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Sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of a polyurethane foam decomposition model [electronic resource].

Published
Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 2000.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy.
Physical Description
6 pages : digital, PDF file
Additional Creators
Sandia National Laboratories, United States. Department of Energy, and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information
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Summary
Sensitivity/uncertainty analyses are not commonly performed on complex, finite-element engineering models because the analyses are time consuming, CPU intensive, nontrivial exercises that can lead to deceptive results. To illustrate these ideas, an analytical sensitivity/uncertainty analysis is used to determine the standard deviation and the primary factors affecting the burn velocity of polyurethane foam exposed to firelike radiative boundary conditions. The complex, finite element model has 25 input parameters that include chemistry, polymer structure, and thermophysical properties. The response variable was selected as the steady-state burn velocity calculated as the derivative of the burn front location versus time. The standard deviation of the burn velocity was determined by taking numerical derivatives of the response variable with respect to each of the 25 input parameters. Since the response variable is also a derivative, the standard deviation is essentially determined from a second derivative that is extremely sensitive to numerical noise. To minimize the numerical noise, 50-micron elements and approximately 1-msec time steps were required to obtain stable uncertainty results. The primary effect variable was shown to be the emissivity of the foam.
Report Numbers
E 1.99:sand2000-0674c
sand2000-0674c
Subject(s)
Other Subject(s)
Note
Published through SciTech Connect.
03/14/2000.
"sand2000-0674c"
8th ASCE Specially Conference on Probabilistic Mechanics and Structural Reliability, Notre Dame, IN (US), 07/24/2000--07/26/2000.
ROBINSON,DAVID G.; HOBBS,MICHAEL L.
Funding Information
AC04-94AL85000
View MARC record | catkey: 14393954