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The mechanisms of scale cracking, scale color changes, and scale growth, and their interrelations, were studied in zirconium specimens at elevated temperatures in air, oxygen and nitrogen. Nitrogen was found to be responsible for monoclinic-to-cubic ZrO2 conversion, for scale cracking and breakaway on zirconium nitride, and for the formation of ZrN on the metal interface underneath an outer oxide layer.
Measurements have been made of the mean-flow and turbulence properties in adiabatic turbulent boundary layer flows subjected to adverse pressure gradients. In the freestream region upstream of the adverse pressure gradient the Mach number was 3.86, the unit Reynolds number 5.3 million per foot. The boundary layer developed on the wall of an axisymmetric nozzle and straight test section. The pressure gradients at the test section wall were induced by contoured centerbodies mounted on the wind tunnel centerline. The flow under study simulated that which might be found in an axially symmetric engine inlet of a supersonic aircraft. The results obtained have shown good agreement to exist between the measured normalized turbulent velocity fluctuations and the results from other recent investigations of compressible boundary layers.
An oriented piezoelectric film incorporated in the insulator region of a silicon insulated-gate field-effect transistor (FET) results in a sensitive high-frequency strain transducer. Theory governing the transducer properties of the piezoelectric insulator FET transducer is presented. Equations are developed which relate the drain current of the device to induced polarizations of the piezoelectric layer. The highest frequency of surface strains to which the FET transducer can respond is determined by the FET frequency response - ultimately by the channel transit time. This frequency can extend to the GHz range. The low-frequency response to applied strain is determined by the dielectric relaxation frequency of the piezoelectric layer.
Television observations of a barium-plasma flux tube extending from near 4500 km to near 10,000 km during a magnetic substorm and dawn-sector auroral display indicated several interesting anomalous events. Beyond 5500 km, there was a rapid increase in brightness accompanied by flux-tube splitting and diffusion, leaving behind a truncated single flux tube. From the orientation of the flux tube compared with theoretical field models, the presence of a substantial field-aligned current sheet is deduced. A suggested explanation of these phenomena is given in terms of a plasma potential double layer.
Observational data of the pre- and post-volcanic aerosols from the eruption of the Volcan de Fuego in Guatemala (15 deg N) in October 1974 were used in conjunction with predictions of a 2-D circulation model to gain better understanding of the transport, chemical and sedimentation processes which determine the stratospheric aeosol layer.
Boundary-layer solutions were obtained using the conventional two-layer mixing-length turbulence model and the Wilcox-Traci two-equation model of turbulence. Both flatplate and blunt-body geometries were considered. The most significant result of the study is development of approximations for the two-equation model which permit streamwise stepsize comparable to that used in mixing-length computations. Additionally, a set of model-equation boundary conditions derived which apply equally well to both flat-plate and blunt-body geometries. Solutions obtained with the two-equations turbulence model are compared with experimental data and/or corresponding solutions obtained using the mixing-length model. Agreement is satisfactory for flat-plate boundary layers but not for blunt body boundary layers.
The wind profiles in the wakes of buildings in a disturbed shear layer are investigated for conditions experienced during aircraft take-off and landing. Experiments were conducted in a pipe flow apparatus in which an equilibrium flow is disturbed by pipe roughness, simulating obstacles upwind of a building, with the disturbed flow made to flow past a second obstacle, simulating a building. Velocity and turbulence profiles of disturbed and equilibrium flows upstream and downstream of the obstacles are presented. It is concluded that the integrated momentum flow of a boundary layer behind an obstacle can be greater than the upstream momentum flow, if the exponent of the upstream velocity profile is sufficiently high and the boundary layer has been disturbed by upstream obstacles. The rise of the turbulence level behind the obstacle is also dependent on the profile exponent in a disturbed layer.
A cluster ion chemistry for sodium is developed which relates the Na(+) profile to the Na profile using reactions involving Na(+).N2, Na(+).CO2, and Na(+).H2O. Removal of sodium from the mesosphere is accomplished by the formation of higher order clusters of the form Na(+).(H2O)n which presumably precipitate to the lower atmosphere. This sink is most effective in the 80-85 km altitude range. The chemical equilibrium model is applied to experimental observations of the Na and Na(+) layers.
