool. The near-infrared spectra were analyzed using principal component analysis. Batch statistical process monitoring was used to create control charts to perceive the process trajectory and define control limits. Normal and non-normal operating condition batches were performed and monitored with NIRS. The use of NIRS associated with batch statistical process models allowed the detection of abnormal variations in critical process parameters, like the amount of solvent or amount of initial components present in the cocrystallization. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.

The reflection of evolving bearing faults in the stator current's extended park vector approach for induction machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corne, Bram; Vervisch, Bram; Derammelaere, Stijn; Knockaert, Jos; Desmet, Jan

2018-07-01

Stator current analysis has the potential of becoming the most cost-effective condition monitoring technology regarding electric rotating machinery. Since both electrical and mechanical faults are detected by inexpensive and robust current-sensors, measuring current is advantageous on other techniques such as vibration, acoustic or temperature analysis. However, this technology is struggling to breach into the market of condition monitoring as the electrical interpretation of mechanical machine-problems is highly complicated. Recently, the authors built a test-rig which facilitates the emulation of several representative mechanical faults on an 11 kW induction machine with high accuracy and reproducibility. Operating this test-rig, the stator current of the induction machine under test can be analyzed while mechanical faults are emulated. Furthermore, while emulating, the fault-severity can be manipulated adaptively under controllable environmental conditions. This creates the opportunity of examining the relation between the magnitude of the well-known current fault components and the corresponding fault-severity. This paper presents the emulation of evolving bearing faults and their reflection in the Extended Park Vector Approach for the 11 kW induction machine under test. The results confirm the strong relation between the bearing faults and the stator current fault components in both identification and fault-severity. Conclusively, stator current analysis increases reliability in the application as a complete, robust, on-line condition monitoring technology.

Joint High-Order Synchrosqueezing Transform and Multi-Taper Empirical Wavelet Transform for Fault Diagnosis of Wind Turbine Planetary Gearbox under Nonstationary Conditions.

PubMed

Hu, Yue; Tu, Xiaotong; Li, Fucai; Meng, Guang

2018-01-07

Wind turbines usually operate under nonstationary conditions, such as wide-range speed fluctuation and time-varying load. Its critical component, the planetary gearbox, is prone to malfunction or failure, which leads to downtime and repair costs. Therefore, fault diagnosis and condition monitoring for the planetary gearbox in wind turbines is a vital research topic. Meanwhile, the signals measured by the vibration sensors mounted in the gearbox exhibit time-varying and nonstationary features. In this study, a novel time-frequency method based on high-order synchrosqueezing transform (SST) and multi-taper empirical wavelet transform (MTEWT) is proposed for the wind turbine planetary gearbox under nonstationary conditions. The high-order SST uses accurate instantaneous frequency approximations to obtain a sharper time-frequency representation (TFR). As the acquired signal consists of many components, like the meshing and rotating components of the gear and bearing, the fault component may be masked by other unrelated components. The MTEWT is used to separate the fault feature from the masking components. A variety of experimental signals of the wind turbine planetary gearbox under nonstationary conditions have been analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method. Results show that the proposed method is effective in diagnosing both gear and bearing faults.

Joint High-Order Synchrosqueezing Transform and Multi-Taper Empirical Wavelet Transform for Fault Diagnosis of Wind Turbine Planetary Gearbox under Nonstationary Conditions

PubMed Central

Li, Fucai; Meng, Guang

2018-01-01

Wind turbines usually operate under nonstationary conditions, such as wide-range speed fluctuation and time-varying load. Its critical component, the planetary gearbox, is prone to malfunction or failure, which leads to downtime and repair costs. Therefore, fault diagnosis and condition monitoring for the planetary gearbox in wind turbines is a vital research topic. Meanwhile, the signals measured by the vibration sensors mounted in the gearbox exhibit time-varying and nonstationary features. In this study, a novel time-frequency method based on high-order synchrosqueezing transform (SST) and multi-taper empirical wavelet transform (MTEWT) is proposed for the wind turbine planetary gearbox under nonstationary conditions. The high-order SST uses accurate instantaneous frequency approximations to obtain a sharper time-frequency representation (TFR). As the acquired signal consists of many components, like the meshing and rotating components of the gear and bearing, the fault component may be masked by other unrelated components. The MTEWT is used to separate the fault feature from the masking components. A variety of experimental signals of the wind turbine planetary gearbox under nonstationary conditions have been analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method. Results show that the proposed method is effective in diagnosing both gear and bearing faults. PMID:29316668

Introducing passive acoustic filter in acoustic based condition monitoring: Motor bike piston-bore fault identification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jena, D. P.; Panigrahi, S. N.

2016-03-01

Requirement of designing a sophisticated digital band-pass filter in acoustic based condition monitoring has been eliminated by introducing a passive acoustic filter in the present work. So far, no one has attempted to explore the possibility of implementing passive acoustic filters in acoustic based condition monitoring as a pre-conditioner. In order to enhance the acoustic based condition monitoring, a passive acoustic band-pass filter has been designed and deployed. Towards achieving an efficient band-pass acoustic filter, a generalized design methodology has been proposed to design and optimize the desired acoustic filter using multiple filter components in series. An appropriate objective function has been identified for genetic algorithm (GA) based optimization technique with multiple design constraints. In addition, the sturdiness of the proposed method has been demonstrated in designing a band-pass filter by using an n-branch Quincke tube, a high pass filter and multiple Helmholtz resonators. The performance of the designed acoustic band-pass filter has been shown by investigating the piston-bore defect of a motor-bike using engine noise signature. On the introducing a passive acoustic filter in acoustic based condition monitoring reveals the enhancement in machine learning based fault identification practice significantly. This is also a first attempt of its own kind.

Improving Multi-Sensor Drought Monitoring, Prediction and Recovery Assessment Using Gravimetry Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aghakouchak, Amir; Tourian, Mohammad J.

2015-04-01

Development of reliable drought monitoring, prediction and recovery assessment tools are fundamental to water resources management. This presentation focuses on how gravimetry information can improve drought assessment. First, we provide an overview of the Global Integrated Drought Monitoring and Prediction System (GIDMaPS) which offers near real-time drought information using remote sensing observations and model simulations. Then, we present a framework for integration of satellite gravimetry information for improving drought prediction and recovery assessment. The input data include satellite-based and model-based precipitation, soil moisture estimates and equivalent water height. Previous studies show that drought assessment based on one single indicator may not be sufficient. For this reason, GIDMaPS provides drought information based on multiple drought indicators including Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Soil Moisture Index (SSI) and the Multivariate Standardized Drought Index (MSDI) which combines SPI and SSI probabilistically. MSDI incorporates the meteorological and agricultural drought conditions and provides composite multi-index drought information for overall characterization of droughts. GIDMaPS includes a seasonal prediction component based on a statistical persistence-based approach. The prediction component of GIDMaPS provides the empirical probability of drought for different severity levels. In this presentation we present a new component in which the drought prediction information based on SPI, SSI and MSDI are conditioned on equivalent water height obtained from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Using a Bayesian approach, GRACE information is used to evaluate persistence of drought. Finally, the deficit equivalent water height based on GRACE is used for assessing drought recovery. In this presentation, both monitoring and prediction components of GIDMaPS will be discussed, and the results from 2014 California Drought will be presented. Further Reading: Hao Z., AghaKouchak A., Nakhjiri N., Farahmand A., 2014, Global Integrated Drought Monitoring and Prediction System, Scientific Data, 1:140001, 1-10, doi: 10.1038/sdata.2014.1.

Demonstration of a Robust Sensor System for Remote Condition Monitoring of Heat-Distribution System Manholes

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-01

15 Figure 16.Temperature sensor wires routed into galvanized steel piping...The technical monitors were Daniel J. Dunmire (OUSD(AT&L)), Bernie Rodriguez (IMPW-FM), and Valerie D. Hines (DAIM-ODF). The work was performed...or result in severe corrosion of steel HDS components, and must be corrected immediately to avoid costly collateral impacts on energy costs or HDS

The Multiple Species Inventory and Monitoring Protocol: A Population, Community, and Biodiversity Monitoring Solution for National Forest System Lands

Treesearch

P. N. Manley; B. Van Horne

2006-01-01

The U.S. Forest Service manages approximately 76 million ha (191 million acres) of National Forest System (NFS) lands. The National Forest Management Act (1976) recognizes the importance of maintaining species and ecosystem diversity on NFS lands as a critical component of our ecological and cultural heritage. Information on the condition of populations and habitats of...

ITER-relevant calibration technique for soft x-ray spectrometer.

PubMed

Rzadkiewicz, J; Książek, I; Zastrow, K-D; Coffey, I H; Jakubowska, K; Lawson, K D

2010-10-01

The ITER-oriented JET research program brings new requirements for the low-Z impurity monitoring, in particular for the Be—the future main wall component of JET and ITER. Monitoring based on Bragg spectroscopy requires an absolute sensitivity calibration, which is challenging for large tokamaks. This paper describes both “component-by-component” and “continua” calibration methods used for the Be IV channel (75.9 Å) of the Bragg rotor spectrometer deployed on JET. The calibration techniques presented here rely on multiorder reflectivity calculations and measurements of continuum radiation emitted from helium plasmas. These offer excellent conditions for the absolute photon flux calibration due to their low level of impurities. It was found that the component-by-component method gives results that are four times higher than those obtained by means of the continua method. A better understanding of this discrepancy requires further investigations.

Conformal and embedded IDT microsensors for health monitoring of structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varadan, Vijay K.; Varadan, Vasundara V.

2000-06-01

MEMS are currently being applied to the structural health monitoring of critical aircraft components and composites. The approach integrates acoustic emission, strain gauges, MEMS accelerometers and vibration monitoring aircraft components with a known history of catastrophic failure due to fracture. Recently a combination of the need for safety in the air and the desire to control costs is encouraging the use of in-flight monitoring of aircraft components and systems using light-weight, wireless and cost effective microsensors and MEMS. An in-situ aircraft structural health monitoring system, with sensors embedded in the composite structure or surface-mounted on the structure, would permit the timely detection of damage in aircraft. Micromachining offers the potential for fabricating a range of microsensor and MEMS for structural applications including load, vibration and acoustics characterization and monitoring. Such microsensors are extremely small; they can be embedded into structural materials, can be mass-produced and are therefore potentially cheap. The smart sensors are being developed using the standard microelectronics and micromachining in conjunction with novel Penn State wireless communication systems suitable for condition monitoring of aircraft structures in-flight. The main application areas of this investigation include continuos monitoring of a) structural integrity of aging aircraft, b) fatigue cracking, c) corrosion, d) deflection and strain of aircraft structures, wings, and rotorblades, e) impact damage, f) delamination and g) location and propagation of cracks. In this paper we give an overview of wireless programmable microsensors and MEMS and their associated driving electronics for such applications.

FRAMEWORK FOR STRUCTURAL ONLINE HEALTH MONITORING OF AGING AND DEGRADATION OF SECONDARY PIPING SYSTEMS DUE TO SOME ASPECTS OF EROSION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gribok, Andrei V.; Agarwal, Vivek

This paper describes the current state of research related to critical aspects of erosion and selected aspects of degradation of secondary components in nuclear power plants (NPPs). The paper also proposes a framework for online health monitoring of aging and degradation of secondary components. The framework consists of an integrated multi-sensor modality system, which can be used to monitor different piping configurations under different degradation conditions. The report analyses the currently known degradation mechanisms and available predictive models. Based on this analysis, the structural health monitoring framework is proposed. The Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program began to evaluate technologies thatmore » could be used to perform online monitoring of piping and other secondary system structural components in commercial NPPs. These online monitoring systems have the potential to identify when a more detailed inspection is needed using real time measurements, rather than at a pre-determined inspection interval. This transition to condition-based, risk-informed automated maintenance will contribute to a significant reduction of operations and maintenance costs that account for the majority of nuclear power generation costs. Furthermore, of the operations and maintenance costs in U.S. plants, approximately 80% are labor costs. To address the issue of rising operating costs and economic viability, in 2017, companies that operate the national nuclear energy fleet started the Delivering the Nuclear Promise Initiative, which is a 3 year program aimed at maintaining operational focus, increasing value, and improving efficiency. There is unanimous agreement between industry experts and academic researchers that identifying and prioritizing inspection locations in secondary piping systems (for example, in raw water piping or diesel piping) would eliminate many excessive in-service inspections. The proposed structural health monitoring framework takes aim at answering this challenge by combining long range guided wave technologies with other monitoring techniques, which can significantly increase the inspection length and pinpoint the locations that degraded the most. More widely, the report suggests research efforts aimed at developing, validating, and deploying online corrosion monitoring techniques for complex geometries, which are pervasive in NPPs.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Incorporation of real-time component information using equipment condition assessment (ECA) through the developmentof enhanced risk monitors (ERM) for active components in advanced reactor (AR) and advanced small modular reactor (SMR) designs. We incorporate time-dependent failure probabilities from prognostic health management (PHM) systems to dynamically update the risk metric of interest. This information is used to augment data used for supervisory control and plant-wide coordination of multiple modules by providing the incremental risk incurred due to aging and demands placed on components that support mission requirements.

Central Alaska Network vital signs monitoring plan

USGS Publications Warehouse

MacCluskie, Margaret C.; Oakley, Karen L.; McDonald, Trent; Wilder, Doug

2005-01-01

Denali National Park and Preserve, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve have been organized into the Central Alaska Network (CAKN) for the purposes of carrying out ecological monitoring activities under the National Park Services’ Vital Signs Monitoring program. The Phase III Report is the initial draft of the Vital Signs Monitoring Plan for the Central Alaska Network. It includes updated material from the Phase I and II documents. This report, and draft protocols for 11 of the network’s Vital Signs, were peer reviewed early in 2005. Review comments were incorporated into the document bringing the network to the final stage of having a Vital Signs Monitoring Plan. Implementation of the program will formally begin in FY 2006. The broad goals of the CAKN monitoring program are to: (1) better understand the dynamic nature and condition of park ecosystems; and (2) provide reference points for comparisons with other, altered environments. The focus of the CAKN program will be to monitor ecosystems in order to detect change in ecological components and in the relationships among the components. Water quality monitoring is fully integrated within the CAKN monitoring program. A monitoring program for lentic (non-moving water) has been determined, and the program for lotic systems (moving water) is under development.

Characterization of vibration transfer paths in nose gearboxes of an AH-64 Apache

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Islam, A. K. M. Anwarul; Dempsey, Paula J.; Feldman, Jason; Larsen, Chris

2014-03-01

Health monitoring of rotorcraft components, which is currently being performed by Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) through analyzing vibration signatures of dynamic mechanical components, is very important for their safe and economic operation. Vibration diagnostic algorithms in HUMS analyze vibration signatures associated with faults and quantify them as condition indicators (CI) to predict component behavior. Vibration transfer paths (VTP) play important roles in CI response and are characterized by frequency response functions (FRF) derived from vibration signatures of dynamic mechanical components of a helicopter. With an objective to investigate the difference in VTP of a component in a helicopter and test stand, and to relate that to the CI response, VTP measurements were recorded from 0-50 kHz under similar conditions in the left and right nose gearboxes (NGBs) of an AH-64 Apache and an isolated left NGB in a test stand at NASA Glenn Research Center. The test fixture enabled the application of measured torques - common during an actual operation. Commercial and lab piezo shakers, and an impact hammer were used in both systems to collect the vibration response using two types of commercially available accelerometers under various test conditions. The FRFs of both systems were found to be consistent, and certain real-world installation and maintenance issues, such as sensor alignments, locations and installation torques, had minimal effect on the VTP. However, gear vibration transfer path dynamics appeared to be somewhat dependent on presence of oil, and the lightly-damped ring gear produced sharp and closer transfer path resonances.

Evaluation of safety and quality impact of extractable and leachable substances in therapeutic biologic protein products: a risk-based perspective.

PubMed

Markovic, Ingrid

2007-09-01

Leachables are chemical entities that migrate spontaneously from the final container closure system, packaging components and/or processing equipment under recommended conditions of product use and storage. Unlike leachables, extractables are generated under exaggerated temperature and time conditions in the presence of an appropriate solvent. Increasing evidence suggests that leachables may pose a safety risk by causing toxicity, carcinogenicity, immunogenicity and/or endocrine dysregulation. These substances may also alter product physico-chemical properties via interaction with the active pharmaceutical ingredient or the excipients in product vehicle, thereby adversely affecting the final product quality. The evaluation of leachable compounds begins with a thorough identification of extractable compounds released from the production and packaging components under exaggerated conditions. The set of observed extractables helps to identify possible targets to be monitored in a subsequent leachables study over extended time periods. Although extractables and leachables also present a challenge for the safe use of device components (e.g., metered dose inhalers, dry powder inhalers, nasal spray devices or various implants), this review focusses on a safety risk assessment for specified therapeutic biological protein products. Regulatory, safety and scientific considerations in evaluating extractables and leachables are discussed, along with strategies for the analytical identification, quantification and monitoring.

Measurement of the accumulation of water ice on optical components in cryogenic vacuum environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moeller, Trevor M.; Montgomery Smith, L.; Collins, Frank G.; Labello, Jesse M.; Rogers, James P.; Lowry, Heard S.; Crider, Dustin H.

2012-11-01

Standard vacuum practices mitigate the presence of water vapor and contamination inside cryogenic vacuum chambers. However, anomalies can occur in the facility that can cause the accumulation of amorphous water ice on optics and test articles. Under certain conditions, the amorphous ice on optical components shatters, which leads to a reduction in signal or failure of the component. An experiment was performed to study and measure the deposition of water (H2O) ice on optical surfaces under high-vacuum cryogenic conditions. Water was introduced into a cryogenic vacuum chamber, via a hydrated molecular sieve zeolite, through an effusion cell and impinged upon a quartz-crystal microbalance (QCM) and first-surface gold-plated mirror. A laser and photodiode setup, external to the vacuum chamber, monitored the multiple-beam interference reflectance of the ice-mirror configuration while the QCM measured the mass deposition. Data indicates that water ice, under these conditions, accumulates as a thin film on optical surfaces to thicknesses over 45 microns and can be detected and measured by nonintrusive optical methods which are based upon multiple-beam interference phenomena. The QCM validated the interference measurements. This experiment established proof-of-concept for a miniature system for monitoring ice accumulation within the chamber.

Hollow shaft integrated health monitoring system for railroad wheels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frankenstein, B.; Hentschel, D.; Pridoehl, E.; Schubert, F.

2005-05-01

The economic efficiency and competitiveness of environment-friendly rail transportation depends on safety, availability and maintenance of single highly loaded structure components. Until now these components have been changed in fixed maintenance intervals irrespective of any usage related conditions. With the knowledge and evaluation of the component conditions, life cycle costs can be reduced by means of optimized maintenance and/or "fit for purpose" design. For example, rail-bound vehicle wheel sets are among the most highly stressed travelling gear components of the bogie. if such a component fails, a serious accident may occur. For this reason, a health monitoring system based on the interpretation of ultrasonic sound signatures has been developed. First, the ultrasonic waves generated by an artificial defect on the outer wheel tread of a railroad wheel towards an acoustic sensor, placed inside the hollow shaft of the railroad axis were simulated with a EFIT (Elastodynamic Finite Integration Technique). The results achieved proved that relevant signals can be found in a frequency range up to 300 kHz. Based on this a diagnostic unit was designed and built for application under rotation conditions, which consists of a piezo-electric sensor, primary electronics, an analog-to-digital converter, a digital signal processor, a trigger unit, and a telemetric transmitter. This diagnostic unit was integrated in the hollow shaft of a railroad wheel axis, a component of a special laboratory test rig. Algorithms which allow for the rotation-synchronized processing of acoustic signals were implemented into the rotating diagnostic unit. After successfully completing a campaign for this test rig, a second test was performed inside the wheel/railroad simulation test rig of the Deutsche Bahn AG under railroad-like conditions. The data generated inside the hollow shaft of the railroad wheel axis by the diagnostic unit were telemetrically transmitted to an industrial computer. The detection of artificial defects of different sizes is shown in correlation with theoretical assumptions.

Experimental Validation of a Resilient Monitoring and Control System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wen-Chiao Lin; Kris R. E. Villez; Humberto E. Garcia

2014-05-01

Complex, high performance, engineering systems have to be closely monitored and controlled to ensure safe operation and protect public from potential hazards. One of the main challenges in designing monitoring and control algorithms for these systems is that sensors and actuators may be malfunctioning due to malicious or natural causes. To address this challenge, this paper addresses a resilient monitoring and control (ReMAC) system by expanding previously developed resilient condition assessment monitoring systems and Kalman filter-based diagnostic methods and integrating them with a supervisory controller developed here. While the monitoring and diagnostic algorithms assess plant cyber and physical health conditions,more » the supervisory controller selects, from a set of candidates, the best controller based on the current plant health assessments. To experimentally demonstrate its enhanced performance, the developed ReMAC system is then used for monitoring and control of a chemical reactor with a water cooling system in a hardware-in-the-loop setting, where the reactor is computer simulated and the water cooling system is implemented by a machine condition monitoring testbed at Idaho National Laboratory. Results show that the ReMAC system is able to make correct plant health assessments despite sensor malfunctioning due to cyber attacks and make decisions that achieve best control actions despite possible actuator malfunctioning. Monitoring challenges caused by mismatches between assumed system component models and actual measurements are also identified for future work.« less

Using Bayesian Networks and Decision Theory to Model Physical Security

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-02-01

Home automation technologies allow a person to monitor and control various activities within a home or office setting. Cameras, sensors and other...components used along with the simple rules in the home automation software provide an environment where the lights, security and other appliances can be...monitored and controlled. These home automation technologies, however, lack the power to reason under uncertain conditions and thus the system can

Extended Pausing by Humans on Multiple Fixed-Ratio Schedules with Varied Reinforcer Magnitude and Response Requirements

PubMed Central

Williams, Dean C; Saunders, Kathryn J; Perone, Michael

2011-01-01

We conducted three experiments to reproduce and extend Perone and Courtney's (1992) study of pausing at the beginning of fixed-ratio schedules. In a multiple schedule with unequal amounts of food across two components, they found that pigeons paused longest in the component associated with the smaller amount of food (the lean component), but only when it was preceded by the rich component. In our studies, adults with mild intellectual disabilities responded on a touch-sensitive computer monitor to produce money. In Experiment 1, the multiple-schedule components differed in both response requirement and reinforcer magnitude (i.e., the rich component required fewer responses and produced more money than the lean component). Effects shown with pigeons were reproduced in all 7 participants. In Experiment 2, we removed the stimuli that signaled the two schedule components, and participants' extended pausing was eliminated. In Experiment 3, to assess sensitivity to reinforcer magnitude versus fixed-ratio size, we presented conditions with equal ratio sizes but disparate magnitudes and conditions with equal magnitudes but disparate ratio sizes. Sensitivity to these manipulations was idiosyncratic. The present experiments obtained schedule control in verbally competent human participants and, despite procedural differences, we reproduced findings with animal participants. We showed that pausing is jointly determined by past conditions of reinforcement and stimuli correlated with upcoming conditions. PMID:21541121

The use of a quartz crystal microbalance as an analytical tool to monitor particle/surface and particle/particle interactions under dry ambient and pressurized conditions: a study using common inhaler components.

PubMed

Turner, N W; Bloxham, M; Piletsky, S A; Whitcombe, M J; Chianella, I

2016-12-19

Metered dose inhalers (MDI) and multidose powder inhalers (MPDI) are commonly used for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and asthma. Currently, analytical tools to monitor particle/particle and particle/surface interaction within MDI and MPDI at the macro-scale do not exist. A simple tool capable of measuring such interactions would ultimately enable quality control of MDI and MDPI, producing remarkable benefits for the pharmaceutical industry and the users of inhalers. In this paper, we have investigated whether a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) could become such a tool. A QCM was used to measure particle/particle and particle/surface interactions on the macroscale, by additions of small amounts of MDPI components, in the powder form into a gas stream. The subsequent interactions with materials on the surface of the QCM sensor were analyzed. Following this, the sensor was used to measure fluticasone propionate, a typical MDI active ingredient, in a pressurized gas system to assess its interactions with different surfaces under conditions mimicking the manufacturing process. In both types of experiments the QCM was capable of discriminating interactions of different components and surfaces. The results have demonstrated that the QCM is a suitable platform for monitoring macro-scale interactions and could possibly become a tool for quality control of inhalers.

Development and Validation of a Practical Instrument for Injury Prevention: The Occupational Safety and Health Monitoring and Assessment Tool (OSH-MAT).

PubMed

Sun, Yi; Arning, Martin; Bochmann, Frank; Börger, Jutta; Heitmann, Thomas

2018-06-01

The Occupational Safety and Health Monitoring and Assessment Tool (OSH-MAT) is a practical instrument that is currently used in the German woodworking and metalworking industries to monitor safety conditions at workplaces. The 12-item scoring system has three subscales rating technical, organizational, and personnel-related conditions in a company. Each item has a rating value ranging from 1 to 9, with higher values indicating higher standard of safety conditions. The reliability of this instrument was evaluated in a cross-sectional survey among 128 companies and its validity among 30,514 companies. The inter-rater reliability of the instrument was examined independently and simultaneously by two well-trained safety engineers. Agreement between the double ratings was quantified by the intraclass correlation coefficient and absolute agreement of the rating values. The content validity of the OSH-MAT was evaluated by quantifying the association between OSH-MAT values and 5-year average injury rates by Poisson regression analysis adjusted for the size of the companies and industrial sectors. The construct validity of OSH-MAT was examined by principle component factor analysis. Our analysis indicated good to very good inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.64-0.74) of OSH-MAT values with an absolute agreement of between 72% and 81%. Factor analysis identified three component subscales that met exactly the structure theory of this instrument. The Poisson regression analysis demonstrated a statistically significant exposure-response relationship between OSH-MAT values and the 5-year average injury rates. These analyses indicate that OSH-MAT is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used effectively to monitor safety conditions at workplaces.

Turbine engine rotor health monitoring evaluation by means of finite element analyses and spin tests data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdul-Aziz, Ali; Woike, Mark R.; Clem, Michelle; Baaklini, George Y.

2014-04-01

Generally, rotating engine components undergo high centrifugal loading environment which subject them to various types of failure initiation mechanisms. Health monitoring of these components is a necessity and is often challenging to implement. This is primarily due to numerous factors including the presence of scattered loading conditions, flaw sizes, component geometry and materials properties, all which hinder the simplicity of applying health monitoring applications. This paper represents a summary work of combined experimental and analytical modeling that included data collection from a spin test experiment of a rotor disk addressing the aforementioned durability issues. It further covers presentation of results obtained from a finite element modeling study to characterize the structural durability of a cracked rotor as it relates to the experimental findings. The experimental data include blade tip clearance, blade tip timing and shaft displacement measurements. The tests were conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center's Rotordynamics Laboratory, a high precision spin rig. The results are evaluated and examined to determine their significance on the development of a health monitoring system to pre-predict cracks and other anomalies and to assist in initiating a supplemental physics based fault prediction analytical model.

Remote health monitoring system for detecting cardiac disorders.

PubMed

Bansal, Ayush; Kumar, Sunil; Bajpai, Anurag; Tiwari, Vijay N; Nayak, Mithun; Venkatesan, Shankar; Narayanan, Rangavittal

2015-12-01

Remote health monitoring system with clinical decision support system as a key component could potentially quicken the response of medical specialists to critical health emergencies experienced by their patients. A monitoring system, specifically designed for cardiac care with electrocardiogram (ECG) signal analysis as the core diagnostic technique, could play a vital role in early detection of a wide range of cardiac ailments, from a simple arrhythmia to life threatening conditions such as myocardial infarction. The system that the authors have developed consists of three major components, namely, (a) mobile gateway, deployed on patient's mobile device, that receives 12-lead ECG signals from any ECG sensor, (b) remote server component that hosts algorithms for accurate annotation and analysis of the ECG signal and (c) point of care device of the doctor to receive a diagnostic report from the server based on the analysis of ECG signals. In the present study, their focus has been toward developing a system capable of detecting critical cardiac events well in advance using an advanced remote monitoring system. A system of this kind is expected to have applications ranging from tracking wellness/fitness to detection of symptoms leading to fatal cardiac events.

Health Monitoring Survey of Bell 412EP Transmissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tucker, Brian E.; Dempsey, Paula J.

2016-01-01

Health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) use vibration-based Condition Indicators (CI) to assess the health of helicopter powertrain components. A fault is detected when a CI exceeds its threshold value. The effectiveness of fault detection can be judged on the basis of assessing the condition of actual components from fleet aircraft. The Bell 412 HUMS-equipped helicopter is chosen for such an evaluation. A sample of 20 aircraft included 12 aircraft with confirmed transmission and gearbox faults (detected by CIs) and eight aircraft with no known faults. The associated CI data is classified into "healthy" and "faulted" populations based on actual condition and these populations are compared against their CI thresholds to quantify the probability of false alarm and the probability of missed detection. Receiver Operator Characteristic analysis is used to optimize thresholds. Based on the results of the analysis, shortcomings in the classification method are identified for slow-moving CI trends. Recommendations for improving classification using time-dependent receiver-operator characteristic methods are put forth. Finally, lessons learned regarding OEM-operator communication are presented.

Integration and Assessment of Component Health Prognostics in Supervisory Control Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ramuhalli, Pradeep; Bonebrake, Christopher A.; Dib, Gerges

Enhanced risk monitors (ERMs) for active components in advanced reactor concepts use predictive estimates of component failure to update, in real time, predictive safety and economic risk metrics. These metrics have been shown to be capable of use in optimizing maintenance scheduling and managing plant maintenance costs. Integrating this information with plant supervisory control systems increases the potential for making control decisions that utilize real-time information on component conditions. Such decision making would limit the possibility of plant operations that increase the likelihood of degrading the functionality of one or more components while maintaining the overall functionality of the plant.more » ERM uses sensor data for providing real-time information about equipment condition for deriving risk monitors. This information is used to estimate the remaining useful life and probability of failure of these components. By combining this information with plant probabilistic risk assessment models, predictive estimates of risk posed by continued plant operation in the presence of detected degradation may be estimated. In this paper, we describe this methodology in greater detail, and discuss its integration with a prototypic software-based plant supervisory control platform. In order to integrate these two technologies and evaluate the integrated system, software to simulate the sensor data was developed, prognostic models for feedwater valves were developed, and several use cases defined. The full paper will describe these use cases, and the results of the initial evaluation.« less

Clinical pathology of llamas and alpacas.

PubMed

Tornquist, Susan J

2009-07-01

Clinical laboratory data including hematology, hemostasis, biochemical, and cytologic findings contribute to diagnosis and monitoring of numerous conditions in camelids. Establishment of reference intervals and descriptions of normal components of fluids in these species have improved our ability to interpret test results.

Experimental wind tunnel study of a smart sensing skin for condition evaluation of a wind turbine blade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Downey, Austin; Laflamme, Simon; Ubertini, Filippo

2017-12-01

Condition evaluation of wind turbine blades is difficult due to their large size, complex geometry and lack of economic and scalable sensing technologies capable of detecting, localizing, and quantifying faults over a blade’s global area. A solution is to deploy inexpensive large area electronics over strategic areas of the monitored component, analogous to sensing skin. The authors have previously proposed a large area electronic consisting of a soft elastomeric capacitor (SEC). The SEC is highly scalable due to its low cost and ease of fabrication, and can, therefore, be used for monitoring large-scale components. A single SEC is a strain sensor that measures the additive strain over a surface. Recently, its application in a hybrid dense sensor network (HDSN) configuration has been studied, where a network of SECs is augmented with a few off-the-shelf strain gauges to measure boundary conditions and decompose the additive strain to obtain unidirectional surface strain maps. These maps can be analyzed to detect, localize, and quantify faults. In this work, we study the performance of the proposed sensing skin at conducting condition evaluation of a wind turbine blade model in an operational environment. Damage in the form of changing boundary conditions and cuts in the monitored substrate are induced into the blade. An HDSN is deployed onto the interior surface of the substrate, and the blade excited in a wind tunnel. Results demonstrate the capability of the HDSN and associated algorithms to detect, localize, and quantify damage. These results show promise for the future deployment of fully integrated sensing skins deployed inside wind turbine blades for condition evaluation.

The GEOGLAM Rangelands and Pasture Productivity Activity: Recent Progress and Future Directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guerschman, J. P.; Held, A. A.; Donohue, R. J.; Renzullo, L. J.; Sims, N.; Kerblat, F.; Grundy, M.

2015-12-01

Rangelands and pastures cover about a third of the world's land area and support livestock production which represents ~40% of global agricultural gross domestic product. The global consumption of animal protein shows a clear increasing trend, driven by both total population and per capita income increases, putting a growing pressure on the sustainability of grazing lands worldwide. Despite their relevance, rangelands have received less attention than croplands regarding global monitoring of the resource productivity and condition. The Rangelands and Pasture Productivity (RaPP) activity is a component within the Global Agricultural Monitoring initiative established under the Group on Earth Observations (GEOGLAM) in 2013. GEOGLAM RaPP is aimed at providing the global community with the means to monitor the world's rangelands and pastures on a routine basis, and the capacity to produce animal protein in real-time, at global, regional and national levels. Since its launch two years ago GEOGLAM RAPP has made progress in the four implementation elements. These include: 1- the establishment of community of practice; 2- the development of a global monitoring system for rangeland condition; 3- the establishment of pilot sites in main rangeland systems for satellite data products validation and model testing; and 4- integration with livestock production models. Three international workshops have been held building the community of practice. A prototype monitoring system that provides global visualisations and querying capability of vegetation cover data and anomalies has been established. Pilot sites, mostly in areas with long records of field measurements of rangeland condition and productivity have been proposed for nine countries. The link to global livestock models, including physical and economic components, have been established. Future challenges for GEOGLAM RaPP have also been identified and include: better representation of the areas occupied by rangelands, pastures and mixed systems globally; intercomparison and validation of satellite data products and models depicting rangeland condition and forage availability; and better understanding of the environmental and social impacts of the potential use of pastures for biofuel production.

Fiber optical sensors for aircraft applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pechstedt, Ralf D.

2014-09-01

In this paper selected fiber optical point sensors that are of potential interest for deployment in aircraft are discussed. The operating principles together with recent measurement results are described. Examples include a high-temperature combined pressure and temperature sensor for engine health, hydraulics and landing gear monitoring, an ultra-high sensitive pressure sensor for oil, pneumatic and fluid aero systems applications and a combined acceleration and temperature sensor for condition monitoring of rotating components.

Smart Sensors Assess Structural Health

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2010-01-01

NASA frequently inspects launch vehicles, fuel tanks, and other components for structural damage. To perform quick evaluation and monitoring, the Agency pursues the development of structural health monitoring systems. In 2001, Acellent Technologies Inc., of Sunnyvale, California, received Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from Marshall Space Flight Center to develop a hybrid Stanford Multi-Actuator Receiver Transduction (SMART) Layer for aerospace vehicles and structures. As a result, Acellent expanded the technology's capability and now sells it to aerospace and automotive companies; construction, energy, and utility companies; and the defense, space, transportation, and energy industries for structural condition monitoring, damage detection, crack growth monitoring, and other applications.

Signal Detection Theory Applied to Helicopter Transmission Diagnostic Thresholds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dempsey, Paula J.; Keller, Jonathan A.; Wade, Daniel R.

2008-01-01

Helicopter Health Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) have potential for providing data to support increasing the service life of a dynamic mechanical component in the transmission of a helicopter. Data collected can demonstrate the HUMS condition indicator responds to a specific component fault with appropriate alert limits and minimal false alarms. Defining thresholds for specific faults requires a tradeoff between the sensitivity of the condition indicator (CI) limit to indicate damage and the number of false alarms. A method using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves to assess CI performance was demonstrated using CI data collected from accelerometers installed on several UH60 Black Hawk and AH64 Apache helicopters and an AH64 helicopter component test stand. Results of the analysis indicate ROC curves can be used to reliably assess the performance of commercial HUMS condition indicators to detect damaged gears and bearings in a helicopter transmission.

Signal Detection Theory Applied to Helicopter Transmission Diagnostic Thresholds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dempsey, Paula J.; Keller, Jonathan A.; Wade, Daniel R.

2009-01-01

Helicopter Health Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) have potential for providing data to support increasing the service life of a dynamic mechanical component in the transmission of a helicopter. Data collected can demonstrate the HUMS condition indicator responds to a specific component fault with appropriate alert limits and minimal false alarms. Defining thresholds for specific faults requires a tradeoff between the sensitivity of the condition indicator (CI) limit to indicate damage and the number of false alarms. A method using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves to assess CI performance was demonstrated using CI data collected from accelerometers installed on several UH60 Black Hawk and AH64 Apache helicopters and an AH64 helicopter component test stand. Results of the analysis indicate ROC curves can be used to reliably assess the performance of commercial HUMS condition indicators to detect damaged gears and bearings in a helicopter transmission.

Fault detection and diagnosis in an industrial fed-batch cell culture process.

PubMed

Gunther, Jon C; Conner, Jeremy S; Seborg, Dale E

2007-01-01

A flexible process monitoring method was applied to industrial pilot plant cell culture data for the purpose of fault detection and diagnosis. Data from 23 batches, 20 normal operating conditions (NOC) and three abnormal, were available. A principal component analysis (PCA) model was constructed from 19 NOC batches, and the remaining NOC batch was used for model validation. Subsequently, the model was used to successfully detect (both offline and online) abnormal process conditions and to diagnose the root causes. This research demonstrates that data from a relatively small number of batches (approximately 20) can still be used to monitor for a wide range of process faults.

SPATIAL AND FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ISOLATED WETLANDS

EPA Science Inventory

The USEPA is conducting isolated wetland (IW) research at locations around the USA to better understand the ecological importance and ecosystem services provided by IW and to develop methods to monitor and assess their condition. The first research component explores the use of r...

Groundwater and Terrestrial Water Storage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodell, Matthew; Chambers, Don P.; Famiglietti, James S.

2012-01-01

Groundwater is a vital resource and also a dynamic component of the water cycle. Unconfined aquifer storage is less responsive to short term weather conditions than the near surface terrestrial water storage (TWS) components (soil moisture, surface water, and snow). However, save for the permanently frozen regions, it typically exhibits a larger range of variability over multi-annual periods than the other components. Groundwater is poorly monitored at the global scale, but terrestrial water storage (TWS) change data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission are a reasonable proxy for unconfined groundwater at climatic scales.

Landscape scale ecological monitoring as part of an EIA of major construction activities: experience at the Turkish section of the BTC crude oil pipeline project.

PubMed

Sahin, Sükran; Kurum, Ekrem

2009-09-01

Ecological monitoring is a complementary component of the overall environmental management and monitoring program of any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report. The monitoring method should be developed for each project phase and allow for periodic reporting and assessment of compliance with the environmental conditions and requirements of the EIA. Also, this method should incorporate a variance request program since site-specific conditions can affect construction on a daily basis and require time-critical application of alternative construction scenarios or environmental management methods integrated with alternative mitigation measures. Finally, taking full advantage of the latest information and communication technologies can enhance the quality of, and public involvement in, the environmental management program. In this paper, a landscape-scale ecological monitoring method for major construction projects is described using, as a basis, 20 months of experience on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Crude Oil Pipeline Project, covering Turkish Sections Lot B and Lot C. This analysis presents suggestions for improving ecological monitoring for major construction activities.

Prognostics using Engineering and Environmental Parameters as Applied to State of Health (SOH) Radionuclide Aerosol Sampler Analyzer (RASA) Real-Time Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hutchenson, K. D.; Hartley-McBride, S.; Saults, T.; Schmidt, D. P.

2006-05-01

The International Monitoring System (IMS) is composed in part of radionuclide particulate and gas monitoring systems. Monitoring the operational status of these systems is an important aspect of nuclear weapon test monitoring. Quality data, process control techniques, and predictive models are necessary to detect and predict system component failures. Predicting failures in advance provides time to mitigate these failures, thus minimizing operational downtime. The Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS) requires IMS radionuclide systems be operational 95 percent of the time. The United States National Data Center (US NDC) offers contributing components to the IMS. This effort focuses on the initial research and process development using prognostics for monitoring and predicting failures of the RASA two (2) days into the future. The predictions, using time series methods, are input to an expert decision system, called SHADES (State of Health Airflow and Detection Expert System). The results enable personnel to make informed judgments about the health of the RASA system. Data are read from a relational database, processed, and displayed to the user in a GIS as a prototype GUI. This procedure mimics the real time application process that could be implemented as an operational system, This initial proof-of-concept effort developed predictive models focused on RASA components for a single site (USP79). Future work shall include the incorporation of other RASA systems, as well as their environmental conditions that play a significant role in performance. Similarly, SHADES currently accommodates specific component behaviors at this one site. Future work shall also include important environmental variables that play an important part of the prediction algorithms.

Low power sensor network for wireless condition monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, Ch.; Frankenstein, B.; Schubert, L.; Weihnacht, B.; Friedmann, H.; Ebert, C.

2009-03-01

For comprehensive fatigue tests and surveillance of large scale structures, a vibration monitoring system working in the Hz and sub Hz frequency range was realized and tested. The system is based on a wireless sensor network and focuses especially on the realization of a low power measurement, signal processing and communication. Regarding the development, we met the challenge of synchronizing the wireless connected sensor nodes with sufficient accuracy. The sensor nodes ware realized by compact, sensor near signal processing structures containing components for analog preprocessing of acoustic signals, their digitization, algorithms for data reduction and network communication. The core component is a digital micro controller which performs the basic algorithms necessary for the data acquisition synchronization and the filtering. As a first application, the system was installed in a rotor blade of a wind power turbine in order to monitor the Eigen modes over a longer period of time. Currently the sensor nodes are battery powered.

Developing Effective Continuous On-Line Monitoring Technologies to Manage Service Degradation of Nuclear Power Plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meyer, Ryan M.; Ramuhalli, Pradeep; Bond, Leonard J.

2011-09-30

Recently, there has been increased interest in using prognostics (i.e, remaining useful life (RUL) prediction) for managing and mitigating aging effects in service-degraded passive nuclear power reactor components. A vital part of this philosophy is the development of tools for detecting and monitoring service-induced degradation. Experience with in-service degradation has shown that rapidly-growing cracks, including several varieties of stress corrosion cracks (SCCs), can grow through a pipe in less than one fuel outage cycle after they initiate. Periodic inspection has limited effectiveness at detecting and managing such degradation requiring a more versatile monitoring philosophy. Acoustic emission testing (AET) and guidedmore » wave ultrasonic testing (GUT) are related technologies with potential for on-line monitoring applications. However, harsh operating conditions within NPPs inhibit the widespread implementation of both technologies. For AET, another hurdle is the attenuation of passive degradation signals as they travel though large components, relegating AET to targeted applications. GUT is further hindered by the complexity of GUT signatures limiting its application to the inspection of simple components. The development of sensors that are robust and inexpensive is key to expanding the use of AET and GUT for degradation monitoring in NPPs and improving overall effectiveness. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of AET and GUT in NPPs can be enhanced through thoughtful application of tandem AET-GUT techniques.« less

ASSESSING WATER CLARITY AS A COMPONENT OF WATER QUALITY IN GULF OF MEXICO ESTUARIES

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) uses water clarity as a water quality indicator for integrated assessments. After the publication of the first National Coastal Condition Report, the national water clarity reference v...

Home on the Big River: Great River Habitat Quality Indices

EPA Science Inventory

EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program sampled the Upper Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio Rivers from 2004 through 2006 as part of an integrated assessment of ecological condition. We developed fish habitat indices by dividing the components of habitat into four ca...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Coble, Jamie B.; Coles, Garill A.; Ramuhalli, Pradeep

Advanced small modular reactors (aSMRs) can provide the United States with a safe, sustainable, and carbon-neutral energy source. The controllable day-to-day costs of aSMRs are expected to be dominated by operation and maintenance costs. Health and condition assessment coupled with online risk monitors can potentially enhance affordability of aSMRs through optimized operational planning and maintenance scheduling. Currently deployed risk monitors are an extension of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). For complex engineered systems like nuclear power plants, PRA systematically combines event likelihoods and the probability of failure (POF) of key components, so that when combined with the magnitude of possible adversemore » consequences to determine risk. Traditional PRA uses population-based POF information to estimate the average plant risk over time. Currently, most nuclear power plants have a PRA that reflects the as-operated, as-modified plant; this model is updated periodically, typically once a year. Risk monitors expand on living PRA by incorporating changes in the day-by-day plant operation and configuration (e.g., changes in equipment availability, operating regime, environmental conditions). However, population-based POF (or population- and time-based POF) is still used to populate fault trees. Health monitoring techniques can be used to establish condition indicators and monitoring capabilities that indicate the component-specific POF at a desired point in time (or over a desired period), which can then be incorporated in the risk monitor to provide a more accurate estimate of the plant risk in different configurations. This is particularly important for active systems, structures, and components (SSCs) proposed for use in aSMR designs. These SSCs may differ significantly from those used in the operating fleet of light-water reactors (or even in LWR-based SMR designs). Additionally, the operating characteristics of aSMRs can present significantly different requirements, including the need to operate in different coolant environments, higher operating temperatures, and longer operating cycles between planned refueling and maintenance outages. These features, along with the relative lack of operating experience for some of the proposed advanced designs, may limit the ability to estimate event probability and component POF with a high degree of certainty. Incorporating real-time estimates of component POF may compensate for a relative lack of established knowledge about the long-term component behavior and improve operational and maintenance planning and optimization. The particular eccentricities of advanced reactors and small modular reactors provide unique challenges and needs for advanced instrumentation, control, and human-machine interface (ICHMI) techniques such as enhanced risk monitors (ERM) in aSMRs. Several features of aSMR designs increase the need for accurate characterization of the real-time risk during operation and maintenance activities. A number of technical gaps in realizing ERM exist, and these gaps are largely independent of the specific reactor technology. As a result, the development of a framework for ERM would enable greater situational awareness regardless of the specific class of reactor technology. A set of research tasks are identified in a preliminary research plan to enable the development, testing, and demonstration of such a framework. Although some aspects of aSMRs, such as specific operational characteristics, will vary and are not now completely defined, the proposed framework is expected to be relevant regardless of such uncertainty. The development of an ERM framework will provide one of the key technical developments necessary to ensure the economic viability of aSMRs.« less

Intelligent, Self-Diagnostic Thermal Protection System for Future Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hyers, Robert W.; SanSoucie, Michael P.; Pepyne, David; Hanlon, Alaina B.; Deshmukh, Abhijit

2005-01-01

The goal of this project is to provide self-diagnostic capabilities to the thermal protection systems (TPS) of future spacecraft. Self-diagnosis is especially important in thermal protection systems (TPS), where large numbers of parts must survive extreme conditions after weeks or years in space. In-service inspections of these systems are difficult or impossible, yet their reliability must be ensured before atmospheric entry. In fact, TPS represents the greatest risk factor after propulsion for any transatmospheric mission. The concepts and much of the technology would be applicable not only to the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), but also to ablative thermal protection for aerocapture and planetary exploration. Monitoring a thermal protection system on a Shuttle-sized vehicle is a daunting task: there are more than 26,000 components whose integrity must be verified with very low rates of both missed faults and false positives. The large number of monitored components precludes conventional approaches based on centralized data collection over separate wires; a distributed approach is necessary to limit the power, mass, and volume of the health monitoring system. Distributed intelligence with self-diagnosis further improves capability, scalability, robustness, and reliability of the monitoring subsystem. A distributed system of intelligent sensors can provide an assurance of the integrity of the system, diagnosis of faults, and condition-based maintenance, all with provable bounds on errors.

Characterisation of blends of polyisoprene and polystyrene by on-line hyphenation of HPLC and (1) H-NMR: LC-CC-NMR at critical conditions of both homopolymers.

PubMed

Sinha, Pritish; Hiller, Wolf; Pasch, Harald

2010-11-01

Blends of polystyrene (PS) and polyisoprene (PI) were analysed by on-line hyphenation of LC at critical conditions and (1) H-NMR. Chromatography at critical conditions was established for both PS and PI. At both critical conditions, a perfect separation into the blend components was achieved. By operating at critical conditions of one blend component and size exclusion mode for the other it is possible to determine the molar mass using a suitable calibration. By using NMR as a detector, the microstructure of PI can be identified, quantified and the chemical composition of the blends can be calculated by monitoring the signal intensities of the olefinic protons of isoprene and the aromatic protons of PS. Copyright © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Monitoring the CMS strip tracker readout system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mersi, S.; Bainbridge, R.; Baulieu, G.; Bel, S.; Cole, J.; Cripps, N.; Delaere, C.; Drouhin, F.; Fulcher, J.; Giassi, A.; Gross, L.; Hahn, K.; Mirabito, L.; Nikolic, M.; Tkaczyk, S.; Wingham, M.

2008-07-01

The CMS Silicon Strip Tracker at the LHC comprises a sensitive area of approximately 200 m2 and 10 million readout channels. Its data acquisition system is based around a custom analogue front-end chip. Both the control and the readout of the front-end electronics are performed by off-detector VME boards in the counting room, which digitise the raw event data and perform zero-suppression and formatting. The data acquisition system uses the CMS online software framework to configure, control and monitor the hardware components and steer the data acquisition. The first data analysis is performed online within the official CMS reconstruction framework, which provides many services, such as distributed analysis, access to geometry and conditions data, and a Data Quality Monitoring tool based on the online physics reconstruction. The data acquisition monitoring of the Strip Tracker uses both the data acquisition and the reconstruction software frameworks in order to provide real-time feedback to shifters on the operational state of the detector, archiving for later analysis and possibly trigger automatic recovery actions in case of errors. Here we review the proposed architecture of the monitoring system and we describe its software components, which are already in place, the various monitoring streams available, and our experiences of operating and monitoring a large-scale system.

A data fusion-based drought index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azmi, Mohammad; Rüdiger, Christoph; Walker, Jeffrey P.

2016-03-01

Drought and water stress monitoring plays an important role in the management of water resources, especially during periods of extreme climate conditions. Here, a data fusion-based drought index (DFDI) has been developed and analyzed for three different locations of varying land use and climate regimes in Australia. The proposed index comprehensively considers all types of drought through a selection of indices and proxies associated with each drought type. In deriving the proposed index, weekly data from three different data sources (OzFlux Network, Asia-Pacific Water Monitor, and MODIS-Terra satellite) were employed to first derive commonly used individual standardized drought indices (SDIs), which were then grouped using an advanced clustering method. Next, three different multivariate methods (principal component analysis, factor analysis, and independent component analysis) were utilized to aggregate the SDIs located within each group. For the two clusters in which the grouped SDIs best reflected the water availability and vegetation conditions, the variables were aggregated based on an averaging between the standardized first principal components of the different multivariate methods. Then, considering those two aggregated indices as well as the classifications of months (dry/wet months and active/non-active months), the proposed DFDI was developed. Finally, the symbolic regression method was used to derive mathematical equations for the proposed DFDI. The results presented here show that the proposed index has revealed new aspects in water stress monitoring which previous indices were not able to, by simultaneously considering both hydrometeorological and ecological concepts to define the real water stress of the study areas.

Monitoring Damage Accumulation in Ceramic Matrix Composites Using Electrical Resistivity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Craig E.; Morscher, Gregory N.; Xia, Zhenhai H.

2008-01-01

The electric resistance of woven SiC fiber reinforced SiC matrix composites were measured under tensile loading conditions. The results show that the electrical resistance is closely related to damage and that real-time information about the damage state can be obtained through monitoring of the resistance. Such self-sensing capability provides the possibility of on-board/in-situ damage detection and accurate life prediction for high-temperature ceramic matrix composites. Woven silicon carbide fiber-reinforced silicon carbide (SiC/SiC) ceramic matrix composites (CMC) possess unique properties such as high thermal conductivity, excellent creep resistance, improved toughness, and good environmental stability (oxidation resistance), making them particularly suitable for hot structure applications. In specific, CMCs could be applied to hot section components of gas turbines [1], aerojet engines [2], thermal protection systems [3], and hot control surfaces [4]. The benefits of implementing these materials include reduced cooling air requirements, lower weight, simpler component design, longer service life, and higher thrust [5]. It has been identified in NASA High Speed Research (HSR) program that the SiC/SiC CMC has the most promise for high temperature, high oxidation applications [6]. One of the critical issues in the successful application of CMCs is on-board or insitu assessment of the damage state and an accurate prediction of the remaining service life of a particular component. This is of great concern, since most CMC components envisioned for aerospace applications will be exposed to harsh environments and play a key role in the vehicle s safety. On-line health monitoring can enable prediction of remaining life; thus resulting in improved safety and reliability of structural components. Monitoring can also allow for appropriate corrections to be made in real time, therefore leading to the prevention of catastrophic failures. Most conventional nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques such as ultrasonic C-scan, x-ray, thermography, and eddy current are limited since they require structural components of complex geometry to be taken out of service for a substantial length of time for post-damage inspection and assessment. Furthermore, the typical NDE techniques are useful for identifying large interlaminar flaws, but insensitive to CMC materials flaws developed perpendicular to the surface under tensile creep conditions. There are techniques such as piezoelectric sensor [7,8], and optical fiber [9,10] that could be used for on-line health monitoring of CMC structures. However, these systems involve attaching an external sensor or putting special fibers in CMC composites, which would be problematic at high temperature applications.

A Wearable Cardiac Monitor for Long-Term Data Acquisition and Analysis

PubMed Central

Winokur, Eric S.; Delano, Maggie K.; Sodini, Charles G.

2015-01-01

A low-power wearable ECG monitoring system has been developed entirely from discrete electronic components and a custom PCB. This device removes all loose wires from the system and minimizes the footprint on the user. The monitor consists of five electrodes, which allow a cardiologist to choose from a variety of possible projections. Clinical tests to compare our wearable monitor with a commercial clinical ECG recorder are conducted on ten healthy adults under different ambulatory conditions, with nine of the datasets used for analysis. Data from both monitors were synchronized and annotated with PhysioNet's waveform viewer WAVE (physionet.org) [1]. All gold standard annotations are compared to the results of the WQRS detection algorithm [2] provided by PhysioNet. QRS sensitivity and QRS positive predictability are extracted from both monitors to validate the wearable monitor. PMID:22968205

Integration of multispectral and SAR data for monitoring forest ecosystems recovery after fire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stankova, Nataliya; Nedkov, Roumen; Ivanova, Iva; Avetisyan, Daniela

2017-09-01

The aim of this study is assessing the impacts and monitoring the condition and recovery processes of forest ecosystems after fire based on remote aerospace methods and data. To achieve this goal, satellite imagery in microwave and optical range of the spectrum were used. A hybrid model for assessing the instantaneous condition of forest ecosystems after fire that uses parallel data from optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) was developed. Based on the three Tasseled Cap components (Brightness-BR, Greenness-GR and Wetness-W), a vector describing the current condition of the forest ecosystems was obtained and used as input data from the optical range. Results obtained by implementation of the proposed approach show that the integrated composite images of VIC and SAR represent the degree of recovery.

On ERPs detection in disorders of consciousness rehabilitation

PubMed Central

Risetti, Monica; Formisano, Rita; Toppi, Jlenia; Quitadamo, Lucia R.; Bianchi, Luigi; Astolfi, Laura; Cincotti, Febo; Mattia, Donatella

2013-01-01

Disorders of Consciousness (DOC) like Vegetative State (VS), and Minimally Conscious State (MCS) are clinical conditions characterized by the absence or intermittent behavioral responsiveness. A neurophysiological monitoring of parameters like Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) could be a first step to follow-up the clinical evolution of these patients during their rehabilitation phase. Eleven patients diagnosed as VS (n = 8) and MCS (n = 3) by means of the JFK Coma Recovery Scale Revised (CRS-R) underwent scalp EEG recordings during the delivery of a 3-stimuli auditory oddball paradigm, which included standard, deviant tones and the subject own name (SON) presented as a novel stimulus, administered under passive and active conditions. Four patients who showed a change in their clinical status as detected by means of the CRS-R (i.e., moved from VS to MCS), were subjected to a second EEG recording session. All patients, but one (anoxic etiology), showed ERP components such as mismatch negativity (MMN) and novelty P300 (nP3) under passive condition. When patients were asked to count the novel stimuli (active condition), the nP3 component displayed a significant increase in amplitude (p = 0.009) and a wider topographical distribution with respect to the passive listening, only in MCS. In 2 out of the 4 patients who underwent a second recording session consistently with their transition from VS to MCS, the nP3 component elicited by passive listening of SON stimuli revealed a significant amplitude increment (p < 0.05). Most relevant, the amplitude of the nP3 component in the active condition, acquired in each patient and in all recording sessions, displayed a significant positive correlation with the total scores (p = 0.004) and with the auditory sub-scores (p < 0.00001) of the CRS-R administered before each EEG recording. As such, the present findings corroborate the value of ERPs monitoring in DOC patients to investigate residual unconscious and conscious cognitive function. PMID:24312041

On ERPs detection in disorders of consciousness rehabilitation.

