August 2001

BFRL Monthly Highlights

June 2001

July 2001

August 2001

Sept. 2001

PAST Highlights

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Workshop on Predicting the Thermophysical Properties of Fluids by Molecular Simulation

A workshop, organized by CSTL and BFRL, on Predicting the Thermophysical Properties of Fluids by Molecular Simulation was held at NIST in Gaithersburg, Md., June 18-19, 2001. This workshop, which was sponsored by NIST, Dow, BP, Colgate Palmolive, PNNL, University of Illinois-Chicago, and University of Minnesota, initiated an effort to stimulate further research in the development and validation of force fields and methods for molecular simulation. This goal is well aligned with the recommendations set forth in Technology Vision 2020 and the subsequent Technology Roadmap for Computational Chemistry. Forty-two persons from industry (including Ford, Colgate-Palmolive, 3M, Rohm and Haas, GM, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Exxon Mobil, Union Carbide, DuPont, Dow, BP), government (NIST, PNNL, Sandia), and fifteen academic institutions participated.

The workshop program focused on the needs of industry for predictive capabilities for thermophysical properties and on how those needs might be realized now and in the future as computational capabilities and molecular force fields improve. Working groups developed a series of recommendations on next steps including offering tutorials on methods, sponsoring open competitions where method developers and practitioners will be encouraged to present results obtained from simulations on a predetermined set of properties and molecular fluids, and organizing a consortium in which the members will work with commercial and academic software developers to make simulation methodologies more widely available.

CONTACT: Ray Mountain, 301-975-2484
Physical and Chemical Properties Division

 

ASHRAE Joins in Celebration of NIST Centennial

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) conducted a special symposium to honor NIST and its Centennial in conjunction with their 2001 Annual Meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 26, 2001. Five papers were given describing some of the more significant work done by NIST over the past 100 years. Three of the papers were given by current NIST staff: Bob Zarr and Dave Didion of BFRL, and Mark McLinden of CSTL. The papers described work dating back to the early 1900s to provide measurement services to the thermal insulation industry and more recent work done to help find refrigerant replacements for CFCs. The recently retired ASHRAE manager of standards spoke on significant work done by NBS during the 1970s to provide the basis for the ASHRAE Standard 90, Energy Efficient Design of New Buildings. A professor of mechanical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology spoke on the significance of the work done by Tamami Kusuda of NBS to provide the basis for ASHRAE algorithms used today throughout the world for calculating energy use in buildings. Four of the five papers in this symposium were judged to be among the top ten presented at the ASHRAE Annual Meeting.

 

CONTACT: Jim Hill, 301-975-5900
Deputy Director
Building and Fire Research Laboratory

 

BFRL Staff Member Receives Award

John Gross received the BFRL Communicator Award for a series of eight reports and papers related to the seismic rehabilitation of welded steel moment frames. This work began following the Northridge earthquake in 1994, when a number of beam column connection failures were found in welded steel moment frame buildings. In response, Gross initiated a multiyear program of coordinated research on seismic rehabilitation of welded steel moment frame buildings.

The research identified failure mechanisms and developed methods for strengthening such connections. Gross’ research resulted in a series of publications, culminating with Design Guide No. 12, Modification of Existing Welded Steel Moment Frame Connections for Seismic Resistance, by the American Institute of Steel Construction, on which he was the lead author. Gross received a 2001 Top Ten Federal Engineer of the Year Award from the National Society of Professional Engineers and was named the Department of Commerce Engineer of the Year for work on welded steel moment frame connections. He received the 2001 Raymond C. Reese Research Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers, as co-author of the paper Cyclic Testing of Steel Moment Connections Rehabilitated with Reduced Beam Section or Welded Haunch.

CONTACT: Steve Cauffman, 301-975-6051
Research Engineer
Structural Systems and Design Group
Structures Division

 

 

 

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