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Composition and composition inhomogeneity effects on plated wire memory elements strain sensitivity, considering tension and torsion sensitivities
Examining the problem of noise pollution from the psychological rather than the engineering view, a test of human sensitivity to noise was developed against the criterion of noise annoyance. Test development evolved from a previous study in which biographical, attitudinal, and personality data was collected on a sample of 166 subjects drawn from the adult community of Raleigh. Analysis revealed that only a small subset of the data collected was predictive of noise annoyance. Item analysis yielded 74 predictive items that composed the preliminary noise sensitivity test. This was administered to a sample of 80 adults who later rate the annoyance value of six sounds (equated in terms of peak sound pressure level) presented in a simulated home, living-room environment. A predictive model involving 20 test items was developed using multiple regression techniques, and an item weighting scheme was evaluated.
A leak detection system has been developed, consisting of a tape that can be wrapped around possible leak sites on a system pressurized with air or gaseous nitrogen. Carbon monoxide, at a level of 100 to 1000 parts per million is used as a trace gas in the pressurized system. The sensitive element of the tape is palladium chloride supported on specially prepared silica gel and specially dried. At a CO level of 100 ppm and a leak rate of 10-20 ml/hr, discoloration of the sensitive element is observed in 1.5 to 3 min. The tape and trace gas are compatible with aerospace hardware, safe to handle, and economically reasonable to produce and handle.
Details are given for the deposition of silver onto FEP for a batch coater capable of handling 864 square inches at a time. The effectiveness of the glow discharge is shown to be optimum when the FEP faces the anode. Using solid state theory based upon the work function difference, and the heuristic assumption that the surface of FEP is populated with fluoride ions, it is argued that an anode sensitized surface develops states receptive to electron transfer from silver, whereas a cathode sensitized surface is polarized only, and as a result cannot permanently trap charge. Thermodynamic arguments given show that an order of magnitude of 10 to the 9th power electrons are transferred into states to a depth of 10 nm.
A method is presented for designing optimal feedback controllers for systems having subsystem sensitivity constraints. Such constraints reflect the presence of subsystem performance indices which are in conflict with the performance index of the overall system. The key to the approach is the use of relative performance index sensitivity (a measure of the deviation of a performance index from its optimum value). The weighted sum of subsystem and/or operational mode relative performance index sensitivies is defined as an overall performance index. A method is developed to handle linear systems with quadratic performance indices and either full or partial state feedback. The usefulness of this method is demonstrated by applying it to the design of a stability augmentation system (SAS) for a VTOL aircraft. A desirable VTOL SAS design is one that produces good VTOL transient response both with and without active pilot control. The system designed using this method is shown to effect a satisfactory compromise solution to this problem.
Description of a detector which is sensitive to the ultraviolet molecular emissions of flames and has been selected as the basic element of the NASA Skylab fire-detection system. This detector is sensitive to approximately 10 to the minus 12th watts of ultraviolet radiation and will detect small flames at distances in excess of three meters. Its response to a variety of burning spacecraft materials has been investigated both in one-gravity and zero-gravity. The results of experiments conducted in an aircraft flying zero-gravity parabolas in an attempt to simulate the characteristics of a fire which the detector must sense are cited.
Sensitivity of gage for one gas can be correlated to its sensitivity for other gases by the ratio of gas ionization cross sections. Ionization cross sections which best correlate with gage sensitivites vary according to gage type and ionization cross section energy level.
A description is given of a device for determining a true gravitational vertical. The apparatus is composed of a vertically disposed laser with a gravitationally sensitive lower regeneration reflector. The reflector enables an output beam to be developed only when the optical axis of the laser is disposed normal to the gravitationally sensitive reflective surface. In an alternative embodiment, the devices is combined with a servo system to provide a gravitationally stabilized horizontal platform.
Sensitivity enhancement factors predicted by an analysis of CW ultrasonic resonator systems using the propagating wave model are verified. Absorption and dispersion sensitivity factors were obtained by producing small changes in the acoustic properties of a CdS resonator with a light beam.
Theoretical analysis shows that the amount of slow growth occurring prior to fracture in a plane stress tension specimen subjected to a subcritical stress intensity level is affected by the ductility and rheological sensitivity of the material, the rate of loading, the initial crack size, and the geometrical configuration of the test. These parameters enter the governing nonlinear differential equation which describes the quasi-static crack extension in a rate-sensitive Tresca solid. Examples of numerical integration are given and employed to predict the maximum fracture toughness attained in a plane stress tension test.
