National Academies Press: OpenBook
« Previous: 6 Systems Integration Division
Suggested Citation:"7 Key Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 2015. An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21659.
×

7

Key Findings and Recommendations

Key findings and recommendations for the Engineering Laboratory’s divisions are provided here.

MATERIALS AND STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS DIVISION

Research performed in the Inorganic Materials Group of the Materials and Structural Systems Division (MSSD) supports life prolongation and rehabilitation of concrete materials and improves sustainability by decreasing cement content. It has applications in the hydrocarbon exploration industry, which uses concrete to encase well bores. Proper formulation of concretes that can properly set up and seal the well bore is essential for both increased production and decreased leakage.

It is important that the group establish better linkages between chemical and physical degradation and the mechanical properties of construction materials and that it consider developing a method for noninvasive in situ testing of the strength of fresh concrete. There is a need for the division to conduct further research into bio-based materials and fiber-reinforced structural systems, as well as into ubiquitous existing materials (steel, masonry, and wood) for new construction and in situ rehabilitation, for durability, functional performance, and resilience.

Recommendation 1. The Inorganic Materials Group should leverage work for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on alkali-silica reaction to connect the nanoscale investigations of concrete deterioration to structural performance.

Recommendation 2. The Inorganic Materials Group should engage the oil and gas industry to develop safe encasement of well bores.

The work by the Polymeric Materials Group on the photophysics of polymeric degradation is mature. The group needs to engage the solar panel industry where polymeric materials are used to encapsulate thin films between panes of glass. Standard materials used by the industry are ethyl vinyl alcohol and polybutadiene, which are problematic and require guidance for formulating sealants and adhesives. It would be beneficial if the polymer and concrete teams were to increase their collaboration—for example, polymer fibers to strengthen concrete and resist cracking and polymer additives to enhance the flow properties of concrete.

Recommendation 3. The Polymeric Materials Group should expand research, including molecular modeling, on polymeric degradation to non-ultraviolet degradation effects and should include the data in models for predicting service life.

Recommendation 4. The Polymeric Materials Group should engage the solar panel industry where polymeric materials are used to encapsulate thin films between panes of glass.

Suggested Citation:"7 Key Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 2015. An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21659.
×

Work of the Structures Group could be improved by collaborating with the research and practitioner community to identify and evaluate alternative approaches for quantitative metrics to describe phenomena such as disproportionate collapse. A metric for robustness would be useful. Additional collaboration with the Fire Research Division (FRD) on the durability and performance of materials and structures under fire conditions would also be beneficial. Fully integrating the group’s capabilities in analysis, computational modeling, and physical testing would help to obtain the maximal amount of information from the work in disproportionate collapse.

Much of the work of the Structures Group is disseminated through the code development process. However, significant results, such as those on plasticity found through the work on disproportionate collapse, could be disseminated more broadly through technical and academic journals.

The concept of a virtual wind tunnel based on historic data, new wind speed maps, and computational modeling would be valuable for the group studying wind research. It would also be beneficial to consider in future work the potential of microbursts to cause structural damage.

Recommendation 5. The group studying wind research should develop the concept of a virtual wind tunnel, based on observations and computational modeling.

The group studying community disaster resilience needs to monitor its staffing requirements to assure that human resources are adequate and in the appropriate disciplines for the magnitude and scope of the tasks assigned. The group also needs to develop and publicize an explicit roadmap to define where and how the work of the group will mesh with existing and future codes and standards and identify who will benefit from these efforts. A useful roadmap would also make clear the overarching governmental interest in the program’s contributions to improving economic impacts and enhancing life safety during and following extreme events.

The group’s efforts in disaster resilience could beneficially include partnerships across NIST and externally (e.g., those involved with research in the wildlife-urban interface, earthquakes, and post-flood indoor air quality) for science-based resilience performance and standards. The group could leverage existing U.S. and international research, methodologies, and tools to accelerate advancements in theory and practice, including standards and measurements. Operations and maintenance considerations are good candidates for incorporation into the high-level objectives for the Community Disaster Resilience Program.

