The efficient characterization of nonlinear systems is an important goal of vibration and model testing. The authors build a nonlinear system model based on the acceleration time series response of a single input, multiple output system. A series of local linear models are used as a template to...

Vibration testing, techniques have been developed and employed that reduce the overtesting caused by the essentially infinite mechanical impedance of the shaker in conventional vibration tests. With these ``force-limiting`` techniques, two vibration test specifications are used: the conventional...

Field balancing can achieve significant results when other problems are present in the frequency spectrum and multiple vibrations are evident in the waveform. Many references suggest eliminating other problems before attempting to balance. That`s great - if you can do it. There are valid reasons...

Structural dynamic testing is concerned with estimation of system properties, including frequency response functions and modal characteristics. These properties are derived from tests on the structure of interest, during which excitations and responses are measured and Fourier techniques are...

A real-time method is presented to adoptively estimate three-dimensional unmodeled external torques acting on a spacecraft. This is accomplished by forcing the tracking error dynamics to follow the Lyapunov function underlying the feedback control law. For the case where the external torque is...

The methodologies used for computing levelized busbar costs of electricity from geothermal (hydrothermal) resources used by 16 organizations active in the geothermal area are discussed. The methodologies are compared by (a) comparing the results obtained by using two standard data sets, (b) a...

To compensate for the potential for overly conservative estimates of risk using standard US Environmental Protection Agency methods, an uncertainty analysis should be performed as an integral part of each risk assessment. Uncertainty analyses allow one to obtain quantitative results in the form...

In order to devise an algorithm for autonomously terminating Monte Carlo sampling when sufficiently small and reliable confidence intervals (CI) are achieved on calculated probabilities, the behavior of CI estimators must be characterized. This knowledge is also required in comparing the...

Quantification of uncertainty in predictions of nuclear waste repository performance is a requirement of Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations governing the licensing of proposed geologic repositories for high-level radioactive waste disposal. One of the major uncertainties in these...

The International Institute of Welding is composed of some 600 technical experts from 36 countries. These individuals are divided by talent and personal interest into fifteen separate groups called Commissions, each with its own charter and goals. The title, and by inference the charter, of...