The number-density, pressure, and temperature profiles of the Uranian atmosphere in the pressure interval from 0.3 to 30 dynes/sq cm are derived from observations of the occultation of SAO 158687 by Uranus on 1977 March 10, observations made from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory and the Cape Town station of the South African Astronomical Observatory. The mean temperature is found to be about 95 K, but peak-to-peak variations from 10 K to 20 K or more exist on a scale of 150 km or 3 scale heights. The existence of a thermal inversion is established, but the inversion is much weaker than the analogous inversion on Neptune. The mean temperature can be explained by solar heating in the 3.3 micron methane band with a methane mixing ratio of 4 x 10 to the -6th combined with the cooling effect of ethane with a mixing ratio of not greater than 4 x 10 to the -6th. The temperature variations are probably due to a photochemical process that has formed a Chapman layer.
Manganese was used as the dopant for p-type InGaAs layers grown on semi-insulating (Fe-doped) and n-type (Sn-doped) InP substrates. Optical, electrical (Hall) and SIMS measurements were used to characterize the layers. Mn-diffusion into the substrate (during the growth of In GaAs) was observed only when Fe-doped substrates were used. Quaternary layers of two compositions corresponding to wavelengths (energy gaps) of approximated 1.52 micrometers were successfully grown at a constant temperature of 640 C and InP was grown in the temperature range of 640 C to 655 C. A study of the effect of pulses on the growth velocity of InP indicated no significant change as long as the average applied current was kept constant. A system for depositing films of Al2O3 by the pyrolysis of aluminum isopropoxide was designed and built. Deposited layers on Si were characterized with an ellipsometer and exhibited indices of refraction between 1.582 and 1.622 for films on the order of 3000 A thick. Undoped and p-type (Mn-doped) InGaAs epitaxial layers were also grown on Fe-doped InP substrates through windows in sputtered SiO2 (3200 A thick) layers.
Two types of fundamental topological junctions of elements are deduced from a nonlinear thermodynamical model. Using this scheme, the possibility of a causal relation between fireballs and faint meteors as nonlinear sources on the one hand, and noctilucent clouds (NC) and Hoffmeister's enhanced airglow (EA) as complementary formative processes in the middle atmosphere and ionosphere, on the other hand, is examined. The principal role of the global atmospheric circulation in this relation is demonstrated. Such circulation in the mesosphere appears to prevent the neutral dust dissipated by fireballs from becoming an efficient agent in NLC generation. In this case, the behavior of ionized material deposited by both the bright and faint meteors is more probably controlled, as shown from the annual variation of the E sub s layer by the darkness of lunar eclipses and the global circulation of the lower thermosphere. The role of fireballs and neutral dust might be more significant as a source of EA phenomenon.
The work performed for the feasibility study of a microgravity surface tension driven convection experiment was reviewed. An experimental investigation of the onset of convection in shallow fluid layers heated uniformly from below and cooled from above by an air layer was made. Results are discussed in relation to the formation of Benard cells. The onset of Rayleigh-Benard convection in thin fluid layers heated uniformly from below were studied experimentally. It was found that in thin fluid layers the onset of Rayleigh-Benard convection is preceded by subcritical convective motions. Secondly, it was found that the onset of Rayleigh-Benard convection in non-Boussinesq fluid layers takes place in the form of hexagonal cells at Rayleigh numbers larger than the critical Rayleigh number R sub C = 1708 which determines the onset of convection in Boussinesq fluid layers.
Boundary-layer velocity profiles on the casing of an axial-flow compressor behind the guide vanes and rotor were measured and resolved into two components: along the streamline of the flow and perpendicular to it. Boundary-layer thickness and the deflection of the boundary layer at the wall were the generalizing parameters. By use of these results and the momentum-integral equations, the characteristics of boundary on the walls of axial-flow compressor are qualitatively discussed. Important parameters concerning secondary flow in the boundary layer appear to be turning of the flow and the product of boundary-layer thickness and streamline curvature outside the boundary layer. Two types of separation are shown to be possible in three dimensional boundary layer.
Three fields in the molecular cloud M0.20-0.033, located near the midpoint of the filamentary 'Galactic center arc,' have been imaged in the CS J = 2-1 line with the OVRO millimeter interferometer. Several molecular clumps have been found to coincide with the endpoints of a number of the arc's nonthermal filaments (NTFs), suggesting that the relativistic particles present along the filaments originate in these molecular cloudlets. The most striking correlation involves a clump that is elongated along the direction of a pair of NTFs, and that approximately coincides with both their endpoints. These observations thus provide clues to the particle acceleration mechanism operative in the Galactic center arc: magnetic energy is likely liberated as the ambient field, tangled by the clumps' motions, reconnects in the advancing clumps' leading, externally ionized, surface layers.