PubMed

Risetti, Monica; Formisano, Rita; Toppi, Jlenia; Quitadamo, Lucia R; Bianchi, Luigi; Astolfi, Laura; Cincotti, Febo; Mattia, Donatella

2013-01-01

Disorders of Consciousness (DOC) like Vegetative State (VS), and Minimally Conscious State (MCS) are clinical conditions characterized by the absence or intermittent behavioral responsiveness. A neurophysiological monitoring of parameters like Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) could be a first step to follow-up the clinical evolution of these patients during their rehabilitation phase. Eleven patients diagnosed as VS (n = 8) and MCS (n = 3) by means of the JFK Coma Recovery Scale Revised (CRS-R) underwent scalp EEG recordings during the delivery of a 3-stimuli auditory oddball paradigm, which included standard, deviant tones and the subject own name (SON) presented as a novel stimulus, administered under passive and active conditions. Four patients who showed a change in their clinical status as detected by means of the CRS-R (i.e., moved from VS to MCS), were subjected to a second EEG recording session. All patients, but one (anoxic etiology), showed ERP components such as mismatch negativity (MMN) and novelty P300 (nP3) under passive condition. When patients were asked to count the novel stimuli (active condition), the nP3 component displayed a significant increase in amplitude (p = 0.009) and a wider topographical distribution with respect to the passive listening, only in MCS. In 2 out of the 4 patients who underwent a second recording session consistently with their transition from VS to MCS, the nP3 component elicited by passive listening of SON stimuli revealed a significant amplitude increment (p < 0.05). Most relevant, the amplitude of the nP3 component in the active condition, acquired in each patient and in all recording sessions, displayed a significant positive correlation with the total scores (p = 0.004) and with the auditory sub-scores (p < 0.00001) of the CRS-R administered before each EEG recording. As such, the present findings corroborate the value of ERPs monitoring in DOC patients to investigate residual unconscious and conscious cognitive function.

Remote Monitoring of Post-eruption Volcano Environment Based-On Wireless Sensor Network (WSN): The Mount Sinabung Case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soeharwinto; Sinulingga, Emerson; Siregar, Baihaqi

2017-01-01

An accurate information can be useful for authorities to make good policies for preventive and mitigation after volcano eruption disaster. Monitoring of environmental parameters of post-eruption volcano provides an important information for authorities. Such monitoring system can be develop using the Wireless Network Sensor technology. Many application has been developed using the Wireless Sensor Network technology, such as floods early warning system, sun radiation mapping, and watershed monitoring. This paper describes the implementation of a remote environment monitoring system of mount Sinabung post-eruption. The system monitor three environmental parameters: soil condition, water quality and air quality (outdoor). Motes equipped with proper sensors, as components of the monitoring system placed in sample locations. The measured value from the sensors periodically sends to data server using 3G/GPRS communication module. The data can be downloaded by the user for further analysis.The measurement and data analysis results generally indicate that the environmental parameters in the range of normal/standard condition. The sample locations are safe for living and suitable for cultivation, but awareness is strictly required due to the uncertainty of Sinabung status.

Accelerated Aging Experiments for Capacitor Health Monitoring and Prognostics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kulkarni, Chetan S.; Celaya, Jose Ramon; Biswas, Gautam; Goebel, Kai

2012-01-01

This paper discusses experimental setups for health monitoring and prognostics of electrolytic capacitors under nominal operation and accelerated aging conditions. Electrolytic capacitors have higher failure rates than other components in electronic systems like power drives, power converters etc. Our current work focuses on developing first-principles-based degradation models for electrolytic capacitors under varying electrical and thermal stress conditions. Prognostics and health management for electronic systems aims to predict the onset of faults, study causes for system degradation, and accurately compute remaining useful life. Accelerated life test methods are often used in prognostics research as a way to model multiple causes and assess the effects of the degradation process through time. It also allows for the identification and study of different failure mechanisms and their relationships under different operating conditions. Experiments are designed for aging of the capacitors such that the degradation pattern induced by the aging can be monitored and analyzed. Experimental setups and data collection methods are presented to demonstrate this approach.

A simulation evaluation of the engine monitoring and control system display

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abbott, Terence S.

1990-01-01

The Engine Monitoring and Control System (E-MACS) display is a new concept for an engine instrument display, the purpose of which is to provide an enhanced means for a pilot to control and monitor aircraft engine performance. It provides graphically-presented information about performance capabilities, current performance, and engine component or subsystem operational conditions relative to nominal conditions. The concept was evaluated by sixteen pilot-subjects against a traditional, state-of-the-art electronic engine display format. The results of this evaluation showed a substantial pilot preference for the E-MACS display relative to the traditional display. The results of the failure detection portion of the evaluation showed a 100 percent detection rate for the E-MACS display relative to a 57 percent rate for the traditional display. From these results, it is concluded that by providing this type of information in the cockpit, a reduction in pilot workload and an enhanced ability for detecting degraded or off-nominal conditions is probable, thus leading to an increase in operational safety.

Plasma-Facing Component and Materials Testing for the NSTX-U

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaworski, Michael; Brooks, A.; Gerhardt, S.; Loesser, D.; Mardenfeld, M.; Menard, J.; Gray, T.; Reinke, M.

2017-10-01

The NSTX-U Recovery Project is developing plasma-facing components for use in the divertor of NSTX-U. The extreme conditions of the NSTX-U divertor make it possible to stress even graphite surfaces to the material limits leading to the possibility of component failures. In addition, the complex, mixed-material environment of the NSTX-U due to the use of boron and lithium wall conditioning techniques creates significant uncertainties in the monitoring of the PFCs. A testing program has been developed to inform on the material and design limitations of the NSTX-U high-heat flux components. These tests include high-heat flux testing in electron beam facilities as well as plasma-based testing. The NSTX-U components could experience perpendicular heat fluxes as high as 45 MW/m2. Parallel heat fluxes onto leading edges could reach 475 MW/m2. The testing program and material survey plan will be presented. Work supported by DOE contract DE-AC02-09CH11466 and DE-AC05-00OR22725.

Effects of highway construction on stream water quality and macroinvertebrate condition in a mid-atlantic highlands watershed, USA.

PubMed

Chen, Yushun; Viadero, Roger C; Wei, Xinchao; Fortney, Ronald; Hedrick, Lara B; Welsh, Stuart A; Anderson, James T; Lin, Lian-Shin

2009-01-01

Refining best management practices (BMPs) for future highway construction depends on a comprehensive understanding of environmental impacts from current construction methods. Based on a before-after-control impact (BACI) experimental design, long-term stream monitoring (1997-2006) was conducted at upstream (as control, n = 3) and downstream (as impact, n = 6) sites in the Lost River watershed of the Mid-Atlantic Highlands region, West Virginia. Monitoring data were analyzed to assess impacts of during and after highway construction on 15 water quality parameters and macroinvertebrate condition using the West Virginia stream condition index (WVSCI). Principal components analysis (PCA) identified regional primary water quality variances, and paired t tests and time series analysis detected seven highway construction-impacted water quality parameters which were mainly associated with the second principal component. In particular, impacts on turbidity, total suspended solids, and total iron during construction, impacts on chloride and sulfate during and after construction, and impacts on acidity and nitrate after construction were observed at the downstream sites. The construction had statistically significant impacts on macroinvertebrate index scores (i.e., WVSCI) after construction, but did not change the overall good biological condition. Implementing BMPs that address those construction-impacted water quality parameters can be an effective mitigation strategy for future highway construction in this highlands region.

Metallic wear debris sensors: promising developments in failure prevention for wind turbine gearsets and similar components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poley, Jack; Dines, Michael

2011-04-01

Wind turbines are frequently located in remote, hard-to-reach locations, making it difficult to apply traditional oil analysis sampling of the machine's critical gearset at timely intervals. Metal detection sensors are excellent candidates for sensors designed to monitor machine condition in vivo. Remotely sited components, such as wind turbines, therefore, can be comfortably monitored from a distance. Online sensor technology has come of age with products now capable of identifying onset of wear in time to avoid or mitigate failure. Online oil analysis is now viable, and can be integrated with onsite testing to vet sensor alarms, as well as traditional oil analysis, as furnished by offsite laboratories. Controlled laboratory research data were gathered from tests conducted on a typical wind turbine gearbox, wherein total ferrous particle measurement and metallic particle counting were employed and monitored. The results were then compared with a physical inspection for wear experienced by the gearset. The efficacy of results discussed herein strongly suggests the viability of metallic wear debris sensors in today's wind turbine gearsets, as correlation between sensor data and machine trauma were very good. By extension, similar components and settings would also seem amenable to wear particle sensor monitoring. To our knowledge no experiments such as described herein, have previously been conducted and published.

Theoretical and experimental separation dynamics in capillary zone electrophoresis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thormann, Wolfgang; Michaud, Jon-Pierre; Mosher, Richard A.

1986-01-01

The mathematical model of Bier et al. (1983) is used in a computer aided analysis of the conditions in capillary zone electrophoresis (ZE) under which sample zones migrate noninteractively with the carrier electrolyte. The monitoring of sample zones with a capillary analyzer that features both on-line conductivity and UV detection at the end of the separation trough is discussed. Data from a ZE analysis of a 5-component mixture are presented, and it is noted that all five components can be monitored via their conductivity change if enough sample is present. It is suggested from the results that the concentration ratio of background buffer to sample should be a minimum of 100:1 to effectively apply the plate concept to ZE.

Polyspectral signal analysis techniques for condition based maintenance of helicopter drive-train system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassan Mohammed, Mohammed Ahmed

For an efficient maintenance of a diverse fleet of air- and rotorcraft, effective condition based maintenance (CBM) must be established based on rotating components monitored vibration signals. In this dissertation, we present theory and applications of polyspectral signal processing techniques for condition monitoring of critical components in the AH-64D helicopter tail rotor drive train system. Currently available vibration-monitoring tools are mostly built around auto- and cross-power spectral analysis which have limited performance in detecting frequency correlations higher than second order. Studying higher order correlations and their Fourier transforms, higher order spectra, provides more information about the vibration signals which helps in building more accurate diagnostic models of the mechanical system. Based on higher order spectral analysis, different signal processing techniques are developed to assess health conditions of different critical rotating-components in the AH-64D helicopter drive-train. Based on cross-bispectrum, quadratic nonlinear transfer function is presented to model second order nonlinearity in a drive-shaft running between the two hanger bearings. Then, quadratic-nonlinearity coupling coefficient between frequency harmonics of the rotating shaft is used as condition metric to study different seeded shaft faults compared to baseline case, namely: shaft misalignment, shaft imbalance, and combination of shaft misalignment and imbalance. The proposed quadratic-nonlinearity metric shows better capabilities in distinguishing the four studied shaft settings than the conventional linear coupling based on cross-power spectrum. We also develop a new concept of Quadratic-Nonlinearity Power-Index spectrum, QNLPI(f), that can be used in signal detection and classification, based on bicoherence spectrum. The proposed QNLPI(f) is derived as a projection of the three-dimensional bicoherence spectrum into two-dimensional spectrum that quantitatively describes how much of the mean square power at certain frequency f is generated due to nonlinear quadratic interaction between different frequency components. The proposed index, QNLPI(f), can be used to simplify the study of bispectrum and bicoherence signal spectra. It also inherits useful characteristics from the bicoherence such as high immunity to additive Gaussian noise, high capability of nonlinear-systems identifications, and amplification invariance. The quadratic-nonlinear power spectral density PQNL(f) and percentage of quadratic nonlinear power PQNLP are also introduced based on the QNLPI(f). Concept of the proposed indices and their computational considerations are discussed first using computer generated data, and then applied to real-world vibration data to assess health conditions of different rotating components in the drive train including drive-shaft, gearbox, and hanger bearing faults. The QNLPI(f) spectrum enables us to gain more details about nonlinear harmonic generation patterns that can be used to distinguish between different cases of mechanical faults, which in turn helps to gaining more diagnostic/prognostic capabilities.

Effective implementation of ground penetrating radar (GPR) for condition assessment & monitoring of critical infrastructure components of bridges and highways.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-01-01

Recently Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) started to explore use of Ground Penetrating Radar : (GPR) technology to provide quantitative information for improved decision making and reduced operating : costs. To take full advantage of the G...

Principal Components Analysis of Triaxial Vibration Data From Helicopter Transmissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tumer, Irem Y.; Huff, Edward M.

2001-01-01

Research on the nature of the vibration data collected from helicopter transmissions during flight experiments has led to several crucial observations believed to be responsible for the high rates of false alarms and missed detections in aircraft vibration monitoring systems. This work focuses on one such finding, namely, the need to consider additional sources of information about system vibrations. In this light, helicopter transmission vibration data, collected using triaxial accelerometers, were explored in three different directions, analyzed for content, and then combined using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) to analyze changes in directionality. In this paper, the PCA transformation is applied to 176 test conditions/data sets collected from an OH58C helicopter to derive the overall experiment-wide covariance matrix and its principal eigenvectors. The experiment-wide eigenvectors. are then projected onto the individual test conditions to evaluate changes and similarities in their directionality based on the various experimental factors. The paper will present the foundations of the proposed approach, addressing the question of whether experiment-wide eigenvectors accurately model the vibration modes in individual test conditions. The results will further determine the value of using directionality and triaxial accelerometers for vibration monitoring and anomaly detection.

Characterization and Comparison of Vibration Transfer Paths in a Helicopter Gearbox and a Fixture Mounted Gearbox

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Islam, Akm Anwarul; Dempsey, Paula J.; Feldman, Jason; Larsen, Chris

2014-01-01

Health monitoring of rotorcraft components, currently being performed by Health and Usage Monitoring Systems through analyses of vibration signatures of dynamic mechanical components, is very important for their safe and economic operation. HUMS analyze vibration signatures associated with faults and quantify them as condition indicators to predict component behavior. Vibration transfer paths are characterized by frequency response functions derived from the input/output relationship between applied force and dynamic response through a structure as a function of frequency. With an objective to investigate the differences in transfer paths, transfer path measurements were recorded under similar conditions in the left and right nose gearboxes of an AH-64 helicopter and in an isolated left nose gearbox in a test fixture at NASA Glenn Research Center. The test fixture enabled the application of measured torques-common during an actual operation. An impact hammer as well as commercial and lab piezo shakers, were used in conjunction with two types of commercially available accelerometers to collect the vibration response under various test conditions. The frequency response functions measured under comparable conditions of both systems were found to be consistent. Measurements made on the fixture indicated certain real-world installation and maintenance issues, such as sensor alignments, accelerometer locations and installation torques, had minimal effect. However, gear vibration transfer path dynamics appeared to be somewhat dependent on the presence of oil, and the transfer path dynamics were notably different if the force input was on the internal ring gear rather than on the external gearbox case.

A new multi-sensor integrated index for drought monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiao, W.; Wang, L.; Tian, C.

2017-12-01

Drought is perceived as one of the most expensive and least understood natural disasters. The remote-sensing-based integrated drought indices, which integrate multiple variables, could reflect the drought conditions more comprehensively than single drought indices. However, most of current remote-sensing-based integrated drought indices focus on agricultural drought (i.e., deficit in soil moisture), their application in monitoring meteorological drought (i.e., deficit in precipitation) was limited. More importantly, most of the remote-sensing-based integrated drought indices did not take into consideration of the spatially non-stationary nature of the related variables, so such indices may lose essential local details when integrating multiple variables. In this regard, we proposed a new mathematical framework for generating integrated drought index for meteorological drought monitoring. The geographically weighted regression (GWR) model and principal component analysis were used to composite Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) based temperature condition index (TCI), the Vegetation Index based on the Universal Pattern Decomposition method (VIUPD) based vegetation condition index (VCI), tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM) based Precipitation Condition Index (PCI) and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E) based soil moisture condition index (SMCI). We called the new remote-sensing-based integrated drought index geographical-location-based integrated drought index (GLIDI). We examined the utility of the GLIDI for drought monitoring in various climate divisions across the continental United States (CONUS). GLIDI showed high correlations with in-situ drought indices and outperformed most other existing drought indices. The results also indicate that the performance of GLIDI is not affected by environmental factors such as land cover, precipitation, temperature and soil conditions. As such, the GLIDI has considerable potential for drought monitoring across various environmental conditions.

Statewide water-quality network for Massachusetts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Desimone, Leslie A.; Steeves, Peter A.; Zimmerman, Marc James

2001-01-01

A water-quality monitoring program is proposed that would provide data to meet multiple information needs of Massachusetts agencies and other users concerned with the condition of the State's water resources. The program was designed by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Watershed Management, with input from many organizations involved in water-quality monitoring in the State, and focuses on inland surface waters (streams and lakes). The proposed monitoring program consists of several components, or tiers, which are defined in terms of specific monitoring objectives, and is intended to complement the Massachusetts Watershed Initiative (MWI) basin assessments. Several components were developed using the Neponset River Basin in eastern Massachusetts as a pilot area, or otherwise make use of data from and sampling approaches used in that basin as part of a MWI pilot assessment in 1994. To guide development of the monitoring program, reviews were conducted of general principles of network design, including monitoring objectives and approaches, and of ongoing monitoring activities of Massachusetts State agencies.Network tiers described in this report are primarily (1) a statewide, basin-based assessment of existing surface-water-quality conditions, and (2) a fixed-station network for determining contaminant loads carried by major rivers. Other components, including (3) targeted programs for hot-spot monitoring and other objectives, and (4) compliance monitoring, also are discussed. Monitoring programs for the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads for specific water bodies, which would constitute another tier of the network, are being developed separately and are not described in this report. The basin-based assessment of existing conditions is designed to provide information on the status of surface waters with respect to State water-quality standards and designated uses in accordance with the reporting requirements [Section 305(b)] of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Geographic Information System (GIS)-based procedures were developed to inventory streams and lakes in a basin for these purposes. Several monitoring approaches for this tier and their associated resource requirements were investigated. Analysis of the Neponset Basin for this purpose demonstrated that the large number of sites needed in order for all the small streams in a basin to be sampled (about half of stream miles in the basin were headwater or first-order streams) pose substantial resource-based problems for a comprehensive assessment of existing conditions. The many lakes pose similar problems. Thus, a design is presented in which probabilistic monitoring of small streams is combined with deterministic or targeted monitoring of large streams and lakes to meet CWA requirements and to provide data for other information needs of Massachusetts regulatory agencies and MWI teams.The fixed-station network is designed to permit the determination of contaminant loads carried by the State's major rivers to sensitive inland and coastal receiving waters and across State boundaries. Sampling at 19 proposed sites in 17 of the 27 major basins in Massachusetts would provide information on contaminant loads from 67 percent of the total land area of the State; unsampled areas are primarily coastal areas drained by many small streams that would be impossible to sample within realistic resource limitations. Strategies for hot-spot monitoring, a targeted monitoring program focused on identifying contaminant sources, are described with reference to an analysis of the bacteria sampling program of the 1994 Neponset Basin assessment. Finally, major discharge sites permitted under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) were evaluated as a basis for ambient water-quality monitoring. The discharge sites are well distributed geographically among basins, but are primarily on large rivers (two-thirds or more

Effective implementation of ground penetrating radar (GPR) for condition assessment & monitoring of critical infrastructure components of bridges and highways : [research summary].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-01-01

Recently Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) started to explore use of Ground : Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology to provide quantitative information for improved : decision making and reduced operating costs. To take full advantage of the G...

Home on the Great River, part 3: An Integrated Habitat and Hydrology Index

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program sampled 395 sites in the Upper Mississippi, Lower Missouri and Ohio Rivers in 2004-2006 as part of an integrated assessment of ecological condition. Using principal components and cluster analyses, we developed fish ...

14 CFR 171.309 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... operate on a nominal 120/240 volt, 60 Hz, 3-wire single phase AC power source and must meet the following... satisfactorily under the following conditions: Wind Velocity: The ground equipment shall remain within monitor limits with wind velocities of up to 70 knots from such directions that the velocity component...

14 CFR 171.309 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... operate on a nominal 120/240 volt, 60 Hz, 3-wire single phase AC power source and must meet the following... satisfactorily under the following conditions: Wind Velocity: The ground equipment shall remain within monitor limits with wind velocities of up to 70 knots from such directions that the velocity component...

Wireless health monitoring of cracks in structures with MEMS-IDT sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jae-Sung; Vinoy, K. J.; Varadan, Vijay K.

2002-07-01

The integration of MEMS, IDTs and required microelectronics and conformal antennas to realize programmable, robust and low cost passive microsensors suitable for many military structures and systems including aircraft, missiles and munitions is presented in this paper. The technology is currently being applied to the structural health monitoring of accelerometers, gyroscopes and vibration monitoring devices with signal processing electronics to provide real- time indicators of incipient failure of aircraft components with a known history of catastrophic failure due to fracture. Recently a combination of the need for safety in the air and the desire to control costs is encouraging the use of in-flight monitoring of aircraft components and systems using light-weight, wireless and cost effective microsensors and MEMS. An in-situ Aircraft structural health monitoring system, with sensors embedded in the composite structure or surface-mounted on the structure, would permit the timely detection of damage in aircraft. Micromachining offers the potential for fabricating a range of microsensors and MEMS for structural applications including load, vibration and acoustics characteristics and monitoring. Such microsensors are extremely small; they can be embedded into structural materials, can be mass-produced and are therefore potentially cheap. Additionally a range of sensor types can be integrated onto a single chip with built-in electronics and ASIC, providing a low power microsystem. The smart sensors are being developed using the standard microelectronics and micromachining in conjunction with novel Penn State smart electronics or wireless communication systems suitable for condition monitoring of aircraft structures in-flight. A hybrid accelerometer and gyroscope in a single chip suitable for inertial navigation system and other microsensors for health monitoring and condition-based maintenance of structures, drag sensing and control of aircraft, strain and deflection of structures and systems, ice sensing on aircraft, remote temperature and humidity measurement of propellant in munitions, chemical sensing, etc. are discussed.

Data-driven mono-component feature identification via modified nonlocal means and MEWT for mechanical drivetrain fault diagnosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Jun; Chen, Jinglong; Zi, Yanyang; Yuan, Jing; Chen, Binqiang; He, Zhengjia

2016-12-01

It is significant to perform condition monitoring and fault diagnosis on rolling mills in steel-making plant to ensure economic benefit. However, timely fault identification of key parts in a complicated industrial system under operating condition is still a challenging task since acquired condition signals are usually multi-modulated and inevitably mixed with strong noise. Therefore, a new data-driven mono-component identification method is proposed in this paper for diagnostic purpose. First, the modified nonlocal means algorithm (NLmeans) is proposed to reduce noise in vibration signals without destroying its original Fourier spectrum structure. During the modified NLmeans, two modifications are investigated and performed to improve denoising effect. Then, the modified empirical wavelet transform (MEWT) is applied on the de-noised signal to adaptively extract empirical mono-component modes. Finally, the modes are analyzed for mechanical fault identification based on Hilbert transform. The results show that the proposed data-driven method owns superior performance during system operation compared with the MEWT method.

Performance monitoring can boost turboexpander efficiency

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McIntire, R.

1982-07-05

Focuses on the turboexpander/refrigeration system's radial expander and radial compressor. Explains that radial expander efficiency depends on mass flow rate, inlet pressure, inlet temperature, discharge pressure, gas composition, and shaft speed. Discusses quantifying the performance of the separate components over a range of operating conditions; estimating the increase in performance associated with any hardware change; and developing an analytical (computer) model of the entire system by using the performance curve of individual components. Emphasizes antisurge control and modifying Q/N (flow rate/ shaft speed).

Design and Development of Non-Contact Bio-Potential Electrodes for Pervasive Health Monitoring Applications.

PubMed

Portelli, Anthony J; Nasuto, Slawomir J

2017-01-01

For the advent of pervasive bio-potential monitoring, it will be necessary to utilize a combination of cheap, quick to apply, low-noise electrodes and compact electronics with wireless technologies. Once available, all electrical activity resulting from the processes of the human body could be actively and constantly monitored without the need for cumbersome application and maintenance. This could significantly improve the early diagnosis of a range of different conditions in high-risk individuals, opening the possibility for new treatments and interventions as conditions develop. This paper presents the design and implementation of compact, non-contact capacitive bio-potential electrodes utilising a low impedance current-to-voltage configuration and a bootstrapped voltage follower, demonstrating results applicable to research applications for capacitive electrocardiography and capacitive electromyography. The presented electrodes use few components, have a small surface area and are capable of acquiring a range of bio-potential signals.

Design and Development of Non-Contact Bio-Potential Electrodes for Pervasive Health Monitoring Applications

PubMed Central

Portelli, Anthony J.; Nasuto, Slawomir J.

2017-01-01

For the advent of pervasive bio-potential monitoring, it will be necessary to utilize a combination of cheap, quick to apply, low-noise electrodes and compact electronics with wireless technologies. Once available, all electrical activity resulting from the processes of the human body could be actively and constantly monitored without the need for cumbersome application and maintenance. This could significantly improve the early diagnosis of a range of different conditions in high-risk individuals, opening the possibility for new treatments and interventions as conditions develop. This paper presents the design and implementation of compact, non-contact capacitive bio-potential electrodes utilising a low impedance current-to-voltage configuration and a bootstrapped voltage follower, demonstrating results applicable to research applications for capacitive electrocardiography and capacitive electromyography. The presented electrodes use few components, have a small surface area and are capable of acquiring a range of bio-potential signals. PMID:28045439

Multi-parameter monitoring of electrical machines using integrated fibre Bragg gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fabian, Matthias; Hind, David; Gerada, Chris; Sun, Tong; Grattan, Kenneth T. V.

2017-04-01

In this paper a sensor system for multi-parameter electrical machine condition monitoring is reported. The proposed FBG-based system allows for the simultaneous monitoring of machine vibration, rotor speed and position, torque, spinning direction, temperature distribution along the stator windings and on the rotor surface as well as the stator wave frequency. This all-optical sensing solution reduces the component count of conventional sensor systems, i.e., all 48 sensing elements are contained within the machine operated by a single sensing interrogation unit. In this work, the sensing system has been successfully integrated into and tested on a permanent magnet motor prototype.

Multi-method automated diagnostics of rotating machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kostyukov, A. V.; Boychenko, S. N.; Shchelkanov, A. V.; Burda, E. A.

2017-08-01

The automated machinery diagnostics and monitoring systems utilized within the petrochemical plants are an integral part of the measures taken to ensure safety and, as a consequence, the efficiency of these industrial facilities. Such systems are often limited in their functionality due to the specifics of the diagnostic techniques adopted. As the diagnostic techniques applied in each system are limited, and machinery defects can have different physical nature, it becomes necessary to combine several diagnostics and monitoring systems to control various machinery components. Such an approach is inconvenient, since it requires additional measures to bring the diagnostic results in a single view of the technical condition of production assets. In this case, we mean by a production facility a bonded complex of a process unit, a drive, a power source and lines. A failure of any of these components will cause an outage of the production asset, which is unacceptable. The purpose of the study is to test a combined use of vibration diagnostics and partial discharge techniques within the diagnostic systems of enterprises for automated control of the technical condition of rotating machinery during maintenance and at production facilities. The described solutions allow you to control the condition of mechanical and electrical components of rotating machines. It is shown that the functionality of the diagnostics systems can be expanded with minimal changes in technological chains of repair and operation of rotating machinery. Automation of such systems reduces the influence of the human factor on the quality of repair and diagnostics of the machinery.

Study on Practical Application of Turboprop Engine Condition Monitoring and Fault Diagnostic System Using Fuzzy-Neuro Algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, Changduk; Lim, Semyeong; Kim, Keunwoo

2013-03-01

The Neural Networks is mostly used to engine fault diagnostic system due to its good learning performance, but it has a drawback due to low accuracy and long learning time to build learning data base. This work builds inversely a base performance model of a turboprop engine to be used for a high altitude operation UAV using measuring performance data, and proposes a fault diagnostic system using the base performance model and artificial intelligent methods such as Fuzzy and Neural Networks. Each real engine performance model, which is named as the base performance model that can simulate a new engine performance, is inversely made using its performance test data. Therefore the condition monitoring of each engine can be more precisely carried out through comparison with measuring performance data. The proposed diagnostic system identifies firstly the faulted components using Fuzzy Logic, and then quantifies faults of the identified components using Neural Networks leaned by fault learning data base obtained from the developed base performance model. In leaning the measuring performance data of the faulted components, the FFBP (Feed Forward Back Propagation) is used. In order to user's friendly purpose, the proposed diagnostic program is coded by the GUI type using MATLAB.

30 CFR 7.507 - Air-monitoring components.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Air-monitoring components. 7.507 Section 7.507... APPROVAL OF MINING PRODUCTS TESTING BY APPLICANT OR THIRD PARTY Refuge Alternatives § 7.507 Air-monitoring components. (a) Each refuge alternative shall have an air-monitoring component that provides persons inside...

30 CFR 7.507 - Air-monitoring components.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Air-monitoring components. 7.507 Section 7.507... APPROVAL OF MINING PRODUCTS TESTING BY APPLICANT OR THIRD PARTY Refuge Alternatives § 7.507 Air-monitoring components. (a) Each refuge alternative shall have an air-monitoring component that provides persons inside...

30 CFR 7.507 - Air-monitoring components.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Air-monitoring components. 7.507 Section 7.507... APPROVAL OF MINING PRODUCTS TESTING BY APPLICANT OR THIRD PARTY Refuge Alternatives § 7.507 Air-monitoring components. (a) Each refuge alternative shall have an air-monitoring component that provides persons inside...

System-state and operating condition sensitive control method and apparatus for electric power delivery systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burns, III, William Wesley (Inventor); Wilson, Thomas George (Inventor)

1978-01-01

This invention provides a method and apparatus for determining a precise switching sequence for the power switching elements of electric power delivery systems of the on-off switching type and which enables extremely fast transient response, precise regulation and highly stable operation. The control utilizes the values of the power delivery system power handling network components, a desired output characteristic, a system timing parameter, and the externally imposed operating conditions to determine where steady state operations should be in order to yield desired output characteristics for the given system specifications. The actual state of the power delivery system is continuously monitored and compared to a state-space boundary which is derived from the desired equilibrium condition, and from the information obtained from this comparison, the system is moved to the desired equilibrium condition in one cycle of switching control. Since the controller continuously monitors the power delivery system's externally imposed operating conditions, a change in the conditions is immediately sensed and a new equilibrium condition is determined and achieved, again in a single cycle of switching control.

Microbial Mineralization of cis-Dichloroethene and Vinyl Chloride as a Component of Natural Attenuation of Chloroethene Contaminants under Conditions Identified in the Field as Anoxic

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

oxygen. If a study site is predominated by highly reducing conditions, then laboratory experimental procedures that establish such conditions are...less than the 0.01 mg/L minimum detection limit for the gas chromatographic method employed in this study . Given the uncertainty in O2 concentrations... CO2 , 14CO2, ethene, 14C-ethene, ethane, 14C-ethane, and 14C-VC (in 14C-DCE treatments only) were monitored using packed column gas

Developing RCM Strategy for Hydrogen Fuel Cells Utilizing On Line E-Condition Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baglee, D.; Knowles, M. J.

2012-05-01

Fuel cell vehicles are considered to be a viable solution to problems such as carbon emissions and fuel shortages for road transport. Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells are mainly used in this purpose because they can run at low temperatures and have a simple structure. Yet high maintenance costs and the inherent dangers of maintaining equipment using hydrogen are two main issues which need to be addressed. The development of appropriate and efficient strategies is currently lacking with regard to fuel cell maintenance. A Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) approach offers considerable benefit to the management of fuel cell maintenance since it includes an identification and consideration of the impact of critical components. Technological developments in e-maintenance systems, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and personal digital assistants (PDAs) have proven to satisfy the increasing demand for improved reliability, efficiency and safety. RFID technology is used to store and remotely retrieve electronic maintenance data in order to provide instant access to up-to-date, accurate and detailed information. The aim is to support fuel cell maintenance decisions by developing and applying a blend of leading-edge communications and sensor technology including RFID. The purpose of this paper is to review and present the state of the art in fuel cell condition monitoring and maintenance utilizing RCM and RFID technologies. Using an RCM analysis critical components and fault modes are identified. RFID tags are used to store the critical information, possible faults and their cause and effect. The relationship between causes, faults, symptoms and long term implications of fault conditions are summarized. Finally conclusions are drawn regarding suggested maintenance strategies and the optimal structure for an integrated, cost effective condition monitoring and maintenance management system.

Fine particulate matter characteristics and its impact on visibility impairment at two urban sites in Korea: Seoul and Incheon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Young J.; Kim, Kyung W.; Kim, Shin D.; Lee, Bo K.; Han, Jin S.

In order to investigate the causes of visibility degradation in the metropolitan area of Seoul, extensive chemical and optical monitoring of aerosol was conducted at two urban sites; Junnong, Seoul and Yonghyun, Incheon during several seasonal intensive monitoring periods between August 2002 and August 2004. Light extinction, scattering, and absorption coefficients were measured simultaneously with a transmissometer, a nephelometer, and an aethalometer, respectively. Continuous aerosol chemical measurement was also made with Sunset elemental carbon/organic carbon (EC/OC) analyzers and on-line ion monitors. The mean light extinction budget for five major aerosol components; ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, fine carbonaceous particles (EC and OC), fine soil, and coarse particle was estimated based on the measurement results. Investigation of the haze level revealed that PM 2.5 mass concentrations at Junnong and Yonghyun measured under the Worst20% condition were approximately twice those of the Best20% condition. The worst visibility condition was well correlated with increases in mass concentrations of sulfate and nitrate, and EC particles. The mass concentration of aerosol components for the Worst20% was measured to be approximately two- to four-fold higher than those for the Best20%. Degree of visibility degradation was also analyzed based on the air mass pathway information obtained using the HYSPLIT model. Average light extinction coefficients under continental air flow condition at the Junnong and Yonghyun sites were the highest values of 704±414 and 773±546 Mm -1, respectively due to increased loading of fine particles. Visibility was greatly improved at both sites when atmosphere was impacted by air mass originated from Pacific Ocean.

Evaluation of Enhanced Risk Monitors for Use on Advanced Reactors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ramuhalli, Pradeep; Veeramany, Arun; Bonebrake, Christopher A.

This study provides an overview of the methodology for integrating time-dependent failure probabilities into nuclear power reactor risk monitors. This prototypic enhanced risk monitor (ERM) methodology was evaluated using a hypothetical probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) model, generated using a simplified design of a liquid-metal-cooled advanced reactor (AR). Component failure data from industry compilation of failures of components similar to those in the simplified AR model were used to initialize the PRA model. Core damage frequency (CDF) over time were computed and analyzed. In addition, a study on alternative risk metrics for ARs was conducted. Risk metrics that quantify the normalizedmore » cost of repairs, replacements, or other operations and management (O&M) actions were defined and used, along with an economic model, to compute the likely economic risk of future actions such as deferred maintenance based on the anticipated change in CDF due to current component condition and future anticipated degradation. Such integration of conventional-risk metrics with alternate-risk metrics provides a convenient mechanism for assessing the impact of O&M decisions on safety and economics of the plant. It is expected that, when integrated with supervisory control algorithms, such integrated-risk monitors will provide a mechanism for real-time control decision-making that ensure safety margins are maintained while operating the plant in an economically viable manner.« less

EEMD-Based Steady-State Indexes and Their Applications to Condition Monitoring and Fault Diagnosis of Railway Axle Bearings

PubMed Central

Fan, Wei; Tsui, Kwok-Leung; Lin, Jianhui

2018-01-01

Railway axle bearings are one of the most important components used in vehicles and their failures probably result in unexpected accidents and economic losses. To realize a condition monitoring and fault diagnosis scheme of railway axle bearings, three dimensionless steadiness indexes in a time domain, a frequency domain, and a shape domain are respectively proposed to measure the steady states of bearing vibration signals. Firstly, vibration data collected from some designed experiments are pre-processed by using ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD). Then, the coefficient of variation is introduced to construct two steady-state indexes from pre-processed vibration data in a time domain and a frequency domain, respectively. A shape function is used to construct a steady-state index in a shape domain. At last, to distinguish normal and abnormal bearing health states, some guideline thresholds are proposed. Further, to identify axle bearings with outer race defects, a pin roller defect, a cage defect, and coupling defects, the boundaries of all steadiness indexes are experimentally established. Experimental results showed that the proposed condition monitoring and fault diagnosis scheme is effective in identifying different bearing health conditions. PMID:29495446

Effects of highway construction on stream water quality and macroinvertebrate condition in a mid-Atlantic highlands watershed, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Welsh, Stuart A.; Chen, Yushun; Viadero, Stuart C.; Wei, Xinchao; Hedrick, Lara B.; Anderson, James T.; Lin, Lian-Shin

2009-01-01

Refining best management practices (BMPs) for future highway construction depends on a comprehensive understanding of environmental impacts from current construction methods. Based on a before-after-control impact (BACI) experimental design, long-term stream monitoring (1997–2006) was conducted at upstream (as control, n = 3) and downstream (as impact, n = 6) sites in the Lost River watershed of the Mid-Atlantic Highlands region, West Virginia. Monitoring data were analyzed to assess impacts of during and after highway construction on 15 water quality parameters and macroinvertebrate condition using the West Virginia stream condition index (WVSCI). Principal components analysis (PCA) identified regional primary water quality variances, and paired t tests and time series analysis detected seven highway construction-impacted water quality parameters which were mainly associated with the second principal component. In particular, impacts on turbidity, total suspended solids, and total iron during construction, impacts on chloride and sulfate during and after construction, and impacts on acidity and nitrate after construction were observed at the downstream sites. The construction had statistically significant impacts on macroinvertebrate index scores (i.e., WVSCI) after construction, but did not change the overall good biological condition. Implementing BMPs that address those construction-impacted water quality parameters can be an effective mitigation strategy for future highway construction in this highlands region.

Degradation Prediction Model Based on a Neural Network with Dynamic Windows

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xinghui; Xiao, Lei; Kang, Jianshe

2015-01-01

Tracking degradation of mechanical components is very critical for effective maintenance decision making. Remaining useful life (RUL) estimation is a widely used form of degradation prediction. RUL prediction methods when enough run-to-failure condition monitoring data can be used have been fully researched, but for some high reliability components, it is very difficult to collect run-to-failure condition monitoring data, i.e., from normal to failure. Only a certain number of condition indicators in certain period can be used to estimate RUL. In addition, some existing prediction methods have problems which block RUL estimation due to poor extrapolability. The predicted value converges to a certain constant or fluctuates in certain range. Moreover, the fluctuant condition features also have bad effects on prediction. In order to solve these dilemmas, this paper proposes a RUL prediction model based on neural network with dynamic windows. This model mainly consists of three steps: window size determination by increasing rate, change point detection and rolling prediction. The proposed method has two dominant strengths. One is that the proposed approach does not need to assume the degradation trajectory is subject to a certain distribution. The other is it can adapt to variation of degradation indicators which greatly benefits RUL prediction. Finally, the performance of the proposed RUL prediction model is validated by real field data and simulation data. PMID:25806873

Optimization of microwave-assisted extraction (MAP) for ginseng components by response surface methodology.

PubMed

Kwon, Joong-Ho; Bélanger, Jacqueline M R; Paré, J R Jocelyn

2003-03-26

Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to predict optimum conditions for microwave-assisted extraction-a MAP technology-of saponin components from ginseng roots. A central composite design was used to monitor the effect of ethanol concentration (30-90%, X(1)) and extraction time (30-270 s, X(2)) on dependent variables, such as total extract yield (Y(1)), crude saponin content (Y(2)), and saponin ratio (Y(3)), under atmospheric pressure conditions when focused microwaves were applied at an emission frequency of 2450 MHz. In MAP under pre-established conditions, correlation coefficients (R (2)) of the models for total extract yield and crude saponin were 0.9841 (p < 0.001) and 0.9704 (p < 0.01). Optimum extraction conditions were predicted for each variable as 52.6% ethanol and 224.7 s in extract yield and as 77.3% ethanol and 295.1 s in crude saponins, respectively. Estimated maximum values at predicted optimum conditions were in good agreement with experimental values.

Propulsion health monitoring of a turbine engine disk using spin test data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdul-Aziz, Ali; Woike, Mark; Oza, Nikunj; Matthews, Bryan; Baakilini, George

2010-03-01

On line detection techniques to monitor the health of rotating engine components are becoming increasingly attractive options to aircraft engine companies in order to increase safety of operation and lower maintenance costs. Health monitoring remains a challenging feature to easily implement, especially, in the presence of scattered loading conditions, crack size, component geometry and materials properties. The current trend, however, is to utilize noninvasive types of health monitoring or nondestructive techniques to detect hidden flaws and mini cracks before any catastrophic event occurs. These techniques go further to evaluate materials' discontinuities and other anomalies that have grown to the level of critical defects which can lead to failure. Generally, health monitoring is highly dependent on sensor systems that are capable of performing in various engine environmental conditions and able to transmit a signal upon a predetermined crack length, while acting in a neutral form upon the overall performance of the engine system. Efforts are under way at NASA Glenn Research Center through support of the Intelligent Vehicle Health Management Project (IVHM) to develop and implement such sensor technology for a wide variety of applications. These efforts are focused on developing high temperature, wireless, low cost and durable products. Therefore, in an effort to address the technical issues concerning health monitoring of a rotor disk, this paper considers data collected from an experimental study using high frequency capacitive sensor technology to capture blade tip clearance and tip timing measurements in a rotating engine-like-disk-to predict the disk faults and assess its structural integrity. The experimental results collected at a range of rotational speeds from tests conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center's Rotordynamics Laboratory will be evaluated using multiple data-driven anomaly detection techniques to identify anomalies in the disk. This study is expected to present a select evaluation of online health monitoring of a rotating disk using these high caliber sensors and test the capability of the in-house spin system.

A systems approach to modeling Community-Based Environmental Monitoring: a case of participatory water quality monitoring in rural Mexico.

PubMed

Burgos, Ana; Páez, Rosaura; Carmona, Estela; Rivas, Hilda

2013-12-01

Community-Based Environmental Monitoring (CBM) is a social practice that makes a valuable contribution to environmental management and construction of active societies for sustainable future. However, its documentation and analysis show deficiencies that hinder contrast and comparison of processes and effects. Based on systems approach, this article presents a model of CBM to orient assessment of programs, with heuristic or practical goals. In a focal level, the model comprises three components, the social subject, the object of monitoring, and the means of action, and five processes, data management, social learning, assimilation/decision making, direct action, and linking. Emergent properties were also identified in the focal and suprafocal levels considering community self-organization, response capacity, and autonomy for environmental management. The model was applied to the assessment of a CBM program of water quality implemented in rural areas in Mexico. Attributes and variables (indicators) for components, processes, and emergent properties were selected to measure changes that emerged since the program implementation. The assessment of the first 3 years (2010-2012) detected changes that indicated movement towards the expected results, but it revealed also the need to adjust the intervention strategy and procedures. Components and processes of the model reflected relevant aspects of the CBM in real world. The component called means of action as a key element to transit "from the data to the action." The CBM model offered a conceptual framework with advantages to understand CBM as a socioecological event and to strengthen its implementation under different conditions and contexts.

Flow Components in a NaK Test Loop Designed to Simulate Conditions in a Nuclear Surface Power Reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polzin, Kurt A.; Godfroy, Thomas J.

2008-01-01

A test loop using NaK as the working fluid is presently in use to study material compatibility effects on various components that comprise a possible nuclear reactor design for use on the lunar surface. A DC electromagnetic (EM) pump has been designed and implemented as a means of actively controlling the NaK flow rate through the system and an EM flow sensor is employed to monitor the developed flow rate. These components allow for the matching of the flow rate conditions in test loops with those that would be found in a full-scale surface-power reactor. The design and operating characteristics of the EM pump and flow sensor are presented. In the EM pump, current is applied to a set of electrodes to produce a Lorentz body force in the fluid. A measurement of the induced voltage (back-EMF) in the flow sensor provides the means of monitoring flow rate. Both components are compact, employing high magnetic field strength neodymium magnets thermally coupled to a water-cooled housing. A vacuum gap limits the heat transferred from the high temperature NaK tube to the magnets and a magnetically-permeable material completes the magnetic circuit. The pump is designed to produce a pressure rise of 34.5 kPa, and the flow sensor's predicted output is roughly 20 mV at the loop's nominal flow rate of 0.114 m3/hr.

Flow Components in a NaK Test Loop Designed to Simulate Conditions in a Nuclear Surface Power Reactor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Polzin, Kurt A.; Godfroy, Thomas J.

2008-01-01

A test loop using NaK as the working fluid is presently in use to study material compatibility effects on various components that comprise a possible nuclear reactor design for use on the lunar surface. A DC electromagnetic (EM) pump has been designed and implemented as a means of actively controlling the NaK flow rate through the system and an EM flow sensor is employed to monitor the developed flow rate. These components allow for the matching of the flow rate conditions in test loops with those that would be found in a full-scale surface-power reactor. The design and operating characteristics of the EM pump and flow sensor are presented. In the EM pump, current is applied to a set of electrodes to produce a Lorentz body force in the fluid. A measurement of the induced voltage (back-EMF) in the flow sensor provides the means of monitoring flow rate. Both components are compact, employing high magnetic field strength neodymium magnets thermally coupled to a water-cooled housing. A vacuum gap limits the heat transferred from the high temperature NaK tube to the magnets and a magnetically-permeable material completes the magnetic circuit. The pump is designed to produce a pressure rise of 5 psi, and the flow sensor's predicted output is roughly 20 mV at the loop's nominal flow rate of 0.5 GPM.

SeaDataNet network services monitoring: Definition and Implementation of Service availability index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lykiardopoulos, Angelos; Mpalopoulou, Stavroula; Vavilis, Panagiotis; Pantazi, Maria; Iona, Sissy

2014-05-01

SeaDataNet (SDN) is a standardized system for managing large and diverse data sets collected by the oceanographic fleets and the automatic observation systems. The SeaDataNet network is constituted of national oceanographic data centres of 35 countries, active in data collection. SeaDataNetII project's objective is to upgrade the present SeaDataNet infrastructure into an operationally robust and state-of-the-art infrastructure; therefore Network Monitoring is a step to this direction. The term Network Monitoring describes the use of system that constantly monitors a computer network for slow or failing components and that notifies the network administrator in case of outages. Network monitoring is crucial when implementing widely distributed systems over the Internet and in real-time systems as it detects malfunctions that may occur and notifies the system administrator who can immediately respond and correct the problem. In the framework of SeaDataNet II project a monitoring system was developed in order to monitor the SeaDataNet components. The core system is based on Nagios software. Some plug-ins were developed to support SeaDataNet modules. On the top of Nagios Engine a web portal was developed in order to give access to local administrators of SeaDataNet components, to view detailed logs of their own service(s). Currently the system monitors 35 SeaDataNet Download Managers, 9 SeaDataNet Services, 25 GeoSeas Download Managers and 23 UBSS Download Managers . Taking advantage of the continuous monitoring of SeaDataNet system components a total availability index will be implemented. The term availability can be defined as the ability of a functional unit to be in a state to perform a required function under given conditions at a given instant of time or over a given time interval, assuming that the required external resources are provided. Availability measures can be considered as a are very important benefit becauseT - The availability trends that can be extracted from the stored availability measurements will give an indication of the condition of the service modules. - Will help in planning upgrades planning - and the maintenance of the network service. - It is a prerequisite in case of signing a Service Level Agreement. To construct the service availability index, a method for measuring availability of SeaDataNet network is developed and a database is implemented to store the measured values. Although the measurements of availability of a single component in a network service can be considered as simple (is a percentage of time in a year that the service is available to the users), the ipmlementation of a method to measure the total availability of a composite system can be complicated and there is no a standardized method to deal with it. The method followed to calculate the total availability index in case of SeaDataNet can be described as follows: The whole system was divided in operational modules providing a single service in which the availability can be measured by monitoring portal. Next the dependences between these modules were defined in order to formulate the influence of availability of each module against the whole system. For each module a weight coefficient depending on module's involvement in total system productivity was defined. A mathematical formula was developed to measure the index.

Electrical Resistance Technique to Monitor SiC Composite Detection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Craig; Morscher, Gregory; Xia, Zhenhai

2008-01-01

Ceramic matrix composites are suitable for high temperature structural applications such as turbine airfoils and hypersonic thermal protection systems. The employment of these materials in such applications is limited by the ability to process components reliable and to accurately monitor and predict damage evolution that leads to failure under stressed-oxidation conditions. Current nondestructive methods such as ultrasound, x-ray, and thermal imaging are limited in their ability to quantify small scale, transverse, in-plane, matrix cracks developed over long-time creep and fatigue conditions. Electrical resistance of SiC/SiC composites is one technique that shows special promise towards this end. Since both the matrix and the fibers are conductive, changes in matrix or fiber properties should relate to changes in electrical conductivity along the length of a specimen or part. The effect of matrix cracking on electrical resistivity for several composite systems will be presented and some initial measurements performed at elevated temperatures under stress-rupture conditions. The implications towards electrical resistance as a technique applied to composite processing, damage detection (health monitoring), and life-modeling will be discussed.

Vibration-based structural health monitoring of the aircraft large component

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavelko, V.; Kuznetsov, S.; Nevsky, A.; Marinbah, M.

2017-10-01

In the presented paper there are investigated the basic problems of the local system of SHM of large scale aircraft component. Vibration-based damage detection is accepted as a basic condition, and main attention focused to a low-cost solution that would be attractive for practice. The conditions of small damage detection in the full scale structural component at low-frequency excitation were defined in analytical study and modal FEA. In experimental study the dynamic test of the helicopter Mi-8 tail beam was performed at harmonic excitation with frequency close to first natural frequency of the beam. The index of correlation coefficient deviation (CCD) was used for extraction of the features due to embedded pseudo-damage. It is shown that the problem of vibration-based detection of a small damage in the large scale structure at low-frequency excitation can be solved successfully.

A dynamic monitoring approach for the surface morphology evolution measurement of plasma facing components by means of speckle interferometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Hongbei; Cui, Xiaoqian; Feng, Chunlei; Li, Yuanbo; Zhao, Mengge; Luo, Guangnan; Ding, Hongbin

2017-11-01

Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) in a magnetically confined fusion plasma device will be exposed to high heat load and particle fluxes, and it would cause PFCs' surface morphology to change due to material erosion and redeposition from plasma wall interactions. The state of PFCs' surface condition will seriously affect the performance of long-pulse or steady state plasma discharge in a tokamak; it will even constitute an enormous threat to the operation and the safety of fusion plasma devices. The PFCs' surface morphology evolution measurement could provide important information about PFCs' real-time status or damage situation and it would help to a better understanding of the plasma wall interaction process and mechanism. Meanwhile through monitoring the distribution of dust deposition in a tokamak and providing an upper limit on the amount of loose dust, the PFCs' surface morphology measurement could indirectly contribute to keep fusion operational limits and fusion device safety. Aiming at in situ dynamic monitoring PFCs' surface morphology evolution, a laboratory experimental platform DUT-SIEP (Dalian University of Technology-speckle interferometry experimental platform) based on the speckle interferometry technique has been constructed at Dalian University of Technology (DUT) in China. With directional specific designing and focusing on the real detection condition of EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak), the DUT-SIEP could realize a variable measurement range, widely increased from 0.1 μm to 300 μm, with high spatial resolution (<1 mm) and ultra-high time resolution (<2 s for EAST measuring conditions). Three main components of the DUT-SIEP are all integrated and synchronized by a time schedule control and data acquisition terminal and coupled with a three-dimensional phase unwrapping algorithm, the surface morphology information of target samples can be obtained and reconstructed in real-time. A local surface morphology of the real divertor tiles adopted from EAST has been measured, and the feasibility and reliability of this new experimental platform have been demonstrated.

CNC machine tool's wear diagnostic and prognostic by using dynamic Bayesian networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tobon-Mejia, D. A.; Medjaher, K.; Zerhouni, N.

2012-04-01

The failure of critical components in industrial systems may have negative consequences on the availability, the productivity, the security and the environment. To avoid such situations, the health condition of the physical system, and particularly of its critical components, can be constantly assessed by using the monitoring data to perform on-line system diagnostics and prognostics. The present paper is a contribution on the assessment of the health condition of a computer numerical control (CNC) tool machine and the estimation of its remaining useful life (RUL). The proposed method relies on two main phases: an off-line phase and an on-line phase. During the first phase, the raw data provided by the sensors are processed to extract reliable features. These latter are used as inputs of learning algorithms in order to generate the models that represent the wear's behavior of the cutting tool. Then, in the second phase, which is an assessment one, the constructed models are exploited to identify the tool's current health state, predict its RUL and the associated confidence bounds. The proposed method is applied on a benchmark of condition monitoring data gathered during several cuts of a CNC tool. Simulation results are obtained and discussed at the end of the paper.

The effect of process parameters on audible acoustic emissions from high-shear granulation.

PubMed

Hansuld, Erin M; Briens, Lauren; Sayani, Amyn; McCann, Joe A B

2013-02-01

Product quality in high-shear granulation is easily compromised by minor changes in raw material properties or process conditions. It is desired to develop a process analytical technology (PAT) that can monitor the process in real-time and provide feedback for quality control. In this work, the application of audible acoustic emissions (AAEs) as a PAT tool was investigated. A condenser microphone was placed at the top of the air exhaust on a PMA-10 high-shear granulator to collect AAEs for a design of experiment (DOE) varying impeller speed, total binder volume and spray rate. The results showed the 10 Hz total power spectral densities (TPSDs) between 20 and 250 Hz were significantly affected by the changes in process conditions. Impeller speed and spray rate were shown to have statistically significant effects on granulation wetting, and impeller speed and total binder volume were significant in terms of process end-point. The DOE results were confirmed by a multivariate PLS model of the TPSDs. The scores plot showed separation based on impeller speed in the first component and spray rate in the second component. The findings support the use of AAEs to monitor changes in process conditions in real-time and achieve consistent product quality.

Drought: A comprehensive R package for drought monitoring, prediction and analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Zengchao; Hao, Fanghua; Singh, Vijay P.; Cheng, Hongguang

2015-04-01

Drought may impose serious challenges to human societies and ecosystems. Due to complicated causing effects and wide impacts, a universally accepted definition of drought does not exist. The drought indicator is commonly used to characterize drought properties such as duration or severity. Various drought indicators have been developed in the past few decades for the monitoring of a certain aspect of drought condition along with the development of multivariate drought indices for drought characterizations from multiple sources or hydro-climatic variables. Reliable drought prediction with suitable drought indicators is critical to the drought preparedness plan to reduce potential drought impacts. In addition, drought analysis to quantify the risk of drought properties would provide useful information for operation drought managements. The drought monitoring, prediction and risk analysis are important components in drought modeling and assessments. In this study, a comprehensive R package "drought" is developed to aid the drought monitoring, prediction and risk analysis (available from R-Forge and CRAN soon). The computation of a suite of univariate and multivariate drought indices that integrate drought information from various sources such as precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, and runoff is available in the drought monitoring component in the package. The drought prediction/forecasting component consists of statistical drought predictions to enhance the drought early warning for decision makings. Analysis of drought properties such as duration and severity is also provided in this package for drought risk assessments. Based on this package, a drought monitoring and prediction/forecasting system is under development as a decision supporting tool. The package will be provided freely to the public to aid the drought modeling and assessment for researchers and practitioners.

