Column Grid Array Rework for High Reliability

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, Atul C.; Bodie, Charles C.

2008-01-01

Due to requirements for reduced size and weight, use of grid array packages in space applications has become common place. To meet the requirement of high reliability and high number of I/Os, ceramic column grid array packages (CCGA) were selected for major electronic components used in next MARS Rover mission (specifically high density Field Programmable Gate Arrays). ABSTRACT The probability of removal and replacement of these devices on the actual flight printed wiring board assemblies is deemed to be very high because of last minute discoveries in final test which will dictate changes in the firmware. The questions and challenges presented to the manufacturing organizations engaged in the production of high reliability electronic assemblies are, Is the reliability of the PWBA adversely affected by rework (removal and replacement) of the CGA package? and How many times can we rework the same board without destroying a pad or degrading the lifetime of the assembly? To answer these questions, the most complex printed wiring board assembly used by the project was chosen to be used as the test vehicle, the PWB was modified to provide a daisy chain pattern, and a number of bare PWB s were acquired to this modified design. Non-functional 624 pin CGA packages with internal daisy chained matching the pattern on the PWB were procured. The combination of the modified PWB and the daisy chained packages enables continuity measurements of every soldered contact during subsequent testing and thermal cycling. Several test vehicles boards were assembled, reworked and then thermal cycled to assess the reliability of the solder joints and board material including pads and traces near the CGA. The details of rework process and results of thermal cycling are presented in this paper.

Model Building of Photovoltaic Array with MPPT Function and Research on Single Phase Grid Connected

OpenAIRE

Li Zhengzhou

2016-01-01

With the continued development of solar photovoltaic technology, research on distributed grid connected photovoltaic system has become a research focus in the field of photovoltaic grid power plant and the computer simulation technology is an effective technology means in the study. On the basis of the photovoltaic array output characteristic equation, the photovoltaic array maximum power control simulation model based on M function is established by using MATLAB/Simulink and the simulation m...

Tracking of ball and players in beach volleyball videos.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriel Gomez

Full Text Available This paper presents methods for the determination of players' positions and contact time points by tracking the players and the ball in beach volleyball videos. Two player tracking methods are compared, a classical particle filter and a rigid grid integral histogram tracker. Due to mutual occlusion of the players and the camera perspective, results are best for the front players, with 74,6% and 82,6% of correctly tracked frames for the particle method and the integral histogram method, respectively. Results suggest an improved robustness against player confusion between different particle sets when tracking with a rigid grid approach. Faster processing and less player confusions make this method superior to the classical particle filter. Two different ball tracking methods are used that detect ball candidates from movement difference images using a background subtraction algorithm. Ball trajectories are estimated and interpolated from parabolic flight equations. The tracking accuracy of the ball is 54,2% for the trajectory growth method and 42,1% for the Hough line detection method. Tracking results of over 90% from the literature could not be confirmed. Ball contact frames were estimated from parabolic trajectory intersection, resulting in 48,9% of correctly estimated ball contact points.

Tracking of Ball and Players in Beach Volleyball Videos

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez, Gabriel; Herrera López, Patricia; Link, Daniel; Eskofier, Bjoern

2014-01-01

This paper presents methods for the determination of players' positions and contact time points by tracking the players and the ball in beach volleyball videos. Two player tracking methods are compared, a classical particle filter and a rigid grid integral histogram tracker. Due to mutual occlusion of the players and the camera perspective, results are best for the front players, with 74,6% and 82,6% of correctly tracked frames for the particle method and the integral histogram method, respectively. Results suggest an improved robustness against player confusion between different particle sets when tracking with a rigid grid approach. Faster processing and less player confusions make this method superior to the classical particle filter. Two different ball tracking methods are used that detect ball candidates from movement difference images using a background subtraction algorithm. Ball trajectories are estimated and interpolated from parabolic flight equations. The tracking accuracy of the ball is 54,2% for the trajectory growth method and 42,1% for the Hough line detection method. Tracking results of over 90% from the literature could not be confirmed. Ball contact frames were estimated from parabolic trajectory intersection, resulting in 48,9% of correctly estimated ball contact points. PMID:25426936

Formation and stabilization of multiple ball-like flames at Earth gravity

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Zhen

2018-03-20

Near-limit low-Lewis-number premixed flame behavior is studied experimentally and numerically for flames of H–CH–air mixtures that are located in a 55 mm diameter tube and below a perforated plate in a downward mixture flow. A combustion regime diagram is experimentally identified in terms of equivalence ratio and ratio of H to CH (variation of fuel Lewis number). Planar flames, cell-like flames, distorted cap-like flames, and arrays of ball-like flames are progressively observed in the experiments as the equivalence ratio is decreased. The experimentally observed ball-like lean limit flames experience chaotic motion, which is accompanied by sporadic events of flame splitting and extinction, while the total number of simultaneously burning flamelets remains approximately the same. In separate experiments, the multiple ball-like lean limit flames are stabilized by creating a slightly non-uniform mixture flow field. The CH* chemiluminescence distributions of the lean limit flames are recorded, showing that the ball-like lean limit flame front becomes more uniform in intensity and its shape approaches a spherical one with the increase of H content in the fuel. Numerical simulations are performed for single representative flames of the array of stabilized flamelets observed in the experiments. The simulated ball-like lean limit flame is further contrasted with the single ball-like flame that forms in a narrow tube (13.5 mm inner diameter) with an iso-thermal wall. The numerical results show that the ball-like lean limit flames present in the array of ball-like flames are more affected by the buoyancy-induced recirculation zone, compared with that in the narrow tube, revealing why the shape of the ball-like flame in the array deviates more from a spherical one. All in all, the wall confinement is not crucial for the formation of ball-like flames at terrestrial gravity.

Volumetric display using a roof mirror grid array

Science.gov (United States)

Miyazaki, Daisuke; Hirano, Noboru; Maeda, Yuuki; Ohno, Keisuke; Maekawa, Satoshi

2010-02-01

A volumetric display system using a roof mirror grid array (RMGA) is proposed. The RMGA consists of a two-dimensional array of dihedral corner reflectors and forms a real image at a plane-symmetric position. A two-dimensional image formed with a RMGA is moved at thigh speed by a mirror scanner. Cross-sectional images of a three-dimensional object are displayed in accordance with the position of the image plane. A volumetric image can be observed as a stack of the cross-sectional images by high-speed scanning. Image formation by a RMGA is free from aberrations. Moreover, a compact optical system can be constructed because a RMGA doesn't have a focal length. An experimental volumetric display system using a galvanometer mirror and a digital micromirror device was constructed. The formation of a three-dimensional image consisting of 1024 × 768 × 400 voxels is confirmed by the experimental system.

Microcoil Spring Interconnects for Ceramic Grid Array Integrated Circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Strickland, S. M.; Hester, J. D.; Gowan, A. K.; Montgomery, R. K.; Geist, D. L.; Blanche, J. F.; McGuire, G. D.; Nash, T. S.

2011-01-01

As integrated circuit miniaturization trends continue, they drive the need for smaller higher input/output (I/O) packages. Hermetically sealed ceramic area array parts are the package of choice by the space community for high reliability space flight electronic hardware. Unfortunately, the coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch between the ceramic area array package and the epoxy glass printed wiring board limits the life of the interconnecting solder joint. This work presents the results of an investigation by Marshall Space Flight Center into a method to increase the life of this second level interconnection by the use of compliant microcoil springs. The design of the spring and its attachment process are presented along with thermal cycling results of microcoil springs (MCS) compared with state-of-the-art ball and column interconnections. Vibration testing has been conducted on MCS and high lead column parts. Radio frequency simulation and measurements have been made and the MCS has been modeled and a stress analysis performed. Thermal cycling and vibration testing have shown MCS interconnects to be significantly more reliable than solder columns. Also, MCS interconnects are less prone to handling damage than solder columns. Future work that includes shock testing, incorporation into a digital signal processor board, and process evaluation of expansion from a 400 I/O device to a device with over 1,100 I/O is identified.

Berkeley High-Resolution Ball

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diamond, R.M.

1984-10-01

Criteria for a high-resolution γ-ray system are discussed. Desirable properties are high resolution, good response function, and moderate solid angle so as to achieve not only double- but triple-coincidences with good statistics. The Berkeley High-Resolution Ball involved the first use of bismuth germanate (BGO) for anti-Compton shield for Ge detectors. The resulting compact shield permitted rather close packing of 21 detectors around a target. In addition, a small central BGO ball gives the total γ-ray energy and multiplicity, as well as the angular pattern of the γ rays. The 21-detector array is nearly complete, and the central ball has been designed, but not yet constructed. First results taken with 9 detector modules are shown for the nucleus 156 Er. The complex decay scheme indicates a transition from collective rotation (prolate shape) to single- particle states (possibly oblate) near spin 30 h, and has other interesting features

Technical Note: Rapid prototyping of 3D grid arrays for image guided therapy quality assurance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kittle, David; Holshouser, Barbara; Slater, James M.; Guenther, Bob D.; Pitsianis, Nikos P.; Pearlstein, Robert D.

2008-01-01

Three dimensional grid phantoms offer a number of advantages for measuring imaging related spatial inaccuracies for image guided surgery and radiotherapy. The authors examined the use of rapid prototyping technology for directly fabricating 3D grid phantoms from CAD drawings. We tested three different fabrication process materials, photopolymer jet with acrylic resin (PJ/AR), selective laser sintering with polyamide (SLS/P), and fused deposition modeling with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (FDM/ABS). The test objects consisted of rectangular arrays of control points formed by the intersections of posts and struts (2 mm rectangular cross section) and spaced 8 mm apart in the x, y, and z directions. The PJ/AR phantom expanded after immersion in water which resulted in permanent warping of the structure. The surface of the FDM/ABS grid exhibited a regular pattern of depressions and ridges from the extrusion process. SLS/P showed the best combination of build accuracy, surface finish, and stability. Based on these findings, a grid phantom for assessing machine-dependent and frame-induced MR spatial distortions was fabricated to be used for quality assurance in stereotactic neurosurgical and radiotherapy procedures. The spatial uniformity of the SLS/P grid control point array was determined by CT imaging (0.6x0.6x0.625 mm 3 resolution) and found suitable for the application, with over 97.5% of the control points located within 0.3 mm of the position specified in CAD drawing and none of the points off by more than 0.4 mm. Rapid prototyping is a flexible and cost effective alternative for development of customized grid phantoms for medical physics quality assurance.

MICROARRAY IMAGE GRIDDING USING GRID LINE REFINEMENT TECHNIQUE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.G. Biju

2015-05-01

Full Text Available An important stage in microarray image analysis is gridding. Microarray image gridding is done to locate sub arrays in a microarray image and find co-ordinates of spots within each sub array. For accurate identification of spots, most of the proposed gridding methods require human intervention. In this paper a fully automatic gridding method which enhances spot intensity in the preprocessing step as per a histogram based threshold method is used. The gridding step finds co-ordinates of spots from horizontal and vertical profile of the image. To correct errors due to the grid line placement, a grid line refinement technique is proposed. The algorithm is applied on different image databases and results are compared based on spot detection accuracy and time. An average spot detection accuracy of 95.06% depicts the proposed method’s flexibility and accuracy in finding the spot co-ordinates for different database images.

Micro-ball lens structure fabrication based on drop on demand printing the liquid mold

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu, Xiaoyang, E-mail: zhuxy1026@163.com; Zhu, Li, E-mail: zhuli@njust.edu.cn; Chen, Hejuan; Yang, Lijun; Zhang, Weiyi

2016-01-15

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • The glycerol micro-ball droplet was introduced to be as liquid mold to fabricate micro-ball lens. • A molding process was used to fabricate the micro-ball lens and the scales of them can be controlled. • The accurate molding process is mainly attributed to the ultrahigh adhesion of the treated substrate. • The micro-ball lenses with contact angle of 120° and 150° were fabricated, analyzed and discussed. - Abstract: In this paper, we demonstrated a simple micro-ball lens array (MBLA) fabrication method using a drop-on-demand (DOD) droplet printing technique and liquid mold. The micro-ball droplet array on the hydrophobic surface is used as the liquid mold to fabricate the MBLA. The ultrahigh adhesion force between the micro-ball droplet and the substrate is ascribed to the Wenzel state of the micro-ball droplet, while the replication process with low position error is attributed to the ultrahigh adhesion force between the micro-ball droplet and the substrate and the high viscosity of the micro-ball droplet and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) liquid. The micro-ball lenses (MBLs) with a contact angle of 120° and 150° were fabricated and the important fabrication details were discussed. The optical performance and scanning electron microscope (SEM) data of the MBLs showed that the MBLs had high quality surface morphology and good optical performance.

Characterization of TES bolometers used in 2-dimensional Backshort-Under-Grid (BUG) arrays for far-infrared astronomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Staguhn, J.G.; Allen, C.A.; Benford, D.J.; Chervenak, J.A.; Chuss, D.T.; Miller, T.M.; Moseley, S.H.; Wollack, E.J.

2006-01-01

We have produced a laboratory demonstration of our new Backshort-Under-Grid (BUG) bolometer array architecture in a monolithic, 2-dimensional, 8x8 format. The detector array is designed as a square grid of suspended, 1μm thick silicon bolometers with superconducting molybdium/gold bilayer TESs. These detectors use an additional layer of gold bars deposited on top of the bilayer, oriented transverse to the direction of the current flow, for the suppression of excess noise. This detector design has earlier been shown to provide near fundamental noise limited device performance. We present results from performance measurements of witness devices. In particular we demonstrate that the inband excess noise level of the TES detectors is less than 20% above the thermodynamic phonon noise limit and not significantly higher out of band at frequencies that cannot be attenuated by the Nyquist filter. Our 8x8 BUG arrays will be used in the near future for astronomical observations in several (sub-)millimeter instruments

Recombination of the steering vector of the triangle grid array in quaternions and the reduction of the MUSIC algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Chen; Han, Dongjuan

2018-04-01

MUSIC is widely used on DOA estimation. Triangle grid is a common kind of the arrangement of array, but it is more complicated than rectangular array in calculation of steering vector. In this paper, the quaternions algorithm can reduce dimension of vector and make the calculation easier.

Hydrodynamics of triangular-grid arrays of floating point-absorber wave energy converters with inter-body and bottom slack-mooring connections

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vicente, Pedro C.; Falcao, Antonio F. de O.; Gato, Luiz M.C. [IDMEC, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Technical University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Justino, Paulo A.P. [Laboratorio Nacional de Energia e Geologia, 1649-038 Lisboa (Portugal)

2009-07-01

It may be convenient that dense arrays of floating point absorbers are spread-moored to the sea bottom through only some of their elements (possibly located in the periphery), while the other array elements are prevented from drifting and colliding with each other by connections to adjacent elements. An array of identical floating point absorbers located at the grid points of an equilateral triangular grid is considered in the paper. A spread set of slack-mooring lines connect the peripheric floaters to the bottom. A weight is located at the centre of each triangle whose function is o pull the three floaters towards each other and keep the inter-body moorings lines under tension. The whole system - buoys, moorings and power take-off systems - is assumed linear, so that a frequency domain analysis may be employed. Hydrodynamic interference between the oscillating bodies is neglected. Equations are presented for a set of three identical point absorbers. This is then extended to more complex equilateral iriangular grid arrays. Results from numerical simulations, with regular and irregular waves, are presented for the motions and power absorption of hemispherical converters in arrays of three and seven elements and different mooring and power take-off parameters, and wave incidence angles. Comparisons are given with the unmoored and independently-moored buoy situations.

Novel micromachined on-chip 10-elements wire-grid array operating at 60 GHz

KAUST Repository

Sallam, Mai O.

2017-06-07

This paper presents a new topology for a wire-grid antenna array which operates at 60 GHz. The array consists of ten λ/2 dipole radiators connected via non-radiating connectors. Both radiators and connectors are placed on top of narrow silicon walls. The antenna is fed with a coplanar microstrip lines placed at the other side of the wafer and is connected with its feeding transmission lines using through-silicon-vias. The antenna is optimized for two cases: using high- and low-resistivity silicon substrates. The former has better radiation characteristics while the later is more compatible with the driving electronic circuits. The antenna has high directivity, reasonable bandwidth and high polarization purity.

Efficiency calibration and coincidence summing correction for large arrays of NaI(Tl) detectors in soccer-ball and castle geometries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anil Kumar, G.; Mazumdar, I.; Gothe, D.A.

2009-01-01

Efficiency calibration and coincidence summing correction have been performed for two large arrays of NaI(Tl) detectors in two different configurations. They are, a compact array of 32 conical detectors of pentagonal and hexagonal shapes in soccer-ball geometry and an array of 14 straight hexagonal NaI(Tl) detectors in castle geometry. Both of these arrays provide a large solid angle of detection, leading to considerable coincidence summing of gamma rays. The present work aims to understand the effect of coincidence summing of gamma rays while determining the energy dependence of efficiencies of these two arrays. We have carried out extensive GEANT4 simulations with radio-nuclides that decay with a two-step cascade, considering both arrays in their realistic geometries. The absolute efficiencies have been simulated for gamma energies from 700 to 2800 keV using four different double-photon emitters, namely, 60 Co, 46 Sc, 94 Nb and 24 Na. The efficiencies so obtained have been corrected for coincidence summing using the method proposed by Vidmar et al. . The simulations have also been carried out for the same energies assuming mono-energetic point sources, for comparison. Experimental measurements have also been carried out using calibrated point sources of 137 Cs and 60 Co. The simulated and the experimental results are found to be in good agreement. This demonstrates the reliability of the correction method for efficiency calibration of two large arrays in very different configurations.

Efficiency calibration and coincidence summing correction for large arrays of NaI(Tl) detectors in soccer-ball and castle geometries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anil Kumar, G., E-mail: anilg@tifr.res.i [Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai 400005 (India); Mazumdar, I.; Gothe, D.A. [Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai 400005 (India)

2009-11-21

Efficiency calibration and coincidence summing correction have been performed for two large arrays of NaI(Tl) detectors in two different configurations. They are, a compact array of 32 conical detectors of pentagonal and hexagonal shapes in soccer-ball geometry and an array of 14 straight hexagonal NaI(Tl) detectors in castle geometry. Both of these arrays provide a large solid angle of detection, leading to considerable coincidence summing of gamma rays. The present work aims to understand the effect of coincidence summing of gamma rays while determining the energy dependence of efficiencies of these two arrays. We have carried out extensive GEANT4 simulations with radio-nuclides that decay with a two-step cascade, considering both arrays in their realistic geometries. The absolute efficiencies have been simulated for gamma energies from 700 to 2800 keV using four different double-photon emitters, namely, {sup 60}Co, {sup 46}Sc, {sup 94}Nb and {sup 24}Na. The efficiencies so obtained have been corrected for coincidence summing using the method proposed by Vidmar et al. . The simulations have also been carried out for the same energies assuming mono-energetic point sources, for comparison. Experimental measurements have also been carried out using calibrated point sources of {sup 137}Cs and {sup 60}Co. The simulated and the experimental results are found to be in good agreement. This demonstrates the reliability of the correction method for efficiency calibration of two large arrays in very different configurations.

High-resolution two-dimensional and three-dimensional modeling of wire grid polarizers and micropolarizer arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Vorobiev, Dmitry; Ninkov, Zoran

2017-11-01

Recent advances in photolithography allowed the fabrication of high-quality wire grid polarizers for the visible and near-infrared regimes. In turn, micropolarizer arrays (MPAs) based on wire grid polarizers have been developed and used to construct compact, versatile imaging polarimeters. However, the contrast and throughput of these polarimeters are significantly worse than one might expect based on the performance of large area wire grid polarizers or MPAs, alone. We investigate the parameters that affect the performance of wire grid polarizers and MPAs, using high-resolution two-dimensional and three-dimensional (3-D) finite-difference time-domain simulations. We pay special attention to numerical errors and other challenges that arise in models of these and other subwavelength optical devices. Our tests show that simulations of these structures in the visible and near-IR begin to converge numerically when the mesh size is smaller than ˜4 nm. The performance of wire grid polarizers is very sensitive to the shape, spacing, and conductivity of the metal wires. Using 3-D simulations of micropolarizer "superpixels," we directly study the cross talk due to diffraction at the edges of each micropolarizer, which decreases the contrast of MPAs to ˜200∶1.

High-Speed Monitoring of Multiple Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Array Configurations and Supplementary Weather Station.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyd, Matthew T

2017-06-01

Three grid-connected monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic arrays have been instrumented with research-grade sensors on the Gaithersburg, MD campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These arrays range from 73 kW to 271 kW and have different tilts, orientations, and configurations. Irradiance, temperature, wind, and electrical measurements at the arrays are recorded, and images are taken of the arrays to monitor shading and capture any anomalies. A weather station has also been constructed that includes research-grade instrumentation to measure all standard meteorological quantities plus additional solar irradiance spectral bands, full spectrum curves, and directional components using multiple irradiance sensor technologies. Reference photovoltaic (PV) modules are also monitored to provide comprehensive baseline measurements for the PV arrays. Images of the whole sky are captured, along with images of the instrumentation and reference modules to document any obstructions or anomalies. Nearly, all measurements at the arrays and weather station are sampled and saved every 1s, with monitoring having started on Aug. 1, 2014. This report describes the instrumentation approach used to monitor the performance of these photovoltaic systems, measure the meteorological quantities, and acquire the images for use in PV performance and weather monitoring and computer model validation.

Ball Screw Actuator Including a Compliant Ball Screw Stop

Science.gov (United States)

Wingett, Paul T. (Inventor); Hanlon, Casey (Inventor)

2017-01-01

An actuator includes a ball nut, a ball screw, and a ball screw stop. The ball nut is adapted to receive an input torque and in response rotates and supplies a drive force. The ball screw extends through the ball nut and has a first end and a second end. The ball screw receives the drive force from the ball nut and in response selectively translates between a retract position and a extend position. The ball screw stop is mounted on the ball screw proximate the first end to translate therewith. The ball screw stop engages the ball nut when the ball screw is in the extend position, translates, with compliance, a predetermined distance toward the first end upon engaging the ball nut, and prevents further rotation of the ball screw upon translating the predetermined distance.

Nuclear reactor spring strip grid spacer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patterson, J.F.; Flora, B.S.

