Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This document reports the progress and accomplishments of a 16 month program to develop a rechargeable zinc-air battery for electric vehicle propulsion, from October 1988 through January 1990. The program was the first stage in the transition of alkaline zinc electrode technology, invented at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, to private industry. The LBL invention teaches the use of a copper metal foam substrate for the zinc electrode, in combination with forced convection of electrolyte through the foam during battery operation. Research at LBL showed promise that this approach would avoid shape change (densification and dendrite growth), the primary failure mode of this electrode. The program comprised five tasks; (1) cell design, (2) capacity maximization, (3) cycle testing, (4) materials qualification, and (5) a cost/design study. The cell design contemplates a plate and frame stack, with alternating zinc and oxygen electrode frame assemblies ...

Science.gov (United States)

... Accession Number : ADD403673. Title : What is the Real Cost of Fire Retardant Flexible Foam,. Corporate Author : MOBAY ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Many of the vertical hydrocarbon miscible floods in the Keg River carbonate reefs of the Rainbow Field are at a mature stage of reservoir depletion, and are characterized by thin oil sandwiches. Injection of a gas-blocking foam barrier into a gas cone had the potential to improve oil productivity. Experimental foam treatments were described for two wells, each in a different miscible flood well. One of the wells received foam in an aqueous solution to generate foam in-situ, and as a surface generated foam. These attempt were unsuccessful at improving well performance. The second well was injected with preformed foam only. This treatment reduced GOR and improved oil production over a 14 month period. Field experience from these field trials was expected to improve efficiency in planning, design, implementation and evaluation of future foam ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sorption of oxidized and reduced forms of molybdosilicic, molybdophosphoric and molybdovanadophosphoric acids by polyurethane foam based on ethers and esters is studied. On the basis of sorption dependence on solution pH, polyurethane foam type and spectral characteristics of sorbates the suggestion has been made that in the polyurethane foam phase there are two main types of sorbent-sorbate interaction: electrostatic (ion-ion) and with hydrogen bond formation: and it is impossible to determine the contribution of every interaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The experimental foam treatments conducted on two production wells, each in a different miscible flood pool, were described, including aspects of the laboratory work, numerical coning simulation, well selection process and foam placement strategy. One of the wells was injected with a foam-forming surfactant, as well as with a surface-generated preformed foam. Neither of these treatments had any effect on the performance of this well. In the other well, preformed foam treatment was successful in reducing gas-oil ratio, resulting in improved oil production over a 14-month period. Future foam injection projects are being planned, based on the experiences gained in this field experiment. 13 refs., 21 figs.

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Studies of health effects of urea formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) were critically reviewed by means of accepted rules for evidence of causation. Three categories of health effects were examined:...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Using commercial AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets, we produced a foamable preform sheet containing titanium hydride (TiH{sub 2}) powder through diffusion-bonding and hot-rolling of four cycles. Heating the preform sheets in Ar atmosphere, we obtained closed-cell magnesium alloy foams with various porosities. The foamed specimen at 883 K showed the maximum porosities of 77%. (orig.)

CERN Document Server

Starting from the Plebanski formulation of gravity as a constrained BF theory we propose a new spin foam model for 4d Riemmanian quantum gravity that generalises the well-known model of Barrett-Crane and resolves the ultralocality problem that this model is known to possess. It is well known that the BF formulation of 4d gravity possesses two sectors: one corresponding to gravity and the other topological. The model presented here is shown to give a quantisation of the gravitational sector. The present model is dual to the recently proposed spin foam model of Engle et al. which, we show, corresponds to the topological sector of the theory. One important outcome of our approach is that it also allow us to introduce the Immirzi parameter into the framework of spin foam quantisation. We generalize some of our considerations to the Lorentzian setting and obtain a new spin foam model in that context as well.

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The application of foam in dealing with underground fire is well known due to its smothering action by cutting off air feed to burning fuel as well as acting as coolant. Besides plugging air feed to fire, water could be virtually reached to the fire affected areas much beyond the jet range as underground galleries with low roof restrict jet range of water. This method also enables a closer approach of a fire fighting team by isolating the toxic gases and smoke with a foam plug. The paper describes the development of high expansion foam composition and its application technology in order that foam plug method can be suitably utilized for combating mine fires in India. Three compositions were recommended for generation of high expansion foam: (a) 0.5% sodium/ammonium lauryl sulphate, 0.15 to 0.2% sodium carboxy methyl cellulose, 0.1% booster; (b) 0.5% sodium/ammonium lauryl sulfate, ...

Science.gov (United States)

... Composite sandwich panels with fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) faces and low 3 density foam cores are fast becoming the structural material of ...

Science.gov (United States)

... kg/m3 density. The Rohacell foam displayed an average ultimate compressive strength of 1546 kPa. The maximum load ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

PurposeAssessment of safety and efficacy of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy versus semi-rigid ureteroscope with lithoclast for treatment of large proximal ureteral stones.Materials...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Short communication.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This patent describes an improved zinc electrode for a rechargeable zinc-air battery comprising an outer frame and a porous foam electrode support within the frame which is treated prior to the deposition of zinc thereon to inhibit the formation of zinc dendrites on the external surface thereof. The outer frame is provided with passageways for circulating an alkaline electrolyte through the treated zinc-coated porous foam. A novel rechargeable zinc-air battery system is also disclosed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stress relaxation was studied at 408 K on AZ31 reinforced by ceramic foam produced by in situ foaming of filler loaded preceramic polymer melt. Reinforcement causes significant enhancement of the resistance against stress relaxation compared to AZ91. It is correlated with hardening by the ceramic skeleton as well as ceramic particles formed in the AZ31-matrix. (orig.)

CERN Document Server

Within the context of space-time (D-particle) foam in string/brane-theory it is demonstrated that it is possible to generate non-extensive statistics. The D-particle foam model involves point-like brane defects (D-particles), which provide the topologically non-trivial foamy structures of space-time. The D-particles can capture and emit stringy matter and this leads to a recoil of D-particles. It is indicated how one effect of such a recoil of D-particles is a back reaction on the space-time metric of Finsler type which is stochastic. We show that such a type of stochastic space-time foam can lead to cosmological effects similar to those induced by modifications of particle distributions within the framework of Tsallis entropies. The restrictions placed on the free parameters of the Finsler type metric are obtained from solving the Boltzmann equation in this background for relic abundances of a Lightest Supersymmetric ...

CERN Document Server

Motivated by constraint-based CAD software, we develop the foundation for the rigidity theory of a very general model: the body-and-cad structure, composed of rigid bodies in 3D constrained by pairwise coincidence, angular and distance constraints. We identify 21 relevant geometric constraints and develop the corresponding infinitesimal rigidity theory for these structures. The classical body-and-bar rigidity model can be viewed as a body-and-cad structure that uses only one constraint from this new class. As a consequence, we identify a new, necessary, but not sufficient, counting condition for minimal rigidity of body-and-cad structures: nested sparsity. This is a slight generalization of the well-known sparsity condition of Maxwell.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A new fuel-cell electrocatalyst based on highly porous carbonized polyacrylonitrile (PAN) microcellular foam with platinum particles was prepared recently in this laboratory. Its surface morphology, one of the most important aspects of a practical electrocatalyst, has been examined in terms of fractal theory and methods. The fractal dimension of the platinum particles dispersed in porous carbonized PAN foam was determined by using chronometric and rotating-disk-electrode methods in oxygen-saturated solutions. A fractal dimension smaller than 2 was obtained, which was attributed to the partially active nature of the surface of this electrocatalytic material. This value of fractal dimension is also proposed to be considered as a reaction dimension. A reaction dimension smaller than 2 may indicate that not all of the platinum particle surface is accessible to the incoming oxygen molecules.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gas well load up is the loss of available reservoir energy due to the accumulation of liquids in the wellbore over time, and these liquids arise from liquids (hydrocarbons and water) condensed from the gas. Accumulation of these liquids near the wellbore can cause severe reduction to complete loss of available transport energy. A systematic experimental approach was undertaken to evaluate the performance of foam in removing liquids from the bottom of wells. The objectives of the research were: (1) to determine the efficiency of liquid lifting with foam; and (2) to compare the effects of surfactant type and concentration on liquid lifting. A flowloop successfully simulated the effects of completions with and without packer for low-pressure gas well with liquid production. In the base-case runs (air and water flow), the two phase flow regime was mostly annular. Liquid lifting is improved in general when a surfactant is used. For data analysis, ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The authors calculated the stress-strain relation for elastomeric foam from an ab initio theory, which shows that the plateau and densification regions should be described by a hyperbola. The theory seems to agree reasonably well with experiment.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The invention comprises an improved rechargeable zinc-air cell/battery having recirculating alkaline electrolyte and a zinc electrode comprising a porous foam support material which carries the active zinc electrode material. 5 figs.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Invention relates to woodworking industry and concerns method of cementing of materials of foam plastic with duralumin, glued plywood, etc. Known methods of cementing of materials by effect of electromagnetic field of superhigh frequencies are unproductive and do not make it possible to cement parts on the plane. Target of invention - acceleration of process of cementing of planar, including of complex configuration, parts and assemblies from wood, foam plastic, duralumin, glued plywood and other materials. For this material is cemented under the effect of directed electromagnetic field of superhigh frequency in the range 01-50 GHz, the specific power of 0.5-15 W/cm3.

