Modular fixturing kits are sets of components used for flexible, rapid construction of fixtures. A modular vise is a parallel-jaw vise, each jaw of which is a modular fixture plate with a regular grid of precisely positioned holes. To fixture a part, one places pins in some of the holes so that when the vise is closed, the part is reliably located and completely constrained. The modular vise concept can be adapted easily to the design of modular parallel-jaw grippers for robots. By attaching a grid-plate to each jaw of a parallel-jaw gripper, one gains the ability to easily construct high-quality grasps for a wide variety of parts from a standard set of hardware. Wallack and Canny developed an algorithm for planning planar grasp configurations for the modular vise. In this paper, the authors expand this work to produce a 3-d fixture/gripper design tool. They describe several analyses they have added to the planar algorithm, including a 3-d grasp quality metric based on force information, 3-d geometric loading analysis, and inter-gripper interference analysis. Finally, the authors describe two applications of their code. One of these is an internal application at Sandia, while the other shows a potential use of the …

The 300 Area has been divided into three operable units 300-FF-1, 300-FF-2, and 300-FF-5 all of which are in various stages of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) process. The 300-FF-1 Operable Unit, the subject of this report, includes liquid waste disposal sites, landfills, and a burial ground. This Remedial Design Report/Remedial Action Work Plan (RDR/RAWP) provides a summary description of each waste site included in the 300-FF-1 Operable Unit, the basis for remedial actions to be taken, and the remedial action approach and management process for implementing these actions. The remedial action approach and management sections provide a description of the remedial action process description, the project schedule, the project team, required planning documentation, the remedial action change process, the process for verifying attainment of the remedial action goals, and the required CERCLA and RCRA closeout documentation. Appendix A provides additional details on each waste site. In addition to remediation of the waste sites, waste generated during the remedial investigation/feasibility study portions of the project will also be disposed at the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF). Appendix B provides a summary of the modeling performed in the 300-FF-1 Phase 3 FS and a description …

A previous evaluation documented in report WHC-SD-GN-RPT-30005, Rev. 0, titled ``Evaluation on Self-Contained High Efficiency Particulate Filters,`` revealed that the SCHEPA filters do not have required documentation to be in compliance with the design, testing, and fabrication standards required in ASME N-509, ASME N-510, and MIL-F-51068. These standards are required by DOE Order 6430.IA. Without this documentation, filter adequacy cannot be verified. The existing SCHEPA filters can be removed and replaced with new filters and filter housing which meet current codes and standards.

This plan presents background information and a working guide to assist Mine Operations and Engineering in developing strategies for addressing ground control issues at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). With the anticipated receipt of waste in late 1997, this document provides additional detail to Panel 1 activities and options. The plan also serves as a foundation document for development and revision of the annual long-term ground control plan. Section 2.0 documents the current status of all underground excavations with respect to location, geology, geometry, age, ground support, operational use, projected life, and physical conditions. Section 3.0 presents the methods used to evaluate ground conditions, including visual observations of the roof, ribs, and floor, inspection of observation holes, and review of instrumentation data. Section 4.0 lists several ground support options and specific applications of each. Section 5.0 discusses remedial ground control measures that have been implemented to date. Section 6.0 presents projections and recommendations for ground control actions based on the information in Sections 2.0 through 5.0 of this plan and on a rating of the critical nature of each specific area. Section 7.0 presents a summary statement, and Section 8.0 includes references. Appendix A provides an overview and critique …

The ability to image complex geologies such as salt domes in the Gulf of Mexico and thrusts in mountainous regions is a key to reducing the risk and cost associated with oil and gas exploration. Imaging these structures, however, is computationally expensive. Datasets can be terabytes in size, and the processing time required for the multiple iterations needed to produce a velocity model can take months, even with the massively parallel computers available today. Some algorithms, such as 3D, finite-difference, prestack, depth migration remain beyond the capacity of production seismic processing. Massively parallel processors (MPPs) and algorithms research are the tools that will enable this project to provide new seismic processing capabilities to the oil and gas industry. The goals of this work are to (1) develop finite-difference algorithms for 3D, prestack, depth migration; (2) develop efficient computational approaches for seismic imaging and for processing terabyte datasets on massively parallel computers; and (3) develop a modular, portable, seismic imaging code.

