Electron spin resonance of gamma-irradiated single crystals of 9-methyladenine.
Electron spin resonance spectra of gamma irradiated single crystals of 9-methyladenine, analyzing H abstraction radical and temperature effects
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Electron spin resonance spectra of gamma irradiated single crystals of 9-methyladenine, analyzing H abstraction radical and temperature effects
In connection with the eccentricity of the earth's orbit, conditions of solar radiation are not strictly symmetrical for the two hemispheres. The intensity of solar irradiation is approximately 6.6 percent higher near perihelion than near aphelion. As the ozone densities in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere are mainly controlled by photochemical processes, the asymmetry of irradiation conditions for both hemispheres could result in corresponding asymmetries regarding the ozone content. The present investigation is concerned with this possibility. The investigation takes into account Nimbus-7 and Nimbus-4 satellite data. It is found that the hemispheric asymmetries of the ozone distribution in the summer mesosphere and upper stratosphere are fully ascribable to the hemispheric temperature differences due to the combined effects of the earth's orbital ellipticity and its tilted spin axis from the ecliptic plane. The wintertime hemispheric asymmetries imply the presence of additional effects.
In this article, we study a model for error-correcting codes that comes from spin glass theory and leads to both new codes and a new decoding technique. Using the theory of spin glasses, it has been proven that a simple construction yields a family of binary codes whose performance asymptotically approaches the Shannon bound for the Gaussian channel. The limit is approached as the number of information bits per codeword approaches infinity while the rate of the code approaches zero. Thus, the codes rapidly become impractical. We present simulation results that show the performance of a few manageable examples of these codes. In the correspondence that exists between spin glasses and error-correcting codes, the concept of a thermal average leads to a method of decoding that differs from the standard method of finding the most likely information sequence for a given received codeword. Whereas the standard method corresponds to calculating the thermal average at temperature zero, calculating the thermal average at a certain optimum temperature results instead in the sequence of most likely information bits. Since linear block codes and convolutional codes can be viewed as examples of spin glasses, this new decoding method can be used to decode these codes in a way that minimizes the bit error rate instead of the codeword error rate. We present simulation results that show a small improvement in bit error rate by using the thermal average technique.
The fatigue properties of modern powder metallurgy disk alloys can vary because of the different steps of materials and component processing and machining. Among these variables, the effects of nonmetallic inclusions introduced during the powder atomization and handling processes have been shown to significantly degrade low-cycle fatigue life. The levels of inclusion contamination have, therefore, been reduced to less than 1 part per million in state-of-the-art nickel disk powder-processing facilities. Yet the large quantities of compressor and turbine disks weighing from 100 to over 1000 lb have enough total volume and surface area for these rare inclusions to still be present and limit fatigue life. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects on fatigue life of these inclusions, as part of the Crack Resistant Disk Materials task within the Ultra Safe Propulsion Project. Inclusions were carefully introduced at elevated levels in a nickel-base disk superalloy, U720, produced using powder metallurgy processing. Multiple strain-controlled fatigue tests were then performed on extracted test specimens at 650 C. Analyses were performed to compare the low-cycle fatigue lives and failure initiation sites as functions of inclusion content and fatigue conditions. Powder of the nickel-base superalloy U720 was atomized in argon at Special Metals Corporation, Inc., using production-scale high-cleanliness powder-processing facilities and handling practices. The powder was then passed through a 270-mesh screen. One portion of this powder was set aside for subsequent consolidation without introduced inclusions. Two other portions of this powder were seeded with alumina inclusions. Small, polycrystalline soft (Type 2) inclusions of about 50 mm diameter were carefully prepared and blended into one powder lot, and larger hard (Type 1) inclusions of about 150 mm mean diameter were introduced into the other seeded portion of powder. All three portions of powder were then sealed in separate containers, hot isostatically pressurized, extruded, forged into subscale disks, and heat treated. Low-cycle-fatigue specimens were then extracted, machined, and tested. Fatigue tests were performed at 650 C in closed-loop servohydraulic testing machines using induction heating and axial extensometers. All tests were continued to failure, and fractographic