The excellent capabilities in the group and the findings of the National Construction Safety Team’s field-based failure studies can be integrated to inform the research program and identify critical research topics. Incorporating into the resilience program factors relating to the environment and natural systems may require new partnerships—with, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Infrastructure Collaborative.

INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS DIVISION

The Intelligent Systems Division (ISD) measurement science research programs aim to advance the versatility of intelligent automation technologies for smart manufacturing and cyberphysical systems applications; enable performance optimization of smart manufacturing systems; and enable rapid, cost-effective production of products through advanced manufacturing processes and equipment.

The division’s work on wireless factory networks addresses an important need, as does the project on cybersecurity of industrial control systems. The objective of the Smart Manufacturing Construction Systems (SMCS) program is to develop and deploy advances in measurement science for sensing, modeling, and optimizing manufacturing activities in a smart factory. In its factory cybersecurity project, the division has demonstrated leadership in addressing cybersecurity in smart factory systems and other industrial cyberphysical systems. Indicative of this leadership is the recent publication of a new draft of NIST SP 800-82, Guide to Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Security. The ISD technical staff also

Suggested Citation:"7 Key Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 2015. An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21659.
×

led the development of IEEE Standard 1588, “Precision Clock Synchronization Protocol for Networked Measurement and Control Systems.” Current industrial robots cannot operate safely with humans, and so they need to be isolated. This limits their applicability and increases the costs of automation. The Next-Generation Robotics and Automation (NGRA) program is beginning to develop performance evaluation methods and standards for safe robot-human interactions. The division has started the standardization effort on the safety of automated guided vehicles (AGVs). The laboratory is extending safety evaluation to other systems, attempting to cover various aspects of evaluating robotic hand capabilities, such as position, torque, grasp types, graspable object size and ranges, touch location, force, and pressure via tactile sensing.

The decision in fiscal year 2014 to terminate the smart machining activities and focus on measurement science for additive manufacturing may risk the loss of critical capability and recognized expertise in smart machining. Advanced manufacturing needs both additive and subtractive processes. Subtractive manufacturing processes typically refer to conventional manufacturing processes by which material is removed—for example, from a billet, to make a part and achieve final desired geometries and tolerances. Additive manufacturing processes refer to a suite of methods to add material, typically in powder or wire form, to make a part, add features to a part, or to repair a part. A hybrid approach consisting of both additive manufacturing and smart machining is needed to support the development of measurement science for additive manufacturing processes.

New additive manufacturing machines with enhanced features and capabilities are introduced to the market each year. There are several laser powder bed fusion of metal machines, many with higher performance lasers and optics, controlled environmental chambers, automated powder delivery, in-process monitoring, powder compaction, and other features and tools to further advance measurement science knowledge. These new machines are being purchased by industry, academia, research institutions, and government entities globally. It may be difficult for industry and academia to see the ISD at the forefront of measurement science when its equipment is not adequate to the task. The current machines at the ISD are adequate for the initial work and developing expertise. Ownership of and/or access to machines with capabilities and equipment that can detect and measure defects of additive manufactured parts in situ or postprocess would support the ISD’s goal of enabling widespread adoption by the U.S. manufacturing industry of additive manufacturing processes for metal.

The ISD is appropriately planning and executing programs in new technology areas such as SMCS, additive manufacturing, industrial robotics, and cyberphysical systems. In addition, the division has seen an explosion of government and global industry interest in its work on ICS cybersecurity, with more than 2.5 million downloads from the NIST Internet site of this year’s revision of the Guide to Industrial Control System (ICS) Security (NIST SP 800-82). The division currently has one staff member who is widely recognized for deep expertise in this area and who is spread very thin in responding to current program demands. The division is trying to hire at a time when ICS cybersecurity experts can demand high salaries and other benefits from industry. Because the need to staff ongoing and new programs is urgent, the division cannot wait and hope for qualified, affordable candidates to become available. A strategy is needed to hire now, where possible (by emphasizing factors beyond salary alone that make NIST employment attractive), to invest in developing the needed multidisciplinary skills in current staff and entry-level hires, and to provide interim support through contracts and cooperative research arrangements with universities and others.

