Variability Reduction and Design of Experiments Techniques for Improving System Performance of the International Space Station Kit for External Repair of Module Impacts

摘要

The Kit for Repair of Module Impacts, or KERMIt, is designed to provide astronauts with a patch kit to seal damaged International Space Station (ISS) modules. The patch is applied externally and requires Extravehicular Activity, or space walks, in order to install the patch. The installation procedure is crew intensive and requires injection of an adhesive to form a lasting environmental seal, restoring atmospheric conditions inside the module. A five%step analysis of the KERMIt program revealed two critical processes which, when controlled, provided measurable performance gains in the KERMIt system. Adhesive injection and flow was the first critical process, requiring design of experiments and variability reduction techniques to reduce variability in adhesive flow and formation. Analysis of KERMIt crew installation procedures required refinement of experimental methods in order to determine areas for improvement. Verification testing validated both control techniques, demonstrating the effectiveness of variability reduction and design of experiments to improve KERMIt system performance.