Engineering Technology Reports, Volume 1: Laboratory Directed Research and Development FY00

In FY-2000, Engineering at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory faced significant pressures to meet critical project milestones, and immediate demands to facilitate the reassignment of employees as the National Ignition Facility (the 600-TW laser facility being designed and built at Livermore, and one of the largest R&D construction projects in the world) was in the process of re-baselining its plan while executing full-speed its technology development efforts. This drive for change occurred as an unprecedented level of management and program changes were occurring within LLNL. I am pleased to report that we met many key milestones and achieved numerous technological breakthroughs. This report summarizes our efforts to perform feasibility and reduce-to-practice studies, demonstrations, and/or techniques--as structured through our technology centers. Whether using computational engineering to predict how giant structures like suspension bridges will respond to massive earthquakes or devising a suitcase-sized microtool to detect chemical and biological agents used by terrorists, we have made solid technical progress. Five Centers focus and guide longer-term investments within Engineering, as well as impact all of LLNL. Each Center is responsible for the vitality and growth of the core technologies it represents. My goal is that each Center will be recognized on an international scale for solving compelling national problems requiring breakthrough innovation. The Centers and their leaders are as follows: Center for Complex Distributed Systems--David B. McCallen; Center for Computational Engineering--Kyran D. Mish; Center for Microtechnology--Raymond P. Mariella, Jr.; Center for Nondestructive Characterization--Harry E. Martz, Jr.; and Center for Precision Engineering--Keith Carlisle

Unsupervised Detection of Suspicious Tissue Using Data Modeling and PCA

Breast cancer is a major cause of death and morbidity among women all over the world, and it is a fact that early detection is a key in improving outcomes. Therefore development of algorithms that aids radiologists in identifying changes in breast tissue early on is essential. In this work an algorithm that investigates the use of principal components analysis (PCA) is developed to identify suspicious regions on mammograms. The algorithm employs linear structure and curvelinear modeling prior to PCA implementations. Evaluation of the algorithm is based on the percentage of correct classification, false positive (FP) and false negative (FN) in all experimental work using real data. Over 90% accuracy in block classification is achieved using mammograms from MIAS database

Multiple programs: essential to the scientific vitality of the DOE Defense Program Laboratories

The future of the Department of Energy� s Defense Program (DP) laboratories-Los Alamos, Livermore, and Sandia-has been extensively debated and examined over the past several years. To assist in this process, I have asked that a set of documents be prepared, which, when taken together, present a comprehensive picture of the three laboratories. This document describes the multiprogram nature of the DP laboratories and the value of their involvement in non-DP work as it relates to the nuclear weapons program. The other two documents, Integration and Collaboration.. Solving Science and Technology Problems for the Nation (DOE/DP-96009797) and Roles and Responsibilities of the Department of Energy Nuclear Weapons Laboratories in the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program (DOE/DP-97000280), describe respectively the integrated nature of the DP laboratories and the roles of the laboratories as they meet their individual and collective responsibilities of ensuring the safety and reliabilities of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. The scientific and technical challenges inherent in the DP laboratories� national security responsibilities today are as complex as those during the Manhattan Project and the Cold War years. Science-based stockpile stewardship and management require in-depth understanding of the full spectrum of nuclear weapons science and technology- physics, chemistry, materials, manufacturing, computational modeling, engineering, and electronics, to name a few-as well as a combination of capabilities and facilities unavailable anywhere else in the country. In addition to stockpile stewardship and management, many other nationally important issues involve science and technology-for example, nuclear nonproliferation, energy security, and environmental protection and remediation. Over the years, the DP laboratories have applied expertise and technologies developed in their nuclear weapons work to these other issues, focusing on those areas where they can make unique and valuable contributions. The nation has invested substantially in the three DP laboratories, creating an unmatched resource of scientific and engineering expertise, facilities, and capabilities. In this era of tight budgets, it is important that the laboratories extract maximum leverage from this investment and fulfill their nuclear weapons responsibilities as cost-effectively as possible. The multiprogram nature of the DP laboratories has been key to their success in achieving the outstanding level of scientific and technical excellence that has become their hallmark and in carrying out their national security mission. The multiprogram work of the laboratories also provides an extremely effective way of leveraging the nation� s investment in science and technology. It makes sense for the DP laboratories to apply their expertise to non-nuclear-weapons programs of national importance. It also makes sense for the DP laboratories to collaborate with other government laboratories, universities, and industry to apply the unique expertise, facilities, and capabilities of these institutions to national security challenges. This report briefly reviews the challenges faced by the DP laboratories in fulfilling their stockpile stewardship and management responsibilities. It then discusses the benefits of the synergy and the accelerated pace of scientific achievement that arise from the laboratories� multiple programs. A representative selection of accomplishments is presented that illustrates the importance of the contributions made to the laboratories� national security mission by their non-nuclear-weapons projects and their connections with the wider scientific community

Shock and detonation modeling with the Mie-Grüneisen equation of state

We consider the numerical simulation of inviscid reactive flows with application to high density explosive detonation. The numerical model is based on the Euler equations and the Mie-Grüneisen equation of state extended to treat chemical energy release and expanded states. The equations are computed with a Roe-Glaister solver on a Cartesian mesh. We present results for two substances, a binder and an explosive. Our solution method is verified against the exact solution of the shock tube problem for solid materials. We show under what conditions a "physical" expansion shock can appear in this example. We then address the problem of modeling expanded states, and show results for a two-dimensional shock distraction around a sharp corner. In the last part of the paper, we introduce a detonation model that extends the Mie-Grüneisen equation of state to enable high explosive simulations without the complexity of mixture equations of state. We conclude with two examples of corner-turning computations carried out with a pressure-dependent reaction rate law