Semi-annual report documenting statistics and analysis of contracts awarded to historically underutilized business (HUBs) by Texas state agencies, including statewide analysis, analysis summary.

We have produced single bursts of helicity from the source in the SSPX spheromak in order to study the efficiency of the simplest example of helicity injection. We find that the helicity injection rate can be written in terms of the injected current and an inductance, and that a simple circuit analogue demonstrates unambiguously the relationship of helicity to energy: helicity injection is the addition of inductive loops. While helicity balance points to the conservation of helicity, the electrical efficiency is around 15%. However, in the expulsion of the loop, electrical energy is converted to directional motion, which may be recoverable usefully as heat by collisions, thus the efficiency of the injection process is arguably quite high. Integral to this notion of helicity injection is the idea that reconnection is necessary: without disconnection from the source by a reconnection event, the spheromak fields are just proportional to the injected current. Sometimes the multiple bursts occur spontaneously and cause a step-wise increase in the field (and helicity). However, in all instances when the current remains above the ejection threshold for t > 50 {micro}s, the n=l mode initiates and builds field, although with much reduced efficiency, and to a level which …

The high frequency behavior of the bulk modulus of fluid-saturated rock can be obtained from a double-porosity constitutive model, which is a direct conceptual extension of Biot's (1941) constitutive equations and which provides additional stiffening due to unrelaxed induced pore pressures in the soft porosity phase. Modeling the stiffening of the shear modulus at high frequency requires an effective medium average over the unequal induced pore pressures in cracks of different orientations. The implicit assumptions are that pore fluid equilibration does not occur between cracks of different orientations and between cracks and porous matrix. The correspondence between the constitutive equations of Berryman and Wang (1995) and Mavko and Jizba (1991) is explicitly noted.

This paper presents the Simulation, Tactical Operations and Mission Planning (STOMP) software architecture and framework for simulating, controlling and communicating with unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) servicing large distributed sensor networks. STOMP provides hardware-in-the-loop capability enabling real UAVs and sensors to feedback state information, route data and receive command and control requests while interacting with other real or virtual objects thereby enhancing support for simulation of dynamic and complex events.

The management of the Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) project at the Hanford K-Basin in the 100 N Area has successfully restructured the preventive maintenance, spare parts inventory requirements, and the operator rounds data requirements. In this investigation, they continue to examine the different facets of the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the K-Basin cleanup project in search of additional reliability and cost savings. This report focuses on the initial findings of a team of PNNL engineers engaged to identify potential opportunities for reducing the cost of O&M through the application of advanced diagnostics (fault determination) and prognostics (residual life/reliability determination). The objective is to introduce predictive technologies to eliminate or reduce high impact equipment failures. The PNNL team in conjunction with the SNF engineers found the following major opportunities for cost reduction and/or enhancing reliability: (1) Provide data routing and automated analysis from existing detection systems to a display center that will engage the operations and engineering team. This display will be operator intuitive with system alarms and integrated diagnostic capability. (2) Change operating methods to reduce major transients induced in critical equipment. This would reduce stress levels on critical equipment. (3) Install a limited sensor set on failure prone …

In this paper, we present results demonstrating the effectiveness of a sensitivity analysis approach to uncertainty quantification of a variably saturated flow model. The basis for our method is a software system which simultaneously solves for solutions of large-scale nonlinear systems of equations and the sensitivity of the solutions to selected parameters. We present test cases showing the effects on the relative uncertainty of pressure due to heterogeneity in the absolute permeability and to differences in parameterizing the Van Genuchten curve soil parameters, {alpha} and n.

A major challenge in the development of optical glasses for high-power lasers is reducing or eliminating laser-induced damage to the interior (bulk) and the polished surface of the glass. Bulk laser damage in glass generally originates from inclusions. With the development of novel glass melting and forming processes it is now possible to make both fused silica and a suit of meta-phosphate laser glasses in large sizes ({approx}>0.5-lm diameter), free of inclusions and with high optical homogeneity ({approx} 10{sup -6}). Considerable attention also has been focused on improving the laser damage resistance to polished optical glass surfaces. Studies have shown that laser-induced damage to surfaces grows exponentially with the number of shots when illuminated with nano-second pulses at 351-nm above a given fluence threshold. A new approach for reducing and eliminating laser-induced surface damage relies on a series of post-polishing treatment steps. This damage improvement method is briefly reviewed.