Objective was to develop a theoretical and experimental framework for predicting stress rupture lifetime for fiber polymer composites based on short-term accelerated testing. Originally a 3-year project, it was terminated after the first year, which included stress rupture experiments and viscoelastic material characterization. In principle, higher temperature, stress, and saturated environmental conditions are used to accelerate stress rupture. Two types of specimens were to be subjected to long-term and accelerated static tensile loading at various temperatures, loads in order to quantify both fiber and matrix dominated failures. Also, we were to apply state-of-the-art analytical and experimental characterization techniques developed under a previous DOE/DP CRADA for capturing and tracking incipient degradation mechanisms associated with mechanical performance. Focus was increase our confidence to design, analyze, and build long-term composite structures such as flywheels and hydrogen gas storage vessels; other applications include advanced conventional weapons, infrastructures, marine and offshore systems, and stockpile stewardship and surveillance. Capabilities developed under this project, though not completed or verified, are being applied to NIF, AVLIS, and SSMP programs.

The thermal mass flow controller, or MFC, has become an instrument of choice for the monitoring and controlling of process gas flow throughout the materials processing industry. These MFCs are used on CVD processes, etching tools, and furnaces and, within the semiconductor industry, are used on 70% of the processing tools. Reliability and accuracy are major concerns for the users of the MFCs. Calibration and characterization technologies for the development and implementation of mass flow devices are described. A test facility is available to industry and universities to test and develop gas floe sensors and controllers and evaluate their performance related to environmental effects, reliability, reproducibility, and accuracy. Additional work has been conducted in the area of accuracy. A gravimetric calibrator was invented that allows flow sensors to be calibrated in corrosive, reactive gases to an accuracy of 0.3% of reading, at least an order of magnitude better than previously possible. Although MFCs are typically specified with accuracies of 1% of full scale, MFCs may often be implemented with unwarranted confidence due to the conventional use of surrogate gas factors. Surrogate gas factors are corrections applied to process flow indications when an MFC has been calibrated on a laboratory-safe surrogate …

Our goals for the first year of this three dimensional electodynamic imaging project was to determine how to combine flexible, individual addressable; preprocessing of array source signals; spectral extrapolation or received signals; acoustic tomography codes; and acoustic propagation modeling code. We investigated flexible, individually addressable acoustic array material to find the best match in power, sensitivity and cost and settled on PVDF sheet arrays and 3-1 composite material.

The task of installing and servicing high energy neutrino detectors in the deep ocean from a surface support vessel is problematic using conventional tethered systems. An array of multiple detector strings rising 500 m from the ocean floor, and forming a grid with 50 m spacing between the strings, presents a substantial entanglement hazard for equipment cables deployed from the surface. Such tasks may be accomplished with fewer risks using a tetherless underwater remotely operated vehicle that has a local acoustic telemetry link to send control commands and sensor data between the vehicle and a stationary hydrophone suspended above or just outside the perimeter of the work site. The Phase I effort involves the development of an underwater acoustic telemetry link for vehicle control and sensor feedback, the evaluation of video compression methods for real-time acoustic transmission of video through the water, and the defining of local control routines on board the vehicle to allow it to perform certain basic maneuvering tasks autonomously, or to initiate a self-rescue if the acoustic control link should be lost. In Phase II, a prototype tetherless vehicle system will be designed and constructed to demonstrate the ability to install cable interconnections within a detector …

A coded aperture neutron imaging system developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has demonstrated that it is possible to record not only a flux of thermal neutrons at some position, but also the directions from whence they came. This realization of an idea which defied the conventional wisdom has provided a device which has never before been available to the nuclear physics community. A number of potential applications have been explored, including (1) counting warheads on a bus or in a storage area, (2) investigating inhomogeneities in drums of Pu-containing waste to facilitate non-destructive assays, (3) monitoring of vaults containing accountable materials, (4) detection of buried land mines, and (5) locating solid deposits of nuclear material held up in gaseous diffusion plants.