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Decreased membrane rigidity is one of the characteristics of malignant cells, resulting in part from the desaturation of stearic acid into oleic acid. In this study we investigated the influence of...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A super-hydrophobic coating was prepared by combining a rigid base film with crater-like hemispherical holes and acicular nanoparticles. The acicular boehmite powder provides a high contact angle on the film surface. The rigid base film with crater-like hemispherical holes inhibits the rapid decrease of contact angle by surface rubbing. The combination of different roughness is an effective method for improving the abrasion resistance of super-hydrophobic films.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A model for the structural relaxation of grain boundaries (GBs) in nanostructured materials (NSMs) by diffusion-accommodated rigid body translations along GBs is proposed. The model is based on the results of recent computer simulations that have demonstrated that the GBs in NSMs retain a high-energy structure with random translational states due to severe geometrical constraints applied from neighboring grains (J. Appl. Phys. 78 (1995) 847; Scripta Metall. Mater. 33 (1995) 1245). The shear stresses within a GB caused by non-optimized rigid-body translations (RBTs) can be accommodated by diffusive flow of atoms along a GB. This mechanism is particularly important for low-angle and vicinal GBs, the energy of which noticeably depends on the rigid body translations. At moderate and high temperatures the model yields relaxation times that are very short and therefore GBs in NSMs can attain an equilibrium structure with ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report summarizes the results of research conducted during the sixteen month continuation of a program to develop rechargeable zinc-air batteries for electric vehicles. The zinc-air technology under development incorporates a metal foam substrate for the zinc electrode, with flow of electrolyte through the foam during battery operation. In this ``soluble`` zinc electrode the zincate discharge product dissolves completely in the electrolyte stream. Cycle testing at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, where the electrode was invented, and at MATSI showed that this approach avoids the zinc electrode shape change phenomenon. Further, electrolyte flow has been shown to be necessary to achieve significant cycle life (> 25 cycles) in this open system. Without it, water loss through the oxygen electrode results in high-resistance failure of the cell. The Phase I program, which focused entirely on the zinc electrode, elucidated the conditions ...

CERN Document Server

Spin Foam Models (SFM) are an attempt at a covariant or path integral formulation of canonical Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG). Traditionally, SFM rely on 1. the Plebanski formulation of GR as a constrained BF Theory. 2. simplicial triangulations as a UV regulator and 3. a sum over all triangulations via group field techniques (GFT) in order to get rid off triangulation dependence. Subtle tasks for current SFM are to establish 1. the correct quantum implementation of Plebanski's constraints. 2. the existence of a semiclassical sector implementing additional Regge constraints arising from simplicial triangulations and 3. the physical inner product of LQG via GFT. We propose a new approach which deals with these issues as follows: 1. The simplicity constraints are correctly implemented by starting directly from the Holst action which is also a proper starting point for canonical LQG. 2. Cubulations are chosen rather than triangulations as a regulator. 3. We give a direct ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Three-dimensional porous Sn thin film electrodes were prepared by electroless deposition on copper foam, then its morphology and electrochemical property were studied by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electrochemical cycling test and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The porous framework and micro-holes have shown a great structure advantage in restricting severe volume changes when the Sn thin film was employed as anode for lithium-ion battery. The film electrode of sample C with an initial capacity of 676 mAh g{sup -1} showed good cycle performance displayed by retaining a capacity of 313 mAh g{sup -1} after 100 cycles.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In recent years, interest in the development of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) has considerably increased due to its advantages (e.g., high power density) compared with other fuel cell systems, and its potentials to become the power plant for the next generation, nonpolluting automobile engine. For large scale application of fuel cells, low platinum loading electrode structures are necessary. An electrode based on a highly porous carbonized polyacrylonitrile foam material with very low platinum loading ({approximately} 13 {micro}g/cm{sup 2}) was prepared. The performance of this electrode for oxygen reduction was evaluated and compared with bulk platinum and glassy carbon electrodes.

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

X-ray diffuse scattering was measured from oriented stacks and unilamellar vesicles of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine lipid bilayers to obtain the temperature dependence of the structure and of the material...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Searching for the structural requirements improving the potency and the stereoselectivity of Na⁺ channel blockers as antimyotonic agents, new...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper presents a systematic approach to the automatic determination of the evolution of the rigid-plastic structural response caused by a proportional or single parameter pressure loading which varies with time in a monotonic non decreasing fashion. The frame structure is envisaged as a network, and the fundamental vectorial conditions characterising its behaviour at any instant of time are combined in a consistent manner. By considering the level of the pressure loading to be a single load parameter ranging monotonically from zero to infinity, the structural governing system may be regarded as a parametric linear complementary problem. (author). 13 refs., 2 figs.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Progress in calculating the electron-phonon parameters of transition metals has been based on either the rigid muffin-tin approximation (RMTA) or the fitted modified tight-binding approximation (FMTBA). The RMTA has been shown to be remarkably accurate for average electron-phonon properties, but there are indications that RMTA matrix elements may be too small at low momentum transfer. An attempt is made to demonstrate these assertions concerning the accuracy of RMTA and the numerous electron-phonon calculations are placed in a broader perspective by a demonstration of how they can be used to explain the trends in the strength of the electron-phonon coupling among the transition metals and the A-15 compounds. (GHT)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The title composition comprises methanol containing stearic acid, C/sub 6/H/sub 6/, dextrin, phenol, a combustion accelerator (ethylene dichloride, xylene, Al stearate, a compound of acetic acid); a foaming agent; and ether and an antiknocking agent. The respective ignition point and boiling point of example compounds were 15.1-15.6/sup 0/ and 63.8-64.1/sup 0/.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This is the third quarterly progress report for Year 3 of the ACTS Project. It includes a review of progress made in: (1) Flow Loop construction and development and (2) research tasks during the period of time between Jan. 1, 2002 and Mar. 31, 2002. This report presents a review of progress on the following specific tasks: (a) Design and development of an Advanced Cuttings Transport Facility (Task 3: Addition of a Cuttings Injection/Separation System), (b) Research project (Task 6): ''Study of Cuttings Transport with Foam Under LPAT Conditions (Joint Project with TUDRP)'', (c) Research project (Task 9b): ''Study of Foam Flow Behavior Under EPET Conditions'', (d) Research project (Task 10): ''Study of Cuttings Transport with Aerated Mud Under Elevated Pressure and Temperature Conditions'', (e) Research on three instrumentation tasks to ...

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An experimental and computational study was undertaken to estimate the effects of pipe rupture and induced pipe whip impact on surround structures considered either as rigid or deformative such as concrete slabs. This program included sixteen tests using 3 inch schedule 80 (or 10) pipes made of carbon steel similar to A106 grade B. The study consisted of tests on rigid target and on concrete slab. The investigation of whip phase and impact phase was done separately for each test. For pipe impact on rigid targets, the impact forces are found to be directly related to the crush strength of the pipe and the general pipe deformation following the impact. For pipe impact on concrete slabs, the response of the target to the pipe impact needs to take into account the local effect such as penetration and localized damage on the slab. The test matrix covered a broad range of geometric parameters. It provides a significant data base ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of this program is to tool-harden and make commercially available an existing wireless MWD tool to reliably operate in an air, air-mist, or air-foam environment during Appalachian Basin oil and gas directional drilling operations in conjunction with downhole motors and/or (other) bottom-hole assemblies. The application of this technology is required for drilling high angle (holes) and horizontal well drilling in low-pressure, water sensitive, tight gas formations that require air, air-mist, and foam drilling fluids. The basic approach to accomplishing this objective was to modify GEC's existing electromagnetic (e-m) CABLELESS''{trademark} MWD tool to improve its reliability in air drilling by increasing its tolerance to higher vibration and shock levels (hardening). Another important aim of the program is to provide for continuing availability of the resultant tool for use on DOE-sponsored, and other, ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) have been conducted on a new fuel cell electrocatalytic material based on a highly porous carbonized polyacrylonitrile (PAN) microcellular foam with very low platinum loading ({approximately}13 to 23 {micro}g/cm{sup 2}). TEM images of this material clearly show the existence of nanometer size platinum particles which are homogeneously distributed in the highly porous carbonized PAN matrix. An XPS study of Pt-loaded PAN indicates that C 1s, O 1s, and N 1s peaks shift to lower binding energies, compared to virgin PAN. It was concluded that special metal-support interaction exists, through the formation of a charge-transfer complex between platinum and pyridine-type nitrogen atoms of PAN support. This interaction leads to the enhancement of the catalytic activity, and the improvement of the long-time stability of this electrocatalyst.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Experimental and computational investigations were performed in order to better understand the mechanical response of rigid targets with various geometries to the detonation of shallow buried explosives. The motion of the targets was measured by use of high-speed digital video photography. This work involved flat targets, targets that were downwardly convex, and targets that were downwardly concave with explosive charges located at various positions beneath the targets. It was observed that, in general, angled hulls - whether downwardly concave or convex - tended to reduce the amount of momentum imparted to the center of mass of the targets. Computations were performed by use of an arbitrary Langrangian-Eulerian treatment in a nonlinear finite element code. A model based on quasi-static te...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper describes in an apparatus for absorbing a beam of concentrated solar energy and which includes a cavity receiver with an inlet for transmission thereinto of solar radiation, a protective apertured shield means about the inlet. It comprises: rigid support means fixed to the periphery of the inlet and projecting radially inwardly therefrom to define a generally central aperture area through which the solar radiation can pass into the cavity receiver; and non-structural blanket means spread over the rigid support means between the periphery of the inlet and the aperture area, the material having a high temperature capability and providing for infra-red radiation insulation, while remaining relatively cool when subjected to solar radiation.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The hybrid squeeze-film damper bearing with active control is proposed in this paper and the lubricating with couple stress fluid is also taken into consideration. The pressure distribution and the dynamics of a rigid rotor supported by such bearing are studied. A PD (proportional-plus-derivative) controller is used to stabilize the rotor-bearing system. Numerical results show that, due to the nonlinear factors of oil film force, the trajectory of the rotor demonstrates a complex dynamics with rotational speed ratio s. Poincare maps, bifurcation diagrams, and power spectra are used to analyze the behavior of the rotor trajectory in the horizontal and vertical directions under different operating conditions. The maximum Lyapunov exponent and fractal dimension concepts are used to determine ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

It has been shown that two-dimensional arrays of rigid or fluidlike cylinders in a fluid or a gas define, in the limit of large wavelengths, a class of acoustic metamaterials whose effective parameters (sound velocity and density) can be tailored up to a certain limit. This work goes a step further by considering arrays of solid cylinders in which the elastic properties of cylinders are taken into account. We have also treated mixtures of two different elastic cylinders. It is shown that both effects broaden the range of acoustic parameters available for designing metamaterials. For example, it is predicted that metamaterials with perfect matching of impedance with air are now possible by using aerogel and rigid cylinders equally distributed in a square lattice. As a potential application of the proposed metamaterial, we present a gradient index lens for airborne sound (i.e. a sonic Wood lens) whose functionality is demonstrated by multiple ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The steady-state advective flow in a long horizontal rectangular channel with rigid adiabatic boundaries in the presence of a uniform longitudinal pressure gradient is investigated. The stability of this flow with respect to perturbations of various types is studied. The dependence of the critical Rayleigh number on the Prandtl number is found for various aspect ratios.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Recent literature indicates that torsion of the left ventricle (LV) is a promising predictor for response to cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT). Among patients with severe heart failure, 45 to 75% of patients show rigid body rotation, where the base and apex rotate in the same direction, instead of normal, opposite rotation. The occurrence of this phenomenon seems to be a good indicator for response to CRT. From this review, it can be concluded that LV torsion might be a welcome addition to current selection criteria.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The influence of rigid-body and differential rotation and of a fine-scale chaotic magnetic field and a poloidal magnetic field on the minimum mass of a main-sequence star is investigated. It is shown that rotation and a magnetic field with an energy equal to 10--20% of the star's gravitational energy increase the minimum mass of a main-sequence star by 1.5--2 times.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A new algorithm for the treatment of sliding interfaces between solids with or without friction in an Eulerian wavecode is described. The algorithm has been implemented in the two-dimensional version of the CTH code. The code was used to simulate penetration and perforation of aluminum plates by rigid, conical-nosed tungsten projectiles. Comparison with experimental data is provided.

