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Mechanical shock mitigating device, based on working material to its failure point, absorbs mechanical energy by bending or twisting tubing. It functions under axial or tangential loading, has no rebound, is area independent, and is easy and inexpensive to build.
The relative effectiveness of average-well-color-development-normalized single-point absorbance readings (AWCD) vs the kinetic parameters mu(m), lambda, A, and integral (AREA) of the modified Gompertz equation fit to the color development curve resulting from reduction of a redox sensitive dye from microbial respiration of 95 separate sole carbon sources in microplate wells was compared for a dilution series of rhizosphere samples from hydroponically grown wheat and potato ranging in inoculum densities of 1 x 10(4)-4 x 10(6) cells ml-1. Patterns generated with each parameter were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant function analysis (DFA) to test relative resolving power. Samples of equivalent cell density (undiluted samples) were correctly classified by rhizosphere type for all parameters based on DFA analysis of the first five PC scores. Analysis of undiluted and 1:4 diluted samples resulted in misclassification of at least two of the wheat samples for all parameters except the AWCD normalized (0.50 abs. units) data, and analysis of undiluted, 1:4, and 1:16 diluted samples resulted in misclassification for all parameter types. Ordination of samples along the first principal component (PC) was correlated to inoculum density in analyses performed on all of the kinetic parameters, but no such influence was seen for AWCD-derived results. The carbon sources responsible for classification differed among the variable types with the exception of AREA and A, which were strongly correlated. These results indicate that the use of kinetic parameters for pattern analysis in CLPP may provide some additional information, but only if the influence of inoculum density is carefully considered. c2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
The point transmission matrix for a vertical plane pendulum on a rotating blade undergoing combined flapwise bending, and chordwise bending and torsion is derived. The equilibrium equation of the pendulum is linearized for small oscillations about the steady state. A FORTRAN program was written for the case of a vertical plane pendulum attached to a uniform blade with flapwise bending degree of freedom for cantilever boundary conditions. The frequency has a singular value right at the uncoupled pendulum natural frequency and thus introduces two frequencies corresponding to the nearest natural frequency of the blade without pendulum. In both of these modes it was observed that the pendulum deflection is large. One frequency can be thought of as a coupled pendulum frequency and the other as a coupled bending and pendulum frequency.
An experimental investigation of sixteen different refrigerant-absorbent fluid pairs has been carried out in order to determine their suitability as the working fluid in a solar-powered absorption cycle air conditioner. The criteria used in the initial selection of a refrigerant-absorbent pair included: high affinity (large negative deviation from Raoult's Law), high solubility, low specific heat, low viscosity, stability, corrosive properties, safety, and cost. For practical solar considerations of a fluid pair, refrigerants were selected with low boiling points whereas absorbent fluids were selected with a boiling point considerably above that of the refrigerant. Additional restrictions are determined by the operating temperatures of the absorber and the generator; these temperatures were specified as 100 F (39 C) and 170 F (77 C). Data are presented for a few selected pressures at the specified absorber and generator temperatures.
Biological effects on man in space resulting from galactic and solar cosmic radiation are discussed. Importance of secondary ions which contribute to galactic cosmic radiation hazards is analyzed. Mathematical model to show rate of production of secondary ions of given atomic number at various points in absorber is presented.
The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) instrument on the Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics (ATHENA) is baselined to have 3168 transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeter pixels. These pixels will be DC biased and readout using time division multiplexing. We recently reported a demonstration of the required pixel and readout performance in 252 pixels from a 1 kilo-pixel array (e.g. 2.16 eV resolution for 6.9 keV X-rays). Having achieved the required performance, the 50um square TES design in this demonstration array is considered the baseline pixel design for X-IFU. However, by making small adjustments to the TES design, we may be able to make small but consequential improvements to the instrument performance, while staying within the many constraints of the X-IFU requirements. In this presentation, we will show results from newly fabricated devices with subtle changes from the baseline TES design to further optimize the performance for X-IFU. We will discuss optimizing the TES sheet resistance, normal metal features, X-ray absorber attachment points, TES aspect ratio, and heat capacity. These minor design changes can have significant effects on thermo-electric time constants, thermal fluctuation noise, resistive transition shape and uniformity, and non-linearity of X-ray event pulses. In addition, full characterization of these new TES designs allows greater understanding of the relevant physics within the TES and gives routes for further optimization.
