ADAPTATION OF A MULTICHANNEL STRUCTURAL ANALYZER AS AN INTEGRATED CONTROLS/STRUCTURES DESIGN AND ANALYSES TOOL

METHODS OF ADAPTING A COMMERCIAL MULTICHANNEL STRUCTURAL ANALYZER TO PERFORM INTEGRATION OF CONTROLS-STRUCTURES DESIGN AND ANALYSIS ARE INVESTIGATED IN THIS PROJECT. THE FUNDAMENTAL ARCHITECTURE OF CERTAIN MULTICHANNEL STRUCTURAL ANALYZERS MAY BE AUGMENTED WITH APPROPRIATE REAL-TIME, MICROCODE FUNCTIONS. THIS WILL ALLOW BOTH CONTROL DESIGN RESEARCHERS AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICISTS TO USE A SINGLE PLATFORM FOR DEVELOPING TEST METHODS TO IMPLEMENT CONTROLLERDESIGNS AND SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION. THE FINDINGS WILL AID IN THE ANALYSIS AND SOLUTION OF PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH GROUND TESTING OF LARGE SPACE STRUCTURES, AND ULTIMATELY CONTRIBUTE TO IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DESIGN OF SUCH STRUCTURES AND THEIR CONTROL SYSTEMS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO SOLICIT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE TWO TECHNOLOGIES OF CONTROLS AND STRUCTURES, AND INCREASE THE SHARING OF TEST REQUIREMENTS. PHASE I WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF SUCH AN ADAPTATIONAND WHAT, IF ANY, MODIFICATIONS TO HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE WILL BE NECESSARY TO CONDUCT AN INTEGRATED DEMONSTRATION ON A NASA TEST STRUCTURE DURING PHASE II. COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE CONTROLS-DESIGN AND -ANALYSIS SOFTWARE PACKAGES WILL BE EVALUATED AS THE FRONT-END DESIGN PROCESSOR FOR THE MULTICHANNEL STRUCTURAL ANALYZER. METHODS OF ADAPTING A COMMERCIAL MULTICHANNEL STRUCTURAL ANALYZER TO PERFORM INTEGRATION OF CONTROLS-STRUCTURES DESIGN AND ANALYSIS ARE INVESTIGATED IN THIS PROJECT. THE FUNDAMENTAL ARCHITECTURE OF CERTAIN MULTICHANNEL STRUCTURAL ANALYZERS MAY BE AUGMENTED WITH APPROPRIATE REAL-TIME, MICROCODE FUNCTIONS. THIS WILL ALLOW BOTH CONTROL DESIGN RESEARCHERS AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICISTS TO USE A SINGLE PLATFORM FOR DEVELOPING TEST METHODS TO IMPLEMENT CONTROLLERDESIGNS AND SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION. THE FINDINGS WILL AID IN THE ANALYSIS AND SOLUTION OF PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH GROUND TESTING OF LARGE SPACE STRUCTURES, AND ULTIMATELY CONTRIBUTE TO IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DESIGN OF SUCH STRUCTURES AND THEIR CONTROL SYSTEMS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO SOLICIT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE TWO TECHNOLOGIES OF CONTROLS AND STRUCTURES, AND INCREASE THE SHARING OF TEST REQUIREMENTS. PHASE I WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF SUCH AN ADAPTATIONAND WHAT, IF ANY, MODIFICATIONS TO HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE WILL BE NECESSARY TO CONDUCT AN INTEGRATED DEMONSTRATION ON A NASA TEST STRUCTURE DURING PHASE II. COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE CONTROLS-DESIGN AND -ANALYSIS SOFTWARE PACKAGES WILL BE EVALUATED AS THE FRONT-END DESIGN PROCESSOR FOR THE MULTICHANNEL STRUCTURAL ANALYZER.