Science.gov (United States)

The non-invasiveness of autofluorescence technology may reduce sampling error and time delay for histopathology diagnosis. We establish biophotonic methods and guidelines to visualize and interpret early epithelial tissue changes that signify disease. Flexible and rigid fiber endomicroscopy instrumentation design parameters feasible for translation towards clinical use are in development.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A string sieve is proposed which includes a frame, a sifting surface made of string, a device for attaching the strings made in the form of rollers installed in staggered order and a tensing device attached to traverses. To improve the effectiveness of sifting by self cleaning of the sifting surface during operation, the rollers are installed on the traverses by means of a unit of hinges, whose elastic elements are made with varying rigidity.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The design of solid breeder blankets is strongly affected by the low values of thermal conductivity and density of ceramic breeder pebble beds. A significant rise of both quantities would enhance the thermal performance and lead to an increased tritium breeding ratio. In order to improve these quantities pretreated lithium orthosilicate pebble material was dry pressed and subsequently sintered. The thermal conductivity of cylindrical pellets was determined by the heat pulse method using a laser flash device. A pebble bed characteristic sample was also investigated in order to check the measurement accuracy in comparison with previous results. Furthermore, two samples of low density cellular ceramics were also prepared by infiltration of polymer foams with a ceramic slurry. The thermal cond...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

A series of cleavable water-soluble silicone surfactants were prepared by the reaction of a hydroxyl-terminated polyester and an organopolysiloxane. Cleavable surfactants can decompose into water-insoluble moiety of silanol and two water-soluble products under acidic conditions, whereas these compounds are stable under neutral or alkaline conditions. The structure change of theses cleavage products are confirmed by IR and UV spectra analysis. The fundamental surface activity including surface tension, foaming, contact angle and viscosity are studied. The photocatalytic degradation of modified silicone surfactants with UV light over titanium oxide was investigated. Experimental results have confirmed that products are slowly degraded by direct photolysis. However, the cleavable silicone sur...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A detergent-containing radioactive liquid waste originating from atomic power plants is concentrated to have about 10 wt. % detergent concentration, then dried in a thin film evaporator, and converted into powder. Powdered activated carbon is added to the radioactive waste in advance to prevent the liquid waste from foaming in the evaporator by the action of surface active agents contained in the detergent. The activated carbon is added in accordance with the COD concentration of the radioactive liquid waste to be treated, and usually at a concentration 2-4 times as large as the COD concentration of the liquid waste to be treated. A powdery product having a moisture content of not more than 15 wt. % is obtained from the evaporator, and pelletized and then packed into drums to be stored for a predetermined period.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Introduction Postoperative alopecia is a relatively rare event, and therefore both patients and surgeons are puzzled once it develops even though it is said to improve spontaneously with time in most cases. We report a parieto-occipital pressure-induced alopecia firstly developed in a patient who had undergone repeated surgery for 10?years after a traffic accident. Case report A 29-year-old male underwent segmental osteotomy at the upper and lower frontal edentulous areas for distraction osteogenesis. Throughout the operation, he was in the supine position with the hair covered with a paper cap and the head on a plastic vinyl chloride-covered soft foam horseshoe-shaped urethane sponge placed on the horseshoe-shaped headrest. About 2?weeks after the surgery, two patches of parieto-occipital...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

For the development of a rechargeable zinc/air battery, La[sub 0.6]Ca[sub 0.4]CoO[sub 3]-catalyzed (perovskite) bifunctional oxygen electrodes and pasted zinc electrodes were prepared and tested in monopolar zinc/air cells. In addition, a bipolar Zn/air stack was tested using reticulated copper foam as substrate for the zinc deposit. The cells were cycled in moderately alkaline ZnO-saturated electrolyte with KF as an electrolyte additive. The maximum power as well as the cycle life of the cells was investigated. The differences in porosity of the zinc electrode before and after the long-term test were analyzed using mercury porosimetry. (author) 8 figs., 13 refs.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Functional properties of commercial and membrane processed pea protein isolates (PPI) prepared from yellow peas were investigated. Four protein isolates were prepared from yellow pea flour using water and KCl extractions at 25^oC followed by ultrafiltration and diafiltration (UF and DF) at pHs of 7.5 and 7.5 or 6 respectively. Following assessment of compositional attributes; solubility, foaming, flow and dynamic rheology, emulsification ability and heat-induced textural and rheological properties of prepared PPIs and a commercially available PPI were tested and compared. Membrane purification of proteins resulted in 28% to 68% reduction in phytic acid and enhanced, comparatively, the tested functional properties. Solubility of membrane processed PPIs, at all tested pHs, was superior and t...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alkanol-amine is used for removing hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide from the gas stream. Contaminated amine is the amine which is contaminated by hydrocarbon, organic acid or iron sulfide, etc.. In addition, in the case when an antifoaming agent is excessively added to it or when it is decomposed chemically or thermally, it is considered that it is contaminated. When an amine solution becomes contaminated, several problems concerning operation control occur which would influence the effect of the amine treatment in consequence. By using activated charcoal, it is possible to decrease the additional amount of the antifoaming agent or corrosion inhibitor. This is because activated charcoal removes the decomposed product which causes the foaming phenomenon. In order to derive economical profit sufficiently, an activated charcoal system properly designed is necessary. In this article, the CALGON CLEANAMINE SYSTEM of Calgon Co. is introduced which restores the effect ...

Science.gov (United States)

The authors report here, for the first time, high frequency testing of a new type of electrochemical double layer capacitor (EDLC), based on carbon aerogels: the Aerocapacitor. Carbon aerogels, are a novel type of carbon foam developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for military applications. The unique properties of carbon aerogels, high surface area (700 m{sup 2}/g), high density (1g/cc), well controlled pore diameter and high material conductivity (25 S/cm) made it an ideal EDLC electrode material. Using carbon aerogel as the electrode material, the authors have developed Aerocapacitors. These new EDLC`s have a frequency response comparable to that of aluminum electrolytic capacitors and are thus ideally suited to power conversion applications.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper introduces marketability and parts application of PBT in the automotive field. Based on the pursuits in automobiles of weight reduction as measures to improve engine performance, drive performance, and fuel consumption, as well as trends of higher class car orientation, market expansion is expected on engineering resins including PBT. Adoption of PBT/polycarbonate (PC)-based alloy resins is on increase for use in external car parts because of the chemical resistance in PBT, low-temperature shock resistance and appearance of PC. Substitution from Nylon resin in connector application is progressing rapidly because of problems in dimensional stability and compound noise. Air bag sensor parts need to be free of maloperation due to contamination and corrosion in metal contacts caused from gases generated from formed parts, hence development of resins of low gas generation grade is wanted. Valves for exhaust control require high-temperature rigidity, ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

When the foundations of the building are designed and worked, the prediction calculation of immediate settlement of the building exercised practically is to calculate assuming the earth is a linear elastic body, but the actual stress-strain relationship of the earth is nonlinear and rigidity of the earth becomes lower as strain (or stress) increases. Hence in order to grasp the actual settling behavior of the earth, it is necessary to elucidate the nonlinear relationship between stress and strain. In this article, a prediction method of building settlement is introduced which uses an analytical technique of the multi-layered earth by the linear elasticity theory and takes into consideration strain dependency of rigidity of the earth. Part of the conclusion is as follows which has been obtained by studying the settling behaviors observed in examples of vertical loading tests of the pile foundations and the elasto-plastic settlement analytical ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Both linear and weakly nonlinear stability analyses are performed to study thermal convection in a rotating couple-stress fluid-saturated rigid porous layer. In the case of linear stability analysis, conditions for the occurrence of possible bifurcations are obtained. It is shown that Hopf bifurcation is possible due to Coriolis force, and it occurs at a lower value of the Rayleigh number at which the simple bifurcation occurs. In contrast to the nonrotating case, it is found that the couple-stress parameter plays a dual role in deciding the stability characteristics of the system, depending on the strength of rotation. Nonlinear stability analysis is carried out by constructing a set of coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations using truncated representation of Fourier series. Sub-critical finite amplitude steady motions occur depending on the choice of physical parameters but at higher rotation rates oscillatory convection is found to be the preferred ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Image registrations that are based on similarity measures simply adjust the parameters of an appropriate spatial transformation model until the similarity measure reaches an optimum. The numerous similarity measures that have been proposed in the past are differently sensitive to imaging modality, image content and differences in the image content, selection of the floating and target image, partial image overlap, etc. In this paper, we evaluate and compare 12 similarity measures for the rigid registration. To study the impact of different imaging modalities on the behavior of similarity measures, we have used 16 CT/MR and 6 PET/MR image pairs with known 'gold standard' registrations. The results for the PET/MR registration and for the registration of CT to both rectified and unrectified MR images indicate that mutual information, normalized mutual information and the entropy correlation coefficient are the most accurate similarity measures and ...