The ISD would benefit from an extensive data set supporting its additive manufacturing efforts. The pilot round-robin tests that the division and its partners have been engaged in address build-to-build variation and machine-to-machine variation of the same machine model. Building on the pilot round-robin testing with equipment manufacturers, manufacturing companies, academia, and government institutions that are working with different laser powder bed fusion machines or materials would help generate a larger data set and address machine-model-to-machine-model variation. The ISD’s approach can be standardized and disseminated widely.

Suggested Citation:"7 Key Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 2015. An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21659.
×

Recommendation 6. The Intelligent Systems Division should build on the pilot round-robin testing with certified sources to generate a large data set for their additive manufacturing efforts.

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT DIVISION

The Energy and Environment Division (EED) has been focusing on the measurement of energy performance and indoor air/environment quality. The EED has two major programs that support its goal of sustainable and energy-efficient manufacturing, materials, and infrastructure. The Net-Zero Energy, High-Performance Buildings Program focuses on energy-efficient building systems and advancing the measurement science for their characterization and performance assessment; the Embedded Intelligence in Buildings Program focuses on the development and application of intelligent information and control technologies to improve building operation.

Metrics are essential for evaluating indoor environment quality (IEQ) and energy performance, and sustainability of buildings remains a major challenge for the field. A single index does not exist for quantifying IEQ. Many factors need to be considered, including thermal environment, pollution and noise levels, lighting quality, and occupant satisfaction. It is important to develop an accepted means of quantifying IEQ benefit that can be integrated with the more readily measured energy benefit. Such integration includes developing a comprehensive framework for modeling and simulating whole building performance, based on the fundamental understanding of the combined heat, air, moisture, and pollutant transport processes in building systems. The transport processes are affected by material characteristics, properties of pollutant species, and environmental conditions. With its capabilities in laboratory measurements and modeling, the EED is in position to lead a national effort in such a development. Overall, the EED exhibits excellent capabilities in the areas of current demands such as energy management and metrics, but the scope of its expertise may need to be expanded to include critical IEQ areas such as management of and metrics for moisture/mold and nanoparticles.

Improvements in methods and procedures are needed to obtain reliable field-scale data for validating the models and measurement methods developed from laboratory studies. Many existing field studies do not have enough rigor to generate reliable data. A standard, scientifically based test protocol for field use is needed to catch up with EED laboratory research to capitalize fully on the laboratory program.

Recommendation 7. The Energy and Environment Division should continue to develop metrics for evaluating indoor air quality and energy performance concurrently.

Recommendation 8. The Energy and Environment Division should perform field investigations to collect reliable data for validating the models and measurement methods developed from the laboratory studies.

SYSTEMS INTEGRATION DIVISION

The Systems Integration Division (SID) contributes to measurement science and standards needed to integrate engineering information systems used in manufacturing, construction, and cyberphysical systems. Areas of work include manufacturing enterprise integration; green manufacturing and construction; engineering and manufacturing products, processes, equipment, technical data, and standards; collaborative manufacturing research under pilot grants; research performed through

Suggested Citation:"7 Key Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 2015. An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21659.
×

manufacturing fellowships; systems integration and engineering; life-cycle assessment; cyberphysical systems; productivity measurement; sustainability; and energy efficiency.1

SID staff have developed strong expertise in several key areas, including standards development for systems engineering, model-based engineering, development and support of a Standard for Exchange of Product (STEP) standards (ISO 10303-242 [STEP AP242]), composite manufacturing, additive manufacturing, and assisting vendors in implementation of the new functionality.

SID staff have developed process-level energy models for injection molding and welding. These models appear to be mechanism-based rather than equipment component-based models. However, such models contain numerous adjustable parameters, such as mechanism efficiencies, that practitioners need to measure. Rather than trying to simulate all manufacturing processes (an enormous task), the SID team could consider developing equipment energy measurement protocols. Such an activity could serve as a testbed for the division. A standard scheme for equipment measurement might be a very useful contribution to sustainable manufacturing.