Monitoring Street-Level Spatial-Temporal Variations of Carbon Monoxide in Urban Settings Using a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) Framework

PubMed Central

Wen, Tzai-Hung; Jiang, Joe-Air; Sun, Chih-Hong; Juang, Jehn-Yih; Lin, Tzu-Shiang

2013-01-01

Air pollution has become a severe environmental problem due to urbanization and heavy traffic. Monitoring street-level air quality is an important issue, but most official monitoring stations are installed to monitor large-scale air quality conditions, and their limited spatial resolution cannot reflect the detailed variations in air quality that may be induced by traffic jams. By deploying wireless sensors on crossroads and main roads, this study established a pilot framework for a wireless sensor network (WSN)-based real-time monitoring system to understand street-level spatial-temporal changes of carbon monoxide (CO) in urban settings. The system consists of two major components. The first component is the deployment of wireless sensors. We deployed 44 sensor nodes, 40 transmitter nodes and four gateway nodes in this study. Each sensor node includes a signal processing module, a CO sensor and a wireless communication module. In order to capture realistic human exposure to traffic pollutants, all sensors were deployed at a height of 1.5 m on lampposts and traffic signs. The study area covers a total length of 1.5 km of Keelung Road in Taipei City. The other component is a map-based monitoring platform for sensor data visualization and manipulation in time and space. Using intensive real-time street-level monitoring framework, we compared the spatial-temporal patterns of air pollution in different time periods. Our results capture four CO concentration peaks throughout the day at the location, which was located along an arterial and nearby traffic sign. The hourly average could reach 5.3 ppm from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm due to the traffic congestion. The proposed WSN-based framework captures detailed ground information and potential risk of human exposure to traffic-related air pollution. It also provides street-level insights into real-time monitoring for further early warning of air pollution and urban environmental management. PMID:24287859

Monitoring street-level spatial-temporal variations of carbon monoxide in urban settings using a wireless sensor network (WSN) framework.

PubMed

Wen, Tzai-Hung; Jiang, Joe-Air; Sun, Chih-Hong; Juang, Jehn-Yih; Lin, Tzu-Shiang

2013-11-27

Air pollution has become a severe environmental problem due to urbanization and heavy traffic. Monitoring street-level air quality is an important issue, but most official monitoring stations are installed to monitor large-scale air quality conditions, and their limited spatial resolution cannot reflect the detailed variations in air quality that may be induced by traffic jams. By deploying wireless sensors on crossroads and main roads, this study established a pilot framework for a wireless sensor network (WSN)-based real-time monitoring system to understand street-level spatial-temporal changes of carbon monoxide (CO) in urban settings. The system consists of two major components. The first component is the deployment of wireless sensors. We deployed 44 sensor nodes, 40 transmitter nodes and four gateway nodes in this study. Each sensor node includes a signal processing module, a CO sensor and a wireless communication module. In order to capture realistic human exposure to traffic pollutants, all sensors were deployed at a height of 1.5 m on lampposts and traffic signs. The study area covers a total length of 1.5 km of Keelung Road in Taipei City. The other component is a map-based monitoring platform for sensor data visualization and manipulation in time and space. Using intensive real-time street-level monitoring framework, we compared the spatial-temporal patterns of air pollution in different time periods. Our results capture four CO concentration peaks throughout the day at the location, which was located along an arterial and nearby traffic sign. The hourly average could reach 5.3 ppm from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm due to the traffic congestion. The proposed WSN-based framework captures detailed ground information and potential risk of human exposure to traffic-related air pollution. It also provides street-level insights into real-time monitoring for further early warning of air pollution and urban environmental management.

New strategies for SHM based on a multichannel wireless AE node

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Godinez-Azcuaga, Valery; Ley, Obdulia

2014-03-01

This paper discusses the development of an Acoustic Emission (AE) wireless node and its application for SHM (Structural Health Monitoring). The instrument development was planned for applications monitoring steel and concrete bridges components. The final product, now commercially available, is a sensor node which includes multiple sensing elements, on board signal processing and analysis capabilities, signal conditioning electronics, power management circuits, wireless data transmission element and energy harvesting unit. The sensing elements are capable of functioning in both passive and active modes, while the multiple parametric inputs are available for connecting various sensor types to measure external characteristics affecting the performance of the structure under monitoring. The output of all these sensors are combined and analyzed at the node in order to minimize the data transmission rate, which consumes significant amount of power. Power management circuits are used to reduce the data collection intervals through selective data acquisition strategies and minimize the sensor node power consumption. This instrument, known as the 1284, is an excellent platform to deploy SHM in the original bridge applications, but initial prototypes has shown significant potential in monitoring composite wind turbine blades and composites mockups of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles (UAV) components; currently we are working to extend the use of this system to fields such as coal flow, power transformer, and off-shore platform monitoring.

Evaluation for Bearing Wear States Based on Online Oil Multi-Parameters Monitoring

PubMed Central

Hu, Hai-Feng

2018-01-01

As bearings are critical components of a mechanical system, it is important to characterize their wear states and evaluate health conditions. In this paper, a novel approach for analyzing the relationship between online oil multi-parameter monitoring samples and bearing wear states has been proposed based on an improved gray k-means clustering model (G-KCM). First, an online monitoring system with multiple sensors for bearings is established, obtaining oil multi-parameter data and vibration signals for bearings through the whole lifetime. Secondly, a gray correlation degree distance matrix is generated using a gray correlation model (GCM) to express the relationship of oil monitoring samples at different times and then a KCM is applied to cluster the matrix. Analysis and experimental results show that there is an obvious correspondence that state changing coincides basically in time between the lubricants’ multi-parameters and the bearings’ wear states. It also has shown that online oil samples with multi-parameters have early wear failure prediction ability for bearings superior to vibration signals. It is expected to realize online oil monitoring and evaluation for bearing health condition and to provide a novel approach for early identification of bearing-related failure modes. PMID:29621175

Evaluation for Bearing Wear States Based on Online Oil Multi-Parameters Monitoring.

PubMed

Wang, Si-Yuan; Yang, Ding-Xin; Hu, Hai-Feng

2018-04-05

As bearings are critical components of a mechanical system, it is important to characterize their wear states and evaluate health conditions. In this paper, a novel approach for analyzing the relationship between online oil multi-parameter monitoring samples and bearing wear states has been proposed based on an improved gray k-means clustering model (G-KCM). First, an online monitoring system with multiple sensors for bearings is established, obtaining oil multi-parameter data and vibration signals for bearings through the whole lifetime. Secondly, a gray correlation degree distance matrix is generated using a gray correlation model (GCM) to express the relationship of oil monitoring samples at different times and then a KCM is applied to cluster the matrix. Analysis and experimental results show that there is an obvious correspondence that state changing coincides basically in time between the lubricants' multi-parameters and the bearings' wear states. It also has shown that online oil samples with multi-parameters have early wear failure prediction ability for bearings superior to vibration signals. It is expected to realize online oil monitoring and evaluation for bearing health condition and to provide a novel approach for early identification of bearing-related failure modes.

Flexible, Stretchable Sensors for Wearable Health Monitoring: Sensing Mechanisms, Materials, Fabrication Strategies and Features

PubMed Central

Liu, Yan; Wang, Hai; Zhao, Wei; Qin, Hongbo; Xie, Yongqiang

2018-01-01

Wearable health monitoring systems have gained considerable interest in recent years owing to their tremendous promise for personal portable health watching and remote medical practices. The sensors with excellent flexibility and stretchability are crucial components that can provide health monitoring systems with the capability of continuously tracking physiological signals of human body without conspicuous uncomfortableness and invasiveness. The signals acquired by these sensors, such as body motion, heart rate, breath, skin temperature and metabolism parameter, are closely associated with personal health conditions. This review attempts to summarize the recent progress in flexible and stretchable sensors, concerning the detected health indicators, sensing mechanisms, functional materials, fabrication strategies, basic and desired features. The potential challenges and future perspectives of wearable health monitoring system are also briefly discussed. PMID:29470408

Flexible, Stretchable Sensors for Wearable Health Monitoring: Sensing Mechanisms, Materials, Fabrication Strategies and Features.

PubMed

Liu, Yan; Wang, Hai; Zhao, Wei; Zhang, Min; Qin, Hongbo; Xie, Yongqiang

2018-02-22

Wearable health monitoring systems have gained considerable interest in recent years owing to their tremendous promise for personal portable health watching and remote medical practices. The sensors with excellent flexibility and stretchability are crucial components that can provide health monitoring systems with the capability of continuously tracking physiological signals of human body without conspicuous uncomfortableness and invasiveness. The signals acquired by these sensors, such as body motion, heart rate, breath, skin temperature and metabolism parameter, are closely associated with personal health conditions. This review attempts to summarize the recent progress in flexible and stretchable sensors, concerning the detected health indicators, sensing mechanisms, functional materials, fabrication strategies, basic and desired features. The potential challenges and future perspectives of wearable health monitoring system are also briefly discussed.

Haul truck tire dynamics due to tire condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaghar Anzabi, R.; Nobes, D. S.; Lipsett, M. G.

2012-05-01

Pneumatic tires are costly components on large off-road haul trucks used in surface mining operations. Tires are prone to damage during operation, and these events can lead to injuries to personnel, loss of equipment, and reduced productivity. Damage rates have significant variability, due to operating conditions and a range of tire fault modes. Currently, monitoring of tire condition is done by physical inspection; and the mean time between inspections is often longer than the mean time between incipient failure and functional failure of the tire. Options for new condition monitoring methods include off-board thermal imaging and camera-based optical methods for detecting abnormal deformation and surface features, as well as on-board sensors to detect tire faults during vehicle operation. Physics-based modeling of tire dynamics can provide a good understanding of the tire behavior, and give insight into observability requirements for improved monitoring systems. This paper describes a model to simulate the dynamics of haul truck tires when a fault is present to determine the effects of physical parameter changes that relate to faults. To simulate the dynamics, a lumped mass 'quarter-vehicle' model has been used to determine the response of the system to a road profile when a failure changes the original properties of the tire. The result is a model of tire vertical displacement that can be used to detect a fault, which will be tested under field conditions in time-varying conditions.

Wireless AE Event and Environmental Monitoring for Wind Turbine Blades at Low Sampling Rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouzid, Omar M.; Tian, Gui Y.; Cumanan, K.; Neasham, J.

Integration of acoustic wireless technology in structural health monitoring (SHM) applications introduces new challenges due to requirements of high sampling rates, additional communication bandwidth, memory space, and power resources. In order to circumvent these challenges, this chapter proposes a novel solution through building a wireless SHM technique in conjunction with acoustic emission (AE) with field deployment on the structure of a wind turbine. This solution requires a low sampling rate which is lower than the Nyquist rate. In addition, features extracted from aliased AE signals instead of reconstructing the original signals on-board the wireless nodes are exploited to monitor AE events, such as wind, rain, strong hail, and bird strike in different environmental conditions in conjunction with artificial AE sources. Time feature extraction algorithm, in addition to the principal component analysis (PCA) method, is used to extract and classify the relevant information, which in turn is used to classify or recognise a testing condition that is represented by the response signals. This proposed novel technique yields a significant data reduction during the monitoring process of wind turbine blades.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peterson, Mark J; Efroymson, Rebecca Ann; Adams, Marshall

The long-term ecological recovery of an impaired stream in response to an industrial facility's pollution abatement actions and the implications of the biological monitoring effort to environmental management is the subject of this special issue of Environmental Management. This final article focuses on the synthesis of the biological monitoring program's components and methods, the efficacy of various biological monitoring techniques to environmental management, and the lessons learned from the program that might be applicable to the design and application of other programs. The focus of the 25-year program has been on East Fork Poplar Creek, an ecologically impaired stream inmore » Oak Ridge, Tennessee with varied and complex stressors from a Department of Energy facility in its headwaters. Major components of the long-term program included testing and monitoring of invertebrate and fish toxicity, bioindicators of fish health, fish contaminant accumulation, and instream communities (including periphyton, benthic macroinvertebrate, and fish). Key parallel components of the program include water chemistry sampling and data management. Multiple lines of evidence suggested positive ecological responses during three major pollution abatement periods. Based on this case study and the related literature, effective environmental management of impaired streams starts with program design that is consistent across space and time, but also adaptable to changing conditions. The biological monitoring approaches used for the program provided a strong basis for assessments of recovery from remedial actions, and the likely causes of impairment. This case study provides a unique application of multidisciplinary and quantitative techniques to address multiple and complex regulatory and programmatic goals, environmental stressors, and remedial actions.« less

Software Considerations for Subscale Flight Testing of Experimental Control Laws

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murch, Austin M.; Cox, David E.; Cunningham, Kevin

2009-01-01

The NASA AirSTAR system has been designed to address the challenges associated with safe and efficient subscale flight testing of research control laws in adverse flight conditions. In this paper, software elements of this system are described, with an emphasis on components which allow for rapid prototyping and deployment of aircraft control laws. Through model-based design and automatic coding a common code-base is used for desktop analysis, piloted simulation and real-time flight control. The flight control system provides the ability to rapidly integrate and test multiple research control laws and to emulate component or sensor failures. Integrated integrity monitoring systems provide aircraft structural load protection, isolate the system from control algorithm failures, and monitor the health of telemetry streams. Finally, issues associated with software configuration management and code modularity are briefly discussed.

Synchrosqueezing an effective method for analyzing Doppler radar physiological signals.

PubMed

Yavari, Ehsan; Rahman, Ashikur; Jia Xu; Mandic, Danilo P; Boric-Lubecke, Olga

2016-08-01

Doppler radar can monitor vital sign wirelessly. Respiratory and heart rate have time-varying behavior. Capturing the rate variability provides crucial physiological information. However, the common time-frequency methods fail to detect key information. We investigate Synchrosqueezing method to extract oscillatory components of the signal with time varying spectrum. Simulation and experimental result shows the potential of the proposed method for analyzing signals with complex time-frequency behavior like physiological signals. Respiration and heart signals and their components are extracted with higher resolution and without any pre-filtering and signal conditioning.

SprayQc: a real-time LC-MS/MS quality monitoring system to maximize uptime using off the shelf components.

PubMed

Scheltema, Richard A; Mann, Matthias

2012-06-01

With the advent of high-throughput mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics, the magnitude and complexity of the performed experiments has increased dramatically. Likewise, investments in chromatographic and MS instrumentation are a large proportion of the budget of proteomics laboratories. Guarding measurement quality and maximizing uptime of the LC-MS/MS systems therefore requires constant care despite automated workflows. We describe a real-time surveillance system, called SprayQc, that continuously monitors the status of the peripheral equipment to ensure that operational parameters are within an acceptable range. SprayQc is composed of multiple plug-in software components that use computer vision to analyze electrospray conditions, monitor the chromatographic device for stable backpressure, interact with a column oven to control pressure by temperature, and ensure that the mass spectrometer is still acquiring data. Action is taken when a failure condition has been detected, such as stopping the column oven and the LC flow, as well as automatically notifying the appropriate operator. Additionally, all defined metrics can be recorded synchronized on retention time with the MS acquisition file, allowing for later inspection and providing valuable information for optimization. SprayQc has been extensively tested in our laboratory, supports third-party plug-in development, and is freely available for download from http://sourceforge.org/projects/sprayqc .

In-line monitoring of cocrystallization process and quantification of carbamazepine-nicotinamide cocrystal using Raman spectroscopy and chemometric tools.

PubMed

Soares, Frederico L F; Carneiro, Renato L

2017-06-05

A cocrystallization process may involve several molecular species, which are generally solid under ambient conditions. Thus, accurate monitoring of different components that might appear during the reaction is necessary, as well as quantification of the final product. This work reports for the first time the synthesis of carbamazepine-nicotinamide cocrystal in aqueous media with a full conversion. The reactions were monitored by Raman spectroscopy coupled with Multivariate Curve Resolution - Alternating Least Squares, and the quantification of the final product among its coformers was performed using Raman spectroscopy and Partial Least Squares regression. The slurry reaction was made in four different conditions: room temperature, 40°C, 60°C and 80°C. The slurry reaction at 80°C enabled a full conversion of initial substrates into the cocrystal form, using water as solvent for a greener method. The employment of MCR-ALS coupled with Raman spectroscopy enabled to observe the main steps of the reactions, such as drug dissolution, nucleation and crystallization of the cocrystal. The PLS models gave mean errors of cross validation around 2.0 (% wt/wt), and errors of validation between 2.5 and 8.2 (% wt/wt) for all components. These were good results since the spectra of cocrystals and the physical mixture of the coformers present some similar peaks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In-line monitoring of cocrystallization process and quantification of carbamazepine-nicotinamide cocrystal using Raman spectroscopy and chemometric tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soares, Frederico L. F.; Carneiro, Renato L.

2017-06-01

A cocrystallization process may involve several molecular species, which are generally solid under ambient conditions. Thus, accurate monitoring of different components that might appear during the reaction is necessary, as well as quantification of the final product. This work reports for the first time the synthesis of carbamazepine-nicotinamide cocrystal in aqueous media with a full conversion. The reactions were monitored by Raman spectroscopy coupled with Multivariate Curve Resolution - Alternating Least Squares, and the quantification of the final product among its coformers was performed using Raman spectroscopy and Partial Least Squares regression. The slurry reaction was made in four different conditions: room temperature, 40 °C, 60 °C and 80 °C. The slurry reaction at 80 °C enabled a full conversion of initial substrates into the cocrystal form, using water as solvent for a greener method. The employment of MCR-ALS coupled with Raman spectroscopy enabled to observe the main steps of the reactions, such as drug dissolution, nucleation and crystallization of the cocrystal. The PLS models gave mean errors of cross validation around 2.0 (% wt/wt), and errors of validation between 2.5 and 8.2 (% wt/wt) for all components. These were good results since the spectra of cocrystals and the physical mixture of the coformers present some similar peaks.

Multivariate statistical process control (MSPC) using Raman spectroscopy for in-line culture cell monitoring considering time-varying batches synchronized with correlation optimized warping (COW).

PubMed

Liu, Ya-Juan; André, Silvère; Saint Cristau, Lydia; Lagresle, Sylvain; Hannas, Zahia; Calvosa, Éric; Devos, Olivier; Duponchel, Ludovic

2017-02-01

Multivariate statistical process control (MSPC) is increasingly popular as the challenge provided by large multivariate datasets from analytical instruments such as Raman spectroscopy for the monitoring of complex cell cultures in the biopharmaceutical industry. However, Raman spectroscopy for in-line monitoring often produces unsynchronized data sets, resulting in time-varying batches. Moreover, unsynchronized data sets are common for cell culture monitoring because spectroscopic measurements are generally recorded in an alternate way, with more than one optical probe parallelly connecting to the same spectrometer. Synchronized batches are prerequisite for the application of multivariate analysis such as multi-way principal component analysis (MPCA) for the MSPC monitoring. Correlation optimized warping (COW) is a popular method for data alignment with satisfactory performance; however, it has never been applied to synchronize acquisition time of spectroscopic datasets in MSPC application before. In this paper we propose, for the first time, to use the method of COW to synchronize batches with varying durations analyzed with Raman spectroscopy. In a second step, we developed MPCA models at different time intervals based on the normal operation condition (NOC) batches synchronized by COW. New batches are finally projected considering the corresponding MPCA model. We monitored the evolution of the batches using two multivariate control charts based on Hotelling's T 2 and Q. As illustrated with results, the MSPC model was able to identify abnormal operation condition including contaminated batches which is of prime importance in cell culture monitoring We proved that Raman-based MSPC monitoring can be used to diagnose batches deviating from the normal condition, with higher efficacy than traditional diagnosis, which would save time and money in the biopharmaceutical industry. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Digital photo monitoring for tree crown

Treesearch

Neil Clark; Sang-Mook Lee

2007-01-01

Assessing change in the amount of foliage within a tree’s crown is the goal of crown transparency estimation, a component in many forest health assessment programs. Many sources of variability limit analysis and interpretation of crown condition data. Increased precision is needed to detect more subtle changes that are important for detection of health problems....

Autonomous System for Monitoring the Integrity of Composite Fan Housings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Qing, Xinlin P.; Aquino, Christopher; Kumar, Amrita

2010-01-01

A low-cost and reliable system assesses the integrity of composite fan-containment structures. The system utilizes a network of miniature sensors integrated with the structure to scan the entire structural area for any impact events and resulting structural damage, and to monitor degradation due to usage. This system can be used to monitor all types of composite structures on aircraft and spacecraft, as well as automatically monitor in real time the location and extent of damage in the containment structures. This diagnostic information is passed to prognostic modeling that is being developed to utilize the information and provide input on the residual strength of the structure, and maintain a history of structural degradation during usage. The structural health-monitoring system would consist of three major components: (1) sensors and a sensor network, which is permanently bonded onto the structure being monitored; (2) integrated hardware; and (3) software to monitor in-situ the health condition of in-service structures.

Adaptive angular-velocity Vold-Kalman filter order tracking - Theoretical basis, numerical implementation and parameter investigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, M.-Ch.; Chu, W.-Ch.; Le, Duc-Do

2016-12-01

The paper presents an alternative Vold-Kalman filter order tracking (VKF_OT) method, i.e. adaptive angular-velocity VKF_OT technique, to extract and characterize order components in an adaptive manner for the condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of rotary machinery. The order/spectral waveforms to be tracked can be recursively solved by using Kalman filter based on the one-step state prediction. The paper comprises theoretical derivation of computation scheme, numerical implementation, and parameter investigation. Comparisons of the adaptive VKF_OT scheme with two other ones are performed through processing synthetic signals of designated order components. Processing parameters such as the weighting factor and the correlation matrix of process noise, and data conditions like the sampling frequency, which influence tracking behavior, are explored. The merits such as adaptive processing nature and computation efficiency brought by the proposed scheme are addressed although the computation was performed in off-line conditions. The proposed scheme can simultaneously extract multiple spectral components, and effectively decouple close and crossing orders associated with multi-axial reference rotating speeds.

Monitoring and accountability for the Pacific response to the non-communicable diseases crisis.

PubMed

Tolley, Hilary; Snowdon, Wendy; Wate, Jillian; Durand, A Mark; Vivili, Paula; McCool, Judith; Novotny, Rachel; Dewes, Ofa; Hoy, Damian; Bell, Colin; Richards, Nicola; Swinburn, Boyd

2016-09-10

Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are the leading cause of premature death and disability in the Pacific. In 2011, Pacific Forum Leaders declared "a human, social and economic crisis" due to the significant and growing burden of NCDs in the region. In 2013, Pacific Health Ministers' commitment to 'whole of government' strategy prompted calls for the development of a robust, sustainable, collaborative NCD monitoring and accountability system to track, review and propose remedial action to ensure progress towards the NCD goals and targets. The purpose of this paper is to describe a regional, collaborative framework for coordination, innovation and application of NCD monitoring activities at scale, and to show how they can strengthen accountability for action on NCDs in the Pacific. A key component is the Dashboard for NCD Action which aims to strengthen mutual accountability by demonstrating national and regional progress towards agreed NCD policies and actions. The framework for the Pacific Monitoring Alliance for NCD Action (MANA) draws together core country-level components of NCD monitoring data (mortality, morbidity, risk factors, health system responses, environments, and policies) and identifies key cross-cutting issues for strengthening national and regional monitoring systems. These include: capacity building; a regional knowledge exchange hub; innovations (monitoring childhood obesity and food environments); and a robust regional accountability system. The MANA framework is governed by the Heads of Health and operationalised by a multi-agency technical Coordination Team. Alliance membership is voluntary and non-conditional, and aims to support the 22 Pacific Island countries and territories to improve the quality of NCD monitoring data across the region. In establishing a common vision for NCD monitoring, the framework combines data collected under the WHO Global Framework for NCDs with a set of action-orientated indicators captured in a NCD Dashboard for Action. Viewing NCD monitoring as a multi-component system and providing a robust, transparent mutual accountability mechanism helps align agendas, roles and responsibilities of countries and support organisations. The dashboard provides a succinct communication tool for reporting progress on implementation of agreed policies and actions and its flexible methodology can be easily expanded, or adapted for other regions.

'Knowing where I am': self-monitoring of blood glucose in diabetes.

PubMed

Meetoo, Danny; Wong, Louise; Fatani, Tughreed

2018-05-24

Although the prevalence of all types of chronic conditions is increasing, diabetes is one of the few long-term metabolic disorders that individuals can successfully manage, monitor and control on a day-to-day basis. Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is considered an essential component of diabetes self-care management. When used appropriately, SMBG can help to identify factors associated with hyper- and hypoglycaemia, facilitate learning, and empower people with diabetes to make changes to improve their glycaemic control. SMBG can be a useful tool for healthcare providers, who can teach individuals to monitor glucose at specific times to assess the effectiveness of medications and guide medication management. However, there is an ongoing debate regarding whether, as is the case with type 1 diabetes, all people with type 2 diabetes should also be given the opportunity to learn about the value of, and skills required to, monitor blood glucose as appropriate to their specific needs.

Network challenges for cyber physical systems with tiny wireless devices: a case study on reliable pipeline condition monitoring.

PubMed

Ali, Salman; Qaisar, Saad Bin; Saeed, Husnain; Khan, Muhammad Farhan; Naeem, Muhammad; Anpalagan, Alagan

2015-03-25

The synergy of computational and physical network components leading to the Internet of Things, Data and Services has been made feasible by the use of Cyber Physical Systems (CPSs). CPS engineering promises to impact system condition monitoring for a diverse range of fields from healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation to aerospace and warfare. CPS for environment monitoring applications completely transforms human-to-human, human-to-machine and machine-to-machine interactions with the use of Internet Cloud. A recent trend is to gain assistance from mergers between virtual networking and physical actuation to reliably perform all conventional and complex sensing and communication tasks. Oil and gas pipeline monitoring provides a novel example of the benefits of CPS, providing a reliable remote monitoring platform to leverage environment, strategic and economic benefits. In this paper, we evaluate the applications and technical requirements for seamlessly integrating CPS with sensor network plane from a reliability perspective and review the strategies for communicating information between remote monitoring sites and the widely deployed sensor nodes. Related challenges and issues in network architecture design and relevant protocols are also provided with classification. This is supported by a case study on implementing reliable monitoring of oil and gas pipeline installations. Network parameters like node-discovery, node-mobility, data security, link connectivity, data aggregation, information knowledge discovery and quality of service provisioning have been reviewed.

Network Challenges for Cyber Physical Systems with Tiny Wireless Devices: A Case Study on Reliable Pipeline Condition Monitoring

PubMed Central

Ali, Salman; Qaisar, Saad Bin; Saeed, Husnain; Farhan Khan, Muhammad; Naeem, Muhammad; Anpalagan, Alagan

2015-01-01

The synergy of computational and physical network components leading to the Internet of Things, Data and Services has been made feasible by the use of Cyber Physical Systems (CPSs). CPS engineering promises to impact system condition monitoring for a diverse range of fields from healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation to aerospace and warfare. CPS for environment monitoring applications completely transforms human-to-human, human-to-machine and machine-to-machine interactions with the use of Internet Cloud. A recent trend is to gain assistance from mergers between virtual networking and physical actuation to reliably perform all conventional and complex sensing and communication tasks. Oil and gas pipeline monitoring provides a novel example of the benefits of CPS, providing a reliable remote monitoring platform to leverage environment, strategic and economic benefits. In this paper, we evaluate the applications and technical requirements for seamlessly integrating CPS with sensor network plane from a reliability perspective and review the strategies for communicating information between remote monitoring sites and the widely deployed sensor nodes. Related challenges and issues in network architecture design and relevant protocols are also provided with classification. This is supported by a case study on implementing reliable monitoring of oil and gas pipeline installations. Network parameters like node-discovery, node-mobility, data security, link connectivity, data aggregation, information knowledge discovery and quality of service provisioning have been reviewed. PMID:25815444

An Assessment of Integrated Health Management (IHM) Frameworks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

N. Lybeck; M. Tawfik; L. Bond

In order to meet the ever increasing demand for energy, the United States nuclear industry is turning to life extension of existing nuclear power plants (NPPs). Economically ensuring the safe, secure, and reliable operation of aging nuclear power plants presents many challenges. The 2009 Light Water Reactor Sustainability Workshop identified online monitoring of active and structural components as essential to the better understanding and management of the challenges posed by aging nuclear power plants. Additionally, there is increasing adoption of condition-based maintenance (CBM) for active components in NPPs. These techniques provide a foundation upon which a variety of advanced onlinemore » surveillance, diagnostic, and prognostic techniques can be deployed to continuously monitor and assess the health of NPP systems and components. The next step in the development of advanced online monitoring is to move beyond CBM to estimating the remaining useful life of active components using prognostic tools. Deployment of prognostic health management (PHM) on the scale of a NPP requires the use of an integrated health management (IHM) framework - a software product (or suite of products) used to manage the necessary elements needed for a complete implementation of online monitoring and prognostics. This paper provides a thoughtful look at the desirable functions and features of IHM architectures. A full PHM system involves several modules, including data acquisition, system modeling, fault detection, fault diagnostics, system prognostics, and advisory generation (operations and maintenance planning). The standards applicable to PHM applications are indentified and summarized. A list of evaluation criteria for PHM software products, developed to ensure scalability of the toolset to an environment with the complexity of a NPP, is presented. Fourteen commercially available PHM software products are identified and classified into four groups: research tools, PHM system development tools, deployable architectures, and peripheral tools.« less

Project SHINE: Effects of Parent–Adolescent Communication on Sedentary Behavior in African American Adolescents

PubMed Central

Wilson, Dawn K.; Schneider, Elizabeth M.; Alia, Kassandra A.

2013-01-01

Objective This study examined parenting variables (communication, monitoring) as moderators of a family-based intervention for reducing sedentary behavior (SB) in African American adolescents. As a secondary aim, a similar model was tested using adolescent weight status as the outcome. Methods African American adolescents (n = 73; 12.45 ± 1.45 years; 60% girls; 63% overweight/obese) and caregivers were randomized to a 6-week interactive, parent-based intervention or general health condition. Parent–adolescent communication and monitoring of health behaviors were self-reported by parents. Adolescent SB was self-reported by youth. Results There was a significant intervention by communication interaction, such that intervention families with more positive communication showed lower adolescent SB than those with less positive communication or those in the comparison condition. No effects were found for monitoring on SB or for the model with weight status as the outcome. Conclusions Parent–adolescent communication may be an effective component to integrate into health promotion programs for African American adolescents. PMID:23685450

Facial Cosmetics Exert a Greater Influence on Processing of the Mouth Relative to the Eyes: Evidence from the N170 Event-Related Potential Component.

PubMed

Tanaka, Hideaki

2016-01-01

Cosmetic makeup significantly influences facial perception. Because faces consist of similar physical structures, cosmetic makeup is typically used to highlight individual features, particularly those of the eyes (i.e., eye shadow) and mouth (i.e., lipstick). Though event-related potentials have been utilized to study various aspects of facial processing, the influence of cosmetics on specific ERP components remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the application of cosmetic makeup and the amplitudes of the P1 and N170 event-related potential components during facial perception tasks. Moreover, the influence of visual perception on N170 amplitude, was evaluated under three makeup conditions: Eye Shadow, Lipstick, and No Makeup. Electroencephalography was used to monitor 17 participants who were exposed to visual stimuli under each these three makeup conditions. The results of the present study subsequently demonstrated that the Lipstick condition elicited a significantly greater N170 amplitude than the No Makeup condition, while P1 amplitude was unaffected by any of the conditions. Such findings indicate that the application of cosmetic makeup alters general facial perception but exerts no influence on the perception of low-level visual features. Collectively, these results support the notion that the application of makeup induces subtle alterations in the processing of facial stimuli, with a particular effect on the processing of specific facial components (i.e., the mouth), as reflected by changes in N170 amplitude.

Facial Cosmetics Exert a Greater Influence on Processing of the Mouth Relative to the Eyes: Evidence from the N170 Event-Related Potential Component

PubMed Central

Tanaka, Hideaki

2016-01-01

Cosmetic makeup significantly influences facial perception. Because faces consist of similar physical structures, cosmetic makeup is typically used to highlight individual features, particularly those of the eyes (i.e., eye shadow) and mouth (i.e., lipstick). Though event-related potentials have been utilized to study various aspects of facial processing, the influence of cosmetics on specific ERP components remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the application of cosmetic makeup and the amplitudes of the P1 and N170 event-related potential components during facial perception tasks. Moreover, the influence of visual perception on N170 amplitude, was evaluated under three makeup conditions: Eye Shadow, Lipstick, and No Makeup. Electroencephalography was used to monitor 17 participants who were exposed to visual stimuli under each these three makeup conditions. The results of the present study subsequently demonstrated that the Lipstick condition elicited a significantly greater N170 amplitude than the No Makeup condition, while P1 amplitude was unaffected by any of the conditions. Such findings indicate that the application of cosmetic makeup alters general facial perception but exerts no influence on the perception of low-level visual features. Collectively, these results support the notion that the application of makeup induces subtle alterations in the processing of facial stimuli, with a particular effect on the processing of specific facial components (i.e., the mouth), as reflected by changes in N170 amplitude. PMID:27656161

Additively Manufactured IN718 Components with Wirelessly Powered and Interrogated Embedded Sensing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Attridge, Paul; Bajekal, Sanjay; Klecka, Michael

A methodology is described for embedding commercial-off-the-shelf sensors together with wireless communication and power circuit elements using direct laser metal sintered additively manufactured components. Physics based models of the additive manufacturing processes and sensor/wireless level performance models guided the design and embedment processes. A combination of cold spray deposition and laser engineered net shaping was used to fashion the transmitter/receiving elements and embed the sensors, thereby providing environmental protection and component robustness/survivability for harsh conditions. By design, this complement of analog and digital sensors were wirelessly powered and interrogated using a health and utilization monitoring system; enabling real-time, in situmore » prognostics and diagnostics.« less

SSC spool piece design

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Clark, D.; Costin, K.; Hutton, D.

1991-03-01

The spool piece design for the standard arc half-cell of the Superconducting Super Collider collider ring is an electromechanical system which performs a variety of tasks. The components provide conditioning and control of the cryogenics and electrical bus routing and protection; they also accommodate the beam position monitor and corrector magnet families, vacuum separation, and connection points for control and instrumentation. The design uses unique locations for each component, mixing form and function in a limited amount of allocated length in the standard 90 m half-cell. This paper describes the purpose and positioning of the various components and the assemblymore » sequence required to achieve these space constraints. 5 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.« less

Effects of highway construction on stream water quality and macroinvertebrate condition in a Mid-Atlantic Highlands watershed, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chen, Y.; Viadero, R.C.; Wei, X.; Fortney, Ronald H.; Hedrick, Lara B.; Welsh, S.A.; Anderson, James T.; Lin, L.-S.

2009-01-01

Refining best management practices (BMPs) for future highway construction depends on a comprehensive understanding of environmental impacts from current construction methods. Based on a before-after-control impact (BACI) experimental design, long-term stream monitoring (1997-2006) was conducted at upstream (as control, n = 3) and downstream (as impact, n = 6) sites in the Lost River watershed of the Mid-Atlantic Highlands region, West Virginia. Monitoring data were analyzed to assess impacts of during and after highway construction on 15 water quality parameters and macroinvertebrate condition using the West Virginia stream condition index (WVSCI). Principal components analysis (PCA) identified regional primary water quality variances, and paired t tests and time series analysis detected seven highway construction-impacted water quality parameters which were mainly associated with the second principal component. In particular, impacts on turbidity, total suspended solids, and total iron during construction, impacts on chloride and sulfate during and after construction, and impacts on acidity and nitrate after construction were observed at the downstream sites. The construction had statistically significant impacts on macroinvertebrate index scores (i.e., WVSCI) after construction, but did not change the overall good biological condition. Implementing BMPs that address those construction-impacted water quality parameters can be an effective mitigation strategy for future highway construction in this highlands region. Copyright ?? 2009 by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America. All rights reserved.

Hydrochemical variations in selected geothermal groundwater and carbonated springs in Korea: a baseline study for early detection of CO2 leakage.

PubMed

Choi, Hanna; Piao, Jize; Woo, Nam C; Cho, Heuynam

2017-02-01

A baseline hydrochemistry of the above zone aquifer was examined for the potential of CO 2 early detection monitoring. Among the major ionic components and stable isotope ratios of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, components with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of <10 % for the seasonal variation were selected as relatively stable. These components were tested for sensitivity to the introduction of 0.1 mol/L CO 2 (g) using the PHREEQC simulation results. If the relatively stable components were sensitive to the introduction of CO 2 , then they could be used as indicators of CO 2 leakage into the above zone. As an analog to the zone above CO 2 storage formation, we sampled deep groundwater, including geothermal groundwater from well depths of 400-700 m below the ground surface (bgs) and carbonated springs with a high CO 2 content in Korea. Under the natural conditions of inland geothermal groundwater, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), bicarbonate (HCO 3 ), δ 18 O, δ 2 H, and δ 13 C were relatively stable as well as sensitive to the introduction of CO 2 (g), thus showing good potential as monitoring parameters for early detection of CO 2 leakage. In carbonated springs, the parameters identified were pH, δ 18 O, and δ 2 H. Baseline hydrochemistry monitoring could provide information on parameters useful for detecting anomalies caused by CO 2 leakage as measures for early warning.

Integrating Systems Health Management with Adaptive Controls for a Utility-Scale Wind Turbine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frost, Susan A.; Goebel, Kai; Trinh, Khanh V.; Balas, Mark J.; Frost, Alan M.

2011-01-01

Increasing turbine up-time and reducing maintenance costs are key technology drivers for wind turbine operators. Components within wind turbines are subject to considerable stresses due to unpredictable environmental conditions resulting from rapidly changing local dynamics. Systems health management has the aim to assess the state-of-health of components within a wind turbine, to estimate remaining life, and to aid in autonomous decision-making to minimize damage. Advanced adaptive controls can provide the mechanism to enable optimized operations that also provide the enabling technology for Systems Health Management goals. The work reported herein explores the integration of condition monitoring of wind turbine blades with contingency management and adaptive controls. Results are demonstrated using a high fidelity simulator of a utility-scale wind turbine.

Thermal strain measurement of EAST tungsten divertor component with bare fiber Bragg grating sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xingli; Wang, Wanjing; Wang, Jichao; Wei, Ran; Sun, Zhaoxuan; Li, Qiang; Xie, Chunyi; Luo, Guang-Nan

2017-12-01

Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) have been widely used in the sensor field to monitor temperature and strain. However, the weak mechanical property of optical fibers and insufficient heat-resistant property of general optic-fiber sensors have prevented it from being widely used, such as in some extreme engineering situations. In this work, a bare FBG sensor system had been introduced to measure thermal strain of an Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak tungsten divertor component under baking condition. This strain measurement system had withstood as high temperature as 210 °C and finished the measurement experiment successfully. Meaningful measurement results had been obtained and analyzed, which showed the applicability of such a bare fiber grating sensor system and as well contributed to studying on tungsten divertor's thermal strain conditions.

A microcomputer based data acquisition system and experiment controller

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ganz, M. W.

1981-01-01

A data acquisition system is described. The system monitors and records the signal strength of a radio beacon sent to Earth from a geosynchronous satellite. It acquires data from several devices such as a radar, a radiometer, and a rain gauge which monitor the meteorological conditions along the Earth space propagation path. The acquired data are stored in digital format on magnetic tape for analysis at the computer center. A detailed description of the design and operation of the system's various hardware components is given. Schematic diagrams, the theory of operation, and normal operating procedures are presented.

Procedural considerations for CPV outdoor power ratings per IEC 62670

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muller, Matthew; Kurtz, Sarah; Rodriguez, Jose

2013-09-01

The IEC Working Group 7 (WG7) is in the process of developing a draft procedure for an outdoor concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) module power rating at Concentrator Standard Operating Conditions (CSOC). WG7 recently achieved some consensus that using component reference cells to monitor/limit spectral variation is the preferred path for the outdoor power rating. To build on this consensus, the community must quantify these spectral limits and select a procedure for calculating and reporting a power rating. This work focuses on statistically comparing several procedures the community is considering in context with monitoring/limiting spectral variation.

Application of empirical mode decomposition in removing fidgeting interference in doppler radar life signs monitoring devices.

PubMed

Mostafanezhad, Isar; Boric-Lubecke, Olga; Lubecke, Victor; Mandic, Danilo P

2009-01-01

Empirical Mode Decomposition has been shown effective in the analysis of non-stationary and non-linear signals. As an application in wireless life signs monitoring in this paper we use this method in conditioning the signals obtained from the Doppler device. Random physical movements, fidgeting, of the human subject during a measurement can fall on the same frequency of the heart or respiration rate and interfere with the measurement. It will be shown how Empirical Mode Decomposition can break the radar signal down into its components and help separate and remove the fidgeting interference.

Active damage interrogation system for structural health monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lichtenwalner, Peter F.; Dunne, James P.; Becker, Ronald S.; Baumann, Erwin W.

1997-05-01

An integrated and automated smart structures approach for in situ damage assessment has been implemented and evaluated in a laboratory environment for health monitoring of a realistic aerospace structural component. This approach, called Active Damage Interrogation (ADI), utilizes an array of piezoelectric transducers attached to or embedded within the structure for both actuation and sensing. The ADI system, which is model independent, actively interrogates the structure through broadband excitation of multiple actuators across the desired frequency range. Statistical analysis of the changes in transfer functions between actuator/sensor pairs is used to detect, localize, and assess the severity of damage in the structure. This paper presents the overall concept of the ADI system and provides experimental results of damage assessment studies conducted for a composite structural component of the MD-900 Explorer helicopter rotor system. The potential advantages of this approach include simplicity (no need for a model), sensitivity, and low cost implementation. The results obtained thus far indicate considerably promise for integrated structural health monitoring of aerospace vehicles, leading to the practice of condition-based maintenance and consequent reduction in life cycle costs.

Towards a geophysical decision-support system for monitoring and managing unstable slopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chambers, J. E.; Meldrum, P.; Wilkinson, P. B.; Uhlemann, S.; Swift, R. T.; Inauen, C.; Gunn, D.; Kuras, O.; Whiteley, J.; Kendall, J. M.

2017-12-01

Conventional approaches for condition monitoring, such as walk over surveys, remote sensing or intrusive sampling, are often inadequate for predicting instabilities in natural and engineered slopes. Surface observations cannot detect the subsurface precursors to failure events; instead they can only identify failure once it has begun. On the other hand, intrusive investigations using boreholes only sample a very small volume of ground and hence small scale deterioration process in heterogeneous ground conditions can easily be missed. It is increasingly being recognised that geophysical techniques can complement conventional approaches by providing spatial subsurface information. Here we describe the development and testing of a new geophysical slope monitoring system. It is built around low-cost electrical resistivity tomography instrumentation, combined with integrated geotechnical logging capability, and coupled with data telemetry. An automated data processing and analysis workflow is being developed to streamline information delivery. The development of this approach has provided the basis of a decision-support tool for monitoring and managing unstable slopes. The hardware component of the system has been operational at a number of field sites associated with a range of natural and engineered slopes for up to two years. We report on the monitoring results from these sites, discuss the practicalities of installing and maintaining long-term geophysical monitoring infrastructure, and consider the requirements of a fully automated data processing and analysis workflow. We propose that the result of this development work is a practical decision-support tool that can provide near-real-time information relating to the internal condition of problematic slopes.

Dynamic design of ecological monitoring networks for non-Gaussian spatio-temporal data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wikle, C.K.; Royle, J. Andrew

2005-01-01

Many ecological processes exhibit spatial structure that changes over time in a coherent, dynamical fashion. This dynamical component is often ignored in the design of spatial monitoring networks. Furthermore, ecological variables related to processes such as habitat are often non-Gaussian (e.g. Poisson or log-normal). We demonstrate that a simulation-based design approach can be used in settings where the data distribution is from a spatio-temporal exponential family. The key random component in the conditional mean function from this distribution is then a spatio-temporal dynamic process. Given the computational burden of estimating the expected utility of various designs in this setting, we utilize an extended Kalman filter approximation to facilitate implementation. The approach is motivated by, and demonstrated on, the problem of selecting sampling locations to estimate July brood counts in the prairie pothole region of the U.S.

Monitoring of environmental UV radiation by biological dosimeters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rontó, Gy.; Bérces, A.; Gróf, P.; Fekete, A.; Kerékgyártó, T.; Gáspár, S.; Stick, C.

As a consequence of the stratospheric ozone layer depletion biological systems can be damaged due to increased UV-B radiation. The aim of biological dosimetry is to establish a quantitative basis for the risk assessment of the biosphere. DNA is the most important target molecule of biological systems having special sensitivity against short wavelength components of the environmental radiation. Biological dosimeters are usually simple organisms, or components of them, modeling the cellular DNA. Phage T7 and polycrystalline uracil biological dosimeters have been developed and used in our laboratory for monitoring the environmental radiation in different radiation conditions (from the polar to equatorial regions). Comparisons with Robertson-Berger (RB) meter data, as well as with model calculation data weighted by the corresponding spectral sensitivities of the dosimeters are presented. Suggestion is given how to determine the trend of the increase in the biological risk due to ozone depletion.

Affects of road sign wording on visitor survey - non-response bias

Treesearch

Susan M. Kocis; Stanley J. Zarnoch; Donald B.K. English

2004-01-01

On-site visitor interviewer data collection is a key component of the USDA Forest Service National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) program. In many areas, especially higher speed roads and roads with non-recreation traffic, many vehicles may not stop for an interview. Wording on the sign may condition non-recreation visitors to self-select as to whether or not they...

Magnetic properties evolution of a high permeability nanocrystalline FeCuNbSiB during thermal ageing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lekdim, Atef; Morel, Laurent; Raulet, Marie-Ange

2017-07-01

It is found to be one of the major issues while designing an aircraft, mass and volume have to be reduced in order to achieve energy efficiency. This leads to a high compactness of the electrical components which enables them to withstand at high temperatures. The magnetic components which are responsible for the electrical energy conversion, therefore exposed to high temperatures in working conditions. Their thermal ageing becomes a serious problem and deserves a particular attention. The FeCuNbSiB nanocrystalline materials have been selected for this ageing study because they are used in power electronic systems very frequently. The objective of the study is based on monitoring the magnetic characteristics under the condition of several continuous thermal ageing (100, 150, 200 and 240 °C). An important, experimental work of magnetic characterization is being done through a specific monitoring protocol and X-ray diffraction (XRD) along with magnetostriction measurements was carried out to support the study of the evolution of the anisotropy energies with aging. The latter is discussed in this paper to explain and give the hypothesis about the aging phenomena. Contribution to the topical issue "Electrical Engineering Symposium (SGE 2016)", edited by Adel Razek

In-field implementation of impedance-based structural health monitoring for insulated rail joints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albakri, Mohammad I.; Malladi, V. V. N. Sriram; Woolard, Americo G.; Tarazaga, Pablo A.

2017-04-01

Track defects are a major safety concern for the railroad industry. Among different track components, insulated rail joints, which are widely used for signaling purposes, are considered a weak link in the railroad track. Several joint-related defects have been identified by the railroad community, including rail wear, torque loss, and joint bar breakage. Current track inspection techniques rely on manual and visual inspection or on specially equipped testing carts, which are costly, timeconsuming, traffic disturbing, and prone to human error. To overcome the aforementioned limitations, the feasibility of utilizing impedance-based structural health monitoring for insulated rail joints is investigated in this work. For this purpose, an insulated joint, provided by Koppers Inc., is instrumented with piezoelectric transducers and assembled with 136 AREA rail plugs. The instrumented joint is then installed and tested at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing, Transportation Technology Center Inc. The effects of environmental and operating conditions on the measured impedance signatures are investigated through a set of experiments conducted at different temperatures and loading conditions. The capabilities of impedance-based SHM to detect several joint-related damage types are also studied by introducing reversible mechanical defects to different joint components.

Design of components for the NASA OCEAN project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wright, Jenna (Editor); Clift, James; Dumais, Bryan; Gardner, Shannon; Hernandez, Juan Carlos; Nolan, Laura; Park, Mia; Peoples, Don; Phillips, Elizabeth; Tillman, Mark

1993-01-01

The goal of the Fall 1993 semester of the EGM 4000 class was to design, fabricate, and test components for the 'Ocean CELSS Experimental Analog NASA' Project (OCEAN Project) and to aid in the future development of NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS). The OCEAN project's specific aims are to place a human, Mr. Dennis Chamberland from NASA's Life Science Division of Research, into an underwater habitat off the shore of Key Largo, FL for three months. During his stay, he will monitor the hydroponic growth of food crops and evaluate the conditions necessary to have a successful harvest of edible food. The specific designs chosen to contribute to the OCEAN project by the EGM 4000 class are in the areas of hydroponic habitat monitoring, human health monitoring, and production of blue/green algae. The hydroponic monitoring system focused on monitoring the environment of the plants. This included the continuous sensing of the atmospheric and hydroponic nutrient solution temperatures. Methods for monitoring the continuous flow of the hydroponic nutrient solution across the plants and the continuous supply of power for these sensing devices were also incorporated into the design system. The human health monitoring system concentrated on continuously monitoring various concerns of the occupant in the underwater living habitat of the OCEAN project. These concerns included monitoring the enclosed environment for dangerous levels of carbon monoxide and smoke, high temperatures from fire, and the ceasing of the continuous airflow into the habitat. The blue/green algae project emphasized both the production and harvest of a future source of food. This project did not interact with any part of the OCEAN project. Rather, it was used to show the possibility of growing this kind of algae as a supplemental food source inside a controlled ecological life support system.

Flexible Sensing Electronics for Wearable/Attachable Health Monitoring.

PubMed

Wang, Xuewen; Liu, Zheng; Zhang, Ting

2017-07-01

Wearable or attachable health monitoring smart systems are considered to be the next generation of personal portable devices for remote medicine practices. Smart flexible sensing electronics are components crucial in endowing health monitoring systems with the capability of real-time tracking of physiological signals. These signals are closely associated with body conditions, such as heart rate, wrist pulse, body temperature, blood/intraocular pressure and blood/sweat bio-information. Monitoring such physiological signals provides a convenient and non-invasive way for disease diagnoses and health assessments. This Review summarizes the recent progress of flexible sensing electronics for their use in wearable/attachable health monitoring systems. Meanwhile, we present an overview of different materials and configurations for flexible sensors, including piezo-resistive, piezo-electrical, capacitive, and field effect transistor based devices, and analyze the working principles in monitoring physiological signals. In addition, the future perspectives of wearable healthcare systems and the technical demands on their commercialization are briefly discussed. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A reliable low cost integrated wireless sensor network for water quality monitoring and level control system in UAE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abou-Elnour, Ali; Khaleeq, Hyder; Abou-Elnour, Ahmad

2016-04-01

In the present work, wireless sensor network and real-time controlling and monitoring system are integrated for efficient water quality monitoring for environmental and domestic applications. The proposed system has three main components (i) the sensor circuits, (ii) the wireless communication system, and (iii) the monitoring and controlling unit. LabView software has been used in the implementation of the monitoring and controlling system. On the other hand, ZigBee and myRIO wireless modules have been used to implement the wireless system. The water quality parameters are accurately measured by the present computer based monitoring system and the measurement results are instantaneously transmitted and published with minimum infrastructure costs and maximum flexibility in term of distance or location. The mobility and durability of the proposed system are further enhanced by fully powering via a photovoltaic system. The reliability and effectiveness of the system are evaluated under realistic operating conditions.

Design and implementation of a Bluetooth-based infant monitoring/saver (BIMS) system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sonmez, Ahmet E.; Nalcaci, Murat T.; Pazarbasi, Mehmet A.; Toker, Onur; Fidanboylu, Kemal

2007-04-01

In this work, we discuss the design and implementation of a Bluetooth technology based infant monitoring system, which will enable the mother to monitor her baby's health condition remotely in real-time. The system will measure the heart rate, and temperature of the infant, and stream this data to the mother's Bluetooth based mobile unit, e.g. cell phone, PDA, etc. Existing infant monitors either require so many cables, or transmit only voice and/or video information, which is not enough for monitoring the health condition of an infant. With the proposed system, the mother will be warned against any abnormalities, which may be an indication of a disease, which in turn may result a sudden infant death. High temperature is a common symptom for several diseases, and heart rate is an essential sign of life, low or high heart rates are also essentials symptoms. Because of these reasons, the proposed system continously measures these two critical values. A 12 bits digital temperature sensor is used to measure infant's body temperature, and a piezo film sensor is used measure infant's heartbeat rate. These sensors, some simple analog circuitry, and a ToothPick unit are the main components of our embedded system. ToothPick unit is basically a Microchip 18LF6720 microcontroller, plus an RF circuitry with Bluetooth stack.

Fetal ECG extraction using independent component analysis by Jade approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giraldo-Guzmán, Jader; Contreras-Ortiz, Sonia H.; Lasprilla, Gloria Isabel Bautista; Kotas, Marian

2017-11-01

Fetal ECG monitoring is a useful method to assess the fetus health and detect abnormal conditions. In this paper we propose an approach to extract fetal ECG from abdomen and chest signals using independent component analysis based on the joint approximate diagonalization of eigenmatrices approach. The JADE approach avoids redundancy, what reduces matrix dimension and computational costs. Signals were filtered with a high pass filter to eliminate low frequency noise. Several levels of decomposition were tested until the fetal ECG was recognized in one of the separated sources output. The proposed method shows fast and good performance.

The Nature, Number and Evolution of Hot-Spots in Ammonium Nitrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Proud, W. G.; Kirby, I. J.; Field, J. E.

2004-07-01

Ammonium nitrate (AN) is a commonly used fertiliser and also one component of the most widely used explosive in the world AN: Fuel Oil mixtures. This study uses a combination of high-speed photography, UV/Visible spectroscopy and modelling. By using thin beds, <0.5 mm thick, with a porosity of 22%vol the number and evolution of hot-spots in ammonium nitrate are monitored directly under dynamic loading conditions. The critical conditions for ignition are defined in terms of energy localisation mechanisms, temperature rise and inter-communication between the hot-spots.

Effects of substrate mineralogy on the biodegradability of fuel components

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Apitz, S.E.; Meyers-Schulte, K.J.

1996-11-01

Experiments were carried out to determine the effects of mineralogy on the biodegradability of components of a whole fuel by a soil microbial consortium. Samples of quartz sand (Fischer Sea Sand) and illite clay (API 35) were spiked with marine diesel fuel, aged, slurried, and inoculated, and concentrations of fuel components were monitored over time. To help distinguish biotic from abiotic processes, identical samples were poisoned with mercuric chloride and were run in parallel. While there was a chromatographic and biomarker evidence of n-alkane biodegradation in the sand samples, illite samples showed no evidence of biogenic loss of aliphatic components.more » Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, on the other hand, were lost equivalently on both minerals and in both cases were lost to a much greater extent than were total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs). These results suggest that under experimental conditions, illite inhibited the bioavailability of some TPH components to the soil microbial consortium.« less

Field deployable processing methods for stay-in-place ultrasonic transducers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malarich, Nathan; Lissenden, Cliff J.; Tittmann, Bernhard R.

2018-04-01

Condition monitoring provides key data for managing the operation and maintenance of mechanical equipment in the power generation, chemical processing, and manufacturing industries. Ultrasonic transducers provide active monitoring capabilities by wall thickness measurements, elastic property determination, crack detection, and other means. In many cases the components operate in harsh environments that may include high temperature, radiation, and hazardous chemicals. Thus, it is desirable to have permanently affixed ultrasonic transducers for condition monitoring in harsh environments. Spray-on transducers provide direct coupling between the active element and the substrate, and can be applied to curved surfaces. We describe a deposition methodology for ultrasonic transducers that can be applied in the field. First, piezoceramic powders mixed into a sol-gel are air-spray deposited onto the substrate. Powder constituents are selected based on the service environment in which the condition monitoring will be performed. Then the deposited coating is pyrolyzed and partially densified using an induction heating system with a custom work coil designed to match the substrate geometry. The next step, applying the electrodes, is more challenging than might be expected because of the porosity of the piezoelectric coating and the potential reactivity of elements in the adjacent layers. After connecting lead wires to the electrodes the transducer is poled and a protective coating can be applied prior to use. Processing of a PZT-bismuth titanate transducer on a large steel substrate is described along with alternate methods.

