Computer-assisted comparison of analysis and test results in transportation experiments

摘要

As a part of its ongoing research efforts, Sandia National Laboratories' Transportation Surety Center investigates the integrity of various containment methods for hazardous materials transport, subject to anomalous structural and thermal events such as free-fall impacts, collisions, and fires in both open and confined areas. Since it is not possible to conduct field experiments for every set of possible conditions under which an actual transportation accident might occur, accurate modeling methods must be developed which will yield reliable simulations of the effects of accident events under various scenarios. This requires computer software which is capable of assimilating and processing data from experiments performed as benchmarks, as well as data obtained from numerical models that simulate the experiment. Software tools which can present all of these results in a meaningful and useful way to the analyst are a critical aspect of this process. The purpose of this work is to provide software resources on a long term basis, and to ensure that the data visualization capabilities of the Center keep pace with advancing technology. This will provide leverage for its modeling and analysis abilities in a rapidly evolving hardware/software environment.