evaluations were performed on all specimens to determine the crack initiation sites. A large majority of the failures in specimens with introduced inclusions occurred at cracks initiating from inclusions at the specimen surface, as shown for each type of inclusion in the following bar chart. The inclusions significantly reduced fatigue life from unseeded material levels, as shown in the bar chart. These effects were found to depend on the strain range, strain ratio, and inclusion size. Tests at lower strain ranges and higher strain ratios resulted in larger effects of inclusions on life. Inclusion effects on life were thereby maximized in tests at the lowest strain range of 0.6 percent and the most positive strain ratio of 0.5. Under these conditions, small Type 2 inclusions reduced life substantially-- about 20 times, whereas large Type 1 inclusions dramatically reduced life 100 times. These results clearly demonstrate that it is essential to include the effects of inclusions for realistic predictions of disk fatigue life. Important issues, including temperature dependence, crack initiation versus propagation, surface treatments, realistic disk features and machining, and realistic disk spin testing will be addressed to accurately model inclusion effects on disk fatigue life. Fatigue life varied from well over 105 cycles for no inclusions to a little over 103 cycles for 100-micrometer inclusions. A single crack initiating at a surface-connected seeded inclusion caused failure in each case.
New multilayer permalloy materials with thin separation layers that have significantly increased M-R coefficients at room temperature have the potential for substantially increasing both the speed and density of M-R memories. An analysis in the following discussion shows that the bit density at a given performance level is related to the product of M-R response and sheet resistivity when operating at the current-density limit. With a doubling of both sheet resistivity and M-R response over existing materials, the bit area can be reduced by about a factor of 4. Alternatively, if the bit area is kept the same, signal output is increased by a factor of 4 and circuit time constants can be reduced by a factor of 16.
Proton spin-lattice relaxation time in dilute liquid and gas solutions of orthohydrogen in parahydrogen, noting dependence on temperature, density and composition
The retarding potential analyzer on the Pioneer-Venus Orbiter Mission has been designed to measure most of the thermal plasma parameters within and near the Venusian ionosphere. Parameters include total ion concentration, concentrations of the more abundant ions, ion temperatures, ion drift velocity, electron temperature, and low-energy (0-50 eV) electron distribution function. To accomplish these measurements on a spinning vehicle with a small telemetry bit rate, several functions, including decision functions not previously used in RPA's, have been developed and incorporated into this instrument. The more significant functions include automatic electrometer ranging with background current compensation; digital, quadratic retarding potential step generation for the ion and low-energy electron scans; a current sampling interval of 2 ms throughout all scans; digital logic inflection point detection and data selection; and automatic ram direction detection. Extensive numerical simulation and plasma chamber tests have been conducted to verify adequacy of the design for the Pioneer Mission.
We present a multi-epoch hard X-ray analysis of Cygnus X-1 in its soft state based on four observations with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). Despite the basic similarity of the observed spectra, there is clear spectral variability between epochs. To investigate this variability, we construct a model incorporating both the standard disk-corona continuum and relativistic reflection from the accretion disk, based on prior work on Cygnus X-1, and apply this model to each epoch independently. We find excellent consistency for the black hole spin and the iron abundance of the accretion disk, which are expected to remain constant on observational timescales. In particular, we confirm that Cygnus X-1 hosts a rapidly rotating black hole, 0.93 < approx. a* < approx. 0.96, in broad agreement with the majority of prior studies of the relativistic disk reflection and constraints on the spin obtained through studies of the thermal accretion disk continuum. Our work also confirms the apparent misalignment between the inner disk and the orbital plane of the binary system reported previously, finding the magnitude of this warp to be approx.10deg-15deg. This level of misalignment does not significantly change (and may even improve) the agreement between our reflection results and the thermal continuum results regarding the black hole spin. The spectral variability observed by NuSTAR is dominated by the primary continuum, implying variability in the temperature of the scattering electron plasma. Finally, we consistently observe absorption from ionized iron at approx. 6.7 keV, which varies in strength as a function of orbital phase in a manner consistent with the absorbing material being an ionized phase of the focused stellar wind from the supergiant companion star.
