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At least 343 records · Page 19

Resilience in an Evolving Electrical Grid

Fundamental shifts in the structure and generation profile of electrical grids are occurring amidst increased demand for resilience. These two simultaneous trends create the need for new planning and operational practices for modern grids that account for the compounding uncertainties inherent in both resilience assessment and increasing contribution of variable inverter-based renewable energy sources. This work reviews the research work addressing the changing generation profile, state-of-the-art practices to address resilience, and research works at the intersection of these two topics in regards to electrical grids. The contribution of this work is to highlight the ongoing research in power system resilience and integration of variable inverter-based renewable energy sources in electrical grids, and to identify areas of current and further study at this intersection. Areas of research identified at this intersection include cyber-physical analysis of solar, wind, and distributed energy resources, microgrids, network evolution and observability, substation automation and self-healing, and probabilistic planning and operation methods.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Observation of a slow-mode shock in the dayside magnetopause reconnection layer

Plasma and magnetic field data from the International Sun Earth Explorer (ISEE) 2 spacecraft recorded on 29 Oct 1979 provide evidence for a slow shock (SS) in the reconnection layer of the dayside magnetopause. This layer is bounded on the magnetosheath side by the SS and on the magnetospheric side by a rotational discontinuity (RD). The direction of the accelerated plasma flow, the earthward sense of the normal magnetic field across both discontinuities, and the relative orientation of the SS and the RD all indicate that the reconnection site was located south of the spacecraft. Examination of the substantial pressure anisotropy downstream of the SS explains two unusual properties of the shock: (1) the slow-mode and intermediate-mode phase speeds are inverted downstream of the SS such that the RD propagates behind the SS rather than ahead of it; (2) the magnetic wave polarization reserves such that the SS initially displays a left-handed polarization and then switches to a right-handed polarization inside the shock structure.

Walthour, D. W.↗

FAST Observations of Acceleration Processes in the Cusp--Evidence for Parallel Electric Fields

The existence of precipitating keV ions in the Earth's cusp originating at the magnetosheath provide unique means to test our understanding of particle acceleration and parallel electric fields in the lower altitude acceleration region. On numerous occasions, the FAST (The Fast Auroral Snapshot) spacecraft has encountered the Earth's cusp regions near its apogee of 4175 km which are characterized by their signatures of dispersed keV ion injections. The FAST instruments also reveal a complex microphysics inherent to many, but not all, of the cusp regions encountered by the spacecraft, that include upgoing ion beams and conics, inverted-V electrons, upgoing electron beams, and spikey DC-coupled electric fields and plasma waves. Detailed inspection of the FAST data often show clear modulation of the precipitating magnetosheath ions that indicate that they are affected by local electric potentials. For example, the magnetosheath ion precipitation is sometimes abruptly shut off precisely in regions where downgoing localized inverted-V electrons are observed. Such observations support the existence of a localized process, such as parallel electric fields, above the spacecraft which accelerate the electrons downward and consequently impede the precipitating ion precipitation. Other acceleration events in the cusp are sometimes organized with an apparent cellular structure that suggests Alfven waves or other large-scale phenomena are controlling the localized potentials. We examine several cusp encounters by the FAST satellite where the modulation of energetic session on acceleration particle populations reveals evidence of localized acceleration, most likely by parallel electric fields.

Pfaff, R. F.. Jr.↗

Geomorphic processes in the Argyre-Dorsa Argentea region of Mars

Among many indications of possible ancient Martian galciation are sinuous eskerlike ridges in southern Argyre Planitia and the Dorsa Argentea region. But, in photogeology, other interpretations are always possible, and what appears eskerlike to one set of eyes may appear quite different to another. Interpretations of these ridges are about as numerous as observers, who collectively have suggested nine distinct hypotheses. Martian sinuous ridges have been interpreted as wrinkle ridges, lava flows, igneous dikes, clastic dikes, linear sand dunes, spits or bars, examples of inverted stream topography, or glacial crevasse fill. With Mars Observer en route to Mars, the prospects for a narrowing of the debate are bright. The esker hypothesis will gain support if Mars Observer images show that the ridges contain boulders, that the ridges are layered and contain channel structures, that the ridges are modified by thermokarst, or that the ridges occur in close, logical associations with other glacial landforms such as flutes, oriented grooves, and moraines. In the meantime, the evidence presented below bolsters the esker hypothesis, challenges certain alternative ideas, and draws a tentative geomorphic connection between the sinuous ridges of Argyre and those of Dorsa Argentea.