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The power industry is moving toward the use of high-voltage transmission lines on tall, flexible towers. These towers are designed for heavier loadings than were previous towers, but the secondary effects of tower displacement tend to be ignored in the present day tower analysis. This paper examines the secondary effects from the large displacement of flexible towers, reviews the secondary stresses arising from joint rigidity and member continuity, and examines the reliability of tower strength predicted by the ASCE design guidelines. More realistic tower test acceptance criteria and a more reliable tower design methodology are suggested.

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This paper describes examples of the damage resulting from the impact of a whipping pipe on a nearby pressurised pipe. The work is a by-product of a study of the motion of a whipping pipe. The tests were conducted with small-diameter pipes mounted in rigid supports and hence the results are not directly applicable to large-scale plant applications where flexible support mountings are employed. The results illustrate the influence of whipping pipe energy, impact position and support type on the damage sustained by the target pipe.

Science.gov (United States)

This paper discusses the influence of an endoscope on the peristaltic flow of a couple stress fluid in an annulus under a zero Reynolds number and long wavelength approximation. The inner tube is uniform, rigid, while the outer tube has a sinusoidal wave traveling down its wall. Analytical expressions for the axial velocity, stream function and axial pressure gradient are established. The flow is investigated in a wave frame of reference moving with the velocity of the wave. Numerical calculations are carried out for the pressure rise, frictional forces and trapping. The features of the flow characteristics are analyzed by plotting graphs and discussed in detail.

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This monograph gives a detailed and pedagogical account of the geometry of rigid superspace and supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories. While the core of the text is concerned with the classical theory, the quantization and anomaly problem are briefly discussed following a comprehensive introduction to BRS differential algebras and their field theoretical applications. Among the treated topics are invariant forms and vector fields on superspace, the matrix-representation of the super-Poincare group, invariant connections on reductive homogeneous spaces and the supermetric approach. Various aspects of the subject are discussed for the first time in textbook and are consistently presented in a unified geometric formalism.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conformal radiation therapy represents a considerable and attractive challenge in oncology. Its aim is mainly to improve local control by increasing the dose with an acceptable rate of complications. This work overviews the world literature on this subject. The technical and theoretical requirements are highlighted. These requirements include a precise definition of the target volume by digital imaging (essentially CT scan), but also clear view of the target volume and the organs at risk, a specific collimation of the beam, 3-D dose calculations, optimization procedures, and a rigid immobilization of the patient with verification of his position. Moreover, the clinical applications of conformal radiation therapy are reviewed and discussed. (authors). 80 refs., 1 tab.

Science.gov (United States)

A critical review of the literature revealed no experiments on uranyl ion transfer from an aqueous to a tributyl phosphate phase which positively measured the kinetics of the chemical reaction at the interphase. Drawing isorhythmic lines on a three component diagram gives a complex correlation for the compaction of three sizes of glass beads. Neither the use of thoria sols nor high feed solution concentrations of thorium nitrate gave any significant increase in mean particle diameters over those obtained from nitrate solutions of lower concentrations in flame denitration. A hydraulic film resistance has been detected in the anion exchange of uranyl sulfate into Dowex 2lK, and chloride elution was found to give a higher apparent uranium diffusion coefficient than nitrate elution. The rate of dissolution of mixed thorium-uranium oxides was determined as a function of the per cent of mixed oxides dissolved. Mixing in tanks packed with boron glass Raschig rings ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

On behalf of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) a study has been established by the Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pump Technical Options Committee in which famous experts of refrigeration technology compiled facts which allow for a reliable prospect of real possibilities of changing from fluorine hydrogen to ozone innoxious substitutes and substitute technologies. With regard to the organization, a division into 6 committees for the establishment of the study has been made: 1. Refrigeration Options Committee, 2. Foams Options Committee, 3. Solvents, Coatings and Adhesives Options Committee, 4. Aerosols, Sterilants and Miscellaneous Uses Options Committee, 5. Halons Technical Options Committee and 6. Economic Options Committee. (BWI).

CERN Document Server

The present work concerns the numeric modeling of the sea-wave instability under the effect of the logarithmic-wind profile at hurricane conditions. Non-linear effects, such as wave breaking, foam production, etc. Powell et al. (2003), Shtemler et al. (2010) are ignored. The central point of the study is the calculation of the wave growth rate, which is proportional to the fractional input energy from the wind to the wave exponentially varied with time. The present modeling demonstrates that the Miles-type model applying Charnock's formula for roughness to the hurricane-wind parameters underestimates the growth rate from 5 to 40 times as compared with the model employing the roughness and friction velocity adopted from experimental data for hurricane winds.1 This occurs due to Charnock's formula fails at large wind speeds. The stability characteristics found on the base of the hurricane-wind experimental parameters are consistent with the other results of the ...

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Formaldehyde release from building products is primarily due to incompletely reacted urea-formaldehyde resin (UFR) in particleboard, medium density fiberboard (MDF), and plywood. Formaldehyde is also released from urea-formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) that was popular during the 1970s for retrofitting building envelopes. Results of the authors test of commercial adhesives and UF-bonded wood products show that current state-of-the-art products yield air chamber test values below 0.25 mg/m/sup 3/ immediately after manufacture and are capable of meeting 0.12 mg/m/sup 3/ indoor air standards at the current product ratio unless these products are used in places where they are exposed to high temperature and humidity. In mobile homes placed in severe climates, wall-temperature profiles show large seasonal and diurnal variations that cause large changes in formaldehyde indoor air levels. The authors work shows that diurnal formaldehyde levels may change by a factor of ...

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Local blood flow in the thigh was measured with /sup 133/Xe clearance technique in eight male distance runners after compression with a foam rubber compress and a standard elastic bandage. Two degrees of compression were tested, and an initial experiment with rested subjects was followed by a similar experiment immediately after running. Maximum compression exerted a cutaneous pressure of 85 (+/- 8) mm Hg and caused an immediate cessation of intra-muscular blood flow in the compressed area. Moderate compression gave a cutaneous pressure of 40 (+/- 5) mm Hg and resulted in a reduction of blood flow by approximately 50%. During compression, there were no significant differences in the blood flow of rested subjects compared to subjects immediately after running. In acute soft tissue injuries, a maximum compression bandage should effectively reduce or eliminate the formation of an intra-muscular hematoma, and an additive effect on blood flow of ice should not be ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The author says ''barehand'' methods, where specially trained utility workers are called in conductive suits to equalize voltage over their bodies, to maintain high-voltage transmission lines are on the rise. Utilities are building lines at higher voltages and selling more power to other utilities, making it highly inconvenient to take the lines out of service. However, some unions view the barehand work with less than enthusiasm. Touching lines energized at hundreds of thousands of volts demands flawless equipment and rigid work procedures followed to the letter. Some local unions contend that adequate safety procedures and training, and appropriate penalties for workplace negligence, should be in place before utilities may do barehand work. The author discusses some of the methods of barehand work and the equipment used, i.e. steel-mesh lineman's suit, bucket truck's boom, helicopters, and robots.

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We have examined the theory of NMR multiple echoes developed for solid {sup 3}He to determine whether multiple echoes could be observed in solid hydrogen. We were particularly interested in the possibility of testing for low frequency quantum tunneling motions in solid hydrogen by the observation of multiple echoes. We find that for easily accessible nuclear spin polarizations, P > 12%, multiple echoes would be observed for HD impurities in solid parahydrogen if motional narrowing is effective in increasing the HD nuclear spin-spin relaxation time T{sub 2} to the order of 1 msec. These values for T{sub 2}, which have been observed for HD impurity concentrations of the order of 1%, are larger than the calculated rigid lattice values and can be attributed to quantum tunneling at frequencies of the order of 1kHz.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phase and structural transformations in a multicomponent (5.05 mas.% Mo-4.95V-3.00Cr-3.05Al) metastable #beta#-titanium alloy on aging after plastic deformation are studied using methods of electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The alloy is deformed by twinning in a #left brace#332#right brace# system, and even at initial stages the formation of a twin skeleton takes place in the structure, on further loading the deformation of the skeleton is by secondary twinning resulting in a high plasticity of the alloy. On annealing mechanical twins transform into #alpha#-phase - a ductile twin skeleton is replaced by a rigid skeleton of #alpha#-phase plates. The aging enhances the yield strength of the alloy but decreases sharply its plasticity

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Background Stimulated by the concept of Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES), minimizing the access even further has become a new trend in minimally invasive surgery. We compare our recently described new method of endoscopic single-access adrenalectomy with the conventional retroperitoneoscopic approach in a matched-pairs study. Methods Fifty single-access retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomies (SARA) were performed in 47 selected patients suffering from Conn?s adenomas (n?=?20), pheochromocytomas (n?=?15), Cushing?s adenomas (n?=?6), and other diseases (n?=?6). For SARA, a single 2-cm skin incision beneath the 12th rib was used. Following creation of the retroperitoneal space with the rigid endoscope, dissection was carried out single-handed. Another 47 patients served a...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The effect of Al/sup 3 +/, Fe/sup 3 +/, Ca/sup 2 +/, and Mg/sup 2 +/ ions and of pH on the two-dimensional shear modulus of stearic acid spread on a water substrate was determined. A large shear modulus was displayed by the films when the subphase contained Al/sup 3 +/ and Fe/sup 3 +/ ions at the self-buffered pH. With Fe/sup 2 +/ dissolved in the subphase, the film displayed a viscous relaxation when strained but no residual stress was observed. No effect was observed with the Ca/sup 2 +/ or Mg/sup 2 +/. Reducing the pH value in the subphase with the trivalent ions caused the shear modulus to disappear. The observations are interpreted in terms of hydrogen bonding.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

From its inception in 1977, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has been responsible for maintaining the nations nuclear stockpile, leading the country in terms of basic research, setting national energy goals, and managing thousands of individual programs. Despite these gains, however, the DOE research and development (R&D) model does not appear to offer the nation an optimal strategy for assessing long-term energy challenges. American energy policy continues to face constraints related to three "Is": inconsistency, incrementalism, and inadequacy. An overly rigid management structure and loss of mission within the DOE continues to plague its programs and create inconsistencies in terms of a national energy policy. Various layers of stove-piping within and between the DOE and national labo...