1978-01-01

A bimetallic grid spacer is described comprising a grid structure of zircaloy formed by intersecting striplike members which define fuel element openings for receiving fuel elements and spring strips made of Inconel positioned within the grid structure for cooperating with the fuel elements to maintain them in their desired position. A plurality of these spring strips extend longitudinally between sides of the grid structure, being locked in position by the grid retaining strips. The fuel rods, which are disposed in the fuel openings formed in the grid structure, are positioned by means of the springs associated with the spring strips and a plurality of dimples which extend from the zircaloy grid structure into the openings. In one embodiment the strips are disposed in a plurality of arrays with those spring strip arrays situated in opposing diagonal quadrants of the grid structure extending in the same direction and adjacent spring strip arrays in each half of the spacer extending in relatively perpendicular directions. Other variations of the spring strip arrangements for a particular fuel design are disclosed herein

Waveguide-coupled micro-ball lens array suitable for mass fabrication

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chang, Lantian; Dijkstra, Meindert; Ismail, Nur; Pollnau, Markus; de Ridder, René M; Wörhoff, Kerstin; Subramaniam, Vinod; Kanger, Johannes S

2015-01-01

We demonstrate a fabrication procedure for the direct integration of micro-ball lenses on planar integrated optical channel waveguide chips with the aim to reduce the divergence of light that arises from the waveguide in both horizontal and vertical directions. Fabrication of the lenses is based on

The research on multi-projection correction based on color coding grid array

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Fan; Han, Cheng; Bai, Baoxing; Zhang, Chao; Zhao, Yunxiu

2017-10-01

There are many disadvantages such as lower timeliness, greater manual intervention in multi-channel projection system, in order to solve the above problems, this paper proposes a multi-projector correction technology based on color coding grid array. Firstly, a color structured light stripe is generated by using the De Bruijn sequences, then meshing the feature information of the color structured light stripe image. We put the meshing colored grid intersection as the center of the circle, and build a white solid circle as the feature sample set of projected images. It makes the constructed feature sample set not only has the perceptual localization, but also has good noise immunity. Secondly, we establish the subpixel geometric mapping relationship between the projection screen and the individual projectors by using the structure of light encoding and decoding based on the color array, and the geometrical mapping relation is used to solve the homography matrix of each projector. Lastly the brightness inconsistency of the multi-channel projection overlap area is seriously interfered, it leads to the corrected image doesn't fit well with the observer's visual needs, and we obtain the projection display image of visual consistency by using the luminance fusion correction algorithm. The experimental results show that this method not only effectively solved the problem of distortion of multi-projection screen and the issue of luminance interference in overlapping region, but also improved the calibration efficient of multi-channel projective system and reduced the maintenance cost of intelligent multi-projection system.

Formation and stabilization of multiple ball-like flames at Earth gravity

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Zhen; Shoshin, Yuriy; Hernandez Perez, Francisco; van Oijen, Jeroen A.; de Goey, Laurentius P.H.

2018-01-01

diagram is experimentally identified in terms of equivalence ratio and ratio of H to CH (variation of fuel Lewis number). Planar flames, cell-like flames, distorted cap-like flames, and arrays of ball-like flames are progressively observed

Operation of Grid-tied 5 kWDC solar array to develop Laboratory Experiments for Solar PV Energy System courses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramos, Jaime [Univ. of Texas Pan American, Edinburg, TX (United States)

2012-12-14

To unlock the potential of micro grids we plan to build, commission and operate a 5 kWDC PV array and integrate it to the UTPA Engineering building low voltage network, as a micro grid; and promote community awareness. Assisted by a solar radiation tracker providing on-line information of its measurements and performing analysis for the use by the scientific and engineering community, we will write, perform and operate a set of Laboratory experiments and computer simulations supporting Electrical Engineering (graduate and undergraduate) courses on Renewable Energy, as well as Senior Design projects.

Design, testing, and economics of a 430 W sub p photovoltaic concentrator array for non grid-connected applications

Science.gov (United States)

Maish, A. B.; Rios, M., Jr.; Togami, H.

A stand-alone 430 W/sub p/ photovoltaic (PV) concentrating system for low power, non grid-connected applications has been designed, fabricated, and tested at Sandia National Laboratories. The array consists of four passively cooled Fresnel lens concentrating modules on a newly developed polar axis tracking structure. Two axis tracking is provided using a self powered clock drive unit mounted on a single post foundation. Test results of tracking accuracy, array output power, parasitic power, performance in winds and array reliability are discussed. using a range of estimated production costs for small production volumes, the life-cycle energy costs have been calculated and compared to the equivalent energy costs of a 3 kW diesel electric generator set and of an equivalent flat panel PV system.

Ball clay

Science.gov (United States)

Virta, R.L.

2001-01-01

Part of the 2000 annual review of the industrial minerals sector. A general overview of the ball clay industry is provided. In 2000, sales of ball clay reached record levels, with sanitary ware and tile applications accounting for the largest sales. Ball clay production, consumption, prices, foreign trade, and industry news are summarized. The outlook for the ball clay industry is also outlined.

The Design of Distributed Micro Grid Energy Storage System

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Ya-feng; Wang, Yan-ping

2018-03-01

Distributed micro-grid runs in island mode, the energy storage system is the core to maintain the micro-grid stable operation. For the problems that it is poor to adjust at work and easy to cause the volatility of micro-grid caused by the existing energy storage structure of fixed connection. In this paper, an array type energy storage structure is proposed, and the array type energy storage system structure and working principle are analyzed. Finally, the array type energy storage structure model is established based on MATLAB, the simulation results show that the array type energy storage system has great flexibility, which can maximize the utilization of energy storage system, guarantee the reliable operation of distributed micro-grid and achieve the function of peak clipping and valley filling.

On the impact analysis of a PWR spacer grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Kee Nam; Lee, S. H.

2012-01-01

A spacer grid, which is an interconnected array of slotted grid straps and is welded at the intersections to form an egg crate structure, is one of the most important structural components in a PWR fuel assembly. From a structural point of view, the spacer grid is required to have sufficient crush strength under lateral loads so that nuclear fuel rods are maintained in a cool able geometry, and that control rods can be inserted. The capacity of a spacer grid to resist lateral loads is usually characterized in terms of its crush strength, and it was reported that the lateral crush strength of the spacer grid is closely related with welding quality of the spacer grid. Microstructures in the weld zone, including a heat affected zone (HAZ), are different from that in a parent material. Consequently, the mechanical properties in the weld zone are different from those in the parent material to some extent. When a welded structure is loaded, the mechanical behavior of the welded structure might be different from the case of a structure with homogeneous mechanical properties. Nonetheless, mechanical properties in the welded structure have been neglected in many structural analyses of the spacer grid due to a lack of mechanical properties in the weld zone. When the weld zone is very narrow and the interfaces are not clear, it is difficult to take tensile test specimens in the weld zone. The reason for this is that the mechanical properties in the parent material are usually used in the structural analyses in the welded structure. As an aside, it has been recently determined that the ball indentation technique has the potential to be an excellent substitute for a standard tensile test, particularly in the case of small specimens or property gradient materials such as welds. In this study, to investigate the effect on the mechanical behavior of the spacer grid when using weld mechanical properties, strength analyses considering the weld mechanical properties recently obtained

Ball Nut Preload Diagnosis of the Hollow Ball Screw through Support Vector Machine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Cheng Huang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the diagnostic results of hollow ball screws with different ball nut preload through the support vector machine (SVM process. The method is testified by considering the use of ball screw pretension and different ball nut preload. SVM was used to discriminate the hollow ball screw preload status through the vibration signals and servo motor current signals. Maximum dynamic preloads of 2%, 4%, and 6% ball screws were predesigned, manufactured, and conducted experimentally. Signal patterns with different preload features are separatedby SVM. The irregularity development of the ball screw driving motion current and rolling balls vibration of the ball screw can be discriminated via SVM based on complexity perception. The experimental results successfully show that the prognostic status of ball nut preload can be envisaged by the proposed methodology. The smart reasoning for the health of the ball screw is available based on classification of SVM. This diagnostic method satisfies the purposes of prognostic effectiveness on knowing the ball nut preload status

Having a Ball with Fitness Balls

Science.gov (United States)

McNulty, Betty

2011-01-01

Fitness programs can be greatly enhanced with the addition of fitness balls. They are a fun, challenging, economical, and safe way to incorporate a cardiovascular, strength, and stretching program for all fitness levels in a physical education setting. The use of these balls has become more popular during the last decade, and their benefits and…

Petrography and microanalysis of Pennsylvanian coal-ball concretions (Herrin Coal, Illinois Basin, USA): Bearing on fossil plant preservation and coal-ball origins

Science.gov (United States)

Siewers, Fredrick D.; Phillips, Tom L.

2015-11-01

Petrographic analyses of 25 coal balls from well-studied paleobotanical profiles in the Middle Pennsylvanian Herrin Coal (Westphalian D, Illinois Basin) and five select coal balls from university collections, indicate that Herrin Coal-ball peats were permineralized by fibrous and non-fibrous carbonates. Fibrous carbonates occur in fan-like to spherulitic arrays in many intracellular (within tissue) pores, and are best developed in relatively open extracellular (between plant) pore spaces. Acid etched fibrous carbonates appear white under reflected light and possess a microcrystalline texture attributable to abundant microdolomite. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electron microprobe analysis demonstrate that individual fibers have a distinct trigonal prism morphology and are notable for their magnesium content (≈ 9-15 mol% MgCO3). Non-fibrous carbonates fill intercrystalline spaces among fibers and pores within the peat as primary precipitates and neomorphic replacements. In the immediate vicinity of plant cell walls, non-fibrous carbonates cut across fibrous carbonates as a secondary, neomorphic phase attributed to coalification of plant cell walls. Dolomite occurs as diagenetic microdolomite associated with the fibrous carbonate phase, as sparite replacements, and as void-filling cement. Maximum dolomite (50-59 wt.%) is in the top-of-seam coal-ball zone at the Sahara Mine, which is overlain by the marine Anna Shale. Coal-ball formation in the Herrin Coal began with the precipitation of fibrous high magnesium calcite. The trigonal prism morphology of the carbonate fibers suggests rapid precipitation from super-saturated, meteoric pore waters. Carbonate precipitation from marine waters is discounted on the basis of stratigraphic, paleobotanical, and stable isotopic evidence. Most non-fibrous carbonate is attributable to later diagenetic events, including void-fill replacements, recrystallization, and post-depositional fracture fills. Evidence

Prognostics Health Management of Electronic Systems Under Mechanical Shock and Vibration Using Kalman Filter Models and Metrics

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Structural damage to ball grid array interconnects incurred during vibration testing has been monitored in the prefailure space using resistance spectroscopy-based...

Online Variable Topology-Type Photovoltaic Grid-Connected Inverter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Fengjiang; Sun, Bo; Duan, Jiandong

2015-01-01

In photovoltaic (PV) grid-connected generation system, the key focus is how to expand the generation range of the PV array and enhance the total efficiency of the system. This paper originally derived expressions of the total loss and grid current total harmonics distortions of cascaded inverter...... and H-bridge inverter under the conditions of variable output voltage and power of the PV array. It is proved that, compared with the H-bridge inverter, the operation range of the cascaded inverter is wider, whereas the total loss is larger. Furthermore, a novel online variable topology-type grid......-connected inverter is proposed. A bidirectional power switch is introduced into the conventional cascaded inverter to connect the negative terminals of the PV arrays. When the output voltages of the PV arrays are lower, the proposed inverter works under cascaded inverter mode to obtain wider generation range. When...

An array of virtual Frisch-grid CdZnTe detectors and a front-end application-specific integrated circuit for large-area position-sensitive gamma-ray cameras

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolotnikov, A. E., E-mail: bolotnik@bnl.gov; Ackley, K.; Camarda, G. S.; Cherches, C.; Cui, Y.; De Geronimo, G.; Fried, J.; Hossain, A.; Mahler, G.; Maritato, M.; Roy, U.; Salwen, C.; Vernon, E.; Yang, G.; James, R. B. [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11793 (United States); Hodges, D. [University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968 (United States); Lee, W. [Korea University, Seoul 136-855 (Korea, Republic of); Petryk, M. [SUNY Binghamton, Vestal, New York 13902 (United States)

2015-07-15

We developed a robust and low-cost array of virtual Frisch-grid CdZnTe detectors coupled to a front-end readout application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for spectroscopy and imaging of gamma rays. The array operates as a self-reliant detector module. It is comprised of 36 close-packed 6 × 6 × 15 mm{sup 3} detectors grouped into 3 × 3 sub-arrays of 2 × 2 detectors with the common cathodes. The front-end analog ASIC accommodates up to 36 anode and 9 cathode inputs. Several detector modules can be integrated into a single- or multi-layer unit operating as a Compton or a coded-aperture camera. We present the results from testing two fully assembled modules and readout electronics. The further enhancement of the arrays’ performance and reduction of their cost are possible by using position-sensitive virtual Frisch-grid detectors, which allow for accurate corrections of the response of material non-uniformities caused by crystal defects.

The incredible shrinking ball

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Maurice

2011-12-15

In the oil and gas industry, the implementation of fracture systems using ball and seat technology helped make multistage fracturing possible. However, frac balls can obstruct later production flow by staying in the well. Baker Hughes Inc. developed a technology to solve this problem: IN-Tallic frac balls. The unique feature of these frac balls is that they are made of an electrolytic metallic nanostructured material which is light and strong and which melts away with salt water or brine through a decomposition process governed by electrochemical reactions controlled by nanoscale coatings. These balls need to be kept away from moisture in order to prevent degradation. This technology is more expensive than traditional frac balls but it prevents the need to mill out obstructions created by the balls. The IN-Tallic frac balls are a new technology which provides operators with peace of mind.

Reliability of Ceramic Column Grid Array Interconnect Packages Under Extreme Temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Ramesham, Rajeshuni

2011-01-01

A paper describes advanced ceramic column grid array (CCGA) packaging interconnects technology test objects that were subjected to extreme temperature thermal cycles. CCGA interconnect electronic package printed wiring boards (PWBs) of polyimide were assembled, inspected nondestructively, and, subsequently, subjected to ex - treme-temperature thermal cycling to assess reliability for future deep-space, short- and long-term, extreme-temperature missions. The test hardware consisted of two CCGA717 packages with each package divided into four daisy-chained sections, for a total of eight daisy chains to be monitored. The package is 33 33 mm with a 27 27 array of 80%/20% Pb/Sn columns on a 1.27-mm pitch. The change in resistance of the daisy-chained CCGA interconnects was measured as a function of the increasing number of thermal cycles. Several catastrophic failures were observed after 137 extreme-temperature thermal cycles, as per electrical resistance measurements, and then the tests were continued through 1,058 thermal cycles to corroborate and understand the test results. X-ray and optical inspection have been made after thermal cycling. Optical inspections were also conducted on the CCGA vs. thermal cycles. The optical inspections were conclusive; the x-ray images were not. Process qualification and assembly is required to optimize the CCGA assembly, which is very clear from the x-rays. Six daisy chains were open out of seven daisy chains, as per experimental test data reported. The daisy chains are open during the cold cycle, and then recover during the hot cycle, though some of them also opened during the hot thermal cycle..

Standard Practice for Determining Resistance of Solar Collector Covers to Hail by Impact With Propelled Ice Balls

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

1992-01-01

1.1 This practice covers a procedure for determining the ability of cover plates for flat-plate solar collectors to withstand impact forces of falling hail. Propelled ice balls are used to simulate falling hailstones. This practice is not intended to apply to photovoltaic cells or arrays. 1.2 This practice defines two types of test specimens, describes methods for mounting specimens, specifies impact locations on each test specimen, provides an equation for determining the velocity of any size ice ball, provides a method for impacting the test specimens with ice balls, and specifies parameters that must be recorded and reported. 1.3 This practice does not establish pass or fail levels. The determination of acceptable or unacceptable levels of ice-ball impact resistance is beyond the scope of this practice. 1.4 The size of ice ball to be used in conducting this test is not specified in this practice. This practice can be used with various sizes of ice balls. 1.5 The categories of solar collector cover plat...

Dolphin underwater bait-balling behaviors in relation to group and prey ball sizes.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaughn-Hirshorn, Robin L; Muzi, Elisa; Richardson, Jessica L; Fox, Gabriella J; Hansen, Lauren N; Salley, Alyce M; Dudzinski, Kathleen M; Würsig, Bernd

2013-09-01

We characterized dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) feeding behaviors recorded on underwater video, and related behaviors to variation in prey ball sizes, dolphin group sizes, and study site (Argentina versus New Zealand, NZ). Herding behaviors most often involved dolphins swimming around the side or under prey balls, but dolphins in Argentina more often swam under prey balls (48% of passes) than did dolphins in NZ (34% of passes). This result may have been due to differences in group sizes between sites, since groups are larger in Argentina. Additionally, in NZ, group size was positively correlated with proportion of passes that occurred under prey balls (pdolphins in Argentina more often swam through prey balls (8% of attempts) than did dolphins in NZ (4% of attempts). This result may have been due to differences in prey ball sizes between sites, since dolphins fed on larger prey balls in Argentina (>74m(2)) than in NZ (maximum 33m(2)). Additionally, in NZ, dolphins were more likely to swim through prey balls to capture fish when they fed on larger prey balls (p=0.025). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Golf Ball

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

The Ultra 500 Series golf balls, introduced in 1995 by Wilson Sporting Goods Company, has 500 dimples arranged in a pattern of 60 spherical triangles. The design employs NASA's aerodynamics technology analysis of air loads of the tank and Shuttle orbiter that was performed under the Space Shuttle External Tank program. According to Wilson, this technology provides 'the most symmetrical ball surface available, sustaining initial velocity longer and producing the most stable ball flight for unmatched accuracy and distance.' The dimples are in three sizes, shapes and depths mathematically positioned for the best effect. The selection of dimples and their placement optimizes the interaction of opposing forces of lift and drag. Large dimples reduce air drag, enhance lift, and maintain spin for distance. Small dimples prevent excessive lift that destabilizes the ball flight and the medium size dimples blend the other two.

Visual Servoing Tracking Control of a Ball and Plate System: Design, Implementation and Experimental Validation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming-Tzu Ho

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the design, implementation and validation of real-time visual servoing tracking control for a ball and plate system. The position of the ball is measured with a machine vision system. The image processing algorithms of the machine vision system are pipelined and implemented on a field programmable gate array (FPGA device to meet real-time constraints. A detailed dynamic model of the system is derived for the simulation study. By neglecting the high-order coupling terms, the ball and plate system model is simplified into two decoupled ball and beam systems, and an approximate input-output feedback linearization approach is then used to design the controller for trajectory tracking. The designed control law is implemented on a digital signal processor (DSP. The validity of the performance of the developed control system is investigated through simulation and experimental studies. Experimental results show that the designed system functions well with reasonable agreement with simulations.

Development of a low cost integrated 15 kW A.C. solar tracking sub-array for grid connected PV power system applications

Science.gov (United States)

Stern, M.; West, R.; Fourer, G.; Whalen, W.; Van Loo, M.; Duran, G.

1997-02-01

Utility Power Group has achieved a significant reduction in the installed cost of grid-connected PV systems. The two part technical approach focused on 1) The utilization of a large area factory assembled PV panel, and 2) The integration and packaging of all sub-array power conversion and control functions within a single factory produced enclosure. Eight engineering prototype 15kW ac single axis solar tracking sub-arrays were designed, fabricated, and installed at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District's Hedge Substation site in 1996 and are being evaluated for performance and reliability. A number of design enhancements will be implemented in 1997 and demonstrated by the field deployment and operation of over twenty advanced sub-array PV power systems.

Experimental study of mixing in a square array rod bundle with grid spacer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zong Guifang; Cai Zuti; Zhang Demei

1989-01-01

This paper describes the experimental study of mixing in a full scale 15x15 square array rod bundle fuel assembly with 10 mm diameter and 13.3 mm pitch. The experiment was carried out in an open water loop, K 2 CrO 4 was used as tracer. Each subchannel was sampled at the open bundle outlet. Titration, spectrophotometry and fibreoptic methods were used to measure the concentration. The Reynolds numbers ranged from 2.12x10 4 to 4.37x10 4 . For the turbulent mixing of the bare rod bundle, the results of this study agreed with the formulas recommended by other authors. Both flow visualisation studies and the quantitative analysis indicated that flow scattering caused by the grid has a little effect on the mixing. The cause has been examined in this paper. (orig.)

ATMAD: robust image analysis for Automatic Tissue MicroArray De-arraying.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Hoai Nam; Paveau, Vincent; Cauchois, Cyril; Kervrann, Charles

2018-04-19

Over the last two decades, an innovative technology called Tissue Microarray (TMA), which combines multi-tissue and DNA microarray concepts, has been widely used in the field of histology. It consists of a collection of several (up to 1000 or more) tissue samples that are assembled onto a single support - typically a glass slide - according to a design grid (array) layout, in order to allow multiplex analysis by treating numerous samples under identical and standardized conditions. However, during the TMA manufacturing process, the sample positions can be highly distorted from the design grid due to the imprecision when assembling tissue samples and the deformation of the embedding waxes. Consequently, these distortions may lead to severe errors of (histological) assay results when the sample identities are mismatched between the design and its manufactured output. The development of a robust method for de-arraying TMA, which localizes and matches TMA samples with their design grid, is therefore crucial to overcome the bottleneck of this prominent technology. In this paper, we propose an Automatic, fast and robust TMA De-arraying (ATMAD) approach dedicated to images acquired with brightfield and fluorescence microscopes (or scanners). First, tissue samples are localized in the large image by applying a locally adaptive thresholding on the isotropic wavelet transform of the input TMA image. To reduce false detections, a parametric shape model is considered for segmenting ellipse-shaped objects at each detected position. Segmented objects that do not meet the size and the roundness criteria are discarded from the list of tissue samples before being matched with the design grid. Sample matching is performed by estimating the TMA grid deformation under the thin-plate model. Finally, thanks to the estimated deformation, the true tissue samples that were preliminary rejected in the early image processing step are recognized by running a second segmentation step. We

Frictional performance of ball screw

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakashima, Katuhiro; Takafuji, Kazuki

1985-01-01

As feed screws, ball screws have become to be adopted in place of trapezoidal threads. The structure of ball screws is complex, but those are the indispensable component of NC machine tools and machining centers, and are frequently used for industrial robots. As the problems in the operation of ball screws, there are damage, life and the performance related to friction. As to the damage and life, though there is the problem of the load distribution on balls, the results of the research on rolling bearings are applied. The friction of ball screws consists of the friction of balls and a spiral groove, the friction of a ball and a ball, the friction in a ball-circulating mechanism and the viscous friction of lubricating oil. It was decided to synthetically examine the frictional performance of ball screws, such as driving torque, the variation of driving torque, efficiency, the formation of oil film and so on, under the working condition of wide range, using the screws with different accuracy and the nuts of various circuit number. The experimental setup and the processing of the experimental data, the driving performance of ball screws and so on are reported. (Kako, I.)