Kargel, J. S.↗

Realistic Thermographic Simulation of Impact Damage with Quadrupole Method

Flash thermography has been shown to be an effective method for detection of delaminations in carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite structures. Improved understanding of thelimitations of the technique can be obtained by simulating the inspection process. Time domainfinite difference and finite element methods are well suited for such simulations but can be computationally intensive. An alternate method is to solve the Laplace transform of the heat equation, then invert the Laplace transform to produce a time domain response. Often this is referred to as the thermal quadrupole method and is well suited for simulating flash thermography. The quadrupole method has been used extensively for simulating one-dimensional heat flow in multilayer systems with contact resistances at the interfaces. It is also applicable for three dimensional configurations, in particular for simulation of changes in thermographic response due to delaminations in composites. This presentation discusses three-dimensional simulations with realistic shapes and contact resistances at the interfaces between layers. The results of these simulations are compared to thermography measurements on composites specimens with impact induced delaminations.

Thermography↗

Flexural fatigue life prediction of closed hat-section using materially nonlinear axial fatigue characteristics

Straight or curved hat-section members are often used as structural stiffeners in aircraft. For instance, they are employed as stiffeners for the dorsal skin as well as in the aerial refueling adjacent area structure in F-106 aircraft. The flanges of the hat-section are connected to the aircraft skin. Thus, the portion of the skin closing the hat-section interacts with the section itself when resisting the stresses due to service loads. The flexural fatigue life of such a closed section is estimated using materially nonlinear axial fatigue characteristics. It should be recognized that when a structural shape is subjected to bending, the fatigue life at the neutral axis is infinity since the normal stresses are zero at that location. Conversely, the fatigue life at the extreme fibers where the normal bending stresses are maximum can be expected to be finite. Thus, different fatigue life estimates can be visualized at various distances from the neural axis. The problem becomes compounded further when significant portions away from the neutral axis are stressed into plastic range. A theoretical analysis of the closed hat-section subjected to flexural cyclic loading is first conducted. The axial fatigue characteristics together with the related axial fatigue life formula and its inverted form given by Manson and Muralidharan are adopted for an aluminum alloy used in aircraft construction. A closed-form expression for predicting the flexural fatigue life is then derived for the closed hat-section including materially nonlinear action. A computer program is written to conduct a study of the variables such as the thicknesses of the hat-section and the skin, and the type of alloy used. The study has provided a fundamental understanding of the flexural fatigue life characteristics of a practical structural component used in aircraft when materially nonlinear action is present.

Razzaq, Zia↗

Black hole induced false vacuum decay from first principles

We provide a method to calculate the rate of false vacuum decay induced by a black hole. The method uses complex tunneling solutions and consistently takes into account the structure of different quantum vacua in the black hole metric via boundary conditions. The latter are connected to the asymptotic behavior of the time-ordered Green’s function in the corresponding vacua. We illustrate the technique on a two-dimensional toy model of a scalar field with inverted Liouville potential in an external background of a dilaton black hole. We analytically derive the exponential suppression of tunneling from the Boulware, Hartle-Hawking and Unruh vacua and show that they are parametrically different. The Unruh vacuum decay rate is exponentially smaller than the decay rate of the Hartle-Hawking state, though both rates become unsuppressed at high enough black hole temperature. We interpret the vanishing suppression of the Unruh vacuum decay at high temperature as an artifact of the two-dimensional model and discuss why this result can be modified in the realistic case of black holes in four dimensions.

2D Gravity↗

Estimates of the zonal slope and seasonal transport of the Atlantic North Equatorial Countercurrent

Data from six inverted echo sounder moorings and the Geosat satellite altimeter are used to examine the seasonal variability of sea surface elevation. Monthly sea level maps are constructed using a contemporaneous subsurface temperature survey to provide a reference sea level field. The maps are then used to describe the origin and structure of the western tropical Atlantic North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) during a two-year period beginning in November 1987. The data reveal a zonal current which is confined between 3 deg N and 9 deg N with a typical width of 300 km. The NECC flows strongly eastward during November and December 1986 and May 1987 through January 1988. The reappearance of the current is then delayed until August, but the current flows strongly from August until the end of the record in October 1988. Volume transport is estimated for the two-year period from surface elevation by approximating the vertical structure of the ocean as a two-layer fluid. It is found that the NECC has a maximum transport of 40 x 10 to the 6th cu m/s at 38 deg W.

