Qualification Of Systems Research Articles

Ensuring Mission Success: A Guide to CubeSat Systems Qualification for Space Flight

Ensuring Mission Success: A Guide to CubeSat Systems Qualification for Space Flight

Finite-Element Modeling for Seismic Damage Estimation of Suspended Ceiling Systems

The seismic qualification and seismic performance assessment of suspended ceiling systems have been traditionally conducted through large-scale shake table testing. This experimentally-based approach not only involves significant financial and time resources but is also not flexible to evaluate several configurations of suspended ceiling systems. As an alternate approach, this paper discusses the development of a general finite-element (FE) model of suspended ceiling systems that accurately captures the propagation of damage observed during full-scale shake table testing using the commercial finite-element analysis software, Abaqus/Explicit. The results of the large-scale shake table testing on suspended ceiling systems conducted at the University at Buffalo as part of the NEES nonstructural project were used to validate the FE model. The major components of suspended ceiling systems such as grid runners, ceiling tiles, and hanger wires were modeled and assembled with significant detail in the FE model. The properties of the connections between the grid runners, which are vital for capturing the seismic behavior of suspended ceiling systems were derived numerically. A user-defined subroutine was incorporated in the Abaqus/Explicit software framework to capture the multidirectional pinched hysteretic behavior of the connections between grid runners. An illustrative example of the application of the proposed FE model to develop robust numerically generated fragility curves for suspended ceiling systems is presented.

Evaluation of seismic margins for nuclear power plant piping systems using ratcheting criterion

In the wake of recent beyond design basis earthquakes, it is very essential to evaluate seismic margins of nuclear power plant piping systems. Better seismic margins will ensure the safety in the event of less probable bigger seismic event beyond consideration of design level. At present, permissible codal stress limits are used to evaluate these margins and it has been experimentally demonstrated that ratcheting is the significant failure mode for piping systems subjected to reversing dynamic load. Hence, it is more prudent to use actual failure criterion for evaluation of seismic margins. In this paper, a detailed framework is provided for evaluation of seismic margins of piping systems using ratcheting criterion. As ratcheting is the potential mode of failure for piping systems under earthquake load, two strain-based performance levels based on code practice and experience gained with experiments carried out by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, are used for margin assessment. It is usual practice to carry out stress-based response spectrum analysis for design and qualification of piping systems under earthquake load. In order to offer a practical, simpler and feasible solution for ratcheting evaluation, the same response spectrum analysis in iterative way, can be used to evaluate ratcheting in the piping systems. Experimentally validated numerical procedure is used for ratcheting evaluation. This procedure is demonstrated for a piping system of a typical nuclear power plant. Seismic margins for the piping system are evaluated using codal provision and two ratcheting based performance levels for deterministic and probabilistic methods.

A Day in the Life of a HVDC Testing Facility: A Case Study on Qualification of a 525-kV Cable

Different types of tests and programs necessary to qualify HVDC cables are introduced, and experiences gained during the qualification of a cable system are highlighted.

Framework for qualifying exoskeletons as adaptive support technology.

The fifth industrial revolution and the accompanying influences of digitalization are presenting enterprises with significant challenges. Regardless of the trend, however, humans will remain a central resource in future factories and will continue to be required to perform manual tasks. Against the backdrop of, e.g., societal and demographic changes and skills shortage, future-oriented support technologies such as exoskeletons represent a promising opportunity to support workers. Accordingly, the increasing interconnection of human operators, devices, and the environment, especially in human-centered work processes, requires improved human-machine interaction and further qualification of support systems to smart devices. In order to meet these requirements and enable exoskeletons as a future-proof technology, this article presents a framework for the future-oriented qualification of exoskeletons, which reveals potential in terms of user-individual and context-dependent adaptivity of support systems. In this context, a framework has been developed, allowing different support situations to be classified based on elementary functions. Using these support function dependencies and characteristics, it becomes possible to describe adaptive system behavior for human-centered support systems such as exoskeletons as a central aspect. For practical illustration, it is shown for an exemplary active exoskeleton using the example of user-individuality and context-specificity how the support characteristics of exoskeletons in the form of different support characteristics can bring about a purposeful and needs-based application for users and can contribute valuably to design future workplaces.