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This research project is to develop a technical basis for flexible piping designs which will improve piping reliability and minimize the use of pipe supports, snubbers, and pipe whip restraints. This study indicated that piping design can be made more reliable by some reduction of rigid supports and/or snubbers. This study also confirmed that the malfunction of pipe whip restraints introduced higher thermal stresses and tended to reduce the overall piping reliability. Finally, our results indicated that supports in a flexible piping design may need to be reevaluated and that the elimination of pipe supports which are close to components should be done with care in order to minimize the impact on the component reliability.

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Protein motions on all timescales faster than molecular tumbling are encoded in the spectral density. The dissection of complex protein dynamics is typically performed using relaxation rates determined at high and ultra-high field. Here we expand this range of the spectral density to low fields through field cycling using the nucleocapsid protein of the SARS coronavirus as a model system. The field-cycling approach enables site-specific measurements of R{sub 1} at low fields with the sensitivity and resolution of a high-field magnet. These data, together with high-field relaxation and heteronuclear NOE, provide evidence for correlated rigid-body motions of the entire {beta}-hairpin, and corresponding motions of adjacent loops with a time constant of 0.8 ns (mesodynamics). MD simulations substantiate these findings and provide direct verification of the time scale and collective nature of these motions.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of this project is to investigate the applicability of a combined Global Positioning System and Inertial Measurement Unit (GPS/IMU) for information based displays on earthmoving machines and for automated earthmoving machines in the future. This technology has the potential of allowing an information-based product like Caterpillar's Computer Aided Earthmoving System (CAES) to operate in areas with satellite shading. Satellite shading is an issue in open pit mining because machines are routinely required to operate close to high walls, which reduces significantly the amount of the visible sky to the GPS antenna mounted on the machine. An inertial measurement unit is a product, which provides data for the calculation of position based on sensing accelerations and rotation rates of the machine's rigid body. When this information is coupled with GPS it results in a positioning system that can maintain positioning capability during time ...

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In this book over 250 alloys are organized by AISI number into 10 major sections: Irons, Carbon Steels, Alloy Steels, Low Alloy Constructional Steels, Ultra High Strength Steels, Tool Steels, Maraging Steels, Wrought Stainless Steels, Heat Resistnat Casting Alloys, and Iron Based Rought Superalloys. Each alloy record lists the designation, specifications, UNS number, composition, product forms and a comment on the high-temperature properties and applications. Referenced data is then given for physical properties such as density, specific heat, thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, electrical conductivity, Poisson's ratio, moduli of elasticity and rigidity, etc. Mechanical properties follow, and include tensile properties, shearing and bearing properties, impact properties, creep, stress rupture and stress relaxation and fatigue properties. The last part of the alloy record gives other effects of temperature, such as hot hardness, corrosion, and growth.

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We demonstrate experimentally that the route to a jammed state for a set of bi-dispersed frictional disks, subjected to uni-axial compression from a random initial unjammed state, consists of a consolidation state, a fragile jammed state, and finally a rigid jammed state. In the consolidation regime, the pressure on the sides increases very slowly with the packing fraction {phi} and there are no detectable stress chains. In the fragile jammed state, stress chains are visible, the pressure increases exponentially with {phi}, and the fraction of moving disks drops exponentially. Eventually, a final regime where particle displacements are below our resolution and the pressure varies approximately linearly with {phi} is reached. We argue that this scenario is generic for ather mal frictional compressed particles.

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Accidents of free-rolling cars against walls with friction are special cases of the general problem of the dynamic behavior (elastic or plastic) of car motion. Using particle modeling of the car body it is shown that large rotations, contact friction and plastic deformations can be computed. Because of the limitations of FEM it is necessary to model the car as a system of mass points connected by central force systems which are non-linear. The wall is formulated as a rigid body producing constraints for the contacting particles, while the contact force is given by the defined force system. Every contacting particle produces a plastic impact on the wall. The friction force is proportional to the contact force and lies in the direction of the sliding velocity on the wall. Time integration is carried out using a second order Gear method. ((orig.))

Science.gov (United States)

The class of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) investigated use curved, fixed-pitch blades of constant section rigidly attached to a vertical rotating tower. Qualitatively, the main advantages of the VAWT over more conventional, propeller-type machines are the elimination of yaw controls, the placement of mechanical equipment at ground level, its amenability to simple, low-cost blade fabrication techniques, and aerodynamic stall characteristics which eliminate the need for active pitch control devices. The main disadvantages relative to modern propeller machines are a somewhat lower aerodynamic efficiency (about 10 percent lower), the limited ability of the rotor to self-start, and generally lower rotor operating RPM's, which leads to higher torque capacity requirements for the drive train.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A scheme for controlling multimanipulator systems is presented. The control objective is to coordinate the manipulators to perform parts-matching tasks such as screwing a nut onto a bolt. The task of moving a rigid object can be treated as a special case. Two secondary control objectives internal force control and load distribution can be accomplished within the structure of the control law. The internal force control mechanism keeps the internal forces on the object being manipulated at a desirable level. The load distribution mechanism distributes control effort to each manipulator according to a weighting factor. It is also shown that the control algorithm has a modular structure which facilitates its implementation on a multiprocessor computer. The scheme was tested on a planar scara type dual-manipulator system. A series of experimental results is included to demonstrate the system performance under various conditions.

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Amphiphysin is a protein concentrated in neuronal synapses and peripherally associated with neurotransmitter vesicles. It is expressed in many neurons of the central and peripheral nervous systems, in the adrenal medulla, in the anterior and posterior pituitary, in cell lines of the endocrine pancreas, and in spermatocytes. Its subcellular localization and tissue distribution indicate a potential involvement in mechanisms of regulated exocytosis. A role in the dynamic organization of the membrane-associated cytoskeleton is suggested by structural homology to the products of two yeast genes, RVS161 and RVS167, whose mutation results in an abnormal actin distribution, disturbs budding morphology, and impairs cell entry into stationary phase. Limited stretches of sequence similarity, including an SH3 domain, are also shared with other actin-binding proteins. Amphiphysin is the dominant autoantigen in paraneoplastic Stiff-Man syndrome, a neurological autoimmune disorder characterized by ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The six-axes industrial robot MANUTEC r15 UW was modified to work underwater and successfully tested down to the simulated water depth of 1100 m. Next step in the program was to use this robot as a handling tool for inspection tasks at the welding seam of an underwater structure conducted with CCD-cameras and distance sensors. This was also to demonstrate the possibility to assist and later on to replace divers from this work. Additional research was focussed on the stiffness and rigidity of the robot during the precise guiding of tools and workpieces under current water conditions up to a flow velocity of 1.1 m/s. Present work is concentrated on the application of this subsea robot on a maintenance task at the Brazilian underwater template OCTOS-1000. For this experiments the robot is integrated in a large mock-up which simulates a quarter section of this template. (orig.)

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The survival of acetabular components depends on several factors: wear, osteolysis and septic or aseptic loosening. Osteolysis seems to be the main cause for concern in cementless arthroplasties. Acetabular osteolysis results from particle debris and segmental unloading of acetabular bone by rigid sockets. We investigated a cementless elastic monoblock socket with regard to acetabular osteolysis and aseptic loosening in a cohort of young patients. We evaluated 158 hip arthroplasties with a minimum follow-up of ten?years (ten to 18) and a mean age of 42?years (18?50). The overall revision rate at 14?years was 80% with a 98% survival rate for aseptic loosening. The mean polyethylene wear rate was 0.11?mm/year. Progressive acetabular osteolysis was seen in 3% of patients evaluated. In conclus...

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Large rigid-body domain movements are critical to GroEL-mediated protein folding, especially apical domain elevation and twist associated with the formation of a folding chamber upon binding ATP and co-chaperonin GroES. Here, we have modeled the anisotropic displacements of GroEL domains from various crystallized states, unliganded GroEL, ATP?S-bound, ADP-AlFx/GroES-bound, and ADP/GroES bound, using translation-libration-screw (TLS) analysis. Remarkably, the TLS results show that the inherent motions of unliganded GroEL, a polypeptide-accepting state, are biased along the transition pathway that leads to the folding-active state. In the ADP-AlFx/GroES-bound folding-active state the dynamic modes of the apical domains become reoriented and coupled to the motions of bound GroES. The ADP/GroES complex exhibits these same motions, but they are increased in magnitude, potentially reflecting the decreased stability of the complex after nucleotide hydrolysis. Our results ...

Science.gov (United States)

