Abstract4ne of the goals of early stage conceptual design is to execute broad trade studies of possible design concepts, evaluating them for their capability to meet minimum requirements, and choosing the one that best satisfies the goals of the project. To support trade space exploration, we have developed the Advanced Trade Space Visualizer (ATSV) that facilitates a design by shopping paradigm, which allows a decision-maker to form a preference a posteriori and use this preference to select a preferred satellite. Design automation has allowed us to implement this paradigm, since a large number of designs can be synthesized in a short period of time. The ATSV uses multidimensional visualization techniques, preference shading, and Pareto frontier display to visualize satellite trade spaces.

Microcutting is a precision technology that offers flexible fabrication of microfeatures or complex three-dimensional components with high machining accuracy and superior surface quality. This technology may offer great potential as well as advantageous process capabilities for the machining of hard-to-cut materials, such as tungsten carbide. The geometrical design and dimension of the tool cutting edge is a key factor that determines the size and form accuracy possible in the machined workpiece. Currently, the majority of commercial microtools are scaled-down versions of conventional macrotool designs. This approach does not impart optimal performance due to size effects and associated phenomena. Consequently, in-depth analysis and implementation of microcutting mechanics and fundamentals are required to enable successful industrial adaptation in microtool design and fabrication methods. This paper serves as a review of recent microtool designs, materials, and fabrication methods. Analysis of tool performance is discussed, and new approaches and techniques are examined. Of particular focus is tool wear suppression in the machining of hard materials and associated process parameters, including internal cooling and surface patterning techniques. The review concludes with suggestions for an integrated design and fabrication process chain which can aid industrial microtool manufacture.

Recent advances in modeling and simulation technology have made it feasible to generate large datasets of design alternatives and their attributes in a relatively short amount of time. However, tools to understand and explore these datasets are limited. To this end, the Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University has been developing a tool, entitled the ARL Trade Space Visualizer (ATSV) to support multi-dimensional trade space exploration. The ARL, in conjunction with the Lockheed Martin Corporation, has extended the tool to tackle several real world design challenges. In response to the needs of the engineering teams at Lockheed Martin, several key enhancements to the ATSV have been designed and implemented.These enhancements include contour plotting in two dimensions; isosurface generation in three dimensions; multiple independent brushing controls; and k-means cluster analysis. This paper will describe the full capabilities of the tool, as well as give an example of the types of design optimization performed by Lockheed Martin. The paper will focus on using the advanced visualization techniques to discover relationships within the dataset that would otherwise prove difficult to extract using traditional analysis techniques.

viii ix EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the commercial nuclear power industry are exploring alternatives to meet energy demands in the United States. As part of this mission, they are looking at small modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced small modular reactors (aSMRs). The DOE, and in particular, the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) is sponsoring research and development (R&D) on small reactors, as evidenced by NE's 2010 Report to Congress, Nuclear Energy Research and Development Roadmap. In short, DOE-NE's mission is to assist in revitalization of the U.S. nuclear industry, including development of advanced designs, through R&D. By doing so, NE can help accelerate deployment of new plants in the short term, support development of advanced concepts for the medium term, and promote design of revolutionary systems for the long term.All aSMR designs will employ advanced digital instrumentation, controls, and human-machine interfaces (ICHMI), technology that is significantly more advanced that existing analog systems in the light water reactor fleet. The U.S. DOE recognizes that ICHMI research, development, and demonstration is needed to address the specific technical challenges and technological gaps of ICHMI for aSMR designs. The new aSMRs will be designed to utilize new automation and instrumentation and control technologies, and there are a number of concerns about how those technologies will affect human performance and the overall safety of the plant. It is expected that aSMRs will rely on automation to a greater extent than the current nuclear power plant fleet. However, there are many issues and concerns that still need to be addressed related to how automation should be designed and implemented. For example, further researcher is needed to address how humans and automation will collaborate under various operational conditions.The Human-Automation Collaboration (HAC) research project is one of three research efforts related to investigating how the advanced technologies planned for aSMR designs will affect human factors and human performance. Given the increased use of automation in aSMR designs, the HAC research project is investigating the consequences of allocating functions between the operators and automated systems. The research effort addresses the questions of what the collaboration level should be and how it should be implemented to have the greatest positive impact on overall plant performance and safety. The research project is also developing a model of HAC, which will support aSMR designers when evaluating their proposed approach for conduct of operations in terms of how humans and automation collaborate. The research results will inform the integration and cooperation between plant staff and automation, with the purpose of maximizing productivity and safe operations of aSMRs. One key research goal is providing a technical basis to support the reduction in aSMR operations and maintenance costs through reduced staffing per unit, which is made possible by greater integration ...

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