Test beam results of the fiber-sampling dual-readout calorimeter

The dual-readout calorimetric technique reconstructs the event-by-event electromagnetic fraction of the hadronic shower through the simultaneous measurement of scintillating (S) and Cherenkov (C) light produced by the shower development. The new generation of prototypes, based on Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) readout, adds unprecedented granularity to the well-known high-energy resolution. A highly granular prototype (10×10×100cm3), designed to fully contain electromagnetic showers, was recently built and qualified on beam. It consists of 9 modules, each made of 320 brass capillaries equipped with both scintillating and clear fibers. All the fibers of the central module are coupled with SiPMs, while the PMTs are used for the others. Furthermore, the new FERS-System, designed by Caen to exploit the CITIROC1A ASICs performances, is at the core of the SiPM readout.The recent test beam at DESY allowed us to qualify the readout system and define a procedure to calibrate the SiPM response from ADC to ph-e in a wide dynamic range. We measured the number of ph-e per GeV for scintillating and Cherenkov light together with the calorimetric performances in the energy range of 1–6 GeV. This work reports the system qualification and the test beam results regarding SiPM calibration.

Design of an Effective Antenna for Partial Discharge Detection in Insulation Systems of Inverter-fed Motors

Partial discharge (PD) measurements under repetitive impulse voltages are critical for the qualification of inverter-fed motor insulation systems. Severe electromagnetic interference due to high frequency switching from power electronic devices can cause the traditional PD detection techniques of sinusoidal voltage unfeasible. This article presents the design of an Archimedes spiral antenna that can work effectively for PD detection under fast rise time repetitive impulse voltages. The antenna structure is optimized by a media superstrate with a high dielectric constant over the radiant surface. Through the optimized design, both the gains of the antenna in the 0.5–1.5 GHz frequency range and the signal-to-noise ratio for PD detection are increased substantially. Modeling and experimental results prove that the gain of the antenna can reach 2.5 dB in the frequency range of 500–900 MHz and become higher than 7.0 dB in the frequency range of 900–2.0 GHz, with a voltage standing–wave ratio smaller than 1.4. This seems to be a significant achievement for PD detection under fast rise time impulse voltages.

Design and qualification of the Mu2e electromagnetic calorimeter electronic system

The Mu2e experiment (Bernstein et al., 0000) [1] at Fermilab will search for the neutrino-less coherent conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of a nucleus. Mu2e detectors comprise a straw tracker, an electromagnetic calorimeter and a veto for cosmic rays. The calorimeter employs 1348 Cesium Iodide crystals readout by silicon photomultipliers and fast front-end and digitization electronics. The front-end electronics consists of two discrete readout circuits (AMP-HV) for each crystal. These provide the amplification and shaping stage,linear regulation of the SiPM bias voltage and monitoring. The SiPM and front-end control electronics is implemented in a battery of mezzanine boards each equipped with an ARM processor that controls a group of 20 Amp-HV circuits, distributes the low voltage and the high-voltage reference values, sets and reads back the locally regulated voltages. The electronic is hosted in crates located on the external surface of calorimeter disks. The crates also host the waveform digitizer board (DIRAC) that performs digitization of the front end signals and transmit the digitized data to the Mu2e DAQ. Calorimeter electronic is hosted inside the cryostat and it must substain very high radiation and magnetic field so it was necessary to fully qualify it. The constraints on the calorimeter front-end and readout electronics, the design technological choices and the qualification tests will be reviewed.

