On the engineering of crucial software

The various aspects of the conventional software development cycle are examined. This cycle was the basis of the augmented approach contained in the original grant proposal. This cycle was found inadequate for crucial software development, and the justification for this opinion is presented. Several possible enhancements to the conventional software cycle are discussed. Software fault tolerance, a possible enhancement of major importance, is discussed separately. Formal verification using mathematical proof is considered. Automatic programming is a radical alternative to the conventional cycle and is discussed. Recommendations for a comprehensive approach are presented, and various experiments which could be conducted in AIRLAB are described

The wall shear stress produced by the normal impingement of a jet on a flat surface

A method for the theoretical determination of the wall shear stress under impinging jets of various congurations is presented. Axisymmetric and two-dimensional incompressible jets of a wide range of Reynolds numbers and jet heights are considered. Theoretical predictions from this approach are compared with available wall shear stress measurements. These data are critically evaluated based on the method of measurement and its applicability to the boundary layer under consideration. It was found that impingement-region wall shear stress measurements using the electrochemical method in submerged impinging liquid jets provide the greatest accuracy of any indirect method. A unique wall shear stress measurement technique, based on observing the removal of monosized spheres from well-characterized surfaces, was used to conrm the impinging jet analysis presented for gas jets. The technique was also used to determine an empirical relation describing the rise in wall shear stress due to compressibility eects in impinging high-velocity jets

Analysis of on-orbit thermal characteristics of the 15-meter hoop/column antenna

In recent years, interest in large deployable space antennae has led to the development of the 15 meter hoop/column antenna. The thermal environment the antenna is expected to experience during orbit is examined and the temperature distributions leading to reflector surface distortion errors are determined. Two flight orientations corresponding to: (1) normal operation, and (2) use in a Shuttle-attached flight experiment are examined. A reduced element model was used to determine element temperatures at 16 orbit points for both flight orientations. The temperature ranged from a minimum of 188 K to a maximum of 326 K. Based on the element temperatures, orbit position leading to possible worst case surface distortions were determined, and the subsequent temperatures were used in a static finite element analysis to quantify surface control cord deflections. The predicted changes in the control cord lengths were in the submillimeter ranges

Properties of light scalar mesons from lattice QCD

Lattice QCD with $N_f=2$ flavours of sea quark is used to explore the spectrum and decay of scalar mesons. We are able to determine the $b_1$ - $a_0$ mass difference and this leads to the conclusion that the lightest non-singlet scalar meson ($a_0$) has a mass of 1.01(4) GeV. We determine from the lattice the coupling strength to KK and $\pi \eta$. We compute the leptonic decay constant of the lightest non-singlet scalar meson. We discuss the impact of these lattice results on the interpretation of the $a_0(980)$ state. We also discuss $K^*_0$ states.Comment: version accepted by Phys Rev

CLFE2D: A generalized plane strain finite element program laminated composites subject to mechanical and hygrothermal loading

CLFE2D is a two dimensional generalized plane strain finite element code, using a linear, four node, general quadrilateral, isoparametric element. The program is developed to calculate the displacements, strains, stresses, and strain energy densities in a finite width composite laminate. CLFE2D offers any combination of the following load types: nodal displacements, nodal forces, uniform normal strain, or hygrothermal. The program allows the user to input one set of three dimensional orthotropic material properties. The user can then specify the angle of material principal orientation for each element in the mesh. Output includes displacements, stresses, strains and strain densities at points selected by the user. An option is also available to plot the underformed and deformed finite element meshes

An X-ray shadowgraph to locate transient high-energy celestial sources

A new technique has been developed to locate strong, transient X-ray sources such as the recently discovered gamma ray bursts. The instrument, termed a shadowgraph, locates sources by detecting the X-ray shadow cast by a large occulting mask pattern on an imaging detector. Angular resolutions of from 2 to 10 arc minutes are obtainable while essentially full sky coverage is maintained. The optimum energy range of operation is between 20 keV and 100 keV. The high efficiency X-ray imaging detectors, which make it possible to locate bursts with intensities down to approximately 10 photons/sq cm sec, are capable of detecting single 20 keV photons with a spatial resolution of approximately 0.2 mm. The detectors consist of an X-ray to optical conversion phosphor, a multistage image intensifier, and a CCD image readout

The implementation and use of Ada on distributed systems with high reliability requirements

The use and implementation of Ada in distributed environments in which reliability is the primary concern were investigated. In particular, the concept that a distributed system may be programmed entirely in Ada so that the individual tasks of the system are unconcerned with which processors they are executing on, and that failures may occur in the software or underlying hardware was examined. Progress is discussed for the following areas: continued development and testing of the fault-tolerant Ada testbed; development of suggested changes to Ada so that it might more easily cope with the failure of interest; and design of new approaches to fault-tolerant software in real-time systems, and integration of these ideas into Ada