There have been many papers that have focused on the attachment of wires to surfaces. The focus of this paper will be on wires connected to arbitrarily shaped surfaces, a body that may be modeled with triangles as described in [1]. The basis function for the wire-to-surface junction is constructed by building the 1/r variation of the surface current near the junction into the surface current. In the following we summarize junction bases as currently used. In the presentation we consider their numerical implementation, examine alternative formulations, and review validation studies that prove the approach is robust with respect to wire orientation and surface geometry at the junction.

Plutonium gamma-ray data analysis, in the 100-keV region, using MGA has been improved to overcome the original maximum limit of 2% {sup 238}Pu relative plutonium content in a sample in order perform an analysis. MGA analysis results of elevated {sup 238}Pu samples are compared to the results from mass spectrometry.

TATB containing explosives tend to permanently expand as their temperatures are increased or thermally cycled, a phenomenon known as ''ratchet-growth.'' Several mechanisms as to the cause of the non-reversible growth have been proposed, and are taken up here using various different modeling techniques. High-level quantum chemistry calculations have been used in parameterization of a classical potential function suitable for atomistic simulations of TATB. The quantum-chemistry-based force field for TATB was validated by comparing condensed phase properties obtained from molecular dynamics simulations with available experimental data. No permanent growth was manifest at the molecular level. Dissipative particle dynamics simulations were carried out in order to study the geometric packing effects on the mesoscopic scale, similar to the scales representative of Ultrafine. No permanent growth was identified when only simple packing effects were considered in the TATB model. However, non-reversible growth was displayed when crystal fracture capabilities were incorporated in the model, suggesting that crystal fracture induced by the anisotropic volume expansion of TATB is the root cause for the permanent growth seen in TATB containing explosives.

The Steven test and associated modeling has greatly increased the fundamental knowledge of practical predictions of impact safety hazards for confined and unconfined explosive charges. Building on a database of initial work, experimental and modeling studies of crush, puncture, and perforation scenarios were investigated using the Steven impact test. The descriptions of crush, puncture, and perforation arose from safety scenarios represented by projectile designs that ''crush'' the energetic material or either ''puncture'' with a pinpoint nose or ''perforate'' the front cover with a transportation hook. As desired, these scenarios offer different aspects of the known mechanisms that control ignition: friction, shear and strain. Studies of aged and previously damaged HMX-based high explosives included the use of embedded carbon foil and carbon resistor gauges, high-speed cameras, and blast wave gauges to determine the pressure histories, time required for an explosive reaction, and the relative violence of those reactions, respectively. Various ignition processes were modeled as the initial reaction rate expression in the Ignition and Growth reaction rate equations. Good agreement with measured threshold velocities, pressure histories, and times to reaction was calculated for LX-04 impacted by several projectile geometries using a compression dependent ignition term and an elastic-plastic model with a …

This technical report describes a nonlinear Bayesian Regression model that can be used to estimate effuent concentrations from IR hyperspectral data. As the title implies, the model is constructed to account for background clutter more effectively than current estimators. Although the main objective is to account for background clutter, which is the dominant source of variability in IR data, the model could easily be extended to allow for uncertainties in the atmosphere. The term, "clutter," refers to the variations that occur in the image spectra because emissivity and background temperature change from pixel to pixel. The Bayesian regression model utilizes a more complete description of background clutter to obtain better estimates. The description is in terms of a "prior distribution" on background radiance.

''The Build'' is the infrastructure needed to convert software from source code to usable form. It is intimately tied to the software it supports, knowing about every file and automating every transformation needed to produce a working program. Every developer knows that a project spends some labor overhead on ''the build.'' How big is this hidden overhead? According to 34 scientific software developers we surveyed at Lawrence Livermore National Labs, among colleagues at other DOE labs, and a handful of academics the ''perceived'' overhead averages around 12%. Individual cases of 20% to 30% were not uncommon. In one project claiming a 20% overhead, we found supporting evidence by combing through their CVS repository.

