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The authors present a theoretical study of the convergence of the C-H bond dissociation energy (D sub o) of acetylene with respect to both the one- and n-particle spaces. Their best estimate for D sub o of 130.1 plus or minus 1.0 kcal/mole is slightly below previous theoretical estimates, but substantially above the value determined using Stark anticrossing spectroscopy that is asserted to be an upper bound.
A systematic study is made of the unsteady interactions between a rotor and a body in order to assess the degree of sophistication necessary to accurately predict the unsteady pressure signatures on a helicopter fuselage due to the rotor and its wake. Experimental measurements and theoretical calculations were both made in order to clarify the nature of the unsteady interactions and to define the limitations of potential flow theory in modeling the various phenomena. An attempt is made to accurately model the geometry of vortex/surface interactions as well as to include the appropriate unsteady terms in the analysis. Unsteady pressure measurements from a series of wind tunnel experiments are also provided. Such data has allowed new conlusions on the nature of body pressure signatures which are due to blade passage effects, close wake interactions, and wake inmpingement on the fuselage. It is also concluded that the flowfield about the body is highly unsteady and cannot be modeled without the inclusion of the unsteady terms in the calculation of the local surface pressures and that theoretical modeling is still possible over most of the flow field using an unsteady inviscid analysis.
Results are reported from ab initio theoretical calculations of the structure and energetics of tetrahedral N4. The theoretical basis and implementation of the computations are reviewed, and the results are presented in tables. It is found that a tetrahedral N4 molecule has energy 186 kcal/mole greater than that of two N2 molecules, with a 61-kcal/mole barrier between the two species. Brief consideration is given to the possible use of N4 (should a process for synthesizing it be developed) as a high-energy-density fuel for supersonic transport aircraft.
A theoretical study of the convergence of the C-H bond dissociation energy D(0) in C2H with respect to both the one- and n-particle spaces is presented. The calculated C-H bond energies of C2H2 and C2H4, which are in excellent agreement with experiment, are used for calibration. The best estimate for D(0) of 112.4 + or - 2.0 kcal/mol is slightly below the recent experimental value of 116.3 + or - 2.6 kcal/mol, but substantially above a previous theoretical estimate of 102 kcal/mol. The remaining discrepancy with experiment may reflect primarily the uncertainty in the experimental D(0) value of C2 required in the analysis.
A scheme for theoretical and experimental evaluation of multivariable system stability robustness measures is described. The experimental scheme is based on the estimation of frequency responses from power-spectra analyses of a set of time responses due to sine-sweep excitation at each input and then computation of the appropriate singular values. The procedure can also be used on an open-loop stable system to predict the closed-loop stability before closing the loop. Classical Nyquist diagrams can also be constructed to determine one-loop-at-a-time gain or phase margins. The scheme has been implemented in a wind tunnel test for singular-value evaluation of digital flutter suppression control laws and compared with theory. The singular values at the plant input and output of the actual system and the theoretical model are qualitatively similar but have some discrepancies.
A theoretical comparison of various low and high order multipliers for 200 GHz and 1 THz has been carried out. Novel diodes including single barrier varactors, barrier-intrinsic-n(+)diodes and high electron mobility varactors are shown to have excellent theoretical performance, comparable or better than the conventional Schottky varactors for single and double diode frequency multipliers at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, whereas quantum well diodes, since they suffer from high resistive losses, are shown to be less attractive. In comparison to the conventional Schottky varactor, these new diodes have some potential advantages in their characteristics such as a stronger nonlinearity or a special symmetry. For future optimization some general comments on these advantages as well as other factors affecting multiplication are given.
A simple control theoretic model of human steering or control activity in the lateral-directional control of vehicles such as automobiles and rotorcraft is discussed. The term 'control theoretic' is used to emphasize the fact that the model is derived from a consideration of well-known control system design principles as opposed to psychological theories regarding egomotion, etc. The model is employed to emphasize the 'closed-loop' nature of tasks involving the visually guided control of vehicles upon, or in close proximity to, the earth and to hypothesize how changes in vehicle dynamics can significantly alter the nature of the visual cues which a human might use in such tasks.
The existing theoretical models are improved and a systematic procedure to compute the free surface flow of a thin liquid film is suggested. The solutions for axisymmetric radial flow on a stationary horizontal disk and for the disk rotating around its axis are presented. The theoretical predictions are compared with the experimental data presented in Part I of this report. The analysis shows results for both supercritical and subcritical flows and the flow structure in the vicinity of a hydraulic jump which isolates these two flow types. The detailed flow structure in a hydraulic jump was computed and shown to contain regions of separation including a 'surface roller'. The effects of surface tension are found to be important near the outer edge of the disk where the fluid experiences a free fall. At other locations, the surface tension is negligible. For a rotating disk, the frictional resistance in the angular direction is found to be as important as that in the radial direction.
A 35 GHz rectenna has been developed with 39 percent conversion efficiency. The rectenna uses a microstrip dipole antenna and a commercially available mixer diode. Over 60 percent conversion efficiency was demonstrated using this diode at 10 GHz. A theoretical analysis was derived to predict the performance of the rectenna. The analysis is a useful tool for device and circuit design. The theoretical and experimental results should have many applications in microwave power transmission and detection.