This work is comprised of two major sections. In the first section the authors develop multivariate image classification techniques to distinguish and identify surface electronic species directly from multiple-bias scanning tunneling microscope (STM) images. Multiple measurements at each site are used to distinguish and categorize inequivalent electronic or atomic species on the surface via a computerized classification algorithm. Then, comparison with theory or other suitably chosen experimental data enables the identification of each class. They demonstrate the technique by analyzing dual-polarity constant-current topographs of the Ge(111) surface. Just two measurements, negative- and positive-bias topography height, permit pixels to be separated into seven different classes. Labeling four of the classes as adatoms, first-layer atoms, and two inequivalent rest-atom sites, they find excellent agreement with the c(2 x 8) structure. The remaining classes are associated with structural defects and contaminants. This work represents a first step toward developing a general electronic/chemical classification and identification tool for multivariate scanning probe microscopy imagery. In the second section they report measurements of the diffusion of Si dimers on the Si(001) surface at temperatures between room temperature and 128 C using a novel atom-tracking technique that can resolve every diffusion event. The atom tracker employs lateral-positioning …

Prior to the DF-4 boiling water reactor (BWR) severe fuel damage (SFD) experiment conducted at the Sandia National Laboratories in 1986, no experimental data base existed for guidance in modeling core component behavior under postulated severe accident conditions in commercial BWRs. This paper will present the lessons learned from the DF-4 experiment (and subsequent German CORA BWR SFD tests) and the impact on core models in the current generation of SFD codes. The DF-4 and CORA BWR test assemblies were modeled on the core component designs circa 1985; that is, the 8 x 8 fuel assembly with two water rods and a cruciform control blade constructed of B{sub 4}C-filled tubelets. Within the past ten years, the state-of-the-art with respect to BWR core component development has out-distanced the current SFD experimental data base and SFD code capabilities. For example, modern BWR control blade design includes hafnium at the tips and top of each control blade wing for longer blade operating lifetimes; also water rods have been replaced by larger water channels for better neutronics economy; and fuel assemblies now contain partial-length fuel rods, again for better neutronics economy. This paper will also discuss the implications of these advanced fuel assembly and …

Reported here are the results of Laboratory and Bench-Scale experiments and supporting technical and economic assessments conducted under DOE Contract No. DE-AC22-91PC9104O during the period October 1, 1996 to December 31, 1996. This contract is with the University of Kentucky Research Foundation which supports work with the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research, CONSOI+ Inc., LDP Associates, and Hydrocarbon Technologies, Inc. This work invoives the introduction into the basic two stage liquefaction process several novel concepts which include dispersed lower-cost catalysts, coal cleaning by oil agglomeration, and distillate hydrotreating and dewaxing.

Nanostructures are defined to be ultrasmall structures and devices with dimensions less than or equal to 100 nm. Conventional methods for making thin film structures involve exposure of a thin layer of a polymer resist on a suitable substrate to define a pattern, which is then developed and used to fabricate the structures either by deposition, or by etching. Resistless methods of patterning, followed by epitaxial growth could significantly simplify nanofabrication by eliminating a number of processing steps associated with the application, exposure, development, and removal of the resist. The molecular size effect with polymer based resists such as PMMA is believed to be a significant factor in limiting the resolution (grain size) in electron beam lithography (EBL) to 10 nm. Surface adsorption layers such as the hydride layer on the Si surface are characterized by relatively strong chemical bonding which produces a highly uniform coverage that terminates at a single monolayer. Because of these properties surface adsorption layers are attractive candidates as ultrathin, ultrahigh resolution resists for electron beam patterning. In this paper, the authors report on results concerning electron beam induced patterning of the surface hydride layer on silicon, using a scanning electron beam lithography (SEBL) system. The …

