Department of Energy
University Information
Collaborators
Predictive Engineering and Computational Sciences
201 E. 24th Street
Austin, TX, 78712
Phone: 512-471-3168
Fax: 512-232-8067
Site Administrator
201 E. 24th Street
Austin, TX, 78712
Phone: 512-471-3168
Fax: 512-232-8067
Site Administrator
Data Acquisition
Activities
Modeling Domains
In the modeling of complex systems, the calibration of model parameters, the validation of models and the quantification of uncertainties relies on experimental data. The acquisition and analysis of such data is an important part of the PECOS program. With partners at Sandia National Laboratories, the NASA-Johnson Space Center and the NASA-Ames Research Center, we are actively acquiring the data needed for calibration, validation and uncertainty quantification of reentry vehicle models.
In the context of rigorous uncertainty quantification, assessing the reliability of and the uncertainties in experimental data is critical. Advanced experimental measurements generally involve a complex instrument that does not directly measure the quantity one is purporting to measure, but rather some quantity related to it. For example, in a thermocouple temperature gauge, one measures not the temperature, but the voltage across the thermocouple junction. The quantity one is trying to measure is then determined from the raw measurement using a “data reduction model.” Like the mathematical models we are trying to calibrate and validate, the data reduction model is itself a physics-based model, which needs to be calibrated and validated. Thus, the data acquisition activities at the PECOS center include both acquiring and analyzing raw data in experiments relevant to reentry vehicle models, and calibrating and validating the data reduction models used to analyze the raw data.