Research work is proceeding in theoretical, numerical, and experimental geophysical fluid dynamics leading up to a reflight of the GFFC (Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell Experiment) on USML-2. The work is intended not only to generate ideas for future space experiments, but to provide fundamental results concerned with nonlinear and chaotic properties of thermal convection and baroclinic waves in terrestrial and planetary atmospheres. The major efforts are focussed on thermal convection in a rapidly rotating annulus relevant to Jovian atmospheric dynamics, and on the chaotic behavior of baroclinic waves relevant to the Earth's atmosphere. The approach, in preparation for USML-2, is primarily theoretical and numerical. Mechanistic process models are solved numerically in order to identify physical mechanisms that may be observed in the GFFC, and which are important in real geophysical applications. The results from numerical simulations of geophysical fluid flow (subject to rotation and stratification) are compared with previous GFFC experiments on Spacelab-3 and with existing and proposed terrestrial laboratory experiments of various types. Pattern recognition algorithms have been employed to generate low-dimensional descriptions of the highly nonlinear and turbulent numerical simulations. Such empirically truncated descriptions provide for simplified but robust physical interpretations of the dynamics, as well as yielding highly efficient computations of these chaotic flows.
Modifications to condenser microphone theory yield new expressions for the membrane deflections at its center, which provide the basic theory for the fiber optic microphone. The theoretical analysis for the membrane amplitude and the phase response of the fiber optic microphone is given in detail in terms of its basic geometrical quantities. A relevant extension to the original concepts of the optical microphone includes the addition of a backplate with holes similar in design to present condenser microphone technology. This approach generates improved damping characteristics and extended frequency response that were not previously considered. The construction and testing of the improved optical fiber microphone provide experimental data that are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis.
Theoretical binding energies are reported for all first-row and selected second-row transition metal ions (M+) bound to benzene. The calculations employ basis sets of at least double-zeta plus polarization quality and account for electron correlation using the modified coupled-pair functional method. While the bending is predominantly electrostatic, the binding energies are significantly increased by electron correlation, because the donation from the metal d orbitals to the benzene pi* orbitals is not well described at the self-consistent-field level. The uncertainties in the computed binding energies are estimated to be about 5 kcal/mol. Although the calculated and experimental binding energies generally agree to within their combined uncertainties, it is likely that the true binding energies lie in the lower portion of the experimental range. This is supported by the very good agreement between the theoretical and recent experimental binding energies for AgC6H6(+).
The IR vibrational and visible/UV electronic absorption spectra of the anthracene cation, An(+), were studied experimentally, in argon matrices at 12 K, as well as theoretically, using ab initio calculations for the vibrational modes and enhanced semiempirical methods with configuration interaction for the electronic spectra. It was found that both approaches predicted well the observed photoelectron spectrum. The theoretical IR intensities showed some remarkable differences between neutral and ionized species (for example, the CH in-plane bending modes and CC in-plane stretching vibrations were predicted to increase by several orders of magnitude upon ionization). Likewise, estimated experimental IR intensities showed a significant increase in the cation band intensities over the neutrals. The implication of these findings for the hypothesis that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon cations are responsible for the unidentified IR emission bands from interstellar space is discussed.
Theoretical line ratios involving 2s 2S - 3p 2P, 2p 2p - 3s 2S, and 2p 2S - 3d 2D transitions in C IV between 312 and 420 A are presented. A comparison of these with solar active region observational data obtained during a rocket flight by the Solar EUV Rocket Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS) reveals good agreement between theory and experiment, with discrepancies that average only 22 percent. This provides experimental support for the accuracy of the atomic data adopted in the line ratio calculations, and also resolves discrepancies found previously when the theoretical results were compared with solar data from the S082A instrument on board Skylab. The potential usefulness of the C IV line ratios as electron temperature diagnostics for the solar transition region is briefly discussed.
We present new theoretical calculations for the red wing of the Lyman-alpha profile. Close collisions with neutral and ionized hydrogen lead to the formation of the pseudomolecules H-H and H-H(+) with the appearance of satellite features near 1600 and 1400 A. The calculations include multiperturber effects, which are responsible for the formation of H3 and H3 with features near 1950 and 2600 A. The theoretical absorption profiles are included in stellar atmosphere codes and used to predict synthetic spectra for DA white dwarfs of intermediate temperatures (20,000 to 8000 K). These new calculations offer a unique opportunity to determine accurate effective temperatures and surface gravities for the variable ZZ Ceti stars.
Experiments were conducted to verify a theoretical model on the injection efficiency of sources in the cladding of an optical fiber. The theoretical results predicted an increase in the injection efficiency for higher differences in refractive indices between the core and cladding. The experimental apparatus used consisted of a glass rod 50 cm long, coated at one end with a thin film of fluorescent substance. The fluorescent substance was excited with side illumination, perpendicular to the rod axis, using a 476 nm Argon-ion laser. Part of the excited fluorescence was injected into the core and guided to a detector. The signal was measured for several different cladding refractive indices. The cladding consisted of sugar dissolved in water and the refractive index was changed by varying the sugar concentration in the solution. The results indicate that the power injected into the rod, due to evanescent wave injection, increases with the difference in refractive index which is in qualitative agreement with theory.
A theory for the side force, rolling moment, yawing moment, and pressure distribution during yawed landings and planing of seaplanes was developed. For the special case of the straight-sided wedge without chine immersion, the results of the theoretical analysis are presented in the form of generalized curves covering all step landing conditions. Experimental impact and planing data are presented for a prismatic wedge having an angle of dead rise of 22.5 degrees and are shown to be in reasonable agreement with the theoretical predictions.
The experimental deflections and stresses of six plastic multicell-wing models of unswept, delta, and swept plan form are presented and compared with previously published theoretical results obtained by the electrical analog method. The comparisons indicate that the theory is reliable except for the evaluation of stresses in the vicinity of the leading edge of delta wings and the leading and trailing edges of swept wings. The stresses in these regions are questionable, apparently because of simplifications employed in idealizing the actual structure for theoretical purposes and because of local effects of concentrated loads.