Individual ball possession in soccer.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Link

Full Text Available This paper describes models for detecting individual and team ball possession in soccer based on position data. The types of ball possession are classified as Individual Ball Possession (IBC, Individual Ball Action (IBA, Individual Ball Control (IBC, Team Ball Possession (TBP, Team Ball Control (TBC und Team Playmaking (TPM according to different starting points and endpoints and the type of ball control involved. The machine learning approach used is able to determine how long the ball spends in the sphere of influence of a player based on the distance between the players and the ball together with their direction of motion, speed and the acceleration of the ball. The degree of ball control exhibited during this phase is classified based on the spatio-temporal configuration of the player controlling the ball, the ball itself and opposing players using a Bayesian network. The evaluation and application of this approach uses data from 60 matches in the German Bundesliga season of 2013/14, including 69,667 IBA intervals. The identification rate was F = .88 for IBA and F = .83 for IBP, and the classification rate for IBC was κ = .67. Match analysis showed the following mean values per match: TBP 56:04 ± 5:12 min, TPM 50:01 ± 7:05 min and TBC 17:49 ± 8:13 min. There were 836 ± 424 IBC intervals per match and their number was significantly reduced by -5.1% from the 1st to 2nd half. The analysis of ball possession at the player level indicates shortest accumulated IBC times for the central forwards (0:49 ± 0:43 min and the longest for goalkeepers (1:38 ± 0:58 min, central defenders (1:38 ± 1:09 min and central midfielders (1:27 ± 1:08 min. The results could improve performance analysis in soccer, help to detect match events automatically, and allow discernment of higher value tactical structures, which is based on individual ball possession.

On-grid and Off-grid Operation of Multi-Input Single-Output DC/DC Converter based Fuel Cell Generation System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noroozian

2009-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the modeling and simulation of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC generation system for off-grid and on-grid operation and configuration. A fuel cell DG system consists of a fuel cell power plant, a DC/DC converter and a DC/AC inverter. The dynamic model for fuel cell array and its power electronic interfacing are presented also a multi-input single output (MISO DC/DC converter and its control scheme is proposed and analyzed. This DC/DC converter is capable of interfacing fuel cell arrays to the DC/AC inverter. Also the mathematical model of the inverter is obtained by using average technique. Then the novel control strategy of DC/AC inverter for different operating conditions is demonstrated. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the suggested control systems under both on-grid and off-grid operation modes.

Design and study of a coplanar grid array CdZnTe detector for improved spatial resolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, Yuedong; Xiao, Shali; Yang, Guoqiang; Zhang, Liuqiang

2014-01-01

Coplanar grid (CPG) CdZnTe detectors have been used as gamma-ray spectrometers for years. Comparing with pixelated CdZnTe detectors, CPG CdZnTe detectors have either no or poor spatial resolution, which directly limits its use in imaging applications. To address the issue, a 2×2 CPG array CdZnTe detector with dimensions of 7×7×5 mm 3 was fabricated. Each of the CPG pairs in the detector was moderately shrunk in size and precisely designed to improve the spatial resolution while maintaining good energy resolution, considering the charge loss at the surface between the strips of each CPG pairs. Preliminary measurements were demonstrated at an energy resolution of 2.7–3.9% for the four CPG pairs using 662 keV gamma rays and with a spatial resolution of 3.3 mm, which is the best spatial resolution ever achieved for CPG CdZnTe detectors. The results reveal that the CPG CdZnTe detector can also be applied to imaging applications at a substantially higher spatial resolution. - Highlights: • A novel structure of coplanar grid CdZnTe detector was designed to evaluate the possibility of applying the detector to gamma-ray imaging applications. • The best spatial resolution of coplanar grid CdZnTe detectors ever reported has been achieved, along with good spectroscopic performance. • Depth correction of the energy spectra using a new algorithm is presented

Ceramic Rail-Race Ball Bearings

Science.gov (United States)

Balzer, Mark A.; Mungas, Greg S.; Peters, Gregory H.

2010-01-01

Non-lubricated ball bearings featuring rail races have been proposed for use in mechanisms that are required to function in the presence of mineral dust particles in very low-pressure, dry environments with extended life. Like a conventional ball bearing, the proposed bearing would include an inner and an outer ring separated by balls in rolling contact with the races. However, unlike a conventional ball bearing, the balls would not roll in semi-circular or gothic arch race grooves in the rings: instead, the races would be shaped to form two or more rails (see figure). During operation, the motion of the balls would push dust particles into the spaces between the rails where the particles could not generate rolling resistance for the balls

Effect of a ball skill intervention on children's ball skills and cognitive functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Westendorp, Marieke; Houwen, Suzanne; Hartman, Esther; Mombarg, Remo; Smith, Joanne; Visscher, Chris

2014-02-01

This study examined the effect of a 16-wk ball skill intervention on the ball skills, executive functioning (in terms of problem solving and cognitive flexibility), and in how far improved executive functioning leads to improved reading and mathematics performance of children with learning disorders. Ninety-one children with learning disorders (age 7-11 yr old) were recruited from six classes in a Dutch special-needs primary school. The six classes were assigned randomly either to the intervention or to the control group. The control group received the school's regular physical education lessons. In the intervention group, ball skills were practiced in relative static, simple settings as well as in more dynamic and cognitive demanding settings. Both groups received two 40-min lessons per week. Children's scores on the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (ball skills), Tower of London (problem solving), Trail Making Test (cognitive flexibility), Dutch Analysis of Individual Word Forms (reading), and the Dutch World in Numbers test (mathematics) at pretest, posttest, and retention test were used to examine intervention effects. The results showed that the intervention group significantly improved their ball skills, whereas the control group did not. No intervention effects were found on the cognitive parameters. However, within the intervention group, a positive relationship (r = 0.41, P = 0.007) was found between the change in ball skill performance and the change in problem solving: the larger children's improvement in ball skills, the larger their improvement in problem solving. The present ball skill intervention is an effective instrument to improve the ball skills of children with learning disorders. Further research is needed to examine the effect of the ball skill intervention on the cognitive parameters in this population.

Numerical investigation of the flow over a golf ball in the subcritical and supercritical regimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, C.E.; Beratlis, N.; Balaras, E.; Squires, K.; Tsunoda, M.

2010-01-01

In order to understand the role of surface dimpling on the flow over a golf ball, direct numerical simulations (DNS) are conducted within the framework of an immersed boundary approach for two physical regimes. Computations of the flow over a non-rotating golf ball are reported for a subcritical flow at a Reynolds number of 2.5 x 10 4 and a supercritical case at a Reynolds number of 1.1 x 10 5 . Grid refinement studies for both Reynolds numbers indicated that characteristics of the subcritical flow could be captured using a mesh of 337 x 10 6 points, and for the supercritical case using a grid with 1.2 x 10 9 points. Flow visualizations reveal the differences in separation characteristics between the two Reynolds numbers. Profiles of the mean velocity indicate that the flow detaches completely at approximately 84 o in the subcritical case (measured from the stagnation point at the front of the ball), while in the supercritical regime there are alternating regions of reattachment and separation within dimples with complete detachment around 110 o . Energy spectra highlight frequencies associated with vortex formation over the dimples prior to complete detachment in the supercritical regime. Reynolds stresses quantify momentum transport in the near-wall region, showing that the axial stress increases around 90 o for the subcritical case. In the supercritical regime these stress components alternately increase and decrease, corresponding to local separation and reattachment. Prediction of the drag coefficient for both Reynolds numbers is in reasonable agreement with measurements.

Optical and Acoustic Sensor-Based 3D Ball Motion Estimation for Ball Sport Simulators †

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sang-Woo Seo

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Estimation of the motion of ball-shaped objects is essential for the operation of ball sport simulators. In this paper, we propose an estimation system for 3D ball motion, including speed and angle of projection, by using acoustic vector and infrared (IR scanning sensors. Our system is comprised of three steps to estimate a ball motion: sound-based ball firing detection, sound source localization, and IR scanning for motion analysis. First, an impulsive sound classification based on the mel-frequency cepstrum and feed-forward neural network is introduced to detect the ball launch sound. An impulsive sound source localization using a 2D microelectromechanical system (MEMS microphones and delay-and-sum beamforming is presented to estimate the firing position. The time and position of a ball in 3D space is determined from a high-speed infrared scanning method. Our experimental results demonstrate that the estimation of ball motion based on sound allows a wider activity area than similar camera-based methods. Thus, it can be practically applied to various simulations in sports such as soccer and baseball.

The bowling balls

CERN Multimedia

CERN Bulletin

2010-01-01

10 November 1972: CERN’s Bent Stumpe places an order for 12 bowling balls for a total cost of 95 US dollars. Although not evident at first sight, he is buying the heart of some of the first tracking devices to be used in the SPS control room. Today, Bent Stumpe’s device would be called a desktop mouse…   The first order for 4 bowling balls later changed to 12 balls. The bowling balls became the heart of Bent Stumpe's mouse. Almost 40 years ago, the web, Wikipedia and Google did not exist and it was much more difficult to know whether other people in other parts of the world or even in the same laboratory were facing the same problems or developing the same tools. At that time, Bent Stumpe was an electronics engineer, newly recruited to work on developments for the SPS Central Control room. One of the things his supervisor asked him to build as soon as possible was a device to control a pointer on a screen, also called a tracker ball. The heart of the device was the...

The spinning ball spiral

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dupeux, Guillaume; Le Goff, Anne; Quere, David; Clanet, Christophe

2010-01-01

We discuss the trajectory of a fast revolving solid ball moving in a fluid of comparable density. As the ball slows down owing to drag, its trajectory follows an exponential spiral as long as the rotation speed remains constant: at the characteristic distance L where the ball speed is significantly affected by the drag, the bending of the trajectory increases, surprisingly. Later, the rotation speed decreases, which makes the ball follow a second kind of spiral, also described in the paper. Finally, the use of these highly curved trajectories is shown to be relevant to sports.

Compact Q-balls

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bazeia, D., E-mail: bazeia@fisica.ufpb.br [Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 58051-970 João Pessoa, PB (Brazil); Losano, L.; Marques, M.A. [Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 58051-970 João Pessoa, PB (Brazil); Menezes, R. [Departamento de Ciências Exatas, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 58297-000 Rio Tinto, PB (Brazil); Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, 58109-970 Campina Grande, PB (Brazil); Rocha, R. da [Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição, Universidade Federal do ABC, 09210-580 Santo André (Brazil)

2016-07-10

In this work we deal with non-topological solutions of the Q-ball type in two space–time dimensions, in models described by a single complex scalar field that engenders global symmetry. The main novelty is the presence of stable Q-balls solutions that live in a compact interval of the real line and appear from a family of models controlled by two distinct parameters. We find analytical solutions and study their charge and energy, and show how to control the parameters to make the Q-balls classically and quantum mechanically stable.

Smart grids infrastructure, technology, and solutions

CERN Document Server

Borlase, Stuart

2012-01-01

What exactly is smart grid? Why is it receiving so much attention? What are utilities, vendors, and regulators doing about it? Answering these questions and more, Smart Grids: Infrastructure, Technology, and Solutions gives readers a clearer understanding of the drivers and infrastructure of one of the most talked-about topics in the electric utility market-smart grid. This book brings together the knowledge and views of a vast array of experts and leaders in their respective fields.Key Features Describes the impetus for change in the electric utility industry Discusses the business drivers, b

Design optimization of grid-connected PV inverters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koutroulis, Eftichios; Blaabjerg, Frede

2011-01-01

The DC/AC inverters are the key elements in grid-connected PV energy production systems. In this paper, new design optimization techniques focused on transformerless (very high efficiency) PV inverters are proposed. They have been developed based on an analysis of the deficiencies of the current......, state-of-the-art PV inverters design technology, which limits the amount of PV energy supplied into the electric grid. The influences of the electric grid regulations and standards and the PV array operational characteristics on the design of grid-connected PV inverters have also been considered....... The simulation results verify that the proposed optimization techniques enable the maximization of the PV energy injected into the electric grid by the optimized PV installation....

Optimizing electrical load pattern in Kuwait using grid connected photovoltaic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Hasan, A.Y.; Ghoneim, A.A.; Abdullah, A.H.

2004-01-01

Grid connected photovoltaic systems is one of the most promising applications of photovoltaic systems. These systems are employed in applications where utility service is already available. In this case, there is no need for battery storage because grid power may be used to supplement photovoltaic systems (PV) when the load exceeds available PV generation. The load receives electricity from both the photovoltaic array and the utility grid. In this system, the load is the total electrical energy consumption. The main objective of the present work is to optimize the electrical load pattern in Kuwait using grid connected PV systems. In this situation, the electric load demand can be satisfied from both the photovoltaic array and the utility grid. The performance of grid connected photovoltaic systems in the Kuwait climate has been evaluated. It was found that the peak load matches the maximum incident solar radiation in Kuwait, which would emphasize the role of using the PV station to minimize the electrical load demand. In addition, a significant reduction in peak load can be achieved with grid connected PV systems

LHC gets the ball rolling

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

A technique involving a small ball with a transmitter embedded inside it has been successfully tested in Sector 7-8. The ball is sent through the LHC beam pipes to check the LHC interconnections. The multidisciplinary team responsible for the RF ball project to check the interconnections. From left to right: Rhodri Jones (AB/BI), Eva Calvo (AB/BI), Francesco Bertinelli (AT/MCS), Sonia Bartolome Jimenez (TS/IC), Sylvain Weisz (TS/IC), Paul Cruikshank (AT/VAC), Willemjan Maan (AT/VAC), Alain Poncet (AT/MCS), Marek Gasior (AB/BI). During the tests the ball is inserted very carefully into the vacuum chamber.A game of ping-pong at the LHC? On 13 September a rather unusual test was carried out in Sector 7-8 of the accelerator. A ball just a bit smaller than a ping-pong ball was carefully introduced into one of the accelerator’s two vacuum pipes, where it travelled 800 metres in the space of a few mi...

Three-Phase Grid-Connected of Photovoltaic Generator Using Nonlinear Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yahya, A.; El Fadil, H.; Guerrero, Josep M.

2014-01-01

This paper proposes a nonlinear control methodology for three phase grid connected of PV generator. It consists of a PV arrays; a voltage source inverter, a grid filter and an electric grid. The controller objectives are threefold: i) ensuring the Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in the side...... stability analysis and simulation results that the proposed controller meets all the objectives....

Grid-connected photovoltaic systems for Malaysian residential sector: Effects of component costs, feed-in tariffs, and carbon taxes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lau, K.Y.; Muhamad, N.A.; Arief, Y.Z.; Tan, C.W.; Yatim, A.H.M.

2016-01-01

Blessed with abundant solar radiation, Malaysia has a huge potential for grid-connected PV (photovoltaic) installations, particularly for its fast-growing residential sector. Nevertheless, Malaysia's PV installation capacity is relatively small compared with the global PV capacity. Significantly, the pricing mechanisms for grid-connected PV projects need to be appropriately assessed to build up the public's confidence to invest in PV projects. In this paper, we analyze the effects of component costs, FiTs (feed-in tariffs), and carbon taxes on grid-connected PV systems in Malaysian residential sector using the HOMER (Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources) software. Results demonstrate that the implementation of grid-connected PV systems is highly feasible with PV array costs of $ 1120/kW or lower. For higher PV array costs up to $ 2320/kW, introducing an FiT rate three times higher ($ 0.30/kWh) than the grid tariff for a 100 kW grid sale capacity will, NPC-wise, prioritize grid-connected PV systems over the utility grid. By implementing the FiT ($ 0.50/kWh) and the carbon tax ($ 36/metric ton) schemes simultaneously, grid-connected PV systems will remain as the optimal systems even for costly PV arrays (up to $ 4000/kW). The findings are of paramount importance as far as PV pricing variability is concerned. - Highlights: • Grid-connected PV for Malaysian residential sector has been analyzed using HOMER. • Component costs, feed-in tariffs, and carbon taxes affect optimal system types. • Grid-connected PV projects are feasible for low PV array costs ($ 1120/kW or lower). • For higher PV array and inverter costs, feed-in tariffs should be implemented. • Combining feed-in tariffs with carbon taxes are effective for further lowering NPCs.

Grid Synchronization for Distributed Generations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peyghami, Saeed; Mokhtari, Hossein; Blaabjerg, Frede

2017-01-01

Distributed generators (DGs) like photovoltaic arrays, wind turbines, and fuel cell modules, as well as distributed storage (DS) units introduce some advantages to the power systems and make it more reliable, flexible, and controllable in comparison with the conventional power systems. Grid inter...

The Goldenrod Ball Gall

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Richard B.

1974-01-01

The paper presents a generalized life history of the goldenrod ball gall, a ball-shaped swelling found almost exclusively on the Canada goldenrod, Solidago canadensis, and caused by a peacock fly know as Eurosta soldiaginis. (KM)

Dynamics of a Bouncing Ball

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Shiuan-Ni; Lan, Boon Leong

The dynamics of a bouncing ball undergoing repeated inelastic impacts with a table oscillating vertically in a sinusoidal fashion is studied using Newtonian mechanics and general relativistic mechanics. An exact mapping describes the bouncing ball dynamics in each theory. We show, contrary to expectation, that the trajectories predicted by Newtonian mechanics and general relativistic mechanics from the same parameters and initial conditions for the ball bouncing at low speed in a weak gravitational field can rapidly disagree completely. The bouncing ball system could be realized experimentally to test which of the two different predicted trajectories is correct.

An Off-Grid Turbo Channel Estimation Algorithm for Millimeter Wave Communications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lingyi Han

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The bandwidth shortage has motivated the exploration of the millimeter wave (mmWave frequency spectrum for future communication networks. To compensate for the severe propagation attenuation in the mmWave band, massive antenna arrays can be adopted at both the transmitter and receiver to provide large array gains via directional beamforming. To achieve such array gains, channel estimation (CE with high resolution and low latency is of great importance for mmWave communications. However, classic super-resolution subspace CE methods such as multiple signal classification (MUSIC and estimation of signal parameters via rotation invariant technique (ESPRIT cannot be applied here due to RF chain constraints. In this paper, an enhanced CE algorithm is developed for the off-grid problem when quantizing the angles of mmWave channel in the spatial domain where off-grid problem refers to the scenario that angles do not lie on the quantization grids with high probability, and it results in power leakage and severe reduction of the CE performance. A new model is first proposed to formulate the off-grid problem. The new model divides the continuously-distributed angle into a quantized discrete grid part, referred to as the integral grid angle, and an offset part, termed fractional off-grid angle. Accordingly, an iterative off-grid turbo CE (IOTCE algorithm is proposed to renew and upgrade the CE between the integral grid part and the fractional off-grid part under the Turbo principle. By fully exploiting the sparse structure of mmWave channels, the integral grid part is estimated by a soft-decoding based compressed sensing (CS method called improved turbo compressed channel sensing (ITCCS. It iteratively updates the soft information between the linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE estimator and the sparsity combiner. Monte Carlo simulations are presented to evaluate the performance of the proposed method, and the results show that it enhances the angle

Simulation of ball motion and energy transfer in a planetary ball mill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Sheng-Yong; Mao Qiong-Jing; Li Xiao-Dong; Yan Jian-Hua; Peng Zheng

2012-01-01

A kinetic model is proposed for simulating the trajectory of a single milling ball in a planetary ball mill, and a model is also proposed for simulating the local energy transfer during the ball milling process under no-slip conditions. Based on the kinematics of ball motion, the collision frequency and power are described, and the normal impact forces and effective power are derived from analyses of collision geometry. The Hertzian impact theory is applied to formulate these models after having established some relationships among the geometric, dynamic, and thermophysical parameters. Simulation is carried out based on two models, and the effects of the rotation velocity of the planetary disk Ω and the vial-to-disk speed ratio ω/Ω on other kinetic parameters is investigated. As a result, the optimal ratio ω/Ω to obtain high impact energy in the standard operating condition at Ω = 800 rpm is estimated, and is equal to 1.15. (interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

2012 Problem 15: Frustrating Golf Ball

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Shan; Zhu, Zheyuan; Gao, Wenli; Wang, Sihui

2015-10-01

This paper studies the condition for a golf ball to escape from a hole. The two determining factors are the ball's initial velocity v0 and its deviation from the center of the hole d. There is a critical escaping velocity vc for every deviation d. The ball's motion is analyzed by calculating the change of velocity whenever the ball collides with the hole. The critical conditions predicted by our theory are verified through experiment.

Support grid for fuel elements in a nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finch, L.M.

1977-01-01

A support grid is provided for holding nuclear fuel rods in a rectangular array. Intersecting sheet metal strips are interconnected using opposing slots in the strips to form a rectangular cellular grid structure for engaging the sides of a multiplicity of fuel rods. Spring and dimple supports for engaging fuel and guide rods extending through each cell in the support grid are formed in the metal strips with the springs thus formed being characterized by nonlinear spring rates

Effect of a ball skill intervention on children's ball skills and cognitive functions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westendorp-Haverdings, Marieke; Houwen, Suzanne; Hartman, Esther; Mombarg, Remo; Smith, Joanne; Visscher, Chris

Purpose: This study examined the effect of a 16-wk ball skill intervention on the ball skills, executive functioning (in terms of problem solving and cognitive flexibility), and in how far improved executive functioning leads to improved reading and mathematics performance of children with learning

Ball mounting fixture for a roundness gage

Science.gov (United States)

Gauler, Allen L.; Pasieka, Donald F.

1983-01-01

A ball mounting fixture for a roundness gage is disclosed. The fixture includes a pair of chuck assemblies oriented substantially transversely with respect to one another and mounted on a common base. Each chuck assembly preferably includes a rotary stage and a wobble plate affixed thereto. A ball chuck affixed to each wobble plate is operable to selectively support a ball to be measured for roundness, with the wobble plate permitting the ball chuck to be tilted to center the ball on the axis of rotation of the rotary stage. In a preferred embodiment, each chuck assembly includes a vacuum chuck operable to selectively support the ball to be measured for roundness. The mounting fixture enables a series of roundness measurements to be taken with a conventional rotating gagehead roundness instrument, which measurements can be utilized to determine the sphericity of the ball.

Structure and magnetism of SmCo5 nanoflakes prepared by surfactant-assisted ball milling with different ball sizes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nie, Junwu; Han, Xianghua; Du, Juan; Xia, Weixing; Zhang, Jian; Guo, Zhaohui; Yan, Aru; Li, Wei; Ping Liu, J.

