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Smith, D. H.

Publications and source records attributed to Smith, D. H..

15 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1982

Saturn's ringlets

This paper suggests that Saturn's magnetic field is, in part, responsible for the very fine-scale radial features, or ringlets, seen in the ring-system. The planet's dipole field interacts with slight radial variations in plasma density, and the operation of an instability segregates the magnetic flux and plasma in the ring-plane into narrow alternating zones. It is suggested that this mechanism may act by itself to give rise to the inner ringlets. It is believed that at greater radial distances it amplifies gravitational resonances.

Bastin, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Thermionic cathode life-test studies

A NASA-Lewis Research Center program for life testing commercial, high-current-density thermionic cathodes has been in progress since 1971. The purpose of the program is to develop long-life power microwave tubes for space communications. Four commercial-type cathodes are being evaluated in this investigation. They are the 'Tungstate', 'S' type, 'B' type, and 'M' type cathodes, all of which are capable of delivering 1 A/ sq cm or more of emission current at an operating temperature in the range of 1000-1100 C. The life test vehicles used in these studies are similar in construction to that of a high-power microwave tube and employ a high-convergence electron-gun structure; in contrast to earlier studies that used close-space diodes. These guns were designed for operation at 2 A/sq cm of cathode loading. The 'Tungstate' cathodes failed at 700 h or less and the 'S' cathode exhibited a lifetime of about 20,000 h. One 'B' cathode has failed after 27,000 h, the remaining units continuing to operate after up to 30,000 h. Only limited data are now available for the 'M' cathode, because only one has been operated for as long as 19,000 h. However, the preliminary results indicate the emission current from the 'M' cathode is more stable than the 'B' cathode and that it can be operated at a true temperature approximately 100 C lower than for the 'B' cathode.

Forman, R.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Quantitative comparison of combined gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric profiles of complex mixtures

The paper describes a method called HISLIB for automatic quantitative comparison of gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) results obtained on complex mixtures of organic compounds. The method is based on comparing new mixtures to 'historical' libraries of previous results. Co-occurrence of components is determined by matching relative retention indices (RRIs) and mass spectra after background removal and resolution of overlapping GC components. Internal standards are used to quantify the relative concentrations of components. Applications of HISLIB include validation of analytical procedures to isolate complex mixtures; development of historical libraries which might include complete summaries of all past observations, compilations of controls, or any other selected subset of results; improvement of the quality of existing libraries of mass spectral data; and detection of differences in kind and/or amounts of individual components. Limitations of the method are mentioned along with causes of their occurrence.

Smith, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Computer assistance for the structural chemist

A description is presented of the approaches used to modify the molecular structure generator program, CONGEN. The CONGEN program for constructing structures under constraints has been discussed by Carhart et al. (1975). The modifications reported are to lead to a more efficient structure generation on the basis of a translation of structural data input to the program. From an algorithmic standpoint, CONGEN is successful if it can, in a reasonable amount of time and without exhausting storage resources, produce a list of candidate structures satisfying the chemist's constraints. However, this list is often quite large, and it remains for the chemist to discriminate among the candidates, eventually reducing the possibilities to just one structure. Ways are studied for providing computer assistance in examining and further constraining lists of structural candidates.

Carhart, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Compound classification by computer treatment of low resolution mass spectra - Application to geochemical and environmental problems.

A description is given of a development of computer analysis of low-resolution chromatographic-mass spectrometric data, which provides a preliminary classification of an unknown spectrum as a listing of candidate classes of compounds. This procedure, referred to as COMSOC (Classification of Mass Spectra on Computers), operates by converting an incoming unknown mass spectrum into a simplified key word which is then compared with each of the key words held in its reference file. The advantages of COMSOC in characterizing complex mixtures are emphasized.

Smith, D. H.↗