Management Of Community Learning Activity Centers In Fostering Independence Of Learning Citizens Package C Through Lifeskill Education

PKBM is currently being developed by various parties, both by the community, social and religious institutions (organizations), or formed by the government, especially the District/City Education Office, District through Community Education Inspectors, even at the Village/Kelurahan level. However, the problems that surround it continue to occur, this is due to the large number of PKBMs that are not established on the basis of the community's need, but are built on the basis of the interest of absorbing government programs only. In addition, PKBM has not really played a role as a facilitator who empowers the community. In fact, there are still many PKBMs that were engineered to encourage people to establish PKBM. The research approach used is qualitative. The data collection method used is the case study method. Data collection techniques used are observation techniques (observations), interview techniques, documentation studies, bibliographic studies (library studies) and participation. Based on the results of research findings, interpretations and discussions, it is concluded that PKBM Management in Fostering Independence of Learning Citizens Package C through Lifeskill Education through the stages of planning, organizing, implementing and evaluating, is not optimal because there are still weaknesses in Sempurna PKBM and Al Hikmah PKBM. Meanwhile, the results of the study indicate that PKBM Management has not been developed fundamentally either based on curriculum theory, national system qualification rules and lifelong learning achievements as the basis for implementing PKBM management which is the basic orientation of implementing life skills education in PKBM. Activities carried out in planning begin with the teacher analyzing KI/KD, syllabus, teacher books and student books. The organization of learning materials is made in balance between the competence of attitudes, knowledge and skills, so that students can master the material theoretically, have an honest attitude, have character, taqwa, be creative and be devoted to both parents. Implementation of the learning process with the steps of learning activities according to the syllabus, teacher's book and lesson plans, including very good qualifications. The problem faced is the availability of PKWU learning time allocation which is only two hours of lessons in one week and the lack of synchrony between education at home and in PKBM. The solution in overcoming these problems is that PKBM makes every effort to fortify students and all elements in PKBM with noble character and positive character of independence through well-programmed habituation and exemplary activities and PKBM strives to continue to develop an independent curriculum based on independence skills, noble character, skilled and have a good future.

Drawdown zone can shift a floodplain-lake system from a steady carbon source to an unsteady carbon sink

Studies have suggested that, globally, lake and reservoir systems constitute large carbon (C) sources. However, the drawdown zone where certain lake areas subject to water level fluctuations temporarily dry out, exposing sediment to the atmosphere, needs to be considered in lake-based C sink/source quantitative assessments. This study incorporates the drawdown zone into a lake-based quantitative approach to investigate C source/sink and C pool pattern stability in Poyang Lake and the surrounding wetland ecosystem, a typical floodplain-lake system case. By combining field sampling and remote sensing methods we found that from flooding to non-flooding periods, the C storage of Poyang Lake increased, leading to a steady C source. When accounting for the drawdown zone, however, the whole floodplain-lake system shifted from a C source to a C sink. Temperature drives changes in wetland C emissions and vegetation C production by affecting microbial organic carbon (OC) decomposition processes, to regulate this unsteady C source/sink lake system transformation processes (R2=0.97). Rainfall-driven water level and area changes can also influence C storage of the whole floodplain-lake system (R2=0.86). It is therefore necessary to integrate the drawdown zone into lake system qualification processes to ensure steady C source and sink states.

Using a System for Projectile Acoustic Location During a 35 mm AM-35 Naval Gun Tests for the Naval Armament System

The paper is a continuation of the cycle of presentations of the results for the research task commenced in 2018, at the 12th International Armament Conference (Poland), with the aim of developing a method and system for assessing firings at surface targets, during implementation of R&D project no. O ROB 0046 03 01. The paper presents simulation test results and experimental characteristics of the pressure disturbances caused by the motion of a 35 mm TP-T projectile on the basis of which the sensor parameters and configuration on the surface target were selected. A description of the adopted design solutions for the firing assessment system were presented. Finally, selected performance results were presented for the projectile acoustic location system used to assess 35 mm combat firings of the AM-35 naval gun during Naval Armament System qualification tests.

IT/QA and Regulatory Aspects of Digital Pathology: Results of the 8th ESTP International Workshop.

