Student Abstracts: Engineering at BNL

Exploring The Concept of Fault Analysis. MONIQUE DELMAR (Suffolk County Community College, Brentwood, NY 11717) VINCENT CASTILLO (Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973) .
Today one of the principal means of physics research is preformed through the use of particle accelerators. Research using these accelerators has given us the ability to study topics such as symmetry theories or the nature of the universe just after the big bang. However, this manipulation of high-energy particles has its drawbacks. There are some potentially harmful aspects, not only to the environment but also to the individuals working within the accelerators. One of the major hazards in working with the accelerators is exposure to radiation. A high enough dose of radiation within a given period can lead to physical side effects, some minor like headaches or nausea, and others as severe as death. To measure the levels of radiation, there are safety devices that are used within the accelerators, one of which is called a chipmunk. The chipmunks are stationed at multiple points around the accelerators and give a visual and audio display using lights, meters, and sounds so workers can easily check and confirm that radiation levels are within a safe range. Therefore, it is essential to keep these chipmunks operational at all times. A protocol must be designed to quickly identify and repair any faults that may occur within these devices. By building a working model of the chipmunk's circuitry, various fault conditions can be simulated to ensure proper operation. By manipulating the components of the circuitry we can effectively troubleshoot potential problems, develop a contingency plan for when problems arise, and cut down on repair time.

Model Validation for Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of Restricted Jet Configurations. MICHAEL ECKERT (Hudson County Community College, Jersey City, NJ 07306) THOMAS BUTCHER (Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973) .
The behavior of confined jets in regions of entrainment, turbulence and boundary layers is difficult to study directly. The introduction of too much instrumentation changes the behavior of the system, but turbulence, recirculation and other fluid phenomena occur on a very small scale and can be missed entirely if too broad a net of sensors is cast. Regions of turbulence and entrainment in confined jets can display rapid variation in pressure, fluid velocity, and direction of flow, which are difficult to detect and interpret accurately. The current project, which is a part of ongoing research on jets and combustion in the Energy Science and Technology Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory centers on devising a method of model validation for Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of the inner workings of certain configurations of confined jets to be used in experimental ASTM #2 heating fuel combustion systems. The behavior of jets in restriction is of great interest to the Oil Heat Research Program as it pertains to performance of combustion equipment with flame tube assemblies. The current work will serve as elementary model validation and testing for eventual predictive studies on more complex configurations.

Electron Beam Ion Source Interlock Circuit. OLUSOLA OLAODE (Monroe Community College, Rochester, NY 14623) OMAR GOULD (Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973) .
The EBIS Research facility produces heavy ions (ions with large molecular mass) such Gold and Cesium. It is intended to be used as a Heavy Ion Injector for high energy physics research. The Anode and Collector Power Supplies in the EBIS require sequential operation. The Anode Power Supply (APS) is used to initiate the acceleration of electrons. The Collector Power Supply (CPS) is used to accelerate the electrons. The Anode power supply should not be in the on state unless the Collector power supply is itself in the on state. Otherwise, the electrons will not be accelerated to the collector device. The purpose of this project is to: Design a circuit that ensures APS does not turn on before the CPS. Design a circuit that shuts off all other EBIS power supplies upon a fault condition. These objectives are accomplished using mechanical switches, analog electronic switches, logic gates and Flip-flops.

Measurement of Uniform Irradiation Responses of The 120º Neutron Detector. MICHAEL VIRDONE (University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14261) GRAHAM SMITH (Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973) .
This paper describes the principle of operation of a new two-dimensional thermal neutron detector, which has been designed and built at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Its application is for protein crystallography at Los Alamos National Laboratory, for which it will provide unprecedented resolution, linearity, and rate capability. Significant new features have been incorporated into the new detector system. In particular the hardware of the detector, and the software for data acquisition have been specifically developed so that the eight segments constituting the device possess "seamless" position readout. My particular contribution to the project involved software development and data analysis to insure that this advanced feature is working correctly. A comprehensive description is given of the linearity measurements carried out at BNL during summer 2001

Developing User Documentation for Human Engineering Design Review Software. . PA-YI JACKIE WU (State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11790) WILLIAM S. BROWN (Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973) .
User documentation is an essential part of a software program. However, it is often an afterthought for various reasons. Writing user documentation is not a simple task. A careful product analysis and user population definition can help to increase the usability of the user documentation. Conventions need to be adapted or formulated, in a cumulative fashion, and have to be used consistently throughout the documentation. It helps the users to learn and adapt to the user documentation. Conventions also help to speed up the process of information seeking and problem solving for the documentation users. In this project, literature on the design of user documentation was reviewed. Among the types of user documentation considered were reference manuals, job performance aids, and tutorials. Conventions have been categorized into three different levels: Document-level organizations of user documentation including the title and headings give users a clear and straightforward view about the content of the documentation; Page-level organizations including margin and justification of paragraph helps document users to focus; and line-level organizations like typography provide users cues/patterns while they are tracking down the desired information. The information developed in this research will be the basis for user documentation that will accompany a computer program to support human engineering design reviews. This documentation, along with a short tutorial, will help users of the review guideline to learn about the program, master the different functions, and navigate within the program effectively.