Motivated by the problem of Mach number and temperature discontinuity mismatch between the tailpipe and the surrounding medium, and the effect of this flow mismatch on aircraft engine noise, the radiation of spinning turbo-acoustic modes from a round duct is investigated. The model, based on a plug flow exhaust jet, solves the convected wave equations using Fourier transforms, inversion being accomplished via a coupled Wiener-Hopf and Carrier-Koiter technique. It is concluded that the Mach number discontinuity results in a conflict between convection and refraction effects, while the temperature mismatch results in a sharp beaming of sound off to the side.
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) was spin-stabilized during its cruise to Mars. We discuss the effects of spin on the radiometric data and how the orbit determination team dealt with them. Additionally, we will discuss the unplanned benefits of detailed spin modeling including attitude estimation and spacecraft clock correlation.
Knowledge of the temperature distribution within comet nuclei is critical to the understanding of the state and behavior of comets. The present study is concerned with the temperature profile below the surface of the nucleus and below any dust mantle which may be present. With respect to the physics, the considered model is in some respects similar to that discussed by Weissman and Kiefer (1981, 1984). However, the new model is improved in various respects. It represents the first attempt to investigate directly the detailed nature of thermal profiles within a comet nucleus. Included in the investigation are calculations which consider the effects of variations in latitude, nucleus spin axis orientation, surface albedo, and thermal emissivity. It is shown that the application of the model, together with in situ measurements of temperatures within a cometary nucleus, could significantly constrain the range of possible subsurface physical properties.
An improved understanding of the phenomena of importance to directional solidification is attempted to enable explanation and prediction of differences in behavior between solidification on Earth and in space. Emphasis is now on experimentally determining the influence of convection and freezing rate fluctuations on compositional homogeneity and crystalline perfection. A correlation is sought between heater temperature profiles, buoyancy-driven convection, and doping inhomogeneities using naphthalene doped with anthracene. The influence of spin-up/spin-down is determined on compositional homogeneity and microstructure of indium gallium antimonide. The effect is determined of imposed melting - freezing cycles on indium gallium antimonide. The mechanism behind the increase of grain size caused by using spin-up/spin-down in directional solidification of mercury cadimum telluride is sought.
In this paper we report on two related topics: Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of the steady state growth of rod eutectics from the melt, and a study of the surface roughness of binary alloys. We have implemented a three dimensional kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulation with diffusion by pair exchange only in the liquid phase. Entropies of fusion are first chosen to fit the surface roughness of the pure materials, and the bond energies are derived from the equilibrium phase diagram, by treating the solid and liquid as regular and ideal solutions respectively. A simple cubic lattice oriented in the {100} direction is used. Growth of the rods is initiated from columns of pure B material embedded in an A matrix, arranged in a close packed array with semi-periodic boundary conditions. The simulation cells typically have dimensions of 50 by 87 by 200 unit cells. Steady state growth is compliant with the Jackson-Hunt model. In the kMC simulations, using the spin-one Ising model, growth of each phase is faceted or nonfaceted phases depending on the entropy of fusion. There have been many studies of the surface roughening transition in single component systems, but none for binary alloy systems. The location of the surface roughening transition for the phases of a eutectic alloy determines whether the eutectic morphology will be regular or irregular. We have conducted a study of surface roughness on the spin-one Ising Model with diffusion using kMC. The surface roughness was found to scale with the melting temperature of the alloy as given by the liquidus line on the equilibrium phase diagram. The density of missing lateral bonds at the surface was used as a measure of surface roughness.
A second surface mirror type coating, vapor deposited silver on FEP Teflon, was used as a thermal control surface for one of the experiments aboard the Imp-I spacecraft. This coating was selected to obtain the low operating temperature required for this experiment. Initial flight temperature of this thermal control surface was -70.5 C, very close to the predicted value of -73 C and at a very satisfactory level. Since temperatures within the spacecraft interior are not at this desired low level, the detectors had to be mounted exterior to the spacecraft with a good view of space, preferably in an area shaded from sunlight. When this latter preference proved unobtainable, the detectors were mounted on an aluminum plate located on the exterior of the spacecraft, parallel to the spin axis but rotating about the solar vector. The mounting plate was approximately 6.5 inches by 7.5 inches by 0.125 inches thick. To achieve the desired temperature level with the mounting plate in such a location, the thermal design had to minimize not only the effects of the relatively warm spacecraft environment but also the effects of the incident solar energy.