Recommendation 9. The Systems Integration Division should establish a testbed to support development, validation, demonstration, and technology transfer.

FIRE RESEARCH DIVISION

The FRD has made progress toward improving the safety and effectiveness of firefighters through measurement science to advance suppression tactics, examining nontraditional means of fire suppression, and transferring the results to the fire service. Field-scale burn tests have been accomplished through outside funding opportunities, collaboration, and partnerships.

The efforts to communicate research findings on fire dynamics have generated much interest and discussion within the professional fire service community. Presentations, articles in fire service print and online media providing opportunities for fire service organizational involvement, and, most recently, the use of social media have all contributed to this success.

The wildland-urban interface (WUI) problem is growing very fast, and its growth may accelerate due to climate change and diminishing safety margins between wildland and the built environment. Because the WUI problem is relatively recent, there is little information about WUI fire characteristics and how to reduce its consequences. Therefore, it is of high priority to collect data from WUI fires to underpin standards and codes for fire-hardening structures located in WUI-prone areas. Field studies, some of which have been conducted by the NIST National Construction Safety Team, provide essential data on WUI fires, including the finding that ignition of structures by embers accounts for up to 50 percent of the structure fires in a WUI.

The Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) modeling team has developed new goals for the future. One of these is the coupling of three types of complex codes (gas-phase fluid dynamics and reaction, thermal transport to and through solid structures, and failure of solid structures under load and thermal stress). This is a significant effort in computation, validation, and interpretation of results.

The National Fire Research Laboratory (NFRL) is an exciting new facility for the FRD and the EL. It will provide a unique capability to consider the fire heating of structures under structural load and will enable the FRD team to break new ground. The ability to test structures exposed to fires while they are under realistic gravity loads is an exciting new capability. The community expects that findings from these tests will form the basis for new building requirements. The FRD conducted a planning workshop to establish long-term priorities for testing so that when commissioning is complete testing can begin promptly.

_____________

1 National Institute of Standards and Technology, “The Engineering Laboratory—Summaries of Our Activities, Accomplishments and Recognitions,” Gaithersburg, Md., July 2014.

Suggested Citation:"7 Key Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 2015. An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21659.
×

Recommendation 10. The Fire Research Division should complete the extremely important new National Fire Research Laboratory and prioritize the test series for the first 2 years following the laboratory’s commissioning.

Recommendation 11. The Fire Research Division should strengthen its research on wildland-urban interface fires, including data collection from real events and new modeling approaches.

Suggested Citation:"7 Key Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 2015. An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21659.
×
Page 59
Suggested Citation:"7 Key Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 2015. An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21659.
×
Page 60
Suggested Citation:"7 Key Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 2015. An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21659.
×
Page 61
Suggested Citation:"7 Key Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 2015. An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21659.
×
Page 62
Suggested Citation:"7 Key Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 2015. An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21659.
×
Page 63
Suggested Citation:"7 Key Findings and Recommendations." National Research Council. 2015. An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21659.
×
Page 64
Next: Acronyms »
An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2014 Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $39.00 Buy Ebook | $31.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

The mission of the Engineering Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness through measurement science and standards for technology-intensive manufacturing, construction, and cyberphysical systems in ways that enhance economic prosperity and improve the quality of life. To support this mission, the Engineering Laboratory has developed thrusts in smart manufacturing, construction, and cyberphysical systems; in sustainable and energy-efficient manufacturing materials and infrastructure; and in disaster-resilient buildings, infrastructure, and communities. The technical work of the Engineering Laboratory is performed in five divisions: Intelligent Systems; Materials and Structural Systems; Energy and Environment; Systems Integration; and Fire Research; and two offices: Applied Economics Office and Smart Grid Program Office.

An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Laboratory Fiscal Year 2014 assesses the scientific and technical work performed by the NIST Engineering Laboratory. This report evaluates the organization's technical programs, portfolio of scientific expertise within the organization, adequacy of the organization's facilities, equipment, and human resources, and the effectiveness by which the organization disseminates its program outputs.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!