Recent work on the aerodynamics of flapping flight reveals fundamental differences in the mechanisms of aerodynamic force generation between fixed and flapping wings. When fixed wings translate at high angles of attack, they periodically generate and shed leading and trailing edge vortices as reflected in their fluctuating aerodynamic force traces and associated flow visualization. In contrast, wings flapping at high angles of attack generate stable leading edge vorticity, which persists throughout the duration of the stroke and enhances mean aerodynamic forces. Here, we show that aerodynamic forces can be controlled by altering the trailing edge flexibility of a flapping wing. We used a dynamically scaled mechanical model of flapping flight (Re approximately 2000) to measure the aerodynamic forces on flapping wings of variable flexural stiffness (EI). For low to medium angles of attack, as flexibility of the wing increases, its ability to generate aerodynamic forces decreases ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Two sources of ultraviolet (UV) radiation with peak wavelengths in the UV-C or UV-B ranges were compared for their ability to sterilize contact lenses infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Acanthamoeba castellani, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus niger. Also examined was the effect of prolonged UV light exposure on soft and rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses. The UV-C lamp (253.7 nm, 250 mW/cm2 at 1 cm) was germicidal for all organisms within 20 minutes but caused destruction of the soft lens polymers within 6 hours of cumulative exposure. UV-C caused damage to RGP lenses in less than 100 hours. The UV-B lamp (290-310 nm, 500 mW/cm2 at 1 cm) was germicidal for all organisms tested (except Aspergillus) with a 180-minute exposure and caused less severe changes in the soft lens polymers than did the UV-C lamp, although cumulative exposure of 300 hours did substantially weaken the soft lens material. RGP materials were minimally ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The wavenumber-frequency spectral densities of turbulent wall pressure fluctuations are investigated over a rigid flat plate. Nonlinear Reynolds stress terms of the inhomogeneous Orr-Sommerfeld equation are regarded as a known forcing function. The forcing function is modeled after Bark{close_quote}s hydrodynamic bursting formulation. The inhomogeneous Orr-Sommerfeld equation is solved by the method of Eckhaus in terms of discrete homogeneous solutions. The method of Eckhaus is then extended and proved for the continuous Orr-Sommerfeld eigenfunctions. Turbulent wall pressure fluctuations in terms of wavenumber-frequency spectral densities are numerically computed and compared to the experimental results of Martin as well as to his transformation of Blake{close_quote}s data fitted to a modified Corcos model. The wavenumber-frequency spectral densities numerically computed from the discrete eigenfunctions compared well with Martin{close_quote}s transformations on the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Magnesium alloys have replaced resins as a material for the components of electronic products such as cell phone and notebook personal computer mainly, because of their lightness and rigidity. Thin walls, a complicated shape, and high appearance quality are all needed in the external parts. Die-casting and injection molding are the main method of manufacturing magnesium alloy parts. The optimal cast conditions and mold design have been investigated in order that a few defects such as surface cracks and mold cavities in casting parts would be reduced. Instead of cast, plastic forming technologies such as warm drawing and hot forging have been developed to form thinner walls and less defects. Plastic formability of magnesium alloy in hot working is dependent on a grain size of material. The material with fine grains has advantage of being formed at high strain rate. The characteristics of forming processes of magnesium parts for Japanese home electric appliances are ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Accurately predicting wind turbine blade loads and response is important for the proper design of wind turbines. The need to accurately predict both deterministic and stochastic blade loads is now widely recognized. Previous rotor code development and validation efforts at NREL have concentrated on prediction of deterministic and stochastic blade loads for rigid hub rotors. During the past year this effort was expanded for predicting blade and shaft loads for two-bladed teetering hub rotors. The NREL (formerly SERI) Teetering Rotor Analysis Program (STRAP), a derivative of the Force and Loads Analysis Program (FLAP), can include the effects of rotor undersling, delta-3 and the effects of a concentrated hub mass. The degrees of freedom include rotor teeter and symmetric and asymmetric rotor flap modes. A time-dependent, prescribed yaw motion can also be input to the code. Loads due to turbulent wind inputs are also calculated. In this paper, final code ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The results of X-ray and neutron diffraction experiments on molten alkali halides in which some data of our experiments by X-ray diffraction such as those of molten LiCl, NaCl, KCl, LiBr and KBr are included were summarized. The first peak positions in the radial distribution function in molten alkali halides by X-ray or neutron diffraction experiments are always longer than those by computer simulations and the differences of 0.1 -- 0.3 A exceed the experimental error. It seems to be due to the deformation of the electron shell. In the computer simulation, the shell model which has the spherical deformation was expected to have more closer value of the first peak position to the experimental one than the rigid ion model by taking the polarization of ions. However, no change in the first peak position was found. Therefore, the non-spherical deformation of electron shell at the point where ions are in contact with each other has to be taken into account. The neutron ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In this work we present the electrical characterization of non self-aligned p-channel thin film transistors fabricated by using laser doping technique for source/drain contact formation and gate oxide deposited at room temperature by Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition. These techniques are suitable for a very low temperature process for TFT fabrication. The output characteristics show a current increase at high drain voltage ('kink' effect) rather moderate, if compared to self aligned polysilicon TFTs, probably due to the gradual doping profile induced by laser doping process. After bias stress at low gate voltage and high drain voltage condition a strong reduction of kink current has been observed in the output characteristics at high drain voltage, whereas minor changes has been observed in the transfer characteristics. This behaviour is similar to what observed in n-channel Gate Overlapped Thin Film Transistors. In the high gate ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We report the results of a linearized augmented-plane-wave calculation of the electronic structure of fcc La at three lattice constants corresponding to ambient pressure, 50, and 120 kbars. The Kohn-Sham-Gaspar approximation for exchange and correlation is used and the potential is allowed a fully non-muffin-tin form. The f bands lie approx.2--2.5 eV above the Fermi level and are approx.1 eV wide, resulting in a very small (0.05 electrons) localized f occupation. Under pressure the f bands rise and broaden appreciably, resulting in only a slight increase in f occupation. The rigid-muffin-tin approximation for the electron-phonon interaction lambda overestimates the superconducting transition temperature T/sub c/ by 40%, but we find that the drastic increase in T/sub c/ under pressure can be attributed primarily to changes in the electronic stiffness eta. Structural transitions which occur at 25 and 53 kbars may be related to changes in Fermi-surface topology which ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Experimental observations related to the initiation of plastic deformation in metals and alloys irradiated with fission neutrons have been analyzed. The experimental results, showing irradiation-induced increase in the upper yield stress followed by a yield drop and plastic instability, cannot be explained in terms of conventional dispersed-barrier hardening because (a) the grown-in dislocations are not free, and (b) irradiation-induced defect clusters are not rigid indestructible Orowan obstacles. A new model called 'cascade-induced source hardening' is presented where glissile loops produced directly in cascades are envisaged to decorate the grown-in dislocations so that they cannot act as dislocation sources. The upper yield stress is related to the breakaway stress which is necessary to pull the dislocation away from the clusters/loops decorating it. The magnitude of the breakaway stress has been estimated and is found to be in good agreement with the measured ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A portable X-ray image system is described comprising: (a) a base assembly including panels and hinges joining the panels together along edges, and compression stops for biasing the hinges to compensate for the weight of payload when mounted on the base assembly, the compression stops being located for interaction with the hinges for biasing the panels to exhibit upward bowing when laid upon a flat surface prior to loading, and to provide resiliency for facilitating the base assembly assuming a substantially flat configuration when a predetermined payload is placed upon the base assembly; (b) an X-ray member; (c) apparatus for detachably mounting a table member to the base assembly to hold the table member at a location above the base; (d) an X-ray source; (e) means for sensing X-rays to form an image; (f) means for mounting the X-ray source and the X-ray sensing means on opposite sides relative to the table member and supported by the base assembly; (g) releasable clamping apparatus ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Squeeze film dampers (SFD) are devices utilized to control vibrations of the shafts of high-speed rotating machinery. The SFD - squirrel cage combination is probably the most used system for tuning the stiffness and damping of the supports for rotors installed on ball bearings. Squeeze film dampers are essentially hydrodynamic bearings which contain the ball bearings housings of ball-bearings supported shafts. Consequently, the oil film within the SFD are influenced only by the precession and nutation of the shaft, that is the flow of the oil within the damper is not directly influenced by the spin of the rotor. However, in the classical theory, the flow in the thin film is also governed by the Reynolds equation. In this paper, some of the limits of the classical theory of the SFD are discussed and theoretical and experimental studies, which illustrate the ideas presented herein, are presented as well. The orbits of an unbalanced rotor that is supported by a ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Considerations were given on typical applications of nylon resin parts to automotive use and their future trends through news topics. GF strengthened nylon resin is used in cylinder head covers substituting aluminum because of advantages in nylon resin of weight reducibility, vibration suppressibility, and noise shielding capability. Radiator tank uses N66GF 30% strengthened nylon in more than 60% of bonnet type passenger cars. Nylon resin is used most in harness connectors installed in locations that require heat resistance. External car parts such as bumpers, fenders, and wheel caps use to some extent nylon resin in the form of strengthened and up-graded polymer alloy. BMW in Germany used in its high-class production cars intake manifolds made of GF strengthened Nylon 66. The majority of engine{prime}s gas intake system parts has been replaced with Nylon blow-formed parts. The resin industry is aiming at developing Nylon resin with aromatic components to use into automotive parts for ...

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The sources of non-white noise in Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are many. Familiar sources include low-frequency drift due to hardware imperfections, oscillatory noise due to respiration and cardiac pulsation and residual movement artefacts not accounted for by rigid body registration. These contributions give rise to temporal autocorrelation in the residuals of the fMRI signal and invalidate the statistical analysis as the errors are no longer independent. The low-frequency drift is often removed by high-pass filtering, and other effects are typically modelled as an autoregressive (AR) process. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach: Nuisance Variable Regression (NVR). By inclusion of confounding effects in a general linear model (GLM), we first confirm that the spatial distribution of the various fMRI noise sources is similar to what has already been described in the literature. Subsequently, we ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Angelin Pedra is a specie found in the north of Mato Grosso State in Brazil, where an expressive volume of waste of this wood is produced. An alternative to recycle this waste is to produce wood plastic composites. However, structural and chemical investigations are fundamental to generate information for this use. In the present work, low field NMR was used to determine the spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times with objective to investigate the molecular dynamic behavior of the alburnu and cerne regions of Angelin Pedra aiming at a potential use of this waste wood in polymeric composites. The results of the proton spin-lattice relaxation time (T1H) and the proton spin-spin relaxation time (T2H) showed at least three different mobility domains for both regions. Among the values, one was very flexible and other was rigid. Knowing that wood is a polymer composite basically constituted by cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin can attribute the smaller T1 value and ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Swirling speed in a direct injection diesel engine was measured by a laser doppler velocimeter. Intake port geometry and engine speed were changed as factors affecting the swirling flow to study the distribution of swirling flow speed. The distribution of swirling flow speed changes complicatedly owing to axial nonsymmetry during intake process but becomes simple shape of axial symmetry during compression process after closing intake valve. But if this is assumed as the rigid swirl shape, the difference due to each intake port cannot be expressed but also large error may be possible to appear close to the cylinder wall. The distribution of swirling flow speed during compression process changes similarly, nearly proportinal to engine speed. But the similarity is higher at the middle period in compression process than at the end period in compression period. Axial distribution of local swirling ratio during compression process is nearly uniform. 8 refs., 10 figs., 1 ...