The present invention relates to a cryogenic Joule-Thomson refrigeration capable of pumping multicomponent gases with a single stage sorption compressor system. Alternative methods of pumping a multicomponent gas with a single stage compressor are disclosed. In a first embodiment, the sorbent geometry is such that a void is defined near the output of the sorption compressor. When the sorbent is cooled, the sorbent primarily adsorbs the higher boiling point gas such that the lower boiling point gas passes through the sorbent to occupy the void. When the sorbent is heated, the higher boiling point gas is desorbed at high temperature and pressure and thereafter propels the lower boiling point gas out of the sorption compressor. A mixing chamber is provided to remix the constituent gases prior to expansion of the gas through a Joule-Thomson valve. Other methods of pumping a multicomponent gas are disclosed. For example, where the sorbent is porous and the low boiling point gas does not adsorb very well, the pores of the sorbent will act as a void space for the lower boiling point gas. Alternatively, a mixed sorbent may be used where a first sorbent component physically adsorbs the high boiling point gas and where the second sorbent component chemically absorbs the low boiling point gas.
We study critical point finite-size effects in the case of the susceptibility of a film in which interactions are characterized by a van der Waals-type power law tail. The geometry is appropriate to a slab-like system with two bounding surfaces. Boundary conditions are consistent with surfaces that both prefer the same phase in the low temperature, or broken symmetry, state. We take into account both interactions within the system and interactions between the constituents of the system and the material surrounding it. Specific predictions are made with respect to the behavior of 3He and 4He films in the vicinity of their respective liquid-vapor critical points.
The high spectral resolutions of the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observatories have unveiled the useful diagnostic possibilities of oxygen K absorption. To mention a few, strong O VII and O VIII edges are almost ubiquitous in the spectra of Seyfert 1 galaxies which have been used by Lee et al. (2001) to predict of a warm dust absorber along the line of sight; although this conclusion has been criticized in the light of a data reanalysis (SA0 et al. 2003), Steenbrugge et al. (2003) have detected inner-shell transitions of O III-O VI in the spectrum of NGC 5548 that point to a warm absorber that spans three orders of magnitude in ionization parameter. Moreover, Behar et al. (2003) have stressed that, in the case of both Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies, a broad range of oxygen charge states are usually observed along the line of sight that must be fitted simultaneously, and may imply strong density gradients of 2-4 orders of magnitude over short distances.
The method developed in NASA TN D-319 for studying the atmosphere entry of vehicles with varying aerodynamic forces has been applied to obtain a closed-form solution for the motion, heating, range, and variation of the vehicle parameter m/C(D)A for nonlifting entries during which the rate of increase of deceleration is limited. The solution is applicable to vehicles of arbitrary weight, size, and shape, and to arbitrary atmospheres. Results have been obtained for entries into the earth's atmosphere at escape velocity during which the maximum deceleration and the rate at which deceleration increases were limited. A comparison of these results with those of NASA TN D-319, in which only the maximum deceleration was limited, indicates that for a given corridor depth, limiting the rate of increase of deceleration and the maximum deceleration requires an increase in the magnitude of the change in M/C(D)A and results in increases in maximum heating rate, total heat absorbed at the stagnation point, and range.
It is pointed out that the identity of the chemical species responsible for the yellow coloration of the clouds of Venus and for the dark features which dapple the planet at ultraviolet wavelengths has long been a mystery. Independent pieces of evidence, discovered recently, suggest now that amorphous sulfur is the so-called UV absorber. A review of earlier ideas and controversies is presented, and attention is given to a new physical-chemical model of the Venus clouds which shows that sulfur should form there. A description is provided of physical characteristics of the cloud particles that, in comparison with model predictions, indicate the presence of sulfur. Optical data suggesting that elemental sulfur occurs in the clouds is discussed, and cloud morphological evidence for sulfur is considered.
The longest-lived code for predicting shock layer radiation, NEQAIR, is now in its 5th decade of service. Substantial changes to the code have been made over the previous decade, the most recent report of which was at the 5th Workshop on Radiation in High Temperature Gases in 2014, for the version referred to as NEQAIR14. This paper will review some of the improvements made to the NEQAIR code since then, which is now at v15.2. Some of these features are discussed briefly below. NEQAIR15 and subsequent versions have enabled parallel evaluation of multiple lines of sight. This is accomplished by utilizing the HDF5 file format and placing multiple lines into a single file, LOS.h5, which is used for both input and output. This approach enables straightforward parallel execution both over the number of lines of sight and the number of points per line. For large problems, runtime reduces linearly with the number of nodes deployed since each line is processed independently by a subset of MPI ranks. Three applications of the multi-line solver are discussed. The first has to do with performing loosely coupled radiation-flowfield solutions. In this case the computed absorption and emission coefficients are used to evaluate the total energy absorbed or emitted at each point, allowing evaluation of the volumetric source term in the flowfield. The second computation is for obtaining heat flux from nonuniform flows, which require integration over spherical co-ordinates. These are of particular interest for evaluating radiation on the vehicle backshell. This 3D option improves the angular integration scheme and allows adaptive line selection that together reduce the number of lines required by about an order of magnitude. The final application is for remote observation, which is essentially the 3D integration problem over a small solid angle. For all three of these computations, data can be stored in the HDF5 file which allows a NEQAIR run to be restarted when it times out, or to add atmospheric absorption or instrument scan functions. An additional level of parallelism is enabled in NEQAIR15.2 using GPU routines. The GPU parallelism has realized up to 8x speed-up when running on a single core but diminishes as CPU parallelism is increased. For running multi-line simulations, it may be easier to reserve a large number of CPU nodes than to obtain the number of GPU nodes required for similar performance. A GUI, known as NEQTPY, allows for reading and creating input files, running NEQAIR, and displaying results. A significant feature of NEQTPY is the ability to perform spectral fits to data. The fits can operate on a single line spectrum (radiance vs. wavelength) or a 3D input file with multiple columns of data. Other new features include improved constants, additional species, more detailed non-Boltzmann modelling, advanced user controls, the ability to read and calculate spectra from HITRAN datafiles, photodissociation and photoionization cross-sections. A “fast” automatic grid option may reduce the size and time of spectral calculations while still maintaining good accuracy for total heat flux.
