DATAWorks Sessions Archive

Over the past 10 years, a number of activities have incorporated statistical methods for the purpose of database development and associated uncertainty modeling. This presentation will highlight approaches taken in aerodynamic database development for space vehicle projects, specifically the Orion spacecraft and abort vehicle, and the Space Launch System (SLS) launch vehicle. Additionally, statistical methods have been incorporated into the Commercial Supersonic Transport Project for test technique development and optimization as well as a certification prediction methodology, which is planned to be verified with the Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator data. Discussion will conclude with the use of statistical methods for quality control and assurance in the NASA Langley Research Center ground testing facilities related to our Check Standard Project and characterization and calibration testing.

This paper presents the results of two hypervelocity impact failure probabilistic risk assessments for critical wire bundles exposed aboard the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS-1) to an increased orbital debris environment at its 824 km, 98.8 deg inclination orbit. The first “generic” approach predicted the number of wires broken by orbital debris ejecta emerging from normal impact with multi-layer insulation (MLI) covering 36-, 18-, and 6-strand wire bundles at a 5 cm standoff using the Smooth Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) code. This approach also included a mathematical approach for computing the probability that redundant wires were impacted then severed within the bundle. Based in part on the high computed risk of a critical wire bundle failure from the generic approach, an enhanced orbital debris protection design was examined, consisting of betacloth-reinforced MLI suspended at a 5 cm standoff over a seven layer betacloth and Kevlar blanket, draped over the exposed wire bundles. A second SPH-based risk assessment was conducted that also included the beneficial effects from the high (75 degree) obliquity of orbital debris impact and shadowing by other spacecraft components, and resulted in a considerably reduced likelihood of critical wire bundle failure compared to the original baseline design.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/workshop-archives-2016/IDA+Workshop+2016/testsciencemeeting.ida.org/pdfs/1b-ExperimentalDesignMethodsandApplications.pdf

An important property of any experimental design is its ability to detect active factors. For supersaturated designs, in which model parameters outnumber experimental runs, power is even more critical. In this talk, we review several popular supersaturated design construction criteria and analysis methods. We then demonstrate how simulation studies can be useful for practitioners in selecting a supersaturated design with regards to power to detect active factors. One of our findings based on an extensive simulation study is that although differences clearly exist among analysis methods, most supersaturated design construction methods are indistinguishable in terms of power. This conclusion can be reassuring for practitioners as supersaturated designs can then be sensibly chosen based upon convenience. For instance, the Bayesian D-optimal supersaturated designs can be easily constructed in JMP and SAS for any run size and number of factors. On the other hand, software for constructing E(s2)-optimal supersaturated designs is not as accessible.

Two responses to an expensive, time consuming test on a final product will be referred to as “adhesion” and “strength”. A screening test was performed on compounds that comprise the final product. These screening tests are multivariate profile measurements. Previous models to predict the expensive, time consuming test lacked accuracy and precision. Data visualization was used to guide a statistical engineering model that makes use of multiple statistical techniques. The modeling approach raised some interesting statistical questions for partial least square models regarding over-fitting and cross validation. Ultimately, the model interpretation and the visualization both make engineering sense and led to interesting insights regarding the product development program and screening compounds.

There are many testing situations that historically involve a large number of runs. The use of experimental design methods can reduce the number of runs required to obtain the information desired. Example applications include wind tunnel test campaigns, computational experiments and live fire tests. In this work we present three case studies conducted under the auspices of the Science of Test Research Consortium comparing the information obtained via a historical experimental approach with the information obtained via an experimental design approach. The first case study involves a large scale wind tunnel experimental campaign. The second involves a computational fluid dynamics model of a missile through various speeds and angles of attack. The third case involves ongoing live fire testing involve hot surface testing. In each case, results suggest a tremendous opportunity to reduce experimental test efforts without losing test information.

Co-authors: Dr. Darryl Ahner, Director, STAT COE Dr. Lenny Truett, STAT COE Mr. Scott Wacker, 96 TG/OL-ACS. This presentation will present the benefits of sequential testing and demonstrate how sequential testing can be used to address complex test conditions by developing well controlled early experiments to explore basic questions before proceeding to full-scale testing. This approach can result in increased knowledge and decreased cost. As of FY13 the Air Force had spent an estimated $47M on dry bay fire testing making fire the largest cost contributor for Live Fire Test and Evaluation (LFT&E) programs. There is currently an estimated 60% uncertainty in total platform vulnerable area (Av) driven by probability of kill (PK) due to ballistically ignited fires. A large part of this uncertain comes from the fact that current spurt modeling does not predict fuel spurt delay with reasonable accuracy despite a large amount of test data. A low-cost sequential approach was developed to improve spurts models. Initial testing used a spherical projectile to test 10 different factors in a definitive screening design. Once the list of factors was refined, a second phase of testing determined if a suitable methodology could be developed to scaled results using water as a surrogate for JP-8 fuel. Finally testing was performed with cubical projectiles to evaluate the effect of fragment orientation. The entire cost for this effort was less than one or two typical full-scale live fire tests.