CERN Document Server

PAMELA is a satellite borne experiment designed to study with great accuracy cosmic rays of galactic, solar, and trapped nature in a wide energy range protons: 80 MeV-700 GeV, electrons 50 MeV-400 GeV). Main objective is the study of the antimatter component: antiprotons (80 MeV-190 GeV), positrons (50 MeV-270 GeV) and search for antimatter with a precision of the order of 10^-8). The experiment, housed on board the Russian Resurs-DK1 satellite, was launched on June, 15, 2006 in a 350*600 km orbit with an inclination of 70 degrees. The detector is composed of a series of scintillator counters arranged at the extremities of a permanent magnet spectrometer to provide charge, Time-of-Flight and rigidity information. Lepton/hadron identification is performed by a Silicon-Tungsten calorimeter and a Neutron detector placed at the bottom of the device. An Anticounter system is used offline to reject false triggers coming from the satellite. In self-trigger mode the ...

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

We present an experimental study of vesicle fusion using light and neutron scattering to monitor fusion events. Vesicles are reproducibly formed with an extrusion procedure using an single amphiphile triethylene glycol mono-n-decyl ether in water. They show long-term stability for temperatures around 20 C, but at temperatures above 26 C we observe an increase in the scattered intensity due to fusion. The system is unusually well suited for the study of basic mechanisms of vesicle fusion. The vesicles are flexible with a bending rigidity of only a few k(H)T. The monolayer spontaneous curvature, Ho, depends strongly on temperature in a known way and is thus tunable. For temperatures where H-0 > 0 vesicles tyre long-term stable, while in the range H-0 < 0 the fusion rate increases the more negative the Spontaneous curvature Through a quantitative;analysis of the fusion rate we arrive tit a barrier to fusion changing from 15 k(B)T at T = 26 degrees C to 10k(H) T ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sandia National Laboratories contracted with Rockwell International Science Center to perform a series of narrowband, pseudo-random cyclic fatigue tests on sections of 6063-T651 aluminum, Darrius-type, vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) airfoils. We designed and constructed a load member that was mounted within the frame of a rigid 200-kip servohydraulic, closed-loop test system to hold the VAWT section and permit cantilever bending along the shear centerline of the beam. A computer program was developed to synthesize a narrow band, pseudo-random load history with fixed root mean square (RMS) stress levels at a given bandwidth and central frequency. Six specimens each of two different weld configurations at the flange mounting plate were tested at several RMS stress levels with failure defined as visual observation of a 3-inch-long crack in the VAWT. In order to test at as great a frequency as possible, a 20-kip hydraulic ram with a 10-GPM servovalve was employed ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Different experimental measurements (Theology, granulometry, XRD) were carried out in order to study the main properties of bentonite suspensions in presence of anionic additives at different concentrations. These additives are: Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) as surfactant, a flexible polymer (Sodium Carboxy Methyl Cellulose, CMC) and a semi-rigid polymer (Xanthan gum). It has been shown that the structural nature of anionic additive influences directly the mixtures viscoelastic and flow behavior. The steric effect of the surfactant modifies the Face-Edge interactions and yields changes of the mixtures rheological behavior at low deformation rates. Polymers act by coating each clay particle and prevent their agglomeration. Therefore, bentonite has no direct effect on the rheological behavior of the mixtures: the additives are responsible for the mechanisms of de-structuration and structure reorganization as well as the mixtures viscous and viscoelastic behavior. ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Using stoichiometrically controlled 1:1 functionalization of gold nanoparticles with fluorescent dye molecules in which the dye molecule is held away from the particle surface by a rigid DNA spacer allows precise determination of the distance-dependent effect of the metal nanoparticles on fluorescence intensity. Two dyes were studied, Cy3 and Cy5, with two sizes of nanoparticles, 5 and 10 nm. The larger the particle, the more quenching of the photoluminescence (PL) intensity, due to increased overlap of the dye's emission spectrum with the Au surface plasmon resonance. Fluorescence is quenched significantly for distances somewhat larger than the particle diameter, in good agreement with the predictions of an electrodynamics model based on interacting dipoles. The distance dependence of surface energy transfer behavior, i.e. quenching efficiency, is proportional to 1/d4, which involves no consideration of the size of the particle and the spectral overlap of the dye ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sub sea pipeline construction at oil and gas fields, with high concentration of on-bottom facilities, becomes more difficult when mooring operations and pipeline approach to a congested platform have to be performed. One method that has often been applied in Brazil is the so-called 'DP (Dynamic Positioning) pull-in', where PETROBRAS owned pipelay Barge, BGL-1, is moored away from the congested area, while a DP anchor handler pulls the rigid pipeline from BGL-1 to a target near the platform. The method was conceived to avoid mooring operations near the congested platforms as well as to minimize risks due to the pipeline initiation process. Inside the congested area the initiation with aid of a 'dead-man' anchor on the sea bottom, which would be a more conventional solution, becomes impossible in most cases. This paper will discuss the engineering work required to perform the 'DP pull-in' as well as show the ...

CERN Document Server

The CMS detector (Compact Muon Solenoid) is under construction at one of the four proton-proton interaction points of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Geneva, Switzerland). The inner tracking system of the CMS experiment consisting of silicon detectors will have a diameter of 2.4 m and a length of 5.4 m representing the largest silicon tracker ever. About 15000 silicon strip modules create an active silicon area of 200 m2 to detect charged particles from proton collisions. They are placed on a rigid carbon fibre structure, providing stability within the working conditions of a 4 T solenoid magnetic field at ?10oC. Knowledge of the position of the silicon detectors at the level of 100 ?m is needed for an efficient pattern recognition of charged particle tracks. Metrology methods are used to survey tracker subdetectors and the integrated Laser Alignment System (LAS) provides absolute positioning of support ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Summary Reactive extrusion was utilised for starch/poly(butylene adipate co-terephthalate) (PBAT) blown film production, using maleic anhydride (MA) and citric acid (CA), alone or combined, as compatibilisers. These compounds (2% w/w) were added to the starch/PBAT (55:45) mixture after dispersion on glycerol. More rigid films, with greater tensile strength (9.82--0.45-MPa), were produced when 2.0% CA was used. The opposite, little homogeneity and poor tensile strength (0.77--0.12-MPa) and elongation (2.67--0.67%) were found in films produced using 2.0% MA. Barrier properties to water vapour were improved by compatibilisers. FTIR analysis showed that CA and MA were able to promote esterification/transesterification reactions. Blends containing CA also showed better phase compatibilisation i...

CERN Document Server

We construct analytic models of incompressible, rigidly rotating stars in PN gravity and study their stability against nonaxisymmetric Jacobi-like bar modes. PN configurations are modeled by homogeneous triaxial ellipsoids and the metric is obtained as a solution of Einstein's equations in 3+1 ADM form. We use an approximate subset of the equations well-suited to numerical integration for strong field, 3D configurations in quasi--equilibrium. These equations are exact at PN order, and admit an analytic solution for homogeneous ellipsoids. In this paper we present this solution, as well as analytic functionals for the conserved global quantities, M, M_0 and J. By using a variational principle we construct sequences of axisymmetric equilibria of constant density and rest mass, i.e. the PN generalization of Maclaurin spheroids, which are compared to other PN and full relativistic sequences presented by previous authors. We then consider nonaxisymmetric ellipsoidal ...

Science.gov (United States)

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is coupled with a computational structural dynamics (CSD) to simulate the unsteady rotor flow with aeroelasticity effects. An unstructured upwind Navier-Stokes solver was developed for this simulation, with 2nd order time-accurate dual-time stepping method for temporal discretization and low Mach number preconditioning method. For turbulent flows, both the Spalart-Allmaras and Menter's SST model are available. Mesh deformation is achieved through a fast dynamic grid method called Delaunay graph map method for unsteady flow simulation. The rotor blades are modeled as Hodges & Dowell's nonlinear beams coupled flap-lag-torsion. The rotorcraft computational structural dynamics code employs the 15-dof beam finite element formulation for modeling. The structure code was validated by comparing the natural frequencies of a rotor model with UMARC. The flow and structure codes are coupled tightly with information exchange several times at every time step. ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Most of the low-level liquid radioactive wastes generated from PWR plants are classified into high or low total suspended solid(HTDS or LTDS), and into radiochemical and radioactive laundry waste. Although the evaporation process has a high decontamination ability, it has several problems such as corrosion, foam, and congestion. A new liquid waste disposal process using the ion-exchange demineralizer(IED), instead of the current evaporation process, has been introduced into the Yonggwang NPP No 5 and 6. These two methods have been compared to understand the differences in this study. Aspects compared here were the released radioactivity amount of the liquid radioactive wastes, the dose of off-site residents, the decontamination factor, and the amount of the solid radioactive wastes. The IED system is designed to discharge higher radioactivity about 20% than the evaporating system, and the actual radioactivity released from the evaporating and IED system were 0.473 ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