The results to date do indeed show that the lattice Boltzmann method accurately solves relevant, non-trivial flow problems. The parallelization of both the fluid and the mobile species in flow has enhanced this capability such that it is useful for solving relevant problems in a timely fashion. The initial studies of stationary or capture species revealed evidence of hydrodynamic screening between upstream and downstream particles. Numerical studies reveal that the critical length for which the test particle is hydrodynamically decoupled from upstream and downstream particles is on the order of 30 sphere radii. For mobile species, the LB capability was shown to be naturally suited for predicting the hydrodynamic lift phenomenon (inertial lift). A conversion factor was developed based on scaling arguments to include relevant forces generated by external fields. Using this conversion, an analytic solution for the Dielectrophoretic force was included into the LB capability which enabled the study of Dielectrophoretic particle capture. The Non-Newtonian enhancements have expanded the applicability of the LB capability to more physical systems. Specifically, with the bead-n-spring representation of macromolecules researchers will be able to study chain dynamics in micro-, physiological and Bio-MEMS environments. Furthermore, the ability to capture the shear thinning behavior, without …

Modern Bioinformatics data sources are widely used by molecular biologists for homology searching and new drug discovery. User-friendly and yet responsive access is one of the most desirable properties for integrated access to the rapidly growing, heterogeneous, and distributed collection of data sources. The increasing volume and diversity of digital information related to bioinformatics (such as genomes, protein sequences, protein structures, etc.) have led to a growing problem that conventional data management systems do not have, namely finding which information sources out of many candidate choices are the most relevant and most accessible to answer a given user query. We refer to this problem as the query routing problem. In this paper we introduce the notation and issues of query routing, and present a practical solution for designing a scalable query routing system based on multi-level progressive pruning strategies. The key idea is to create and maintain source-capability profiles independently, and to provide algorithms that can dynamically discover relevant information sources for a given query through the smart use of source profiles. Compared to the keyword-based indexing techniques adopted in most of the search engines and software, our approach offers fine-granularity of interest matching, thus it is more powerful and …

This report provides information on the status of groundwater monitoring at the Hanford Site during fiscal year 2001.

This ICN updates the plan to document improved understanding of the local flow direction, redefine upgradient versus downgradient monitoring well, update sampling and analysis schedule, and to update critical mean parameters.

This issue has the following articles: (1) ''Doing It All: Sustaining Our Working Solutions, Rising to New Challenges''; (2) ''Emerging from the Cold War: Stockpile Stewardship and Beyond''--When the Cold War ended, Lawrence Livermore stepped up to a new national challenge--maintaining the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile without underground testing. (3) ''Machines from Interlocking Molecules''--Fundamental chemistry and physics research will enable scientists to control and use individual molecules. (4) ''Laser Zaps Communication Bottleneck''--Using laser communications, the U.S. military will be able to transmit data from advanced remote sensors in real time.

This ICN documents an improved understanding of local groundwater flow, defines upgradient versus downgradient monitoring wells, provides updated critical means for indicator parameters, and updates the sampling and analysis schedule.

Radiative strength functions and level densities have been extracted from primary {gamma}-ray spectra for {sup 27,28}Si, {sup 56,57}Fe, {sup 96,97}Mo, and several rare earth nuclei. An unexpectedly strong ({approx} 1 mb MeV) resonance at 3 MeV in the radiative strength function has been observed for well-deformed rare earth nuclei. The physical origin of this resonance and its connection to the scissors mode is discussed.

This document provides information on the construction of two new RCRA wells (299-W22-84 and 299-W22-85) at Waste Management Area S-SX.

This document provides information on the construction of two new RCRA wells (299-W14-18 and 299-W15-765) at Waste Management Area TX-TY in August through October 2001.

This report details the installation of well 299-W10-28 installed as a RCRA groundwater monitoring well at Waste Management Area T in October 2001.

This document provides information on the construction of three new RCRA wells (299-E33-337, 299-E33-338, and 299-E33-339) at Waste Management Area B-BX-BY in July and August 2001.