Validation testing of shallow notched round-bar screening test specimens

The capability of shallow-notched, round-bar, tensile specimens for screening critical environments as they affect the material fracture properties of the space shuttle main engine was tested and analyzed. Specimens containing a 0.050-inch-deep circumferential sharp notch were cyclically loaded in a 5000-psi hydrogen environment at temperatures of +70 and -15 F. Replication of test results and a marked change in cyclic life because of temperature variation demonstrated the validity of the specimen type to be utilized for screening tests

Fracture mechanics analysis of a high-pressure hydrogen facility compressor

The investigation and analysis of a high-pressure hydrogen facility compressor is chronicled, and a life prediction based on fracture mechanics is presented. Crack growth rates in SA 105 Gr II steel are developed for the condition of sustained loading, using a hypothesis of hydrogen embrittlement associated with plastic zone reverse yielding. The resultant formula is compared with test data obtained from laboratory specimens

Financing Unemployment Insurance

Following the Great Recession, most states’ unemployment insurance (UI) trust funds became insolvent, requiring the states to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to finance benefit payments. This article describes the basics of UI financing and reviews the origins of the financial crisis facing the federal-state UI system. It then examines the main components of the UI payroll tax—the taxable wage base and the experience-rated payroll tax—and considers how these might be modified to avoid future widespread insolvency. We conclude with some speculative remarks on the future of UI financing

The Incidence and Cost of Wrongfully Denied Unemployment Benefits

Since 1987, the U.S. Department of Labor has performed random audits of Unemployment Insurance (UI) payments in order to estimate the extent of benefit payment errors—particularly overpayments. However, the accuracy of the process that determines benefit eligibility is not currently assessed. In particular, the extent to which eligible claimants for UI are wrongfully denied benefits is not known. This paper reports the results of the Denied Claims Accuracy (DCA) Pilot Project, a five-state pilot conducted by the Department of Labor during 1997–98, in which random samples of monetary, separation, and nonseparation denials were subjected to intensive field investigation in order to determine their accuracy. Two main sets of findings are reported. The first pertains to the incidence of wrongful denials: After adjusting for appeals, redeterminations, and other agency actions to resolve errors, 11 percent of monetary denials, over 6 percent of the separation denials, and 13 percent of nonseparation denials were in error. Several aspects of these basic findings are discussed: the effectiveness of UI agency activities and the appeals process in correcting errors, the causes of wrongful denials, and the extent to which wrongful denials are correlated with observable claimant characteristics. The second set of findings pertains to the dollar value of benefits lost by claimants due to wrongful denials. Lost benefits are unobservable and must be imputed; two approaches to making the imputations are developed. The imputations suggest that between $565 million and$625 million in benefits were wrongfully denied in the United States during fiscal year 1998, amounting to just over 3 percent of total regular UI benefit payments. Of this total, between $220 million and$240 million were wrongfully denied due to incorrect monetary determinations, between $190million and$230 million were wrongfully denied due to incorrect separation determinations, and between $150 and$155 million were wrongfully denied due to incorrect nonseparation determinations

Trend and Cycle Analysis of Unemployment Insurance and the Employment Service

This report traces historical developments in two major DOL programs: State Unemployment Insurance (UI) and the federal-state Employment Service (ES). Developments in the UI program are traced from the late 1940s while ES program activities are traced from the late 1960s. For both programs, the report emphasizes long term trends as well as changes that have occurred over the course of the business cycle. The analysis uses annual data and is conducted at three levels of geographic detail: national, regional and state. A major objective of the project was to create data files useful for other researchers in studying the UI and ES programs. For both programs, data were assembled to be delivered to DOL and for transmission to archival repositories such as the Employment Data Center at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. Key deliverables for the project were spreadsheets with state, regional and national detail that span extended time periods since World War I

Trend and Cycle Analysis of Unemployment Insurance and the Employment Service

This report traces historical developments in two major DOL programs: State Unemployment Insurance (UI) and the federal-state Employment Service (ES). Developments in the UI program are traced from the late 1940s while ES program activities are traced from the late 1960s. For both programs, the report emphasizes long term trends as well as changes that have occurred over the course of the business cycle. The analysis uses annual data and is conducted at three levels of geographic detail: national, regional and state. A major objective of the project was to create data files useful for other researchers in studying the UI and ES programs. For both programs, data were assembled to be delivered to DOL and for transmission to archival repositories such as the Employment Data Center at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. Key deliverables for the project were spreadsheets with state, regional and national detail that span extended time periods since World War I

Financing Unemployment Insurance

Following the Great Recession, most states’ unemployment insurance (UI) trust funds became insolvent, requiring the states to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to finance benefit payments. This article describes the basics of UI financing and reviews the origins of the financial crisis facing the federal-state UI system. It then examines the main components of the UI payroll tax—the taxable wage base and the experience-rated payroll tax—and considers how these might be modified to avoid future widespread insolvency. We conclude with some speculative remarks on the future of UI financing