After periodic testing of a large-scale spray calciner/ceramic melter vitrification system over a 2-yr period, sufficient corrosion was noted on various parts of the vitrification system to warrant its disassembly and inspection. A majority of the 316 SS sintered metal filters on the spray calciner were damaged by chemical corrosion and/or high temperature oxidation. Inconel-601 portions of the melter lid were attacked by chlorides and sulfates which volatilized from the molten glass. The refractory blocks, making up the walls of the melter, were attacked by the waste glass. This attack was occurring when operating temperatures were >1200/sup 0/C. The melter floor was protected by a sludge layer and showed no corrosion. Corrosion to the Inconel-690 electrodes was minimal, and no corrosion was noted in the offgas treatment system downstream of the sintered metal filters. It is believed that most of the melter corrosion occurred during one specific operating period when the melter was ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The decrease mechanic effect on loads being transported, shock load limiters (dampers) are being widely used today. Usually, the materials having 'stress-strain' diagrams (#sigma#-#epsilon#) of compression with a substantial portion, where #sigma# = const., are used as dampers. Most widely used are dampers made of foam polystyrene having just the same compression diagram. Similar strain diagrams can be enlisted for some porous materials, timber under cross compression, perforated metallic crushers and some others. By selecting damper material, the level of transmitted to the protected object pressures can be varied from several to hundreds MPa. Timber, as being widely used and featuring good technologic properties together with low cost, becomes an attractive material to be used as the limiter of shock loads. This paper presents the results of stress-strain sequoia properties (USA deliverable) and birch properties (Volgo-Vyatski region) at dynamic (v = 10 m/s) and ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Most of the low-level liquid radioactive wastes generated from PWR plants are classified into high or low total suspended solid(HTDS or LTDS), radio-chemical waste and radioactive laundry waste. Although the evaporation process has a high decontamination ability, it has several problems such as corrosion, foaming, and congestion. A new liquid waste disposal process using the ion-exchange demineralizer(IED) has been introduced into the Yonggwang NPP 5 and 6 to complement the current evaporation process. To determine the differences, these two methods have been compared in this study. Those aspects compared here were the released radioactivity volume of the liquid radioactive wastes, The dose of off-site residents, the decontamination factor, and the amount of the solid radioactive wastes. While it was expected that the liquid radioactive waste volume in the evaporating system would be 20 percent higher than in the IED, the actual volume of the liquid radioactive ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Most countries have taken the vitrification route for managing High Level Waste (HLW). Depending on composition of site-specific HLW, suitable glass forming oxides are added to it in a melting furnace designed for converting the mixture to a matrix of borosilicate glass. After thorough homogenization, the product is poured into stainless steel canisters as an inert solidified form. Canisters are seal welded and 2-3 such containers are then packed and sealed in another bigger container for providing an additional engineered barrier. This product form is considered safe for long-term storage. The concurrent vitrification technologies employ either induction-heated metallic melters or joule-heated direct resistance-heated ceramic melters. In India, both technologies have been adopted. While older facilities in Trombay and Tarapur employ metallic melters, a retrofitted facility at Tarapur and the new plant at Kalpakkam are based on ceramic melter operations. Compared to the ceramic ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The behaviour of the packaging materials under radiation field has a great importance in radiation processing, because, in most cases, they are finally responsible for the preservation of the beneficent changes achieved in irradiated products. For example, in radiation sterilisation and food irradiation, the packages must preserve the sterilisation, respectively the sanitisation. They must preserve also the physical barrier feature. The radiation effects on plastics were extensively studied in the last decades for nuclear industry and more recently for radiation processing. The two major effects of nuclear radiation on polymeric materials are the degradation and cross-linking. The degradation consists in breaking of macromolecules after interaction with nuclear particles, amplified by the free radicals which persist long periods, especially in crystalline polymers. Oxygen could penetrate the sample and interact with free radicals so that the degradation process continues after the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We present accurate tight-binding parametrizations of the first-principles augmented-plane-wave or linear-augmented-plane-wave band structures of LaCuO_3, La_2CuO_4, Ba_2CuO_4, and the high-temperature superconductor YBa_2Cu_3O_7. We discuss the methodology and efficient application of these fits, including as an example our tight-binding coherent-potential-approximation (CPA) calculations of the effects of disorder on the electronic structure of La/sub 2-//sub x/Ba/sub x/CuO/sub 4-//sub y/. Our CPA calculations support the hypothesis of a rigid-band lowering of the Fermi level for La/sub 2-//sub x/Ba/sub x/CuO_4, enhancing the density of states there. However, for La_2BaCuO/sub 4-//sub y/ they yield the interesting result that oxygen vacancies also lower E/sub F/ and raise N(E/sub F/). This is a significant result for the theory of superconductivity in these materials. In addition to CPA calculations, our parametrizations of the band structures should prove to be ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The tendency of welded joints from 10Kh14AG15 and 10Kh14AG9 steels to pitting corrosion under the conditions of operating blast-furnace gas purification scrubbers has been investigated. Water in scrubbers contains various quantities of chlorides and sulfates, has pH from 6 to 9 and temperature 65-75 deg. The laboratory corrosion tests have been carried out also on samples turned from the heat-affected zone (h.a.z.) of welded plates at 20 and 65 deg. Anode polarization curves have been read from the Vk corrosion potential at potential shifting rate 0.01 V/min. It is established that in most rigid conditions of scrubbers operating pitting corrosion (PC) rate of chrome-manganese nitrogen-containing steel can reach 2.5 mm/year. At high content of chlorides in water the elevated temperature and external tensile stresses intensify PC. The resistance of welded joints to PC when using welding materials on chromonickel molybdenum base is determined in the first place by ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Since 1998, Hydro Quebec Research Centre (IREQ), in collaboration with Gentilly-2, has been working on the development of inspection devices for the feeder tubes of CANDU power plants. The first tool to come out of this work was the Metar bracelet, now used throughout the CANDU utilities, consisting of 14 ultrasonic probes held in place in a rigid bracelet to measure the thickness of the pipes and moved around manually along the pipe. Following the success of the Metar, a motorized version, i.e. the Crawler, has been developed to inspect beyond the operator arm's reach to access hard to reach place or further down the pipes in the reactor. This new system has been tested at 3 different stations and will be commercially available soon. Finally, the same technology was used to develop a motorized 2-axis crack detection device to answer new concerns about the feeder. Other configurations, depending on the demands from the industry, could also be developed for ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We outline basic principles of a canonical formalism for the Nambu mechanics - a generalization of Hamiltonian mechanics proposed by Yoichiro Nambu in 1973. It is based on the notion of a Nambu bracket, which generalizes the Poisson bracket - a 'binary'' operation on classical observables on the phase space - to the 'multiple' operation of higher order n#>=#3. Nambu dynamics is described by the phase flow given by Nambu-Hamilton equations of motion - a system of ODE's which involves n-1 'Hamiltonians'. We introduce the fundamental identity for the Nambu bracket - a generalization of the Jacobi identity - as a consistency condition for the dynamics. We show that Nambu bracket structure defines a hierarchy of infinite families of 'subordinated' structures of lower order, including Poisson bracket structure, which satisfy certain matching conditions. The notion of Nambu bracket enables us to define Nambu-Poisson manifolds - phase spaces for the Nambu mechanics, which turn out to be ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purpose: The aim of this study was to create, perfect and test a hyperthermia balloon catheter for local treatment of cholangiocarcinoma. The device should induce hyperthermia in tumor tissue by acting locally in the bile duct lumen in contact with the tumor-infiltrated duct wall. In addition, it should exert tissue compression to cause an appreciable reduction in tumor microvasculature flow, thus improving thermal performance. Methods: According to the design specifications, the working temperature range should allow the device to be used for hyperthermia therapy either in combination with radiation and/or chemotherapy(radio/chemo-sensitizing effect at 42-45 deg. C) or alone (induction of coagulation necrosis above 65 deg. C). The balloon serves as an anchoring system during treatment and as a functional element to induce tissue compression. In vitro mechanical evaluation of the pressure/volume relationship, with the balloon inside rigid walled conduits, was ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

For the intermetallic system CaCdsub(1-x)Tlsub(x), 0 <= x <= 1, the Knight shift Ksub(s) of the Cd-NMR and the Tl-NMR were calculated as a function of x, Ksub(s) = Ksub(s)(x). The theoretical investigations were performed on the basis of relativistic augmented-plane-wave (RAPW) band-structure calculations for the boundary phases CaCd and CaTl respectively, and by using the rigid band model for the ternary phases. The density of states and the matrix elements of the relativistic hyperfine operator for electron states at the Fermi surface were calculated in detail. The obtained values were compared with nonrelativistic calculations. The effect of using different exchange potentials was studied for Ksub(s)(Tl). For the Cd-NMR the relativistic effects enhance the nonrelativistic results by a factor of about 1.4. The theoretical value for the Knight shift is smaller than the experimental one by a factor of 1.13. The band structure for CaTl differs significantly ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Commercially-available nuclear fixturing systems typically include a square lattice of tapped and bushed holes with precision locating and clamping elements that can be rigidly attached to the lattice using dowel pins or expanding mandrels. Currently, human expertise is required to synthesize a suitable arrangements of these elements to hold a given part. Besides being time consuming, if the set of alternatives is not systematically explored, the designer may fail to find an acceptable fixture or may settle upon a suboptimal fixture. We consider a class of modular fixtures that prevent a part from translating or rotting in the plane using four point contacts on the part`s boundary. These fixtures are based on three round locators, each centered on a lattice point, and one translating clamp. We present an algorithm that accepts a polygonal part shape as input and synthesizes the set of all fixture designs that achieve form closure for the given part. The algorithm ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Intracapsular femoral neck fractures remain unsolved fractures even after improvement in techniques of diagnosis and internal fixation. Individuals who sustain displaced femoral neck fractures are at high risk of developing avascular necrosis and non-union. Although several methods for predicting the viability of femoral head have been reported, they are not effective or widely used because of unreliability, potential complications and technical difficulties. Dynamic MRI was introduced in the recent past as a simple, non-invasive technique to predict the femoral head viability after the femoral neck fractures. In this study role of dynamic MRI was studied in 30 patients with 31 intracapsular femoral neck fractures. Fractures were divided in to three types according to dynamic curve patterns on MRI evaluation and were followed up for 6 months to 2 years to observe the final outcome. Sensitivity, Specificity and the Accuracy of dynamic MRI in predicting vascularity after femoral neck ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We have studied the application of direct aperture optimization (DAO) as an inverse planning tool for breast IMRT. Additionally, we have analysed the impact of respiratory motion on the quality of the delivered dose distribution. From this analysis, we have developed guidelines for balancing the desire for a high-quality optimized plan with the need to create a plan that will not degrade significantly in the presence of respiratory motion. For a DAO optimized breast IMRT plan, the tangential fields incorporate a flash field to cover the range of respiratory motion. The inverse planning algorithm then optimizes the shapes and weights of additional segments that are delivered in combination with the open fields. IMRT plans were generated using DAO with the relative weights of the open segments varied from 0% to 95%. To assess the impact of breathing motion, the dose distribution for the optimized IMRT plan was recalculated with the isocentre sampled from a predefined distribution in a ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leading abstract. The goals of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences (NTVA) are to promote research, education and development within technological and related sciences, for the benefit of the Norwegian society and for the development of Norwegian industry. Future energy policy and Global climate change are major issues in the Norwegian discussion today. The answers given have great influence on our industry and involve huge technological challenges. In the current situation NTVA wishes to contribute to the development of new technology. In 1998 the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences organized the seminar ''Do We Understand Global Climate Change''. NTVA have now followed this up with a seminar on the Energy System, one of the major sources of manmade greenhouse gases. The world's demand for energy increases with improvements in our standards of living. The cleaning of emissions from production processes requires more ...