Goal impact influences the evaluative component of performance monitoring: Evidence from ERPs.

PubMed

Severo, Mario Carlo; Walentowska, Wioleta; Moors, Agnes; Pourtois, Gilles

2017-10-01

Successful performance monitoring (PM) requires continuous assessment of context and action outcomes. Electrophysiological studies have reliably identified event-related potential (ERP) markers for evaluative feedback processing during PM: the Feedback-Related Negativity (FRN) and P3 components. The functional significance of FRN remains debated in the literature, with recent research suggesting that feedback's goal relevance can account for FRN (amplitude) modulation, apart from its valence or expectedness alone. Extending this account, the present study assessed whether graded differentiations in feedback's relevance or importance to one's goal (referred to as goal impact) would influence PM at the FRN (and P3) level. To this end, we ran a within-subject crossover design experiment in which 40 participants completed two standard cognitive control tasks (Go/No Go and Simon), while 64-channel electroencephalography was recorded. Critically, both tasks entailed similar reward processing but systematically varied in goal impact assignment (high vs. low), manipulated through their supposed diagnosticity for daily life functioning and activation of social comparison. ERP results showed that goal impact reliably modulated FRN in a general manner. Irrespective of feedback valence, it was overall less negative in the high compared to the low impact condition, suggesting a general decrease in feedback monitoring in the former compared to the latter condition. These findings lend support to the idea that PM is best conceived operating not solely based on motor cues, but is shaped by motivational demands. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Aspects of structural health and condition monitoring of offshore wind turbines

PubMed Central

Antoniadou, I.; Dervilis, N.; Papatheou, E.; Maguire, A. E.; Worden, K.

2015-01-01

Wind power has expanded significantly over the past years, although reliability of wind turbine systems, especially of offshore wind turbines, has been many times unsatisfactory in the past. Wind turbine failures are equivalent to crucial financial losses. Therefore, creating and applying strategies that improve the reliability of their components is important for a successful implementation of such systems. Structural health monitoring (SHM) addresses these problems through the monitoring of parameters indicative of the state of the structure examined. Condition monitoring (CM), on the other hand, can be seen as a specialized area of the SHM community that aims at damage detection of, particularly, rotating machinery. The paper is divided into two parts: in the first part, advanced signal processing and machine learning methods are discussed for SHM and CM on wind turbine gearbox and blade damage detection examples. In the second part, an initial exploration of supervisor control and data acquisition systems data of an offshore wind farm is presented, and data-driven approaches are proposed for detecting abnormal behaviour of wind turbines. It is shown that the advanced signal processing methods discussed are effective and that it is important to adopt these SHM strategies in the wind energy sector. PMID:25583864

Aspects of structural health and condition monitoring of offshore wind turbines.

PubMed

Antoniadou, I; Dervilis, N; Papatheou, E; Maguire, A E; Worden, K

2015-02-28

Wind power has expanded significantly over the past years, although reliability of wind turbine systems, especially of offshore wind turbines, has been many times unsatisfactory in the past. Wind turbine failures are equivalent to crucial financial losses. Therefore, creating and applying strategies that improve the reliability of their components is important for a successful implementation of such systems. Structural health monitoring (SHM) addresses these problems through the monitoring of parameters indicative of the state of the structure examined. Condition monitoring (CM), on the other hand, can be seen as a specialized area of the SHM community that aims at damage detection of, particularly, rotating machinery. The paper is divided into two parts: in the first part, advanced signal processing and machine learning methods are discussed for SHM and CM on wind turbine gearbox and blade damage detection examples. In the second part, an initial exploration of supervisor control and data acquisition systems data of an offshore wind farm is presented, and data-driven approaches are proposed for detecting abnormal behaviour of wind turbines. It is shown that the advanced signal processing methods discussed are effective and that it is important to adopt these SHM strategies in the wind energy sector.

Smart healthcare textile sensor system for unhindered-pervasive health monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rai, Pratyush; Kumar, Prashanth S.; Oh, Sechang; Kwon, Hyeokjun; Mathur, Gyanesh N.; Varadan, Vijay K.; Agarwal, M. P.

2012-04-01

Simultaneous monitoring of physiological parameters- multi-lead Electrocardiograph (ECG), Heart rate variability, and blood pressure- is imperative to all forms of medical treatments. Using an array of signal recording devices imply that the patient will have to be confined to a bed. Textiles offer durable platform for embedded sensor and communication systems. The smart healthcare textile, presented here, is a mobile system for remote/wireless data recording and conditioning. The wireless textile system has been designed to monitor a patient in a non-obstructive way. It has a potential for facilitating point of care medicine and streamlining ambulatory medicine. The sensor systems were designed and fabricated with textile based components for easy integration on textile platform. An innovative plethysmographic blood pressure monitoring system was designed and tested as an alternative to inflatable blood pressure sphygmomanometer. Flexible dry electrodes technology was implemented for ECG. The sensor systems were tested and conditioned to daily activities of patients, which is not permissible with halter type systems. The signal quality was assessed for it applicability to medical diagnosis. The results were used to corroborate smart textile sensor system's ability to function as a point of care system that can provide quality healthcare.

Modeling strategies for pharmaceutical blend monitoring and end-point determination by near-infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Igne, Benoît; de Juan, Anna; Jaumot, Joaquim; Lallemand, Jordane; Preys, Sébastien; Drennen, James K; Anderson, Carl A

2014-10-01

The implementation of a blend monitoring and control method based on a process analytical technology such as near infrared spectroscopy requires the selection and optimization of numerous criteria that will affect the monitoring outputs and expected blend end-point. Using a five component formulation, the present article contrasts the modeling strategies and end-point determination of a traditional quantitative method based on the prediction of the blend parameters employing partial least-squares regression with a qualitative strategy based on principal component analysis and Hotelling's T(2) and residual distance to the model, called Prototype. The possibility to monitor and control blend homogeneity with multivariate curve resolution was also assessed. The implementation of the above methods in the presence of designed experiments (with variation of the amount of active ingredient and excipients) and with normal operating condition samples (nominal concentrations of the active ingredient and excipients) was tested. The impact of criteria used to stop the blends (related to precision and/or accuracy) was assessed. Results demonstrated that while all methods showed similarities in their outputs, some approaches were preferred for decision making. The selectivity of regression based methods was also contrasted with the capacity of qualitative methods to determine the homogeneity of the entire formulation. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Metrological analysis of a virtual flowmeter-based transducer for cryogenic helium

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arpaia, P., E-mail: pasquale.arpaia@unina.it; Technology Department, European Organization for Nuclear Research; Girone, M., E-mail: mario.girone@cern.ch

2015-12-15

The metrological performance of a virtual flowmeter-based transducer for monitoring helium under cryogenic conditions is assessed. At this aim, an uncertainty model of the transducer, mainly based on a valve model, exploiting finite-element approach, and a virtual flowmeter model, based on the Sereg-Schlumberger method, are presented. The models are validated experimentally on a case study for helium monitoring in cryogenic systems at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The impact of uncertainty sources on the transducer metrological performance is assessed by a sensitivity analysis, based on statistical experiment design and analysis of variance. In this way, the uncertainty sourcesmore » most influencing metrological performance of the transducer are singled out over the input range as a whole, at varying operating and setting conditions. This analysis turns out to be important for CERN cryogenics operation because the metrological design of the transducer is validated, and its components and working conditions with critical specifications for future improvements are identified.« less

Fiber-optic security monitoring sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Englund, Marja; Ipatti, Ari; Karioja, Pentti

1997-09-01

In security monitoring, fiber-optic sensors are advantageous because strong and rugged optical fibers are thin, light, flexible and immune to electromagnetic interference. Optical fibers packaged into cables, such as, building and underground cables, can be used to detect even slightest disturbances, movements, vibrations, pressure changes and impacts along their entire length. When running an optical cable around a structure, and when using speckle pattern recognition technique for alarm monitoring, the distributed monitoring of the structure is possible. The sensing cable can be strung along fences, buried underground, embedded into concrete, mounted on walls, floors and ceilings, or wrapped around the specific components. In this paper, a fiber-optic security monitoring sensor based on speckle pattern monitoring is described. The description of the measuring method and the results of the experimental fiber installations are given. The applicability of embedded and surface mounted fibers to monitor the pressure and impact induced vibrations of fences and concrete structures as well as the loosening of critical parts in a power plant machinery were demonstrated in field and laboratory conditions. The experiences related to the applications and optical cable types are also discussed.

Fiber optic security monitoring sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Englund, Marja; Ipatti, Ari; Karioja, Pentti

1997-09-01

In security monitoring, fiber-optic sensors are advantageous because strong and rugged optical fibers are thin, light, flexible and immune to electromagnetic interference. Optical fibers packaged into cables, such as, building and underground cables, can be used to detect even slightest disturbances, movements, vibrations, pressure changes and impacts along their entire length. When running an optical cable around a structure, and when using speckle pattern recognition technique for alarm monitoring, the distributed monitoring of the structure is possible. The sensing cable can be strung along fences, buried underground, embedded into concrete, mounted on walls, floors and ceilings, or wrapped around the specific components. In this paper, a fiber-optic security monitoring sensor based on speckle pattern monitoring is described. The description of the measuring method and the results of the experimental fiber installations are given. The applicability of embedded and surface mounted fibers to monitor the pressure and impact induced vibrations of fences and concrete structures as well as the loosening of critical parts in a power plant machinery were demonstrated in field and laboratory conditions. The experiences related to the applications and optical cable types are also discussed.

Guidelines for collecting and maintaining archives for genetic monitoring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jackson, Jennifer A.; Laikre, Linda; Baker, C. Scott; Kendall, Katherine C.; ,

2012-01-01

Rapid advances in molecular genetic techniques and the statistical analysis of genetic data have revolutionized the way that populations of animals, plants and microorganisms can be monitored. Genetic monitoring is the practice of using molecular genetic markers to track changes in the abundance, diversity or distribution of populations, species or ecosystems over time, and to follow adaptive and non-adaptive genetic responses to changing external conditions. In recent years, genetic monitoring has become a valuable tool in conservation management of biological diversity and ecological analysis, helping to illuminate and define cryptic and poorly understood species and populations. Many of the detected biodiversity declines, changes in distribution and hybridization events have helped to drive changes in policy and management. Because a time series of samples is necessary to detect trends of change in genetic diversity and species composition, archiving is a critical component of genetic monitoring. Here we discuss the collection, development, maintenance, and use of archives for genetic monitoring. This includes an overview of the genetic markers that facilitate effective monitoring, describes how tissue and DNA can be stored, and provides guidelines for proper practice.

A tentative discussion on the monitoring of water resources in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jianqing; Dai, Ning; Wu, Mengying; Wang, Guangsheng

2016-10-01

With the rapid economy development and social civilization progress, the Chinese Government also is improving ecological environmental conditions. More efforts have been made to solve water problems through the implementation of stringent water resources management, as a key government policy on water. Thus, monitoring of water resources has been strengthened, being a main component of the hydrological work in recent years. Compared with routine hydrological monitoring, water resources monitoring pays more attention to the quantity and quality variations of regional waters, to reflect the status of water in river basins and administrative regions. In this paper, the overall layout of the hydrometric network in China is presented, monitoring efforts of the natural water cycle and water consumptions are analyzed, methodologies of water resources monitoring, which are commonly applied in the country, are summed up. Taking the hydrometric network planning on interprovincial boundary waterbodies as example, a summary of the planning at interprovincial boundary river sections is presented. The planning can meet the need of water resources management of administrative divisions. It can also improve the overall water resources monitoring for the country.

Combinations of NIR, Raman spectroscopy and physicochemical measurements for improved monitoring of solvent extraction processes using hierarchical multivariate analysis models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nee, K.; Bryan, S.; Levitskaia, T.

The reliability of chemical processes can be greatly improved by implementing inline monitoring systems. Combining multivariate analysis with non-destructive sensors can enhance the process without interfering with the operation. Here, we present here hierarchical models using both principal component analysis and partial least square analysis developed for different chemical components representative of solvent extraction process streams. A training set of 380 samples and an external validation set of 95 samples were prepared and Near infrared and Raman spectral data as well as conductivity under variable temperature conditions were collected. The results from the models indicate that careful selection of themore » spectral range is important. By compressing the data through Principal Component Analysis (PCA), we lower the rank of the data set to its most dominant features while maintaining the key principal components to be used in the regression analysis. Within the studied data set, concentration of five chemical components were modeled; total nitrate (NO 3 -), total acid (H +), neodymium (Nd 3+), sodium (Na +), and ionic strength (I.S.). The best overall model prediction for each of the species studied used a combined data set comprised of complementary techniques including NIR, Raman, and conductivity. Finally, our study shows that chemometric models are powerful but requires significant amount of carefully analyzed data to capture variations in the chemistry.« less

Combinations of NIR, Raman spectroscopy and physicochemical measurements for improved monitoring of solvent extraction processes using hierarchical multivariate analysis models

DOE PAGES

Nee, K.; Bryan, S.; Levitskaia, T.; ...

2017-12-28

The reliability of chemical processes can be greatly improved by implementing inline monitoring systems. Combining multivariate analysis with non-destructive sensors can enhance the process without interfering with the operation. Here, we present here hierarchical models using both principal component analysis and partial least square analysis developed for different chemical components representative of solvent extraction process streams. A training set of 380 samples and an external validation set of 95 samples were prepared and Near infrared and Raman spectral data as well as conductivity under variable temperature conditions were collected. The results from the models indicate that careful selection of themore » spectral range is important. By compressing the data through Principal Component Analysis (PCA), we lower the rank of the data set to its most dominant features while maintaining the key principal components to be used in the regression analysis. Within the studied data set, concentration of five chemical components were modeled; total nitrate (NO 3 -), total acid (H +), neodymium (Nd 3+), sodium (Na +), and ionic strength (I.S.). The best overall model prediction for each of the species studied used a combined data set comprised of complementary techniques including NIR, Raman, and conductivity. Finally, our study shows that chemometric models are powerful but requires significant amount of carefully analyzed data to capture variations in the chemistry.« less

The Global Integrated Drought Monitoring and Prediction System (GIDMaPS): Overview and Capabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

AghaKouchak, A.; Hao, Z.; Farahmand, A.; Nakhjiri, N.

2013-12-01

Development of reliable monitoring and prediction indices and tools are fundamental to drought preparedness and management. Motivated by the Global Drought Information Systems (GDIS) activities, this paper presents the Global Integrated Drought Monitoring and Prediction System (GIDMaPS) which provides near real-time drought information using both remote sensing observations and model simulations. The monthly data from the NASA Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-Land), North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS), and remotely sensed precipitation data are used as input to GIDMaPS. Numerous indices have been developed for drought monitoring based on various indicator variables (e.g., precipitation, soil moisture, water storage). Defining droughts based on a single variable (e.g., precipitation, soil moisture or runoff) may not be sufficient for reliable risk assessment and decision making. GIDMaPS provides drought information based on multiple indices including Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Soil Moisture Index (SSI) and the Multivariate Standardized Drought Index (MSDI) which combines SPI and SSI probabilistically. In other words, MSDI incorporates the meteorological and agricultural drought conditions for overall characterization of droughts. The seasonal prediction component of GIDMaPS is based on a persistence model which requires historical data and near-past observations. The seasonal drought prediction component is based on two input data sets (MERRA and NLDAS) and three drought indicators (SPI, SSI and MSDI). The drought prediction model provides the empirical probability of drought for different severity levels. In this presentation, both monitoring and prediction components of GIDMaPS will be discussed, and the results from several major droughts including the 2013 Namibia, 2012-2013 United States, 2011-2012 Horn of Africa, and 2010 Amazon Droughts will be presented. The results indicate that GIDMaPS advances our drought monitoring and prediction capabilities through integration of multiple data and indicators.

Feasibility Study on the Use of On-line Multivariate Statistical Process Control for Safeguards Applications in Natural Uranium Conversion Plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ladd-Lively, Jennifer L

2014-01-01

The objective of this work was to determine the feasibility of using on-line multivariate statistical process control (MSPC) for safeguards applications in natural uranium conversion plants. Multivariate statistical process control is commonly used throughout industry for the detection of faults. For safeguards applications in uranium conversion plants, faults could include the diversion of intermediate products such as uranium dioxide, uranium tetrafluoride, and uranium hexafluoride. This study was limited to a 100 metric ton of uranium (MTU) per year natural uranium conversion plant (NUCP) using the wet solvent extraction method for the purification of uranium ore concentrate. A key component inmore » the multivariate statistical methodology is the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) approach for the analysis of data, development of the base case model, and evaluation of future operations. The PCA approach was implemented through the use of singular value decomposition of the data matrix where the data matrix represents normal operation of the plant. Component mole balances were used to model each of the process units in the NUCP. However, this approach could be applied to any data set. The monitoring framework developed in this research could be used to determine whether or not a diversion of material has occurred at an NUCP as part of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards system. This approach can be used to identify the key monitoring locations, as well as locations where monitoring is unimportant. Detection limits at the key monitoring locations can also be established using this technique. Several faulty scenarios were developed to test the monitoring framework after the base case or normal operating conditions of the PCA model were established. In all of the scenarios, the monitoring framework was able to detect the fault. Overall this study was successful at meeting the stated objective.« less

GEOGLAM Crop Assessment Tool: Adapting from global agricultural monitoring to food security monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Humber, M. L.; Becker-Reshef, I.; Nordling, J.; Barker, B.; McGaughey, K.

2014-12-01

The GEOGLAM Crop Monitor's Crop Assessment Tool was released in August 2013 in support of the GEOGLAM Crop Monitor's objective to develop transparent, timely crop condition assessments in primary agricultural production areas, highlighting potential hotspots of stress/bumper crops. The Crop Assessment Tool allows users to view satellite derived products, best available crop masks, and crop calendars (created in collaboration with GEOGLAM Crop Monitor partners), then in turn submit crop assessment entries detailing the crop's condition, drivers, impacts, trends, and other information. Although the Crop Assessment Tool was originally intended to collect data on major crop production at the global scale, the types of data collected are also relevant to the food security and rangelands monitoring communities. In line with the GEOGLAM Countries at Risk philosophy of "foster[ing] the coordination of product delivery and capacity building efforts for national and regional organizations, and the development of harmonized methods and tools", a modified version of the Crop Assessment Tool is being developed for the USAID Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). As a member of the Countries at Risk component of GEOGLAM, FEWS NET provides agricultural monitoring, timely food security assessments, and early warnings of potential significant food shortages focusing specifically on countries at risk of food security emergencies. While the FEWS NET adaptation of the Crop Assessment Tool focuses on crop production in the context of food security rather than large scale production, the data collected is nearly identical to the data collected by the Crop Monitor. If combined, the countries monitored by FEWS NET and GEOGLAM Crop Monitor would encompass over 90 countries representing the most important regions for crop production and food security.

Subtlenoise: sonification of distributed computing operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Love, P. A.

2015-12-01

The operation of distributed computing systems requires comprehensive monitoring to ensure reliability and robustness. There are two components found in most monitoring systems: one being visually rich time-series graphs and another being notification systems for alerting operators under certain pre-defined conditions. In this paper the sonification of monitoring messages is explored using an architecture that fits easily within existing infrastructures based on mature opensource technologies such as ZeroMQ, Logstash, and Supercollider (a synth engine). Message attributes are mapped onto audio attributes based on broad classification of the message (continuous or discrete metrics) but keeping the audio stream subtle in nature. The benefits of audio rendering are described in the context of distributed computing operations and may provide a less intrusive way to understand the operational health of these systems.

Monitoring system for testing the radiation hardness of a KINTEX-7 FPGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cojocariu, L. N.; Placinta, V. M.; Dumitru, L.

2016-03-01

A much more efficient Ring Imaging Cherenkov sub-detector system will be rebuilt in the second long shutdown of Large Hadron Collider for the LHCb experiment. Radiation-hard electronic components together with Commercial Off-The-Shelf ones will be used in the new Cherenkov photon detection system architecture. An irradiation program was foreseen to determine the radiation tolerance for the new electronic devices, including a Field Programmable Gate Array from KINTEX-7 family of XILINX. An automated test bench for online monitoring of the XC7K70T KINTEX-7 device operation in radiation conditions was designed and implemented by the LHCb Romanian group.

Monitoring Heart Disease and Diabetes with Mobile Internet Communications

PubMed Central

Mulvaney, David; Woodward, Bryan; Datta, Sekharjit; Harvey, Paul; Vyas, Anoop; Thakker, Bhaskar; Farooq, Omar; Istepanian, Robert

2012-01-01

A telemedicine system is described for monitoring vital signs and general health indicators of patients with cardiac and diabetic conditions. Telemetry from wireless sensors and readings from other instruments are combined into a comprehensive set of measured patient parameters. Using a combination of mobile device applications and web browser, the data can be stored, accessed, and displayed using mobile internet communications to the central server. As an extra layer of security in the data transmission, information embedded in the data is used in its verification. The paper highlights features that could be enhanced from previous systems by using alternative components or methods. PMID:23213330

Gerontechnologies for Older Patients with Heart Failure: What is the Role of Smartphones, Tablets, and Remote Monitoring Devices in Improving Symptom Monitoring and Self-Care Management?

PubMed

Masterson Creber, Ruth M; Hickey, Kathleen T; Maurer, Mathew S

2016-10-01

Older adults with heart failure have multiple chronic conditions and a large number and range of symptoms. A fundamental component of heart failure self-care management is regular symptom monitoring. Symptom monitoring can be facilitated by cost-effective, easily accessible technologies that are integrated into patients' lives. Technologies that are tailored to older adults by incorporating gerontological design principles are called gerontechnologies. Gerontechnology is an interdisciplinary academic and professional field that combines gerontology and technology with the goals of improving prevention, care, and enhancing the quality of life for older adults. The purpose of this article is to discuss the role of gerontechnologies, specifically the use of mobile applications available on smartphones and tablets as well as remote monitoring systems, for outpatient disease management among older adults with heart failure. While largely unproven, these rapidly developing technologies have great potential to improve outcomes among older persons.

Neural evidence for enhanced error detection in major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Chiu, Pearl H; Deldin, Patricia J

2007-04-01

Anomalies in error processing have been implicated in the etiology and maintenance of major depressive disorder. In particular, depressed individuals exhibit heightened sensitivity to error-related information and negative environmental cues, along with reduced responsivity to positive reinforcers. The authors examined the neural activation associated with error processing in individuals diagnosed with and without major depression and the sensitivity of these processes to modulation by monetary task contingencies. The error-related negativity and error-related positivity components of the event-related potential were used to characterize error monitoring in individuals with major depressive disorder and the degree to which these processes are sensitive to modulation by monetary reinforcement. Nondepressed comparison subjects (N=17) and depressed individuals (N=18) performed a flanker task under two external motivation conditions (i.e., monetary reward for correct responses and monetary loss for incorrect responses) and a nonmonetary condition. After each response, accuracy feedback was provided. The error-related negativity component assessed the degree of anomaly in initial error detection, and the error positivity component indexed recognition of errors. Across all conditions, the depressed participants exhibited greater amplitude of the error-related negativity component, relative to the comparison subjects, and equivalent error positivity amplitude. In addition, the two groups showed differential modulation by task incentives in both components. These data implicate exaggerated early error-detection processes in the etiology and maintenance of major depressive disorder. Such processes may then recruit excessive neural and cognitive resources that manifest as symptoms of depression.

On damage detection in wind turbine gearboxes using outlier analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antoniadou, Ifigeneia; Manson, Graeme; Dervilis, Nikolaos; Staszewski, Wieslaw J.; Worden, Keith

2012-04-01

The proportion of worldwide installed wind power in power systems increases over the years as a result of the steadily growing interest in renewable energy sources. Still, the advantages offered by the use of wind power are overshadowed by the high operational and maintenance costs, resulting in the low competitiveness of wind power in the energy market. In order to reduce the costs of corrective maintenance, the application of condition monitoring to gearboxes becomes highly important, since gearboxes are among the wind turbine components with the most frequent failure observations. While condition monitoring of gearboxes in general is common practice, with various methods having been developed over the last few decades, wind turbine gearbox condition monitoring faces a major challenge: the detection of faults under the time-varying load conditions prevailing in wind turbine systems. Classical time and frequency domain methods fail to detect faults under variable load conditions, due to the temporary effect that these faults have on vibration signals. This paper uses the statistical discipline of outlier analysis for the damage detection of gearbox tooth faults. A simplified two-degree-of-freedom gearbox model considering nonlinear backlash, time-periodic mesh stiffness and static transmission error, simulates the vibration signals to be analysed. Local stiffness reduction is used for the simulation of tooth faults and statistical processes determine the existence of intermittencies. The lowest level of fault detection, the threshold value, is considered and the Mahalanobis squared-distance is calculated for the novelty detection problem.

Working memory and the memory distortion component of hindsight bias.

PubMed

Calvillo, Dustin P

2012-01-01

One component of hindsight bias is memory distortion: Individuals' recollections of their predictions are biased towards known outcomes. The present study examined the role of working memory in the memory distortion component of hindsight bias. Participants answered almanac-like questions, completed a measure of working memory capacity, were provided with the correct answers, and attempted to recollect their original judgements in two conditions: with and without a concurrent working memory load. Participants' recalled judgements were more biased by feedback when they recalled these judgements with a concurrent memory load and working memory capacity was negatively correlated with memory distortion. These findings are consistent with reconstruction accounts of the memory distortion component of hindsight bias and, more generally, with dual process theories of cognition. These results also relate the memory distortion component of hindsight bias with other cognitive errors, such as source monitoring errors, the belief bias in syllogistic reasoning and anchoring effects. Implications for the separate components view of hindsight bias are discussed.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Alcoholic Fermentation Processes Using a Chemocapacitor Sensor Array

PubMed Central

Oikonomou, Petros; Raptis, Ioannis; Sanopoulou, Merope

2014-01-01

The alcoholic fermentation of Savatiano must variety was initiated under laboratory conditions and monitored daily with a gas sensor array without any pre-treatment steps. The sensor array consisted of eight interdigitated chemocapacitors (IDCs) coated with specific polymers. Two batches of fermented must were tested and also subjected daily to standard chemical analysis. The chemical composition of the two fermenting musts differed from day one of laboratory monitoring (due to different storage conditions of the musts) and due to a deliberate increase of the acetic acid content of one of the musts, during the course of the process, in an effort to spoil the fermenting medium. Sensor array responses to the headspace of the fermenting medium were compared with those obtained either for pure or contaminated samples with controlled concentrations of standard ethanol solutions of impurities. Results of data processing with Principal Component Analysis (PCA), demonstrate that this sensing system could discriminate between a normal and a potential spoiled grape must fermentation process, so this gas sensing system could be potentially applied during wine production as an auxiliary qualitative control instrument. PMID:25184490

Correlation of Electrical Resistance to CMC Stress-Strain and Fracture Behavior Under High Heat-Flux Thermal and Stress Gradients

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Appleby, Matthew; Morscher, Gregory; Zhu, Dongming

2015-01-01

Because SiCSiC ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) are under consideration for use as turbine engine hot-section components in extreme environments, it becomes necessary to investigate their performance and damage morphologies under complex loading and environmental conditions. Monitoring of electrical resistance (ER) has been shown as an effective tool for detecting damage accumulation of woven melt-infiltrated SiCSiC CMCs. However, ER change under complicated thermo-mechanical loading is not well understood. In this study a systematic approach is taken to determine the capabilities of ER as a relevant non-destructive evaluation technique for high heat-flux testing, including thermal gradients and localized stress concentrations. Room temperature and high temperature, laser-based tensile tests were conducted in which stress-dependent damage locations were determined using modal acoustic emission (AE) monitoring and compared to full-field strain mapping using digital image correlation (DIC). This information is then compared with the results of in-situ ER monitoring, post-test ER inspection and fractography in order to correlate ER response to convoluted loading conditions and damage evolution.

Fluorescence lifetime microscopy for monitoring cell adhesion using metal induced energy transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, Wonsang; Seo, JinWon; Song, Jun ho; Kim, DongEun; Won, YoungJae; Choi, In-Hong; Yoo, Kyung-Hwa; Kim, Dug Young

2018-02-01

A precise control and a reliable monitoring tool for the adhesion properties of a cell are very important in atherosclerosis studies. If endothelial cells in contact with the intracellular membrane are not attached securely, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles can enter into the inner membrane. It is therefore necessary to measure conditions under which endothelial cell detachment occurs. When a cell is attached to a metal thin film, the lifetime of a fluorescence probe attached to the membrane of the cell is reduced by the metal-induced energy transfer (MIET). Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) is used to monitor the attachment condition of a cell to a metal surface using FRET. However, this requires high numerical aperture (NA) objective lens because axial confocal resolution must be smaller than the cell thickness. This requirement limits the field of view of the measurement specimen. In this study we provides a new method which can measure adhesion properties of endothelial cells even with a low NA objective lens by resolving two lifetime components in FLIM.

Vehicle Integrated Prognostic Reasoner (VIPR) 2010 Annual Final Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hadden, George D.; Mylaraswamy, Dinkar; Schimmel, Craig; Biswas, Gautam; Koutsoukos, Xenofon; Mack, Daniel

2011-01-01

Honeywell's Central Maintenance Computer Function (CMCF) and Aircraft Condition Monitoring Function (ACMF) represent the state-of-the art in integrated vehicle health management (IVHM). Underlying these technologies is a fault propagation modeling system that provides nose-to-tail coverage and root cause diagnostics. The Vehicle Integrated Prognostic Reasoner (VIPR) extends this technology to interpret evidence generated by advanced diagnostic and prognostic monitors provided by component suppliers to detect, isolate, and predict adverse events that affect flight safety. This report describes year one work that included defining the architecture and communication protocols and establishing the user requirements for such a system. Based on these and a set of ConOps scenarios, we designed and implemented a demonstration of communication pathways and associated three-tiered health management architecture. A series of scripted scenarios showed how VIPR would detect adverse events before they escalate as safety incidents through a combination of advanced reasoning and additional aircraft data collected from an aircraft condition monitoring system. Demonstrating VIPR capability for cases recorded in the ASIAS database and cross linking them with historical aircraft data is planned for year two.

Interactive chemistry management system (ICMS); Field demonstration results at United Illuminating

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Noto, F.A.; Farrell, D.M.; Lombard, E.V.

1988-01-01

The authors report on a field demonstration of the interactive chemistry management system (ICMS) performed in the late summer of 1987 at the New Haven Harbor Station of United Illuminating Co. This demonstration was the first installation of the ICMS at an actual plant site. The ICMS is a computer-based system designed to monitor, diagnose, and provide optional automatic control of water and steam chemistry throughout the steam generator cycle. It is one of the diagnostic modules that comprises CE-TOPS (combustion engineering total on-line performance system), which continuously monitors operating conditions and suggests priority actions to increase operation efficiency, extendmore » the performance life of boiler components and reduce maintenance costs. By reducing the number of forced outages through early identification of potentially detrimental conditions, diagnosis of possible causes, and execution of corrective actions, improvements in unit availability and reliability will result.« less

Do object refixations during scene viewing indicate rehearsal in visual working memory?

PubMed

Zelinsky, Gregory J; Loschky, Lester C; Dickinson, Christopher A

2011-05-01

Do refixations serve a rehearsal function in visual working memory (VWM)? We analyzed refixations from observers freely viewing multiobject scenes. An eyetracker was used to limit the viewing of a scene to a specified number of objects fixated after the target (intervening objects), followed by a four-alternative forced choice recognition test. Results showed that the probability of target refixation increased with the number of fixated intervening objects, and these refixations produced a 16% accuracy benefit over the first five intervening-object conditions. Additionally, refixations most frequently occurred after fixations on only one to two other objects, regardless of the intervening-object condition. These behaviors could not be explained by random or minimally constrained computational models; a VWM component was required to completely describe these data. We explain these findings in terms of a monitor-refixate rehearsal system: The activations of object representations in VWM are monitored, with refixations occurring when these activations decrease suddenly.

Application of active magnetic bearings in flexible rotordynamic systems - A state-of-the-art review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siva Srinivas, R.; Tiwari, R.; Kannababu, Ch.

2018-06-01

In this paper a critical review of literature on applications of Active Magnetic Bearings (AMBs) systems in flexible rotordynamic systems have been presented. AMBs find various applications in rotating machinery; however, this paper mainly focuses on works in vibration suppression and associated with the condition monitoring using AMBs. It briefly introduces reader to the AMB working principle, provides details of various hardware components of a typical rotor-AMB test rig, and presents a background of traditional methods of vibration suppression in flexible rotors and the condition monitoring. It then moves on to summarize the basic features of AMB integrated flexible rotor test rigs available in literature with necessary instrumentation and its main objectives. A couple of lookup tables provide summary of important information of test rigs in papers within the scope of this article. Finally, future directions in AMB research within the paper's scope have been suggested.

NSI operations center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zanley, Nancy L.

1991-01-01

The NASA Science Internet (NSI) Network Operations Staff is responsible for providing reliable communication connectivity for the NASA science community. As the NSI user community expands, so does the demand for greater interoperability with users and resources on other networks (e.g., NSFnet, ESnet), both nationally and internationally. Coupled with the science community's demand for greater access to other resources is the demand for more reliable communication connectivity. Recognizing this, the NASA Science Internet Project Office (NSIPO) expands its Operations activities. By January 1990, Network Operations was equipped with a telephone hotline, and its staff was expanded to six Network Operations Analysts. These six analysts provide 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week coverage to assist site managers with problem determination and resolution. The NSI Operations staff monitors network circuits and their associated routers. In most instances, NSI Operations diagnoses and reports problems before users realize a problem exists. Monitoring of the NSI TCP/IP Network is currently being done with Proteon's Overview monitoring system. The Overview monitoring system displays a map of the NSI network utilizing various colors to indicate the conditions of the components being monitored. Each node or site is polled via the Simple Network Monitoring Protocol (SNMP). If a circuit goes down, Overview alerts the Network Operations staff with an audible alarm and changes the color of the component. When an alert is received, Network Operations personnel immediately verify and diagnose the problem, coordinate repair with other networking service groups, track problems, and document problem and resolution into a trouble ticket data base. NSI Operations offers the NSI science community reliable connectivity by exercising prompt assessment and resolution of network problems.

E-beam column monitoring for improved CD SEM stability and tool matching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayes, Timothy S.; Henninger, Randall S.

2000-06-01

Tool matching is an important metric for in-line semiconductor metrology systems. The ability to obtain the same measurement results on two or more systems allows a semiconductor fabrication facility (fab) to deploy product in an efficient manner improving overall equipment efficiency (OEE). Many parameters on the critical dimension scanning electron microscopes (CDSEMs) can affect the long-term precision component to the tool-matching metric. One such class of parameters is related to the electron beam column stability. The alignment and condition of the gun and apertures, as well as astigmatism correction, have all been found to affect the overall measurements of the CDSEM. These effects are now becoming dominant factors in sub-3nm tool-matching criteria. This paper discusses the methodologies of column parameter monitoring and actions and controls for improving overall stability. Results have shown that column instabilities caused by contamination, gun fluctuations, component failures, detector efficiency, and external issues can be identified through parameter monitoring. The Applied Materials (AMAT) 7830 Series CDSEMs evaluated at IBM's Burlington, Vermont manufacturing facility have demonstrated 5 nm tool matching across 11 systems, which has resulted in non-dedicated product deployment and has significantly reduced cost of ownership.

Advanced Monitoring to Improve Combustion Turbine/Combined Cycle Reliability, Availability & Maintainability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Leonard Angello

2005-09-30

Power generators are concerned with the maintenance costs associated with the advanced turbines that they are purchasing. Since these machines do not have fully established Operation and Maintenance (O&M) track records, power generators face financial risk due to uncertain future maintenance costs. This risk is of particular concern, as the electricity industry transitions to a competitive business environment in which unexpected O&M costs cannot be passed through to consumers. These concerns have accelerated the need for intelligent software-based diagnostic systems that can monitor the health of a combustion turbine in real time and provide valuable information on the machine's performancemore » to its owner/operators. EPRI, Impact Technologies, Boyce Engineering, and Progress Energy have teamed to develop a suite of intelligent software tools integrated with a diagnostic monitoring platform that, in real time, interpret data to assess the 'total health' of combustion turbines. The 'Combustion Turbine Health Management System' (CTHMS) will consist of a series of 'Dynamic Link Library' (DLL) programs residing on a diagnostic monitoring platform that accepts turbine health data from existing monitoring instrumentation. CTHMS interprets sensor and instrument outputs, correlates them to a machine's condition, provide interpretative analyses, project servicing intervals, and estimate remaining component life. In addition, the CTHMS enables real-time anomaly detection and diagnostics of performance and mechanical faults, enabling power producers to more accurately predict critical component remaining useful life and turbine degradation.« less

Efficient generation of receiver operating characteristics for the evaluation of damage detection in practical structural health monitoring applications.

PubMed

Liu, Chang; Dobson, Jacob; Cawley, Peter

2017-03-01

Permanently installed guided wave monitoring systems are attractive for monitoring large structures. By frequently interrogating the test structure over a long period of time, such systems have the potential to detect defects much earlier than with conventional one-off inspection, and reduce the time and labour cost involved. However, for the systems to be accepted under real operational conditions, their damage detection performance needs to be evaluated in these practical settings. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) is an established performance metric for one-off inspections, but the generation of the ROC requires many test structures with realistic damage growth at different locations and different environmental conditions, and this is often impractical. In this paper, we propose an evaluation framework using experimental data collected over multiple environmental cycles on an undamaged structure with synthetic damage signatures added by superposition. Recent advances in computation power enable examples covering a wide range of practical scenarios to be generated, and for multiple cases of each scenario to be tested so that the statistics of the performance can be evaluated. The proposed methodology has been demonstrated using data collected from a laboratory pipe specimen over many temperature cycles, superposed with damage signatures predicted for a flat-bottom hole growing at different rates at various locations. Three damage detection schemes, conventional baseline subtraction, singular value decomposition (SVD) and independent component analysis (ICA), have been evaluated. It has been shown that in all cases, the component methods perform significantly better than the residual method, with ICA generally the better of the two. The results have been validated using experimental data monitoring a pipe in which a flat-bottom hole was drilled and enlarged over successive temperature cycles. The methodology can be used to evaluate the performance of an installed monitoring system and to show whether it is capable of detecting particular damage growth at any given location. It will enable monitoring results to be evaluated rigorously and will be valuable in the development of safety cases.

Efficient generation of receiver operating characteristics for the evaluation of damage detection in practical structural health monitoring applications

PubMed Central

Dobson, Jacob; Cawley, Peter

2017-01-01

Permanently installed guided wave monitoring systems are attractive for monitoring large structures. By frequently interrogating the test structure over a long period of time, such systems have the potential to detect defects much earlier than with conventional one-off inspection, and reduce the time and labour cost involved. However, for the systems to be accepted under real operational conditions, their damage detection performance needs to be evaluated in these practical settings. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) is an established performance metric for one-off inspections, but the generation of the ROC requires many test structures with realistic damage growth at different locations and different environmental conditions, and this is often impractical. In this paper, we propose an evaluation framework using experimental data collected over multiple environmental cycles on an undamaged structure with synthetic damage signatures added by superposition. Recent advances in computation power enable examples covering a wide range of practical scenarios to be generated, and for multiple cases of each scenario to be tested so that the statistics of the performance can be evaluated. The proposed methodology has been demonstrated using data collected from a laboratory pipe specimen over many temperature cycles, superposed with damage signatures predicted for a flat-bottom hole growing at different rates at various locations. Three damage detection schemes, conventional baseline subtraction, singular value decomposition (SVD) and independent component analysis (ICA), have been evaluated. It has been shown that in all cases, the component methods perform significantly better than the residual method, with ICA generally the better of the two. The results have been validated using experimental data monitoring a pipe in which a flat-bottom hole was drilled and enlarged over successive temperature cycles. The methodology can be used to evaluate the performance of an installed monitoring system and to show whether it is capable of detecting particular damage growth at any given location. It will enable monitoring results to be evaluated rigorously and will be valuable in the development of safety cases. PMID:28413339

Big sagebrush in pinyon-juniper woodlands: Using forest inventory and analysis data as a management tool for quantifying and monitoring mule deer habitat

Treesearch

Chris Witt; Paul L. Patterson

2011-01-01

We used Interior West Forest Inventory and Analysis (IW-FIA) data to identify conditions where pinyon-juniper woodlands provide security cover, thermal cover, and suitable amounts of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata spp.) forage to mule deer in Utah. Roughly one quarter of Utah's pinyon-juniper woodlands had a big sagebrush component in their understory....

Body-monitoring with photonic textiles: a reflective heartbeat sensor based on polymer optical fibres

PubMed Central

Braun, Fabian; Ferrario, Damien; Rossi, René M.; Scheel-Sailer, Anke; Wolf, Martin; Bona, Gian-Luca; Hufenus, Rudolf; Scherer, Lukas J.

2017-01-01

Knowledge of an individual's skin condition is important for pressure ulcer prevention. Detecting early changes in skin through perfusion, oxygen saturation values, and pressure on tissue and subsequent therapeutic intervention could increase patients' quality of life drastically. However, most existing sensing options create additional risk of ulcer development due to further pressure on and chafing of the skin. Here, as a first component, we present a flexible, photonic textile-based sensor for the continuous monitoring of the heartbeat and blood flow. Polymer optical fibres (POFs) are melt-spun continuously and characterized optically and mechanically before being embroidered. The resulting sensor shows flexibility when embroidered into a moisture-wicking fabric, and withstands disinfection with hospital-type laundry cycles. Additionally, the new sensor textile shows a lower static coefficient of friction (COF) than conventionally used bedsheets in both dry and sweaty conditions versus a skin model. Finally, we demonstrate the functionality of our sensor by measuring the heartbeat at the forehead in reflection mode and comparing it with commercial finger photoplethysmography for several subjects. Our results will allow the development of flexible, individualized, and fully textile-integrated wearable sensors for sensitive skin conditions and general long-term monitoring of patients with risk for pressure ulcer. PMID:28275123

Body-monitoring with photonic textiles: a reflective heartbeat sensor based on polymer optical fibres.

PubMed

Quandt, Brit M; Braun, Fabian; Ferrario, Damien; Rossi, René M; Scheel-Sailer, Anke; Wolf, Martin; Bona, Gian-Luca; Hufenus, Rudolf; Scherer, Lukas J; Boesel, Luciano F

2017-03-01

Knowledge of an individual's skin condition is important for pressure ulcer prevention. Detecting early changes in skin through perfusion, oxygen saturation values, and pressure on tissue and subsequent therapeutic intervention could increase patients' quality of life drastically. However, most existing sensing options create additional risk of ulcer development due to further pressure on and chafing of the skin. Here, as a first component, we present a flexible, photonic textile-based sensor for the continuous monitoring of the heartbeat and blood flow. Polymer optical fibres (POFs) are melt-spun continuously and characterized optically and mechanically before being embroidered. The resulting sensor shows flexibility when embroidered into a moisture-wicking fabric, and withstands disinfection with hospital-type laundry cycles. Additionally, the new sensor textile shows a lower static coefficient of friction (COF) than conventionally used bedsheets in both dry and sweaty conditions versus a skin model. Finally, we demonstrate the functionality of our sensor by measuring the heartbeat at the forehead in reflection mode and comparing it with commercial finger photoplethysmography for several subjects. Our results will allow the development of flexible, individualized, and fully textile-integrated wearable sensors for sensitive skin conditions and general long-term monitoring of patients with risk for pressure ulcer. © 2017 The Author(s).

Measuring the Hydraulic Effectiveness of Low Impact Development Practices in a Heavily Urbanised Environment: A Case Study from London, UK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El Hattab, M. H.; Vernon, D.; Mijic, A.

2017-12-01

Low impact development practices (LID) are deemed to have a synergetic effect in mitigating urban storm water flooding. Designing and implementing effective LID practices require reliable real-life data about their performance in different applications; however, there are limited studies providing such data. In this study an innovative micro-monitoring system to assess the performance of porous pavement and rain gardens as retrofitting technologies was developed. Three pilot streets in London, UK were selected as part of Thames Water Utilities Limited's Counters Creek scheme. The system includes a V-notch weir installed at the outlet of each LID device to provide an accurate and reliable quantification over a wide range of discharges. In addition to, a low flow sensor installed downstream of the V-notch to cross-check the readings. Having a flow survey time-series of the pre-retrofitting conditions from the study streets, extensive laboratory calibrations under different flow conditions depicting the exact site conditions were performed prior to installing the devices in the field. The micro-monitoring system is well suited for high-resolution temporal monitoring and enables accurate long-term evaluation of LID components' performance. Initial results from the field validated the robustness of the system in fulfilling its requirements.

Experimental Design for Evaluating Selected Nondestructive Measurement Technologies - Advanced Reactor Technology Milestone: M3AT-16PN2301043

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ramuhalli, Pradeep; Hirt, Evelyn H.; Pitman, Stan G.

The harsh environments in advanced reactors (AdvRx) increase the possibility of degradation of safety-critical passive components, and therefore pose a particular challenge for deployment and extended operation of these concepts. Nondestructive evaluation technologies are an essential element for obtaining information on passive component condition in AdvRx, with the development of sensor technologies for nondestructively inspecting AdvRx passive components identified as a key need. Given the challenges posed by AdvRx environments and the potential needs for reducing the burden posed by periodic in-service inspection of hard-to-access and hard-to-replace components, a viable solution may be provided by online condition monitoring of components.more » This report identifies the key challenges that will need to be overcome for sensor development in this context, and documents an experimental plan for sensor development, test, and evaluation. The focus of initial research and development is on sodium fast reactors, with the eventual goal of the research being developing the necessary sensor technology, quantifying sensor survivability and long-term measurement reliability for nondestructively inspecting critical components. Materials for sensor development that are likely to withstand the harsh environments are described, along with a status on the fabrication of reference specimens, and the planned approach for design and evaluation of the sensor and measurement technology.« less

Improved methods for the measurement and modeling of PV module and system performance for all operating conditions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

King, D.L.

1995-11-01

The objective of this work was to develop improved performance model for modules and systems for for all operating conditions for use in module specifications, system and BOS component design, and system rating or monitoring. The approach taken was to identify and quantify the influence of dominant factors of solar irradiance, cell temperature, angle-of-incidence; and solar spectrum; use outdoor test procedures to separate the effects of electrical, thermal, and optical performance; use fundamental cell characteristics to improve analysis; and combine factors in simple model using the common variables.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ramuhalli, Pradeep; Hirt, Evelyn H.; Coles, Garill A.

Advanced small modular reactors (AdvSMRs) can contribute to safe, sustainable, and carbon-neutral energy production. The economics of small reactors (including AdvSMRs) will be impacted by the reduced economy-of-scale savings when compared to traditional light water reactors. The most significant controllable element of the day-to-day costs involves operations and maintenance (O&M). Enhancing affordability of AdvSMRs through technologies that help control O&M costs will be critical to ensuring their practicality for wider deployment.A significant component of O&M costs is the management and mitigation of degradation of components due to their impact on planning maintenance activities and staffing levels. Technologies that help characterizemore » real-time risk of failure of key components are important in this context. Given the possibility of frequently changing AdvSMR plant configurations, approaches are needed to integrate three elements – advanced plant configuration information, equipment condition information, and risk monitors – to provide a measure of risk that is customized for each AdvSMR unit and support real-time decisions on O&M. This article describes an overview of ongoing research into diagnostics/prognostics and enhanced predictive risk monitors (ERM) for this purpose.« less

Overview of the Smart Network Element Architecture and Recent Innovations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perotti, Jose M.; Mata, Carlos T.; Oostdyk, Rebecca L.

2008-01-01

In industrial environments, system operators rely on the availability and accuracy of sensors to monitor processes and detect failures of components and/or processes. The sensors must be networked in such a way that their data is reported to a central human interface, where operators are tasked with making real-time decisions based on the state of the sensors and the components that are being monitored. Incorporating health management functions at this central location aids the operator by automating the decision-making process to suggest, and sometimes perform, the action required by current operating conditions. Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM) aims to incorporate data from many sources, including real-time and historical data and user input, and extract information and knowledge from that data to diagnose failures and predict future failures of the system. By distributing health management processing to lower levels of the architecture, there is less bandwidth required for ISHM, enhanced data fusion, make systems and processes more robust, and improved resolution for the detection and isolation of failures in a system, subsystem, component, or process. The Smart Network Element (SNE) has been developed at NASA Kennedy Space Center to perform intelligent functions at sensors and actuators' level in support of ISHM.

Autonomous power expert system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walters, Jerry L.; Petrik, Edward J.; Roth, Mary Ellen; Truong, Long Van; Quinn, Todd; Krawczonek, Walter M.

1990-01-01

The Autonomous Power Expert (APEX) system was designed to monitor and diagnose fault conditions that occur within the Space Station Freedom Electrical Power System (SSF/EPS) Testbed. APEX is designed to interface with SSF/EPS testbed power management controllers to provide enhanced autonomous operation and control capability. The APEX architecture consists of three components: (1) a rule-based expert system, (2) a testbed data acquisition interface, and (3) a power scheduler interface. Fault detection, fault isolation, justification of probable causes, recommended actions, and incipient fault analysis are the main functions of the expert system component. The data acquisition component requests and receives pertinent parametric values from the EPS testbed and asserts the values into a knowledge base. Power load profile information is obtained from a remote scheduler through the power scheduler interface component. The current APEX design and development work is discussed. Operation and use of APEX by way of the user interface screens is also covered.

An intelligent knowledge-based and customizable home care system framework with ubiquitous patient monitoring and alerting techniques.

PubMed

Chen, Yen-Lin; Chiang, Hsin-Han; Yu, Chao-Wei; Chiang, Chuan-Yen; Liu, Chuan-Ming; Wang, Jenq-Haur

2012-01-01

This study develops and integrates an efficient knowledge-based system and a component-based framework to design an intelligent and flexible home health care system. The proposed knowledge-based system integrates an efficient rule-based reasoning model and flexible knowledge rules for determining efficiently and rapidly the necessary physiological and medication treatment procedures based on software modules, video camera sensors, communication devices, and physiological sensor information. This knowledge-based system offers high flexibility for improving and extending the system further to meet the monitoring demands of new patient and caregiver health care by updating the knowledge rules in the inference mechanism. All of the proposed functional components in this study are reusable, configurable, and extensible for system developers. Based on the experimental results, the proposed intelligent homecare system demonstrates that it can accomplish the extensible, customizable, and configurable demands of the ubiquitous healthcare systems to meet the different demands of patients and caregivers under various rehabilitation and nursing conditions.

An Intelligent Knowledge-Based and Customizable Home Care System Framework with Ubiquitous Patient Monitoring and Alerting Techniques

PubMed Central

Chen, Yen-Lin; Chiang, Hsin-Han; Yu, Chao-Wei; Chiang, Chuan-Yen; Liu, Chuan-Ming; Wang, Jenq-Haur

2012-01-01

This study develops and integrates an efficient knowledge-based system and a component-based framework to design an intelligent and flexible home health care system. The proposed knowledge-based system integrates an efficient rule-based reasoning model and flexible knowledge rules for determining efficiently and rapidly the necessary physiological and medication treatment procedures based on software modules, video camera sensors, communication devices, and physiological sensor information. This knowledge-based system offers high flexibility for improving and extending the system further to meet the monitoring demands of new patient and caregiver health care by updating the knowledge rules in the inference mechanism. All of the proposed functional components in this study are reusable, configurable, and extensible for system developers. Based on the experimental results, the proposed intelligent homecare system demonstrates that it can accomplish the extensible, customizable, and configurable demands of the ubiquitous healthcare systems to meet the different demands of patients and caregivers under various rehabilitation and nursing conditions. PMID:23112650

Wind Turbine Contingency Control Through Generator De-Rating

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frost, Susan; Goebel, Kai; Balas, Mark

2013-01-01

Maximizing turbine up-time and reducing maintenance costs are key technology drivers for wind turbine operators. Components within wind turbines are subject to considerable stresses due to unpredictable environmental conditions resulting from rapidly changing local dynamics. In that context, systems health management has the aim to assess the state-of-health of components within a wind turbine, to estimate remaining life, and to aid in autonomous decision-making to minimize damage to the turbine. Advanced contingency control is one way to enable autonomous decision-making by providing the mechanism to enable safe and efficient turbine operation. The work reported herein explores the integration of condition monitoring of wind turbines with contingency control to balance the trade-offs between maintaining system health and energy capture. The contingency control involves de-rating the generator operating point to achieve reduced loads on the wind turbine. Results are demonstrated using a high fidelity simulator of a utility-scale wind turbine.

Turbine Engine Disk Rotor Health Monitoring Assessment Using Spin Tests Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdul-Aziz, Ali; Woike, Mark; Baalini, George; Bodis, James R.

2012-01-01

Detecting rotating engine component malfunctions and structural anomalies is increasingly becoming a crucial key feature that will help boost safety and lower maintenance cost. However, achievement of such technology, which can be referred to as a health monitoring remains somewhat challenging to implement. This is mostly due to presence of scattered loading conditions, crack sizes, component geometry and material properties that hinders the simplicity of imposing such application. Different approaches are being considered to assist in developing other means of health monitoring or nondestructive techniques to detect hidden flaws and mini cracks before any catastrophic events occur. These methods extend further to assess material discontinuities and other defects that have matured to the level where a failure is very likely. This paper is focused on presenting data obtained from spin test experiments of a turbine engine like rotor disk and their correlation to the development of a structural health monitoring and fault detection system. The data collected includes blade tip clearance, blade tip timing measurements and shaft displacements. The experimental results are collected at rotational speeds up to 10,000 Rpm and tests are conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center s Rotordynamics Laboratory via a high precision spin system. Additionally, this study offers a closer glance at a selective online evaluation of a rotating disk using advanced capacitive, microwave and eddy current sensor technology.

Turbine engine disk rotor health monitoring assessment using spin tests data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdul-Aziz, Ali; Woike, Mark; Baaklini, George; Bodis, James R.

2012-04-01

Detecting rotating engine component malfunctions and structural anomalies is increasingly becoming a crucial key feature that will help boost safety and lower maintenance cost. However, achievement of such technology, which can be referred to as a health monitoring remains somewhat challenging to implement. This is mostly due to presence of scattered loading conditions, crack sizes, component geometry and material properties that hinders the simplicity of imposing such application. Different approaches are being considered to assist in developing other means of health monitoring or nondestructive techniques to detect hidden flaws and mini cracks before any catastrophic events occur. These methods extend further to assess material discontinuities and other defects that have matured to the level where a failure is very likely. This paper is focused on presenting data obtained from spin test experiments of a turbine engine like rotor disk and their correlation to the development of a structural health monitoring and fault detection system. The data collected includes blade tip clearance, blade tip timing measurements and shaft displacements. The experimental results are collected at rotational speeds up to 10,000 Rpm and tests are conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center's Rotordynamics Laboratory via a high precision spin system. Additionally, this study offers a closer glance at a selective online evaluation of a rotating disk using advanced capacitive, microwave and eddy current sensor technology.

Intelligent Chemical Sensor Systems for In-space Safety Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunter, G. W.; Xu, J. C.; Neudeck, P. G.; Makel, D. B.; Ward, B.; Liu, C. C.