The sensitivity of the coupled chemistry/diffusion model's outputs to a wide range of variation of the model's independent variables has been investigated. It is shown that the efficiency with which the now catalytic cycle destroys ambient O3 is extremely sensitive to the amount of NO emitted and to the relative rates of turbulent diffusion and chemical reactions. For representative conditions in the stratosphere, a tenfold variation of either the turbulence intensity or the reaction rate constant or the source strength can vary the efficiency from 1% to 50%. If the duration of Phase 3 is a significant fraction of the total residence time of the plume, then these efficiency variations can alter O3 depletion rates by more than a factor of two. These results, therefore, point toward those variables which must be accurately defined or measured if one is to adequately predict the effect of SST operations on the ambient inventory of O3 in the lower stratosphere.
Sensitivity data for advanced technology transports has been systematically collected. This data has been generated in two separate studies. In the first of these, three nominal, or base point, vehicles designed to cruise at Mach numbers .85, .93, and .98, respectively, were defined. The effects on performance and economics of perturbations to basic parameters in the areas of structures, aerodynamics, and propulsion were then determined. In all cases, aircraft were sized to meet the same payload and range as the nominals. This sensitivity data may be used to assess the relative effects of technology changes. The second study was an assessment of the effect of cruise Mach number. Three families of aircraft were investigated in the Mach number range 0.70 to 0.98: straight wing aircraft from 0.70 to 0.80; sweptwing, non-area ruled aircraft from 0.80 to 0.95; and area ruled aircraft from 0.90 to 0.98. At each Mach number, the values of wing loading, aspect ratio, and bypass ratio which resulted in minimum gross takeoff weight were used. As part of the Mach number study, an assessment of the effect of increased fuel costs was made.
A simple, reliable and inexpensive control circuit is described for rapidly reducing the bias voltage across one or more of the dynode stages of a photomultiplier, to substantially decrease its sensitivity to incoming light at those times where excess light intensity might damage the tube. The control circuit comprises a switching device, such as a silicon controlled rectifier (SCR), coupled between a pair of the electrodes in the tube, preferably the cathode and first dynode, or the first and second dynodes, the switching device operating in response to a trigger pulse applied to its gate to short circuit the two electrodes. To insure the desired reduction in sensitivity, two switching stages, the devices be employed between two of the electrode stages, the devices being operated simultaneously to short circuit both stages.
Time dependent notch sensitivity was observed in Udimet 700 sheet, bar, and investment castings between 1000 and 1400 F (538 -760 C), but not at 1600 F (871 C). As was the case for modified Waspaloy, Waspaloy and Inconel 718, it occurred in notched specimens loaded below the yield strength when the creep deformation was localized. For each alloy and notched specimen geometry, a stress-average particle size zone can be defined that characterizes the notch sensitive behavior.
A quantitative analysis of a large and representative sample of available data has been made to determine the best criteria for predicting the relative sensitivities of ionization-type vacuum gauges to different gases. The molecular property of the gas that correlates best with relative sensitivity is the ionization cross section (eV). For high-pressure ionization gauges, a cross section evaluated at 2/3 of the accelerating potential of the gauge is the best choice. For Bayard-Alpert and triode gauges, any of three choices are of approximately equal value. These are 100 eV cross section values, maximum cross section value for each gas, and a cross section evaluated at 2/3 of the accelerating potential for each gauge. For the Alphatron gauge, cross section values in the range 5000-10,000 eV provide the best correlation.
The sensitivity of crystals of LiTaO3 to hologram formation was observed to vary with impurity concentration from a value comparable to the most sensitive doped LiNbO3 for an impure crystal to a value more than five orders of magnitude smaller for a purer crystal. Fatigue effects were observed upon write-erase cycling. These effects were dependent upon writing and erasure polarization and power and could be virtually eliminated by proper choice of optical parameters.
A discussion and an evaluation of the degradation in sensitivity is given for a heterodyne spectrometer employing a HgCdTe photodiode mixer and tunable diode lasers. The minimum detectable source brightness is considered as a function of the mixer parameters, transmission coefficient of the beam splitter, and local oscillator emission powers. The degradation in the minimum detectable line source brightness which results from the bandwidth being a function of the line width is evaluated and plotted as a function of the wavelength and bandwidth for various temperature to mass ratios. It is shown that the minimum achievable degradation in the sensitivity of a practical astronomical heterodyne spectrometer is approximately 30. Estimates of signal-to-noise ratios with which infrared line emission from astronomical sources of interest may be detected are given.
A method is presented for the design of optimal feedback controllers for large multivariable systems with subsystem sensitivity constraints. The weighted sum of subsystem and/or operational mode relative performance index sensitivities is defined as the overall performance index. The method is developed for linear systems with quadratic performance criteria and either full or partial state feedback. An example concerning the design of a stability augmentation system for a VTOL aircraft in the transition mode demonstrates the effectiveness of the design method.