Digital toxicologic histopathology has been broadly adopted in preclinical compound development for informal consultation and peer review. There is now increased interest in implementing the technology for good laboratory practice-regulated study evaluations. However, the implementation is not straightforward because systems and work processes require qualification and validation, with consideration also given to security. As a result of the high-throughput, high-volume nature of safety evaluations, computer performance, ergonomics, efficiency, and integration with laboratory information management systems are further key considerations. The European Society of Toxicologic Pathology organized an international expert workshop with participation by toxicologic pathologists, quality assurance/regulatory experts, and information technology experts to discuss qualification and validation of digital histopathology systems in a good laboratory practice environment, and to share the resulting conclusions broadly in the toxicologic pathology community.

Technology Focus: Subsea Systems (August 2022)

As goes the offshore market in general, so follows the subsea arena, and both are experiencing an upturn because of an increase in commodity prices and the potential that offers to operators focused on optimizing existing assets. In current offshore operations—with an emphasis on environmental, social, and governance performance—subsea has an increasingly important role to play. Subsea tiebacks in particular offer opportunities to increase asset productivity while minimizing environmental impact on an incremental production-per-barrel basis. With that in mind, the papers selected provide an overview of interest and immediate relevance to SPE members and JPT readers, regardless of where those operations are taking place. Some of the longstanding issues currently of greatest concern are the jumping-off point for a review intended to focus on optimizing subsea developments. Speed of asset delivery, system reliability, data and information management, and project repeatability are the general wish list for subsea engineers looking to improve efficiency, and all are covered in the papers presented. Within the industry, the push for a standard approach—not so much with hardware and components but more so with overall subsea project management—is a high priority. Additionally, building on the learnings from mature subsea areas pushes development with a focus on subsea reliability, increasing the global nature of these challenges yet maintaining a specific focus on local issues. Finally, with a nod to the future, the electrification and automation of subsea assets is presented, the intention being that the industry is ready to combine state-of-the-art system and project management with cutting-edge technology to fully deliver on the potential of subsea. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. OTC 32010 - Novel Concept Approval and Technology Qualification of Systems and Vessels for Deep‑Sea Extraction of Polymetallic Nodules by Tyson Breedlove, American Bureau of Shipping, et al. OTC 32028 - Key Technology Qualification of a Full‑Scale Subsea Chemical Storage and Injection System by Art J. Schroeder, Subsea Shuttle, et al. OTC 32100 - Unlocking Resident Underwater Inspection Drones or Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for Subsea Autonomous Inspection: Value Creation Between Technical Requirements and Technological Development by Matteo Mattioli, Saipem, et al.

Chirped-Probe-Pulse Femtosecond Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering For Gas-Phase Temperature Measurements In High-Pressure Kerosene/Air Flames