2006-01-01

Future in-space and lunar operations will require significantly improved monitoring and Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) throughout the mission. In particular, the monitoring of chemical species is an important component of an overall monitoring system for space vehicles and operations. For example, in leak monitoring of propulsion systems during launch, inspace, and on lunar surfaces, detection of low concentrations of hydrogen and other fuels is important to avoid explosive conditions that could harm personnel and damage the vehicle. Dependable vehicle operation also depends on the timely and accurate measurement of these leaks. Thus, the development of a sensor array to determine the concentration of fuels such as hydrogen, hydrocarbons, or hydrazine as well as oxygen is necessary. Work has been on-going to develop an integrated smart leak detection system based on miniaturized sensors to detect hydrogen, hydrocarbons, or hydrazine, and oxygen. The approach is to implement Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) based sensors incorporated with signal conditioning electronics, power, data storage, and telemetry enabling intelligent systems. The final sensor system will be self-contained with a surface area comparable to a postage stamp. This paper discusses the development of this "Lick and Stick" leak detection system and it s application to In-Space Transportation and other Exploration applications.

Use of positive reinforcement conditioning to monitor pregnancy in an unanesthetized snow leopard (Uncia uncia) via transabdominal ultrasound.

PubMed

Broder, Jacqueline M; Macfadden, Annabell J; Cosens, Lindsay M; Rosenstein, Diana S; Harrison, Tara M

2008-01-01

Closely monitoring snow leopard (Uncia uncia) fetal developments via transabdominal ultrasound, with minimal stress to the animal, was the goal of this project. The staff at Potter Park Zoo has used the principles of habituation, desensitization, and positive reinforcement to train a female snow leopard (U. uncia). Ultrasound examinations were preformed on an unanesthetized feline at 63 and 84 days. The animal remained calm and compliant throughout both procedures. Fetuses were observed and measured on both occasions. The absence of anesthesia eliminated components of psychologic and physiologic stress associated with sedation. This was the first recorded instance of transabdominal ultrasound being carried out on an unanesthetized snow leopard. It documents the feasibility of detecting pregnancy and monitoring fetal development via ultrasound. Zoo Biol 27:78-85, 2008. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Recommendations for the treatment of aging in standard technical specifications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Orton, R.D.; Allen, R.P.

1995-09-01

As part of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission`s Nuclear Plant Aging Research Program, Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) evaluated the standard technical specifications for nuclear power plants to determine whether the current surveillance requirements (SRs) were effective in detecting age-related degradation. Nuclear Plant Aging Research findings for selected systems and components were reviewed to identify the stressors and operative aging mechanisms and to evaluate the methods available to detect, differentiate, and trend the resulting aging degradation. Current surveillance and testing requirements for these systems and components were reviewed for their effectiveness in detecting degraded conditions and for potential contributions to prematuremore » degradation. When the current surveillance and testing requirements appeared ineffective in detecting aging degradation or potentially could contribute to premature degradation, a possible deficiency in the SRs was identified that could result in undetected degradation. Based on this evaluation, PNL developed recommendations for inspection, surveillance, trending, and condition monitoring methods to be incorporated in the SRs to better detect age- related degradation of these selected systems and components.« less

Effect of Elemental Sulfur and Sulfide on the Corrosion Behavior of Cr-Mo Low Alloy Steel for Tubing and Tubular Components in Oil and Gas Industry.

PubMed

Khaksar, Ladan; Shirokoff, John

2017-04-20

The chemical degradation of alloy components in sulfur-containing environments is a major concern in oil and gas production. This paper discusses the effect of elemental sulfur and its simplest anion, sulfide, on the corrosion of Cr-Mo alloy steel at pH 2 and 5 during 10, 20 and 30 h immersion in two different solutions. 4130 Cr-Mo alloy steel is widely used as tubing and tubular components in sour services. According to the previous research in aqueous conditions, contact of solid sulfur with alloy steel can initiate catastrophic corrosion problems. The corrosion behavior was monitored by the potentiodynamic polarization technique during the experiments. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have been applied to characterize the corrosion product layers after each experiment. The results show that under the same experimental conditions, the corrosion resistance of Cr-Mo alloy in the presence of elemental sulfur is significantly lower than its resistance in the presence of sulfide ions.

Integrated risk and recovery monitoring of ecosystem restorations on contaminated sites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hooper, Michael J.; Glomb, Stephen J.; Harper, David; Hoelzle, Timothy B.; McIntosh, Lisa M.; Mulligan, David R.

2016-01-01

Ecological restorations of contaminated sites balance the human and ecological risks of residual contamination with the benefits of ecological recovery and the return of lost ecological function and ecosystem services. Risk and recovery are interrelated dynamic conditions, changing as remediation and restoration activities progress through implementation into long-term management and ecosystem maturation. Monitoring restoration progress provides data critical to minimizing residual contaminant risk and uncertainty, while measuring ecological advancement toward recovery goals. Effective monitoring plans are designed concurrently with restoration plan development and implementation and are focused on assessing the effectiveness of activities performed in support of restoration goals for the site. Physical, chemical, and biotic measures characterize progress toward desired structural and functional ecosystem components of the goals. Structural metrics, linked to ecosystem functions and services, inform restoration practitioners of work plan modifications or more substantial adaptive management actions necessary to maintain desired recovery. Monitoring frequency, duration, and scale depend on specific attributes and goals of the restoration project. Often tied to restoration milestones, critical assessment of monitoring metrics ensures attainment of risk minimization and ecosystem recovery. Finally, interpretation and communication of monitoring findings inform and engage regulators, other stakeholders, the scientific community, and the public. Because restoration activities will likely cease before full ecosystem recovery, monitoring endpoints should demonstrate risk reduction and a successional trajectory toward the condition established in the restoration goals. A detailed assessment of the completed project's achievements, as well as unrealized objectives, attained through project monitoring, will determine if contaminant risk has been minimized, if injured resources have recovered, and if ecosystem services have been returned. Such retrospective analysis will allow better planning for future restoration goals and strengthen the evidence base for quantifying injuries and damages at other sites in the future.

Partnering with patients using social media to develop a hypertension management instrument.

PubMed

Kear, Tamara; Harrington, Magdalena; Bhattacharya, Anand

2015-09-01

Hypertension is a lifelong condition; thus, long-term adherence to lifestyle modification, self-monitoring, and medication regimens remains a challenge for patients. The aim of this study was to develop a patient-reported hypertension instrument that measured attitudes, lifestyle behaviors, adherence, and barriers to hypertension management using patient-reported outcome data. The study was conducted using the Open Research Exchange software platform created by PatientsLikeMe. A total of 360 participants completed the psychometric phase of the study; incomplete responses were obtained from 147 patients, and 150 patients opted out. Principal component analysis with orthogonal (varimax) rotation was executed on a data set with all completed responses (N = 249) and applied to 43 items. Based on the review of the factor solution, eigenvalues, and item loadings, 16 items were eliminated and model with 29 items was tested. The process was repeated two more times until final model with 14 items was established. In interpreting the rotated factor pattern, an item was said to load on any given component if the factor loading was ≥0.40 for that component and was <0.40 for the other. In addition to the newly generated instrument, demographic and self-reported clinical characteristics of the study participants such as the type of prescribed hypertension medications, frequency of blood pressure monitoring, and comorbid conditions were examined. The Open Research Exchange platform allowed for ongoing input from patients through each stage of the 14-item instrument development. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Shuttle filter study. Volume 2: Contaminant generation and sensitivity studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

Contaminant generation studies were conducted at the component level using two different methods, radioactive tracer technique and gravimetric analysis test procedure. Both of these were reduced to practice during this program. In the first of these methods, radioactively tagged components typical of those used in spacecraft were studied to determine their contaminant generation characteristics under simulated operating conditions. Because the purpose of the work was: (1) to determine the types and quantities of contaminants generated; and (2) to evaluate improved monitoring and detection schemes, no attempt was made to evaluate or qualify specific components. The components used in this test program were therefore not flight hardware items. Some of them had been used in previous tests; some were obsolete; one was an experimental device. In addition to the component tests, various materials of interest to contaminant and filtration studies were irradiated and evaluated for use as autotracer materials. These included test dusts, plastics, valve seat materials, and bearing cage materials.

Botswana water and surface energy balance research program. Part 2: Large scale moisture and passive microwaves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vandegriend, A. A.; Owe, M.; Chang, A. T. C.

1992-01-01

The Botswana water and surface energy balance research program was developed to study and evaluate the integrated use of multispectral satellite remote sensing for monitoring the hydrological status of the Earth's surface. The research program consisted of two major, mutually related components: a surface energy balance modeling component, built around an extensive field campaign; and a passive microwave research component which consisted of a retrospective study of large scale moisture conditions and Nimbus scanning multichannel microwave radiometer microwave signatures. The integrated approach of both components are explained in general and activities performed within the passive microwave research component are summarized. The microwave theory is discussed taking into account: soil dielectric constant, emissivity, soil roughness effects, vegetation effects, optical depth, single scattering albedo, and wavelength effects. The study site is described. The soil moisture data and its processing are considered. The relation between observed large scale soil moisture and normalized brightness temperatures is discussed. Vegetation characteristics and inverse modeling of soil emissivity is considered.

A discussion on the merits and limitations of using drive-by monitoring to detect localised damage in a bridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hester, David; González, Arturo

2017-06-01

Given the large number of bridges that currently have no instrumentation, there are obvious advantages in monitoring the condition of a bridge by analysing the response of a vehicle crossing it. As a result, the last two decades have seen a rise in the research attempting to solve the problem of identifying damage in a bridge from vehicle measurements. This paper examines the theoretical feasibility and practical limitations of a drive-by system in identifying damage associated to localised stiffness losses. First, the nature of the damage feature that is sought within the vehicle response needs to be characterized. For this purpose, the total vehicle response is considered to be made of 'static' and 'dynamic' components, and where the bridge has experienced a localised loss in stiffness, an additional 'damage' component. Understanding the nature of this 'damage' component is crucial to have an informed discussion on how damage can be identified and localised. Leveraging this new understanding, the authors propose a wavelet-based drive-by algorithm. By comparing the effect of the 'damage' component to other key effects defining the measurements such as 'vehicle speed', the 'road profile' and 'noise' on a wavelet contour plot, it is possible to establish if there is a frequency range where drive-by can be successful. The algorithm uses then specific frequency bands to improve the sensitivity to damage with respect to limitations imposed by Vehicle-Bridge vibrations. Recommendations on the selection of the mother wavelet and frequency band are provided. Finally, the paper discusses the impact of noise and road profile on the ability of the approach to identify damage and how periodic measurements can be effective at monitoring localised stiffness changes.

Improved Rainfall Estimates and Predictions for 21st Century Drought Early Warning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Funk, Chris; Peterson, Pete; Shukla, Shraddhanand; Husak, Gregory; Landsfeld, Marty; Hoell, Andrew; Pedreros, Diego; Roberts, J. B.; Robertson, F. R.; Tadesse, Tsegae;

Damage detection methodology under variable load conditions based on strain field pattern recognition using FBGs, nonlinear principal component analysis, and clustering techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sierra-Pérez, Julián; Torres-Arredondo, M.-A.; Alvarez-Montoya, Joham

2018-01-01

Structural health monitoring consists of using sensors integrated within structures together with algorithms to perform load monitoring, damage detection, damage location, damage size and severity, and prognosis. One possibility is to use strain sensors to infer structural integrity by comparing patterns in the strain field between the pristine and damaged conditions. In previous works, the authors have demonstrated that it is possible to detect small defects based on strain field pattern recognition by using robust machine learning techniques. They have focused on methodologies based on principal component analysis (PCA) and on the development of several unfolding and standardization techniques, which allow dealing with multiple load conditions. However, before a real implementation of this approach in engineering structures, changes in the strain field due to conditions different from damage occurrence need to be isolated. Since load conditions may vary in most engineering structures and promote significant changes in the strain field, it is necessary to implement novel techniques for uncoupling such changes from those produced by damage occurrence. A damage detection methodology based on optimal baseline selection (OBS) by means of clustering techniques is presented. The methodology includes the use of hierarchical nonlinear PCA as a nonlinear modeling technique in conjunction with Q and nonlinear-T 2 damage indices. The methodology is experimentally validated using strain measurements obtained by 32 fiber Bragg grating sensors bonded to an aluminum beam under dynamic bending loads and simultaneously submitted to variations in its pitch angle. The results demonstrated the capability of the methodology for clustering data according to 13 different load conditions (pitch angles), performing the OBS and detecting six different damages induced in a cumulative way. The proposed methodology showed a true positive rate of 100% and a false positive rate of 1.28% for a 99% of confidence.

A phase angle based diagnostic scheme to planetary gear faults diagnostics under non-stationary operational conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Ke; Wang, Kesheng; Ni, Qing; Zuo, Ming J.; Wei, Dongdong

2017-11-01

Planetary gearbox is a critical component for rotating machinery. It is widely used in wind turbines, aerospace and transmission systems in heavy industry. Thus, it is important to monitor planetary gearboxes, especially for fault diagnostics, during its operational conditions. However, in practice, operational conditions of planetary gearbox are often characterized by variations of rotational speeds and loads, which may bring difficulties for fault diagnosis through the measured vibrations. In this paper, phase angle data extracted from measured planetary gearbox vibrations is used for fault detection under non-stationary operational conditions. Together with sample entropy, fault diagnosis on planetary gearbox is implemented. The proposed scheme is explained and demonstrated in both simulation and experimental studies. The scheme proves to be effective and features advantages on fault diagnosis of planetary gearboxes under non-stationary operational conditions.

Design and methods of the Southeast Stream Quality Assessment (SESQA), 2014

USGS Publications Warehouse

Journey, Celeste A.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Bell, Amanda H.; Button, Daniel T.; Garrett, Jessica D.; Nakagaki, Naomi; Qi, Sharon L.; Bradley, Paul M.

2015-07-15

This report provides a detailed description of the SESQA study components, including surveys of ecological conditions, routine water sampling, deployment of passive polar organic compound integrative samplers for pesticides and contaminants of emerging concern, and synoptic sediment sampling and toxicity testing at all urban, confined animal feeding operation, and reference sites. Continuous water-quality monitoring and daily pesticide sampling efforts conducted at a subset of urban sites are also described.

Levelized cost-benefit analysis of proposed diagnostics for the Ammunition Transfer Arm of the US Army`s Future Armored Resupply Vehicle

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilkinson, V.K.; Young, J.M.

1995-07-01

The US Army`s Project Manager, Advanced Field Artillery System/Future Armored Resupply Vehicle (PM-AFAS/FARV) is sponsoring the development of technologies that can be applied to the resupply vehicle for the Advanced Field Artillery System. The Engineering Technology Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory has proposed adding diagnostics/prognostics systems to four components of the Ammunition Transfer Arm of this vehicle, and a cost-benefit analysis was performed on the diagnostics/prognostics to show the potential savings that may be gained by incorporating these systems onto the vehicle. Possible savings could be in the form of reduced downtime, less unexpected or unnecessary maintenance, fewermore » regular maintenance checks. and/or tower collateral damage or loss. The diagnostics/prognostics systems are used to (1) help determine component problems, (2) determine the condition of the components, and (3) estimate the remaining life of the monitored components. The four components on the arm that are targeted for diagnostics/prognostics are (1) the electromechanical brakes, (2) the linear actuators, (3) the wheel/roller bearings, and (4) the conveyor drive system. These would be monitored using electrical signature analysis, vibration analysis, or a combination of both. Annual failure rates for the four components were obtained along with specifications for vehicle costs, crews, number of missions, etc. Accident scenarios based on component failures were postulated, and event trees for these scenarios were constructed to estimate the annual loss of the resupply vehicle, crew, arm. or mission aborts. A levelized cost-benefit analysis was then performed to examine the costs of such failures, both with and without some level of failure reduction due to the diagnostics/prognostics systems. Any savings resulting from using diagnostics/prognostics were calculated.« less

Development of Product Availability Monitoring System In Production Unit In Automotive Component Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartono, Rachmad; Raharno, Sri; Yuwana Martawirya, Yatna; Arthaya, Bagus

2018-03-01

This paper described a methodology to monitor the availability of products in a production unit in the automotive component industry. Automotive components made are automotive components made through sheet metal working. Raw material coming into production unit in the form of pieces of plates that have a certain size. Raw materials that come stored in the warehouse. Data of raw each material in the warehouse are recorded and stored in a data base system. The material will then undergo several production processes in the production unit. When the material is taken from the warehouse, material data are also recorded and stored in a data base. The data recorded are the amount of material, material type, and date when the material is out of the warehouse. The material coming out of the warehouse is labeled with information related to the production processes that the material must pass. Material out of the warehouse is a product will be made. The products have been completed, are stored in the warehouse products. When the product is entered into the product warehouse, product data is also recorded by scanning the barcode contained on the label. By recording the condition of the product at each stage of production, we can know the availability of the product in a production unit in the form of a raw material, the product being processed and the finished product.

Compact Multi-Gas Monitor for Life Support Systems Control in Space: Evaluation Under Realistic Environmental Conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alonso, Jesus Delgado; Phillips, Straun; Chullen, Cinda; Mendoza, Edgar

2014-01-01

Advanced space life support systems require lightweight, low-power, durable sensors for monitoring critical gas components. A luminescence-based optical flow-through cell to monitor carbon dioxide, oxygen, and humidity has been developed and was demonstrated using bench-top instrumentation under environmental conditions relevant to portable life support systems, including initially pure oxygen atmosphere, temperature range from 50 F to 150 F, and humidity from dry to 100% RH and under conditions of water condensation. This paper presents the most recent progress in the development of this sensor technology. Trace gas contaminants in a space suit, originating from hardware and material off-gassing and crew member metabolism, are from many chemical families. The result is a gas mix much more complex than the pure oxygen fed into the space suit, and this complexity may interfere with gas sensor readings. This paper presents an evaluation of optical sensor performance when exposed to the most significant trace gases reported to be found in space suits. A study of the calibration stability of the sensors is also presented. For that purpose, a profile of temperature, pressure, humidity, and gas composition for the duration of an EVA has been defined, and the performance of sensors operated repeatedly under those conditions has been studied. Finally, this paper presents the first compact readout unit for these optical sensors, designed for the volume, power, and weight restrictions of a PLSS.

A Systematic Review Exploring the Social Cognitive Theory of Self-Regulation as a Framework for Chronic Health Condition Interventions

PubMed Central

Tougas, Michelle E.; Hayden, Jill A.; McGrath, Patrick J.; Huguet, Anna; Rozario, Sharlene

2015-01-01

Background Theory is often recommended as a framework for guiding hypothesized mechanisms of treatment effect. However, there is limited guidance about how to use theory in intervention development. Methods We conducted a systematic review to provide an exemplar review evaluating the extent to which use of theory is identified and incorporated within existing interventions. We searched electronic databases PubMed, PsycINFO, CENTRAL, and EMBASE from inception to May 2014. We searched clinicaltrials.gov for registered protocols, reference lists of relevant systematic reviews and included studies, and conducted a citation search in Web of Science. We included peer-reviewed publications of interventions that referenced the social cognitive theory of self-regulation as a framework for interventions to manage chronic health conditions. Two reviewers independently assessed articles for eligibility. We contacted all authors of included studies for information detailing intervention content. We describe how often theory mechanisms were addressed by interventions, and report intervention characteristics used to address theory. Results Of 202 articles that reported using the social cognitive theory of self-regulation, 52% failed to incorporate self-monitoring, a main theory component, and were therefore excluded. We included 35 interventions that adequately used the theory framework. Intervention characteristics were often poorly reported in peer-reviewed publications, 21 of 35 interventions incorporated characteristics that addressed each of the main theory components. Each intervention addressed, on average, six of eight self-monitoring mechanisms, two of five self-judgement mechanisms, and one of three self-evaluation mechanisms. The self-monitoring mechanisms ‘Feedback’ and ‘Consistency’ were addressed by all interventions, whereas the self-evaluation mechanisms ‘Self-incentives’ and ‘External rewards’ were addressed by six and four interventions, respectively. The present review establishes that systematic review is a feasible method of identifying use of theory as a conceptual framework for existing interventions. We identified the social cognitive theory of self-regulation as a feasible framework to guide intervention development for chronic health conditions. PMID:26252889

Turbomachine monitoring system and method

DOEpatents

Delvaux, John McConnell

2016-02-23

In an embodiment, a system includes a turbomachine having a first turbomachine component including a first mechanoluminescent material. The first turbomachine component is configured to produce a first light emission upon exposure to a mechanical stimulus sufficient to cause mechanoluminescence by the first mechanoluminescent material. The system also includes a turbomachine monitoring system configured to monitor the structural health of the first component based on detection of the first light emission.

Application of the wavelet packet transform to vibration signals for surface roughness monitoring in CNC turning operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García Plaza, E.; Núñez López, P. J.

2018-01-01

The wavelet packet transform method decomposes a time signal into several independent time-frequency signals called packets. This enables the temporary location of transient events occurring during the monitoring of the cutting processes, which is advantageous in monitoring condition and fault diagnosis. This paper proposes the monitoring of surface roughness using a single low cost sensor that is easily implemented in numerical control machine tools in order to make on-line decisions on workpiece surface finish quality. Packet feature extraction in vibration signals was applied to correlate the sensor signals to measured surface roughness. For the successful application of the WPT method, mother wavelets, packet decomposition level, and appropriate packet selection methods should be considered, but are poorly understood aspects in the literature. In this novel contribution, forty mother wavelets, optimal decomposition level, and packet reduction methods were analysed, as well as identifying the effective frequency range providing the best packet feature extraction for monitoring surface finish. The results show that mother wavelet biorthogonal 4.4 in decomposition level L3 with the fusion of the orthogonal vibration components (ax + ay + az) were the best option in the vibration signal and surface roughness correlation. The best packets were found in the medium-high frequency DDA (6250-9375 Hz) and high frequency ADA (9375-12500 Hz) ranges, and the feed acceleration component ay was the primary source of information. The packet reduction methods forfeited packets with relevant features to the signal, leading to poor results for the prediction of surface roughness. WPT is a robust vibration signal processing method for the monitoring of surface roughness using a single sensor without other information sources, satisfactory results were obtained in comparison to other processing methods with a low computational cost.

Health Monitoring for Airframe Structural Characterization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munns, Thomas E.; Kent, Renee M.; Bartolini, Antony; Gause, Charles B.; Borinski, Jason W.; Dietz, Jason; Elster, Jennifer L.; Boyd, Clark; Vicari, Larry; Ray, Asok;

Aligned carbon nanotube based ultrasonic microtransducers for durability monitoring in civil engineering.

PubMed

Lebental, B; Chainais, P; Chenevier, P; Chevalier, N; Delevoye, E; Fabbri, J-M; Nicoletti, S; Renaux, P; Ghis, A

2011-09-30

Structural health monitoring of porous materials such as concrete is becoming a major component in our resource-limited economy, as it conditions durable exploitation of existing facilities. Durability in porous materials depends on nanoscale features which need to be monitored in situ with nanometric resolution. To address this problem, we put forward an approach based on the development of a new nanosensor, namely a capacitive micrometric ultrasonic transducer whose vibrating membrane is made of aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT). Such sensors are meant to be embedded in large numbers within a porous material in order to provide information on its durability by monitoring in situ neighboring individual micropores. In the present paper, we report on the feasibility of the key building block of the proposed sensor: we have fabricated well-aligned, ultra-thin, dense SWNT membranes that show above-nanometer amplitudes of vibration over a large range of frequencies spanning from 100 kHz to 5 MHz.

A monitoring system for vegetable greenhouses based on a wireless sensor network.

PubMed

Li, Xiu-hong; Cheng, Xiao; Yan, Ke; Gong, Peng

2010-01-01

A wireless sensor network-based automatic monitoring system is designed for monitoring the life conditions of greenhouse vegetables. The complete system architecture includes a group of sensor nodes, a base station, and an internet data center. For the design of wireless sensor node, the JN5139 micro-processor is adopted as the core component and the Zigbee protocol is used for wireless communication between nodes. With an ARM7 microprocessor and embedded ZKOS operating system, a proprietary gateway node is developed to achieve data influx, screen display, system configuration and GPRS based remote data forwarding. Through a Client/Server mode the management software for remote data center achieves real-time data distribution and time-series analysis. Besides, a GSM-short-message-based interface is developed for sending real-time environmental measurements, and for alarming when a measurement is beyond some pre-defined threshold. The whole system has been tested for over one year and satisfactory results have been observed, which indicate that this system is very useful for greenhouse environment monitoring.

Conceptual design of wearpack with physiology detector feature based on wearable instrumentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sukirman, Melani; Laksono, Pringgo Widyo; Priadythama, Ilham; Susmartini, Susy; Suhardi, Bambang

2017-11-01

Every company in Indonesia is responsible for their worker health and safety condition as mentioned in UU No I year 1970. In manufacturing industries, there are many manual tasks dealing with high work load and risk, so that they require excellent concentration and physical condition. There is no ideal way to guarantee worker safety without a real time physiological monitoring. This paper reports our ongoing study in conceptual design development of worker's clothing which is equipped with a wearable instrumentation system. The system is designed to detect and measure body temperature and pulse in real time. Some electrical components such as, LCD (liquid crystal display), LEDs (light emitting diode), batteries, and physiological sensors were assembled. All components are controlled by a wearable on board controller. LEDs is used as alert which can indicate abnormal physical conditions. The LCD was added to provide more detail information. TMP 36 and XD-58C were selected as the physiological sensors. Finally, an Arduino Lilypad was chosen for the controller. This instrumentation system was verified by accurately detected and inform physiological condition of 3 subjects. Further we are going to attach the system to a worker's clothing which was specifically designed to simplify and comfortable usage.

Method and apparatus for improved wire saw slurry

DOEpatents

Costantini, Michael A.; Talbott, Jonathan A.; Chandra, Mohan; Prasad, Vishwanath; Caster, Allison; Gupta, Kedar P.; Leyvraz, Philippe

2000-09-05

A slurry recycle process for use in free-abrasive machining operations such as for wire saws used in wafer slicing of ingots, where the used slurry is separated into kerf-rich and abrasive-rich components, and the abrasive-rich component is reconstituted into a makeup slurry. During the process, the average particle size of the makeup slurry is controlled by monitoring the condition of the kerf and abrasive components and making necessary adjustments to the separating force and dwell time of the separator apparatus. Related pre-separator and post separator treatments, and feedback of one or the other separator slurry output components for mixing with incoming used slurry and recirculation through the separator, provide further effectiveness and additional control points in the process. The kerf-rich component is eventually or continually removed; the abrasive-rich component is reconstituted into a makeup slurry with a controlled, average particle size such that the products of the free-abrasive machining method using the recycled slurry process of the invention are of consistent high quality with less TTV deviation from cycle to cycle for a prolonged period or series of machining operations.

Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) Based Monitoring of Smart Manufacturing Systems.

PubMed

Heddy, Gerald; Huzaifa, Umer; Beling, Peter; Haimes, Yacov; Marvel, Jeremy; Weiss, Brian; LaViers, Amy

2015-01-01

The vision of Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS) includes collaborative robots that can adapt to a range of scenarios. This vision requires a classification of multiple system behaviors, or sequences of movement, that can achieve the same high-level tasks. Likewise, this vision presents unique challenges regarding the management of environmental variables in concert with discrete, logic-based programming. Overcoming these challenges requires targeted performance and health monitoring of both the logical controller and the physical components of the robotic system. Prognostics and health management (PHM) defines a field of techniques and methods that enable condition-monitoring, diagnostics, and prognostics of physical elements, functional processes, overall systems, etc. PHM is warranted in this effort given that the controller is vulnerable to program changes, which propagate in unexpected ways, logical runtime exceptions, sensor failure, and even bit rot. The physical component's health is affected by the wear and tear experienced by machines constantly in motion. The controller's source of faults is inherently discrete, while the latter occurs in a manner that builds up continuously over time. Such a disconnect poses unique challenges for PHM. This paper presents a robotic monitoring system that captures and resolves this disconnect. This effort leverages supervisory robotic control and model checking with linear temporal logic (LTL), presenting them as a novel monitoring system for PHM. This methodology has been demonstrated in a MATLAB-based simulator for an industry inspired use-case in the context of PHM. Future work will use the methodology to develop adaptive, intelligent control strategies to evenly distribute wear on the joints of the robotic arms, maximizing the life of the system.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ramuhalli, Pradeep; Hirt, Evelyn H.; Veeramany, Arun

This research report summaries the development and evaluation of a prototypic enhanced risk monitor (ERM) methodology (framework) that includes alternative risk metrics and uncertainty analysis. This updated ERM methodology accounts for uncertainty in the equipment condition assessment (ECA), the prognostic result, and the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) model. It is anticipated that the ability to characterize uncertainty in the estimated risk and update the risk estimates in real time based on equipment condition assessment (ECA) will provide a mechanism for optimizing plant performance while staying within specified safety margins. These results (based on impacting active component O&M using real-time equipmentmore » condition information) are a step towards ERMs that, if integrated with AR supervisory plant control systems, can help control O&M costs and improve affordability of advanced reactors.« less

Monitoring and validating spatio-temporal continuously daily evapotranspiration and its components at river basin scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, L.; Liu, S.; Kustas, W. P.; Nieto, H.

2017-12-01

Operational estimation of spatio-temporal continuously daily evapotranspiration (ET), and the components evaporation (E) and transpiration (T), at watershed scale is very useful for developing a sustainable water resource strategy in semi-arid and arid areas. In this study, multi-year all-weather daily ET, E and T were estimated using MODIS-based (Dual Temperature Difference) DTD model under different land covers in Heihe watershed, China. The remotely sensed ET was validated using ground measurements from large aperture scintillometer systems, with a source area of several kilometers, under grassland, cropland and riparian shrub-forest. The results showed that the remotely sensed ET produced mean absolute percent deviation (MAPD) errors of about 30% during the growing season for all-weather conditions, but the model performed better under clear sky conditions. However, uncertainty in interpolated MODIS land surface temperature input data under cloudy conditions to the DTD model, and the representativeness of LAS measurements for the heterogeneous land surfaces contribute to the discrepancies between the modeled and ground measured surface heat fluxes, especially for the more humid grassland and heterogeneous shrub-forest sites.

Confined-Pyrolysis as an Experimental Method for Hydrothermal Organic Synthesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leif, Roald N.; Simoneit, Bernd R. T.

1995-01-01

A closed pyrolysis system has been developed as a tool for studying the reactions of organic compounds under extreme hydrothermal conditions. Small high pressure stainless steel vessels in which the ratio of sediment or sample to water has been adjusted to eliminate the headspace at peak experimental conditions confines the organic components to the bulk solid matrix and eliminates the partitioning of the organic compounds away from the inorganic components during the experiment. Confined pyrolysis experiments were performed to simulate thermally driven catagenetic changes in sedimentary organic matter using a solids to water ratio of 3.4 to 1. The extent of alteration was measured by monitoring the steroid and triterpenoid biomarkers and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon distributions. These pyrolysis experiments duplicated the hydrothermal transformations observed in nature. Molecular probe experiments using alkadienes, alkenes and alkanes in H2O and D2O elucidated the isomerization and hydrogenation reactions of aliphatic and the competing oxidative reactions occurring under hydrothermal conditions. This confined pyrolysis technique is being applied to test experiments on organic synthesis of relevance to chemical evolution for the origin of life.

Real-Time Distributed Embedded Oscillator Operating Frequency Monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pollock, Julie; Oliver, Brett; Brickner, Christopher

2012-01-01

A document discusses the utilization of embedded clocks inside of operating network data links as an auxiliary clock source to satisfy local oscillator monitoring requirements. Modem network interfaces, typically serial network links, often contain embedded clocking information of very tight precision to recover data from the link. This embedded clocking data can be utilized by the receiving device to monitor the local oscillator for tolerance to required specifications, often important in high-integrity fault-tolerant applications. A device can utilize a received embedded clock to determine if the local or the remote device is out of tolerance by using a single link. The local device can determine if it is failing, assuming a single fault model, with two or more active links. Network fabric components, containing many operational links, can potentially determine faulty remote or local devices in the presence of multiple faults. Two methods of implementation are described. In one method, a recovered clock can be directly used to monitor the local clock as a direct replacement of an external local oscillator. This scheme is consistent with a general clock monitoring function whereby clock sources are clocking two counters and compared over a fixed interval of time. In another method, overflow/underflow conditions can be used to detect clock relationships for monitoring. These network interfaces often provide clock compensation circuitry to allow data to be transferred from the received (network) clock domain to the internal clock domain. This circuit could be modified to detect overflow/underflow conditions of the buffering required and report a fast or slow receive clock, respectively.

Drought monitoring and assessment: Remote sensing and modeling approaches for the Famine Early Warning Systems Network

USGS Publications Warehouse

Senay, Gabriel; Velpuri, Naga Manohar; Bohms, Stefanie; Budde, Michael; Young, Claudia; Rowland, James; Verdin, James

2015-01-01

Drought monitoring is an essential component of drought risk management. It is usually carried out using drought indices/indicators that are continuous functions of rainfall and other hydrometeorological variables. This chapter presents a few examples of how remote sensing and hydrologic modeling techniques are being used to generate a suite of drought monitoring indicators at dekadal (10-day), monthly, seasonal, and annual time scales for several selected regions around the world. Satellite-based rainfall estimates are being used to produce drought indicators such as standardized precipitation index, dryness indicators, and start of season analysis. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index is being used to monitor vegetation condition. Several satellite data products are combined using agrohydrologic models to produce multiple short- and long-term indicators of droughts. All the data sets are being produced and updated in near-real time to provide information about the onset, progression, extent, and intensity of drought conditions. The data and products produced are available for download from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) data portal at http://earlywarning.usgs.gov. The availability of timely information and products support the decision-making processes in drought-related hazard assessment, monitoring, and management with the FEWS NET. The drought-hazard monitoring approach perfected by the U.S. Geological Survey for FEWS NET through the integration of satellite data and hydrologic modeling can form the basis for similar decision support systems. Such systems can operationally produce reliable and useful regional information that is relevant for local, district-level decision making.

The Utility of the Real-Time NASA Land Information System Data for Drought Monitoring Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, Kristopher D.; Case, Jonathan L.

2013-01-01

Measurements of soil moisture are a crucial component for the proper monitoring of drought conditions. The large spatial variability of soil moisture complicates the problem. Unfortunately, in situ soil moisture observing networks typically consist of sparse point observations, and conventional numerical model analyses of soil moisture used to diagnose drought are of coarse spatial resolution. Decision support systems such as the U.S. Drought Monitor contain drought impact resolution on sub-county scales, which may not be supported by the existing soil moisture networks or analyses. The NASA Land Information System, which is run with 3 km grid spacing over the eastern United States, has demonstrated utility for monitoring soil moisture. Some of the more useful output fields from the Land Information System are volumetric soil moisture in the 0-10 cm and 40-100 cm layers, column-integrated relative soil moisture, and the real-time green vegetation fraction derived from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) swath data that are run within the Land Information System in place of the monthly climatological vegetation fraction. While these and other variables have primarily been used in local weather models and other operational forecasting applications at National Weather Service offices, the use of the Land Information System for drought monitoring has demonstrated utility for feedback to the Drought Monitor. Output from the Land Information System is currently being used at NWS Huntsville to assess soil moisture, and to provide input to the Drought Monitor. Since feedback to the Drought Monitor takes place on a weekly basis, weekly difference plots of column-integrated relative soil moisture are being produced by the NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center and analyzed to facilitate the process. In addition to the Drought Monitor, these data are used to assess drought conditions for monthly feedback to the Alabama Drought Monitoring and Impact Group and the Tennessee Drought Task Force, which are comprised of federal, state, and local agencies and other water resources professionals.

Application of Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring under the CAFF Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program: Designing and Implementing Terrestrial Monitoring to Establish the Canadian High Arctic Research Station as a Flagship Arctic Environmental Monitoring Site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McLennan, D.; Kehler, D.

2016-12-01

The Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) is scheduled for completion in July 2017 and is the northern science component of Polar Knowledge Canada (POLAR). A mandated goal for POLAR is to establish the adjacent Experimental and Reference Area (ERA) as an Arctic Flagship monitoring site that will track change in Arctic terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. Situated in the community of Cambridge Bay, CHARS provides the opportunity to draw on the Indigenous Knowledge of local residents to help design and conduct the monitoring, and to operate 12 months a year. Monitoring at CHARS will be linked to networks nationally and internationally, and is being designed so that change in key indicators can be understood in terms of drivers and processes, modeled and scaled up regionally, and used to predict important changes in critical indicators. As a partner in the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP), the monitoring design for terrestrial ecosystems follows approaches outlined by the CBMP Terrestrial Expert Monitoring Group, who have listed key monitoring questions and identified a list of important Focal Ecosystem Components (FECs). To link drivers to FECs we are proposing a multi-scaled approach: 1) an Intensive Monitoring Area to establish replicated monitoring plots that track change in snow depth and condition, active layer depth, soil temperature, soil moisture, and soil solution chemistry that are spatially and temporally linked to changes in microbiological activity, CO2/CH4 net ecosystem flux, vegetation relative frequency, species composition, growth and foliar nutrient concentration, arthropod abundance, lemming abundance and health, and shorebird/songbird abundance and productivity. 2) These intensive observations are supported by watershed scale measures that will monitor, during the growing season, lemming winter nest abundance, songbird, shorebird and waterfowl staging and nesting, and other observations; in the winter we will monitor muskoxen, caribou, Arctic hare, wolf and Arctic fox using tracks and DNA analysis of fresh scat. 3) Ground measures will be supported by aerial flights and satellite remote sensing approaches to reach out with regional calibration-validation. Feedback is being sought at this time on project design, implementation and scope.

Electromagnetic pulses bone healing booster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sintea, S. R.; Pomazan, V. M.; Bica, D.; Grebenisan, D.; Bordea, N.

2015-11-01

Posttraumatic bone restoration triggered by the need to assist and stimulate compensatory bone growth in periodontal condition. Recent studies state that specific electromagnetic stimulation can boost the bone restoration, reaching up to 30% decrease in recovery time. Based on the existing data on the electromagnetic parameters, a digital electronic device is proposed for intra oral mounting and bone restoration stimulation in periodontal condition. The electrical signal is applied to an inductive mark that will create and impregnate magnetic field in diseased tissue. The device also monitors the status of the electromagnetic field. Controlled wave forms and pulse frequency signal at programmable intervals are obtained with optimized number of components and miniaturized using surface mounting devices (SMD) circuits and surface mounting technology (SMT), with enhanced protection against abnormal current growth, given the intra-oral environment. The system is powered by an autonomous power supply (battery), to limit the problems caused by powering medical equipment from the main power supply. Currently the device is used in clinical testing, in cycles of six up to twelve months. Basic principles for the electrical scheme and algorithms for pulse generation, pulse control, electromagnetic field control and automation of current monitoring are presented, together with the friendly user interface, suitable for medical data and patient monitoring.

Effects of erotic stimulation and masturbatory training upon situational orgasmic dysfunction.

PubMed

Reisinger, J J

1978-01-01

Six single women, aged 22 to 29 years, were treated in a laboratory situation through erotic stimulation with masturbatory training for the disorder of situational orgasmic dysfunction. With single subject designs, three conditions of treatment were counterbalanced to estimate component effects. Intervention conditions included exposure to selected erotic stimuli, self-masturbation, and the preceding simultaneous combination. Frequency of orgasm was monitored via heart rate and verbal confirmation. Erotic stimulation with masturbatory training proved adequate to establish and maintain orgasmic responsiveness. Follow-up measures, conducted 6 to 12 months thereafter, partially supported generalization of treatment effects across environments and into existing heterosexual patterns of behavior.

Development of a Test Protocol for Spacecraft Post-Fire Atmospheric Cleanup and Monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zuniga, David; Hornung, Steven D.; Haas, Jon P.; Graf, John C.

2009-01-01

Detecting and extinguishing fires, along with post-fire atmospheric cleaning and monitoring, are vital components of a spacecraft fire response system. Preliminary efforts focused on the technology evaluation of these systems under realistic conditions are described in this paper. While the primary objective of testing is to determine a smoke mitigation filter s performance, supplemental evaluations measuring the smoke-filled chamber handheld commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) atmospheric monitoring devices (combustion product monitors) are also conducted. The test chamber consists of a 1.4 cubic meter (50 cu. ft.) volume containing a smoke generator. The fuel used to generate the smoke is a mixture of polymers in quantities representative of materials involved in a circuit board fire as a typical spacecraft fire. Two fire conditions were examined: no flame and flame. No flame events are produced by pyrolyzing the fuel mixture in a quartz tube furnace with forced ventilation to produce a white, lingering-type smoke. Flame events ignite the smoke at the outlet of the tube furnace producing combustion characterized by a less opaque smoke with black soot. Electrochemical sensor measurements showed carbon monoxide is a major indicator of each fire. Acid gas measurements were recorded, but cross interferents are currently uncharacterized. Electrochemical sensor measurements and sample acquisition techniques from photoacoustic sensors are being improved. Overall, this research shows fire characterization using traditional analytical chemistry techniques is required to verify measurements recorded using COTS atmospheric monitoring devices.

Automated mass spectrometer analysis system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Giffin, Charles E. (Inventor); Kuppermann, Aron (Inventor); Dreyer, William J. (Inventor); Boettger, Heinz G. (Inventor)

1982-01-01

An automated mass spectrometer analysis system is disclosed, in which samples are automatically processed in a sample processor and converted into volatilizable samples, or their characteristic volatilizable derivatives. Each volatilizable sample is sequentially volatilized and analyzed in a double focusing mass spectrometer, whose output is in the form of separate ion beams all of which are simultaneously focused in a focal plane. Each ion beam is indicative of a different sample component or different fragments of one or more sample components and the beam intensity is related to the relative abundance of the sample component. The system includes an electro-optical ion detector which automatically and simultaneously converts the ion beams, first into electron beams which in turn produce a related image which is transferred to the target of a vilicon unit. The latter converts the images into electrical signals which are supplied to a data processor, whose output is a list of the components of the analyzed sample and their abundances. The system is under the control of a master control unit, which in addition to monitoring and controlling various power sources, controls the automatic operation of the system under expected and some unexpected conditions and further protects various critical parts of the system from damage due to particularly abnormal conditions.

An evaluation of the individual components and accuracies associated with the determination of impervious area

USGS Publications Warehouse

Slonecker, E.T.; Tilley, J.S.

2004-01-01

The percentage of impervious surface area in a watershed has been widely recognized as a key indicator of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem condition. Although the use of the impervious indicator is widespread, there is currently no consistent or mutually accepted method of computing impervious area and the approach of various commonly used techniques varies widely. Further, we do not have reliable information on the components of impervious surfaces, which would be critical in any future planning attempts to remediate problems associated with impervious surface coverage. In cooperation with the USGS Geographic Analysis and Monitoring Program (GAM) and The National Map, and the EPA Landscape Ecology Program, this collaborative research project utilized very high resolution imagery and GIS techniques to map and quantify the individual components of total impervious area in six urban/suburban watersheds in different parts of the United States. These data were served as ground reference, or "truth," for the evaluation for four techniques used to compute impervious area. The results show some important aspects about the component make-up of impervious cover and the variability of methods commonly used to compile this critical emerging indicator of ecosystem condition. ?? 2004 by V. H. Winston and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

A Sparsity-Promoted Decomposition for Compressed Fault Diagnosis of Roller Bearings

PubMed Central

Wang, Huaqing; Ke, Yanliang; Song, Liuyang; Tang, Gang; Chen, Peng

2016-01-01

The traditional approaches for condition monitoring of roller bearings are almost always achieved under Shannon sampling theorem conditions, leading to a big-data problem. The compressed sensing (CS) theory provides a new solution to the big-data problem. However, the vibration signals are insufficiently sparse and it is difficult to achieve sparsity using the conventional techniques, which impedes the application of CS theory. Therefore, it is of great significance to promote the sparsity when applying the CS theory to fault diagnosis of roller bearings. To increase the sparsity of vibration signals, a sparsity-promoted method called the tunable Q-factor wavelet transform based on decomposing the analyzed signals into transient impact components and high oscillation components is utilized in this work. The former become sparser than the raw signals with noise eliminated, whereas the latter include noise. Thus, the decomposed transient impact components replace the original signals for analysis. The CS theory is applied to extract the fault features without complete reconstruction, which means that the reconstruction can be completed when the components with interested frequencies are detected and the fault diagnosis can be achieved during the reconstruction procedure. The application cases prove that the CS theory assisted by the tunable Q-factor wavelet transform can successfully extract the fault features from the compressed samples. PMID:27657063

Automated mass spectrometer analysis system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boettger, Heinz G. (Inventor); Giffin, Charles E. (Inventor); Dreyer, William J. (Inventor); Kuppermann, Aron (Inventor)

1978-01-01

An automated mass spectrometer analysis system is disclosed, in which samples are automatically processed in a sample processor and converted into volatilizable samples, or their characteristic volatilizable derivatives. Each volatizable sample is sequentially volatilized and analyzed in a double focusing mass spectrometer, whose output is in the form of separate ion beams all of which are simultaneously focused in a focal plane. Each ion beam is indicative of a different sample component or different fragments of one or more sample components and the beam intensity is related to the relative abundance of the sample component. The system includes an electro-optical ion detector which automatically and simultaneously converts the ion beams, first into electron beams which in turn produce a related image which is transferred to the target of a vidicon unit. The latter converts the images into electrical signals which are supplied to a data processor, whose output is a list of the components of the analyzed sample and their abundances. The system is under the control of a master control unit, which in addition to monitoring and controlling various power sources, controls the automatic operation of the system under expected and some unexpected conditions and further protects various critical parts of the system from damage due to particularly abnormal conditions.

West Valley Demonstration Project Annual Site Environmental Report Calendar Year 2011

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

none,

2012-09-27

The West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2011. The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2011. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity andmore » accuracy of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2011 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.« less

West Valley Demonstration Project Annual Site Environmental Report Calendar Year 2009

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

West Valley Environmental Services LLC

2010-09-17

The West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2009. The report, prepared by the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2009. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program by the DOE ensuremore » the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental regulations and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2009 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.« less

West Valley Demonstration Project Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2014

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rendall, John D.; Steiner, Alison F.; Pendl, Michael P.

West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2014. The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2014. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracymore » of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2014 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.« less

West Valley Demonstration Project Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2015

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rendall, John D.; Steiner, Alison F.; Pendl, Michael P.

West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2015. The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2015. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracymore » of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2015 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.« less

UWB Monitoring System for AAL Applications

PubMed Central

Kolakowski, Jerzy

2017-01-01

Independent living of elderly persons in their homes requires support that can be provided with modern assistive technologies. Monitoring of elderly persons behaviour delivers valuable information that can be used for diagnosis and detection of health problems as well as triggering alerts in emergency situations. The paper includes a description of the ultra wideband system developed within Networked InfrasTructure for Innovative home Care Solutions (NITICS) Active and Assisted Living (AAL) project. The system can be used as a component of AAL platforms. It delivers data on users localization and has a fall detector functionality. The system also provides access to raw measurement results from Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors embedded in the device worn by the monitored person. These data can be used in solutions intended for elderly person’s behaviour investigation. The system was investigated under laboratory conditions as well as in home environment. The detailed system description and results of performed tests are included in the article. PMID:28895917

West Valley Demonstration Project Annual Site Environmental Report Calendar Year 2013

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rendall, John D.; Steiner, Alison F.; Pendl, Michael P.

2014-09-16

West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2013. The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2013. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracymore » of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2013 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.« less

West Valley Demonstration Project Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) Calendar Year (2016)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Steiner, Alison F.; Pendl, Michael P.; Steiner, II, Robert E.

West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2016. The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2016. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracymore » of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2016 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.« less

40 CFR 63.11890 - What are my additional general requirements for complying with this subpart?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... malfunctions and required monitoring system quality assurance or quality control activities (including, as... malfunctions, or required monitoring system quality assurance or control activities in calculations used to... source, including associated air pollution control components and monitoring system components, in a...

Solid-Liquid Interdiffusion Bonding of Silicon Carbide to Steel for High Temperature MEMS Sensor Packaging and Bonding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Matthew Wei-Jen

Complex engineering systems ranging from automobile engines to geothermal wells require specialized sensors to monitor conditions such as pressure, acceleration and temperature in order to improve efficiency and monitor component lifetime in what may be high temperature, corrosive, harsh environments. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have demonstrated their ability to precisely and accurately take measurements under such conditions. The systems being monitored are typically made from metals, such as steel, while the MEMS sensors used for monitoring are commonly fabricated from silicon, silicon carbide and aluminum nitride, and so there is a sizable thermal expansion mismatch between the two. For these engineering applications the direct bonding of MEMS sensors to the components being monitored is often required. This introduces several challenges, namely the development of a bond that is capable of surviving high temperature harsh environments while mitigating the thermally induced strains produced during bonding. This project investigates the development of a robust packaging and bonding process, using the gold-tin metal system and the solid-liquid interdiffusion (SLID) bonding process, to join silicon carbide substrates directly to type-316 stainless steel. The SLID process enables bonding at lower temperatures while producing a bond capable of surviving higher temperatures. Finite element analysis was performed to model the thermally induced strains generated in the bond and to understand the optimal way to design the bond. The cross-sectional composition of the bonds has been analyzed and the bond strength has been investigated using die shear testing. The effects of high temperature aging on the bond's strength and the metallurgy of the bond were studied. Additionally, loading of the bond was performed at temperatures over 415 °C, more than 100 °C, above the temperature used for bonding, with full survival of the bond, thus demonstrating the benefit of SLID bonding for high temperature applications. Lastly, this dissertation provides recommendations for improving the strength and durability of the bond at temperatures of 400 °C and provides the framework for future work in the area of high temperature harsh environment MEMS packaging that would take directly bonded MEMS to temperatures of 600 °C and beyond.

A review of electrostatic monitoring technology: The state of the art and future research directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, Zhenhua; Hou, Junxing; Atkin, Jason

2017-10-01

Electrostatic monitoring technology is a useful tool for monitoring and detecting component faults and degradation, which is necessary for system health management. It encompasses three key research areas: sensor technology; signal detection, processing and feature extraction; and verification experimentation. It has received considerable recent attention for condition monitoring due to its ability to provide warning information and non-obstructive measurements on-line. A number of papers in recent years have covered specific aspects of the technology, including sensor design optimization, sensor characteristic analysis, signal de-noising and practical applications of the technology. This paper provides a review of the recent research and of the development of electrostatic monitoring technology, with a primary emphasis on its application for the aero-engine gas path. The paper also presents a summary of some of the current applications of electrostatic monitoring technology in other industries, before concluding with a brief discussion of the current research situation and possible future challenges and research gaps in this field. The aim of this paper is to promote further research into this promising technology by increasing awareness of both the potential benefits of the technology and the current research gaps.

On-Board Particulate Filter Failure Prevention and Failure Diagnostics Using Radio Frequency Sensing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sappok, Alex; Ragaller, Paul; Herman, Andrew

The increasing use of diesel and gasoline particulate filters requires advanced on-board diagnostics (OBD) to prevent and detect filter failures and malfunctions. Early detection of upstream (engine-out) malfunctions is paramount to preventing irreversible damage to downstream aftertreatment system components. Such early detection can mitigate the failure of the particulate filter resulting in the escape of emissions exceeding permissible limits and extend the component life. However, despite best efforts at early detection and filter failure prevention, the OBD system must also be able to detect filter failures when they occur. In this study, radio frequency (RF) sensors were used to directlymore » monitor the particulate filter state of health for both gasoline particulate filter (GPF) and diesel particulate filter (DPF) applications. The testing included controlled engine dynamometer evaluations, which characterized soot slip from various filter failure modes, as well as on-road fleet vehicle tests. The results show a high sensitivity to detect conditions resulting in soot leakage from the particulate filter, as well as potential for direct detection of structural failures including internal cracks and melted regions within the filter media itself. Furthermore, the measurements demonstrate, for the first time, the capability to employ a direct and continuous monitor of particulate filter diagnostics to both prevent and detect potential failure conditions in the field.« less

Validity of two wearable monitors to estimate breaks from sedentary time

PubMed Central

Lyden, Kate; Kozey-Keadle, Sarah L.; Staudenmayer, John W.; Freedson, Patty S.

2012-01-01

Investigations employing wearable monitors have begun to examine how sedentary time behaviors influence health. Purpose To demonstrate the utility of a measure of sedentary behavior and to validate the activPAL and ActiGraph GT3X for estimating measures of sedentary behavior: absolute number of breaks and break-rate. Methods Thirteen participants completed two, 10-hour conditions. During the baseline condition, participants performed normal daily activity and during the treatment condition, participants were asked to reduce and break-up their sedentary time. In each condition, participants wore two ActiGraph GT3X monitors and one activPAL. The ActiGraph was tested using the low frequency extension filter (AG-LFE) and the normal filter (AG-Norm). For both ActiGraph monitors two count cut-points to estimate sedentary time were examined: 100 and 150 counts∙min−1. Direct observation served as the criterion measure of total sedentary time, absolute number of breaks from sedentary time and break-rate (number of breaks per sedentary hour [brks.sed-hr−1]). Results Break-rate was the only metric sensitive to changes in behavior between baseline (5.1 [3.3 to 6.8] brks.sed-hr−1) and treatment conditions (7.3 [4.7 to 9.8] brks.sed-hr−1) (mean [95% CI]). The activPAL produced valid estimates of all sedentary behavior measures and was sensitive to changes in break-rate between conditions (baseline: 5.1 [2.8 to 7.1] brks.sed-hr−1, treatment: 8.0 [5.8 to 10.2] brks.sed-hr−1). In general, the AG-LFE and AG-Norm were not accurate in estimating break-rate or absolute number of breaks and were not sensitive to changes between conditions. Conclusion This study demonstrates the utility of expressing breaks from sedentary time as a rate per sedentary hour, a metric specifically relevant to free-living behavior, and provides further evidence that the activPAL is a valid tool to measure components of sedentary behavior in free-living environments. PMID:22648343

Protecting the Health of Astronauts: Enhancing Occupational Health Monitoring and Surveillance for Former NASA Astronauts to Understand Long-Term Outcomes of Spaceflight-Related Exposures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rossi, Meredith; Lee, Lesley; Wear, Mary; Van Baalen, Mary; Rhodes, Bradley

2017-01-01

The astronaut community is unique, and may be disproportionately exposed to occupational hazards not commonly seen in other communities. The extent to which the demands of the astronaut occupation and exposure to spaceflight-related hazards affect the health of the astronaut population over the life course is not completely known. A better understanding of the individual, population, and mission impacts of astronaut occupational exposures is critical to providing clinical care, targeting occupational surveillance efforts, and planning for future space exploration. The ability to characterize the risk of latent health conditions is a significant component of this understanding. Provision of health screening services to active and former astronauts ensures individual, mission, and community health and safety. Currently, the NASA-Johnson Space Center (JSC) Flight Medicine Clinic (FMC) provides extensive medical monitoring to active astronauts throughout their careers. Upon retirement, astronauts may voluntarily return to the JSC FMC for an annual preventive exam. However, current retiree monitoring includes only selected screening tests, representing an opportunity for augmentation. The potential long-term health effects of spaceflight demand an expanded framework of testing for former astronauts. The need is two-fold: screening tests widely recommended for other aging populations are necessary to rule out conditions resulting from the natural aging process (e.g., colonoscopy, mammography); and expanded monitoring will increase NASA's ability to better characterize conditions resulting from astronaut occupational exposures. To meet this need, NASA has begun an extensive exploration of the overall approach, cost, and policy implications of e an Astronaut Occupational Health program to include expanded medical monitoring of former NASA astronauts. Increasing the breadth of monitoring services will ultimately enrich the existing evidence base of occupational health risks to astronauts. Such an expansion would therefore improve the understanding of the health of the astronaut population as a whole, and the ability to identify, mitigate, and manage such risks in preparation for deep space exploration missions.

Monitoring watersheds and streams

Treesearch

Robert R. Ziemer

1998-01-01

Regulations increasingly require monitoring to detect changes caused by land management activities. Successful monitoring requires that objectives be clearly stated. Once objectives are clearly identified, it is important to map out all of the components and links that might affect the issues of concern. For each issue and each component that affects that issue, there...