2013-01-01

Anisotropic magnetic SmCo 5 nanoflakes have been fabricated by surfactant-assisted ball milling (SABM) using hardened steel balls of one of the following sizes: 4, 6.5, 9.5 and 12.7 mm in diameters. The magnetic properties of SmCo 5 particles prepared by SABM with different milling ball sizes in diameters were investigated systematically. It was showed that the nanoflakes milled by amount of small size balls had a higher coercivity and lower anisotropy, i.e., worse grain orientation although in a short milling time while the nanoflakes prepared with same weight of big balls tend to have a lower coercivity, better grain orientation. The coercivity mechanism of the nanoflake was studied and it was mainly dominated with the domain-wall pinning. The SEM analysis shows that the morphology of nanoflakes prepared with different ball sizes are almost the same when the balls to powder weight ratio is fixed. The different magnetic properties caused by different ball sizes are mainly due to the different microstructure changes, i.e, grain refinement and c-axis orientation, which are demonstrated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Based on the experiments above, a combined milling process was suggested and done to improve magnetic properties as your need. - Highlights: • We fabricated anisotropic magnetic SmCo 5 nanoflakes by surfactant-assisted ball milling (SABM). • We investigated the magnetic properties of SmCo 5 particles systematically. It was showed that the coercivity, high or low, and grain orientation, good or bad, were influenced strongly by balls size. The different magnetisms caused by different ball sizes is mainly due to the different microstructure changes. • The coercivity mechanism of the nanoflake was studied and it was mainly dominated with the domain-wall pinning

Study of soccer ball flight trajectory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javorova Juliana

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper the trajectories of a soccer ball for the most important kicks in the football game - a corner kick and a direct free kick are studied. The soccer ball is modelled as an ideal rigid hollow spherical body with six degrees of freedom, which performs a general motion in an immovable air environment with constant parameters. The ball 3D orientation is determined by the three Cardan angles. The aerodynamic forces and moments with which the air environment acts to the ball are taken into account. Two of the most dangerous areas of the football goal are defined. Differential equations which describe the motion of the soccer ball are solved numerically by MatLab-Simulink.

Respiratory disease in ball pythons (Python regius) experimentally infected with ball python nidovirus.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoon-Hanks, Laura L; Layton, Marylee L; Ossiboff, Robert J; Parker, John S L; Dubovi, Edward J; Stenglein, Mark D

2018-04-01

Circumstantial evidence has linked a new group of nidoviruses with respiratory disease in pythons, lizards, and cattle. We conducted experimental infections in ball pythons (Python regius) to test the hypothesis that ball python nidovirus (BPNV) infection results in respiratory disease. Three ball pythons were inoculated orally and intratracheally with cell culture isolated BPNV and two were sham inoculated. Antemortem choanal, oroesophageal, and cloacal swabs and postmortem tissues of infected snakes were positive for viral RNA, protein, and infectious virus by qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, western blot and virus isolation. Clinical signs included oral mucosal reddening, abundant mucus secretions, open-mouthed breathing, and anorexia. Histologic lesions included chronic-active mucinous rhinitis, stomatitis, tracheitis, esophagitis and proliferative interstitial pneumonia. Control snakes remained negative and free of clinical signs throughout the experiment. Our findings establish a causal relationship between nidovirus infection and respiratory disease in ball pythons and shed light on disease progression and transmission. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Supersymmetric Q-balls theory and cosmology

CERN Document Server

Kusenko, A

1999-01-01

MSSM predicts the existence of Q-balls, some of which can be entirely stable. Both stable and unstable Q-balls can play an important role in cosmology. In particular, Affleck-Dine baryogenesis can result in a copious production of stable baryonic Q-balls, which can presently exist as a form of dark matter.

The relationships between impact location and post-impact ball speed, bat torsion, and ball direction in cricket batting.

Science.gov (United States)

Peploe, C; McErlain-Naylor, S A; Harland, A R; King, M A

2018-06-01

Three-dimensional kinematic data of bat and ball were recorded for 239 individual shots performed by twenty batsmen ranging from club to international standard. The impact location of the ball on the bat face was determined and assessed against the resultant instantaneous post-impact ball speed and measures of post-impact bat torsion and ball direction. Significant negative linear relationships were found between post-impact ball speed and the absolute distance of impact from the midline medio-laterally and sweetspot longitudinally. Significant cubic relationships were found between the distance of impact from the midline of the bat medio-laterally and both a measure of bat torsion and the post-impact ball direction. A "sweet region" on the bat face was identified whereby impacts within 2 cm of the sweetspot in the medio-lateral direction, and 4.5 cm in the longitudinal direction, caused reductions in ball speed of less than 6% from the optimal value, and deviations in ball direction of less than 10° from the intended target. This study provides a greater understanding of the margin for error afforded to batsmen, allowing researchers to assess shot success in more detail, and highlights the importance of players generating consistently central impact locations when hitting for optimal performance.

Relation Between Hertz Stress-Life Exponent, Ball-Race Conformity, and Ball Bearing Life

Science.gov (United States)

Zaretsky, Erwin V.; Poplawski, Joseph V.; Root, Lawrence E.

2008-01-01

ANSI/ABMA and ISO standards based on Lundberg-Palmgren bearing life theory are normalized for ball bearings having inner- and outerrace conformities of 52 percent (0.52) and made from pre-1940 bearing steel. The Lundberg-Palmgren theory incorporates an inverse 9th power relation between Hertz stress and fatigue life for ball bearings. The effect of race conformity on ball set life independent of race life is not incorporated into the Lundberg-Palmgren theory. In addition, post-1960 vacuum-processed bearing steel exhibits a 12th power relation between Hertz stress and life. The work reported extends the previous work of Zaretsky, Poplawski, and Root to calculate changes in bearing life--that includes the life of the ball set--caused by race conformity, Hertz stress-life exponent, ball bearing type and bearing series. The bearing fatigue life in actual application will usually be equal to or greater than that calculated using the ANSI/ABMA and ISO standards that incorporate the Lundberg-Palmgren theory. The relative fatigue life of an individual race is more sensitive to changes in race conformity for Hertz stress-life exponent n of 12 than where n = 9. However, when the effects are combined to predict actual bearing life for a specified set of conditions and bearing geometry, the predicted life of the bearing will be greater for a value of n = 12 than n = 9.

Enhancing transformer dynamic rating through grid application of photovoltaic arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Gasseir, M.M.; Sayer, M.A.; Alteneder, K.P.; McCulla, G.A.; Bigger, J.

1993-01-01

This paper demonstrates that exact matching between the substation's peak-day load profile and the profile of coincident net output generation of the PV array is unjustifiable and will unduly lead to overlooking many investment deferment opportunities that would otherwise be major components of high value applications of PV arrays. Further, the paper shows how and to what extent the load matchability requirement could be relaxed. Because of the thermal inertia of transformers, the output of an adequately sized and located photovoltaic array can both delay and reduce transformer temperature rise even in cases where load peak occurs after sunset. The time lag due to thermal inertia and ambient temperature decline allow overloading of the transformer beyond its normal rating without significant loss of life. Simulations depicting the interplay between PV array capacity, ambient temperature, transformer size, oil and winding temperature rise, peak load magnitude, load profile and loss of life, have been conducted. Tradeoffs between PV array capacity and transformer over-rating gains have been assessed. The impacts of PV generation on the over-rating potential of an actual 22.4-MVA bank transformer of a Salt River Project (SRP) distribution substation in Phoenix, Arizona were evaluated

Laboratory demonstration of ball lightning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Egorov, Anton I; Stepanov, Sergei I; Shabanov, Gennadii D

2004-01-01

A common laboratory facility for creating glowing flying plasmoids akin to a natural ball lightning, allowing a number of experiments to be performed to investigate the main properties of ball lightning, is described. (methodological notes)

A systematic study of ball passing frequencies based on dynamic modeling of rolling ball bearings with localized surface defects

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Linkai; Cao, Hongrui; He, Zhengjia; Li, Yamin

2015-11-01

Ball passing frequencies (BPFs) are very important features for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of rolling ball bearings. The ball passing frequency on outer raceway (BPFO) and the ball passing frequency on inner raceway (BPFI) are usually calculated by two well-known kinematics equations. In this paper, a systematic study of BPFs of rolling ball bearings is carried out. A novel method for accurately calculating BPFs based on a complete dynamic model of rolling ball bearings with localized surface defects is proposed. In the used dynamic model, three-dimensional motions, relative slippage, cage effects and localized surface defects are all considered. Moreover, localized surface defects are modeled accurately with consideration of the finite size of the ball, the additional clearance due to material absence, and changes of contact force directions. The reasonability of the proposed method for the prediction of dynamic behaviors of actual ball bearings with localized surface defects and for the calculation of BPFs is discussed by investigating the motion characteristics of a ball when it rolls through a defect. Parametric investigation shows that the shaft speed, external loads, the friction coefficient, raceway groove curvature factors, the initial contact angle, and defect sizes have great effects on BPFs. For a loaded ball bearing, the combination of rolling and sliding in contact region occurs, and the BPFs calculated by simple kinematical relationships are inaccurate, especially for high speed, low external load, and large initial contact angle conditions where severe skidding occurs. The hypothesis that the percentage variation of the spacing between impulses in a defective ball bearing was about 1-2% reported in previous investigations can be satisfied only for the conditions where the skidding effect in a bearing is slight. Finally, the proposed method is verified with two experiments.

BALL - biochemical algorithms library 1.3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stöckel Daniel

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Biochemical Algorithms Library (BALL is a comprehensive rapid application development framework for structural bioinformatics. It provides an extensive C++ class library of data structures and algorithms for molecular modeling and structural bioinformatics. Using BALL as a programming toolbox does not only allow to greatly reduce application development times but also helps in ensuring stability and correctness by avoiding the error-prone reimplementation of complex algorithms and replacing them with calls into the library that has been well-tested by a large number of developers. In the ten years since its original publication, BALL has seen a substantial increase in functionality and numerous other improvements. Results Here, we discuss BALL's current functionality and highlight the key additions and improvements: support for additional file formats, molecular edit-functionality, new molecular mechanics force fields, novel energy minimization techniques, docking algorithms, and support for cheminformatics. Conclusions BALL is available for all major operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and MacOS X. It is available free of charge under the Lesser GNU Public License (LPGL. Parts of the code are distributed under the GNU Public License (GPL. BALL is available as source code and binary packages from the project web site at http://www.ball-project.org. Recently, it has been accepted into the debian project; integration into further distributions is currently pursued.

Ball Screw Actuator Including a Stop with an Integral Guide

Science.gov (United States)

Wingett, Paul T. (Inventor); Perek, John (Inventor); Geck, Kellan (Inventor)

2015-01-01

An actuator includes a housing assembly, a ball nut, a ball screw, and a ball screw stop. The ball nut is rotationally mounted in the housing assembly, is adapted to receive an input torque, and is configured, upon receipt thereof, to rotate and supply a drive force. The ball screw is mounted within the housing assembly and extends through the ball nut. The ball screw has a first end and a second end, and is coupled to receive the drive force from the ball nut. The ball screw is configured, upon receipt of the drive force, to selectively translate between a stow position and a deploy position. The ball screw stop is mounted on the ball screw to translate therewith and is configured to at selectively engage the housing assembly while the ball screw is translating, and engage the ball nut when the ball screw is in the deploy position.

Encapsulated Ball Bearings for Rotary Micro Machines

Science.gov (United States)

2007-01-01

occurrence as well as the overall tribological properties of the bearing mechanism. Firstly, the number of stainless steel balls influences not only the load...stacks.iop.org/JMM/17/S224 Abstract We report on the first encapsulated rotary ball bearing mechanism using silicon microfabrication and stainless steel balls...The method of capturing stainless steel balls within a silicon race to support a silicon rotor both axially and radially is developed for rotary micro

Methods for the Optimal Design of Grid-Connected PV Inverters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koutroulis, Eftichios; Blaabjerg, Frede

2011-01-01

and the efficient processing of this power by the DC/AC inverter. In this paper two new methods are presented for the optimal design of a PV inverter power section, output filter and MPPT control strategy. The influences of the electric grid regulations and standards as well as the PV array operational......The DC/AC inverters are used in grid-connected PV energy production systems as the power processing interface between the PV energy source and the electric grid. The energy injected into the electric grid by the PV installation depends on the amount of power extracted from the PV power source...

Flight trajectory of a rotating golf ball with grooves

Science.gov (United States)

Baek, Moonheum; Kim, Jooha; Choi, Haecheon

2014-11-01

Dimples are known to reduce drag on a sphere by the amount of 50% as compared to a smooth surface. Despite the advantage of reducing drag, dimples deteriorate the putting accuracy owing to their sharp edges. To minimize this putting error but maintain the same flight distance, we have devised a grooved golf ball (called G ball hereafter) for several years. In this study, we modify the shape and pattern of grooves, and investigate the flow characteristics of the G ball by performing wind-tunnel experiments at the Reynolds numbers of 0 . 5 ×105 - 2 . 5 ×105 and the spin ratios (ratio of surface velocity to the free-stream velocity) of 0 - 0.6 that include the real golf-ball velocity and rotational speed. We measure the drag and lift forces on the rotating G ball and compare them with those of a smooth ball and two well-known dimpled balls. The lift-to-drag ratio of the G ball is much higher than that of a smooth ball and is in between those of the two dimpled balls. The trajectories of flying golf balls are computed. The flight distance of G ball is almost the same as that of one dimpled ball but slightly shorter than that of the other dimpled ball. The fluid-dynamic aspects of these differences will be discussed at the talk. Supported by 2011-0028032, 2014M3C1B1033980.

How does gravity save or kill Q-balls?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamaki, Takashi; Sakai, Nobuyuki

2011-01-01

We explore stability of gravitating Q-balls with potential V 4 (φ)=(m 2 /2)φ 2 -λφ 4 +(φ 6 /M 2 ) via catastrophe theory, as an extension of our previous work on Q-balls with potential V 3 (φ)=(m 2 /2)φ 2 -μφ 3 +λφ 4 . In flat spacetime Q-balls with V 4 in the thick-wall limit are unstable and there is a minimum charge Q min , where Q-balls with Q min are nonexistent. If we take self-gravity into account, on the other hand, there exist stable Q-balls with arbitrarily small charge, no matter how weak gravity is. That is, gravity saves Q-balls with small charge. We also show how stability of Q-balls changes as gravity becomes strong.

Design of A Grid Integrated PV System with MPPT Control and Voltage Oriented Controller using MATLAB/PLECES

Science.gov (United States)

Soreng, Bineeta; Behera, Pradyumna; Pradhan, Raseswari

2017-08-01

This paper presents model of a grid-integrated photovoltaic array with Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) and voltage oriented controller. The MPPT of the PV array is usually an essential part of PV system as MPPT helps the operating point of the solar array to align its maximum power point. In this model, the MPPT along with a DC-DC converter lets a PV generator to produce continuous power, despite of the measurement conditions. The neutral-point-clamped converter (NPC) with a boost converter raises the voltage from the panels to the DC-link. An LCL-filter smoothens the current ripple caused by the PWM modulation of the grid-side inverter. In addition to the MPPT, the system has two more two controllers, such as voltage controller and a current controller. The voltage control has a PI controller to regulate the PV voltage to optimal level by controlling the amount of current injected into the boost stage. Here, the grid-side converter transfers the power from the DC-link into the grid and maintains the DC-link voltage. Three-phase PV inverters are used for off-grid or designed to create utility frequency AC. The PV system can be connected in series or parallel to get the desired output power. To justify the working of this model, the grid-integrated PV system has been designed in MATLAB/PLECS. The simulation shows the P-V curve of implemented PV Array consisting 4 X 20 modules, reactive, real power, grid voltage and current.

Experimental research on ball lightning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ofuruton, H.; Ohtsuki, Y.H.

1990-01-01

Experiments on producing ball lightning were made with discharge in flammable gas and/or aerosol. A long lifetime (2 s) ball lightning was observed in 2.7 % ethane and 100 cm 3 cotton fibers, and in 1.5 % methane and 1.9 % ethane

Nimbus-5 ESMR Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures, Version 2

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Nimbus-5 Electrically Scanning Microwave Radiometer (ESMR) data set consists of gridded brightness temperature arrays for the Arctic and Antarctic, spanning 11...

Q-balls in flat potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Copeland, Edmund J.; Tsumagari, Mitsuo I.

2009-01-01

We study the classical and absolute stability of Q-balls in scalar field theories with flat potentials arising in both gravity-mediated and gauge-mediated models. We show that the associated Q-matter formed in gravity-mediated potentials can be stable against decay into their own free particles as long as the coupling constant of the nonrenormalizable term is small, and that all of the possible three-dimensional Q-ball configurations are classically stable against linear fluctuations. Three-dimensional gauge-mediated Q-balls can be absolutely stable in the thin-wall limit, but are completely unstable in the thick-wall limit.

LHC gets the ball rolling

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

1. The multidisciplinary team responsible for the RF ball project to check the interconnections. From left to right: Rhodri Jones (AB/BI), Eva Calvo (AB/BI), Francesco Bertinelli (AT/MCS), Sonia Bartolome Jimenez (TS/IC), Sylvain Weisz (TS/IC), Paul Cruikshank (AT/VAC), Willemjan Maan (AT/VAC), Alain Poncet (AT/MCS), Marek Gasior (AB/BI).2. During the tests the ball is inserted very carefully into the vacuum chamber.1. Le groupe pluridisciplinaire qui a mené le projet de balle RF pour vérifier les interconnexions avec, de gauche à droite, Rhodri Jones (AB/BI), Eva Calvo (AB/BI), Francesco Bertinelli (AT/MCS), Sonia Bartolome Jimenez (TS/IC), Sylvain Weisz (TS/IC), Paul Cruikshank (AT/VAC), Willemjan Maan (AT/VAC), Alain Poncet (AT/MCS) et Marek Gasior (AB/BI).2. Lors des tests, la balle est insérée dans la chambre à vide avec beaucoup de précaution.

Operation strategy for a lab-scale grid-connected photovoltaic generation system integrated with battery energy storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jou, Hurng-Liahng; Chang, Yi-Hao; Wu, Jinn-Chang; Wu, Kuen-Der

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The operation strategy for grid-connected PV generation system integrated with battery energy storage is proposed. • The PV system is composed of an inverter and two DC-DC converter. • The negative impact of grid-connected PV generation systems on the grid can be alleviated by integrating a battery. • The operation of the developed system can be divided into nine modes. - Abstract: The operation strategy for a lab-scale grid-connected photovoltaic generation system integrated with battery energy storage is proposed in this paper. The photovoltaic generation system is composed of a full-bridge inverter, a DC–DC boost converter, an isolated bidirectional DC–DC converter, a solar cell array and a battery set. Since the battery set acts as an energy buffer to adjust the power generation of the solar cell array, the negative impact on power quality caused by the intermittent and unstable output power from a solar cell array is alleviated, so the penetration rate of the grid-connected photovoltaic generation system is increased. A lab-scale prototype is developed to verify the performance of the system. The experimental results show that it achieves the expected performance

Static Load Distribution in Ball Bearings

Science.gov (United States)

Ricci, Mario

2010-01-01

A numerical procedure for computing the internal loading distribution in statically loaded, single-row, angular-contact ball bearings when subjected to a known combined radial and thrust load is presented. The combined radial and thrust load must be applied in order to avoid tilting between inner and outer rings. The numerical procedure requires the iterative solution of Z + 2 simultaneous nonlinear equations - where Z is the number of the balls - to yield an exact solution for axial and radial deflections, and contact angles. Numerical results for a 218 angular-contact ball bearing have been compared with those from the literature and show significant differences in the magnitudes of the ball loads, contact angles, and the extent of the loading zone.

Multifractal properties of ball milling dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Budroni, M. A., E-mail: mabudroni@uniss.it; Pilosu, V.; Rustici, M. [Dipartimento di Chimica e Farmacia, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Via Vienna 2, Sassari 07100 (Italy); Delogu, F. [Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica, Chimica, e dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, via Marengo 2, Cagliari 09123 (Italy)

2014-06-15

This work focuses on the dynamics of a ball inside the reactor of a ball mill. We show that the distribution of collisions at the reactor walls exhibits multifractal properties in a wide region of the parameter space defining the geometrical characteristics of the reactor and the collision elasticity. This feature points to the presence of restricted self-organized zones of the reactor walls where the ball preferentially collides and the mechanical energy is mainly dissipated.

Omniscopes: Large area telescope arrays with only NlogN computational cost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tegmark, Max; Zaldarriaga, Matias

2010-01-01

We show that the class of antenna layouts for telescope arrays allowing cheap analysis hardware (with correlator cost scaling as NlogN rather than N 2 with the number of antennas N) is encouragingly large, including not only previously discussed rectangular grids but also arbitrary hierarchies of such grids, with arbitrary rotations and shears at each level. We show that all correlations for such a 2D array with an n-level hierarchy can be efficiently computed via a fast Fourier transform in not two but 2n dimensions. This can allow major correlator cost reductions for science applications requiring exquisite sensitivity at widely separated angular scales, for example, 21 cm tomography (where short baselines are needed to probe the cosmological signal and long baselines are needed for point source removal), helping enable future 21 cm experiments with thousands or millions of cheap dipolelike antennas. Such hierarchical grids combine the angular resolution advantage of traditional array layouts with the cost advantage of a rectangular fast Fourier transform telescope. We also describe an algorithm for how a subclass of hierarchical arrays can efficiently use rotation synthesis to produce global sky maps with minimal noise and a well-characterized synthesized beam.

Global Inventory and Analysis of Smart Grid Demonstration Projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mulder, W.; Kumpavat, K.; Faasen, C.; Verheij, F.; Vaessen, P [DNV KEMA Energy and Sustainability, Arnhem (Netherlands)

2012-10-15

As the key enabler of a more sustainable, economical and reliable energy system, the development of smart grids has received a great deal of attention in recent times. In many countries around the world the benefits of such a system have begun to be investigated through a number of demonstration projects. With such a vast array of projects it can be difficult to keep track of changes, and to understand which best practices are currently available with regard to smart grids. This report aims to address these issues through providing a comprehensive outlook on the current status of smart grid projects worldwide.

Single-Phase Single-Stage Grid Tied Solar PV System with Active Power Filtering Using Power Balance Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Yashi; Hussain, Ikhlaq; Singh, Bhim; Mishra, Sukumar

2018-03-01

In this paper, power quality features such as harmonics mitigation, power factor correction with active power filtering are addressed in a single-stage, single-phase solar photovoltaic (PV) grid tied system. The Power Balance Theory (PBT) with perturb and observe based maximum power point tracking algorithm is proposed for the mitigation of power quality problems in a solar PV grid tied system. The solar PV array is interfaced to a single phase AC grid through a Voltage Source Converter (VSC), which provides active power flow from a solar PV array to the grid as well as to the load and it performs harmonics mitigation using PBT based control. The solar PV array power varies with sunlight and due to this, the solar PV grid tied VSC works only 8-10 h per day. At night, when PV power is zero, the VSC works as an active power filter for power quality improvement, and the load active power is delivered by the grid to the load connected at the point of common coupling. This increases the effective utilization of a VSC. The system is modelled and simulated using MATLAB and simulated responses of the system at nonlinear loads and varying environmental conditions are also validated experimentally on a prototype developed in the laboratory.

Aerodynamic drag of modern soccer balls.