Air traffic is increasing and its related emission is a major concern for the stability of the planet's climate. Innovative combustion systems need to be developed to continue to enable mobility while respecting the environment. The qualification of new propulsive systems requires the analysis of the associated combustion and one of the quantities of major interest is temperature. The present work exposes the development of the chirped-probe-pulse femtosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CPP-fs-CARS) thermometry at 1 kHz and its application in a semi-industrial test bench. Temperature measurements in a kerosene/air flame at a pressure of 0.75 MPa were carried out. CARS is a third order nonlinear optical diagnostic renown for high accuracy temperature determination. CPP-fs-CARS rely on the analyzis of the frequency-spread dephasing rate after the initial excitation of the Raman coherence on N2. This pump-probe method needs three input pulses. The two first excitation pulses are Fourier transform limited and present a temporal width of 100 fs at 800 nm and 675 nm. The frequency difference matches 𝑁2 molecular vibrational energy gap. Then the evolution of the coherence generated in the medium is probed with a delayed picosecond which encompass a sufficient part of the coherence evolution. In the CPP configuration, this longer probe pulse results from a 100 fs, 675 nm temporally stretched through a propagation in 30 cm glass rod. Following the energy conservation principle, the interaction of the probe with the excited medium results in the generation of a CARS signal, presenting a spectral shape sensitive to the temperature. Nevertheless, the spectral shape is also dependant on the incident pulses spectro-temporal features implying that spectral phases of the three input pulses need to be precisely evaluated. A polynomial fourth order function is then used to describe each pulse phase shape. Moreover, the molecular bath encompassing the nitrogen molecule contribute in a certain extend to the CARS spectrum. To deal with such a number of adjustable parameters, a genetic algorithm is used to tune those parameters. Finally, temperature is deduced from the single-shot CARS spectra. First results will report the application of the diagnostic in atmospheric pressure well known environments and the associated data processing. Such environments lead to found a temperature accuracy determined in a near-adiabatic laminar flame better than 1.5% at 2250 K. Those results demonstrate the applicability and usefulness of CPP-fs CARS and are pursued with the investigation of the high-pressure two-phase flames. The whole CPP-fs-CARS setup was then moved close to the representative aircraft combustor engine facility and adapted for pressurized environment. Measurements where performed at several locations in the plane orthogonal to the flame propagation and at several distances from the injection system. The data processing of the measurements in such harsh conditions was then adapted to disregard spectra resulting from the presence of liquid droplets. Finally, temperature evolution was extracted from single shot measurements and probability density function (PDF) are reported at several location of interest enabling to retrieve not only the mean temperature, but also important information on flame behaviour at different stages of its evolution within the combustion chamber length.

Testing and Validation Methodology for a Radiation Monitoring System for Electronics in Particle Accelerators

In this work, a methodology for the design and validation of a radiation monitoring (RadMON) system for electronic systems in particle accelerators is presented. The methodology expands the common radiation hardness assurance (RHA) procedure implemented at CERN, including new steps dedicated to both system-level testing, focused on a wireless device, and sensors characterization and readout validation. A case study demonstrating the validity of this methodology is proposed with the qualification of a novel battery-powered wireless RadMON system. This system not only represents the validation vehicle of the methodology but also an innovation in terms of monitoring platform due to its flexibility and improved capabilities. The application of this methodology allowed its full qualification, providing useful data in terms of resistance to radiation, lifetime, and failure rate in operation, demonstrating the validity of the testing strategy proposed in the article.

Operation, Qualification and Documentation of Tangential Flow Filtration System to produce Drug Substance of Vaccines in Good Manufacturing Practices Facility

Vaccines against infectious diseases including emerging etiological agent are being produced through various major steps in Good Manufacturing Practices approved world class facilities with the core divisions of Upstream & Downstream processes followed by quality attribute testings as per approved license from the regulatory authorities. The current review article will afford the reviewer to get hold of awareness on the operation and qualification of downstream equipment's especially Tangential Flow Filtration system and its validation as a purification tool for the manufacturing of Drug substance in vaccines against various pathological agents. The Scope of current article nourish and educate the industrial scientific personnel’s and entrepreneur, who are working in biopharmaceutical industries like vaccines and Bio-therapeutics to acquire the scientific knowledge for operation, optimization, qualification and documentation of tangential flow filtration system to produce drug substance of vaccines in GMP facility. Even though the article summarizes and offers the methodological approach for the selection of TFF system as a purification tool for downstream process, The authors opinionated that the thorough familiarity given in this article regarding the pre-process concepts which starts from the industrial equipment selection & purchase procedure of the system and its operation, dual side qualification, validation, optimization of process variables with experimental execution for the successful production of vaccine drug substance would be definitely be unique and worthy. After review of this article, one can gain the complete comprehensive knowledge and assurance about the Selection, Purchase, Qualifications, Validation and Process utilization and Optimization of process variables with sustaining consistent quality of the product as output with benefit of expertise.

