Highlights from the Manufacturing
Engineering Laboratory, February 2002

Programmatic/Technical Accomplishments

Ulf Griesmann, a MEL researcher, uncovered and corrected a major source of measurement uncertainty that limited the performance of the MEL X-Ray Calibration Interferometer (XCALIBIR). XCALIBIR, designed here at NIST, is a world class instrument used to measure the form of flat, spherical and aspheric optics. This correction reduces the systematic uncertainty of XCALIBIR for measurement of optical flats to 0.5 nm over the entire field of view. During his analysis, Ulf discovered that noise patterns at the center of the field of view were caused by light that is scattered back into the interferometer by surfaces of the beam expander used in XCALIBIR's large aperture mode. Although the amount of light reflected by these surfaces is very small, the imaging optics concentrated the light at the center of the field of view where it caused a noise peak 100 times larger than the uncertainty goal of XCALIBIR. To resolve this situation, Ulf designed and installed a spatial filter in the imaging arm of the XCALIBIR. This filter completely eliminates the dominant contributor of noise in XCALIBIR phase images that had limited the performance during the 3-flat tests conducted in December 2001. Further analysis and development is ongoing to achieve the XCALIBIR design performance goal of 0.25 nm uncertainty over the entire field of view.

As part of ongoing support of U.S. Navy efforts to reduce the time to produce submarine propulsion components, Tony Schmitz, a MEL researcher, met with representatives of the Henri Line machine tool manufacturer on February 27 - March 1 at their facility in Granby, Quebec (Canada). During this meeting, the group discussed geometry options for the new high-speed machine tool that will be used to produce submarine propulsor components for the U.S. Navy. MEL collaborations with the Naval Surface Warfare Center (Carderock, MD) and the Naval Foundry and Propeller Center (Philadelphia, PA) have been ongoing since 1999. This collaboration resulted in significant advancements in the understanding of process dynamics during high speed machining and the optimization of machining process parameters for cutting the nickel-aluminum-bronze material of interest to the Navy. Submarine propellers are roughly six meters in diameter and two meters deep. Currently, production costs for a single propeller are about $1.6 M and the production takes about twelve months. The goal of the joint effort is to decrease the production time for a propeller down to four months. NIST results to-date have achieved a 10X increase in material removal rate during the machining operations of the propeller - a significant improvement in machining productivity for the U.S. Navy. NIST results also form much of the technical basis for the procurement and expected operation of the new Navy system. Other participants at the meeting at Henri Line included Matthew Davies and Bethany Lamy of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In addition, Tony completed dynamic measurements of a representative high-speed spindle to be used with an MEL-developed algorithm called Receptance Coupling Substructure Analysis (RCSA) to select the appropriate tooling and machining parameters prior to delivery of the machine. This result will reduce the development time typically required when manufacturing a new part on a newly installed machine.

Contact: Tony Schmitz, ext. 8346

The fabrication of 20 RM (Reference Material) 8240 standard bullets was completed on January 7, 2002 by a team composed of MEL researchers - John Song, Bob Clary, Eric Whitenton, and Ted Vorburger. Based on comments received from bullet examiners on prototype standard bullets developed at NIST in 1998, these RM bullets were designed with six signatures from six master bullets of the ATF and FBI national laboratories, and with material, color, and shape similar to real bullets. From February 5-7, Ted Vorburger and John Song visited FTI (Forensic Technology Inc., Canada), the principal manufacturer of optical instruments used to link suspect weapons to bullets and casings recovered from crime scenes, to test the reproducibility of the NIST bullets and to discuss procedures for their use and opportunities for dissemination. The instrument manufactured by FTI is the Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS). Six RM bullets were tested there using one of FTI’s IBIS systems. The initial test results showed that the reproducibility of the manufactured bullet signatures on different RM bullets is close to the measurement reproducibility of the IBIS system itself. That suggests that when these RM bullets are distributed nationwide for IBIS calibrations, they can virtually play the same function as a single standard bullet does. Scientists and engineers at FTI also agreed to investigate the use of a NIST developed parameter based on autocorrelation functions, combined with the use of NIST RM standard bullets, for establishment of traceability and quality control for ballistics measurements. A NIST workshop is planned for bullet examiners before the delivery of these RM bullets to government and law enforcement agencies. The NIST RM 8240/8250 standard bullets and casings project will greatly support the ATF and FBI, as well as homeland security.

In February, MEL researchers delivered a custom software program to their National Shipbuilding Research Program (NRSP) partners at Atlantic Marine in Mobile Alabama. The software is used to both parse and organize coordinate data that is obtained from the theodolite measurement system. Atlantic Marine is in the process of developing new measurement processes for both ship plate and pipe spool rework and conversion applications on existing vessels. One of the major hurdles in incorporating coordinate measuring systems in the shipyard rework process is that significant time is required to extract, organize and import measured coordinate data into production drawings for part definition and assembly fabrication. The NIST software reduces the time it takes to perform these critical functions from several hours to just over a few minutes. The program incorporates a data parsing routine, developed by NIST, along with a custom user interface that allows a designer to assign a specific assembly function to each data set in the pipe assembly files. The software then automatically assigns each data set a unique identifier and exports it directly into an AutoCad drawing file. Each data set is organized by its function in the AutoCad model space so that the designer can recognize the data and delineate its function in the overall assembly at a glance.

Interactions

White House Meeting on Developing Secure Digital/Electronic Process Control Systems

MEL helped organize and participated in an interagency meeting on Developing Secure Digital / Electronic Process Control Systems, held at the White House Conference Center February 15. The meeting was hosted by the President's Special Advisor for Cybersecurity Richard Clarke and the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office, and included participation of nearly all of the Federal agencies that have a stake in process control system security, including Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation, National Security Agency, OSHA, Food Drug Agency, Department of Justice, FAA, and NASA. Bill Frix of the National Security Agency delivered a NIST-NSA presentation framing the process control cybersecurity problem, which set the stage for the rest of the meeting discussion. Many agencies have a role to play in addressing this issue, and this meeting was the first step in working toward a coordinated national approach to solutions. The next step will be a public-private sector meeting to be held April 2, 2002.

Recognition

Regenia McCloud, a MEL administrative assistant, will be honored at the Dr. Harry Harden, Jr. Black and African-American Awards program and reception held at Montgomery College. Ms McCloud is being recognized for her "outstanding accomplishments" for her fine academic performance at the College. The Harry Harden Awards program honors Black and African-American students who have completed a minimum of 12 college credits through the end of the Fall of the 2001 semester and earned a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or above.

George Orji, a MEL guest researcher and graduate student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of North Carolina Charlotte was one of the prize winners of the UNC-Charlotte Graduate Research Fair competition for research carried out during the academic year 2000/2001. The title of his talk was "Calibration Specimens for Nano-Technology Applications". The Graduate Research Fair is an annual competition among graduate students of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte showcasing work carried out in the preceding academic year. The content of the talk was part of the work he performed on single atom silicon step heights here at NIST.

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