Science.gov (United States)

Asai, Takeshi; Seo, Kazuya

2013-12-01

Soccer balls such as the Adidas Roteiro that have been used in soccer tournaments thus far had 32 pentagonal and hexagonal panels. Recently, the Adidas Teamgeist II and Adidas Jabulani, respectively having 14 and 8 panels, have been used at tournaments; the aerodynamic characteristics of these balls have not yet been verified. Now, the Adidas Tango 12, having 32 panels, has been developed for use at tournaments; therefore, it is necessary to understand its aerodynamic characteristics. Through a wind tunnel test and ball trajectory simulations, this study shows that the aerodynamic resistance of the new 32-panel soccer ball is larger in the high-speed region and lower in the middle-speed region than that of the previous 14- and 8-panel balls. The critical Reynolds number of the Roteiro, Teamgeist II, Jabulani, and Tango 12 was ~2.2 × 10(5) (drag coefficient, C d  ≈ 0.12), ~2.8 × 10(5) (C d  ≈ 0.13), ~3.3 × 10(5) (C d  ≈ 0.13), and ~2.4 × 10(5) (C d  ≈ 0.15), respectively. The flight trajectory simulation suggested that the Tango 12, one of the newest soccer balls, has less air resistance in the medium-speed region than the Jabulani and can thus easily acquire large initial velocity in this region. It is considered that the critical Reynolds number of a soccer ball, as considered within the scope of this experiment, depends on the extended total distance of the panel bonds rather than the small designs on the panel surfaces.

Interactive volume visualization of general polyhedral grids

KAUST Repository

Muigg, Philipp

2011-12-01

This paper presents a novel framework for visualizing volumetric data specified on complex polyhedral grids, without the need to perform any kind of a priori tetrahedralization. These grids are composed of polyhedra that often are non-convex and have an arbitrary number of faces, where the faces can be non-planar with an arbitrary number of vertices. The importance of such grids in state-of-the-art simulation packages is increasing rapidly. We propose a very compact, face-based data structure for representing such meshes for visualization, called two-sided face sequence lists (TSFSL), as well as an algorithm for direct GPU-based ray-casting using this representation. The TSFSL data structure is able to represent the entire mesh topology in a 1D TSFSL data array of face records, which facilitates the use of efficient 1D texture accesses for visualization. In order to scale to large data sizes, we employ a mesh decomposition into bricks that can be handled independently, where each brick is then composed of its own TSFSL array. This bricking enables memory savings and performance improvements for large meshes. We illustrate the feasibility of our approach with real-world application results, by visualizing highly complex polyhedral data from commercial state-of-the-art simulation packages. © 2011 IEEE.

On the formation of ball lightning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silberg, P.A.

1981-01-01

A plasma continuum model for the formation of ball lightning is developed based on a substantial number of reports that the ball is often in the discharge column of a previous lightning stroke. The usual method of setting up the plasma equation for a one-component electron plasma is used. An approximate equation for the plasma is derived from the describing equation which is then solved exactly in terms of the Jacobi elliptic functions. The formation of the ball is based on a nonlinearity of the plasma equation which uner certain circumstances permits the field to collapse into a small region. This collapse is interpreted to be ball lightning. The approximate equation derived for the plasma has the same form as a previous equation used to describe the formation of the fireball plasma. (author)

Three-level grid-connected photovoltaic inverter with maximum power point tracking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsang, K.M.; Chan, W.L.

2013-01-01

Highlight: ► This paper reports a novel 3-level grid connected photovoltaic inverter. ► The inverter features maximum power point tracking and grid current shaping. ► The inverter can be acted as an active filter and a renewable power source. - Abstract: This paper presents a systematic way of designing control scheme for a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) inverter featuring maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and grid current shaping. Unlike conventional design, only four power switches are required to achieve three output levels and it is not necessary to use any phase-locked-loop circuitry. For the proposed scheme, a simple integral controller has been designed for the tracking of the maximum power point of a PV array based on an improved extremum seeking control method. For the grid-connected inverter, a current loop controller and a voltage loop controller have been designed. The current loop controller is designed to shape the inverter output current while the voltage loop controller can maintain the capacitor voltage at a certain level and provide a reference inverter output current for the PV inverter without affecting the maximum power point of the PV array. Experimental results are included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the tracking and control scheme.

Semantic web data warehousing for caGrid.

Science.gov (United States)

McCusker, James P; Phillips, Joshua A; González Beltrán, Alejandra; Finkelstein, Anthony; Krauthammer, Michael

2009-10-01

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is developing caGrid as a means for sharing cancer-related data and services. As more data sets become available on caGrid, we need effective ways of accessing and integrating this information. Although the data models exposed on caGrid are semantically well annotated, it is currently up to the caGrid client to infer relationships between the different models and their classes. In this paper, we present a Semantic Web-based data warehouse (Corvus) for creating relationships among caGrid models. This is accomplished through the transformation of semantically-annotated caBIG Unified Modeling Language (UML) information models into Web Ontology Language (OWL) ontologies that preserve those semantics. We demonstrate the validity of the approach by Semantic Extraction, Transformation and Loading (SETL) of data from two caGrid data sources, caTissue and caArray, as well as alignment and query of those sources in Corvus. We argue that semantic integration is necessary for integration of data from distributed web services and that Corvus is a useful way of accomplishing this. Our approach is generalizable and of broad utility to researchers facing similar integration challenges.

Apparatus Would Measure Temperatures Of Ball Bearings

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, John C.; Fredricks, Thomas H.

1995-01-01

Rig for testing ball bearings under radial and axial loads and measuring surface temperatures undergoing development. Includes extensible thermocouples: by means of bellows as longitudinal positioners, thermocouples driven into contact with bearing balls to sense temperatures immediately after test run. Not necessary to disassemble rig or to section balls to obtain indirect indications of maximum temperatures reached. Thermocouple measurements indicate temperatures better than temperature-sensitive paints.

Nuclear reactor spring strip grid spacer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patterson, J.F.; Flora, B.S.

1980-01-01

An improved and novel grid spacer for maintaining the fuel rods of a nuclear reactor fuel assembly in substantially parallel array is described. The invention provides for spring strips to maintain the fuel elements in their desired orientation which have more positive alignment than previous types while allowing greater flexibility to counterbalance the effects of differential thermal expansion. (UK)

Ball Screw Actuator Including an Axial Soft Stop

Science.gov (United States)

Wingett, Paul T. (Inventor); Forrest, Steven Talbert (Inventor); Abel, Steve (Inventor); Woessner, George (Inventor); Hanlon, Casey (Inventor)

2016-01-01

An actuator includes an actuator housing, a ball screw, and an axial soft stop assembly. The ball screw extends through the actuator housing and has a first end and a second end. The ball screw is coupled to receive a drive force and is configured, upon receipt of the drive force, to selectively move in a retract direction and an extend direction. The axial soft stop assembly is disposed within the actuator housing. The axial soft stop assembly is configured to be selectively engaged by the ball screw and, upon being engaged thereby, to translate, with compliance, a predetermined distance in the extend direction, and to prevent further movement of the ball screw upon translating the predetermined distance.

The Applicability of Incoherent Array Processing to IMS Seismic Array Stations

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbons, S. J.

2012-04-01

The seismic arrays of the International Monitoring System for the CTBT differ greatly in size and geometry, with apertures ranging from below 1 km to over 60 km. Large and medium aperture arrays with large inter-site spacings complicate the detection and estimation of high frequency phases since signals are often incoherent between sensors. Many such phases, typically from events at regional distances, remain undetected since pipeline algorithms often consider only frequencies low enough to allow coherent array processing. High frequency phases that are detected are frequently attributed qualitatively incorrect backazimuth and slowness estimates and are consequently not associated with the correct event hypotheses. This can lead to missed events both due to a lack of contributing phase detections and by corruption of event hypotheses by spurious detections. Continuous spectral estimation can be used for phase detection and parameter estimation on the largest aperture arrays, with phase arrivals identified as local maxima on beams of transformed spectrograms. The estimation procedure in effect measures group velocity rather than phase velocity and the ability to estimate backazimuth and slowness requires that the spatial extent of the array is large enough to resolve time-delays between envelopes with a period of approximately 4 or 5 seconds. The NOA, AKASG, YKA, WRA, and KURK arrays have apertures in excess of 20 km and spectrogram beamforming on these stations provides high quality slowness estimates for regional phases without additional post-processing. Seven arrays with aperture between 10 and 20 km (MJAR, ESDC, ILAR, KSRS, CMAR, ASAR, and EKA) can provide robust parameter estimates subject to a smoothing of the resulting slowness grids, most effectively achieved by convolving the measured slowness grids with the array response function for a 4 or 5 second period signal. The MJAR array in Japan recorded high SNR Pn signals for both the 2006 and 2009 North Korea

Modeling and Analyzing the Slipping of the Ball Screw

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nannan Xu

Full Text Available AbstractThis paper aims to set up the ball systematic slipping model and analyze the slipping characteristics caused by different factors for a ball screw operating at high speeds. To investigate the ball screw slipping mechanism, transformed coordinate system should be established firstly. Then it is used to set up mathematical modeling for the ball slipping caused by the three main reasons and the speed of slipping can be calculated. Later, the influence of the contact angle, helix angle and screw diameter for ball screw slipping will be analyzed according to the ball slipping model and slipping speeds equation and the slipping analysis will be obtained. Finally, curve of slipping analysis and that of mechanical efficiency of the ball screw analysis by Lin are compared, which will indirectly verify the correctness of the slipping model. The slipping model and the curve of slipping analysis established in this paper will provide theory basis for reducing slipping and improving the mechanical efficiency of a ball screw operating at high speeds.

Multi-terabyte EIDE disk arrays running Linux RAID5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanders, D.A.; Cremaldi, L.M.; Eschenburg, V.; Godang, R.; Joy, M.D.; Summers, D.J.; Petravick, D.L.

2004-01-01

High-energy physics experiments are currently recording large amounts of data and in a few years will be recording prodigious quantities of data. New methods must be developed to handle this data and make analysis at universities possible. Grid Computing is one method; however, the data must be cached at the various Grid nodes. We examine some storage techniques that exploit recent developments in commodity hardware. Disk arrays using RAID level 5 (RAID-5) include both parity and striping. The striping improves access speed. The parity protects data in the event of a single disk failure, but not in the case of multiple disk failures. We report on tests of dual-processor Linux Software RAID-5 arrays and Hardware RAID-5 arrays using a 12-disk 3ware controller, in conjunction with 250 and 300 GB disks, for use in offline high-energy physics data analysis. The price of IDE disks is now less than $1/GB. These RAID-5 disk arrays can be scaled to sizes affordable to small institutions and used when fast random access at low cost is important

Multi-terabyte EIDE disk arrays running Linux RAID5

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanders, D.A.; Cremaldi, L.M.; Eschenburg, V.; Godang, R.; Joy, M.D.; Summers, D.J.; /Mississippi U.; Petravick, D.L.; /Fermilab

2004-11-01

High-energy physics experiments are currently recording large amounts of data and in a few years will be recording prodigious quantities of data. New methods must be developed to handle this data and make analysis at universities possible. Grid Computing is one method; however, the data must be cached at the various Grid nodes. We examine some storage techniques that exploit recent developments in commodity hardware. Disk arrays using RAID level 5 (RAID-5) include both parity and striping. The striping improves access speed. The parity protects data in the event of a single disk failure, but not in the case of multiple disk failures. We report on tests of dual-processor Linux Software RAID-5 arrays and Hardware RAID-5 arrays using a 12-disk 3ware controller, in conjunction with 250 and 300 GB disks, for use in offline high-energy physics data analysis. The price of IDE disks is now less than $1/GB. These RAID-5 disk arrays can be scaled to sizes affordable to small institutions and used when fast random access at low cost is important.

Modeling and Implementing a Digitally Embedded Maximum Power Point Tracking Algorithm and a Series-Loaded Resonant DC-DC Converter to Integrate a Photovoltaic Array with a Micro-Grid

Science.gov (United States)

2014-09-01

These renewable energy sources can include solar, wind, geothermal , biomass, hydroelectric, and nuclear. Of these sources, photovoltaic (PV) arrays...renewable energy source [1]. These renewable energy sources can include solar, wind, geothermal , biomass, hydroelectric, and nuclear. Of these sources...26, May 2011. [6] H. G. Xu, J. P. He, Y. Qin, and Y. H. Li, “Energy management and control strategy for DC micro-grid in data center,” China

Mucormycosis (Mucor fungus ball) of the maxillary sinus.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Hang Sun; Yang, Hoon Shik; Kim, Kyung Soo

2014-01-01

A fungus ball is an extramucosal fungal proliferation that completely fills one or more paranasal sinuses and usually occurs as a unilateral infection. It is mainly caused by Aspergillus spp in an immunocompetent host, but some cases of paranasal fungal balls reportedly have been caused by Mucor spp. A Mucor fungus ball is usually found in the maxillary sinus and/or the sphenoid sinus and may be black in color. Patients with mucormycosis, or a Mucor fungal ball infection, usually present with facial pain or headache. On computed tomography, there are no pathognomonic findings that are conclusive for a diagnosis of mucormycosis. In this article we report a case of mucormycosis in a 56-year-old woman and provide a comprehensive review of the literature on the "Mucor fungus ball." To the best of our knowledge, 5 case reports (8 patients) have been published in which the fungus ball was thought to be caused by Mucor spp.

Aerodynamics in the classroom and at the ball park

Science.gov (United States)

Cross, Rod

2012-04-01

Experiments suitable for classroom projects or demonstrations are described concerning the aerodynamics of polystyrene balls. A light ball with sufficient backspin can curve vertically upward through the air, defying gravity and providing a dramatic visual demonstration of the Magnus effect. A ball projected with backspin can also curve downward with a vertical acceleration greater than that due to gravity if the Magnus force is negative. These effects were investigated by filming the flight of balls projected in an approximately horizontal direction so that the lift and drag forces could be easily measured. The balls were also fitted with artificial raised seams and projected with backspin toward a vertical target in order to measure the sideways deflection over a known horizontal distance. It was found that (a) a ball with a seam on one side can deflect either left or right depending on its launch speed and (b) a ball with a baseball seam can also deflect sideways even when there is no sideways component of the drag or lift forces acting on the ball. Depending on the orientations of the seam and the spin axis, a sideways force on a baseball can arise either if there is rough patch on one side of the ball or if there is a smooth patch. A scuff ball with a rough patch on one side is illegal in baseball. The effect of a smooth patch is a surprising new observation.

Development of an Electrostatically Clean Solar Array Panel

Science.gov (United States)

Stern, Theodore G.; Krumweide, Duane; Gaddy, Edward; Katz, Ira

2000-01-01

The results of design, analysis, and qualification of an Electrostatically Clean Solar Array (ECSA) panel are described. The objective of the ECSA design is to provide an electrostatic environment that does not interfere with sensitive instruments on scientific spacecraft. The ECSA design uses large, ITO-coated coverglasses that cover multiple solar cells, an aperture grid that covers the intercell areas, stress-relieved interconnects for connecting the aperture grid to the coverglasses, and edge clips to provides an electromagnetically shielded enclosure for the solar array active circuitry. Qualification coupons were fabricated and tested for photovoltaic response, conductivity, and survivability to launch acoustic and thermal cycling environments simulating LEO and GEO missions. The benefits of reducing solar panel interaction with the space environment are also discussed.

Effect of soccer shoe upper on ball behaviour in curve kicks

Science.gov (United States)

Ishii, Hideyuki; Sakurai, Yoshihisa; Maruyama, Takeo

2014-08-01

New soccer shoes have been developed by considering various concepts related to kicking, such as curving a soccer ball. However, the effects of shoes on ball behaviour remain unclear. In this study, by using a finite element simulation, we investigated the factors that affect ball behaviour immediately after impact in a curve kick. Five experienced male university soccer players performed one curve kick. We developed a finite element model of the foot and ball and evaluated the validity of the model by comparing the finite element results for the ball behaviour immediately after impact with the experimental results. The launch angle, ball velocity, and ball rotation in the finite element analysis were all in general agreement with the experimental results. Using the validated finite element model, we simulated the ball behaviour. The simulation results indicated that the larger the foot velocity immediately before impact, the larger the ball velocity and ball rotation. Furthermore, the Young's modulus of the shoe upper and the coefficient of friction between the shoe upper and the ball had little effect on the launch angle, ball velocity, and ball rotation. The results of this study suggest that the shoe upper does not significantly influence ball behaviour.

How does gravity save or kill Q-balls?

OpenAIRE

Tamaki, Takashi; Sakai, Nobuyuki

2011-01-01

We explore stability of gravitating Q-balls with potential $V_4(\\phi)={m^2\\over2}\\phi^2-\\lambda\\phi^4+\\frac{\\phi^6}{M^2}$ via catastrophe theory, as an extension of our previous work on Q-balls with potential $V_3(\\phi)={m^2\\over2}\\phi^2-\\mu\\phi^3+\\lambda\\phi^4$. In flat spacetime Q-balls with $V_4$ in the thick-wall limit are unstable and there is a minimum charge $Q_{{\\rm min}}$, where Q-balls with $Q

Friction torque in thrust ball bearings grease lubricated

Science.gov (United States)

Ianuş, G.; Dumitraşcu, A. C.; Cârlescu, V.; Olaru, D. N.

2016-08-01

The authors investigated experimentally and theoretically the friction torque in a modified thrust ball bearing having only 3 balls operating at low axial load and lubricated with NGLI-00 and NGLI-2 greases. The experiments were made by using spin-down methodology and the results were compared with the theoretical values based on Biboulet&Houpert's rolling friction equations. Also, the results were compared with the theoretical values obtained with SKF friction model adapted for 3 balls. A very good correlation between experiments and Biboulet_&_Houpert's predicted results was obtained for the two greases. Also was observed that the theoretical values for the friction torque calculated with SKF model adapted for a thrust ball bearing having only 3 balls are smaller that the experimental values.

Laser Sintering Technology and Balling Phenomenon.

Science.gov (United States)

Oyar, Perihan

2018-02-01

The aim of this review was to evaluate the balling phenomenon which occurs typically in Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). The balling phenomenon is a typical SLS defect, and observed in laser sintered powder, significantly reduces the quality of SLS, and hinders the further development of SLS Technology. Electronic database searches were performed using Google Scholar. The keywords "laser sintering, selective laser sintering, direct metal laser melting, and balling phenomenon" were searched in title/abstract of publications, limited to December 31, 2016. The inclusion criteria were SLS, balling phenomenon, some alloys (such as Cr-Co, iron, stainless steel, and Cu-based alloys) mechanical properties, microstructure and bond strength between metal-ceramic crown, laboratory studies, full text, and in English language. A total of 100 articles were found the initial search and yielded a total of 50 studies, 30 of which did not fulfill the inclusion criteria and were therefore excluded. In addition, 20 studies were found by screening the reference list of all included publications. Finally, 40 studies were selected for this review. The method in question is regulated by powder material characteristics and the conditions of laser processing. The procedure of formation, affecting factors, and the mechanism of the balling effect are very complex.

Improvements in or relating to cellular grid structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jolly, R.

1979-01-01

In cellular grid structures for positioning an array of nuclear fuel rods by locating them individually in a ferrule joined to its neighbours to form the grid structure, the ferrules are formed in pairs from tubular members each deformed to provide a waist. A bridge piece extends across the waist to divide the tubular member into two cells and it may incorporate a resilient member which projects into the two cells to urge fuel rods in the cells towards co-planar dimples formed in the tubular member opposite the resilient member. (author)

Implementation of fuzzy-sliding mode based control of a grid connected photovoltaic system.

Science.gov (United States)

Menadi, Abdelkrim; Abdeddaim, Sabrina; Ghamri, Ahmed; Betka, Achour

2015-09-01

The present work describes an optimal operation of a small scale photovoltaic system connected to a micro-grid, based on both sliding mode and fuzzy logic control. Real time implementation is done through a dSPACE 1104 single board, controlling a boost chopper on the PV array side and a voltage source inverter (VSI) on the grid side. The sliding mode controller tracks permanently the maximum power of the PV array regardless of atmospheric condition variations, while The fuzzy logic controller (FLC) regulates the DC-link voltage, and ensures via current control of the VSI a quasi-total transit of the extracted PV power to the grid under a unity power factor operation. Simulation results, carried out via Matlab-Simulink package were approved through experiment, showing the effectiveness of the proposed control techniques. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

THE BEHAVIOURAL REACTION OF WEANERS TO HANGING TOYS: WOODEN BALL AND AROMATIZED WOODEN BALL – WAY TO REDUCE AGGRESSION AFTER MIXING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacek NOWICKI

2008-05-01

Full Text Available The behaviour of weaners after mixing housed in pens equipped with hanging wooden ball, aromatized with vanilla fluid hanging wooden ball and without enrichment was evaluated. It was found that both enrichments reduced aggression, however the most interesting for weaners was the aromatized wooden ball.

Conceptual design of ball-screw type control element drive mechanism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Ji Ho; Kim, Jong In; Huh, Hyung [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea)

1999-10-01

In this report, the design features of ball-screw type CEDM with fine-step movement capability are described. The contents of this report are as follows: -Review of Design Requirements for Ball-screw type CEDM -System Description for Ball-screw type CEDM -Design of Ball Bearing and Ball-screw Assembly -Detail Design of Rotary Step Motor -Detail Design of Angular Position Indicator -Materials. The Ball-screw type CEDM described in this report is to be utilized as the starting point for design development of CEDM for SMART. 11 refs., 43 figs., 3 tabs. (Author)

Two Balls' Collision of Mass Ratio 3:1

Science.gov (United States)

Ogawara, Yasuo; Hull, Michael M.

2018-04-01

Students will sometimes ask why momentum and kinetic energy concepts are both necessary. When physics teachers demonstrate situations that require both an understanding of kinetic energy and momentum, a favorite is Newton's cradle, or a comparable demonstration of two balls of equal mass hitting each other. However, in addition to the case of two balls of equal mass, if a ball hits another ball of three times the mass with equal speed, the results are also interesting, and, like the equal-mass demonstration, both kinetic energy and momentum are critical for understanding the motion.

Biomechanics of Heading a Soccer Ball: Implications for Player Safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles F. Babbs

2001-01-01

Full Text Available To better understand the risk and safety of heading a soccer ball, the author created a set of simple mathematical models based upon Newton�s second law of motion to describe the physics of heading. These models describe the player, the ball, the flight of the ball before impact, the motion of the head and ball during impact, and the effects of all of these upon the intensity and the duration of acceleration of the head. The calculated head accelerations were compared to those during presumably safe daily activities of jumping, dancing, and head nodding and also were related to established criteria for serious head injury from the motor vehicle crash literature. The results suggest heading is usually safe but occasionally dangerous, depending on key characteristics of both the player and the ball. Safety is greatly improved when players head the ball with greater effective body mass, which is determined by a player�s size, strength, and technique. Smaller youth players, because of their lesser body mass, are more at risk of potentially dangerous headers than are adults, even when using current youth size balls. Lower ball inflation pressure reduces risk of dangerous head accelerations. Lower pressure balls also have greater “touch” and “playability”, measured in terms of contact time and contact area between foot and ball during a kick. Focus on teaching proper technique, the re-design of age-appropriate balls for young players with reduced weight and inflation pressure, and avoidance of head contact with fast, rising balls kicked at close range can substantially reduce risk of subtle brain injury in players who head soccer balls.