The turbulent, incompressible reattaching flow over a rearward-facing step has been studied by many researchers over the years. One of the principal quantities determined in these experiments has been the distance from the step to the point (or region) where the separated shear layer reattaches to the surface (x(r)). The values for x(r)/h, where h is the step height, have covered a wider range than can reasonably be attributed to experimental technique or inaccuracy. Often the reason for a largely different value of x(r)/h can be attributed to an incompletely developed turbulent layer, or a transitional or laminar boundary layer. However, for the majority of experiments where the boundary layer is believed to be fully developed and turbulent, x(r)/h still varies several step heights; generally, 5 1/2 approximately < x(r)/h approximately < 7 1/2. This observed variation has usually been attributed to such variables as l/h (step length to height, h/delta (step height to initial boundary-layer thickness), R(e)(theta)), or the experimental technique for determining reattachment location. However, there are so many different combinations of variables in the previous experiments that it was not possible to sort out the effects of particular conditions on the location of reattachment. In the present experiment velocity profiles have been measured in and around the region of separated flow. Results show a large influence of adverse pressure gradient on the reattaching flow over a rearward-facing step that has not been reported previously. Further, the many previous experiments for fully developed, turbulent flow in parallel-walled channels have shown a range of reattachment location that has not been explained by differences in initial flow conditions. Although these initial flow conditions might contribute to the observed variation of reattachment location, it appears that the pressure gradient effect can explain most of that variation.
A microscalable thermal control module consists of a Stirling cycle cooler that can be manipulated to operate at a selected temperature within the heating and cooling range of the module. The microscalable thermal control module is particularly suited for controlling the temperature of devices that must be maintained at precise temperatures. It is particularly suited for controlling the temperature of devices that need to be alternately heated or cooled. The module contains upper and lower opposing diaphragms, with a regenerator region containing a plurality of regenerators interposed between the diaphragms. Gaps exist on each side of each diaphragm to permit it to oscillate freely. The gap on the interior side one diaphragm is in fluid connection with the gap on the interior side of the other diaphragm through regenerators. As the diaphragms oscillate working gas is forced through the regenerators. The surface area of each regenerator is sufficiently large to effectively transfer thermal energy to and from the working gas as it is passed through them. The phase and amplitude of the oscillations can be manipulated electronically to control the steady state temperature of the active thermal control surface, and to switch the operation of the module from cooling to heating, or vice versa. The ability of the microscalable thermal control module to heat and cool may be enhanced by operating a plurality of modules in series, in parallel, or in connection through a shared bottom layer.
The heat transfer in the laminar boundary layer of a heated plate in flow at high speed can be obtained by integration of the conventional differential equations of the boundary layer, so long as the material values can be regarded as constant. This premise is fairly well satisfied at speeds up to about twice the sonic speed and at not excessive temperature rise of the heated plate. The general solution of the equation includes Pohlhausen's specific cases of heat transfer to a plate at low speeds and of the plate thermometer. The solution shows that the heat transfer coefficient at high speed must be computed with the same equation as at low speed, when it is referred to the difference of the wall temperature of the heated plate in respect to its "natural temperature." Since this fact follows from the linear structure of the differential equation describing the temperature field, it is equally applicable to the heat transfer in the turbulent boundary layer.
Numerical simulations of deep, intense continental tropical convection indicate that when the cloud tops extend more than a few kilometers above the liquid water homogeneous freezing level, ice nucleation due to freezing of entrained aqueous sulfate aerosols generates large concentrations of small crystals (diameters less than approx. equal to 20 micrometers). The small crystals produced by aerosol freezing have the largest impact on cloud-top ice concentration for convective clouds with strong updrafts but relatively low aerosol concentrations. An implication of this result is that cloud-top ice concentrations in high anvil cirrus can be controlled primarily by updraft speeds in the tops of convective plumes and to a lesser extent by aerosol concentrations in the uppermost troposphere. While larger crystals precipitate out and sublimate in subsaturated air below, the population of small crystals can persist in the saturated uppermost troposphere for many hours, thereby prolonging the lifetime of remnants from anvil cirrus in the tropical tropopause layer.