The Instrumentation and Controls Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory performed an assessment of the sensors and controls needs for land-based advanced gas turbines being designed as a part of the Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Advanced Turbine Systems (ATS) Program for both utility and industrial applications. The assessment included visits to five turbine manufacturers. During these visits, in-depth discussions were held with design and manufacturing staff to obtain their views regarding the need for new sensors and controls for their advanced turbine designs. The Unsteady Combustion Facilities at the Morgantown Energy Technology Center was visited to assess the need for new sensors for gas turbine combustion research. Finally, a workshop was conducted at the South Carolina Energy Research and Development Center which provided a forum for industry, laboratory, and university engineers to discuss and prioritize sensor and control needs. The assessment identified more than 50 different measurement, control, and monitoring needs for advanced turbines that cannot currently be met from commercial sources. While all the identified needs are important, some are absolutely critical to the success of the ATS Program.

This paper represents an overview of analyses conducted on the TRU database maintained by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This evaluation was conducted to support the ``TRU Waste Workoff Strategies`` document and provides an estimation of the waste volume that potentially could be certified and ready for shipment to (WIPP) in April of 1998. Criteria defined in the WIPP WAC, including container type, weight limits, plutonium fissile gram equivalents and decay heat, were used to evaluated the waste for compliance. LANL evaluated the containers by facility and by waste stream to determining the most efficient plan for characterization and certification of the waste. Evaluation of the waste presently in storage suggested that 40- 60% potentially meets the WIPP WAC Rev. 5 criteria.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has full capability to characterize transuranic (TRU) waste for shipment to and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for its projected opening. LANL TRU waste management operations also include facilities to repackage both drums of waste found not to be certifiable for WIPP and oversized boxes of waste that must be size reduced for shipment to WIPP. All characterization activities and repackaging are carried out under a quality assurance program designed to meet Carlsbad Area Office (CAO) requirements. The flow of waste containers through characterization operations, the facilities used for characterization, and the electronic data management system used for data package preparation and certification of TRU waste at LANL are described.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has begun characterizing transuranic (TRU) waste in order to comply with New Mexico regulations, and to prepare the waste for shipment and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), near Carlsbad, New Mexico. Sampling consists of removing some head space gas from each drum, removing a core from a few drums of each homogeneous waste stream, and visually characterizing a few drums from each heterogeneous waste stream. The gases are analyzed by GC/MS, and the cores are analyzed for VOC`s and SVOC`s by GC/MS and for metals by AA or AE spectroscopy. The sampling and examination projects are conducted in accordance with the ``DOE TRU Waste Quality Assurance Program Plan`` (QAPP) and the ``LANL TRU Waste Quality Assurance Project Plan,`` (QAPjP), guaranteeing that the data meet the needs of both the Carlsbad Area Office (CAO) of DOE and the ``WIPP Waste Acceptance Criteria, Rev. 5,`` (WAC).

This paper presents an overview of the activities being planned and implemented to certify newly generated contact handled transuranic (TRU) waste produced by Los Alamos National Laboratory`s (LANL`s) Plutonium Facility. Certifying waste at the point of generation is the most important cost and labor saving step in the WIPP certification process. The pedigree of a waste item is best known by the originator of the waste and frees a site from expensive characterization activities such as those associated with legacy waste. Through a cooperative agreement with LANLs Waste Management Facility and under the umbrella of LANLs WIPP-related certification and quality assurance documents, the Plutonium Facility will be certifying its own newly generated waste. Some of the challenges faced by the Plutonium Facility in preparing to certify TRU waste include the modification and addition of procedures to meet WIPP requirements, standardizing packaging for TRU waste, collecting processing documentation from operations which produce TRU waste, and developing ways to modify waste streams which are not certifiable in their present form.