Thermal Cycle Reliability and Failure Mechanisms of CCGA and PBGA Assemblies with and without Corner Staking

Science.gov (United States)

Ghaffarian, Reza

2008-01-01

Area array packages (AAPs) with 1.27 mm pitch have been the packages of choice for commercial applications; they are now starting to be implemented for use in military and aerospace applications. Thermal cycling characteristics of plastic ball grid array (PBGA) and chip scale package assemblies, because of their wide usage for commercial applications, have been extensively reported on in literature. Thermal cycling represents the on-off environmental condition for most electronic products and therefore is a key factor that defines reliability.However, very limited data is available for thermal cycling behavior of ceramic packages commonly used for the aerospace applications. For high reliability applications, numerous AAPs are available with an identical design pattern both in ceramic and plastic packages. This paper compares assembly reliability of ceramic and plastic packages with the identical inputs/outputs(I/Os) and pattern. The ceramic package was in the form of ceramic column grid array (CCGA) with 560 I/Os peripheral array with the identical pad design as its plastic counterpart.

Array Detector Modules for Spent Fuel Verification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolotnikov, Aleksey

2018-05-07

Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) proposes to evaluate the arrays of position-sensitive virtual Frisch-grid (VFG) detectors for passive gamma-ray emission tomography (ET) to verify the spent fuel in storage casks before storing them in geo-repositories. Our primary objective is to conduct a preliminary analysis of the arrays capabilities and to perform field measurements to validate the effectiveness of the proposed array modules. The outcome of this proposal will consist of baseline designs for the future ET system which can ultimately be used together with neutrons detectors. This will demonstrate the usage of this technology in spent fuel storage casks.

On longevity of I-ball/oscillon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mukaida, Kyohei [Kavli IPMU (WPI), UTIAS, The University of Tokyo,Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583 (Japan); Takimoto, Masahiro [Theory Center, KEK,1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science,Rehovot 7610001 (Israel); Yamada, Masaki [Institute of Cosmology, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University,Medford, MA 02155 (United States); Department of Physics, Tohoku University,Sendai, Miyagi 980-8578 (Japan)

2017-03-23

We study I-balls/oscillons, which are long-lived, quasi-periodic, and spatially localized solutions in real scalar field theories. Contrary to the case of Q-balls, there is no evident conserved charge that stabilizes the localized configuration. Nevertheless, in many classical numerical simulations, it has been shown that they are extremely long-lived. In this paper, we clarify the reason for the longevity, and show how the exponential separation of time scales emerges dynamically. Those solutions are time-periodic with a typical frequency of a mass scale of a scalar field. This observation implies that they can be understood by the effective theory after integrating out relativistic modes. We find that the resulting effective theory has an approximate global U(1) symmetry reflecting an approximate number conservation in the non-relativistic regime. As a result, the profile of those solutions is obtained via the bounce method, just like Q-balls, as long as the breaking of the U(1) symmetry is small enough. We then discuss the decay processes of the I-ball/oscillon by the breaking of the U(1) symmetry, namely the production of relativistic modes via number violating processes. We show that the imaginary part is exponentially suppressed, which explains the extraordinary longevity of I-ball/oscillon. In addition, we find that there are some attractor behaviors during the evolution of I-ball/oscillon that further enhance the lifetime. The validity of our effective theory is confirmed by classical numerical simulations. Our formalism may also be useful to study condensates of ultra light bosonic dark matter, such as fuzzy dark matter, and axion stars, for instance.

A general theory for ball lightning structure and light output

Science.gov (United States)

Morrow, R.

2018-03-01

A general theory for free-floating ball lightning is presented which unifies the phantom plasma ball theory involving the production of very little light, with theories for ball lightning involving light output produced by burning particles from the soil. The mechanism for the formation of plasma balls is shown to be quite general, producing very similar plasma balls independent of initial ion densities over four orders of magnitude. All that is required is an excess of positive ions in the initial ball of ions. The central plasma density after 1 s is shown to be the reciprocal of the ion neutralization coefficient for all cases, both analytically and computationally. Further, the plasma region has zero electric field in all cases. Surrounding the plasma ball is a sphere of positive ions moving away from the centre via their own space-charge field; this space-charge field, which is the same in all cases near the plasma ball, drives negative ions and negative particles towards the plasma centre. The connection with burning particle theories is the proposition that the burning particles are highly-charged which is very likely after a lightning strike. Burning negatively charged particles would be driven into the plasma ball region and trapped while any positively charged particles would be driven away. The plasma ball structure is shown to last more than 10 s and the ‘burnout time’ for a typical coal particle (as an example) has been measured at 5-10 s this is comparable with the lifetimes observed for ball lightning. The light output from a few hundred particles is estimated to be ~1 W, a typical output for ball lightning. Finally, suggestions are made for the generation of ball lightning in the laboratory.

Estimating Wear Of Installed Ball Bearings

Science.gov (United States)

Keba, John E.; Mcvey, Scott E.

1993-01-01

Simple inspection and measurement technique makes possible to estimate wear of balls in ball bearing, without removing bearing from shaft on which installed. To perform measurement, one observes bearing cage while turning shaft by hand to obtain integral number of cage rotations and to measure, to nearest 2 degrees, number of shaft rotations producing cage rotations. Ratio between numbers of cages and shaft rotations depends only on internal geometry of bearing and applied load. Changes in turns ratio reflect changes in internal geometry of bearing provided measurements made with similar bearing loads. By assuming all wear occurs on balls, one computes effective value for this wear from change in turns ratio.

Ball-and-socket ankle joint

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pistoia, F.; Ozonoff, M.B.; Wintz, P.; Hartford Hospital, CT

1987-01-01

The ball-and-socket ankle joint is a malformation of the ankle in which the articular surface of the talus is hemispherical in both the anteroposterior and lateral projections and has a congruent, concave tibial articular surface. Fourteen patients with this condition were identified retrospectively. Thirteen patients were thought to have the congenital type of ball-and-socket ankle joint which in many was associated with tarsal coalition, short limb, and ray fusion and deletion anomalies. One case of the acquired type, demonstrating less geometric rounding of the talar margins, was seen in a patient with myelomeningocele, probably resulting from sensory and motor deficits. Although the exact etiology of the congenital type is unknown, its association with other malformations suggests that the ball-and-socket ankle joint results from an overall maldevelopment of the ankle and foot. (orig.)

Thermal Cycling Life Prediction of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu Solder Joint Using Type-I Censored Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinhua Mi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Because solder joint interconnections are the weaknesses of microelectronic packaging, their reliability has great influence on the reliability of the entire packaging structure. Based on an accelerated life test the reliability assessment and life prediction of lead-free solder joints using Weibull distribution are investigated. The type-I interval censored lifetime data were collected from a thermal cycling test, which was implemented on microelectronic packaging with lead-free ball grid array (BGA and fine-pitch ball grid array (FBGA interconnection structures. The number of cycles to failure of lead-free solder joints is predicted by using a modified Engelmaier fatigue life model and a type-I censored data processing method. Then, the Pan model is employed to calculate the acceleration factor of this test. A comparison of life predictions between the proposed method and the ones calculated directly by Matlab and Minitab is conducted to demonstrate the practicability and effectiveness of the proposed method. At last, failure analysis and microstructure evolution of lead-free solders are carried out to provide useful guidance for the regular maintenance, replacement of substructure, and subsequent processing of electronic products.

Buckling behavior analysis of spacer grid by lateral impact load

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Kyung Ho; Kang, Heung Seok; Kim, Hyung Kyu; Song, Kee Nam

2000-05-01

The spacer grid is one of the main structural components in the fuel assembly, Which supports the fuel rods, guides cooling water, and protects the system from an external impact load, such as earthquakes. Therefore, the mechanical and structural properties of the spacer grids must be extensively examined while designing it. In this report, free fall type shock tests on the several kinds of the specimens of the spacer grids were also carried out in order to compare the results among the candidate grids. A free fall carriage on the specimen accomplishes the test. In addition to this, a finite element method for predicting the critical impact strength of the spacer grids is described. FE method on the buckling behavior of the spacer grids are performed for a various array of sizes of the grids considering that the spacer grid is an assembled structure with thin-walled plates and imposing proper boundary conditions by nonlinear dynamic impact analysis using ABAQUS/explicit code. The simulated results results also similarly predicted the local buckling phenomena and were found to give good correspondence with the shock test results

Reactive-inspired ball-milling synthesis of an ODS steel: study of the influence of ball-milling and annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brocq, M.

2010-10-01

In the context of the development of new ODS (Oxide Dispersion Strengthened) steels as core materials in future nuclear reactors, we investigated a new process inspired by reactive ball-milling which consists in using YFe 3 andFe 2 O 3 as starting reactants instead of Y 2 O 3 to produce a dispersion of nano-oxides in a steel matrix and the influence of synthesis conditions on the nano-oxide characteristics were studied. For that aim, ODS steels were prepared by ball-milling and then annealed. Multi-scale characterizations were performed after each synthesis step, using notably atom probe tomography and small angle neutron scattering. The process inspired by reactive ball-milling was shown to be efficient for ODS steel synthesis, but it does not modify the nano-oxide characteristics as compared to those of oxides directly incorporated in the matrix by ball-milling. Broadly speaking, the nature of the starting oxygen bearing reactants has no influence on nano-oxide formation. Moreover, we showed that the nucleation of nano-oxides nucleation can start during milling and continues during annealing with a very fast kinetic. The final characteristics of nano-oxides formed in this way can be monitored through ball-milling parameters (intensity, temperature and atmosphere) and annealing parameters (duration and temperature). (author)

Passive P-control of a grid-connected photovoltaic inverter

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meza, C.; Jeltsema, D.; Scherpen, J. M. A.; Biel, D.

2008-01-01

A passive P-controller for a single-phase single-stage grid-connected photovoltaic inverter is presented. Explicit dependance of the PV array parameters on external unpredictable variables such as temperature and solar irradiance is avoided by extending the control scheme with a reference estimator.

CFD Analysis of Swing of Cricket Ball and Trajectory Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

G, Jithin; Tom, Josin; Ruishikesh, Kamat; Jose, Jyothish; Kumar, Sanjay

2013-11-01

This work aims to understand the aerodynamics associated with the flight and swing of a cricket ball and predict its flight trajectory over the course of the game: at start (smooth ball) and as the game progresses (rough ball). Asymmetric airflow over the ball due to seam orientation and surface roughness can cause flight deviation (swing). The values of Drag, Lift and Side forces which are crucial for determining the trajectory of the ball were found with the help of FLUENT using the standard K- ɛ model. Analysis was done to study how the ball velocity, spin imparted to be ball and the tilt of the seam affects the movement of the ball through air. The governing force balance equations in 3 dimensions in combination a MATLAB code which used Heun's method was used for obtaining the trajectory of the ball. The conditions for the conventional swing and reverse swing to occur were deduced from the analysis and found to be in alignment with the real life situation. Critical seam angle for maximum swing and transition speed for normal to reverse swing were found out. The obtained trajectories were compared to real life hawk eye trajectories for validation. The analysis results were in good agreement with the real life situation.

Quantitative Analysis Method of Output Loss due to Restriction for Grid-connected PV Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ueda, Yuzuru; Oozeki, Takashi; Kurokawa, Kosuke; Itou, Takamitsu; Kitamura, Kiyoyuki; Miyamoto, Yusuke; Yokota, Masaharu; Sugihara, Hiroyuki

Voltage of power distribution line will be increased due to reverse power flow from grid-connected PV systems. In the case of high density grid connection, amount of voltage increasing will be higher than the stand-alone grid connection system. To prevent the over voltage of power distribution line, PV system's output will be restricted if the voltage of power distribution line is close to the upper limit of the control range. Because of this interaction, amount of output loss will be larger in high density case. This research developed a quantitative analysis method for PV systems output and losses to clarify the behavior of grid connected PV systems. All the measured data are classified into the loss factors using 1 minute average of 1 second data instead of typical 1 hour average. Operation point on the I-V curve is estimated to quantify the loss due to the output restriction using module temperature, array output voltage, array output current and solar irradiance. As a result, loss due to output restriction is successfully quantified and behavior of output restriction is clarified.

Training simulator for teaching a technique to the long transmission of ball in basket-ball by a method by an arcuated hand from above with threaten

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charikova K.M.

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Technical devices which used in basket-ball are considered. The features of constructing of trainers and method of their application are selected in a training process. A trainer is offered for teaching a technique to the long transmission of ball in basket-ball. A trainer is a moving on a rope imitator of basket-ball ball. This construction allows to design initial position, замах for implementation of transmission and line of acceleration of ball in the final phase of motion. The method of the use of trainer is developed in an educational process.

Compact multiwire proportional chambers and electronics for the crystal ball detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaiser, J.E.; Liberman, A.D.; Rolfe, J.

1978-01-01

A double gap of cylindrical proportional chambers has been designed and built for use with a large solid angle, modular NaI(Tl) array (The Crystal Ball). The chambers are constructed of three coaxial foam-epoxy shells, covered with an aluminum-mylar laminate. One of the high voltage cathodes in each chamber has been photo-etched to produce a pattern of stripes and precise position measurements of tracks passing transverse to the chamber axis are found by pulse height analyzing the shaped and amplified induced strip signals. Performance of the chamber using both the strip signals and the sense wire readout is presented. The design of both the signal handling electronics and the digital portions of the systems is discussed

Ball lightning as a route to fusion energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roth, J.R.

1989-01-01

The reality of ball lightning is attested to by observations reported in surveys of large populations, which are the subject of several books. These observations indicate that its characteristics may be relevant to fusion energy applications. Ball lightning can have a diameter up to several meters, a lifetime of over 100 seconds, an energy content in excess of 10 megajoules, and an energy density and a kinetic pressure greater than that of a reacting DT plasma. This paper reviews some of the properties of ball lightning which commend it to the attention of the fusion community, and it discusses some potential advantages and applications of ball lightning fusion reactors. 11 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

Design and operation of grid-interactive thin-film silicon PV systems

Science.gov (United States)

Marion, Bill; Atmaram, Gobind; Lashway, Clin; Strachan, John W.

Results are described from the operation of 11 thin-film amorphous silicon photovoltaic systems at three test facilities: the Florida Solar Energy Center, the New Mexico Solar Energy Institute, and Sandia National Laboratories. Commercially available modules from four US manufacturers are used in these systems, with array sizes from 133 to 750 W peak. Measured array efficiencies are from 3.1 to 4.8 percent. Except for one manufacturer, array peak power is in agreement with the calculated design ratings. For certain grid-connected systems, nonoptimal operation exists because the array peak power voltage is below the lower voltage limit of the power conditioning system. Reliability problems are found in two manufacturers' modules when shorts to ground and terminal corrosion occur. Array leakage current data are presented.

Effect of panel shape of soccer ball on its flight characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Sungchan; Asai, Takeshi

2014-05-01

Soccer balls are typically constructed from 32 pentagonal and hexagonal panels. Recently, however, newer balls named Cafusa, Teamgeist 2, and Jabulani were respectively produced from 32, 14, and 8 panels with shapes and designs dramatically different from those of conventional balls. The newest type of ball, named Brazuca, was produced from six panels and will be used in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. There have, however, been few studies on the aerodynamic properties of balls constructed from different numbers and shapes of panels. Hence, we used wind tunnel tests and a kick-robot to examine the relationship between the panel shape and orientation of modern soccer balls and their aerodynamic and flight characteristics. We observed a correlation between the wind tunnel test results and the actual ball trajectories, and also clarified how the panel characteristics affected the flight of the ball, which enabled prediction of the trajectory.

An early record of ball lightning: Oliva (Spain), 1619

Science.gov (United States)

Domínguez-Castro, Fernando

2018-05-01

In a primary documentary source we found an early record of ball lightning (BL), which was observed in the monastery of Pi (Oliva, southeastern Spain) on 18 October 1619. The ball lightning was observed by at least three people and was described as a rolling burning vessel and a ball of fire. The ball lightning appeared following a lightning flash, showed a mainly horizontal motion, crossed a wall, smudged an image of the Lady of Rebollet (then known as Lady of Pi) and burnt her ruff, and overturned a cross.

Supersymmetric dark-matter Q-balls and their interactions in matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kusenko, Alexander; Loveridge, Lee C.; Shaposhnikov, Mikhail

2005-01-01

Supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model contain nontopological solitons, Q-balls, which can be stable and can be a form of cosmological dark matter. Understanding the interaction of SUSY Q-balls with matter fermions is important for both astrophysical limits and laboratory searches for these dark-matter candidates. We show that a baryon scattering off a baryonic SUSY Q-ball can convert into its antiparticle with a high probability, while the baryon number of the Q-ball is increased by two units. For a SUSY Q-ball interacting with matter, this process dominates over those previously discussed in the literature

Summary of the fuel rod support system (grids) design for LWBR (LWBR development program)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richardson, K.D.

1979-02-01

Design features of the fuel rod support system (grids) for the Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) installed in the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, Shippingport, Pennsylvania, are described. The grids are fabricated from AM-350 stainless steel and provide lateral support of the fuel rods in the three regions (seed, blanket, and reflector) of the reactor. A comparison is made of the LWBR grids, whose cells are arranged in triangular-pitched arrays, with rod support systems employed in commercial light water reactors

Micro structrual characterization and analysis of ball milled silicon carbide

Science.gov (United States)

Madhusudan, B. M.; Raju, H. P.; Ghanaraja., S.

2018-04-01

Mechanical alloying has been one of the prominent methods of powder synthesis technique in solid state involving cyclic deformation, cold welding and fracturing of powder particles. Powder particles in this method are subjected to greater mechanical deformation due to the impact of ball-powder-ball and ball-powder-container collisions that occurs during mechanical alloying. Strain hardening and fracture of particles decreases the size of the particles and creates new surfaces. The objective of this Present work is to use ball milling of SiC powder for different duration of 5, 10, 15 and 20 hours by High energy planetary ball milling machine and to evaluate the effect of ball milling on SiC powder. Micro structural Studies using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and EDAX has been investigated.

Water Bouncing Balls: how material stiffness affects water entry

Science.gov (United States)

Truscott, Tadd

2014-03-01

It is well known that one can skip a stone across the water surface, but less well known that a ball can also be skipped on water. Even though 17th century ship gunners were aware that cannonballs could be skipped on the water surface, they did not know that using elastic spheres rather than rigid ones could greatly improve skipping performance (yet would have made for more peaceful volleys). The water bouncing ball (Waboba®) is an elastic ball used in a game of aquatic keep away in which players pass the ball by skipping it along the water surface. The ball skips easily along the surface creating a sense that breaking the world record for number of skips could easily be achieved (51 rock skips Russell Byers 2007). We investigate the physics of skipping elastic balls to elucidate the mechanisms by which they bounce off of the water. High-speed video reveals that, upon impact with the water, the balls create a cavity and deform significantly due to the extreme elasticity; the flattened spheres resemble skipping stones. With an increased wetted surface area, a large hydrodynamic lift force is generated causing the ball to launch back into the air. Unlike stone skipping, the elasticity of the ball plays an important roll in determining the success of the skip. Through experimentation, we demonstrate that the deformation timescale during impact must be longer than the collision time in order to achieve a successful skip. Further, several material deformation modes can be excited upon free surface impact. The effect of impact velocity and angle on the two governing timescales and material wave modes are also experimentally investigated. Scaling for the deformation and collision times are derived and used to establish criteria for skipping in terms of relevant physical parameters.

Neutrons and the crystal ball experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alyea, J.; Grosnick, D.; Koetke, D.; Manweiler, R.; Spinka, H.; Stanislaus, S.

1997-01-01

The Crystal Ball detector, as originally constructed, consisted of a set of 672 optically-isolated NaI crystals, forming an approximately spherical shell and each crystal viewed by a photomultiplier, a charged-particle tracker within the NaI shell, and two endcaps to cover angles close to two colliding beams. The detector geometry subtends a solid angle of about 93% of 4π st (20 degree le θ le 160degree and 0degree le φ le 360degree) from the center. The Crystal Ball detector was used for two long series of experiments at the e + e - colliding beam accelerators SPEAR [1, 2, 3, 4] at SLAC and DORIS [5, 6, 7, 8] at DESY. A new set of measurements using the Crystal Ball detector is planned at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Alternating Gradient Synchrotrons (BNL AGS). These new experiments will use the 672 NaI crystals from the original detector, but neither the tracker nor endcaps. The ''Crystal Ball'' in this note will refer only to the set of NaI crystals. Initially, the reactions to be studied will include π - pr a rrow neutrals with pion beam momenta approximately400-750 MeV/c and K - pr a rrow neutrals with kaon beam momenta approximately600-750 MeV/c. Each of these reactions will include a neutron in the final state. whereas the fraction of e + e - interactions with neutrons at SLAC or DESY was quite small. Consequently, there is relatively little experience understanding the behavior of neutrons in the Crystal Ball

2-D Row-Column CMUT Arrays with an Open-Grid Support Structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Thomas Lehrmann; Dahl-Petersen, Christian; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2013-01-01

Fabrication and characterization of 64 + 64 2-D row-column addressed CMUT arrays with 250 μm element pitch and 4.4 MHz center frequency in air incorporating a new design approach is presented. The arrays are comprised of two wafer bonded, structured silicon-on-insulator wafers featuring an opengr...

Optimal system sizing in grid-connected photovoltaic applications

Science.gov (United States)

Simoens, H. M.; Baert, D. H.; de Mey, G.

A costs/benefits analysis for optimizing the combination of photovoltaic (PV) panels, batteries and an inverter for grid interconnected systems at a 500 W/day Belgian residence is presented. It is assumed that some power purchases from the grid will always be necessary, and that excess PV power can be fed into the grid. A minimal value for the cost divided by the performance is defined for economic optimization. Shortages and excesses are calculated for PV panels of 0.5-10 kWp output, with consideration given to the advantages of a battery back-up. The minimal economic value is found to increase with the magnitude of PV output, and an inverter should never be rated at more than half the array maximum output. A maximum panel size for the Belgian residence is projected to be 6 kWp.