Prediction of CYP‐mediated DDIs involving inhibition: Approaches to address the requirements for system qualification of the Simcyp Simulator

Physiologically‐based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling is being increasingly used in drug development to avoid unnecessary clinical drug–drug interaction (DDI) studies and inform drug labels. Thus, regulatory agencies are recommending, or indeed requesting, more rigorous demonstration of the prediction accuracy of PBPK platforms in the area of their intended use. We describe a framework for qualification of the Simcyp Simulator with respect to competitive and mechanism‐based inhibition (MBI) of CYP1A2, CYP2D6, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and CYP3A4/5. Initially, a DDI matrix, consisting of a range of weak, moderate, and strong inhibitors and substrates with varying fraction metabolized by specific CYP enzymes that were susceptible to different degrees of inhibition, were identified. Simulations were run with 123 clinical DDI studies involving competitive inhibition and 78 clinical DDI studies involving MBI. For competitive inhibition, the overall prediction accuracy was good with an average fold error (AFE) of 0.91 and 0.92 for changes in the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) and area under the plasma concentration (AUC) time profile, respectively, as a consequence of the DDI. For MBI, an AFE of 1.03 was determined for both Cmax and AUC. The prediction accuracy was generally comparable across all CYP enzymes, irrespective of the isozyme and mechanism of inhibition. These findings provide confidence in application of the Simcyp Simulator (V19 R1) for assessment of the DDI potential of drugs in development either as inhibitors or victim drugs of CYP‐mediated interactions. The approach described herein and the identified DDI matrix can be used to qualify subsequent versions of the platform.

Tensile Behavior of FRCM Coupons under Thermal Stresses

Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Matrices (FRCM) represent a very efficient strengthening solution for the improvement of the structural behavior of existing masonry constructions. However, the mechanical performances of these materials could be significantly affected by different environmental conditions, such as the exposure to thermal stresses. This aspect should be properly assessed for a correct design of the strengthening interventions. The Italian Guidelines for the identification, qualification and acceptance control of FRCM systems to be used for the structural strengthening of existing constructions prescribe the execution of direct tensile tests on FRCM coupons to evaluate the behavior of these composite systems subject to thermal stress. Within this framework, the objective of the present research is to evaluate the effect of a thermal stress on the tensile behavior of three different FRCM systems, composed by steel or basalt fibers and lime-based or cement-based mortar matrix. Tensile tests are performed, for each system, on samples at ambient temperature (22°C) and on samples conditioned at 80°C for six hours, according to the indications provided by the Guidelines. The test results show that the effect of the thermal stresses is more evident in the first phases of the tests, i.e. during the elastic phase and the mortar matrix cracking phase, while it is less significant in the last phase, which is related to the fibers behavior. The tensile strength of the investigated FRCM systems is, indeed, within the limits provided by the Italian Guidelines, while the curves of the conditioned samples may deviate from the reference ones at the beginning of the tests. These findings are critically discussed within the paper.

Research on airworthiness test technology of radiation emission in civil aircraft flight control electronic system

It is the first time that domestic civil large aircraft has been developed, which lacks the technical experience of airborne system-level airworthiness qualification, and the research of radiation emission at home and abroad is mainly based on simulation evaluation, while the simulation results are used only as a reference in the airworthiness qualification process and cannot be used as evidence of conformity. And there is little airworthiness test experience on complex system-level. In this paper, taking civil aircraft flight control electronic system as an example, translate airworthiness compliance requirements into engineering requirements, analyze the complexity characteristics of civil aircraft flight control system, build flight control electronic system level radiation emission test system, and improve the system level airworthiness qualification test and optimization process, providing experience for the airworthiness qualification of civil aircraft complex system. The results show that the radiation emission of flight control electronic system is greatly affected by the system environment, and it is necessary to consider the influence of test setup layout and show the system compliance to the RTCA/DO-160G requirements.

Activities for the validation of processes, qualification of equipment and systems used in the industrial manufacture of medicines

The quality of the finished product must be laid down before the production process. It seems relevant to create guarantees that the finished medicinal product not only meets regulatory conditions, but is also manufactured in accordance with the same procedure and under the same conditions every time it is released. Validation, as a section of the GMP rules, describes the control of a given process.