Carton, James A.↗

Self-learning fuzzy controllers based on temporal back propagation

This paper presents a generalized control strategy that enhances fuzzy controllers with self-learning capability for achieving prescribed control objectives in a near-optimal manner. This methodology, termed temporal back propagation, is model-insensitive in the sense that it can deal with plants that can be represented in a piecewise-differentiable format, such as difference equations, neural networks, GMDH structures, and fuzzy models. Regardless of the numbers of inputs and outputs of the plants under consideration, the proposed approach can either refine the fuzzy if-then rules if human experts, or automatically derive the fuzzy if-then rules obtained from human experts are not available. The inverted pendulum system is employed as a test-bed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme and the robustness of the acquired fuzzy controller.

Jang, Jyh-Shing R.↗

Stochastic estimation of organized turbulent structure - Homogeneous shear flow

A generalization of the conditional-eddy concept is proposed in which the conditional event specifies the local kinematic state in terms of the velocity and the deformation. Results are presented for stochastically estimated conditional eddies given the local kinematics. The equation governing the probability density function of a kinematic state has been derived for constant-property incompressible flow, providing a link between coherent flow structures corresponding to the conditional eddies and the modelling of turbulent transport. The primary contributions to the second-quadrant and fourth-quadrant Reynolds-stress events in homogeneous shear flow are shown to come from flow induced through the 'legs' and close to the 'heads' of upright and inverted 'hairpins', respectively.

Adrian, Ronald J.↗

Realistic Thermographic Simulation of Impact Damage with Quadrupole Method

Flash thermography has been shown to be an effective method for detection of delaminations in carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite structures. Improved understanding of the limitations of the technique can be obtained by simulating the inspection process. Time domain finite difference and finite element methods are well suited for such simulations but can be computationally intensive. An alternate method is to solve the Laplace transform of the heat equation, then invert the Laplace transform to produce a time domain response. Often this is referred to as the thermal quadrupole method and is well suited for simulating flash thermography. The quadrupole method has been used extensively for simulating one-dimensional heat flow in multilayer systems with contact resistances at the interfaces. It is also applicable for three dimensional configurations, in particular for simulation of changes in thermographic response due to delaminations in composites. This presentation discusses three-dimensional simulations with realistic shapes and contact resistances at the interfaces between layers. The results of these simulations are compared to thermography measurements on composites specimens with impact induced delaminations.

thermography↗

Mott insulators with boundary zeros

The topological classification of electronic band structures is based on symmetry properties of Bloch eigenstates of single-particle Hamiltonians. In parallel, topological field theory has opened the doors to the formulation and characterization of non-trivial phases of matter driven by strong electron-electron interaction. Even though important examples of topological Mott insulators have been constructed, the relevance of the underlying non-interacting band topology to the physics of the Mott phase has remained unexplored. Here, we show that the momentum structure of the Green’s function zeros defining the “Luttinger surface" provides a topological characterization of the Mott phase related, in the simplest description, to the one of the single-particle electronic dispersion. Considerations on the zeros lead to the prediction of new phenomena: a topological Mott insulator with an inverted gap for the bulk zeros must possess gapless zeros at the boundary, which behave as a form of “topological antimatter” annihilating conventional edge states. Placing band and Mott topological insulators in contact produces distinctive observable signatures at the interface, revealing the otherwise spectroscopically elusive Green’s function zeros.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Mapping out the emergence of topological features in the highly alloyed topological Kondo insulators Sm 1-$x$ M $x$ B 6 ( M =Eu, Ce)

SmB 6 is a strongly correlated material that has been attributed as a topological insulator and a Kondo insulator. Recent studies have found the topological surface states and low temperature insulating character to be profoundly robust against magnetic and nonmagnetic impurities. Here, we use angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy to chart the evolution of topologically linked electronic structure features versus magnetic doping and temperature in Sm 1-$x$ M $x$ B 6 ( M =Eu, Ce). Topological coherence phenomena are observed out to ~30% Eu and 50% Ce concentrations that represent extreme nominal hole and electron doping, respectively. Finally, theoretical analysis reveals that a recent redesignation of the topologically inverted band symmetries provides a natural route to reconciling the persistence of topological surface state emergence even as the insulating gap is lost through decoherence.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Quasielastic least-squares reverse time migration of PS reflections

Conventional analysis of amplitude variation with offset for elastic PS reflections is based on analytical reflection coefficients in a layered medium, and wave-equation-based PS migration is mainly used to produce a structural image. To overcome this problem, we have developed a least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) method for elastic PS reflections based on a quasielastic wave equation. Here, the quasielastic wave equation can accurately model PS reflections with elastic amplitudes under the first-order Born approximation. Our LSRTM method inverts for perturbations of the S-wave velocity and density by minimizing the L 2 norm of the difference between recorded and predicted PS reflections modeled using a quasielastic wave equation. We refer to our new method as quasielastic LSRTM of PS reflections. Numerical tests on synthetic and field data indicate that our method can properly handle the amplitudes of elastic PS reflections and provides an accurate estimate of the perturbations of S-wave velocity and density. Extending the method to the 3D case is not straightforward and might require incorporating certain PS data processing techniques into the inversion itself.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