The reaction cycle of bacteriorhodopsin in the purple membrane isolated from Halobacterium halobium has been studied by optical absorption spectroscopy using low-temperature and flash kinetic techniques. After absorption of light, bacteriorhodopsin passes through at least five distinct intermediates. The temperature and pH dependence of the absorbance changes suggests that branch points and/or reversible steps exist in this cycle. Flash spectroscopy in the presence of a pH-indicating dye shows that the transient release of a proton accompanies the photoreaction cycle. The proton release occurs from the exterior and the uptake is on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane, as required by the function of bacteriorhodopsin as a light-driven proton pump. Proton translocating steps connecting release and uptake are indicated by deuterium isotope effects on the kinetics of the cycle. The rapid decay of a light-induced linear dichroism shows that a chromophore orientation change occurs during the reaction cycle.
A numerical study of centerline and off-centerline power deposition at a point upstream of a two-dimensional blunt body at Mach 6.5 at 30 km altitude are presented. The full Navier-Stokes equations are used. Wave drag, lift, and pitching moment are presented as a function of amount of power absorbed in the flow and absorption point location. It is shown that wave drag is considerably reduced. Modifications to the pressure distribution in the flow field due to the injected energy create lift and a pitching moment when the injection is off-centerline. This flow control concept may lead to effective ways to improve the performance and to stabilize and control hypersonic vehicles.
A design for a Mars mission aerobrake with rib-stringer construction coupled with a generic shell using composite materials, which is shown to produce a feasible alternative to propulsive braking, is presented. For the case of a spherical shell subjected to a uniform pressure loading the membrane stress state is isotropic and independent of material properties. The stresses due to bending are significant and dominate only near the attachment points. The addition of meridional stiffeners increased the buckling load and absorbed a large portion of the stresses near the attachment points. The final design employed a high modulus graphite/epoxy composite material. The final weight of the structure when subjected to a 2.0 psi stagnation pressure loading was about 42,000 pounds. This constituted 9 percent of the total spacecraft weight, well below the 15 percent upper limit. It is concluded that aerobraking is a feasible alternative to a propulsive braking system. A rib-stringer shell composition coupled with composite materials is a viable configuration for an aerobrake structure.
Using a modified geostatistical technique, empirical variograms were constructed from the first derivative of several diverse remote sensing reflectance and phytoplankton absorbance spectra to describe how data points are correlated with distance across the spectra. The maximum rate of information gain is measured as a function of the kurtosis associated with the Gaussian structure of the output, and is determined for discrete segments of spectra obtained from a variety of water types (turbid river filaments, coastal waters, shelf waters, a dense Microcystis bloom, and oligotrophic waters), as well as individual and mixed phytoplankton functional types (PFTs; diatoms, chlorophytes, cyanobacteria, coccolithophores). Results show that a continuous spectrum of 5 to 7 nm spectral resolution is optimal to resolve the variability across mixed reflectance and absorbance spectra. In addition, the impact of uncertainty on subsequent derivative analysis is assessed, showing that a limit of 3 Gaussian noise (SNR 66) is tolerated without smoothing the spectrum, and 13 (SNR 15) noise is tolerated with smoothing.
The principles governing the design of metal films are reviewed, with attention also given to the choice of metals. A description is then given of the characteristics of a bolometer with a gold absorbing film. It is demonstrated that gold is effective as an absorbing film for a millimeter bolometer operated at 1.5 K. At 1.5 K, gold is significantly better than bismuth since gold has a lower heat capacity for the absorbing film. At 0.3 K, gold and bismuth are both suitable. It is pointed out that at temperatures below 0.3 K, a superconducting absorbing film can have a heat capacity low enough not to dominate the heat capacity of the detector; for this reason, it may give better performance than a nonsuperconducting absorbing film.
The formulation of the crossed beam correlation technique is generalized to include strongly absorbing media. The first measurements of point density fluctuations at contact surfaces have been obtained. The presence of turbulent bursts is confirmed and a characteristic spectral frequency of approximately 400 Hz is estimated.