BALL KINEMATICS IN FINE POLISHING BETWEEN MISALIGNED DISKS IN CONIC OPENINGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. G. Shchetnikovich

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper considers ball kinematics in polishing between misaligned disks rotating with equal angular velocity; one of these disks has conic openings. Analytical dependences have been obtained for calculation of an angular velocity and ball sliding speed in the conic opening. It has been revealed that at a constant contact of a ball with elastic coating of a flat disk and absence of vibrations in the technological system an instantaneous axis of ball rotation does not change its position in the moving ball. It has been ascertained that when a ball is in contact with a flat disk having elastic coating with grooves changes in the position of ball rotation instantaneous axis have a regular character and do not depend on vibrations in the technological system.

Multichannel wireless ECoG array ASIC devices.

Science.gov (United States)

DeMichele, Glenn A; Cogan, Stuart F; Troyk, Philip R; Chen, Hongnan; Hu, Zhe

2014-01-01

Surgical resection of epileptogenic foci is often a beneficial treatment for patients suffering debilitating seizures arising from intractable epilepsy [1], [2], [3]. Electrodes placed subdurally on the surface of the brain in the form of an ECoG array is one of the multiple methods for localizing epileptogenic zones for the purpose of defining the region for surgical resection. Currently, transcutaneous wires from ECoG grids limit the duration of time that implanted grids can be used for diagnosis. A wireless ECoG recording and stimulation system may be a solution to extend the diagnostic period. To avoid the transcutaneous connections, a 64-channel wireless silicon recording/stimulating ASIC was developed as the electronic component of a wireless ECoG array that uses SIROF electrodes on a polyimide substrate[4]. Here we describe two new ASIC devices that have been developed and tested as part of the on-going wireless ECoG system design.

Direction-of-Arrival Estimation with Coarray ESPRIT for Coprime Array.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Chengwei; Zhou, Jinfang

2017-08-03

A coprime array is capable of achieving more degrees-of-freedom for direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation than a uniform linear array when utilizing the same number of sensors. However, existing algorithms exploiting coprime array usually adopt predefined spatial sampling grids for optimization problem design or include spectrum peak search process for DOA estimation, resulting in the contradiction between estimation performance and computational complexity. To address this problem, we introduce the Estimation of Signal Parameters via Rotational Invariance Techniques (ESPRIT) to the coprime coarray domain, and propose a novel coarray ESPRIT-based DOA estimation algorithm to efficiently retrieve the off-grid DOAs. Specifically, the coprime coarray statistics are derived according to the received signals from a coprime array to ensure the degrees-of-freedom (DOF) superiority, where a pair of shift invariant uniform linear subarrays is extracted. The rotational invariance of the signal subspaces corresponding to the underlying subarrays is then investigated based on the coprime coarray covariance matrix, and the incorporation of ESPRIT in the coarray domain makes it feasible to formulate the closed-form solution for DOA estimation. Theoretical analyses and simulation results verify the efficiency and the effectiveness of the proposed DOA estimation algorithm.

System performance of a three-phase PV-grid-connected system installed in Thailand. Data monitored analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boonmee, Chaiyant; Watjanatepin, Napat; Plangklang, Boonyang

2009-01-01

PV-grid-connected systems are worldwide installed because it allows consumer to reduce energy consumption from the electricity grid and to feed the surplus energy back into the grid. The system needs no battery so therefore the system price is very cheap comparing to other PV systems. PV-grid-connected systems are used in buildings that already hooked up to the electrical grid. Finding efficiency of the PV-grid-connected system can be done by using a standard instrument which needs to disconnect the PV arrays from the grid before measurement. The measurement is also difficult and we lose energy during the measurement. This paper will present the system performance of a PV-grid-connected system installed in Thailand by using a monitoring system. The monitored data are installed by acquisition software into a computer. Analysis of monitored data will be done to find out the system performance without disconnecting the PV arrays from the system. The monitored data include solar radiation, PV voltage, PV current, and PV power which has been recorded from a 5 kWp system installed of amorphous silicon PV at Rajamangala University of Technology Suvarnabhumi, Nonthaburi, Thailand. The system performance of the system by using the data monitored is compared to the standard instrument measurement. The paper will give all details about system components, monitoring system, and monitored data. The result of data analysis will be fully given. (author)

JColorGrid: software for the visualization of biological measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Joachimiak, Marcin P; Weisman, Jennifer L; May, Barnaby Ch

2006-04-27

Two-dimensional data colourings are an effective medium by which to represent three-dimensional data in two dimensions. Such "color-grid" representations have found increasing use in the biological sciences (e.g. microarray 'heat maps' and bioactivity data) as they are particularly suited to complex data sets and offer an alternative to the graphical representations included in traditional statistical software packages. The effectiveness of color-grids lies in their graphical design, which introduces a standard for customizable data representation. Currently, software applications capable of generating limited color-grid representations can be found only in advanced statistical packages or custom programs (e.g. micro-array analysis tools), often associated with steep learning curves and requiring expert knowledge. Here we describe JColorGrid, a Java library and platform independent application that renders color-grid graphics from data. The software can be used as a Java library, as a command-line application, and as a color-grid parameter interface and graphical viewer application. Data, titles, and data labels are input as tab-delimited text files or Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and the color-grid settings are specified through the graphical interface or a text configuration file. JColorGrid allows both user graphical data exploration as well as a means of automatically rendering color-grids from data as part of research pipelines. The program has been tested on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems, and the binary executables and source files are available for download at http://jcolorgrid.ucsf.edu.

Improved hydrogen sorption kinetics in wet ball milled Mg hydrides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meng, Li

2011-05-04

In this work, wet ball milling method is used in order to improve hydrogen sorption behaviour due to its improved microstructure of solid hydrogen materials. Compared to traditional ball milling method, wet ball milling has benefits on improvement of MgH{sub 2} microstructure and further influences on its hydrogen sorption behavior. With the help of solvent tetrahydrofuran (THF), wet ball milled MgH{sub 2} powder has much smaller particle size and its specific surface area is 7 times as large as that of dry ball milled MgH{sub 2} powder. Although after ball milling the grain size is decreased a lot compared to as-received MgH{sub 2} powder, the grain size of wet ball milled MgH{sub 2} powder is larger than that of dry ball milled MgH{sub 2} powder due to the lubricant effect of solvent THF during wet ball milling. The improved particle size and specific surface area of wet ball milled MgH{sub 2} powder is found to be determining its hydrogen sorption kinetics especially at relatively low temperatures. And it also shows good cycling sorption behavior, which decides on its industrial applicability. With three different catalysts MgH{sub 2} powder shows improved hydrogen sorption behavior as well as the cyclic sorption behavior. Among them, the Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5} catalyst is found to be the most effective one in this work. Compared to the wet ball milled MgH{sub 2} powder, the particle size and specific surface area of the MgH{sub 2} powder with catalysts are similar to the previous ones, while the grain size of the MgH{sub 2} with catalysts is much finer. In this case, two reasons for hydrogen sorption improvement are suggested: one is the reduction of the grain size. The other may be as pointed out in some literatures that formation of new oxidation could enhance the hydrogen sorption kinetics, which is also the reason why its hydrogen capacity is decreased compared to without catalysts. After further ball milling, the specific surface area of wet ball milled Mg

Impact study of the Argo array definition in the Mediterranean Sea based on satellite altimetry gridded data

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Roman, Antonio; Ruiz, Simón; Pascual, Ananda; Guinehut, Stéphanie; Mourre, Baptiste

2016-04-01

The existing Argo network provides essential data in near real time to constrain monitoring and forecasting centers and strongly complements the observations of the ocean surface from space. The comparison of Sea Level Anomalies (SLA) provided by satellite altimeters with in-situ Dynamic Heights Anomalies (DHA) derived from the temperature and salinity profiles of Argo floats contribute to better characterize the error budget associated with the altimeter observations. In this work, performed in the frame of the E-AIMS FP7 European Project, we focus on the Argo observing system in the Mediterranean Sea and its impact on SLA fields provided by satellite altimetry measurements in the basin. Namely, we focus on the sensitivity of specific SLA gridded merged products provided by AVISO in the Mediterranean to the reference depth (400 or 900 dbar) selected in the computation of the Argo Dynamic Height (DH) as an integration of the Argo T/S profiles through the water column. This reference depth will have impact on the number of valid Argo profiles and therefore on their temporal sampling and the coverage by the network used to compare with altimeter data. To compare both datasets, altimeter grids and synthetic climatologies used to compute DHA were spatially and temporally interpolated at the position and time of each in-situ Argo profile by a mapping method based on an optimal interpolation scheme. The analysis was conducted in the entire Mediterranean Sea and different sub-regions of the basin. The second part of this work is devoted to investigate which configuration in terms of spatial sampling of the Argo array in the Mediterranean will properly reproduce the mesoscale dynamics in this basin, which is comprehensively captured by new standards of specific altimeter products for this region. To do that, several Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) were conducted assuming that altimetry data computed from AVISO specific reanalysis gridded merged product for

Design of Energy Storage Management System Based on FPGA in Micro-Grid

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Yafeng; Wang, Yanping; Han, Dexiao

2018-01-01

Energy storage system is the core to maintain the stable operation of smart micro-grid. Aiming at the existing problems of the energy storage management system in the micro-grid such as Low fault tolerance, easy to cause fluctuations in micro-grid, a new intelligent battery management system based on field programmable gate array is proposed : taking advantage of FPGA to combine the battery management system with the intelligent micro-grid control strategy. Finally, aiming at the problem that during estimation of battery charge State by neural network, initialization of weights and thresholds are not accurate leading to large errors in prediction results, the genetic algorithm is proposed to optimize the neural network method, and the experimental simulation is carried out. The experimental results show that the algorithm has high precision and provides guarantee for the stable operation of micro-grid.

BLEACHING NEPTUNE BALLS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BONET Maria Angeles

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Posidonia Oceanic is a seaweed from Mediterranean Sea and it is more concentrated at the Balerian SEA. This implies the Valencian Community also. It forms vaste underwater meadows in the sea and are part of the Mediterranean ecosystem. It is a sea-grass specie with fruits and flowers. Leaves are ribbon-like and they grow in winter and at the end of summer some of them are separated and arrive to some sea line. Fuit is separated and can floate, it is known as “the olive of the sea” mainly in Italy, or as the Neptune Balls. As it can be used in different fields, it is is being studied in order ro have the precitice tests. Some authors have reported the manufacturing of fully bio-based comites with a gluten matrix by hot-press molding. And it has been considered as an effective insulator for building industry or even though to determine the presence of mercure in the Mediterranean sea some years ago. As many applications can be designed from that fibers, it has been considered to be bleached in order to used them in fashionable products. Consequently, its original brown color is not the most suitable one and it should be bleached as many other cellulosic fibers. The aim of this paper is to bleache neptune balls however, the inner fibers were not accessible at all and it implied not to bleach the inner fibers in the neptune ball. Further studiesd will consider bleaching the individualized fibers.

Stability of a Fermi ball against deformation from spherical shape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, T.; Ogure, K.; Arafune, J.

2003-01-01

The stability of a Fermi ball (F ball), which is a kind of nontopological soliton accompanying the breakdown of the approximate Z 2 symmetry, is investigated in three situations: when it is electrically neutral, when it is electrically charged and unscreened, and when it is electrically charged and screened. We argue only that the third case is physically meaningful since the neutral F ball is unstable and the case of an unscreened charged F ball is observationally excluded when it has a sizable contribution to CDM. We find that the energy scale of the breakdown of the approximate Z 2 symmetry v should satisfy v 6 GeV if the F ball is the main component of CDM

Effect of Weld Properties on the Crush Strength of the PWR Spacer Grid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kee-nam Song

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Mechanical properties in a weld zone are different from those in the base material because of different microstructures. A spacer grid in PWR fuel is a structural component with an interconnected and welded array of slotted grid straps. Previous research on the strength analyses of the spacer grid was performed using base material properties owing to a lack of mechanical properties in the weld zone. In this study, based on the mechanical properties in the weld zone of the spacer grid recently obtained by an instrumented indentation technique, the strength analyses considering the mechanical properties in the weld zone were performed, and the analysis results were compared with the previous research.

Soccer Ball Lift Coefficients via Trajectory Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Goff, John Eric; Carre, Matt J.

2010-01-01

We performed experiments in which a soccer ball was launched from a machine while two high-speed cameras recorded portions of the trajectory. Using the trajectory data and published drag coefficients, we extracted lift coefficients for a soccer ball. We determined lift coefficients for a wide range of spin parameters, including several spin…

Flexible Mode Control of Grid Connected Wind Energy Conversion System Using Wavelet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bhavna Jain

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Small wind turbine systems offer services to critical loads during grid faults and also connected back to grid in normal condition. The connection of a wind energy conversion system to the grid requires a robust phase locked loop (PLL and continuous monitoring of the grid conditions such as overvoltage, undervoltage, overfrequency, underfrequency, and grid outages. This paper describes a flexible control operation to operate a small wind turbine in both stand-alone mode via planned islanding and grid connected mode as well. In particular, a proper monitoring and control algorithm is required for transition between the modes. A wavelet based energy function is used for detection of grid disturbances as well as recovery of grid so that transition between the modes is made. To obtain good power quality LCL filter is used to reduce ripples. PLL is used for synchronization whenever mode changes from stand-alone to grid connected. Simulation results from a 10 kW wind energy conversion system are included to show the usefulness of the proposed methods. The control method is tested by generated gate pulses for single phase bridge inverter using field programmable gate array (FPGA.

A Study on Structural Strength of Irradiated Spacer Grid for PWR Fuel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin, Y. G.; Baek, S. J.; Kim, D. S.; Yoo, B. O.; Ahn, S. B.; Chun, Y. B. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Kim, J. I.; Kim, Y. H.; Lee, J. J. [KEPCO NF, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

A fuel assembly consists of an array of fuel rods, spacer grids, guide thimbles, instrumentation tubes, and top and bottom nozzles. In PWR (Pressurized light Water Reactor) fuel assemblies, the spacer grids support the fuel rods by the friction forces between the fuel rods and springs/dimples. Under irradiation, the spacer grids supporting the fuel rods absorb vibration impacts due to the reactor coolant flow, and also bear static and dynamic loads during operation inside the nuclear reactor and transportation for spent fuel storage. Thus, it is important to understand the characteristics of deformation behavior and the change in structural strength of an irradiated spacer grid.. In the present study, the static compression test of a spacer grid was conducted to investigate the structural strength of the irradiated spacer grid in a hot cell at IMEF (Irradiated Materials Examination Facility) of KAERI. To evaluate the structural strength of an irradiated spacer grid, hot cell tests were carried out at IMEF of KAERI. The fuel assembly was dismantled and the irradiated spacer grid was obtained for the compression test. The apparatus for measuring the compression strength of the irradiated spacer grid was developed and installed successfully in the hot cell.

The effect of intermediate stop and ball size in fabrication of recycled steel powder using ball milling from machining steel chips

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fitri, M.W.M.; Shun, C.H.; Rizam, S.S.; Shamsul, J.B.

2007-01-01

A feasibility study for producing recycled steel powder from steel scrap by ball milling was carried out. Steel scrap from machining was used as a raw material and was milled using planetary ball milling. Three samples were prepared in order to study the effect of intermediate stop and ball size. Sample with intermediate stop during milling process showed finer particle size compared to the sample with continuous milling. Decrease in the temperature of the vial during the intermediate stop milling gives less ductile behaviour to the steel powder, which is then easily work-hardened and fragmented to fine powder. Mixed small and big size ball give the best production of recycled steel powder where it gives higher impact force to the scrap and accelerate the fragmentation of the steel scrap into powder. (author)

Effect of Ball Weight on Speed, Accuracy, and Mechanics in Cricket Fast Bowling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katharine L. Wickington

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The aims of this study were: (1 to quantify the acute effects of ball weight on ball release speed, accuracy, and mechanics in cricket fast bowling; and (2 to test whether a period of sustained training with underweight and overweight balls is effective in increasing a player’s ball release speed. Ten well-trained adult male cricket players performed maximum-effort deliveries using balls ranging in weight from 46% to 137% of the standard ball weight (156 g. A radar gun, bowling target, and 2D video analysis were used to obtain measures of ball speed, accuracy, and mechanics. The participants were assigned to either an intervention group, who trained with underweight and overweight balls, or to a control group, who trained with standard-weight balls. We found that ball speed decreased at a rate of about 1.1 m/s per 100 g increase in ball weight. Accuracy and bowling mechanics were not adversely affected by changes in ball weight. There was evidence that training with underweight and overweight balls might have produced a practically meaningful increase in bowling speed (>1.5 m/s in some players without compromising accuracy or increasing their risk of injury through inducing poor bowling mechanics. In cricket fast bowling, a wide range of ball weight might be necessary to produce an effective modified-implement training program.

Visualization of air flow around soccer ball using a particle image velocimetry

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Sungchan; Asai, Takeshi; Seo, Kazuya

2015-10-01

A traditional soccer ball is constructed using 32 pentagonal and hexagonal panels. In recent years, however, the likes of the Teamgeist and Jabulani balls, constructed from 14 and 8 panels, respectively, have entered the field, marking a significant departure from conventionality in terms of shape and design. Moreover, the recently introduced Brazuca ball features a new 6-panel design and has already been adopted by many soccer leagues. However, the shapes of the constituent panels of these balls differ substantially from those of conventional balls. Therefore, this study set out to investigate the flight and aerodynamic characteristics of different orientations of the soccer ball, which is constructed from panels of different shapes. A wind tunnel test showed substantial differences in the aerodynamic forces acting on the ball, depending on its orientation. Substantial differences were also observed in the aerodynamic forces acting on the ball in different directions, corresponding to its orientation and rotation. Moreover, two-dimensional particle image velocimetry (2D-PIV) measurements showed that the boundary separation varies depending on the orientation of the ball. Based on these results, we can conclude that the shape of the panels of a soccer ball substantially affects its flight trajectory.

Hermitian harmonic maps into convex balls

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zhenyang; Xi Zhang

2004-07-01

In this paper, we consider Hermitian harmonic maps from Hermitian manifolds into convex balls. We prove that there exist no non-trivial Hermitian harmonic maps from closed Hermitian manifolds into convex balls, and we use the heat flow method to solve the Dirichlet problem for Hermitian harmonic maps when the domain is compact Hermitian manifold with non-empty boundary. The case where the domain manifold is complete(noncompact) is also studied. (author)

Experimental grid connected PV system power analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Semaoui, Smail; Abdeladim, Kamel; Arab, Amar Hadj; Boulahchich, Saliha; Amrouche, Said Ould; Yassaa, Noureddine

2018-05-01

Almost 80 % of Algerian territory is appropriate for the exploitation of solar energy. The Algerian energetic strategy provides a substantial injection of PV electricity to the national grid. Currently, about 344 MWp of PV arrays which corresponds approximately to 2,34 km2 of module surfaces, are connected on electricity grid over the national territory. The Algerian Northern regions are characterized by strong pollution and high humidity. These phenomena affect the energetic productivity of PV generator. The objective of our study is to analyze experimental grid connected PV system power in coastal locations. Hence, experiments have been conducted on three identical PV systems to determine the electrical performances. Transformer-less inverters are the most attractive for the ground-based photovoltaic (PV) system due to their efficiencies, reduced cost and weight. Besides, the absence of the galvanic isolation generates problems of capacitive leakage current on the AC side and the degradation of the insulation resistance on the DC side of the inverter. In this work, experimental study of the behavior of single-phase inverters without transformers is presented. The main objective of this work is to study the degradation of the insulation resistance at the input of the inverter, and the capacitive leakage current at the output of the inverter. This study was achieved at the CDER on a rainy day of 15/03/2017, on the first PV plant connected to the low voltage network in Algeria. This investigation can help forecasting the PV array energetic production by taking into account natural conditions.

Assessment of head injury of children due to golf ball impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Heow Pueh; Wang, Fang

2010-10-01

Head trauma injury due to impact by a flying golf ball is one of the most severe possible injury accidents on the golf course. Numerical simulations based on the finite element method are presented to investigate head injury in children due to impact by a flying golf ball. The stress and energy flow patterns in a head model during the golf ball impact are computed for various combinations of striking speed, falling angle of the golf ball before impact, and impact location. It is found that a child is more prone to head injury due to golf ball impact on the frontal and side/temporal areas. The simulated results are found to conform to the clinical reports on children's head injuries from flying golf balls.

Ball check valve

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bevilacqua, F.

1978-01-01

A pressurized nuclear reactor having an instrument assembly sheathed in a metallic tube which is extended vertically upward into the reactor core by traversing a metallic guide tube which is welded to the wall of the vessel is described. Sensors in each instrument assembly are connected to instruments outside the vessel to manifest the conditions within the core. Each instrument assembly probe is moved into position within a metallic guide channel. The guide channel penetrates the wall of the vessel and forms part of the barrier to the environment within the pressure vessel. Each channel includes a ball check valve which is opened by the instrument assembly probe when the probe passes through the valve. A ball valve element is moved from its seat by the probe to a position lateral of the bore of the channel and is guided to its seat along a sloped path within the valve body when the probe is removed. 5 claims, 3 figures

The development of cobalt-base alloy ball bearing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Xinshui; Chen Jianting; Wang Zaishu; Wang Ximei; Huang Chongming.

1986-01-01

The main technologies and experiences in developing a Cobalt-base alloy ball bearing are described. In the hardfacing of bearing races, a lower-hardness alloy of type St-6 is used rather than an alloy with hardness similar to that of the ball and finally the hardness of race is increased to match that of the ball by heat treatment. This improvement has certain advantages. The experience of whole developing technology indicates that strict control of the technology in the bearing-race hardfacing is the key problem in the quality assurance of bearings

Launch Creativity with Ping-Pong Ball Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Kornoelje, Joanne; Roman, Harry T.

2011-01-01

Educators at Thomas A. Edison Middle School have worked together to bring invention information and activities to life. One activity in particular, Ping-Pong Ball Invention Challenge, has proven a great success. The Ping-Pong Ball Invention Challenge was inspired by the basic rules for PBS's "Design Squad"'s "Pop Fly" activity. In this article,…

Nonlinear dynamic model for skidding behavior of angular contact ball bearings

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Qinkai; Chu, Fulei

2015-10-01

A three-dimensional nonlinear dynamic model is proposed to predict the skidding behavior of angular contact ball bearings under combined load condition. The centrifugal and gyroscopic effects induced by ball rotation and revolution, Hertz contact between the ball and inner/outer races, discontinuous contact between the ball and cage and elastohydrodynamic lubrication are considered in the model. Through comparisons with the tested results of the reference, the dynamic model is verified. Based upon these, variations of ball slipping speed with time and space are discussed for the bearing under combined load condition. It is shown that radial load leads to the fluctuations in the slipping velocity of the ball contacting with inner/outer races, especially for the ball in load-decreasing regions. Adding the radial load would significantly increase the amplitude and range of slipping velocity, indicating that the skidding becomes more serious. As the ball still withstands contact load in the load-decreasing region, large slipping velocity would increase the temperature of both bearing and lubricant oil, intensify the wear and then might shorten the bearing service life. Therefore, the radial load should be considered carefully in the design and monitoring of rotating machinery.

