Electricity from photovoltaic solar cells: Flat-Plate Solar Array Project final report. Volume VI: Engineering sciences and reliability

The Flat-Plate Solar Array (FSA) Project, funded by the U.S. Government and managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was formed in 1975 to develop the module/array technology needed to attain widespread terrestrial use of photovoltaics by 1985. To accomplish this, the FSA Project established and managed an Industry, University, and Federal Government Team to perform the needed research and development. This volume of the series of final reports documenting the FSA Project deals with the Project's activities directed at developing the engineering technology base required to achieve modules that meet the functional, safety and reliability requirements of large-scale terrestrial photovoltaic systems applications. These activities included: (1) development of functional, safety, and reliability requirements for such applications; (2) development of the engineering analytical approaches, test techniques, and design solutions required to meet the requirements; (3) synthesis and procurement of candidate designs for test and evaluation; and (4) performance of extensive testing, evaluation, and failure analysis to define design shortfalls and, thus, areas requiring additional research and development. During the life of the FSA Project, these activities were known by and included a variety of evolving organizational titles: Design and Test, Large-Scale Procurements, Engineering, Engineering Sciences, Operations, Module Performance and Failure Analysis, and at the end of the Project, Reliability and Engineering Sciences. This volume provides both a summary of the approach and technical outcome of these activities and provides a complete Bibliography (Appendix A) of the published documentation covering the detailed accomplishments and technologies developed

How do software architects consider non-functional requirements: an exploratory study

© 2012 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes,creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Dealing with non-functional requirements (NFRs) has posed a challenge onto software engineers for many years. Over the years, many methods and techniques have been proposed to improve their elicitation, documentation, and validation. Knowing more about the state of the practice on these topics may benefit both practitioners' and researchers' daily work. A few empirical studies have been conducted in the past, but none under the perspective of software architects, in spite of the great influence that NFRs have on daily architects' practices. This paper presents some of the findings of an empirical study based on 13 interviews with software architects. It addresses questions such as: who decides the NFRs, what types of NFRs matter to architects, how are NFRs documented, and how are NFRs validated. The results are contextualized with existing previous work.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

Aging concrete structures: a review of mechanics and concepts

The safe and cost-efficient management of our built infrastructure is a challenging task considering the expected service life of at least 50 years. In spite of time-dependent changes in material properties, deterioration processes and changing demand by society, the structures need to satisfy many technical requirements related to serviceability, durability, sustainability and bearing capacity. This review paper summarizes the challenges associated with the safe design and maintenance of aging concrete structures and gives an overview of some concepts and approaches that are being developed to address these challenges

Management of SSME hardware life utilization

Statistical and probabilistic reliability methodologies were developed for the determination of hardware life limits for the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). Both methodologies require that a mathematical reliability model of the engine (system) performance be developed as a function of the reliabilities of the components and parts. The system reliability model should be developed from the Failute Modes and Effects Analysis/Critical Items List. The statistical reliability methodology establishes hardware life limits directly from the failure distributions of the components and parts obtained from statistically-designed testing. The probabilistic reliability methodology establishes hardware life limits from a decision analysis methodology which incorporates the component/part reliabilities obtained from a probabilistic structural analysis, a calibrated maintenance program, inspection techniques, and fabrication procedures. Probilistic structural analysis is recommended as a tool to prioritize upgrading of the components and parts. The Weibull probability distribution is presently being investigated by NASA/MSFC to characterize the failure distribution of the SSME hardware from a limited data base of failures

A Framework for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Road Salt Used in Winter Maintenance Operations

It is important to assess from a holistic perspective the sustainability of road salt widely used in winter road maintenance (WRM) operations. The importance becomes increasingly apparent in light of competing priorities faced by roadway agencies, the need for collaborative decision-making, and growing concerns over the risks that road salt poses for motor vehicles, transportation infrastructure, and the natural environment. This project introduces the concept of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), which combines Life Cycle Costing, Environmental Life Cycle Assessment, and Social Life Cycle Assessment. The combination captures the features of three pillars in sustainability: economic development, environmental preservation, and social progress. With this framework, it is possible to enable more informed and balanced decisions by considering the entire life cycle of road salt and accounting for the indirect impacts of applying road salt for snow and ice control. This project proposes a LCSA framework of road salt, which examines the three branches of LCSA, their relationships in the integrated framework, and the complexities and caveats in the LCSA. While this framework is a first step in the right direction, we envision that it will be improved and enriched by continued research and may serve as a template for the LCSA of other WRM products, technologies, and practices