Understanding Program Monitoring: The Relationships among Outcomes, Indicators, Measures, and Targets. REL 2014-011

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malone, Nolan; Mark, Lauren; Narayan, Krishna

2014-01-01

This guide offers educators, program managers, administrators, and researchers a resource for building capacity for monitoring program outcomes. It provides concise definitions of program monitoring components and a framework for assessing program progress. Examples demonstrate the relationships among program components: outcomes, indicators,…

A hybrid feature selection and health indicator construction scheme for delay-time-based degradation modelling of rolling element bearings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Bin; Deng, Congying; Zhang, Yi

2018-03-01

Rolling element bearings are mechanical components used frequently in most rotating machinery and they are also vulnerable links representing the main source of failures in such systems. Thus, health condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of rolling element bearings have long been studied to improve operational reliability and maintenance efficiency of rotatory machines. Over the past decade, prognosis that enables forewarning of failure and estimation of residual life attracted increasing attention. To accurately and efficiently predict failure of the rolling element bearing, the degradation requires to be well represented and modelled. For this purpose, degradation of the rolling element bearing is analysed with the delay-time-based model in this paper. Also, a hybrid feature selection and health indicator construction scheme is proposed for extraction of the bearing health relevant information from condition monitoring sensor data. Effectiveness of the presented approach is validated through case studies on rolling element bearing run-to-failure experiments.

SVD and Hankel matrix based de-noising approach for ball bearing fault detection and its assessment using artificial faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golafshan, Reza; Yuce Sanliturk, Kenan

2016-03-01

Ball bearings remain one of the most crucial components in industrial machines and due to their critical role, it is of great importance to monitor their conditions under operation. However, due to the background noise in acquired signals, it is not always possible to identify probable faults. This incapability in identifying the faults makes the de-noising process one of the most essential steps in the field of Condition Monitoring (CM) and fault detection. In the present study, Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and Hankel matrix based de-noising process is successfully applied to the ball bearing time domain vibration signals as well as to their spectrums for the elimination of the background noise and the improvement the reliability of the fault detection process. The test cases conducted using experimental as well as the simulated vibration signals demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed de-noising approach for the ball bearing fault detection.

A microseismic workflow for managing induced seismicity risk as CO 2 storage projects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Matzel, E.; Morency, C.; Pyle, M.

2015-10-27

It is well established that fluid injection has the potential to induce earthquakes—from microseismicity to large, damaging events—by altering state-of-stress conditions in the subsurface. While induced seismicity has not been a major operational issue for carbon storage projects to date, a seismicity hazard exists and must be carefully addressed. Two essential components of effective seismic risk management are (1) sensitive microseismic monitoring and (2) robust data interpretation tools. This report describes a novel workflow, based on advanced processing algorithms applied to microseismic data, to help improve management of seismic risk. This workflow has three main goals: (1) to improve themore » resolution and reliability of passive seismic monitoring, (2) to extract additional, valuable information from continuous waveform data that is often ignored in standard processing, and (3) to minimize the turn-around time between data collection, interpretation, and decision-making. These three objectives can allow for a better-informed and rapid response to changing subsurface conditions.« less

Vibration-based structural health monitoring using adaptive statistical method under varying environmental condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Seung-Seop; Jung, Hyung-Jo

2014-03-01

It is well known that the dynamic properties of a structure such as natural frequencies depend not only on damage but also on environmental condition (e.g., temperature). The variation in dynamic characteristics of a structure due to environmental condition may mask damage of the structure. Without taking the change of environmental condition into account, false-positive or false-negative damage diagnosis may occur so that structural health monitoring becomes unreliable. In order to address this problem, an approach to construct a regression model based on structural responses considering environmental factors has been usually used by many researchers. The key to success of this approach is the formulation between the input and output variables of the regression model to take into account the environmental variations. However, it is quite challenging to determine proper environmental variables and measurement locations in advance for fully representing the relationship between the structural responses and the environmental variations. One alternative (i.e., novelty detection) is to remove the variations caused by environmental factors from the structural responses by using multivariate statistical analysis (e.g., principal component analysis (PCA), factor analysis, etc.). The success of this method is deeply depending on the accuracy of the description of normal condition. Generally, there is no prior information on normal condition during data acquisition, so that the normal condition is determined by subjective perspective with human-intervention. The proposed method is a novel adaptive multivariate statistical analysis for monitoring of structural damage detection under environmental change. One advantage of this method is the ability of a generative learning to capture the intrinsic characteristics of the normal condition. The proposed method is tested on numerically simulated data for a range of noise in measurement under environmental variation. A comparative study with conventional methods (i.e., fixed reference scheme) demonstrates the superior performance of the proposed method for structural damage detection.

Externalizing psychopathology and gain-loss feedback in a simulated gambling task: dissociable components of brain response revealed by time-frequency analysis.

PubMed

Bernat, Edward M; Nelson, Lindsay D; Steele, Vaughn R; Gehring, William J; Patrick, Christopher J

2011-05-01

Externalizing is a broad construct that reflects propensity toward a variety of impulse control problems, including antisocial personality disorder and substance use disorders. Two event-related potential responses known to be reduced among individuals high in externalizing proneness are the P300, which reflects postperceptual processing of a stimulus, and the error-related negativity (ERN), which indexes performance monitoring based on endogenous representations. In the current study, the authors used a simulated gambling task to examine the relation between externalizing proneness and the feedback-related negativity (FRN), a brain response that indexes performance monitoring related to exogenous cues, which is thought to be highly related to the ERN. Time-frequency (TF) analysis was used to disentangle the FRN from the accompanying P300 response to feedback cues by parsing the overall feedback-locked potential into distinctive theta (4-7 Hz) and delta (<3 Hz) TF components. Whereas delta-P300 amplitude was reduced among individuals high in externalizing proneness, theta-FRN response was unrelated to externalizing. These findings suggest that in contrast with previously reported deficits in endogenously based performance monitoring (as indexed by the ERN), individuals prone to externalizing problems show intact monitoring of exogenous cues (as indexed by the FRN). The results also contribute to a growing body of evidence indicating that the P300 is attenuated across a broad range of task conditions in high-externalizing individuals.

SSME Condition Monitoring Using Neural Networks and Plume Spectral Signatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hopkins, Randall; Benzing, Daniel

1996-01-01

For a variety of reasons, condition monitoring of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) has become an important concern for both ground tests and in-flight operation. The complexities of the SSME suggest that active, real-time condition monitoring should be performed to avoid large-scale or catastrophic failure of the engine. In 1986, the SSME became the subject of a plume emission spectroscopy project at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Since then, plume emission spectroscopy has recorded many nominal tests and the qualitative spectral features of the SSME plume are now well established. Significant discoveries made with both wide-band and narrow-band plume emission spectroscopy systems led MSFC to develop the Optical Plume Anomaly Detection (OPAD) system. The OPAD system is designed to provide condition monitoring of the SSME during ground-level testing. The operational health of the engine is achieved through the acquisition of spectrally resolved plume emissions and the subsequent identification of abnormal emission levels in the plume indicative of engine erosion or component failure. Eventually, OPAD, or a derivative of the technology, could find its way on to an actual space vehicle and provide in-flight engine condition monitoring. This technology step, however, will require miniaturized hardware capable of processing plume spectral data in real-time. An objective of OPAD condition monitoring is to determine how much of an element is present in the SSME plume. The basic premise is that by knowing the element and its concentration, this could be related back to the health of components within the engine. For example, an abnormal amount of silver in the plume might signify increased wear or deterioration of a particular bearing in the engine. Once an anomaly is identified, the engine could be shut down before catastrophic failure occurs. Currently, element concentrations in the plume are determined iteratively with the help of a non-linear computer code called SPECTRA, developed at the USAF Arnold Engineering Development Center. Ostensibly, the code produces intensity versus wavelength plots (i.e., spectra) when inputs such as element concentrations, reaction temperature, and reaction pressure are provided. However, in order to provide a higher-level analysis, element concentration is not specified explicitly as an input. Instead, two quantum variables, number density and broadening parameter, are used. Past experience with OPAD data analysis has revealed that the region of primary interest in any SSME plume spectrum lies in the wavelength band of 3300 A to 4330 A. Experience has also revealed that some elements, such as iron, cobalt and nickel, cause multiple peaks over the chosen wavelength range whereas other elements (magnesium, for example) have a few, relatively isolated peaks in the chosen wavelength range. Iteration with SPECTRA as a part of OPAD data analysis is an incredibly labor intensive task and not one to be performed by hand. What is really needed is the "inverse" of the computer code but the mathematical model for the inverse mapping is tenuous at best. However, building generalized models based upon known input/output mappings while ignoring details of the governing physical model is possible using neural networks. Thus the objective of the research project described herein was to quickly and accurately predict combustion temperature and element concentrations (i.e., number density and broadening parameter) from a given spectrum using a neural network. In other words, a neural network had to be developed that would provide a generalized "inverse" of the computer code SPECTRA.

Failure Prevention of Hydraulic System Based on Oil Contamination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, M.; Lathkar, G. S.; Basu, S. K.

2012-07-01

Oil contamination is the major source of failure and wear of hydraulic system components. As per literature survey, approximately 70 % of hydraulic system failures are caused by oil contamination. Hence, to operate the hydraulic system reliably, the hydraulic oil should be of perfect condition. This requires a proper `Contamination Management System' which involves monitoring of various parameters like oil viscosity, oil temperature, contamination level etc. A study has been carried out on vehicle mounted hydraulically operated system used for articulation of heavy article, after making the platform levelled with outrigger cylinders. It is observed that by proper monitoring of contamination level, there is considerably increase in reliability, economy in operation and long service life. This also prevents the frequent failure of hydraulic system.

Characterization of recharge and flow behaviour of different water sources in Gunung Kidul and its impact on water quality based on hydrochemical and physico-chemical monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eiche, Elisabeth; Hochschild, Maren; Haryono, Eko; Neumann, Thomas

2016-09-01

Karst aquifers are important water resources but highly vulnerable due to their heterogeneous and complex characteristics. Various hydrological aspects (recharge, flow behaviour) have to be known in detail to develop a sustainable concept for water collection, distribution and treatment. In the karst area of Gunung Sewu (Java, Indonesia) such a concept was to be implemented within a German-Indonesian joint IWRM project. The basic hydrogeological conditions and water quality aspects were characterized on a regional scale through hydrochemical monitoring of springs, wells, subsurface and surface rivers. More detailed information about the recharge, flow and storage behaviour was obtained from high resolution monitoring of T, EC and discharge in one large underground river system. The water quality is well below any guideline values with regard to inorganic pollutants during dry season. During rainy season, dissolved Al concentrations are frequently above the Indonesian guideline value. Slow matrix flow is the most important recharge component during dry season, thus assuring the year-round water availability in the subsurface karst. During rainy season, quick infiltration of the surface water is a dominant recharge component. Rapid response of discharge, T and EC to heavy rain suggests the presence of point recharge that feeds a highly karstfied conduit system with fast conduit flow and short transit time of water. The strong variations in discharge and hydrochemistry are particularly challenging for technical water usage and treatment facilities. Piston flow is indicated to be the third important flow component and is induced by heavy rainfall.

Development of a Versatile Ultrasonic Internal Pipe/Vessel Component Monitor for In-Service Inspection of Nuclear Reactor Components

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Searfass, Clifford T.; Malinowski, Owen M.; Van Velsor, Jason K.

2015-03-22

The stated goal of this work was to develop a versatile system which could accurately measure vessel and valve internal vibrations and cavitation formation under in-service conditions in nuclear power plants, ultrasonically. The developed technology will benefit the nuclear power generation industry by allowing plant operators to monitor valve and vessel internals during operation. This will help reduce planned outages and plant component failures. During the course of this work, Structural Integrity Associates, Inc. gathered information from industry experts that target vibration amplitudes to be detected should be in the range of 0.001-in to 0.005-in (0.025-mm to 0.127-mm) and targetmore » vibration frequency ranges which should be detected were found to be between 0-Hz and 300-Hz. During the performed work, an ultrasonic measuring system was developed which utilized ultrasonic pulse-echo time-of-flight measurements to measure vibration frequency and amplitude. The developed system has been shown to be able to measure vibration amplitudes as low as 0.0008-in (0.020-mm) with vibration frequencies in the range of 17-Hz to 1000-Hz. Therefore, the developed system was able to meet the industry needs for vibration measurement. The developed ultrasonic system was also to be able to measure cavitation formation by monitoring the received ultrasonic time- and frequency-domain signals. This work also demonstrated the survivability of commercially available probes at temperatures up to 300-F for several weeks.« less

23 CFR 500.204 - TMS components for highway traffic data.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING SYSTEMS Traffic Monitoring System § 500.204 TMS components for highway traffic data. (a) General. Each State's TMS, including those using alternative procedures... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false TMS components for highway traffic data. 500.204 Section...

A new Concept for High Resolution Benthic Mapping and Data Aquisition: MANSIO-VIATOR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flögel, S.

2015-12-01

Environmental conditions within sensitive seafloor ecosystems such as cold-seep provinces or cold-water coral reef communities vary temporally and spatially over a wide range of scales. Some of these are regularly monitored via short periods of intense shipborne activity or low resolution, fixed location studies by benthic lander systems. Long term measurements of larger areas and volumes are ususally coupled to costly infrastructure investments such as cabled observatories. In space exploration, a combination of fixed and mobile systems working together are commonly used, e.g. lander systems coupled to rovers, to tackle observational needs that are very similar to deep-sea data aquisition. The analogies between space and deep-sea research motivated the German Helmholtz Association to setup the joint research program ROBEX (Robotic Exploration under extreme conditions). The program objectives are to identify, develop and verify technological synergies between the robotic exploration of e.g. the moon and the deep-sea. Within ROBEX, the mobility of robots is a vital element for research missions due to valuable scientifice return potential from different sites as opposed to static landers. Within this context, we developed a new mobile crawler system (VIATOR, latin for traveller) and a fixed lander component for energy and data transfer (MANSIO, latin for housing/shelter). This innovative MANSIO-VIATOR system has been developed during the past 2.5 years. The caterpillar driven component is developed to conduct high resolution opitcal mapping and repeated monitoring of physical and biogeochemical parameters along transects. The system operates fully autonomously including navigational components such as camera and laser scanners, as well as marker based near-field navigation used in space technology. This new concept of data aquisition by a submarine crawler in combination with a fixed lander further opens up marine exploration possibilities.

Acceptance lowers stress reactivity: Dismantling mindfulness training in a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Lindsay, Emily K; Young, Shinzen; Smyth, Joshua M; Brown, Kirk Warren; Creswell, J David

2018-01-01

Mindfulness interventions, which train practitioners to monitor their present-moment experience with a lens of acceptance, are known to buffer stress reactivity. Little is known about the active mechanisms driving these effects. We theorize that acceptance is a critical emotion regulation mechanism underlying mindfulness stress reduction effects. In this three-arm parallel trial, mindfulness components were dismantled into three structurally equivalent 15-lesson smartphone-based interventions: (1) training in both monitoring and acceptance (Monitor+Accept), (2) training in monitoring only (Monitor Only), or (3) active control training (Coping control). 153 stressed adults (mean age=32years; 67% female; 53% white, 21.5% black, 21.5% Asian, 4% other race) were randomly assigned to complete one of three interventions. After the intervention, cortisol, blood pressure, and subjective stress reactivity were assessed using a modified Trier Social Stress Test. As predicted, Monitor+Accept training reduced cortisol and systolic blood pressure reactivity compared to Monitor Only and control trainings. Participants in all three conditions reported moderate levels of subjective stress. This study provides the first experimental evidence that brief smartphone mindfulness training can impact stress biology, and that acceptance training drives these effects. We discuss implications for basic and applied research in contemplative science, emotion regulation, stress and coping, health, and clinical interventions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Innovative Strategy For Long Term Monitoring Of Metal And Radionuclide Plumes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eddy-Dilek, Carol; Millings, Margaret R.; Looney, Brian B.

2014-01-08

Many government and private industry sites that were once contaminated with radioactive and chemical wastes cannot be cleaned up enough to permit unrestricted human access. The sites will require long term management, in some cases indefinitely, leaving site owners with the challenge of protecting human health and environmental quality at these "legacy" sites. Long-term monitoring of groundwater contamination is one of the largest projected costs in the life cycle of environmental management at the Savannah River Site, the larger DOE complex, and many large federal and private sites. There is a need to optimize the performance and manage the costmore » of long term surveillance and monitoring at their sites. Currently, SRNL is initiating a pilot field test using alternative protocols for long term monitoring of metals and radionuclides. A key component of the approach is that monitoring efforts are focused on measurement of low cost metrics related to hydrologic and chemical conditions that control contaminant migration. The strategy combines careful monitoring of hydrologic boundary conditions with measurement of master variables such as chemical surrogates along with a smaller number of standard well analyses. In plumes contaminated with metals, master variables control the chemistry of the groundwater system, and include redox variables (ORP, DO, chemicals), pH, specific conductivity, biological community (breakdown/decay products), and temperature. Significant changes in these variables will result in conditions whereby the plume may not be stable and therefore can be used to predict possible plume migration. Conversely, concentration measurements for all types of contaminants in groundwater are a lagging indicator plume movement - major changes contaminant concentrations indicate that contamination has migrated. An approach based on measurement of master variables and explicit monitoring of hydrologic boundary conditions combined with traditional metrics should lead to improved monitoring while simultaneously reducing costs. This paradigm is being tested at the SRS F-Area where an innovative passive remedial system is being monitored and evaluated over the long term prior to traditional regulatory closure. Contaminants being addressed at this site are uranium, strontium-90, iodine-129, and tritium. We believe that the proposed strategies will be more effective in early identification of potential risks; these strategies will also be cost effective because controlling variables are relatively simple to measure. These variables also directly reflect the evolution of the plume through time, so that the monitoring strategy can be modified as the plume 'ages'. This transformational long-term monitoring paradigm will generate large cost savings to DOE, other federal agencies and industry and will provide improved performance and leading indicators of environmental management performance.« less

Lunar PMAD technology assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Metcalf, Kenneth J.

1992-01-01

This report documents an initial set of power conditioning models created to generate 'ballpark' power management and distribution (PMAD) component mass and size estimates. It contains converter, rectifier, inverter, transformer, remote bus isolator (RBI), and remote power controller (RPC) models. These models allow certain studies to be performed; however, additional models are required to assess a full range of PMAD alternatives. The intent is to eventually form a library of PMAD models that will allow system designers to evaluate various power system architectures and distribution techniques quickly and consistently. The models in this report are designed primarily for space exploration initiative (SEI) missions requiring continuous power and supporting manned operations. The mass estimates were developed by identifying the stages in a component and obtaining mass breakdowns for these stages from near term electronic hardware elements. Technology advances were then incorporated to generate hardware masses consistent with the 2000 to 2010 time period. The mass of a complete component is computed by algorithms that calculate the masses of the component stages, control and monitoring, enclosure, and thermal management subsystem.

Self-tuning method for monitoring the density of a gas vapor component using a tunable laser

DOEpatents

Hagans, Karla; Berzins, Leon; Galkowski, Joseph; Seng, Rita

1996-01-01

The present invention relates to a vapor density monitor and laser atomic absorption spectroscopy method for highly accurate, continuous monitoring of vapor densities, composition, flow velocity, internal and kinetic temperatures and constituent distributions. The vapor density monitor employs a diode laser, preferably of an external cavity design. By using a diode laser, the vapor density monitor is significantly less expensive and more reliable than prior art vapor density monitoring devices. In addition, the compact size of diode lasers enables the vapor density monitor to be portable. According to the method of the present invention, the density of a component of a gas vapor is calculated by tuning the diode laser to a frequency at which the amount of light absorbed by the component is at a minimum or a maximum within about 50 MHz of that frequency. Laser light from the diode laser is then transmitted at the determined frequency across a predetermined pathlength of the gas vapor. By comparing the amount of light transmitted by the diode laser to the amount of light transmitted after the laser light passes through the gas vapor, the density of the component can be determined using Beer's law.

Self-tuning method for monitoring the density of a gas vapor component using a tunable laser

DOEpatents

Hagans, K.; Berzins, L.; Galkowski, J.; Seng, R.

1996-08-27

The present invention relates to a vapor density monitor and laser atomic absorption spectroscopy method for highly accurate, continuous monitoring of vapor densities, composition, flow velocity, internal and kinetic temperatures and constituent distributions. The vapor density monitor employs a diode laser, preferably of an external cavity design. By using a diode laser, the vapor density monitor is significantly less expensive and more reliable than prior art vapor density monitoring devices. In addition, the compact size of diode lasers enables the vapor density monitor to be portable. According to the method of the present invention, the density of a component of a gas vapor is calculated by tuning the diode laser to a frequency at which the amount of light absorbed by the component is at a minimum or a maximum within about 50 MHz of that frequency. Laser light from the diode laser is then transmitted at the determined frequency across a predetermined pathlength of the gas vapor. By comparing the amount of light transmitted by the diode laser to the amount of light transmitted after the laser light passes through the gas vapor, the density of the component can be determined using Beer`s law. 6 figs.

Monitoring Composite Material Pressure Vessels with a Fiber-Optic/Microelectronic Sensor System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klimcak, C.; Jaduszliwer, B.

1995-01-01

We discuss the concept of an integrated, fiber-optic/microelectronic distributed sensor system that can monitor composite material pressure vessels for Air Force space systems to provide assessments of the overall health and integrity of the vessel throughout its entire operating history from birth to end of life. The fiber optic component would include either a semiconductor light emitting diode or diode laser and a multiplexed fiber optic sensing network incorporating Bragg grating sensors capable of detecting internal temperature and strain. The microelectronic components include a power source, a pulsed laser driver, time domain data acquisition hardware, a microprocessor, a data storage device, and a communication interface. The sensing system would be incorporated within the composite during its manufacture. The microelectronic data acquisition and logging system would record the environmental conditions to which the vessel has been subjected to during its storage and transit, e.g., the history of thermal excursions, pressure loading data, the occurrence of mechanical impacts, the presence of changing internal strain due to aging, delamination, material decomposition, etc. Data would be maintained din non-volatile memory for subsequent readout through a microcomputer interface.

Applications of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in the aluminum electrolysis industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Lanxiang; Yu, Haibin; Cong, Zhibo; Lu, Hui; Cao, Bin; Zeng, Peng; Dong, Wei; Li, Yang

2018-04-01

The industrial aluminum reduction cell is an electrochemistry reactor that operates under high temperatures and corrosive conditions. Monitoring the molten aluminum and electrolyte components is very important for controlling the chemical reaction process. Due to the lack of fast methods to monitor the components, controlling aluminum reduction cells is difficult. In this work, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was applied to aluminum electrolysis. A new method for calculating the molecular ratio, which is an important control parameter that represents the acidity of the electrolyte, was proposed. Experiments were first performed on solid electrolyte samples to test the performance of the proposed method. Using this method, the average relative standard deviation (RSD) of the molecular ratio measurement was 0.39%, and the average root mean square error (RMSE) was 0.0236. These results prove that LIBS can accurately measure the molecular ratio. Then, in situ measurements of the molten aluminum and electrolyte were performed in industrial aluminum induction cells using the developed LIBS equipment. The spectra of the molten electrolyte were successfully obtained and were consistent with the spectra of the solid electrolyte.

Non-stationary signal analysis based on general parameterized time-frequency transform and its application in the feature extraction of a rotary machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Peng; Peng, Zhike; Chen, Shiqian; Yang, Yang; Zhang, Wenming

2018-06-01

With the development of large rotary machines for faster and more integrated performance, the condition monitoring and fault diagnosis for them are becoming more challenging. Since the time-frequency (TF) pattern of the vibration signal from the rotary machine often contains condition information and fault feature, the methods based on TF analysis have been widely-used to solve these two problems in the industrial community. This article introduces an effective non-stationary signal analysis method based on the general parameterized time-frequency transform (GPTFT). The GPTFT is achieved by inserting a rotation operator and a shift operator in the short-time Fourier transform. This method can produce a high-concentrated TF pattern with a general kernel. A multi-component instantaneous frequency (IF) extraction method is proposed based on it. The estimation for the IF of every component is accomplished by defining a spectrum concentration index (SCI). Moreover, such an IF estimation process is iteratively operated until all the components are extracted. The tests on three simulation examples and a real vibration signal demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of our method.

Prognostics for Microgrid Components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saxena, Abhinav

2012-01-01

Prognostics is the science of predicting future performance and potential failures based on targeted condition monitoring. Moving away from the traditional reliability centric view, prognostics aims at detecting and quantifying the time to impending failures. This advance warning provides the opportunity to take actions that can preserve uptime, reduce cost of damage, or extend the life of the component. The talk will focus on the concepts and basics of prognostics from the viewpoint of condition-based systems health management. Differences with other techniques used in systems health management and philosophies of prognostics used in other domains will be shown. Examples relevant to micro grid systems and subsystems will be used to illustrate various types of prediction scenarios and the resources it take to set up a desired prognostic system. Specifically, the implementation results for power storage and power semiconductor components will demonstrate specific solution approaches of prognostics. The role of constituent elements of prognostics, such as model, prediction algorithms, failure threshold, run-to-failure data, requirements and specifications, and post-prognostic reasoning will be explained. A discussion on performance evaluation and performance metrics will conclude the technical discussion followed by general comments on open research problems and challenges in prognostics.

Fetal source extraction from magnetocardiographic recordings by dependent component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Araujo, Draulio B.; Kardec Barros, Allan; Estombelo-Montesco, Carlos; Zhao, Hui; Roque da Silva Filho, A. C.; Baffa, Oswaldo; Wakai, Ronald; Ohnishi, Noboru

2005-10-01

Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) has been extensively reported in the literature as a non-invasive, prenatal technique that can be used to monitor various functions of the fetal heart. However, fMCG signals often have low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and are contaminated by strong interference from the mother's magnetocardiogram signal. A promising, efficient tool for extracting signals, even under low SNR conditions, is blind source separation (BSS), or independent component analysis (ICA). Herein we propose an algorithm based on a variation of ICA, where the signal of interest is extracted using a time delay obtained from an autocorrelation analysis. We model the system using autoregression, and identify the signal component of interest from the poles of the autocorrelation function. We show that the method is effective in removing the maternal signal, and is computationally efficient. We also compare our results to more established ICA methods, such as FastICA.

Sensor devices comprising a metal-organic framework material and methods of making and using the same

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Alan X.; Chang, Chih-hung; Kim, Ki-Joong

Disclosed herein are embodiments of sensor devices comprising a sensing component able to determine the presence of, detect, and/or quantify detectable species in a variety of environments and applications. The sensing components disclosed herein can comprise MOF materials, plasmonic nanomaterials, or combinations thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, light guides can be coupled with the sensing components described herein to provide sensor devices capable of increased NIR detection sensitivity in determining the presence of detectable species, such as gases and volatile organic compounds. In another exemplary embodiment, optical properties of the plasmonic nanomaterials combined with MOF materials can be monitored directlymore » to detect analyte species through their impact on external conditions surrounding the particle or as a result of charge transfer to and from the plasmonic material as a result of interactions with the plasmonic material and/or the MOF material.« less

Performance monitoring can boost turboexpander efficiency

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McIntire, R.

1982-07-05

This paper discusses ways of improving the productivity of the turboexpander/refrigeration system's radial expander and radial compressor through systematic review of component performance. It reviews several techniques to determine the performance of an expander and compressor. It suggests that any performance improvement program requires quantifying the performance of separate components over a range of operating conditions; estimating the increase in performance associated with any hardware change; and developing an analytical (computer) model of the entire system by using the performance curve of individual components. The model is used to quantify the economic benefits of any change in the system, eithermore » a change in operating procedures or a hardware modification. Topics include proper ways of using antisurge control valves and modifying flow rate/shaft speed (Q/N). It is noted that compressor efficiency depends on the incidence angle of blade at the rotor leading edge and the angle of the incoming gas stream.« less

Data collection and analysis software development for rotor dynamics testing in spin laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdul-Aziz, Ali; Arble, Daniel; Woike, Mark

2017-04-01

Gas turbine engine components undergo high rotational loading another complex environmental conditions. Such operating environment leads these components to experience damages and cracks that can cause catastrophic failure during flights. There are traditional crack detections and health monitoring methodologies currently being used which rely on periodic routine maintenances, nondestructive inspections that often times involve engine and components dis-assemblies. These methods do not also offer adequate information about the faults, especially, if these faults at subsurface or not clearly evident. At NASA Glenn research center, the rotor dynamics laboratory is presently involved in developing newer techniques that are highly dependent on sensor technology to enable health monitoring and prediction of damage and cracks in rotor disks. These approaches are noninvasive and relatively economical. Spin tests are performed using a subscale test article mimicking turbine rotor disk undergoing rotational load. Non-contact instruments such as capacitive and microwave sensors are used to measure the blade tip gap displacement and blade vibrations characteristics in an attempt develop a physics based model to assess/predict the faults in the rotor disk. Data collection is a major component in this experimental-analytical procedure and as a result, an upgrade to an older version of the data acquisition software which is based on LabVIEW program has been implemented to support efficiently running tests and analyze the results. Outcomes obtained from the tests data and related experimental and analytical rotor dynamics modeling including key features of the updated software are presented and discussed.

The Assessment of Cement Mortars after Thermal Degradation by Acoustic Non-destructive Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Topolář, L.; Štefková, D.; Hoduláková, M.

2017-10-01

Thanks, the terrorist attacks on the worldwide interest in the design of structures for fire greatly increased. One of the advantages of concrete over other building materials is its inherent fire-resistive properties. The concrete structural components still must be able to withstand dead and live loads without collapse even though the rise in temperature causes a decrease in the strength and modulus of elasticity for concrete and steel reinforcement. In addition, fully developed fires cause expansion of structural components and the resulting stresses and strains must be resisted. This paper reports the results of measurements by Impact-echo method and measurement by ultrasound. Both methods are based on the acoustic properties of the material which are dependent on its condition. These acoustic methods allow identifying defects and are thus suitable for monitoring the building structure condition. The results are obtained in the laboratory during the degradation of composite materials based on cement by high-temperature.

Changes in oxidation indices and minor components of low free fatty acid and freshly extracted crude palm oils under two different storage conditions.

PubMed

Tan, Choon-Hui; Ariffin, Abdul A; Ghazali, Hasanah M; Tan, Chin-Ping; Kuntom, Ainie; Choo, Adrian Cheng-Yong

2017-06-01

This article reports on the changes of oxidation indices and minor components of low free fatty acid (FFA) and freshly extracted crude palm oils after storage at ambient (28 ± 1 C) and 60 C for 77 days. The changes in peroxide value (PV), FFA, extinction coefficient at 233 and 269 nm ( K 233 and K 269 ), bleachability index (DOBI), carotene and vitamin E contents were monitored. PV, FFA, K 233 and K 269 of both oil samples increased as storage progressed while the values of carotene and vitamin E contents decreased. At the end of storage period at 60 °C, the carotene content of low FFA crude palm oil was 4.24 ppm. The storage conditions used led to the loss of entire vitamin E fractions of both oil samples as well as a reduction in DOBI values except for freshly extracted crude palm oil stored at ambient temperature.

[Demonstrating that monitoring and punishing increase non-cooperative behavior in a social dilemma game].

PubMed

Kitakaji, Yoko; Ohnuma, Susumu

2014-04-01

This research demonstrated the negative influence of monitoring and punishing during a social dilemma game, taking the illegal dumping of industrial waste as an example. The first study manipulated three conditions: a producing-industries monitoring condition (PIM), an administrative monitoring condition (ADM), and a control condition (no monitoring). The results showed that non-cooperative behavior was more frequent in the PIM condition than in the control condition. The second study had three conditions: a punishing condition (PC), a monitoring condition (MC), and a control condition (no monitoring, no punishing). The results indicated that non-cooperative behavior was observed the most in the PC, and the least in the control condition. Furthermore, information regarding other players' costs and benefits was shared the most in the control conditions in both studies. The results suggest that sanctions prevent people from sharing information, which decreases expectations of mutual cooperation.

Quality of life in relation to upper and lower respiratory conditions among retired 9/11-exposed firefighters with pulmonary disability.

PubMed

Berninger, Amy; Webber, Mayris P; Weakley, Jessica; Gustave, Jackson; Zeig-Owens, Rachel; Lee, Roy; Al-Othman, Fairouz; Cohen, Hillel W; Kelly, Kerry; Prezant, David J

2010-12-01

To examine health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and World Trade Center (WTC) cough syndrome conditions in male firefighters who retired due to a 9/11-related pulmonary disability. From 3/1/2008 to 1/31/2009, we contacted 275 disability-retired firefighters and compared their HRQoL and current aerodigestive conditions to those from WTC-exposed non-disabled retired and active firefighters. Relationships between HRQoL and explanatory variable(s) were examined using multivariable linear regression models. Mean physical component summary (PCS) scores were lowest in disabled retirees compared with non-disabled retirees and actives: 36.4 (9.6), 49.4 (8.7), and 53.1 (5.1), respectively (P < 0.0001). Mean mental component summary (MCS) scores were closer: 44.5 (11.9), 48.1 (8.5), and 48.7 (7.4), respectively (P < 0.0001). In multivariable models, after adjustment for many factors, PCS scores were not associated with early WTC arrival, but were inversely associated with disability retirement and all WTC cough syndrome conditions. MCS scores were inversely associated with early WTC arrival and most WTC cough syndrome conditions, but were not associated with disability retirement. WTC cough syndrome conditions predict lower HRQoL scores even 8 years after exposure, independent of retirement status. These data suggest that monitoring physical conditions of individuals with occupational exposures might help identify those at risk for impaired HRQoL.

A continuation of base-line studies for environmentally monitoring space transportation systems at John F. Kennedy Space Center. Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stout, I. J.

1980-01-01

Studies conducted in and around John F. Kennedy Space Center, Merrit Island, Florida were designed to establish baseline conditions for various attributes of the biotic and abiotic environment. Features were described and quantitatively measured. Certain condition were found to be appropriate for the detection and assessment of possible environmental perturbations caused by future NASA activities. These include plant communities, mammal populations, rainfall chemistry, fish populations, and the status of rare and endangered species. On the basis of statistical analysis of quantitative data and logistic considerations, it was possible to refine the kinds and amounts of measurements needed to evaluate perturbations in selected environmental components.

30 CFR 27.39 - Tests to determine resistance to vibration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., EVALUATION, AND APPROVAL OF MINING PRODUCTS METHANE-MONITORING SYSTEMS Test Requirements § 27.39 Tests to... to verify the reliability and durability of a methane-monitoring system or component(s) thereof where...

The factors that affect the frequency of vital sign monitoring in the emergency department.

PubMed

Johnson, Kimberly D; Winkelman, Chris; Burant, Christopher J; Dolansky, Mary; Totten, Vicken

2014-01-01

Vital signs are an important component of the nursing assessment and are used as early warning signs of changes in a patient's condition; however, little research has been conducted to determine how often vital signs are monitored in the emergency department. Additionally, it has not been determined what personal, social, and environmental factors affect the frequency of vital sign monitoring. The purpose of this study was to examine what factors may influence the time between recording vital signs in the emergency department. We performed a descriptive, retrospective chart review of 202 randomly selected adult ED patients' charts from representative times to capture a variety of ED levels of occupancy in an urban, Midwestern, teaching hospital. Descriptive and hierarchical regression analyses were used. The strongest predictor of the increased time between vital signs from the personal health factors was lower patient acuity (Emergency Severity Index). This relationship remained strong even when social factors and environmental factors were included. Increased length of stay and fewer routes of medications also had significant relationships to the increased time between vital sign monitoring. These findings are clinically important because greater time between vital sign recordings can lead to errors of omission by not detecting changes in vital signs that could reveal changes in the patient's condition. The findings of this study provide direction for future research focusing on determining whether higher frequency of vital signs surveillance contributes to higher quality care and linking quality of care to missing vital signs/inadequate monitoring. Copyright © 2014 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Application of Multiplexed FBG and PZT Impedance Sensors for Health Monitoring of Rocks.

PubMed

Yang, Yaowen; Annamdas, Venu Gopal Madhav; Wang, Chao; Zhou, Yingxin

2008-01-21

Reliable structural health monitoring (SHM) including nondestructiveevaluation (NDE) is essential for safe operation of infrastructure systems. Effectivemonitoring of the rock components of civil infrastructures such as tunnels and cavernsremains challenging. The feasibility of employing smart optical fibre sensor (OFS) andpiezoelectric impedance sensor made up of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) forcomprehensive health monitoring of rocks, covering load history monitoring/retrieval aswell as damage assessment is presented in this paper. The rock specimens are subjected tocyclic loading and their conditions are continuously monitored using OFS and PZTsensors. OFS based multiplexed fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are surface bonded onthe rock specimens. Their strain sensing performance is compared with the conventionalelectric strain gauges (ESGs). In addition, PZT patches are also bonded on the specimensto study the damage pattern during different loading cycles. Unlike the FBGs or ESGs,PZT patches are used as bi-functional sensors and actuators, enabling them to be efficientdetectors of incipient damages using the principle of electromechanical impedance. Theexperimental study demonstrated superior performance of these smart FBG and PZTimpedance sensors. This work is expected to be useful for SHM based NDE application ofrock structures such as caverns and tunnels.

Embedded ARM system for volcano monitoring in remote areas: application to the active volcano on Deception Island (Antarctica).

PubMed

Peci, Luis Miguel; Berrocoso, Manuel; Fernández-Ros, Alberto; García, Alicia; Marrero, José Manuel; Ortiz, Ramón

2014-01-02

This paper describes the development of a multi-parameter system for monitoring volcanic activity. The system permits the remote access and the connection of several modules in a network. An embedded ARM™ processor has been used, allowing a great flexibility in hardware configuration. The use of a complete Linux solution (Debian™) as Operating System permits a quick, easy application development to control sensors and communications. This provides all the capabilities required and great stability with relatively low energy consumption. The cost of the components and applications development is low since they are widely used in different fields. Sensors and commercial modules have been combined with other self-developed modules. The Modular Volcano Monitoring System (MVMS) described has been deployed on the active Deception Island (Antarctica) volcano, within the Spanish Antarctic Program, and has proved successful for monitoring the volcano, with proven reliability and efficient operation under extreme conditions. In another context, i.e., the recent volcanic activity on El Hierro Island (Canary Islands) in 2011, this technology has been used for the seismic equipment and GPS systems deployed, thus showing its efficiency in the monitoring of a volcanic crisis.

Embedded ARM System for Volcano Monitoring in Remote Areas: Application to the Active Volcano on Deception Island (Antarctica)

PubMed Central

Peci, Luis Miguel; Berrocoso, Manuel; Fernández-Ros, Alberto; García, Alicia; Marrero, José Manuel; Ortiz, Ramón

2014-01-01

This paper describes the development of a multi-parameter system for monitoring volcanic activity. The system permits the remote access and the connection of several modules in a network. An embedded ARM™™ processor has been used, allowing a great flexibility in hardware configuration. The use of a complete Linux solution (Debian™) as Operating System permits a quick, easy application development to control sensors and communications. This provides all the capabilities required and great stability with relatively low energy consumption. The cost of the components and applications development is low since they are widely used in different fields. Sensors and commercial modules have been combined with other self-developed modules. The Modular Volcano Monitoring System (MVMS) described has been deployed on the active Deception Island (Antarctica) volcano, within the Spanish Antarctic Program, and has proved successful for monitoring the volcano, with proven reliability and efficient operation under extreme conditions. In another context, i.e., the recent volcanic activity on El Hierro Island (Canary Islands) in 2011, this technology has been used for the seismic equipment and GPS systems deployed, thus showing its efficiency in the monitoring of a volcanic crisis. PMID:24451461

Sensor Placement Optimization using Chama

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Klise, Katherine A.; Nicholson, Bethany L.; Laird, Carl Damon

Continuous or regularly scheduled monitoring has the potential to quickly identify changes in the environment. However, even with low - cost sensors, only a limited number of sensors can be deployed. The physical placement of these sensors, along with the sensor technology and operating conditions, can have a large impact on the performance of a monitoring strategy. Chama is an open source Python package which includes mixed - integer, stochastic programming formulations to determine sensor locations and technology that maximize monitoring effectiveness. The methods in Chama are general and can be applied to a wide range of applications. Chama ismore » currently being used to design sensor networks to monitor airborne pollutants and to monitor water quality in water distribution systems. The following documentation includes installation instructions and examples, description of software features, and software license. The software is intended to be used by regulatory agencies, industry, and the research community. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the Python Programming Language. References are included for addit ional background on software components. Online documentation, hosted at http://chama.readthedocs.io/, will be updated as new features are added. The online version includes API documentation .« less

Botswana water and surface energy balance research program. Part 1: Integrated approach and field campaign results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vandegriend, A. A.; Owe, M.; Vugts, H. F.; Ramothwa, G. K.

1992-01-01

The Botswana water and surface energy balance research program was developed to study and evaluate the integrated use of multispectral satellite remote sensing for monitoring the hydrological status of the Earth's surface. Results of the first part of the program (Botswana 1) which ran from 1 Jan. 1988 - 31 Dec. 1990 are summarized. Botswana 1 consisted of two major, mutually related components: a surface energy balance modeling component, built around an extensive field campaign; and a passive microwave research component which consisted of a retrospective study of large scale moisture conditions and Nimbus scanning multichannel microwave radiometer microwave signatures. The integrated approach of both components in general are described and activities performed during the surface energy modeling component including the extensive field campaign are summarized. The results of the passive microwave component are summarized. The key of the field campaign was a multilevel approach, whereby measurements by various similar sensors were made at several altitudes and resolution. Data collection was performed at two adjacent sites of contrasting surface character. The following measurements were made: micrometeorological measurements, surface temperatures, soil temperatures, soil moisture, vegetation (leaf area index and biomass), satellite data, aircraft data, atmospheric soundings, stomatal resistance, and surface emissivity.

Real-Time Aircraft Engine-Life Monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klein, Richard

2014-01-01

This project developed an inservice life-monitoring system capable of predicting the remaining component and system life of aircraft engines. The embedded system provides real-time, inflight monitoring of the engine's thrust, exhaust gas temperature, efficiency, and the speed and time of operation. Based upon this data, the life-estimation algorithm calculates the remaining life of the engine components and uses this data to predict the remaining life of the engine. The calculations are based on the statistical life distribution of the engine components and their relationship to load, speed, temperature, and time.

Reliable glucose monitoring by ex-vivo blood microdialysis and infrared spectrometry for patients in critical care

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vahlsing, Thorsten; Delbeck, Sven; Budde, Janpeter; Ihrig, Dieter; Leonhardt, Steffen; Heise, H. Michael

2017-02-01

Blood glucose monitoring has been realised by biosensors in combination with micro-dialysis, using either subcutaneously or intravascularly implanted catheters. Another alternative is ex-vivo micro-dialysis of continuously sampled heparinized whole blood available from the patient even under critical care conditions. However, most devices suffer from inaccuracies due to variable recovery rates. Infrared spectrometry has been suggested for analyte quantification, since besides glucose other clinically relevant analytes can be simultaneously determined that are, e.g., important for intensive care patients. Perfusates with acetate and mannitol have been investigated as recovery markers (internal standards). In contrast to the previously used acetate, an almost linear dependency between mannitol loss and glucose recovery was observed for micro-dialysis of glucose spiked aqueous albumin solutions or porcine heparinized whole blood when testing flat membranes within a custom-made micro-dialysator. By this, a straightforward compensation of any dialysis recovery rate variation during patient monitoring is possible. The combination of microdialysis with infrared spectrometry provides a calibration-free assay for accurate continuous glucose monitoring, as reference spectra of dialysate components can be a-priori allocated.

Using Enhanced Grace Water Storage Data to Improve Drought Detection by the U.S. and North American Drought Monitors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Houborg, Rasmus; Rodell, Matthew; Lawrimore, Jay; Li, Bailing; Reichle, Rolf; Heim, Richard; Rosencrans, Matthew; Tinker, Rich; Famiglietti, James S.; Svoboda, Mark;

A Monitoring System for Vegetable Greenhouses based on a Wireless Sensor Network

PubMed Central

Li, Xiu-hong; Cheng, Xiao; Yan, Ke; Gong, Peng

2010-01-01

A wireless sensor network-based automatic monitoring system is designed for monitoring the life conditions of greenhouse vegetatables. The complete system architecture includes a group of sensor nodes, a base station, and an internet data center. For the design of wireless sensor node, the JN5139 micro-processor is adopted as the core component and the Zigbee protocol is used for wireless communication between nodes. With an ARM7 microprocessor and embedded ZKOS operating system, a proprietary gateway node is developed to achieve data influx, screen display, system configuration and GPRS based remote data forwarding. Through a Client/Server mode the management software for remote data center achieves real-time data distribution and time-series analysis. Besides, a GSM-short-message-based interface is developed for sending real-time environmental measurements, and for alarming when a measurement is beyond some pre-defined threshold. The whole system has been tested for over one year and satisfactory results have been observed, which indicate that this system is very useful for greenhouse environment monitoring. PMID:22163391

Method and apparatus for monitoring characteristics of a flow path having solid components flowing therethrough

DOEpatents

Hoskinson, Reed L [Rigby, ID; Svoboda, John M [Idaho Falls, ID; Bauer, William F [Idaho Falls, ID; Elias, Gracy [Idaho Falls, ID

2008-05-06

A method and apparatus is provided for monitoring a flow path having plurality of different solid components flowing therethrough. For example, in the harvesting of a plant material, many factors surrounding the threshing, separating or cleaning of the plant material and may lead to the inadvertent inclusion of the component being selectively harvested with residual plant materials being discharged or otherwise processed. In accordance with the present invention the detection of the selectively harvested component within residual materials may include the monitoring of a flow path of such residual materials by, for example, directing an excitation signal toward of flow path of material and then detecting a signal initiated by the presence of the selectively harvested component responsive to the excitation signal. The detected signal may be used to determine the presence or absence of a selected plant component within the flow path of residual materials.

Evaluation of an electronic nose for odorant and process monitoring of alkaline-stabilized biosolids production.

PubMed

Romero-Flores, Adrian; McConnell, Laura L; Hapeman, Cathleen J; Ramirez, Mark; Torrents, Alba

2017-11-01

Electronic noses have been widely used in the food industry to monitor process performance and quality control, but use in wastewater and biosolids treatment has not been fully explored. Therefore, we examined the feasibility of an electronic nose to discriminate between treatment conditions of alkaline stabilized biosolids and compared its performance with quantitative analysis of key odorants. Seven lime treatments (0-30% w/w) were prepared and the resultant off-gas was monitored by GC-MS and by an electronic nose equipped with ten metal oxide sensors. A pattern recognition model was created using linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and principal component analysis (PCA) of the electronic nose data. In general, LDA performed better than PCA. LDA showed clear discrimination when single tests were evaluated, but when the full data set was included, discrimination between treatments was reduced. Frequency of accurate recognition was tested by three algorithms with Euclidan and Mahalanobis performing at 81% accuracy and discriminant function analysis at 70%. Concentrations of target compounds by GC-MS were in agreement with those reported in literature and helped to elucidate the behavior of the pattern recognition via comparison of individual sensor responses to different biosolids treatment conditions. Results indicated that the electronic nose can discriminate between lime percentages, thus providing the opportunity to create classes of under-dosed and over-dosed relative to regulatory requirements. Full scale application will require careful evaluation to maintain accuracy under variable process and environmental conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brain function assessment in different conscious states.

PubMed

Ozgoren, Murat; Bayazit, Onur; Kocaaslan, Sibel; Gokmen, Necati; Oniz, Adile

2010-06-03

The study of brain functioning is a major challenge in neuroscience fields as human brain has a dynamic and ever changing information processing. Case is worsened with conditions where brain undergoes major changes in so-called different conscious states. Even though the exact definition of consciousness is a hard one, there are certain conditions where the descriptions have reached a consensus. The sleep and the anesthesia are different conditions which are separable from each other and also from wakefulness. The aim of our group has been to tackle the issue of brain functioning with setting up similar research conditions for these three conscious states. In order to achieve this goal we have designed an auditory stimulation battery with changing conditions to be recorded during a 40 channel EEG polygraph (Nuamps) session. The stimuli (modified mismatch, auditory evoked etc.) have been administered both in the operation room and the sleep lab via Embedded Interactive Stimulus Unit which was developed in our lab. The overall study has provided some results for three domains of consciousness. In order to be able to monitor the changes we have incorporated Bispectral Index Monitoring to both sleep and anesthesia conditions. The first stage results have provided a basic understanding in these altered states such that auditory stimuli have been successfully processed in both light and deep sleep stages. The anesthesia provides a sudden change in brain responsiveness; therefore a dosage dependent anesthetic administration has proved to be useful. The auditory processing was exemplified targeting N1 wave, with a thorough analysis from spectrogram to sLORETA. The frequency components were observed to be shifting throughout the stages. The propofol administration and the deeper sleep stages both resulted in the decreasing of N1 component. The sLORETA revealed similar activity at BA7 in sleep (BIS 70) and target propofol concentration of 1.2 microg/mL. The current study utilized similar stimulation and recording system and incorporated BIS dependent values to validate a common approach to sleep and anesthesia. Accordingly the brain has a complex behavior pattern, dynamically changing its responsiveness in accordance with stimulations and states.

Distinct state anxiety after predictable and unpredictable fear training in mice.

PubMed

Seidenbecher, Thomas; Remmes, Jasmin; Daldrup, Thiemo; Lesting, Jörg; Pape, Hans-Christian

2016-05-01

Sustained fear paradigms in rodents have been developed to monitor states of anxious apprehension and to model situations in patients suffering from long-lasting anxiety disorders. A recent report describes a fear conditioning paradigm, allowing distinction between phasic and sustained states of conditioned fear in non-restrained mice. However, so far no prospective studies have yet been conducted to elucidate whether induction of phasic or sustained fear can affect states of anxiety. Here, we used CS (conditioned stimulus) and US (unconditioned stimulus) pairing with predictable and unpredictable timing to induce phasic and sustained fear in mice. State anxiety during various fear response components was assessed using the elevated plus-maze test. Training with unpredictable CS-US timing resulted in CS-evoked sustained components of fear (freezing), while predictable CS-US timing resulted in rapid decline. Data suggested the influence of training procedure on state anxiety which is dependent on progression of conditioned fear during fear memory retrieval. Animals trained with unpredictable CS-US timing showed an unchanged high anxiety state throughout behavioral observation. In contrast, mice trained with predictable CS-US timing showed anxiolytic-like behavior 3 min after CS onset, which was accompanied by a fast decline of the fear conditioned response (freezing). Further systematic studies are needed to validate the phasic/sustained fear model in rodents as translational model for anxiety disorders in humans. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Vital signs monitoring system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steffen, Dale A. (Inventor); Sturm, Ronald E. (Inventor); Rinard, George A. (Inventor)

1981-01-01

A system is disclosed for monitoring vital physiological signs. Each of the system components utilizes a single hybrid circuit with each component having high accuracy without the necessity of repeated calibration. The system also has low power requirements, provides a digital display, and is of sufficiently small size to be incorporated into a hand-carried case for portable use. Components of the system may also provide independent outputs making the component useful, of itself, for monitoring one or more vital signs. The overall system preferably includes an ECG amplifier and cardiotachometer signal conditioner unit, an impedance pneumograph and respiration rate signal conditioner unit, a heart/breath rate processor unit, a temperature monitoring unit, a selector switch, a clock unit, and an LCD driver unit and associated LCDs, with the system being capable of being expanded as needed or desired, such as, for example, by addition of a systolic/diastolic blood pressure unit.

Real-time monitoring of acoustic linear and nonlinear behavior of titanium alloys during low-cycle fatigue and high-cycle fatigue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frouin, Jerome; Sathish, Shamachary; Na, Jeong K.

2000-05-01

An in-situ technique to measure sound velocity, ultrasonic attenuation and acoustic nonlinear property has been developed for characterization and early detection of fatigue damage in aerospace materials. For this purpose we have developed a computer software and measurement technique including hardware for the automation of the measurement. New transducer holder and special grips are designed. The automation has allowed us to test the long-term stability of the electronics over a period of time and so proof of the linearity of the system. Real-time monitoring of the material nonlinearity has been performed on dog-bone specimens from zero fatigue all the way to the final fracture under low-cycle fatigue test condition (LCF) and high-cycle test condition (HCF). Real-time health monitoring of the material can greatly contribute to the understanding of material behavior under cyclic loading. Interpretation of the results show that correlation exist between the slope of the curve described by the material nonlinearity and the life of the component. This new methodology was developed with an objective to predict the initiation of fatigue microcracks, and to detect, in-situ fatigue crack initiation as well as to quantify early stages of fatigue damage.

Cell Microenvironment Engineering and Monitoring for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine: The Recent Advances

PubMed Central

Barthes, Julien; Özçelik, Hayriye; Hindié, Mathilde; Ndreu-Halili, Albana; Hasan, Anwarul

2014-01-01

In tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, the conditions in the immediate vicinity of the cells have a direct effect on cells' behaviour and subsequently on clinical outcomes. Physical, chemical, and biological control of cell microenvironment are of crucial importance for the ability to direct and control cell behaviour in 3-dimensional tissue engineering scaffolds spatially and temporally. In this review, we will focus on the different aspects of cell microenvironment such as surface micro-, nanotopography, extracellular matrix composition and distribution, controlled release of soluble factors, and mechanical stress/strain conditions and how these aspects and their interactions can be used to achieve a higher degree of control over cellular activities. The effect of these parameters on the cellular behaviour within tissue engineering context is discussed and how these parameters are used to develop engineered tissues is elaborated. Also, recent techniques developed for the monitoring of the cell microenvironment in vitro and in vivo are reviewed, together with recent tissue engineering applications where the control of cell microenvironment has been exploited. Cell microenvironment engineering and monitoring are crucial parts of tissue engineering efforts and systems which utilize different components of the cell microenvironment simultaneously can provide more functional engineered tissues in the near future. PMID:25143954

Cell microenvironment engineering and monitoring for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine: the recent advances.

PubMed

Barthes, Julien; Özçelik, Hayriye; Hindié, Mathilde; Ndreu-Halili, Albana; Hasan, Anwarul; Vrana, Nihal Engin

2014-01-01

In tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, the conditions in the immediate vicinity of the cells have a direct effect on cells' behaviour and subsequently on clinical outcomes. Physical, chemical, and biological control of cell microenvironment are of crucial importance for the ability to direct and control cell behaviour in 3-dimensional tissue engineering scaffolds spatially and temporally. In this review, we will focus on the different aspects of cell microenvironment such as surface micro-, nanotopography, extracellular matrix composition and distribution, controlled release of soluble factors, and mechanical stress/strain conditions and how these aspects and their interactions can be used to achieve a higher degree of control over cellular activities. The effect of these parameters on the cellular behaviour within tissue engineering context is discussed and how these parameters are used to develop engineered tissues is elaborated. Also, recent techniques developed for the monitoring of the cell microenvironment in vitro and in vivo are reviewed, together with recent tissue engineering applications where the control of cell microenvironment has been exploited. Cell microenvironment engineering and monitoring are crucial parts of tissue engineering efforts and systems which utilize different components of the cell microenvironment simultaneously can provide more functional engineered tissues in the near future.

Activity and heart rate-based measures for outpatient cardiac rehabilitation.

PubMed

Bidargaddi, N P; Sarela, A

2008-01-01

Derive activity and heart rate (HR) monitor-based clinically relevant measures for outpatient cardiac rehabilitation (CR). We are currently collecting activity/ECG data from patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation over duration of six weeks. From these data sets, we a) derive various measures which can be used in assessing home-based CR patients remotely and b) investigate the usefulness of continuous ambulatory HR and heart rate variability (HRV) for various core components of CR. The information provided by these measures is interpreted according to the CR guidelines framework by American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR), thus showing how these tools can be used in assessing the progress of patients' condition. The usefulness and significance of these measures from a health care professional perspective is also presented by evaluating them against the existing hospital-based measures through examples. Hospital-based CR programs, despite their clinical benefits are severely under-utilized and resource-demanding. Ambulatory monitoring technologies, which provide a means for continuous physiological monitoring of patients at home compared to hospital-based tools, can enable home-based CR. The clinically relevant measures derived from these tools not only reflect patients' condition in a similar way as conventional tools but also show the continuous status of functional capacity (FC).

