Mechanical
and Dimensional Measurements
Manufacturing
airplanes is one of the most technically complex jobs in American
industry. Engineers must make and repeat thousands of different
measurements from the time a plane is on the drawing board until
it is retired from service. Measurement problems and a lack of
uniform standards can dramatically lengthen design and production
time for new models. Measurements and standards are especially
important in assessing the quality of aerospace parts and materials,
since there's no tolerance for flaws or cracks. NIST researchers
offer measurement standards and calibrations, and perform research
to benefit the aerospace industry. Follow the links below for
more details.
NIST's
Manufacturing Engineering Laboratoryworks to improve
the competitiveness of US manufacturing by developing and applying
measurement standards and technologies.
Dimensional Metrologydevelops dimensional measurements and standards to address identified critical U.S. industry needs for traceable dimensional metrology, particularly for the support of trade and innovation, process control and quality in manufacturing from the micro- to the macro-scale. Contact: Steven
Phillips, (301)
975-3565
.
Calibration Services provides U.S. industry
with best-in-the-world-class measurement services for the mechanical
quantities of mass, force, acoustics, and vibration.
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Materials
and Materials Processing
Aerospace
materials need to be as strong, lightweight, and durable as possible.
NIST materials research is helping manufacturers bring innovative
ceramic materials into commercial use.
NIST Ceramics Division provides the nation's measurement and standards infrastructure for ceramic materials
Ceramics Web Book includes evaluated data, a guide to data centers and sources, tools and resources
Phase
Diagram Researchdevelops phase diagrams for special families
of alloys, including nickel-based superalloys for aerospace applications
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Manufacturing
Processes
There
are thousands of processes involved in building a machine as complex
as an airplane. NIST research is helping make these processes
more accurate and efficient.
Smart Machining Systemsdevelops, validates, and demonstrates the metrology, standards, and infrastructural tools that enable U.S. industry to characterize, monitor, and improve the accuracy, reliability and productivity of machining operations, leading to the realization of autonomous smart machining systems.
Nanomanufacturingdevelops and delivers timely measurements, standards, and infrastructural technologies needed for innovation and traceable metrology, process-control and quality in manufacturing at the nanoscale.
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Systems
Integration and Interoperability
Computer-controlled
manufacturing processes need to speak the same language. Computer-aided
design systems need to be able to receive and hand-off product
data accurately within and between shops. NIST research means
aerospace manufacturers spend less time solving systems integration
and interoperability problems and more time building planes.
Manufacturing Interoperability equips U.S. manufacturers with the technical guidance and testing support needed to interoperate in today’s global, heterogeneous manufacturing world
Systems Integration for Manufacturing Applications coordinates NIST research efforts to improve interoperability and data integration in the areas of manufacturing e-commerce, product data, and scientific data
Standard
for Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP)here's where
you'll find documentation for ISO standards for manufacturing,
including ISO 10303, aka STEP. These ISO standards seek to ease
transfer of product information within and between manufacturing
operations.
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Navigation
One
of NIST's biggest contributions to aviation was the invention
in 1931 of the first visual type radio beacon for an instrument
landing system, making it possible to land safely in bad weather.
Since then, NIST labs have developed other important measurement
standards and calibrations necessary for air travel. For example:
Global
Positioning System Data ArchiveThis GPS data archive
compares the frequency standard on board each GPs satellite to
the NIST frequency standard. Navigation systems worldwide rely
on the Global Positioning System. The accuracy of many commercial
GPs receivers can be linked to NIST frequency standards through
comparison to this archive.
NIST's
Pressure and Vacuum Group develops and maintains the nation's
standards for pressure and offers calibrations for pressure measuring
instruments. Altimeters determine a plane's altitude by measuring
atmospheric pressure. Their accuracy is traceable to NIST.
NIST's
Radio Frequency Fields Group develops standards and calibrations
for antennas used with satellites, spacecraft, and radar systems.
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Safety
While
many of the NIST standards and research projects presented above
help manufacturers build safe planes, other NIST activities address
in-flight safety. Here's what our researchers are doing to help
keep crew and passengers safe:
Aircraft
Anti-collision Lightsestablishing flashing light photometric
standards at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Fire
Safe Aircraft Interior Materialsdetermines how adding new
advanced materials to polymers used in aircraft interiors affects
flammability and developing ways to predict flammability of new
fire resistant aircraft materials.
More
on Fire Safe Aircraft MaterialsRead more about how a clay
nanocomposite affects flammability of aircraft materials.
Detecting
Fire in Aircraft Cargo Compartmentsassists the Federal
Aviation Administration in research to improve fire detection in
cargo compartments.
Detecting
Fire in Airplane Hangarshere is the executive summary of
a NIST/Navy study on fire detection in hangars. Contact: Kathy Notarianni,
(301) 975-6883.
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Physical
and Chemical Data
The NIST
Standard Reference Data Program serves science and industry
with world-leading technical data services and products. This page
provides links to scientific databases in several specialties.
The NIST
Chemistry WebBook provides users with easy access to chemical
and physical property data for chemical species through the internet.
You can search by name, formula, author, or structure and retrieve
phase, reaction, spectral, thermophysical, and many other properties.
Physical
Reference Datalook up physical constants, atomic and molecular
data, ionization, x-ray, and gamma ray data, nuclear physics data,
and condensed matter physics data. This page also has links to other
online NIST reference databases.
Chemical
Kinetics Databasea compilation of kinetics data on gas-phase
reactions; searchable by specific reactants, reactions resulting
in specific products, all reactions of a particular species, or
combinations of these. Available free online. Contact: Robert
Huie, (301) 975-2559.
Computational
Chemistry Comparison and Benchmark Databasethis database
contains computational thermochemical data for a selected set of
about 600 gas-phase molecules and tools for comparing experimental
and computational thermochemical properties in the database.
Space
Explorers of the final frontier need reliable technology, measurements,
and standards. Here's what NIST is doing to help:
Calibration Support for Ocean Color ScienceNIST
physicists work with NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
scientists on a project using satellites to measure global warming
trends.
Calibration Support for NASA's Earth Observing System Another
satellite-based project could determine environmental policy, NASA's
Earth Observing System, we provide the calibrations for this project.
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Other
Resources
NIST
outreach programs work directly with business and industry to boost
US economic competitiveness. Many aerospace companies and parts
suppliers have benefited by taking advantage of these programs.
Smaller
manufacturers face many challenges in our technology-driven economy.
To help meet these challenges, NIST started its Hollings Manufacturing
Extension Partnership program in 1988. This nationwide network
of centers, now in all 50 states, has assisted more than 100,000
US firms, including makers of aerospace parts and tools.
The
Baldrige National Quality
Program recognizes performance excellence and quality achievement
by US manufacturers, service companies, educational organizations,
and health-care providers. Aerospace firms have been competing for
the Baldrige Award since it was established in 1988. In 1998, Boeing
Airlift and Tanker Programs won the Baldrige Award. This St.
Louis-based division of the Boeing Company designs and builds the
C-17 Globemaster 111 airlifter.
Organizations
that apply for the Baldrige Award must address seven key criteria:
leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information
and analysis, human resource focus, process management, and results.
Each applicant receives a feedback report citing strengths and
opportunities
for improvement. Award recipients and applicants alike say the
application process can yield significant process improvements
and is good for
the bottom line. In fact, a fictitious 'Baldrige
Index' made up of winning company stock has consistently outperformed
the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. And thousands of other companies
have used the Criteria
for Performance Excellence to assess and improve their overall
performance.
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