Flat-plate solar array project. Volume 6: Engineering sciences and reliability

The Flat-Plate Solar Array (FSA) Project activities directed at developing the engineering technology base required to achieve modules that meet the functional, safety, and reliability requirements of large scale terrestrial photovoltaic systems applications are reported. These activities included: (1) development of functional, safety, and reliability requirements for such applications; (2) development of the engineering analytical approaches, test techniques, and design solutions required to meet the requirements; (3) synthesis and procurement of candidate designs for test and evaluation; and (4) performance of extensive testing, evaluation, and failure analysis of define design shortfalls and, thus, areas requiring additional research and development. A summary of the approach and technical outcome of these activities are provided along with a complete bibliography of the published documentation covering the detailed accomplishments and technologies developed

Ilościowa ocena ryzyka przypadkowych zdarzeń wywołanych przez nieszczelności powodujące pożary w przemyśle przetwórczym

Risk to safety of personnel in process industries is normally modelled by the application of Event Trees, where the risk is defined as a product of event frequency and its consequences. This method is steady state whilst the actual event is time dependent. For example, gas release is an event comprising the size of gas cloud being released, probabilities of ignition, fire or explosion, fatality, escalation to new releases and fire and/or explosion, and the probability of fatality, all varying with time. This paper brings new perspective, how the risk to safety of personnel could be evaluated in dynamic context. A new approach is presented whereby the time-dependent events and the time-dependent probability of fatality are modelled by means of the analytical computation method based on modeling of different accident scenarios by use of the directed acyclic graph (DAG) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) method. Using these methods the modeled scenarios change with relevant probabilities at defined times to configurations with appropriate probabilities of fatalities.The paper uses a realistic example from the offshore industry, where different sizes of leak have different probability characteristics. Specifically small, medium and large leaks are evaluated. Based on the dynamic evolution of the probability of fatality, it is concluded that the most dangerous leak is the large one. Probability of fatality caused by the leak increased very rapidly within first 5 minutes. At the end of 5th minute, there is approximately one order of magnitude difference in the probabilities of fatality associated with the respective leak sizes.Zagrożenie dla bezpieczeństwa pracowników w przemyśle przetwórczym jest zwykle modelowane za pomocą drzewa zdarzeń, gdzie ryzyko jest zdefiniowane jako iloczyn częstotliwości zdarzenia i jego skutków. Metoda ta dotyczy stanu stacjonarnego, podczas gdy rzeczywiste zdarzenie jest zależne od czasu. Na przykład, ulatnianie się gazu jest zdarzeniem, które wiąże się z wielkością obłoku uwalnianego gazu, prawdopodobieństwem zapłonu, pożaru lub wybuchu, śmiertelnością, eskalacją pod kątem dalszego wycieku i pożaru i/lub wybuchu, oraz prawdopodobieństwem ofiar śmiertelnych, w każdym przypadku zależnie od czasu. Niniejsza praca pokazuje nowe podejście do tego, jak zagrożenie dla bezpieczeństwa pracowników może być rozpatrywane w kontekście dynamicznym. Nowe metoda polega na tym, iż zdarzenia zależne od czasu i zależne od czasu prawdopodobieństwo śmiertelności są modelowane za pomocą analitycznej metody obliczeń opartej na modelowaniu różnych scenariuszy wypadków przez zastosowanie skierowanego grafu acyklicznego (DAG) i metody analizy drzewa błędów (FTA). Dzięki zastosowaniu niniejszych metod, modelowane scenariusze zmieniają się wraz z odpowiednimi prawdopodobieństwami w określonych czasach na konfiguracje z właściwymi prawdopodobieństwami śmiertelności. Artykuł wykorzystuje rzeczywisty przykład z branży morskiej, gdzie różne rozmiary wycieku wykazują różne parametry prawdopodobieństwa. Szczegółowo oceniane są małe, średnie i duże wycieki. W oparciu o dynamiczną ewolucję prawdopodobieństwa ofiar śmiertelnych, należy stwierdzić, że najbardziej niebezpieczny jest duży wyciek. Prawdopodobieństwo ofiar śmiertelnych spowodowanych wyciekiem gwałtownie wzrasta w ciągu pierwszych 5 minut. Na koniec 5. minuty, występuje różnica w przybliżeniu o jeden rząd wielkości w prawdopodobieństwie śmiertelności związanej z odpowiednimi wielkościami wycieku.Web of Science17459058