Real-Time Diagnosis of Faults Using a Bank of Kalman Filters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kobayashi, Takahisa; Simon, Donald L.

2006-01-01

A new robust method of automated real-time diagnosis of faults in an aircraft engine or a similar complex system involves the use of a bank of Kalman filters. In order to be highly reliable, a diagnostic system must be designed to account for the numerous failure conditions that an aircraft engine may encounter in operation. The method achieves this objective though the utilization of multiple Kalman filters, each of which is uniquely designed based on a specific failure hypothesis. A fault-detection-and-isolation (FDI) system, developed based on this method, is able to isolate faults in sensors and actuators while detecting component faults (abrupt degradation in engine component performance). By affording a capability for real-time identification of minor faults before they grow into major ones, the method promises to enhance safety and reduce operating costs. The robustness of this method is further enhanced by incorporating information regarding the aging condition of an engine. In general, real-time fault diagnostic methods use the nominal performance of a "healthy" new engine as a reference condition in the diagnostic process. Such an approach does not account for gradual changes in performance associated with aging of an otherwise healthy engine. By incorporating information on gradual, aging-related changes, the new method makes it possible to retain at least some of the sensitivity and accuracy needed to detect incipient faults while preventing false alarms that could result from erroneous interpretation of symptoms of aging as symptoms of failures. The figure schematically depicts an FDI system according to the new method. The FDI system is integrated with an engine, from which it accepts two sets of input signals: sensor readings and actuator commands. Two main parts of the FDI system are a bank of Kalman filters and a subsystem that implements FDI decision rules. Each Kalman filter is designed to detect a specific sensor or actuator fault. When a sensor or actuator fault occurs, large estimation errors are generated by all filters except the one using the correct hypothesis. By monitoring the residual output of each filter, the specific fault that has occurred can be detected and isolated on the basis of the decision rules. A set of parameters that indicate the performance of the engine components is estimated by the "correct" Kalman filter for use in detecting component faults. To reduce the loss of diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity in the face of aging, the FDI system accepts information from a steady-state-condition-monitoring system. This information is used to update the Kalman filters and a data bank of trim values representative of the current aging condition.

Application of Multiplexed FBG and PZT Impedance Sensors for Health Monitoring of Rocks

PubMed Central

Yang, Yaowen; Annamdas, Venu Gopal Madhav; Wang, Chao; Zhou, Yingxin

2008-01-01

Reliable structural health monitoring (SHM) including nondestructive evaluation (NDE) is essential for safe operation of infrastructure systems. Effective monitoring of the rock components of civil infrastructures such as tunnels and caverns remains challenging. The feasibility of employing smart optical fibre sensor (OFS) and piezoelectric impedance sensor made up of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) for comprehensive health monitoring of rocks, covering load history monitoring/retrieval as well as damage assessment is presented in this paper. The rock specimens are subjected to cyclic loading and their conditions are continuously monitored using OFS and PZT sensors. OFS based multiplexed fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are surface bonded on the rock specimens. Their strain sensing performance is compared with the conventional electric strain gauges (ESGs). In addition, PZT patches are also bonded on the specimens to study the damage pattern during different loading cycles. Unlike the FBGs or ESGs, PZT patches are used as bi-functional sensors and actuators, enabling them to be efficient detectors of incipient damages using the principle of electromechanical impedance. The experimental study demonstrated superior performance of these smart FBG and PZT impedance sensors. This work is expected to be useful for SHM based NDE application of rock structures such as caverns and tunnels. PMID:27879708

Positive emotion modulates cognitive control: an event-related potentials study.

PubMed

Xue, Song; Cui, Jingjing; Wang, Kangcheng; Zhang, Songyan; Qiu, Jiang; Luo, Yuejia

2013-04-01

There is substantial evidence to indicate that negative emotion can modulate cognitive control processing. However, only a few studies have investigated this effect with positive emotion. Therefore, the present study explored the electrophysiological correlates of the impact of positive emotional stimuli on cognitive control, using event-related potentials (ERPs). Sixteen healthy young adults completed a modified Simon task (Simon, 1969). Behavioral data indicated that reaction times were faster for positive emotional stimuli than for neutral emotional stimuli in the incongruent condition, but not in the congruent condition, which suggested that positive emotion expedited conflict resolution. The ERP data showed that two negative ERP components (N300-400 and N450-550) were associated with the positive emotional stimuli in the incongruent minus congruent condition. It is suggested that these components may respectively be related to the conflict monitoring (N300-400) and response selection (N450-550) stages of cognitive control processing. Overall, our results indicated that positive emotion could facilitate cognitive control processing. These results are in line with the neuropsychological theory, according to which, positive emotion could modulate cognitive control mediated by increased dopamine levels in frontal brain areas. © 2013 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2013 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Monitoring of surface-fatigue crack propagation in a welded steel angle structure using guided waves and principal component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Mingyu; Qu, Yongwei; Lu, Ye; Ye, Lin; Zhou, Limin; Su, Zhongqing

2012-04-01

An experimental study is reported in this paper demonstrating monitoring of surface-fatigue crack propagation in a welded steel angle structure using Lamb waves generated by an active piezoceramic transducer (PZT) network which was freely surface-mounted for each PZT transducer to serve as either actuator or sensor. The fatigue crack was initiated and propagated in welding zone of a steel angle structure by three-point bending fatigue tests. Instead of directly comparing changes between a series of specific signal segments such as S0 and A0 wave modes scattered from fatigue crack tips, a variety of signal statistical parameters representing five different structural status obtained from marginal spectrum in Hilbert-huang transform (HHT), indicating energy progressive distribution along time period in the frequency domain including all wave modes of one wave signal were employed to classify and distinguish different structural conditions due to fatigue crack initiation and propagation with the combination of using principal component analysis (PCA). Results show that PCA based on marginal spectrum is effective and sensitive for monitoring the growth of fatigue crack although the received signals are extremely complicated due to wave scattered from weld, multi-boundaries, notch and fatigue crack. More importantly, this method indicates good potential for identification of integrity status of complicated structures which cause uncertain wave patterns and ambiguous sensor network arrangement.

Preliminary design of high temperature ultrasonic transducers for liquid sodium environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prowant, M. S.; Dib, G.; Qiao, H.; Good, M. S.; Larche, M. R.; Sexton, S. S.; Ramuhalli, P.

2018-04-01

Advanced reactor concepts include fast reactors (including sodium-cooled fast reactors), gas-cooled reactors, and molten-salt reactors. Common to these concepts is a higher operating temperature (when compared to light-water-cooled reactors), and the proposed use of new alloys with which there is limited operational experience. Concerns about new degradation mechanisms, such as high-temperature creep and creep fatigue, that are not encountered in the light-water fleet and longer operating cycles between refueling intervals indicate the need for condition monitoring technology. Specific needs in this context include periodic in-service inspection technology for the detection and sizing of cracking, as well as technologies for continuous monitoring of components using in situ probes. This paper will discuss research on the development and evaluation of high temperature (>550°C; >1022°F) ultrasonic probes that can be used for continuous monitoring of components. The focus of this work is on probes that are compatible with a liquid sodium-cooled reactor environment, where the core outlet temperatures can reach 550°C (1022°F). Modeling to assess sensitivity of various sensor configurations and experimental evaluation have pointed to a preferred design and concept of operations for these probes. This paper will describe these studies and ongoing work to fabricate and fully evaluate survivability and sensor performance over extended periods at operational temperatures.

A Just-in-Time Learning based Monitoring and Classification Method for Hyper/Hypocalcemia Diagnosis.

PubMed

Peng, Xin; Tang, Yang; He, Wangli; Du, Wenli; Qian, Feng

2017-01-20

This study focuses on the classification and pathological status monitoring of hyper/hypo-calcemia in the calcium regulatory system. By utilizing the Independent Component Analysis (ICA) mixture model, samples from healthy patients are collected, diagnosed, and subsequently classified according to their underlying behaviors, characteristics, and mechanisms. Then, a Just-in-Time Learning (JITL) has been employed in order to estimate the diseased status dynamically. In terms of JITL, for the purpose of the construction of an appropriate similarity index to identify relevant datasets, a novel similarity index based on the ICA mixture model is proposed in this paper to improve online model quality. The validity and effectiveness of the proposed approach have been demonstrated by applying it to the calcium regulatory system under various hypocalcemic and hypercalcemic diseased conditions.

Metadata and network API aspects of a framework for storing and retrieving civil infrastructure monitoring data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, John-Michael; Stojadinovic, Bozidar

2005-05-01

A framework has been defined for storing and retrieving civil infrastructure monitoring data over a network. The framework consists of two primary components: metadata and network communications. The metadata component provides the descriptions and data definitions necessary for cataloging and searching monitoring data. The communications component provides Java classes for remotely accessing the data. Packages of Enterprise JavaBeans and data handling utility classes are written to use the underlying metadata information to build real-time monitoring applications. The utility of the framework was evaluated using wireless accelerometers on a shaking table earthquake simulation test of a reinforced concrete bridge column. The NEESgrid data and metadata repository services were used as a backend storage implementation. A web interface was created to demonstrate the utility of the data model and provides an example health monitoring application.

Engine rotor health monitoring: an experimental approach to fault detection and durability assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdul-Aziz, Ali; Woike, Mark R.; Clem, Michelle; Baaklini, George

2015-03-01

Efforts to update and improve turbine engine components in meeting flights safety and durability requirements are commitments that engine manufacturers try to continuously fulfill. Most of their concerns and developments energies focus on the rotating components as rotor disks. These components typically undergo rigorous operating conditions and are subject to high centrifugal loadings which subject them to various failure mechanisms. Thus, developing highly advanced health monitoring technology to screen their efficacy and performance is very essential to their prolonged service life and operational success. Nondestructive evaluation techniques are among the many screening methods that presently are being used to pre-detect hidden flaws and mini cracks prior to any appalling events occurrence. Most of these methods or procedures are confined to evaluating material's discontinuities and other defects that have mature to a point where failure is eminent. Hence, development of more robust techniques to pre-predict faults prior to any catastrophic events in these components is highly vital. This paper is focused on presenting research activities covering the ongoing research efforts at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) rotor dynamics laboratory in support of developing a fault detection system for key critical turbine engine components. Data obtained from spin test experiments of a rotor disk that relates to investigating behavior of blade tip clearance, tip timing and shaft displacement based on measured data acquired from sensor devices such as eddy current, capacitive and microwave are presented. Additional results linking test data with finite element modeling to characterize the structural durability of a cracked rotor as it relays to the experimental tests and findings is also presented. An obvious difference in the vibration response is shown between the notched and the baseline no notch rotor disk indicating the presence of some type of irregularity.

Landscape-scale water balance monitoring with an iGrav superconducting gravimeter in a field enclosure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Güntner, Andreas; Reich, Marvin; Mikolaj, Michal; Creutzfeldt, Benjamin; Schroeder, Stephan; Wziontek, Hartmut

2017-04-01

In spite of the fundamental role of the landscape water balance for the Earth's water and energy cycles, monitoring the water balance and its components beyond the point scale is notoriously difficult due to the multitude of flow and storage processes and their spatial heterogeneity. Here, we present the first deployment of an iGrav superconducting gravimeter (SG) in a minimized field enclosure on a grassland site for integrative monitoring of water storage changes. Results of the field SG were compared to data provided by a nearby SG located in the controlled environment of an observatory building. For wet-temperate climate conditions, the system proves to provide gravity time series that are similarly precise as those of the observatory SG. At the same time, the field SG is more sensitive to hydrological variations than the observatory SG. We demonstrate that the gravity variations observed by the field setup are almost independent of the depth below the terrain surface where water storage changes occur (contrary to SGs in buildings), and thus the field SG system directly observes the total water storage change, i.e., the water balance, in its surroundings in an integrative way. We provide a framework to single out the water balance components actual evapotranspiration and lateral subsurface discharge from the gravity time series on annual to daily time scales. With about 99% and 85% of the gravity signal originating within a radius of 4000 and 200 meter around the instrument, respectively, this setup paves the road towards gravimetry as a continuous hydrological field monitoring technique at the landscape scale.

Preliminary Development of Online Monitoring Acoustic Emission System for the Integrity of Research Reactor Components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bakhri, S.; Sumarno, E.; Himawan, R.; Akbar, T. Y.; Subekti, M.; Sunaryo, G. R.

2018-02-01

Three research reactors owned by BATAN have been more than 25 years. Aging of (Structure, System and Component) SSC which is mainly related to mechanical causes become the most important issue for the sustainability and safety operation. Acoustic Emission (AE) is one of the appropriate and recommended methods by the IAEA for inspection as well as at the same time for the monitoring of mechanical SSC related. However, the advantages of AE method in detecting the acoustic emission both for the inspection and the online monitoring require a relatively complex measurement system including hardware software system for the signal detection and analysis purposes. Therefore, aim of this work was to develop an AE system based on an embedded system which capable for doing both the online monitoring and inspection of the research reactor’s integrity structure. An embedded system was selected due to the possibility to install the equipment on the field in extreme environmental condition with capability to store, analyses, and send the required information for further maintenance and operation. The research was done by designing the embedded system based on the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) platform, because of their execution speed and system reconfigurable opportunities. The AE embedded system is then tested to identify the AE source location and AE characteristic under tensile material testing. The developed system successfully acquire the AE elastic waveform and determine the parameter-based analysis such as the amplitude, peak, duration, rise time, counts and the average frequency both for the source location test and the tensile test.

ASCS online fault detection and isolation based on an improved MPCA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Jianxin; Liu, Haiou; Hu, Yuhui; Xi, Junqiang; Chen, Huiyan

2014-09-01

Multi-way principal component analysis (MPCA) has received considerable attention and been widely used in process monitoring. A traditional MPCA algorithm unfolds multiple batches of historical data into a two-dimensional matrix and cut the matrix along the time axis to form subspaces. However, low efficiency of subspaces and difficult fault isolation are the common disadvantages for the principal component model. This paper presents a new subspace construction method based on kernel density estimation function that can effectively reduce the storage amount of the subspace information. The MPCA model and the knowledge base are built based on the new subspace. Then, fault detection and isolation with the squared prediction error (SPE) statistic and the Hotelling ( T 2) statistic are also realized in process monitoring. When a fault occurs, fault isolation based on the SPE statistic is achieved by residual contribution analysis of different variables. For fault isolation of subspace based on the T 2 statistic, the relationship between the statistic indicator and state variables is constructed, and the constraint conditions are presented to check the validity of fault isolation. Then, to improve the robustness of fault isolation to unexpected disturbances, the statistic method is adopted to set the relation between single subspace and multiple subspaces to increase the corrective rate of fault isolation. Finally fault detection and isolation based on the improved MPCA is used to monitor the automatic shift control system (ASCS) to prove the correctness and effectiveness of the algorithm. The research proposes a new subspace construction method to reduce the required storage capacity and to prove the robustness of the principal component model, and sets the relationship between the state variables and fault detection indicators for fault isolation.

The development of control and monitoring system on marine current renewable energy Case study: strait of Toyapakeh - Nusa Penida, Bali

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arief, I. S.; Suherman, I. H.; Wardani, A. Y.; Baidowi, A.

2017-05-01

Control and monitoring system is a continuous process of securing the asset in the Marine Current Renewable Energy. A control and monitoring system is existed each critical components which is embedded in Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) method. As the result, the process in this paper developed through a matrix sensor. The matrix correlated to critical components and monitoring system which supported by sensors to conduct decision-making.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of pepper (Capsicum annuum) revealed common regulons in multiple stress conditions and hormone treatments.

PubMed

Lee, Sanghyeob; Choi, Doil

2013-09-01

Global transcriptome analysis revealed common regulons for biotic/abiotic stresses, and some of these regulons encoding signaling components in both stresses were newly identified in this study. In this study, we aimed to identify plant responses to multiple stress conditions and discover the common regulons activated under a variety of stress conditions. Global transcriptome analysis revealed that salicylic acid (SA) may affect the activation of abiotic stress-responsive genes in pepper. Our data indicate that methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and ethylene (ET)-responsive genes were primarily activated by biotic stress, while abscisic acid (ABA)-responsive genes were activated under both types of stresses. We also identified differentially expressed gene (DEG) responses to specific stress conditions. Biotic stress induces more DEGs than those induced by abiotic and hormone applications. The clustering analysis using DEGs indicates that there are common regulons for biotic or abiotic stress conditions. Although SA and MeJA have an antagonistic effect on gene expression levels, SA and MeJA show a largely common regulation as compared to the regulation at the DEG expression level induced by other hormones. We also monitored the expression profiles of DEG encoding signaling components. Twenty-two percent of these were commonly expressed in both stress conditions. The importance of this study is that several genes commonly regulated by both stress conditions may have future applications for creating broadly stress-tolerant pepper plants. This study revealed that there are complex regulons in pepper plant to both biotic and abiotic stress conditions.

Development and Design of a User Interface for a Computer Automated Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anderson, B.; /Fermilab

1999-10-08

A user interface is created to monitor and operate the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system. The interface is networked to the system's programmable logic controller. The controller maintains automated control of the system. The user through the interface is able to see the status of the system and override or adjust the automatic control features. The interface is programmed to show digital readouts of system equipment as well as visual queues of system operational statuses. It also provides information for system design and component interaction. The interface is made easier to read by simple designs, color coordination, and graphics.more » Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermi lab) conducts high energy particle physics research. Part of this research involves collision experiments with protons, and anti-protons. These interactions are contained within one of two massive detectors along Fermilab's largest particle accelerator the Tevatron. The D-Zero Assembly Building houses one of these detectors. At this time detector systems are being upgraded for a second experiment run, titled Run II. Unlike the previous run, systems at D-Zero must be computer automated so operators do not have to continually monitor and adjust these systems during the run. Human intervention should only be necessary for system start up and shut down, and equipment failure. Part of this upgrade includes the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC system). The HVAC system is responsible for controlling two subsystems, the air temperatures of the D-Zero Assembly Building and associated collision hall, as well as six separate water systems used in the heating and cooling of the air and detector components. The BYAC system is automated by a programmable logic controller. In order to provide system monitoring and operator control a user interface is required. This paper will address methods and strategies used to design and implement an effective user interface. Background material pertinent to the BYAC system will cover the separate water and air subsystems and their purposes. In addition programming and system automation will also be covered.« less

A cyber infrastructure for the SKA Telescope Manager

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbosa, Domingos; Barraca, João. P.; Carvalho, Bruno; Maia, Dalmiro; Gupta, Yashwant; Natarajan, Swaminathan; Le Roux, Gerhard; Swart, Paul

2016-07-01

The Square Kilometre Array Telescope Manager (SKA TM) will be responsible for assisting the SKA Operations and Observation Management, carrying out System diagnosis and collecting Monitoring and Control data from the SKA subsystems and components. To provide adequate compute resources, scalability, operation continuity and high availability, as well as strict Quality of Service, the TM cyber-infrastructure (embodied in the Local Infrastructure - LINFRA) consists of COTS hardware and infrastructural software (for example: server monitoring software, host operating system, virtualization software, device firmware), providing a specially tailored Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) solution. The TM infrastructure provides services in the form of computational power, software defined networking, power, storage abstractions, and high level, state of the art IaaS and PaaS management interfaces. This cyber platform will be tailored to each of the two SKA Phase 1 telescopes (SKA_MID in South Africa and SKA_LOW in Australia) instances, each presenting different computational and storage infrastructures and conditioned by location. This cyber platform will provide a compute model enabling TM to manage the deployment and execution of its multiple components (observation scheduler, proposal submission tools, MandC components, Forensic tools and several Databases, etc). In this sense, the TM LINFRA is primarily focused towards the provision of isolated instances, mostly resorting to virtualization technologies, while defaulting to bare hardware if specifically required due to performance, security, availability, or other requirement.

Validation environment for AIPS/ALS: Implementation and results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Segall, Zary; Siewiorek, Daniel; Caplan, Eddie; Chung, Alan; Czeck, Edward; Vrsalovic, Dalibor

1990-01-01

The work is presented which was performed in porting the Fault Injection-based Automated Testing (FIAT) and Programming and Instrumentation Environments (PIE) validation tools, to the Advanced Information Processing System (AIPS) in the context of the Ada Language System (ALS) application, as well as an initial fault free validation of the available AIPS system. The PIE components implemented on AIPS provide the monitoring mechanisms required for validation. These mechanisms represent a substantial portion of the FIAT system. Moreover, these are required for the implementation of the FIAT environment on AIPS. Using these components, an initial fault free validation of the AIPS system was performed. The implementation is described of the FIAT/PIE system, configured for fault free validation of the AIPS fault tolerant computer system. The PIE components were modified to support the Ada language. A special purpose AIPS/Ada runtime monitoring and data collection was implemented. A number of initial Ada programs running on the PIE/AIPS system were implemented. The instrumentation of the Ada programs was accomplished automatically inside the PIE programming environment. PIE's on-line graphical views show vividly and accurately the performance characteristics of Ada programs, AIPS kernel and the application's interaction with the AIPS kernel. The data collection mechanisms were written in a high level language, Ada, and provide a high degree of flexibility for implementation under various system conditions.

Evaluation of the BioVigilant IMD-A, a novel optical spectroscopy technology for the continuous and real-time environmental monitoring of viable and nonviable particles. Part II. Case studies in environmental monitoring during aseptic filling, intervention assessments, and glove integrity testing in manufacturing isolators.

PubMed

Miller, Michael J; Walsh, Michael R; Shrake, Jerry L; Dukes, Randall E; Hill, Daniel B

2009-01-01

This paper describes the use of the BioVigilant IMD-A, a real-time and continuous monitoring technology based on optical spectroscopy, to simultaneously and instantaneously detect, size, and enumerate both viable and nonviable particles in a variety of filling and transfer isolator environments during an aseptic fill, transfer of sterilized components, and filling interventions. Continuous monitoring of three separate isolators for more than 16 h and representing more than 28 m3 of air per isolator (under static conditions) yielded a mean viable particle count of zero (0) per cubic meter. Although the mean count per cubic meter was zero, the detection of very low levels of single viable particles was randomly observed in each of these sampling runs. No viable particles were detected during the manual transfer of sterilized components from transfer isolators into a filling isolator, and similar results were observed during an aseptic fill, a filling needle change-out procedure, and during disassembly, movement, and reassembly of a vibrating stopper bowl. During the continuous monitoring of a sample transfer port and a simulated mousehole, no viable particles were detected; however, when the sampling probe was inserted beyond the isolator-room interface, the IMD-A instantaneously detected and enumerated both viable and nonviable particles originating from the surrounding room. Data from glove pinhole studies showed no viable particles being observed, although significant viable particles were immediately detected when the gloves were removed and a bare hand was allowed to introduce microorganisms into the isolator. The IMD-A technology offers the industry an unprecedented advantage over growth-based bioaerosol samplers for monitoring the state of microbiological control in pharmaceutical manufacturing environments, and represents significant progress toward the acceptance of microbiology process analytical technology solutions for the industry.

A framework to monitor activities of satellite data processing in real-time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, M. D.; Kryukov, A. P.

2018-01-01

Space Monitoring Data Center (SMDC) of SINP MSU is one of the several centers in the world that collects data on the radiational conditions in near-Earth orbit from various Russian (Lomonosov, Electro-L1, Electro-L2, Meteor-M1, Meteor-M2, etc.) and foreign (GOES 13, GOES 15, ACE, SDO, etc.) satellites. The primary purposes of SMDC are: aggregating heterogeneous data from different sources; providing a unified interface for data retrieval, visualization, analysis, as well as development and testing new space weather models; and controlling the correctness and completeness of data. Space weather models rely on data provided by SMDC to produce forecasts. Therefore, monitoring the whole data processing cycle is crucial for further success in the modeling of physical processes in near-Earth orbit based on the collected data. To solve the problem described above, we have developed a framework called Live Monitor at SMDC. Live Monitor allows watching all stages and program components involved in each data processing cycle. All activities of each stage are logged by Live Monitor and shown in real-time on a web interface. When an error occurs, a notification message will be sent to satellite operators via email and the Telegram messenger service so that they could take measures in time. The Live Monitor’s API can be used to create a customized monitoring service with minimum coding.

German experiences in local fatigue monitoring

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abib, E.; Bergholz, S.; Rudolph, J.

The ageing management of nuclear power plants (NPP) has gained an increasing importance in the last years. The reasons are mainly due to the international context of extending period of plants operation. Moreover, new scientific discoveries, such as the corrosive influence of the medium on the fatigue process (environmentally assisted fatigue - EAF) play an important role and influence the code development (ASME, EAF code cases). The fatigue damage process takes a central position in ageing mechanisms of components. It must be ensured through appropriate evidence that facilities are being operated under allowable boundary conditions. In the design phase ofmore » NPP, fatigue analyses are still based on theoretical considerations and empirical values, which are summarized in the design transient catalogue, necessary for licensing. These analyses aim at proving the admissibility of the loads in terms of stress and fatigue usage. These analyses will also provide the fatigue-relevant positions in the NPP and give a basis for future design improvements and optimization of operating modes. The design transients are in practice conservatively correlated with the real transients occurring during operation. Uncertainties reveal very conservative assumptions regarding forecast temperatures, temperature gradients and frequencies of events. During operation of the plant, it has to be recurrently proved, that the plant is being operated under designed boundary conditions. Moreover, operating signals are constantly acquired to enable a fatigue evaluation. For example, in Germany fatigue evaluation is based on decades of experience and regulatory requirements. The rule KTA 3201.4 [1] establishes the rules for qualified fatigue monitoring. The rule DIN 25475-3 [2] on fatigue monitoring systems is available in draft version. Experience shows that some significant differences occur between the design transients and the real occurred transients during plant operation. The reasons for it are the various manual control options and also different operating modes. It is clear that showing the covering of real loads by design loads, requires a relatively complex and well-qualified detection process. The difficulty of this task is increased due to the lack of data or incomplete information and the exclusive reliance on existing operation plant data. The strategy of employing local fatigue monitoring is a straightforward solution enabling the direct measurement of loads on the fatigue-sensitive zones. Nowadays a direct derivation of the complete stress tensor at the fatigue-relevant locations is enabled thanks to the recorded local loads and combination with finite element (FE) analyses. So, additionally to the recorded temperature curves, a representation of the time evolution of the six stress components for each monitored component is possible. This allows the application of the simplified elasto-plastic fatigue check according to design codes. The fatigue level can be realistically analyzed with a suitable cycle-counting method. Furthermore, the knowledge of the time evolution of the stresses and strains enables to take into account an environmental factor to include the corrosive fluid influence in the calculations. Without local recording, it is impossible to calculate realistic fatigue usage. AREVA offers the AREVA fatigue concept (AFC) and the new fatigue monitoring system integrated (FAMOSi), necessary tools to monitor local fatigue and to provide realistic assessment. (authors)« less

Model-based reasoning for power system management using KATE and the SSM/PMAD

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morris, Robert A.; Gonzalez, Avelino J.; Carreira, Daniel J.; Mckenzie, F. D.; Gann, Brian

1993-01-01

The overall goal of this research effort has been the development of a software system which automates tasks related to monitoring and controlling electrical power distribution in spacecraft electrical power systems. The resulting software system is called the Intelligent Power Controller (IPC). The specific tasks performed by the IPC include continuous monitoring of the flow of power from a source to a set of loads, fast detection of anomalous behavior indicating a fault to one of the components of the distribution systems, generation of diagnosis (explanation) of anomalous behavior, isolation of faulty object from remainder of system, and maintenance of flow of power to critical loads and systems (e.g. life-support) despite fault conditions being present (recovery). The IPC system has evolved out of KATE (Knowledge-based Autonomous Test Engineer), developed at NASA-KSC. KATE consists of a set of software tools for developing and applying structure and behavior models to monitoring, diagnostic, and control applications.

Diabetes mellitus: biosensors for research and management.

PubMed

Turner, A P; Pickup, J C

1985-01-01

The condition of diabetes mellitus is described with particular reference to the parameters that it would be desirable to monitor in order to improve management and understanding of the disease. Previous attention has largely focused on analysis of glucose, but many other intermediates of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism are deranged in diabetes and may be alternative measures of control. The need for laboratory analysers, self-monitoring, closed-loop devices and alarms are detailed and the problems associated with implantable sensors discussed. Progress in the development of biosensors is reviewed using glucose sensors as the main example. Electrochemical, optoelectronic and calorimetric approaches to sensing are considered and it is concluded that configurations based either on hydrogen peroxide detection or on mediated electron transfer are most likely to provide a raid route to in vivo monitoring. The extension of biosensor technology to tackle other important substrates is discussed, the principal hurdle to success being seen as the lack of long-term stability of the biological component.

Beer fermentation: monitoring of process parameters by FT-NIR and multivariate data analysis.

PubMed

Grassi, Silvia; Amigo, José Manuel; Lyndgaard, Christian Bøge; Foschino, Roberto; Casiraghi, Ernestina

2014-07-15

This work investigates the capability of Fourier-Transform near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy to monitor and assess process parameters in beer fermentation at different operative conditions. For this purpose, the fermentation of wort with two different yeast strains and at different temperatures was monitored for nine days by FT-NIR. To correlate the collected spectra with °Brix, pH and biomass, different multivariate data methodologies were applied. Principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares (PLS) and locally weighted regression (LWR) were used to assess the relationship between FT-NIR spectra and the abovementioned process parameters that define the beer fermentation. The accuracy and robustness of the obtained results clearly show the suitability of FT-NIR spectroscopy, combined with multivariate data analysis, to be used as a quality control tool in the beer fermentation process. FT-NIR spectroscopy, when combined with LWR, demonstrates to be a perfectly suitable quantitative method to be implemented in the production of beer. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental investigation on centrifugal compressor blade crack classification using the squared envelope spectrum.

PubMed

Li, Hongkun; Zhang, Xuefeng; Xu, Fujian

2013-09-18

Centrifugal compressors are a key piece of equipment for modern production. Among the components of the centrifugal compressor, the impeller is a pivotal part as it is used to transform kinetic energy into pressure energy. Blade crack condition monitoring and classification has been broadly investigated in the industrial and academic area. In this research, a pressure pulsation (PP) sensor arranged in close vicinity to the crack area and the corresponding casing vibration signals are used to monitor blade crack information. As these signals cannot directly demonstrate the blade crack, the method employed in this research is based on the extraction of weak signal characteristics that are induced by blade cracking. A method for blade crack classification based on the signals monitored by using a squared envelope spectrum (SES) is presented. Experimental investigations on blade crack classification are carried out to verify the effectiveness of this method. The results show that it is an effective tool for blade crack classification in centrifugal compressors.

Structural health monitoring of IACC yachts using fiber optic distributed strain sensors: a technical challenge for America's Cup 2000

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murayama, Hideaki; Kageyama, Kazuro; Kimpara, Isao; Akiyoshi, Shimada; Naruse, Hiroshi

2000-06-01

In this study, we developed a health monitoring system using a fiber optic distributed strain sensor for International America's Cup Class (IACC) yachts. Most structural components of an IACC yacht consist of an aluminum honeycomb core sandwiched between carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates. In such structures, delamination, skin/core debonding and debonding between adhered members will be result in serious fracture of the structure. We equipped two IACC yachts with fiber optic strain sensors designed to measured the distributed strain using a Brillouin optical time domain reflectometer (BOTDR) and to detect any deterioration or damage to the yacht's structures caused by such failures. And based on laboratory test results, we proposed a structural health monitoring technique for IACC yachts that involves analyzing their strain distribution. Some important information about structural conditions of the IACC yachts could be obtained from this system through the periodical strain measurements in the field.

A Data-Driven Diagnostic Framework for Wind Turbine Structures: A Holistic Approach

PubMed Central

Bogoevska, Simona; Spiridonakos, Minas; Chatzi, Eleni; Dumova-Jovanoska, Elena; Höffer, Rudiger

2017-01-01

The complex dynamics of operational wind turbine (WT) structures challenges the applicability of existing structural health monitoring (SHM) strategies for condition assessment. At the center of Europe’s renewable energy strategic planning, WT systems call for implementation of strategies that may describe the WT behavior in its complete operational spectrum. The framework proposed in this paper relies on the symbiotic treatment of acting environmental/operational variables and the monitored vibration response of the structure. The approach aims at accurate simulation of the temporal variability characterizing the WT dynamics, and subsequently at the tracking of the evolution of this variability in a longer-term horizon. The bi-component analysis tool is applied on long-term data, collected as part of continuous monitoring campaigns on two actual operating WT structures located in different sites in Germany. The obtained data-driven structural models verify the potential of the proposed strategy for development of an automated SHM diagnostic tool. PMID:28358346

Experimental Investigation on Centrifugal Compressor Blade Crack Classification Using the Squared Envelope Spectrum

PubMed Central

Li, Hongkun; Zhang, Xuefeng; Xu, Fujian

2013-01-01

Centrifugal compressors are a key piece of equipment for modern production. Among the components of the centrifugal compressor, the impeller is a pivotal part as it is used to transform kinetic energy into pressure energy. Blade crack condition monitoring and classification has been broadly investigated in the industrial and academic area. In this research, a pressure pulsation (PP) sensor arranged in close vicinity to the crack area and the corresponding casing vibration signals are used to monitor blade crack information. As these signals cannot directly demonstrate the blade crack, the method employed in this research is based on the extraction of weak signal characteristics that are induced by blade cracking. A method for blade crack classification based on the signals monitored by using a squared envelope spectrum (SES) is presented. Experimental investigations on blade crack classification are carried out to verify the effectiveness of this method. The results show that it is an effective tool for blade crack classification in centrifugal compressors. PMID:24051521

Measuring Time-Averaged Blood Pressure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rothman, Neil S.

1988-01-01

Device measures time-averaged component of absolute blood pressure in artery. Includes compliant cuff around artery and external monitoring unit. Ceramic construction in monitoring unit suppresses ebb and flow of pressure-transmitting fluid in sensor chamber. Transducer measures only static component of blood pressure.

Monitoring of Wind Turbine Gearbox Condition through Oil and Wear Debris Analysis: A Full-Scale Testing Perspective

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sheng, Shuangwen

Despite the wind industry's dramatic development during the past decade, it is still challenged by premature turbine subsystem/component failures, especially for turbines rated above 1 MW. Because a crane is needed for each replacement, gearboxes have been a focal point for improvement in reliability and availability. Condition monitoring (CM) is a technique that can help improve these factors, leading to reduced turbine operation and maintenance costs and, subsequently, lower cost of energy for wind power. Although technical benefits of CM for the wind industry are normally recognized, there is a lack of published information on the advantages and limitations ofmore » each CM technique confirmed by objective data from full-scale tests. This article presents first-hand oil and wear debris analysis results obtained through tests that were based on full-scale wind turbine gearboxes rated at 750 kW. The tests were conducted at the 2.5-MW dynamometer test facility at the National Wind Technology Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The gearboxes were tested in three conditions: run-in, healthy, and damaged. The investigated CM techniques include real-time oil condition and wear debris monitoring, both inline and online sensors, and offline oil sample and wear debris analysis, both onsite and offsite laboratories. The reported results and observations help increase wind industry awareness of the benefits and limitations of oil and debris analysis technologies and highlight the challenges in these technologies and other tribological fields for the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers and other organizations to help address, leading to extended gearbox service life.« less

A National Crop Progress Monitoring System Based on NASA Earth Science Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di, L.; Yu, G.; Zhang, B.; Deng, M.; Yang, Z.

2011-12-01

Crop progress is an important piece of information for food security and agricultural commodities. Timely monitoring and reporting are mandated for the operation of agricultural statistical agencies. Traditionally, the weekly reporting issued by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is based on reports from the knowledgeable state and county agricultural officials and farmers. The results are spatially coarse and subjective. In this project, a remote-sensing-supported crop progress monitoring system is being developed intensively using the data and derived products from NASA Earth Observing satellites. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 3 product - MOD09 (Surface Reflectance) is used for deriving daily normalized vegetation index (NDVI), vegetation condition index (VCI), and mean vegetation condition index (MVCI). Ratio change to previous year and multiple year mean can be also produced on demand. The time-series vegetation condition indices are further combined with the NASS' remote-sensing-derived Cropland Data Layer (CDL) to estimate crop condition and progress crop by crop. To facilitate the operational requirement and increase the accessibility of data and products by different users, each component of the system has being developed and implemented following open specifications under the Web Service reference model of Open Geospatial Consortium Inc. Sensor observations and data are accessed through Web Coverage Service (WCS), Web Feature Service (WFS), or Sensor Observation Service (SOS) if available. Products are also served through such open-specification-compliant services. For rendering and presentation, Web Map Service (WMS) is used. A Web-service based system is set up and deployed at dss.csiss.gmu.edu/NDVIDownload. Further development will adopt crop growth models, feed the models with remotely sensed precipitation and soil moisture information, and incorporate the model results with vegetation-index time series for crop progress stage estimation.

A component-based system for agricultural drought monitoring by remote sensing.

PubMed

Dong, Heng; Li, Jun; Yuan, Yanbin; You, Lin; Chen, Chao

2017-01-01

In recent decades, various kinds of remote sensing-based drought indexes have been proposed and widely used in the field of drought monitoring. However, the drought-related software and platform development lag behind the theoretical research. The current drought monitoring systems focus mainly on information management and publishing, and cannot implement professional drought monitoring or parameter inversion modelling, especially the models based on multi-dimensional feature space. In view of the above problems, this paper aims at fixing this gap with a component-based system named RSDMS to facilitate the application of drought monitoring by remote sensing. The system is designed and developed based on Component Object Model (COM) to ensure the flexibility and extendibility of modules. RSDMS realizes general image-related functions such as data management, image display, spatial reference management, image processing and analysis, and further provides drought monitoring and evaluation functions based on internal and external models. Finally, China's Ningxia region is selected as the study area to validate the performance of RSDMS. The experimental results show that RSDMS provide an efficient and scalable support to agricultural drought monitoring.

A component-based system for agricultural drought monitoring by remote sensing

PubMed Central

Yuan, Yanbin; You, Lin; Chen, Chao

2017-01-01

In recent decades, various kinds of remote sensing-based drought indexes have been proposed and widely used in the field of drought monitoring. However, the drought-related software and platform development lag behind the theoretical research. The current drought monitoring systems focus mainly on information management and publishing, and cannot implement professional drought monitoring or parameter inversion modelling, especially the models based on multi-dimensional feature space. In view of the above problems, this paper aims at fixing this gap with a component-based system named RSDMS to facilitate the application of drought monitoring by remote sensing. The system is designed and developed based on Component Object Model (COM) to ensure the flexibility and extendibility of modules. RSDMS realizes general image-related functions such as data management, image display, spatial reference management, image processing and analysis, and further provides drought monitoring and evaluation functions based on internal and external models. Finally, China’s Ningxia region is selected as the study area to validate the performance of RSDMS. The experimental results show that RSDMS provide an efficient and scalable support to agricultural drought monitoring. PMID:29236700

EEMD-based wind turbine bearing failure detection using the generator stator current homopolar component

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amirat, Yassine; Choqueuse, Vincent; Benbouzid, Mohamed

2013-12-01

Failure detection has always been a demanding task in the electrical machines community; it has become more challenging in wind energy conversion systems because sustainability and viability of wind farms are highly dependent on the reduction of the operational and maintenance costs. Indeed the most efficient way of reducing these costs would be to continuously monitor the condition of these systems. This allows for early detection of the generator health degeneration, facilitating a proactive response, minimizing downtime, and maximizing productivity. This paper provides then an assessment of a failure detection techniques based on the homopolar component of the generator stator current and attempts to highlight the use of the ensemble empirical mode decomposition as a tool for failure detection in wind turbine generators for stationary and non-stationary cases.

Microbiology operations and facilities aboard restructured Space Station Freedom

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cioletti, Louis A.; Mishra, S. K.; Pierson, Duane L.

1992-01-01

With the restructure and funding changes for Space Station Freedom, the Environmental Health System (EHS)/Microbiology Subsystem revised its scheduling and operational requirements for component hardware. The function of the Microbiology Subsystem is to monitor the environmental quality of air, water, and internal surfaces and, in part, crew health on board Space Station. Its critical role shall be the identification of microbial contaminants in the environment that may cause system degradation, produce unsanitary or pathogenic conditions, or reduce crew and mission effectiveness. EHS/Microbiology operations and equipment shall be introduced in concert with a phased assembly sequence, from Man Tended Capability (MTC) through Permanently Manned Capability (PMC). Effective Microbiology operations and subsystem components will assure a safe, habitable, and useful spacecraft environment for life sciences research and long-term manned exploration.

Analogue step-by-step DC component eliminator for 24-hour PPG signal monitoring.

PubMed

Pilt, Kristjan; Meigas, Kalju; Lass, Jaanus; Rosmann, Mart; Kaik, Jüri

2007-01-01

For applications where PPG signal AC component needs to be measured without disturbances in its shape and recorded digitally with high digitalization accuracy, the step-by-step DC component eliminator is developed. This paper describes step-by-step DC component eliminator, which is utilized with analogue comparator and operational amplifier. It allows to record PPG signal without disturbances in its shape in 24-hours PPG signal monitoring system. The experiments with PPG signal have been carried out.

Estimation procedures to measure and monitor failure rates of components during thermal-vacuum testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, R. E.; Kruger, R.

1980-01-01

Estimation procedures are described for measuring component failure rates, for comparing the failure rates of two different groups of components, and for formulating confidence intervals for testing hypotheses (based on failure rates) that the two groups perform similarly or differently. Appendix A contains an example of an analysis in which these methods are applied to investigate the characteristics of two groups of spacecraft components. The estimation procedures are adaptable to system level testing and to monitoring failure characteristics in orbit.

Intelligent Software Agents: Sensor Integration and Response

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kulesz, James J; Lee, Ronald W

2013-01-01

Abstract In a post Macondo world the buzzwords are Integrity Management and Incident Response Management. The twin processes are not new but the opportunity to link the two is novel. Intelligent software agents can be used with sensor networks in distributed and centralized computing systems to enhance real-time monitoring of system integrity as well as manage the follow-on incident response to changing, and potentially hazardous, environmental conditions. The software components are embedded at the sensor network nodes in surveillance systems used for monitoring unusual events. When an event occurs, the software agents establish a new concept of operation at themore » sensing node, post the event status to a blackboard for software agents at other nodes to see , and then react quickly and efficiently to monitor the scale of the event. The technology addresses a current challenge in sensor networks that prevents a rapid and efficient response when a sensor measurement indicates that an event has occurred. By using intelligent software agents - which can be stationary or mobile, interact socially, and adapt to changing situations - the technology offers features that are particularly important when systems need to adapt to active circumstances. For example, when a release is detected, the local software agent collaborates with other agents at the node to exercise the appropriate operation, such as: targeted detection, increased detection frequency, decreased detection frequency for other non-alarming sensors, and determination of environmental conditions so that adjacent nodes can be informed that an event is occurring and when it will arrive. The software agents at the nodes can also post the data in a targeted manner, so that agents at other nodes and the command center can exercise appropriate operations to recalibrate the overall sensor network and associated intelligence systems. The paper describes the concepts and provides examples of real-world implementations including the Threat Detection and Analysis System (TDAS) at the International Port of Memphis and the Biological Warning and Incident Characterization System (BWIC) Environmental Monitoring (EM) Component. Technologies developed for these 24/7 operational systems have applications for improved real-time system integrity awareness as well as provide incident response (as needed) for production and field applications.« less

Instantaneous angular speed monitoring of gearboxes under non-cyclic stationary load conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stander, C. J.; Heyns, P. S.

2005-07-01

Recent developments in the condition monitoring and asset management market have led to the commercialisation of online vibration-monitoring systems. These systems are primarily utilised to monitor large mineral mining equipment such as draglines, continuous miners and hydraulic shovels. Online monitoring systems make diagnostic information continuously available for asset management, production outsourcing and maintenance alliances with equipment manufacturers. However, most online vibration-monitoring systems are based on conventional vibration-monitoring technologies, which are prone to giving false equipment deterioration warnings on gears that operate under fluctuating load conditions. A simplified mathematical model of a gear system was developed to illustrate the feasibility of monitoring the instantaneous angular speed (IAS) as a means of monitoring the condition of gears that are subjected to fluctuating load conditions. A distinction is made between cyclic stationary load modulation and non-cyclic stationary load modulation. It is shown that rotation domain averaging will suppress the modulation caused by non-cyclic stationary load conditions but will not suppress the modulation caused by cyclic stationary load conditions. An experimental investigation on a test rig indicated that the IAS of a gear shaft could be monitored with a conventional shaft encoder to indicate a deteriorating gear fault condition.

Development of an in situ fiber optic Raman system to monitor hydrothermal vents.

PubMed

Battaglia, Tina M; Dunn, Eileen E; Lilley, Marvin D; Holloway, John; Dable, Brian K; Marquardt, Brian J; Booksh, Karl S

2004-07-01

The development of a field portable fiber optic Raman system modified from commercially available components that can operate remotely on battery power and withstand the corrosive environment of the hydrothermal vents is discussed. The Raman system is designed for continuous monitoring in the deep-sea environment. A 785 nm diode laser was used in conjunction with a sapphire ball fiber optic Raman probe, single board computer, and a CCD detector. Using the system at ambient conditions the detection limits of SO(4)(2-), CO(3)(2-) and NO(3)(-) were determined to be approximately 0.11, 0.36 and 0.12 g l(-1) respectively. Mimicking the cold conditions of the sea floor by placing the equipment in a refrigerator yielded slightly worse detection limits of approximately 0.16 g l(-1) for SO(4)(-2) and 0.20 g l(-1) for NO(3)(-). Addition of minerals commonly found in vent fluid plumes also decreased the detection limits to approximately 0.33 and 0.34 g l(-1) respectively for SO(4)(-2) and NO(3)(-).

Automated enclosure and protection system for compact solar-tracking spectrometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinle, Ludwig; Chen, Jia

2018-04-01

A novel automated enclosure for protecting solar-tracking atmospheric instruments was designed, constructed, and successfully tested under various weather conditions. A complete automated measurement system, consisting of a compact solar-tracking Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer (EM27/SUN) and the enclosure, has been deployed in central Munich to monitor greenhouse gases since 2016 and withstood all critical weather conditions, including rain, storms, and snow. It provided ground-based measurements of column-averaged concentrations of CO2, CH4, O2, and H2O throughout this time.The enclosure protects the instrument from harmful environmental influences while allowing open-path measurements in sunny weather. The newly developed and patented cover, a key component of the enclosure, permits unblocked solar measurements while reliably protecting the instrument. This enables dynamic decision regarding taking measurements, and thus increases the number of data samples. This enclosure leads to a fully automated measurement system, which collects data whenever possible without any human interaction. In the long term, the enclosure will provide the foundation for a permanent greenhouse gas monitoring sensor network.

A Fault Recognition System for Gearboxes of Wind Turbines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Zhiling; Huang, Haiyue; Yin, Zidong

2017-12-01

Costs of maintenance and loss of power generation caused by the faults of wind turbines gearboxes are the main components of operation costs for a wind farm. Therefore, the technology of condition monitoring and fault recognition for wind turbines gearboxes is becoming a hot topic. A condition monitoring and fault recognition system (CMFRS) is presented for CBM of wind turbines gearboxes in this paper. The vibration signals from acceleration sensors at different locations of gearbox and the data from supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system are collected to CMFRS. Then the feature extraction and optimization algorithm is applied to these operational data. Furthermore, to recognize the fault of gearboxes, the GSO-LSSVR algorithm is proposed, combining the least squares support vector regression machine (LSSVR) with the Glowworm Swarm Optimization (GSO) algorithm. Finally, the results show that the fault recognition system used in this paper has a high rate for identifying three states of wind turbines’ gears; besides, the combination of date features can affect the identifying rate and the selection optimization algorithm presented in this paper can get a pretty good date feature subset for the fault recognition.

Intelligent approach to prognostic enhancements of diagnostic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vachtsevanos, George; Wang, Peng; Khiripet, Noppadon; Thakker, Ash; Galie, Thomas R.

2001-07-01

This paper introduces a novel methodology to prognostics based on a dynamic wavelet neural network construct and notions from the virtual sensor area. This research has been motivated and supported by the U.S. Navy's active interest in integrating advanced diagnostic and prognostic algorithms in existing Naval digital control and monitoring systems. A rudimentary diagnostic platform is assumed to be available providing timely information about incipient or impending failure conditions. We focus on the development of a prognostic algorithm capable of predicting accurately and reliably the remaining useful lifetime of a failing machine or component. The prognostic module consists of a virtual sensor and a dynamic wavelet neural network as the predictor. The virtual sensor employs process data to map real measurements into difficult to monitor fault quantities. The prognosticator uses a dynamic wavelet neural network as a nonlinear predictor. Means to manage uncertainty and performance metrics are suggested for comparison purposes. An interface to an available shipboard Integrated Condition Assessment System is described and applications to shipboard equipment are discussed. Typical results from pump failures are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the methodology.

An investigation into non-invasive physical activity recognition using smartphones.

PubMed

Kelly, Daniel; Caulfield, Brian

2012-01-01

Technology utilized to automatically monitor Activities of Daily Living (ADL) could be a key component in identifying deviations from normal functional profiles and providing feedback on interventions aimed at improving health. However, if activity recognition systems are to be implemented in real world scenarios such as health and wellness monitoring, the activity sensing modality must unobtrusively fit the human environment rather than forcing humans to adhere to sensor specific conditions. Modern smart phones represent a ubiquitous computing device which has already undergone mainstream adoption. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of using a modern smartphone, with limited placement constraints, as the sensing modality for an activity recognition system. A dataset of 4 subjects performing 7 activities, using varying sensor placement conditions, is utilized to investigate this. Initial experiments show that a decision tree classifier performs activity classification with precision and recall scores of 0.75 and 0.73 respectively. More importantly, as part of this initial experiment, 3 main problems, and subsequently 3 solutions, relating to unconstrained sensor placement were identified. Using our proposed solutions, classification precision and recall scores were improved by +13% and +14.6% respectively.

Improving the implementation of marine monitoring in the northeast Atlantic.

PubMed

Turrell, W R

2018-03-01

Marine monitoring in the northeast Atlantic is delivered within identifiable monitoring themes, established through time and defined by the geographical area and policy drivers they serve, the sampling methodologies they use, their assessment methodologies, their funding and governance structures and the people or organisations involved in their implementation. Within a monitoring theme, essential components for effective monitoring are governance, strategy and work plan, sampling protocols, quality assurance, and data and assessment structures. This simple framework is used to analyse two monitoring theme case studies; national ecosystem health monitoring, and regional fish stock monitoring. Such essential component analyses, within marine monitoring themes, can help improve monitoring implementation by identifying gaps and overlaps. Once monitoring themes are recognised, explicitly defined and streamlined, travel towards integrated monitoring may be made easier as the current lack of clarity in thematic marine monitoring implementation is one barrier to integration at both national and regional scales. Copyright © 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Monitoring progress towards universal health coverage at country and global levels.

PubMed

Boerma, Ties; Eozenou, Patrick; Evans, David; Evans, Tim; Kieny, Marie-Paule; Wagstaff, Adam

2014-09-01

Universal health coverage (UHC) has been defined as the desired outcome of health system performance whereby all people who need health services (promotion, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliation) receive them, without undue financial hardship. UHC has two interrelated components: the full spectrum of good-quality, essential health services according to need, and protection from financial hardship, including possible impoverishment, due to out-of-pocket payments for health services. Both components should benefit the entire population. This paper summarizes the findings from 13 country case studies and five technical reviews, which were conducted as part of the development of a global framework for monitoring progress towards UHC. The case studies show the relevance and feasibility of focusing UHC monitoring on two discrete components of health system performance: levels of coverage with health services and financial protection, with a focus on equity. These components link directly to the definition of UHC and measure the direct results of strategies and policies for UHC. The studies also show how UHC monitoring can be fully embedded in often existing, regular overall monitoring of health sector progress and performance. Several methodological and practical issues related to the monitoring of coverage of essential health services, financial protection, and equity, are highlighted. Addressing the gaps in the availability and quality of data required for monitoring progress towards UHC is critical in most countries.

Monitoring Progress towards Universal Health Coverage at Country and Global Levels

PubMed Central

Boerma, Ties; Eozenou, Patrick; Evans, David; Evans, Tim; Kieny, Marie-Paule; Wagstaff, Adam

2014-01-01

Universal health coverage (UHC) has been defined as the desired outcome of health system performance whereby all people who need health services (promotion, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliation) receive them, without undue financial hardship. UHC has two interrelated components: the full spectrum of good-quality, essential health services according to need, and protection from financial hardship, including possible impoverishment, due to out-of-pocket payments for health services. Both components should benefit the entire population. This paper summarizes the findings from 13 country case studies and five technical reviews, which were conducted as part of the development of a global framework for monitoring progress towards UHC. The case studies show the relevance and feasibility of focusing UHC monitoring on two discrete components of health system performance: levels of coverage with health services and financial protection, with a focus on equity. These components link directly to the definition of UHC and measure the direct results of strategies and policies for UHC. The studies also show how UHC monitoring can be fully embedded in often existing, regular overall monitoring of health sector progress and performance. Several methodological and practical issues related to the monitoring of coverage of essential health services, financial protection, and equity, are highlighted. Addressing the gaps in the availability and quality of data required for monitoring progress towards UHC is critical in most countries. PMID:25243899

Acoustic Techniques for Structural Health Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frankenstein, B.; Augustin, J.; Hentschel, D.; Schubert, F.; Köhler, B.; Meyendorf, N.

2008-02-01

Future safety and maintenance strategies for industrial components and vehicles are based on combinations of monitoring systems that are permanently attached to or embedded in the structure, and periodic inspections. The latter belongs to conventional nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and can be enhanced or partially replaced by structural health monitoring systems. However, the main benefit of this technology for the future will consist of systems that can be differently designed based on improved safety philosophies, including continuous monitoring. This approach will increase the efficiency of inspection procedures at reduced inspection times. The Fraunhofer IZFP Dresden Branch has developed network nodes, miniaturized transmitter and receiver systems for active and passive acoustical techniques and sensor systems that can be attached to or embedded into components or structures. These systems have been used to demonstrate intelligent sensor networks for the monitoring of aerospace structures, railway systems, wind energy generators, piping system and other components. Material discontinuities and flaws have been detected and monitored during full scale fatigue testing. This paper will discuss opportunities and future trends in nondestructive evaluation and health monitoring based on new sensor principles and advanced microelectronics. It will outline various application examples of monitoring systems based on acoustic techniques and will indicate further needs for research and development.

Hydrologic processes governing near surface saturation of alpine wetlands in the Canadian Rockies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Westbrook, C.; Mercer, J.

2016-12-01

Alpine wetlands are vital for habitat, biodiversity, carbon cycling and water storage, but little is known about their hydrologic condition. Climate trends toward smaller mountain snowpacks that melt earlier are thought to pose a threat to the continued provision of alpine wetland ecological functions, and their existence, as it is believed they derive their water mainly from snowmelt. Our objective was to determine the hydrologic processes governing near surface saturation in alpine wetlands. We monitored the water table dynamics of three alpine wetlands in contrasting hydrogeomorphic landscape positions for two summers in Banff National Park, Canada. We concurrently monitored water balance components, and analyzed soil properties and source water geochemistry. Despite very different snow conditions between the two study years, water tables remained near the surface and relatively stable in both years, indicating wetlands are more hydrologically buffered from snowpack variations than expected. We did not find convincing evidence of hydrogeomorphic position influencing wetland water table dynamics. Instead, peat thickness seemed to be critical in regulating water table as the wetland with the thickest peat soil (>1 m) maintained water tables closest to the ground surface for the longest period of time. Thicker peat deposits may develop under convergent hydrologic flow path conditions. Our results indicate that alpine wetlands are more resilient to shifting environmental conditions than previously reported.