A complementary DMOS-VMOS IC structure

A new complementary MOS structure has been fabricated consisting of a p-channel DMOS transistor and an n-channel double-diffused VMOS transistor. The transconductance of each transistor was between 0.85-0.98 of the theoretical transconductance. The threshold voltages have been adjusted by either ion implantation or by adjusting the diffusion profiles. The inverter operation is similar to that of standard CMOS.

Jhabvala, M.↗

Effects of buoyancy on gas jet diffusion flames - Experiment and theory

Theoretical and experimental research on the effects of buoyancy on gas-jet diffusion flames is described. Part of this research involves an assessment of existing data obtained under reduced-gravity conditions. The results show that uncertainties in the current understanding of flame structure exist and further research is required before reliable predictions of ignition, stabilization, and propagation of flames under microgravity conditions can be made. Steady-state and transient theories have been developed and used in the analysis of existing drop-tower data and new data obtained from a stationary experiment involving inverted flames. The result of this research has led to the definition of a microgravity experiment to be performed in space.

Edelman, R. B.↗

A DFT Comparison of C–C Reductive Coupling from Terminal Cyanido and Cyaphido Complexes of Nickel

The density functional theory study of the thermal C–C reductive coupling from terminal cyanido and hypothetical cyaphido complexes of [Ni(dmpe)] (dmpe = 1,2-bis(dimethylphosphino)ethane) revealed the key reaction intermediate in the reductive C–CP coupling being a σ-CC complex unlike an η 2 -aryl complex in the Ni C–CN system, as already observed in our previous studies. The reaction in THF is endothermic by 4.9 kcal/mol for cyanido with a 32.0 kcal/mol activation barrier and exothermic by 28.5 kcal/mol for cyaphido with an 11.3 kcal/mol activation barrier. To compare our results with the existing experimental data, we chose mesityl as the aryl group and also studied the CP reaction with [Pt(dmpe)] and [Pt(dmpm)] (dmpe = 1,2-bis(dimethylphosphino)methane) fragments. Our findings are consistent with the thermodynamically uphill photolytic C–CP bond activation in phosphaalkynes with Pt and a faster thermal back-reaction with [Pt(dmpe)] compared to that of [Pt(dmpm)]. Furthermore, based on the natural population analysis, when the polarity of the C–C bond is inverted, the sign of ΔG° is also inverted.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Adjoint Waveform Tomography for Crustal and Upper Mantle Structure of the Middle East and Southwest Asia for Improved Waveform Simulations Using Openly Available Broadband Data

Here we present a new model of radially anisotropic seismic wavespeeds for the crust and upper mantle of a broad region of the Middle East and Southwest Asia (MESWA) derived from adjoint waveform tomography. The new model enables fully 3D simulations of complete three-component waveforms and provides improved fits that were not possible with previous models. We inverted over 32,000 waveforms from 192 earthquakes recorded by over 1000 openly available broadband seismic stations from permanent and temporary networks in the region with highly uneven coverage. Inversion iterations proceeded from the period band 50–100 s in six stages and 54 total iterations reducing the minimum period to 30 s. Our final model, MESWA, improves waveform fits compared to the starting and other models for both the data used in the inversion and an independent validation set of 66 events. Restitution tests indicate that the model resolves features in the central part of the model to depths of about 150 km. The new model reveals tectonic features imaged by other studies and methods but in a new holistic model of anisotropic shear and compressional wavespeeds (V S and V P , respectively) covering a larger domain with smaller scale length and amplified features. Examples include low crustal V S in the Tethyan belt and low mantle VS following divergent (Gulf of Aden, Red Sea) and transform (Dead Sea fault) margins of the Arabian plate. Low V S is imaged below Cenozoic volcanic centers of the Mecca–Madina–Nafud Line, Arabian Peninsula, and the Türkiye–Iran border region. Elevated V S tracks Makran subduction under southeast Iran with near vertical dip. MESWA could be used as a starting model for further improvements, say, using waveforms from in-country seismic networks that are not currently openly available and/or smaller-scale studies targeting a shorter period. The model could be used to improve earthquake hazard studies and nuclear explosion monitoring.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