Glossary

Chemical salt used to dehumidify air, to control moisture in materials contacting that air.

To dry, exhaust or deprive of water or moisture. Any chemical used for this purpose is called a desiccant. An apparatus for drying and preventing hygroscopic samples from rehydrating is a desiccator. The process is desiccation.

Closed containers, usually made of glass or plastic, with an airtight seal used for drying materials.

(ISO) Set of processes that transform requirements into specified characteristics or into the specification of a product, process or system.

(IEEE) The process of defining the architecture, components, interfaces, and other characteristics of a system or component.

(NBS) The application of test data derived through functional analysis extended to include design functions as well as requirement functions.

The specified range or accuracy of a controlled variable used by the designer to determine performance requirements of an engineered system.

(IEEE) A document that describes the design of a system or component. Typical contents include system or component architecture, control logic, data structures, data flow, input/output formats, interface descriptions and algorithms. Synonym: Design Document.

Engineering process by which the design generation is managed.

Design Documents

Term used to describe the practice of making design decisions related to the impact of the system in operation, at the beginning of design development.

The practice of making design decisions related to the impact of the system in operation, at the beginning of design development.

(IEEE) The design decomposition of the software item; e.g., system, subsystem, program or module.

The specified range or accuracy of a controlled variable used by the designer to determine performance requirements of an engineered system.

Approach to monitor the design activities.

Systematic, rigorous approach to engineering problem-solving to ensure the generation of valid, defensible, and supportable engineering conclusions. DOE is to be executed under the constraint of a minimal expenditure of engineering runs, time, and money.

A methodology for planning experiments so that data appropriate for (statistical) analysis will be collected.

(IEEE) The period of time in the software lifecycle during which the designs for architecture, software components, interfaces, and data are created, documented, and verified to satisfy requirements.

Provided in the basis of design as the nominal set point around which the parameter is expected to be controlled, +/- a given tolerance value (the Design Tolerance) to provide the Design Target.

The pressure used in the design of a vessel component together with the coincident design metal temperature, for the purpose of determining the minimum permissible thickness or physical characteristics of the different zones of the vessel. When applicable, static head shall be added to the design pressure to determine the thickness of any specific zone of the vessel (UG-21).

A documented review of the design, at an appropriate stage in a project, for conformance to operational and regulatory expectations.

Documented verification that the proposed design of the facilities, equipment, or systems is suitable for the intended purpose.

(IEEE) A process or meeting during which a system, hardware, or software design is presented to project personnel, managers, users, customers, or other interested parties for comment or approval. Types include critical design review, preliminary design review, system design review.

(ASTM E 2500) Planned and systematic reviews of specifications, design, and design development and continuous improvement changes performed as appropriate throughout the life-cycle of the manufacturing system. Design Reviews evaluate deliverables against standards and requirements, identify problems, and propose required corrective actions.