Dynamic Assembly, Assessment, Assurance, and Adaptation via Heterogeneous Software Connectors

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-10-01

Versioning Connectors (MVC) Representative of runtime monitoring gauges are multiversioning gauges, which monitor and analyze different versions of...multiple versions of the same component must be merged by the connector before they are forwarded to their target components. The multiversioning

Support vector machine in machine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Widodo, Achmad; Yang, Bo-Suk

2007-08-01

Recently, the issue of machine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis as a part of maintenance system became global due to the potential advantages to be gained from reduced maintenance costs, improved productivity and increased machine availability. This paper presents a survey of machine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis using support vector machine (SVM). It attempts to summarize and review the recent research and developments of SVM in machine condition monitoring and diagnosis. Numerous methods have been developed based on intelligent systems such as artificial neural network, fuzzy expert system, condition-based reasoning, random forest, etc. However, the use of SVM for machine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis is still rare. SVM has excellent performance in generalization so it can produce high accuracy in classification for machine condition monitoring and diagnosis. Until 2006, the use of SVM in machine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis is tending to develop towards expertise orientation and problem-oriented domain. Finally, the ability to continually change and obtain a novel idea for machine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis using SVM will be future works.

The Joint Experiment for Crop Assessment and Monitoring (JECAM) Initiative: Developing methods and best practices for global agricultural monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Champagne, C.; Jarvis, I.; Defourny, P.; Davidson, A.

2014-12-01

Agricultural systems differ significantly throughout the world, making a 'one size fits all' approach to remote sensing and monitoring of agricultural landscapes problematic. The Joint Experiment for Crop Assessment and Monitoring (JECAM) was established in 2009 to bring together the global scientific community to work towards a set of best practices and recommendations for using earth observation data to map, monitor and report on agricultural productivity globally across an array of diverse agricultural systems. These methods form the research and development component of the Group on Earth Observation Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) initiative to harmonize global monitoring efforts and increase market transparency. The JECAM initiative brings together researchers from a large number of globally distributed, well monitored agricultural test sites that cover a range of crop types, cropping systems and climate regimes. Each test site works independently as well as together across multiple sites to test methods, sensors and field data collection techniques to derive key agricultural parameters, including crop type, crop condition, crop yield and soil moisture. The outcome of this project will be a set of best practices that cover the range of remote sensing monitoring and reporting needs, including satellite data acquisition, pre-processing techniques, information retrieval and ground data validation. These outcomes provide the research and development foundation for GEOGLAM and will help to inform the development of the GEOGLAM "system of systems" for global agricultural monitoring. The outcomes of the 2014 JECAM science meeting will be discussed as well as examples of methods being developed by JECAM scientists.

Urban air quality assessment using monitoring data of fractionized aerosol samples, chemometrics and meteorological conditions.

PubMed

Yotova, Galina I; Tsitouridou, Roxani; Tsakovski, Stefan L; Simeonov, Vasil D

2016-01-01

The present article deals with assessment of urban air by using monitoring data for 10 different aerosol fractions (0.015-16 μm) collected at a typical urban site in City of Thessaloniki, Greece. The data set was subject to multivariate statistical analysis (cluster analysis and principal components analysis) and, additionally, to HYSPLIT back trajectory modeling in order to assess in a better way the impact of the weather conditions on the pollution sources identified. A specific element of the study is the effort to clarify the role of outliers in the data set. The reason for the appearance of outliers is strongly related to the atmospheric condition on the particular sampling days leading to enhanced concentration of pollutants (secondary emissions, sea sprays, road and soil dust, combustion processes) especially for ultra fine and coarse particles. It is also shown that three major sources affect the urban air quality of the location studied-sea sprays, mineral dust and anthropogenic influences (agricultural activity, combustion processes, and industrial sources). The level of impact is related to certain extent to the aerosol fraction size. The assessment of the meteorological conditions leads to defining of four downwind patterns affecting the air quality (Pelagic, Western and Central Europe, Eastern and Northeastern Europe and Africa and Southern Europe). Thus, the present study offers a complete urban air assessment taking into account the weather conditions, pollution sources and aerosol fractioning.

Proposal of one-shot-type spectroscopic-tomography for non-invasive medical-measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Shun; Fujiwara, Masaru; Abeygunawardhana, Pradeep K. W.; Suzuki, Satoru; Nishiyama, Akira; Ishimaru, Ichiro

2013-06-01

The one-shot-type spectroscopic-tomography is proposed to develop the medical-patient-condition monitoring systems. The optical-setup is configured with the relative-inclined phase-shifter for improving the time resolution and the phase-shift array for improving visibility. We obtained the line-spectroscopic imaging and could recognize the Hg bright-line-spectrum that is a component of the light-source. The realization of the optical stethoscope for early diagnosis of cancer can be expected by obtaining the 2-dimensional spectroscopic distribution with rotating interferometer.

Automatic laser beam alignment using blob detection for an environment monitoring spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khidir, Jarjees; Chen, Youhua; Anderson, Gary

2013-05-01

This paper describes a fully automated system to align an infra-red laser beam with a small retro-reflector over a wide range of distances. The component development and test were especially used for an open-path spectrometer gas detection system. Using blob detection under OpenCV library, an automatic alignment algorithm was designed to achieve fast and accurate target detection in a complex background environment. Test results are presented to show that the proposed algorithm has been successfully applied to various target distances and environment conditions.

Development of a Single-Step Subtraction Method for Eukaryotic 18S and 28S Ribonucleic Acids

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

ng of total RNA (92.5% rat thymus RNA/7.41% E . coli RNA). The reactions were performed according to the manufacture’s instruction. For the low target...capture conditions. The input RNA used was either 500 ng or 1000 ng of rat thymus RNA or total RNA (92.5% rat thymus RNA/7.41% E . coli RNA). 2.7. Real...concentrations. Rat thymus RNA (mammalian components) with E . coli RNA (bacterial target) was used as a model system to test the capture efficiency and monitor

Southwest Washington littoral drift restoration—Beach and nearshore morphological monitoring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stevens, Andrew W.; Gelfenbaum, Guy; Ruggiero, Peter; Kaminsky, George M.

2012-01-01

A morphological monitoring program has documented the placement and initial dispersal of beach nourishment material (280,000 m3) placed between the Mouth of the Columbia River (MCR) North Jetty and North Head, at the southern end of the Long Beach Peninsula in southwestern Washington State. A total of 21 topographic surveys and 8 nearshore bathymetric surveys were performed between July 11, 2010, and November 4, 2011. During placement, southerly alongshore transport resulted in movement of nourishment material to the south towards the MCR North Jetty. Moderate wave conditions (significant wave height around 4 m) following the completion of the nourishment resulted in cross-shore sediment transport, with most of the nourishment material transported into the nearshore bars. The nourishment acted as a buffer to the more severe erosion, including dune overtopping and retreat, that was observed at the northern end of the study area throughout the winter. One year after placement of the nourishment, onshore transport and beach recovery were most pronounced within the permit area and to the south toward the MCR North Jetty. This suggests that there is some long-term benefit of the nourishment for reducing erosion rates locally, although the enhanced recovery also could be due to natural gradients in alongshore transport causing net movement of the sediment from north to south. Measurements made during the morphological monitoring program documented the seasonal movement and decay of nearshore sand bars. Low-energy conditions in late summer resulted in onshore bar migration early in the monitoring program. Moderate wave conditions in the autumn resulted in offshore movement of the middle bar and continued onshore migration of the outer bar. High-energy wave conditions early in the winter resulted in strong cross-shore transport and creation of a 3-bar system along portions of the coast. More southerly wave events occurred later in the winter and early spring and coincided with the complete loss of the outer bar and net loss of sediment from the study area. These data suggest that bar decay may be an important mechanism for exporting sediment from Benson Beach north to the Long Beach Peninsula. The measurements presented in this report represent one component of a broader monitoring program designed to track the movement of nourishment material on the beach and shoreface at this location, including continuous video monitoring (Argus), in situu measurements of hydrodynamics, and a physical tracer experiment. Field data from the monitoring program will be used to test numerical models of hydrodynamics and sediment transport and to improve the capability of numerical models to support regional sediment management.

Software Assists in Responding to Anomalous Conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

James, Mark; Kronbert, F.; Weiner, A.; Morgan, T.; Stroozas, B.; Girouard, F.; Hopkins, A.; Wong, L.; Kneubuhl, J.; Malina, R.

2004-01-01

Fault Induced Document Retrieval Officer (FIDO) is a computer program that reduces the need for a large and costly team of engineers and/or technicians to monitor the state of a spacecraft and associated ground systems and respond to anomalies. FIDO includes artificial-intelligence components that imitate the reasoning of human experts with reference to a knowledge base of rules that represent failure modes and to a database of engineering documentation. These components act together to give an unskilled operator instantaneous expert assistance and access to information that can enable resolution of most anomalies, without the need for highly paid experts. FIDO provides a system state summary (a configurable engineering summary) and documentation for diagnosis of a potentially failing component that might have caused a given error message or anomaly. FIDO also enables high-level browsing of documentation by use of an interface indexed to the particular error message. The collection of available documents includes information on operations and associated procedures, engineering problem reports, documentation of components, and engineering drawings. FIDO also affords a capability for combining information on the state of ground systems with detailed, hierarchically-organized, hypertext- enabled documentation.

Consistency between the global and regional modeling components of CAMS over Europe.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katragkou, Eleni; Akritidis, Dimitrios; Kontos, Serafim; Zanis, Prodromos; Melas, Dimitrios; Engelen, Richard; Plu, Matthieu; Eskes, Henk

2017-04-01

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) is a component of the European Earth Observation programme Copernicus. CAMS consists of two major forecast and analysis systems: i) the CAMS global near-real time service, based on the ECMWF Integrated Forecast System (C-IFS), which provides daily analyses and forecasts of reactive trace gases, greenhouse gases and aerosol concentrations ii) a regional ensemble (ENS) for European air quality, compiled and disseminated by Météo-France, which consists of seven ensemble members. The boundaries from the regional ensemble members are extracted from the global CAMS forecast product. This work reports on the consistency between the global and regional modeling components of CAMS, and the impact of global CAMS boundary conditions on regional forecasts. The current analysis includes ozone (O3) carbon monoxide (CO) and aerosol (PM10/PM2.5) forecasts. The comparison indicates an overall good agreement between the global C-IFS and the regional ENS patterns for O3 and CO, especially above 250m altitude, indicating that the global boundary conditions are efficiently included in the regional ensemble simulations. As expected, differences are found within the PBL, with lower/higher C-IFS O3/CO concentrations over continental Europe with respect to ENS.

Wireless structural monitoring for homeland security applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiremidjian, Garo K.; Kiremidjian, Anne S.; Lynch, Jerome P.

2004-07-01

This paper addresses the development of a robust, low-cost, low power, and high performance autonomous wireless monitoring system for civil assets such as large facilities, new construction, bridges, dams, commercial buildings, etc. The role of the system is to identify the onset, development, location and severity of structural vulnerability and damage. The proposed system represents an enabling infrastructure for addressing structural vulnerabilities specifically associated with homeland security. The system concept is based on dense networks of "intelligent" wireless sensing units. The fundamental properties of a wireless sensing unit include: (a) interfaces to multiple sensors for measuring structural and environmental data (such as acceleration, displacements, pressure, strain, material degradation, temperature, gas agents, biological agents, humidity, corrosion, etc.); (b) processing of sensor data with embedded algorithms for assessing damage and environmental conditions; (c) peer-to-peer wireless communications for information exchange among units(thus enabling joint "intelligent" processing coordination) and storage of data and processed information in servers for information fusion; (d) ultra low power operation; (e) cost-effectiveness and compact size through the use of low-cost small-size off-the-shelf components. An integral component of the overall system concept is a decision support environment for interpretation and dissemination of information to various decision makers.

Damage Assessment of Creep Tested and Thermally Aged Udimet 520 Using Acousto-Ultrasonics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gyekenyesi, Andrew L.; Kautz, Harold E.; Cao, Wei

2001-01-01

Due to elevated temperatures and excessive stresses, turbine components may experience creep behavior. As a result, it is desirable to monitor and assess the current condition of such components. This study employed the Acousto-Ultrasonics (AU) method in an effort to monitor the state of the material at various percentages of used up creep life in the nickel base alloy, Udimet 520. A stepped specimen (i.e., varying cross sectional area) was employed which allowed for a postmortem nondestructive evaluation (NDE) analysis of the various levels of used up life. The overall objectives here were two fold: First, a user friendly, graphical interface AU system was developed, and second the new AU system was applied as an NDE tool to assess distributed damage resulting from creep. The experimental results demonstrated that the AU method shows promise as an NDE tool capable of detecting material changes as a function of used up creep life. Furthermore, the changes in the AU parameters were mainly attributed to the case of combined load and elevated temperature (i.e., creep) and not simply because of a timed exposure at elevated temperature (i.e., heat treatment or thermal aging).

Ambulatory Seizure Monitoring: From Concept to Prototype Device.

PubMed

Myers, Mark H; Threatt, Madeline; Solies, Karsten M; McFerrin, Brent M; Hopf, Lindsey B; Birdwell, J Douglas; Sillay, Karl A

2016-07-01

The brain, made up of billions of neurons and synapses, is the marvelous core of human thought, action and memory. However, if neuronal activity manifests into abnormal electrical activity across the brain, neural behavior may exhibit synchronous neural firings known as seizures. If unprovoked seizures occur repeatedly, a patient may be diagnosed with epilepsy. The scope of this project is to develop an ambulatory seizure monitoring system that can be used away from a hospital, making it possible for the user to stay at home, and primary care personnel to monitor a patient's seizure activity in order to provide deeper analysis of the patient's condition and apply personalized intervention techniques. The ambulatory seizure monitoring device is a research device that has been developed with the objective of acquiring a portable, clean electroencephalography (EEG) signal and transmitting it wirelessly to a handheld device for processing and notification. This device is comprised of 4 phases: acquisition, transmission, processing and notification. During the acquisition stage, the EEG signal is detected using EEG electrodes; these signals are filtered and amplified before being transmitted in the second stage. The processing stage encompasses the signal processing and seizure prediction. A notification is sent to the patient and designated contacts, given an impending seizure. Each of these phases is comprised of various design components, hardware and software. The experimental findings illustrate that there may be a triggering mechanism through the phase lock value method that enables seizure prediction. The device addresses the need for long-term monitoring of the patient's seizure condition in order to provide the clinician a better understanding of the seizure's duration and frequency and ultimately provide the best remedy for the patient.

Ambulatory Seizure Monitoring: From Concept to Prototype Device

PubMed Central

Myers, Mark H.; Threatt, Madeline; Solies, Karsten M.; McFerrin, Brent M.; Hopf, Lindsey B.; Birdwell, J. Douglas; Sillay, Karl A.

2016-01-01

Background The brain, made up of billions of neurons and synapses, is the marvelous core of human thought, action and memory. However, if neuronal activity manifests into abnormal electrical activity across the brain, neural behavior may exhibit synchronous neural firings known as seizures. If unprovoked seizures occur repeatedly, a patient may be diagnosed with epilepsy. Purpose The scope of this project is to develop an ambulatory seizure monitoring system that can be used away from a hospital, making it possible for the user to stay at home, and primary care personnel to monitor a patient's seizure activity in order to provide deeper analysis of the patient's condition and apply personalized intervention techniques. Methods The ambulatory seizure monitoring device is a research device that has been developed with the objective of acquiring a portable, clean electroencephalography (EEG) signal and transmitting it wirelessly to a handheld device for processing and notification. Result This device is comprised of 4 phases: acquisition, transmission, processing and notification. During the acquisition stage, the EEG signal is detected using EEG electrodes; these signals are filtered and amplified before being transmitted in the second stage. The processing stage encompasses the signal processing and seizure prediction. A notification is sent to the patient and designated contacts, given an impending seizure. Each of these phases is comprised of various design components, hardware and software. The experimental findings illustrate that there may be a triggering mechanism through the phase lock value method that enables seizure prediction. Conclusion The device addresses the need for long-term monitoring of the patient's seizure condition in order to provide the clinician a better understanding of the seizure's duration and frequency and ultimately provide the best remedy for the patient. PMID:27647960

A modern diagnostic approach for automobile systems condition monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selig, M.; Shi, Z.; Ball, A.; Schmidt, K.

2012-05-01

An important topic in automotive research and development is the area of active and passive safety systems. In general, it is grouped in active safety systems to prevent accidents and passive systems to reduce the impact of a crash. An example for an active system is ABS while a seat belt tensioner represents the group of passive systems. Current developments in the automotive industry try to link active with passive system components to enable a complete event sequence, beginning with the warning of the driver about a critical situation till the automatic emergency call after an accident. The cross-linking has an impact on the current diagnostic approach, which is described in this paper. Therefore, this contribution introduces a new diagnostic approach for automotive mechatronic systems. The concept is based on monitoring the messages which are exchanged via the automotive communication systems, e.g. the CAN bus. According to the authors' assumption, the messages on the bus are changing between faultless and faulty vehicle condition. The transmitted messages of the sensors and control units are different depending on the condition of the car. First experiments are carried and in addition, the hardware design of a suitable diagnostic interface is presented. Finally, first results will be presented and discussed.

Assessing Videogrammetry for Static Aeroelastic Testing of a Wind-Tunnel Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spain, Charles V.; Heeg, Jennifer; Ivanco, Thomas G.; Barrows, Danny A.; Florance, James R.; Burner, Alpheus W.; DeMoss, Joshua; Lively, Peter S.

2004-01-01

The Videogrammetric Model Deformation (VMD) technique, developed at NASA Langley Research Center, was recently used to measure displacements and local surface angle changes on a static aeroelastic wind-tunnel model. The results were assessed for consistency, accuracy and usefulness. Vertical displacement measurements and surface angular deflections (derived from vertical displacements) taken at no-wind/no-load conditions were analyzed. For accuracy assessment, angular measurements were compared to those from a highly accurate accelerometer. Shewhart's Variables Control Charts were used in the assessment of consistency and uncertainty. Some bad data points were discovered, and it is shown that the measurement results at certain targets were more consistent than at other targets. Physical explanations for this lack of consistency have not been determined. However, overall the measurements were sufficiently accurate to be very useful in monitoring wind-tunnel model aeroelastic deformation and determining flexible stability and control derivatives. After a structural model component failed during a highly loaded condition, analysis of VMD data clearly indicated progressive structural deterioration as the wind-tunnel condition where failure occurred was approached. As a result, subsequent testing successfully incorporated near- real-time monitoring of VMD data in order to ensure structural integrity. The potential for higher levels of consistency and accuracy through the use of statistical quality control practices are discussed and recommended for future applications.

A hybrid approach for nondestructive assessment and design optimisation and testing of in-service machinery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahman, Abdul Ghaffar Abdul; Noroozi, Siamak; Dupac, Mihai; Mahathir Syed Mohd Al-Attas, Syed; Vinney, John E.

2013-03-01

Complex rotating machinery requires regular condition monitoring inspections to assess their running conditions and their structural integrity to prevent catastrophic failures. Machine failures can be divided into two categories. First is the wear and tear during operation, they range from bearing defects, gear damage, misalignment, imbalance or mechanical looseness, for which simple condition-based maintenance techniques can easily detect the root cause and trigger remedial action process. The second factor in machine failure is caused by the inherent design faults that usually happened due to many reasons such as improper installation, poor servicing, bad workmanship and structural dynamics design deficiency. In fact, individual machines components are generally dynamically well designed and rigorously tested. However, when these machines are assembled on sight and linked together, their dynamic characteristics will change causing unexpected behaviour of the system. Since nondestructive evaluation provides an excellent alternative to the classical monitoring and proved attractive due to the possibility of performing reliable assessments of all types of machinery, the novel dynamic design verification procedure - based on the combination of in-service operation deflection shape measurement, experimental modal analysis and iterative inverse finite element analysis - proposed here allows quick identification of structural weakness, and helps to provide and verify the solutions.

Detecting weak position fluctuations from encoder signal using singular spectrum analysis.

PubMed

Xu, Xiaoqiang; Zhao, Ming; Lin, Jing

2017-11-01

Mechanical fault or defect will cause some weak fluctuations to the position signal. Detection of such fluctuations via encoders can help determine the health condition and performance of the machine, and offer a promising alternative to the vibration-based monitoring scheme. However, besides the interested fluctuations, encoder signal also contains a large trend and some measurement noise. In applications, the trend is normally several orders larger than the concerned fluctuations in magnitude, which makes it difficult to detect the weak fluctuations without signal distortion. In addition, the fluctuations can be complicated and amplitude modulated under non-stationary working condition. To overcome this issue, singular spectrum analysis (SSA) is proposed for detecting weak position fluctuations from encoder signal in this paper. It enables complicated encode signal to be reduced into several interpretable components including a trend, a set of periodic fluctuations and noise. A numerical simulation is given to demonstrate the performance of the method, it shows that SSA outperforms empirical mode decomposition (EMD) in terms of capability and accuracy. Moreover, linear encoder signals from a CNC machine tool are analyzed to determine the magnitudes and sources of fluctuations during feed motion. The proposed method is proven to be feasible and reliable for machinery condition monitoring. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A cerium oxide nanoparticle-based device for the detection of chronic inflammation via optical and magnetic resonance imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaittanis, Charalambos; Santra, Santimukul; Asati, Atul; Perez, J. Manuel

2012-03-01

Monitoring of microenvironmental parameters is critical in healthcare and disease management. Harnessing the antioxidant activity of nanoceria and the imaging capabilities of iron oxide nanoparticles in a device setup, we were able to image changes in the device's aqueous milieu. The device was able to convey and process changes in the microenvironment's pH and reactive oxygen species' concentration, distinguishing physiological from abnormal levels. As a result under physiological and transient inflammatory conditions, the device's fluorescence and magnetic resonance signals, emanating from multimodal iron oxide nanoparticles, were similar. However, under chronic inflammatory conditions that are usually associated with high local concentrations of reactive oxygen species and pH decrease, the device's output was considerably different. Specifically, the device's fluorescence emission significantly decreased, while the magnetic resonance signal T2 increased. Further studies identified that the changes in the device's output are attributed to inactivation of the sensing component's nanoceria that prevents it from successfully scavenging the generated free radicals. Interestingly, the buildup of free radical excess led to polymerization of the iron oxide nanoparticle's coating, with concomitant formation of micron size aggregates. Our studies indicate that a nanoceria-based device can be utilized for the monitoring of pro-inflammatory biomarkers, having important applications in the management of numerous ailments while eliminating nanoparticle toxicity issues.Monitoring of microenvironmental parameters is critical in healthcare and disease management. Harnessing the antioxidant activity of nanoceria and the imaging capabilities of iron oxide nanoparticles in a device setup, we were able to image changes in the device's aqueous milieu. The device was able to convey and process changes in the microenvironment's pH and reactive oxygen species' concentration, distinguishing physiological from abnormal levels. As a result under physiological and transient inflammatory conditions, the device's fluorescence and magnetic resonance signals, emanating from multimodal iron oxide nanoparticles, were similar. However, under chronic inflammatory conditions that are usually associated with high local concentrations of reactive oxygen species and pH decrease, the device's output was considerably different. Specifically, the device's fluorescence emission significantly decreased, while the magnetic resonance signal T2 increased. Further studies identified that the changes in the device's output are attributed to inactivation of the sensing component's nanoceria that prevents it from successfully scavenging the generated free radicals. Interestingly, the buildup of free radical excess led to polymerization of the iron oxide nanoparticle's coating, with concomitant formation of micron size aggregates. Our studies indicate that a nanoceria-based device can be utilized for the monitoring of pro-inflammatory biomarkers, having important applications in the management of numerous ailments while eliminating nanoparticle toxicity issues. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: ESI figures. See DOI: 10.1039/c2nr11956k

CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES FOR THE ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This document is intended to assist users in establishing or refining protocols, including the specific methods related to field sampling, laboratory sample processing, taxonomy, data entry, management and analysis, and final assessment and reporting. It also reviews and provides information on development of monitoring designs to address certain types of environmental questions and approaches for documenting and reporting data quality and performance characteristics for large river biological monitoring. The approaches presented are not intended to replace existing program components but may in some cases be useful for refining them. The goal of this research is to develop methods and indicators that are useful for evaluating the condition of aquatic communities, for assessing the restoration of aquatic communities in response to mitigation and best management practices, and for determining the exposure of aquatic communities to different classes of stressors (i.e., pesticides, sedimentation, habitat alteration).

2007-2008 Annual Progress Report for BPA Grant Exp Restore Walla Walla River Flow

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bower, Bob

WWBWC and its partners have been working on a wide variety of conservation and aquifer recharge related activities including: monitoring groundwater and surface water conditions, creating a geospatial database for the Walla Walla River valley (project focal area), expanding aquifer recharge testing at the HBDIC site and conducting an extensive outreach/education program by which to share the information, ideas and potential solutions to our current water management issues in this basin. This report is an outline of those activities and is accompanied by individual program-component (attached as appendices) reports for the areas that BPA is assisting to fund these on-the-groundmore » projects along with the innovative research and monitoring being done to further aquifer recharge as a water management tool for the Pacific Northwest.« less

Validation of space-based polarization measurements by use of a single-scattering approximation, with application to the global ozone monitoring experiment.

PubMed

Aben, Ilse; Tanzi, Cristina P; Hartmann, Wouter; Stam, Daphne M; Stammes, Piet

2003-06-20

A method is presented for in-flight validation of space-based polarization measurements based on approximation of the direction of polarization of scattered sunlight by the Rayleigh single-scattering value. This approximation is verified by simulations of radiative transfer calculations for various atmospheric conditions. The simulations show locations along an orbit where the scattering geometries are such that the intensities of the parallel and orthogonal polarization components of the light are equal, regardless of the observed atmosphere and surface. The method can be applied to any space-based instrument that measures the polarization of reflected solar light. We successfully applied the method to validate the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) polarization measurements. The error in the GOME's three broadband polarization measurements appears to be approximately 1%.

Characterization of CDOM from urban waters in Northern-Northeastern China using excitation-emission matrix fluorescence and parallel factor analysis.

PubMed

Zhao, Ying; Song, Kaishan; Li, Sijia; Ma, Jianhang; Wen, Zhidan

2016-08-01

Chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) plays an important role in aquatic systems, but high concentrations of organic materials are considered pollutants. The fluorescent component characteristics of CDOM in urban waters sampled from Northern and Northeastern China were examined by excitation-emission matrix fluorescence and parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC) to investigate the source and compositional changes of CDOM on both space and pollution levels. One humic-like (C1), one tryptophan-like component (C2), and one tyrosine-like component (C3) were identified by PARAFAC. Mean fluorescence intensities of the three CDOM components varied spatially and by pollution level in cities of Northern and Northeastern China during July-August, 2013 and 2014. Principal components analysis (PCA) was conducted to identify the relative distribution of all water samples. Cluster analysis (CA) was also used to categorize the samples into groups of similar pollution levels within a study area. Strong positive linear relationships were revealed between the CDOM absorption coefficients a(254) (R (2) = 0.89, p < 0.01); a(355) (R (2) = 0.94, p < 0.01); and the fluorescence intensity (F max) for the humic-like C1 component. A positive linear relationship (R (2) = 0.77) was also exhibited between dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and the F max for the humic-like C1 component, but a relatively weak correlation (R (2) = 0.56) was detected between DOC and the F max for the tryptophan-like component (C2). A strong positive correlation was observed between the F max for the tryptophan-like component (C2) and total nitrogen (TN) (R (2) = 0.78), but moderate correlations were observed with ammonium-N (NH4-N) (R (2) = 0.68), and chemical oxygen demand (CODMn) (R (2) = 0.52). Therefore, the fluorescence intensities of CDOM components can be applied to monitor water quality in real time compared to that of traditional approaches. These results demonstrate that EEM-PARAFAC is useful to evaluate the dynamics of CDOM fluorescent components in urban waters from Northern and Northeastern China and this method has potential applications for monitoring urban water quality in different regions with various hydrological conditions and pollution levels.

Environmental Inequality in Exposures to Airborne Particulate Matter Components in the United States

PubMed Central

Ebisu, Keita

2012-01-01

Background: Growing evidence indicates that toxicity of fine particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) differs by chemical component. Exposure to components may differ by population. Objectives: We investigated whether exposures to PM2.5 components differ by race/ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic status (SES). Methods: Long-term exposures (2000 through 2006) were estimated for 215 U.S. census tracts for PM2.5 and for 14 PM2.5 components. Population-weighted exposures were combined to generate overall estimated exposures by race/ethnicity, education, poverty status, employment, age, and earnings. We compared population characteristics for tracts with and without PM2.5 component monitors. Results: Larger disparities in estimated exposures were observed for components than for PM2.5 total mass. For race/ethnicity, whites generally had the lowest exposures. Non-Hispanic blacks had higher exposures than did whites for 13 of the 14 components. Hispanics generally had the highest exposures (e.g., 152% higher than whites for chlorine, 94% higher for aluminum). Young persons (0–19 years of age) had levels as high as or higher than other ages for all exposures except sulfate. Persons with lower SES had higher estimated exposures, with some exceptions. For example, a 10% increase in the proportion unemployed was associated with a 20.0% increase in vanadium and an 18.3% increase in elemental carbon. Census tracts with monitors had more non-Hispanic blacks, lower education and earnings, and higher unemployment and poverty than did tracts without monitors. Conclusions: Exposures to PM2.5 components differed by race/ethnicity, age, and SES. If some components are more toxic than others, certain populations are likely to suffer higher health burdens. Demographics differed between populations covered and not covered by monitors. PMID:22889745

Development and testing of laser Doppler system components for wake vortex monitoring. Volume 2: Scanner operations manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edwards, B. B.; Coffey, E. W.

1974-01-01

The theory and operation of the scanner portion of the laser Doppler system for detecting and monitoring aircraft trailing vortices in an airport environment are discussed. Schematics, wiring diagrams, component values, and operation and checkout procedures are included.

Physics-of-Failure Approach to Prognostics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kulkarni, Chetan S.

2017-01-01

As more and more electric vehicles emerge in our daily operation progressively, a very critical challenge lies in accurate prediction of the electrical components present in the system. In case of electric vehicles, computing remaining battery charge is safety-critical. In order to tackle and solve the prediction problem, it is essential to have awareness of the current state and health of the system, especially since it is necessary to perform condition-based predictions. To be able to predict the future state of the system, it is also required to possess knowledge of the current and future operations of the vehicle. In this presentation our approach to develop a system level health monitoring safety indicator for different electronic components is presented which runs estimation and prediction algorithms to determine state-of-charge and estimate remaining useful life of respective components. Given models of the current and future system behavior, the general approach of model-based prognostics can be employed as a solution to the prediction problem and further for decision making.

Compact Multi-Gas Monitor for Life Support Systems Control in Space: Evaluation Under Realistic Environmental Conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delgado, Jesus; Chullen, Cinda; Mendoza, Edgar

2014-01-01

Advanced space life support systems require lightweight, low-power, durable sensors for monitoring critical gas components. A luminescence-based optical flow-through cell to monitor carbon dioxide, oxygen, and humidity has been developed and was demonstrated using bench top instrumentation under environmental conditions relevant to portable life support systems, including initially pure oxygen atmosphere, pressure range from 3.5 to 14.7 psi, temperature range from 50 F to 150 F, and humidity from dry to 100% RH and under liquid water saturation. This paper presents the first compact readout unit for these optical sensors, designed for the volume, power, and weight restrictions of a spacesuit portable Life support system and the analytical characterization of the optical sensors interrogated by the novel optoelectronic system. Trace gas contaminants in a space suit, originating from hardware and material off-gassing and crew member metabolism, are from many chemical families. The result is a gas mix much more complex than the pure oxygen fed into the spacesuit, which may interfere with gas sensor readings. The paper also presents an evaluation of optical sensor performance when exposed to the most significant trace gases reported to be found in spacesuits. The studies were conducted with the spacecraft maximum allowable concentrations for those trace gases and the calculated 8-hr. concentrations resulting from having no trace contaminant control system in the ventilation loop. Finally, a profile of temperature, pressure, humidity, and gas composition for a typical EVA mission has been defined, and the performance of sensors operated repeatedly under simulated EVA mission conditions has been studied.

Development of a component centered fault monitoring and diagnosis knowledge based system for space power system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, S. C.; Lollar, Louis F.

1988-01-01

The overall approach currently being taken in the development of AMPERES (Autonomously Managed Power System Extendable Real-time Expert System), a knowledge-based expert system for fault monitoring and diagnosis of space power systems, is discussed. The system architecture, knowledge representation, and fault monitoring and diagnosis strategy are examined. A 'component-centered' approach developed in this project is described. Critical issues requiring further study are identified.

Sensor Based Engine Life Calculation: A Probabilistic Perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guo, Ten-Huei; Chen, Philip

2003-01-01

It is generally known that an engine component will accumulate damage (life usage) during its lifetime of use in a harsh operating environment. The commonly used cycle count for engine component usage monitoring has an inherent range of uncertainty which can be overly costly or potentially less safe from an operational standpoint. With the advance of computer technology, engine operation modeling, and the understanding of damage accumulation physics, it is possible (and desirable) to use the available sensor information to make a more accurate assessment of engine component usage. This paper describes a probabilistic approach to quantify the effects of engine operating parameter uncertainties on the thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) life of a selected engine part. A closed-loop engine simulation with a TMF life model is used to calculate the life consumption of different mission cycles. A Monte Carlo simulation approach is used to generate the statistical life usage profile for different operating assumptions. The probabilities of failure of different operating conditions are compared to illustrate the importance of the engine component life calculation using sensor information. The results of this study clearly show that a sensor-based life cycle calculation can greatly reduce the risk of component failure as well as extend on-wing component life by avoiding unnecessary maintenance actions.

Raman exfoliative cytology for oral precancer diagnosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahu, Aditi; Gera, Poonam; Pai, Venkatesh; Dubey, Abhishek; Tyagi, Gunjan; Waghmare, Mandavi; Pagare, Sandeep; Mahimkar, Manoj; Murali Krishna, C.

2017-11-01

Oral premalignant lesions (OPLs) such as leukoplakia, erythroplakia, and oral submucous fibrosis, often precede oral cancer. Screening and management of these premalignant conditions can improve prognosis. Raman spectroscopy has previously demonstrated potential in the diagnosis of oral premalignant conditions (in vivo), detected viral infection, and identified cancer in both oral and cervical exfoliated cells (ex vivo). The potential of Raman exfoliative cytology (REC) in identifying premalignant conditions was investigated. Oral exfoliated samples were collected from healthy volunteers (n=20), healthy volunteers with tobacco habits (n=20), and oral premalignant conditions (n=27, OPL) using Cytobrush. Spectra were acquired using Raman microprobe. Spectral acquisition parameters were: λex: 785 nm, laser power: 40 mW, acquisition time: 15 s, and average: 3. Postspectral acquisition, cell pellet was subjected to Pap staining. Multivariate analysis was carried out using principal component analysis and principal component-linear discriminant analysis using both spectra- and patient-wise approaches in three- and two-group models. OPLs could be identified with ˜77% (spectra-wise) and ˜70% (patient-wise) sensitivity in the three-group model while with 86% (spectra-wise) and 83% (patient-wise) in the two-group model. Use of histopathologically confirmed premalignant cases and better sampling devices may help in development of improved standard models and also enhance the sensitivity of the method. Future longitudinal studies can help validate potential of REC in screening and monitoring high-risk populations and prognosis prediction of premalignant lesions.

Multisensor system for the protection of critical infrastructure of a seaport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kastek, Mariusz; Dulski, Rafał; Zyczkowski, Marek; Szustakowski, Mieczysław; Trzaskawka, Piotr; Ciurapinski, Wiesław; Grelowska, Grazyna; Gloza, Ignacy; Milewski, Stanislaw; Listewnik, Karol

2012-06-01

There are many separated infrastructural objects within a harbor area that may be considered "critical", such as gas and oil terminals or anchored naval vessels. Those objects require special protection, including security systems capable of monitoring both surface and underwater areas, because an intrusion into the protected area may be attempted using small surface vehicles (boats, kayaks, rafts, floating devices with weapons and explosives) as well as underwater ones (manned or unmanned submarines, scuba divers). The paper will present the concept of multisensor security system for a harbor protection, capable of complex monitoring of selected critical objects within the protected area. The proposed system consists of a command centre and several different sensors deployed in key areas, providing effective protection from land and sea, with special attention focused on the monitoring of underwater zone. The initial project of such systems will be presented, its configuration and initial tests of the selected components. The protection of surface area is based on medium-range radar and LLTV and infrared cameras. Underwater zone will be monitored by a sonar and acoustic and magnetic barriers, connected into an integrated monitoring system. Theoretical analyses concerning the detection of fast, small surface objects (such as RIB boats) by a camera system and real test results in various weather conditions will also be presented.

The Effects of Continuous Vs. Intermittent Self-Monitoring on the Duration and Magnitude of Behavior Change.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schayer, Laurel L.; Schroeder, Harold E.

Continuous self-monitoring (CSM) was compared with a demand characteristics control condition (non self-monitoring), with intermittent self-monitoring (ISM) and with another control condition. It was predicted that both self-monitoring conditions would produce effects over and above the demand characteristics inherent in the self-monitoring…

Identification and quantification of homologous series of compound in complex mixtures: autocovariance study of GC/MS chromatograms.

PubMed

Pietrogrande, Maria Chiara; Zampolli, Maria Grazia; Dondi, Francesco

2006-04-15

The paper describes a method for determining homologous classes of compounds in a multicomponent complex chromatogram obtained under programming elution conditions. The method is based on the computation of the autocovariance function of the experimental chromatogram (EACVF). The EACVF plot, if properly interpreted, can be regarded as a "class chromatogram" i.e., a virtual chromatogram formed by peaks whose positions and heights allow identification and quantification of the different homologous series, even if they are embedded in a random complex chromatogram. Theoretical models were developed to describe complex chromatograms displaying random retention pattern, ordered sequences or a combination of them. On the basis of theoretical autocovariance function, the properties of the chromatogram can be experimentally evaluated, under well-defined conditions: in particular, the two components of the chromatogram, ordered and random, can be identified. Moreover, the total number of single components (SCs) and the separated number of the SCs belonging to the random and ordered components can be determined, when the two components display the same concentration. If the mixture contains several homologous series with common frequency and different phase values, the number and identity of the different homologous series as well as the number of SCs belonging to each of them can be evaluated. Moreover, the power of the EACVF method can be magnified by applying it to the single ion monitoring (SIM) signals to selectively detect specific compound classes in order to identify the different homologous series. By this way, a full "decoding" of the complex multicomponent chromatogram is achieved. The method was validated on synthetic mixtures containing known amount of SCs belonging to homologous series of hydrocarbon, alcohols, ketones, and aromatic compounds in addition to other not structurally related SCs. The method was applied to both the total ion monitoring (TIC) and the SIM signals, to describe step by step the essence of the procedure. Moreover, the systematic use of both SIM and TIC can simplify the decoding procedure of complex chromatograms by singling out only specific compound classes or by confirming the identification of the different homologous series. The method was further applied to a sample containing unknown number of compounds and homologous series (a petroleum benzin, bp 140-160 degrees C): the results obtained were meaningful in terms of both the identified number of components and identified homologous series.

Investigation of Gearbox Vibration Transmission Paths on Gear Condition Indicator Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dempsey, Paula J.; Islam, AKM Anwarul; Feldman, Jason; Larsen, Chris

2013-01-01

Helicopter health monitoring systems use vibration signatures generated from damaged components to identify transmission faults. For damaged gears, these signatures relate to changes in dynamics due to the meshing of the damaged tooth. These signatures, referred to as condition indicators (CI), can perform differently when measured on different systems, such as a component test rig, or a full-scale transmission test stand, or an aircraft. These differences can result from dissimilarities in systems design and environment under dynamic operating conditions. The static structure can also filter the response between the vibration source and the accelerometer, when the accelerometer is installed on the housing. To assess the utility of static vibration transfer paths for predicting gear CI performance, measurements were taken on the NASA Glenn Spiral Bevel Gear Fatigue Test Rig. The vibration measurements were taken to determine the effect of torque, accelerometer location and gearbox design on accelerometer response. Measurements were taken at the housing and compared while impacting the gear set near mesh. These impacts were made at gear mesh to simulate gear meshing dynamics. Data measured on a helicopter gearbox installed in a static fixture were also compared to the test rig. The behavior of the structure under static conditions was also compared to CI values calculated under dynamic conditions. Results indicate that static vibration transfer path measurements can provide some insight into spiral bevel gear CI performance by identifying structural characteristics unique to each system that can affect specific CI response.

Development and field application of a nonlinear ultrasonic modulation technique for fatigue crack detection without reference data from an intact condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Hyung Jin; Kim, Yongtak; Koo, Gunhee; Yang, Suyoung; Sohn, Hoon; Bae, In-hwan; Jang, Jeong-Hwan

2016-09-01

In this study, a fatigue crack detection technique, which detects a fatigue crack without relying on any reference data obtained from the intact condition of a target structure, is developed using nonlinear ultrasonic modulation and applied to a real bridge structure. Using two wafer-type lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducers, ultrasonic excitations at two distinctive frequencies are applied to a target inspection spot and the corresponding ultrasonic response is measured by another PZT transducer. Then, the nonlinear modulation components produced by a breathing-crack are extracted from the measured ultrasonic response, and a statistical classifier, which can determine if the nonlinear modulation components are statistically significant in comparison with the background noise level, is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed fatigue crack detection technique is experimentally validated using the data obtained from aluminum plates and aircraft fitting-lug specimens under varying temperature and loading conditions, and through a field testing of Yeongjong Grand Bridge in South Korea. The uniqueness of this study lies in that (1) detection of a micro fatigue crack with less than 1 μm width and fatigue cracks in the range of 10-20 μm in width using nonlinear ultrasonic modulation, (2) automated detection of fatigue crack formation without using reference data obtained from an intact condition, (3) reliable and robust diagnosis under varying temperature and loading conditions, (4) application of a local fatigue crack detection technique to online monitoring of a real bridge.

Report on accelerated corrosion studies.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mowry, Curtis Dale; Glass, Sarah Jill; Sorensen, Neil Robert

2011-03-01

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) conducted accelerated atmospheric corrosion testing for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to help further the understanding of the development of corrosion products on conductor materials in household electrical components exposed to environmental conditions representative of homes constructed with problem drywall. The conditions of the accelerated testing were chosen to produce corrosion product growth that would be consistent with long-term exposure to environments containing humidity and parts per billion (ppb) levels of hydrogen sulfide (H{sub 2}S) that are thought to have been the source of corrosion in electrical components from affected homes. This report documentsmore » the test set-up, monitoring of electrical performance of powered electrical components during the exposure, and the materials characterization conducted on wires, screws, and contact plates from selected electrical components. No degradation in electrical performance (measured via voltage drop) was measured during the course of the 8-week exposure, which was approximately equivalent to 40 years of exposure in a light industrial environment. Analyses show that corrosion products consisting of various phases of copper sulfide, copper sulfate, and copper oxide are found on exposed surfaces of the conductor materials including wires, screws, and contact plates. The morphology and the thickness of the corrosion products showed a range of character. In some of the copper wires that were observed, corrosion product had flaked or spalled off the surface, exposing fresh metal to the reaction with the contaminant gasses; however, there was no significant change in the wire cross-sectional area.« less

Acoustic emission monitoring of crack propagation in additively manufactured and conventional titanium components

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Strantza, Maria; Van Hemelrijck, Danny; Guillaume, Patrick

We report that additive manufacturing (AM) is a novel and innovative production technology that can produce complex and lightweight engineering products. In AM components, as in all engineering materials, fatigue is considered as one of the principle causes of unexpected failure. In order to detect, localise and characterise cracks in various material components and metals, acoustic emission (AE) is used as a non-destructive monitoring technique. One of the main advantages of AE is that it can be also used for dynamic damage characterisation and specifically for crack propagation monitoring. In this research, we use AE to monitor the fatigue crackmore » growth behaviour of Ti6Al4V components under four-point bending. The samples were produced by means of AM as well as conventional material. Notched and unnotched specimens were investigated with respect to the crack severity and crack detection using AE. The main AE signal parameters –such as cumulative events, hits, duration, average frequency and rise time– were evaluated and indicate sensitivity to damage propagation in order to lead to a warning against the final fracture occurrence. Finally, this is the first time that AE is applied in AM components under fatigue.« less

Acoustic emission monitoring of crack propagation in additively manufactured and conventional titanium components

DOE PAGES

Strantza, Maria; Van Hemelrijck, Danny; Guillaume, Patrick; ...

2017-05-31

We report that additive manufacturing (AM) is a novel and innovative production technology that can produce complex and lightweight engineering products. In AM components, as in all engineering materials, fatigue is considered as one of the principle causes of unexpected failure. In order to detect, localise and characterise cracks in various material components and metals, acoustic emission (AE) is used as a non-destructive monitoring technique. One of the main advantages of AE is that it can be also used for dynamic damage characterisation and specifically for crack propagation monitoring. In this research, we use AE to monitor the fatigue crackmore » growth behaviour of Ti6Al4V components under four-point bending. The samples were produced by means of AM as well as conventional material. Notched and unnotched specimens were investigated with respect to the crack severity and crack detection using AE. The main AE signal parameters –such as cumulative events, hits, duration, average frequency and rise time– were evaluated and indicate sensitivity to damage propagation in order to lead to a warning against the final fracture occurrence. Finally, this is the first time that AE is applied in AM components under fatigue.« less

A review on data-driven fault severity assessment in rolling bearings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerrada, Mariela; Sánchez, René-Vinicio; Li, Chuan; Pacheco, Fannia; Cabrera, Diego; Valente de Oliveira, José; Vásquez, Rafael E.

2018-01-01

Health condition monitoring of rotating machinery is a crucial task to guarantee reliability in industrial processes. In particular, bearings are mechanical components used in most rotating devices and they represent the main source of faults in such equipments; reason for which research activities on detecting and diagnosing their faults have increased. Fault detection aims at identifying whether the device is or not in a fault condition, and diagnosis is commonly oriented towards identifying the fault mode of the device, after detection. An important step after fault detection and diagnosis is the analysis of the magnitude or the degradation level of the fault, because this represents a support to the decision-making process in condition based-maintenance. However, no extensive works are devoted to analyse this problem, or some works tackle it from the fault diagnosis point of view. In a rough manner, fault severity is associated with the magnitude of the fault. In bearings, fault severity can be related to the physical size of fault or a general degradation of the component. Due to literature regarding the severity assessment of bearing damages is limited, this paper aims at discussing the recent methods and techniques used to achieve the fault severity evaluation in the main components of the rolling bearings, such as inner race, outer race, and ball. The review is mainly focused on data-driven approaches such as signal processing for extracting the proper fault signatures associated with the damage degradation, and learning approaches that are used to identify degradation patterns with regards to health conditions. Finally, new challenges are highlighted in order to develop new contributions in this field.

Landscape-scale water balance monitoring with an iGrav superconducting gravimeter in a field enclosure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Güntner, Andreas; Reich, Marvin; Mikolaj, Michal; Creutzfeldt, Benjamin; Schroeder, Stephan; Wziontek, Hartmut

2017-06-01

In spite of the fundamental role of the landscape water balance for the Earth's water and energy cycles, monitoring the water balance and its components beyond the point scale is notoriously difficult due to the multitude of flow and storage processes and their spatial heterogeneity. Here, we present the first field deployment of an iGrav superconducting gravimeter (SG) in a minimized enclosure for long-term integrative monitoring of water storage changes. Results of the field SG on a grassland site under wet-temperate climate conditions were compared to data provided by a nearby SG located in the controlled environment of an observatory building. The field system proves to provide gravity time series that are similarly precise as those of the observatory SG. At the same time, the field SG is more sensitive to hydrological variations than the observatory SG. We demonstrate that the gravity variations observed by the field setup are almost independent of the depth below the terrain surface where water storage changes occur (contrary to SGs in buildings), and thus the field SG system directly observes the total water storage change, i.e., the water balance, in its surroundings in an integrative way. We provide a framework to single out the water balance components actual evapotranspiration and lateral subsurface discharge from the gravity time series on annual to daily timescales. With about 99 and 85 % of the gravity signal due to local water storage changes originating within a radius of 4000 and 200 m around the instrument, respectively, this setup paves the road towards gravimetry as a continuous hydrological field-monitoring technique at the landscape scale.

The Self-Powered Detector Simulation `MATiSSe' Toolbox applied to SPNDs for severe accident monitoring in PWRs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbot, Loïc; Villard, Jean-François; Fourrez, Stéphane; Pichon, Laurent; Makil, Hamid

2018-01-01

In the framework of the French National Research Agency program on nuclear safety and radioprotection, the `DIstributed Sensing for COrium Monitoring and Safety' project aims at developing innovative instrumentation for corium monitoring in case of severe accident in a Pressurized Water nuclear Reactor. Among others, a new under-vessel instrumentation based on Self-Powered Neutron Detectors is developed using a numerical simulation toolbox, named `MATiSSe'. The CEA Instrumentation Sensors and Dosimetry Lab developed MATiSSe since 2010 for Self-Powered Neutron Detectors material selection and geometry design, as well as for their respective partial neutron and gamma sensitivity calculations. MATiSSe is based on a comprehensive model of neutron and gamma interactions which take place in Selfpowered neutron detector components using the MCNP6 Monte Carlo code. As member of the project consortium, the THERMOCOAX SAS Company is currently manufacturing some instrumented pole prototypes to be tested in 2017. The full severe accident monitoring equipment, including the standalone low current acquisition system, will be tested during a joined CEA-THERMOCOAX experimental campaign in some realistic irradiation conditions, in the Slovenian TRIGA Mark II research reactor.

A Wearable Microfluidic Sensing Patch for Dynamic Sweat Secretion Analysis.

PubMed

Nyein, Hnin Yin Yin; Tai, Li-Chia; Ngo, Quynh Phuong; Chao, Minghan; Zhang, George B; Gao, Wei; Bariya, Mallika; Bullock, James; Kim, Hyungjin; Fahad, Hossain M; Javey, Ali

2018-05-25

Wearable sweat sensing is a rapidly rising research area driven by its promising potential in health, fitness, and diagnostic applications. Despite the growth in the field, major challenges in relation to sweat metrics remain to be addressed. These challenges include sweat rate monitoring for its complex relation with sweat compositions and sweat sampling for sweat dynamics studies. In this work, we present a flexible microfluidic sweat sensing patch that enhances real-time electrochemical sensing and sweat rate analysis via sweat sampling. The device contains a spiral-patterned microfluidic component that is embedded with ion-selective sensors and an electrical impedance-based sweat rate sensor on a flexible plastic substrate. The patch is enabled to autonomously perform sweat analysis by interfacing the sensing component with a printed circuit board that is capable of on-site signal conditioning, analysis, and transmission. Progressive sweat flow in the microfluidic device, governed by the pressure induced by the secreted sweat, enhances sweat sampling and electrochemical detection via a defined sweat collection chamber and a directed sweat route. The characteristic of the sweat rate sensor is validated through a theoretical simulation, and the precision and accuracy of the flow rate is verified with a commercial syringe pump and a Macroduct sweat collector. On-body simultaneous monitoring of ion (H + , Na + , K + , Cl - ) concentration and sweat rate is also demonstrated for sensor functionality. This sweat sensing patch provides an integrated platform for a comprehensive sweat secretion analysis and facilitates physiological and clinical investigations by closely monitoring interrelated sweat parameters.

Effect of time spacing on the perceived color

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roch, Sylvain; Hardeberg, Jon Y.; Nussbaum, Peter

2007-01-01

One of latest developments for pre-press applications is the concept of soft proofing, which aims to provide an accurate preview on a monitor of how the final document will appear once it is printed. At the core of this concept is the problem of identifying, for any printed color, the most similar color the monitor can display. This problem is made difficult by such factors as varying viewing conditions, color gamut limitations, or the less studied time spacing. Color matching experiments are usually done by examining samples viewed simultaneously. However, in soft proofing applications, the proof and the print are not always viewed together. This paper attempts to shed more light on the difference between simultaneous and time-spaced color matching, in order to contribute to improving the accuracy of soft proofs. A color matching experiment setup has been established in which observers were asked to match a color patch displayed on a LCD monitor, by adjusting its RGB values, to another color patch printed out on paper. In the first part of the experiment the two colors were viewed simultaneously. In the second part, the observers were asked to produce the match according to a previously memorized color. According to the obtained results, the color appearance attributes lightness and chroma were the most difficult components for the observers to remember, generating huge differences with the simultaneous match, whereas hue was the component which varied the least. This indicates that for soft proofing, getting the hues right is of primordial importance.

Development of High-Powered Steam Turbines by OAO NPO Central Research and Design Institute for Boilers and Turbines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mikhailov, V. E.; Khomenok, L. A.; Kovalev, I. A.

2018-01-01

The article provides an overview of the developments by OAO NPO TsKTI aimed at improvement of components and assemblies of new-generation turbine plants for ultra-supercritical steam parameters to be installed at the power-generating facilities in service. The list of the assemblies under development includes cylinder shells, the cylinder's flow paths and rotors, seals, bearings, and rotor cooling systems. The authors consider variants of the shafting-cylinder configurations for which advanced high-pressure and intermediate-pressure cylinders with reactive blading and low-pressure cylinders of conventional design and with counter-current steam flows are proposed and high-pressure rotors, which can increase the economic efficiency and reduce the overall turbine plant dimensions. Materials intended for the equipment components that operate at high temperatures and a steam cooling technique that allows the use of cheaper steel grades owing to the reduction in the metal's working temperature are proposed. A new promising material for the bearing surfaces is described that enables the operation at higher unit pressures. The material was tested on a full-scale test bench at OAO NPO TsKTI and a turbine in operation. Ways of controlling the erosion of the blades in the moisture-steam turbine compartments by the steam heating of the hollow guide blades are considered. To ensure the dynamic stability of the shafting, shroud and diaphragm seals that prevent the development of the destabilizing circulatory forces of the steam flow were devised and trialed. Advanced instrumentation and software are proposed to monitor the condition of the blading and thermal stresses under transient conditions, to diagnose the vibration processes, and to archive the obtained data. Attention is paid to the normalization of the electromagnetic state of the plant in order to prevent the electrolytic erosion of the plant components. The instrumentation intended for monitoring the relevant electric parameters is described.

International Space Station Internal Thermal Control System Cold Plate/Fluid-Stability Test: Two Year Update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wieland, Paul; Holt, Mike; Roman, Monsi; Cole, Harold; Daugherty, Steve

2003-01-01

Operation of the Internal Thermal Control System (ITCS) Cold Plate/Fluid-Stability Test Facility commenced on September 5, 2000. The facility was intended to provide advance indication of potential problems on board the International Space Station (ISS) and was designed: 1) To be materially similar to the flight ITCS. 2) To allow for monitoring during operation. 3) To run continuously for three years. During the first two years of operation the conditions of the coolant and components were remarkably stable. During this same period of time, the conditions of the ISS ITCS significantly diverged from the desired state. Due to this divergence, the test facility has not been providing information useful for predicting the flight ITCS condition. Results of the first two years are compared with flight conditions over the same time period, showing the similarities and divergences. To address the divergences, the test facility was modified incrementally to more closely match the flight conditions, and to gain insight into the reasons for the divergence. Results of these incremental changes are discussed and provide insight into the development of the conditions on orbit.

Definition, Capabilities, and Components of a Terrestrial Carbon Monitoring System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

West, Tristram O.; Brown, Molly E.; Duren, Riley M.; Ogle, Stephen M.; Moss, Richard H.

2013-01-01

Research efforts for effectively and consistently monitoring terrestrial carbon are increasing in number. As such, there is a need to define carbon monitoring and how it relates to carbon cycle science and carbon management. There is also a need to identify capabilities of a carbon monitoring system and the system components needed to develop the capabilities. Capabilities that enable the effective application of a carbon monitoring system for monitoring and management purposes may include: reconciling carbon stocks and fluxes, developing consistency across spatial and temporal scales, tracking horizontal movement of carbon, attribution of emissions to originating sources, cross-sectoral accounting, uncertainty quantification, redundancy and policy relevance. Focused research is needed to integrate these capabilities for sustained estimates of carbon stocks and fluxes. Additionally, if monitoring is intended to inform management decisions, management priorities should be considered prior to development of a monitoring system.