Mechanical properties of an iron-based alloy containing (by wt pct) 33Ni, 2Al, 6Ti, and 2B (resulting in an alloy containing 10 vol pct TiB2) were evaluated by hardness and tensile testing. The alloy was cast as a ribbon using a dual 'free-jet' variation of Jech et al. (1984) method of chill-block melt-spinning against a copper wheel; to simulate thermal cycles the alloy ribbon would experience during compaction into shapes, various segments of the ribbon were annealed under a vacuum at temperatures ranging from 500 to 1150 C. The results show that maximum strengths at 650 and 760 C were developed in ribbons annealed at 1100 C; in these ribbons an optimal combination of grain coarsening with minimum TiB2 particle growth was observed. However, the elevated-temperature strength of the TiB2-strengthened alloy under optimal annealing conditions was poorer than that of conventional iron-based superalloys strengthened by gamma-prime precipitates.
The paper discusses the Pioneer Venus infrared radiometer design and operation. Its main function is to measure the thermal emission from the atmosphere at seven pressure levels above the Venus clouds, allowing a determination of the vertical temperature structure. In addition to the temperature sounding channels, there are two channels operating in the visible and near infrared to study the structure of the upper clouds, and a far infrared channel sensitive to water vapor in and above the clouds. The instrument can operate in four modes including a calibration sequence; by utilizing the spinning action of the spacecraft and short integration times, a substantial portion of the planet can be mapped within a 90 min data taking period centered about periapsis time. Temperature profiles retrieved during the course of the mission will clarify the dynamical processes in the upper atmosphere.
The nearby exoplanet Proxima Centauri b will be a prime future target for characterization, despite questions about its retention of water. Climate models with static oceans suggest that Proxima b could harbor a small dayside surface ocean despite its weak instellation. We present the first climate simulations of Proxima b with a dynamic ocean. We find that an ocean-covered Proxima b could have a much broader area of surface liquid water but at much colder temperatures than previously suggested, due to ocean heat transport and/or depression of the freezing point by salinity. Elevated greenhouse gas concentrations do not necessarily produce more open ocean because of dynamic regime transitions between a state with an equatorial Rossby-Kelvin wave pattern and a state with a day-night circulation. For an evolutionary path leading to a highly saline ocean, Proxima b could be an inhabited, mostly open ocean planet with halophilic life. A fresh water ocean produces a smaller liquid region than does an Earth salinity ocean. An ocean planet in 3:2 spin-orbit resonance has a permanent tropical waterbelt for moderate eccentricity. A larger vs. smaller area of surface liquid water for similar equilibrium temperature may be distinguishable using the amplitude of the thermal phase curve. Simulations of Proxima Centauri b may be a model for the habitability of weakly irradiated planets orbiting slightly cooler or warmer stars, e.g., in the TRAPPIST-1, LHS 1140, GJ 273, and GJ 3293 systems.
Elastohydrodynamic (EHD) film thicknesses have been measured, by means of an X-ray technique, under conditions that closely simulate the ball-race contact in advanced turbine engine thrust bearings. The experiments were conducted with a rolling-disk machine using disks which yield a contact zone similar to that in the actual bearing. Both the rolling and spinning motions of the ball relative to the race were simulated by the apparatus. Four lubricants were evaluated at temperatures to 600 F and maximum Hertz stresses to 350,000 psi. The X-ray film thickness data correlated well with observations of surface distress (or lack thereof) in full-scale bearing tests with the same lubricants under similar conditions of temperature and load. The predicted variation of film thickness with speed and viscosity as verified, although the magnitude of measured film thickness was generally one-half to one-third of predicted values. An effect of stress greater than predicted was consistently observed in the higher stress range.