Award Data

Southwest Sciences will develop a novel fire detection technology based on optical spectroscopy, using diode lasers and fiber optics. Rapid, quantitative detection of part per million concentrations (or better) of multiple gases, including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride, and a fiber optical distribution network permits one laser to be used for at least 800 di ...

American health care is in the midst of momentous change. Quality improvement principles are being used increasingly to enhance productivity and efficiency of health care delivery and to help contain costs. In producing patient outcomes and resource utilization measures, it is vital to control appropriately for case mix (i.e., differences in patients due, e.g., to illness severity) in the predicti ...

The near-field scanning optical microscope can supply information on the shape and electrical properties of surfaces with nanometer resolution. The quantitative interpretation of images is difficult because of the difficulty of electromagnetic field solutions in the near-field limit. We propose to supply software to aid in this analysis. The finite-element programs generate two and three-dimension ...

We propose to characterize the early stage of consolidation of non-spherical powders to further the development of process models to enable simulation of powder metallurgy manufacturing for the consumer market, especially the automotive industry. Typically, spherical powders with a narrow size distribution are used for aerospace applications, while low-cost powders with irregular shapes and a wide ...

TWO APPROACHES WILL BE EXAMINED TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THESENSITIVITY OF LAUNDRY MONITORS TO DETECT AND SPECIFY LOCATION OF HOT PARTICLES ON LAUNDERED GARMENTS. THESE PROPOSED TECNIQUES HAVE HIGH POTENTIAL FOR DETECTING BOTH LOW ENERGY BETA AND ALPHA PARTICLE RADIATION AS WELL AS IMPROVING SENSITIVITY BY REDUCING BACKGROUND COUNT RATE.

A diode laser method for the real-time measurement of absolute flux concentrations and spatial profiles of atomic beams used in MBE will be tested. The proposed method uses the doubled output of a near-infrared diode laser to access atomic absorption lines of species such as Ga, Al and In. The detection method will combine high frequency wavelength modulation and noise canceler approaches in order ...

MRC PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A SAFETY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR (PI) OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC (EM) PROTECTION STATUS OF A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT (NPP). WE BELIEVE THAT SUCH A PI IS NEEDED BECAUSE: (1) EM ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IS ON THE INCREASE,(2) ADDITIONAL EM THREATS MUST BE EVALUATED, AND (3) DISRUPTION OF NPP OPERATIONS BY EM EFFECTS CAN AND MUST BE AVOIDED. PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE ADDRESSED THE ISSUE OF E ...

THE UNCERTAINTY IN MEASURING NEUTRON DOSE EQUIVALENT RATES RESULTS IN UNCERTAINTY IN ASSIGNMENT OF THE PROPER DOSE TO OCCUPATIONAL RECORDS AND CAN RESULT IN IMPROPER IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTROLS TO LIMIT THE EXPOSURE. A NOVEL PORTABLE NEUTRON SPECTROMETER IS PROPOSED WHICH WILL REDUCE THE UNCERTAINTY OF SUCH MEASUREMENTS TO LESS THAN 20%. MANYCOMPONENTS OF THIS DEVICE ARE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE. SYS ...

New work is in progress on a CORBA interface standard for online interactive communication with DMIS-based Coordinate Measurement Machines (CMMs). This work is being pursued for submission to CAM-I via a recently organized object technology working committee of the North American DMIS Users Group. We will explore how to build upon this work for integration with existing manufacturing frameworks, e ...

A growing number of fire fighters are suffering third degree burns; this has led to questions about the adequacy of thermal protective performance (TPP) measurements for protective clothing. A new heat flux sensor, whose response approximates that of skin, will be developed to provide better measurements of heat transfer in TPP tests. This sensor will be used with nonlinear parameter estimation an ...