This paper describes the new computer-based transuranic (TRU) Waste Management System (WMS) being implemented at the Plutonium Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The Waste Management System is a distributed computer processing system stored in a Sybase database and accessed by a graphical user interface (GUI) written in Omnis7. It resides on the local area network at the Plutonium Facility and is accessible by authorized TRU waste originators, count room personnel, radiation protection technicians (RPTs), quality assurance personnel, and waste management personnel for data input and verification. Future goals include bringing outside groups like the LANL Waste Management Facility on-line to participate in this streamlined system. The WMS is changing the TRU paper trail into a computer trail, saving time and eliminating errors and inconsistencies in the process.

Albuquerque, New Mexico, is located along the Rio Grande in central New Mexico, at an elevation of 5280 feet. Albuquerque`s climate reflects its high desert setting; average annual precipitation in the basin is only 8 to 10 inches. The Albuquerque metropolitan area is part of the rapidly growing {open_quotes}sunbelt{close_quotes} region of the southwestern United States and is undergoing rapid development. The municipal, industrial, and residential water needs of the entire population are currently met by groundwater, while agricultural needs within the basin are met by surface water diverted from the Rio Grande. While the city is blessed with an extremely productive aquifer, current metropolitan area annual groundwater extractions of 170,000 acre-feet far exceed the sustainable yield of the aquifer. Continued drawdown will lead to greater pumping costs, ground surface subsidence problems, and eventual aquifer depletion. At the same time, industrial and non-point-source contamination and naturally occurring arsenic levels are raising concerns about groundwater quality. New Mexico water law has required the City to acquire surface water rights and allocations on the Rio Grande sufficient to offset estimated losses from the river induced by the City`s groundwater extraction. It has become increasingly clear that the induced recharge had been greatly overestimated, …

This paper presents an analytical, computational method whereby two-dimensional images of an optical source represented in terms of a set of detector array signals can be registered with respect to a reference set of detector array signals. The detector image is recovered from the detector array signals and represented over a local region by a fourth order, two-dimensional taylor series. This local detector image can then be registered by a general linear transformation with respect to a reference detector image. The detector signal in the reference frame is reconstructed by integrating this detector image over the respective reference pixel. For cases in which the general linear transformation is uncertain by up to plus-or-minus two pixels, the general linear transformation can be determined by least squares fitting the detector image to the reference detector image. This registration process reduces clutter and jitter noise to a level comparable to the electronic noise level of the detector system. Test results with and without electronic noise using an analytical test function are presented.

Alpha-driven toroidal Alfven eigenmodes (TAEs) are observed as predicted by theory in the post neutral beam phase in high central q (safety factor) deuterium-tritium (D-T) plasmas in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). The mode location, poloidal structure and the importance of q profile for TAE instability are discussed. So far no alpha particle loss due to these modes was detected due to the small mode amplitude. However, alpha loss induced by kinetic ballooning modes (KBMs) was observed in high confinement D-T discharges. Particle orbit simulation demonstrates that the wave-particle resonant interaction can explain the observed correlation between the increase in alpha loss and appearance of multiple high-n (n {ge} 6, n is the toroidal mode number) modes.

The Alternative LEU Design for the FRM-II proposed by the RERTR Program at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has a compact core consisting of a single fuel element that uses LEU silicide fuel with a uranium density of 4.5 g/cm[sup 3] and has a power level of 32 MW. Both the HEU design by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the alternative LEU design by ANL have the same fuel lifetime (50 days) and the same neutron flux performance (8 x 10[sup 14] n/cm[sup 2]/s in the reflector). LEU silicide fuel with 4.5 g/cm[sup 3] has been thoroughly tested and is fully-qualified, licensable, and available now for use in a high flux reactor such as the FRM-II. Computer models for the HEU and LEU designs have been exchanged between TUM and ANL and discrepancies have been resolved. The following issues are addressed: qualification of HEU and LEU silicide fuels, stability of the fuel plates, gamma heating in the heavy water reflector, a hypothetical accident involving the configuration of the reflector, a loss of primary coolant flow transient due to an interrupted power supply, the radiological consequences of larger fission product and plutonium inventories in the LEU core, and cost and …