Trends in life science grid: from computing grid to knowledge grid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konagaya Akihiko

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Grid computing has great potential to become a standard cyberinfrastructure for life sciences which often require high-performance computing and large data handling which exceeds the computing capacity of a single institution. Results This survey reviews the latest grid technologies from the viewpoints of computing grid, data grid and knowledge grid. Computing grid technologies have been matured enough to solve high-throughput real-world life scientific problems. Data grid technologies are strong candidates for realizing "resourceome" for bioinformatics. Knowledge grids should be designed not only from sharing explicit knowledge on computers but also from community formulation for sharing tacit knowledge among a community. Conclusion Extending the concept of grid from computing grid to knowledge grid, it is possible to make use of a grid as not only sharable computing resources, but also as time and place in which people work together, create knowledge, and share knowledge and experiences in a community.

Random power series in the unit ball of Cn

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi Jihuai.

1989-07-01

The random power series in the unit disc has been studied by many authors. In this paper, we studied the random power series in the unit ball of C n and generalized some results in the unit disc to the unit ball, in particular, the result obtained recently by Duren has been generalized to the unit ball. The main tool used here is the generalized Salem-Zygmund's theorem. (author). 12 refs

Thermoelastoplastic Deformation of a Multilayer Ball

Science.gov (United States)

Murashkin, E. V.; Dats, E. P.

2017-09-01

The problem of centrally symmetric deformation of a multilayer elastoplastic ball in the process of successive accretion of preheated layers to its outer surface is considered in the framework of small elastoplastic deformations. The problems of residual stress formation in the elastoplastic ball with an inclusion and a cavity are solved under various mechanical boundary conditions on the inner surface and for prescribed thermal compression distributions. The graphs of residual stress and displacement fields are constructed.

Grid interoperability: joining grid information systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flechl, M; Field, L

2008-01-01

A grid is defined as being 'coordinated resource sharing and problem solving in dynamic, multi-institutional virtual organizations'. Over recent years a number of grid projects, many of which have a strong regional presence, have emerged to help coordinate institutions and enable grids. Today, we face a situation where a number of grid projects exist, most of which are using slightly different middleware. Grid interoperation is trying to bridge these differences and enable Virtual Organizations to access resources at the institutions independent of their grid project affiliation. Grid interoperation is usually a bilateral activity between two grid infrastructures. Recently within the Open Grid Forum, the Grid Interoperability Now (GIN) Community Group is trying to build upon these bilateral activities. The GIN group is a focal point where all the infrastructures can come together to share ideas and experiences on grid interoperation. It is hoped that each bilateral activity will bring us one step closer to the overall goal of a uniform grid landscape. A fundamental aspect of a grid is the information system, which is used to find available grid services. As different grids use different information systems, interoperation between these systems is crucial for grid interoperability. This paper describes the work carried out to overcome these differences between a number of grid projects and the experiences gained. It focuses on the different techniques used and highlights the important areas for future standardization

JColorGrid: software for the visualization of biological measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

May Barnaby CH

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Two-dimensional data colourings are an effective medium by which to represent three-dimensional data in two dimensions. Such "color-grid" representations have found increasing use in the biological sciences (e.g. microarray 'heat maps' and bioactivity data as they are particularly suited to complex data sets and offer an alternative to the graphical representations included in traditional statistical software packages. The effectiveness of color-grids lies in their graphical design, which introduces a standard for customizable data representation. Currently, software applications capable of generating limited color-grid representations can be found only in advanced statistical packages or custom programs (e.g. micro-array analysis tools, often associated with steep learning curves and requiring expert knowledge. Results Here we describe JColorGrid, a Java library and platform independent application that renders color-grid graphics from data. The software can be used as a Java library, as a command-line application, and as a color-grid parameter interface and graphical viewer application. Data, titles, and data labels are input as tab-delimited text files or Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and the color-grid settings are specified through the graphical interface or a text configuration file. JColorGrid allows both user graphical data exploration as well as a means of automatically rendering color-grids from data as part of research pipelines. Conclusion The program has been tested on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems, and the binary executables and source files are available for download at http://jcolorgrid.ucsf.edu.

On the isoperimetric rigidity of extrinsic minimal balls

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Markvorsen, Steen; Palmer, V.

2003-01-01

We consider an m-dimensional minimal submanifold P and a metric R-sphere in the Euclidean space R-n. If the sphere has its center p on P, then it will cut out a well defined connected component of P which contains this center point. We call this connected component an extrinsic minimal R-ball of P....... The quotient of the volume of the extrinsic ball and the volume of its boundary is not larger than the corresponding quotient obtained in the space form standard situation, where the minimal submanifold is the totally geodesic linear subspace R-m. Here we show that if the minimal submanifold has dimension...... larger than 3, if P is not too curved along the boundary of an extrinsic minimal R-ball, and if the inequality alluded to above is an equality for the extrinsic minimal ball, then the minimal submanifold is totally geodesic....

A self-similar magnetohydrodynamic model for ball lightnings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsui, K. H.

2006-01-01

Ball lightning is modeled by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations in two-dimensional spherical geometry with azimuthal symmetry. Dynamic evolutions in the radial direction are described by the self-similar evolution function y(t). The plasma pressure, mass density, and magnetic fields are solved in terms of the radial label η. This model gives spherical MHD plasmoids with axisymmetric force-free magnetic field, and spherically symmetric plasma pressure and mass density, which self-consistently determine the polytropic index γ. The spatially oscillating nature of the radial and meridional field structures indicate embedded regions of closed field lines. These regions are named secondary plasmoids, whereas the overall self-similar spherical structure is named the primary plasmoid. According to this model, the time evolution function allows the primary plasmoid expand outward in two modes. The corresponding ejection of the embedded secondary plasmoids results in ball lightning offering an answer as how they come into being. The first is an accelerated expanding mode. This mode appears to fit plasmoids ejected from thundercloud tops with acceleration to ionosphere seen in high altitude atmospheric observations of sprites and blue jets. It also appears to account for midair high-speed ball lightning overtaking airplanes, and ground level high-speed energetic ball lightning. The second is a decelerated expanding mode, and it appears to be compatible to slowly moving ball lightning seen near ground level. The inverse of this second mode corresponds to an accelerated inward collapse, which could bring ball lightning to an end sometimes with a cracking sound

Structural and dynamical properties of Yukawa balls

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Block, D; Kroll, M; Arp, O; Piel, A; Kaeding, S; Ivanov, Y; Melzer, A; Henning, C; Baumgartner, H; Ludwig, P; Bonitz, M

2007-01-01

To study the structural and dynamical properties of finite 3D dust clouds (Yukawa balls) new diagnostic tools have been developed. This contribution describes the progress towards 3D diagnostics for measuring the particle positions. It is shown that these diagnostics are capable of investigating the structural and dynamical properties of Yukawa balls and gaining insight into their basic construction principles

Validity and Reliability of a Medicine Ball Explosive Power Test.

Science.gov (United States)

Stockbrugger, Barry A.; Haennel, Robert G.

2001-01-01

Evaluated the validity and reliability of a medicine ball throw test to evaluate explosive power. Data on competitive sand volleyball players who performed a medicine ball throw and a standard countermovement jump indicated that the medicine ball throw test was a valid and reliable way to assess explosive power for an analogous total-body movement…

Gas-discharge particle detector with ball-tipped anodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Travkin, V.I.; Khazins, D.M.

1987-01-01

A new gas-discharge particle detector, whose anode is a set of balls 2mm in diameter is investigated. The chamber is blowing down by the argon-methane-methylal gas mixture with the ratio 3:1:1. The detector operates in the self-quenching streamer mode, has high efficiency and a wide counting characteristic plateau. The maximum counting rate of particles at one ball is ∼ 2.5x10 4 s -1 . The ball-tipped anodes allow making reliable complex-shaped detectors. Two-coordinate detection of multiparticle events can be naturally organized in detectors like that

Real-time detecting and tracking ball with OpenCV and Kinect

Science.gov (United States)

Osiecki, Tomasz; Jankowski, Stanislaw

2016-09-01

This paper presents a way to detect and track ball with using the OpenCV and Kinect. Object and people recognition, tracking are more and more popular topics nowadays. Described solution makes it possible to detect ball based on the range, which is set by the user and capture information about ball position in three dimensions. It can be store in the computer and use for example to display trajectory of the ball.

Estructura temporal y gestual del kin-ball

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Díaz Amate

2015-06-01

Full Text Available El objetivo de este estudio es analizar la estructura temporal del kin-ball y cuantificar el número de golpeos, jugadas, puntos y los tipos de contacto utilizados, en cada período y partido. Se han analizado un total de 13 partidos, correspondientes a la fase de grupos, semifinales y final del VII Campeonato de España de Kin-ball. Es un deporte caracterizado por la realización de esfuerzos interválicos de intensidad media-alta y de corta duración. Un partido de kin-ball tiene una duración media de 46 min aproximadamente, siendo el ratio tiempo de trabajo y tiempo de descanso de 1:1,51 y la duración media por punto de 12,07 s. Así, un partido de kin-ball tiene un volumen de 73 puntos con un total de 390 golpeos. Los tipos de golpeos utilizados determinan que es un deporte defensivo. Todos estos análisis ayudan a tener un mayor conocimiento de esta disciplina deportiva por parte de los entrenadores y jugadores para tener un entrenamiento más específico.

Effect of Surface Finish of Substrate on Mechanical Reliability of in-48SN Solder Joints in Moems Package

OpenAIRE

Koo, Ja-Myeong; Jung, Seung-Boo

2007-01-01

Submitted on behalf of EDA Publishing Association (http://irevues.inist.fr/handle/2042/5920); International audience; Interfacial reactions and shear properties of the In-48Sn (in wt.%) ball grid array (BGA) solder joints after bonding were investigated with four different surface finishes of the substrate over an underlying Cu pad: electroplated Ni/Au (hereafter E-NG), electroless Ni/immersion Au (hereafter ENIG), immersion Ag (hereafter I-Ag) and organic solderability preservative (hereafte...

A New Method of PV Array Faults Diagnosis in Smart Grid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ze Cheng

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A new fault diagnosis method is proposed for PV arrays with SP connection in this study, the advantages of which are that it would minimize the number of sensors needed and that the accuracy and anti-interference ability are improved with the introduction of fuzzy group decision-making theory. We considered five “decision makers” contributing to the diagnosis of PV array faults, including voltage, current, environmental temperature, panel temperature, and solar illumination. The accuracy and reliability of the proposed method were verified experimentally, and the possible factors contributing to diagnosis deviation were analyzed, based on which solutions were suggested to reduce or eliminate errors in aspects of hardware and software.

Intelligent Control for a DC Micro-Grid System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martino, Michele; Quiñones, Yamshid Farhat; Raboni, Pietro

2012-01-01

This paper presents the dynamic response of a DC–micro-grid (DC-MG) controlled in master-slave mode. The benefits of the micro-grids (MGs) are the low cost in terms of power electronics converters and the high reliability and quality, even in case of loss connection to the transmission system. A ...... the units, especially in case of variable weather conditions with different DC loads. Thus the voltage level of the system and the power flow are shown, out of a detailed description of the power electronic interfaces featuring the distributed generators (DGs).......This paper presents the dynamic response of a DC–micro-grid (DC-MG) controlled in master-slave mode. The benefits of the micro-grids (MGs) are the low cost in terms of power electronics converters and the high reliability and quality, even in case of loss connection to the transmission system. A DC......-MG in fact can survive in standalone mode if properly managed. The considered system is made by a photovoltaic array (PV), a wind turbine (WT), a gas engine (GE) and an energy storage system (ESS). The DC-MG behavior is analyzed in different scenarios to demonstrate the efficacy of the control for all...

Anti-collapse mechanism of CBM fuzzy-ball drilling fluid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lihui Zheng

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Although fuzzy-ball drilling fluid has been successfully applied in CBM well drilling, it is necessary to study its anti-collapse mechanism so that adjustable coalbed sealing effects, controllable sealing strength, rational sealing cost and controllable reservoir damage degree can be realized. In this paper, laboratory measurement was performed on the uniaxial compressive strength of the plungers of No. 3 coalbed in the Qinshui Basin and the inlet pressure of Ø38 mm coal plunger displacement. The strengths of coal plungers were tested and compared after 2% potassium chloride solution, low-solids polymer drilling fluid and fuzzy-ball drilling fluid were injected into the coal plungers respectively. It is shown that coal strength rises by 38.46% after the fuzzy-ball drilling fluid is injected (in three groups; and that no fuzzy-ball drilling fluid is lost at the displacement pressures of 20.73 and 21.46 MPa, nor 2% potassium chloride solution is leaked at such pressures of 24.79 and 25.64 MPa after the plunger was sealed by the fuzzy-ball drilling fluid. This indicates that the fuzzy-ball drilling fluid can increase the formation resistance to fluid. Indoor microscopic observation was conducted on the sealing process of the fuzzy-ball drilling fluid in sand packs with coal cuttings of three grain sizes (60–80, 80–100 and 100–120 mesh. It is shown that the leakage pathways of different sizes are sealed by the vesicles in the form of accumulation, stretch and blockage. And there are vesicles at the inlet ends of the flowing pathways in the shape of beaded blanket. The impact force of drilling tools on the sidewalls is absorbed by the vesicles due to their elasticity and tenacity, so the sidewall instability caused by drilling tools is relieved. It is concluded that the main anti-collapse mechanisms of the CBM fuzzy-ball drilling fluid are to raise the coal strength, increase the formation resistance to fluid, and buffer the impact of

Long-Term Effects on Graphene Supercapacitors of Using a Zirconia Bowl and Zirconia Balls for Ball-Mill mixing of Active Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Dae-Hoon; Kim, Jin-Young; Kahng, Yung Ho; Cho, Hoonsung; Kim, Eung-Sam

2018-04-01

Improving the energy storage performance of supercapacitor electrodes based on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) is one of the main subjects in this research field. However, when a zirconia bowl and zirconia balls were used for ball-mill mixing of the active materials for RGO supercapacitors, the energy storage performance deteriorated over time. Our study revealed that the source of the problem was the inclusion of zirconia bits from abrasion of the bowl and the balls during the ballmill mixing, which increased during a period of 1 year. We probed two solutions to this problem: 1) hydrofluoric (HF) acid treatment of the RGO supercapacitors and 2) use of a tempered steel bowl and tempered steel balls for the mixing. For both cases, the energy storage performance was restored to near the initial level, showing a specific capacitance ( C sp ) of 200 F/g. Our results should lead to progress in research on RGO supercapacitors.

Physical and Tribological Properties of Nitrided AISI 316 Stainless Steel Balls

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Shicai

2016-01-01

Full Text Available AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel balls (diameters 5.0 and 12.0 mm, typical hardness 250 HV0.3 and flat samples (20×20×2.0 mm were nitrided by a pulsed glow discharge Ar/N2 plasma. Hardness of the ball surfaces was analysed using Vickers indentation. Thermal stability of the nitrided balls (diameter 12.0 mm was studied using a furnace to heat them in air for 8 hours at temperatures up to 700.0°C and then, after cooling to room temperature, the surface hardness of the heated balls was re-measured. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to study the microstructures, composition and phase formation of the nitrided sublayers. Unlubricated pin-on-disc wear testing was used to evaluate the wear resistance of nitrided stainless steel balls (5.0 mm diameter and the results were compared with similar testing on hardened Cr-Steel balls (5 mm diameter with hardness of about 650 HV0.3. All the test results indicated that the nitrided AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel balls have advantages over the hardened Cr-Steel balls in terms of retaining high hardness after heat treatment and high resistance to sliding wear at room temperature under higher counterpart stress. These properties are expected to be beneficial for wide range of bearing applications.

Wear numbers for ball cup and journal bearings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ligterink, D.J.; Moes, H.

1980-01-01

A wear number is defined for ball cup bearings and for journal bearings where the cup and the cylindrical bearing are made of soft material. This dimensionless wear number provides a relation between the following five quantities: the radius of the ball or the length of the journal bearing in

Two balls and a string: from ordered motion to chaos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sacks, William; Mauger, Alain

2013-01-01

Two spherical balls are connected by a taught string passing through a small hole in a perfectly planar table: the first ball, subject to a central force, moves without friction on a two-dimensional plane, while the second ball moves only along the vertical axis directly below the hole. The pedagogical aspects of this novel two-body problem are given particular attention: Newton’s laws, central force motion, conservation laws, angular momentum, constraints, etc. The dynamics of the system is considered under various initial conditions wherein the ball on the table moves qualitatively in rotating ellipses or hypotrochoids. The conditions for closed or periodic orbits are examined. The more complex case of the inclined plane is then considered, revealing a rich variety of periodic, aperiodic and chaotic solutions as a function of the ball mass ratio and the plane inclination angle. The associated Poincaré phase-space maps are discussed. (paper)

CZT Virtual Frisch-grid Detector: Principles and Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cui, Y.; Bolotnikov, A.; Camarda, G.; Hossain, A.; James, R.B.

2009-01-01

Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CdZnTe or CZT) is a very attractive material for using as room-temperature semiconductor detectors, because it has a wide bandgap and a high atomic number. However, due to the material's poor hole mobility, several special techniques were developed to ensure its suitability for radiation detection. Among them, the virtual Frisch-grid CZT detector is an attractive option, having a simple configuration, yet delivering an outstanding spectral performance. The goal of our group in Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is to improve the performance of Frisch-ring CZT detectors; most recently, that effort focused on the non-contacting Frisch-ring detector, allowing us to build an inexpensive, large-volume detector array with high energy-resolution and a large effective area. In this paper, the principles of virtual Frisch-grid detectors are described, especially BNL's innovative improvements. The potential applications of virtual Frisch-grid detectors are discussed, and as an example, a hand-held gamma-ray spectrometer using a CZT virtual Frischgrid detector array is introduced, which is a self-contained device with a radiation detector, readout circuit, communication circuit, and high-voltage supply. It has good energy resolution of 1.4% (FWHM of 662-keV peak) with a total detection volume of ∼20 cm 3 . Such a portable inexpensive device can be used widely in nonproliferation applications, non-destructive detection, radiation imaging, and for homeland security. Extended systems based on the same technology have potential applications in industrial- and nuclear-medical-imaging

An investigation of the RCS (radar cross section) computation of grid cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabihi, Ahmad

2014-01-01

In this paper, the aperture of a cavity is covered by a metallic grid net. This metallic grid is to reduce RCS deduced by impinging radar ray on the aperture. A radar ray incident on a grid net installed on a cavity may create six types of propagation. 1-Incident rays entering inside the cavity and backscattered from it.2-Incidebnt rays on the grid net and created reection rays as an array of scatterers. These rays may create a wave with phase difference of 180 degree with respect to the exiting rays from the cavity.3-Incident rays on the grid net create surface currents owing on the net and make travelling waves, which regenerate the magnetic and electric fields. These fields make again propagated waves against incident ones.4-Creeping waves.5-Diffracted rays due to leading edges of net’s elements.6-Mutual impedance among elements of the net could be effective on the resultant RCS. Therefore, the author compares the effects of three out of six properties to a cavity without grid net. This comparison shows that RCS prediction of cavity having a grid net is much more reduced than that of without one

An investigation of the RCS (radar cross section) computation of grid cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sabihi, Ahmad [Department of Mathematical Sciences, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2014-12-10

In this paper, the aperture of a cavity is covered by a metallic grid net. This metallic grid is to reduce RCS deduced by impinging radar ray on the aperture. A radar ray incident on a grid net installed on a cavity may create six types of propagation. 1-Incident rays entering inside the cavity and backscattered from it.2-Incidebnt rays on the grid net and created reection rays as an array of scatterers. These rays may create a wave with phase difference of 180 degree with respect to the exiting rays from the cavity.3-Incident rays on the grid net create surface currents owing on the net and make travelling waves, which regenerate the magnetic and electric fields. These fields make again propagated waves against incident ones.4-Creeping waves.5-Diffracted rays due to leading edges of net’s elements.6-Mutual impedance among elements of the net could be effective on the resultant RCS. Therefore, the author compares the effects of three out of six properties to a cavity without grid net. This comparison shows that RCS prediction of cavity having a grid net is much more reduced than that of without one.

Concomitant GRID boost for Gamma Knife radiosurgery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Lijun; Kwok, Young; Chin, Lawrence S.; Simard, J. Marc; Regine, William F.

2005-01-01

We developed an integrated GRID boost technique for Gamma Knife radiosurgery. The technique generates an array of high dose spots within the target volume via a grid of 4-mm shots. These high dose areas were placed over a conventional Gamma Knife plan where a peripheral dose covers the full target volume. The beam weights of the 4-mm shots were optimized iteratively to maximize the integral dose inside the target volume. To investigate the target volume coverage and the dose to the adjacent normal brain tissue for the technique, we compared the GRID boosted treatment plans with conventional Gamma Knife treatment plans using physical and biological indices such as dose-volume histogram (DVH), DVH-derived indices, equivalent uniform dose (EUD), tumor control probabilities (TCP), and normal tissue complication probabilities (NTCP). We found significant increase in the target volume indices such as mean dose (5%-34%; average 14%), TCP (4%-45%; average 21%), and EUD (2%-22%; average 11%) for the GRID boost technique. No significant change in the peripheral dose coverage for the target volume was found per RTOG protocol. In addition, the EUD and the NTCP for the normal brain adjacent to the target (i.e., the near region) were decreased for the GRID boost technique. In conclusion, we demonstrated a new technique for Gamma Knife radiosurgery that can escalate the dose to the target while sparing the adjacent normal brain tissue

Analytical prediction of fuel assembly spacer grid loss coefficient

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, J. S.; Nam, K. I.; Park, S. K.; Kwon, J. T.; Park, W. J.

2002-01-01

The analytical prediction model of the fuel assembly spacer grid pressure loss coefficient has been studied. The pressure loss of gap between the test section wall and spacer grid was separated from the current model and the different friction drag coefficient on spacer straps from high Reynolds number region were used to low Reynolds number region. The analytical model has been verified based on the hydraulic pressure drop test results for the spacer grids of three types for 5x5, 16x16(or 17x17) arrays. The analytical model predicts the pressure loss coefficients obtained from test results within the maximum errors of 12% and 7% for 5x5 test bundle and full size bundle, respectively, at Reynolds number 500,000 of the core operating condition. This result shows that the analytical model can be used for research and design change of the nuclear fuel assembly

Behavior of hollow balls containing granules bouncing repeatedly off the ground

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Min; Mu, Qing-song; Luo, Ning; Li, Gang; Peng, Ning-bo

2013-07-01

An experimental study of the behavior of hollow balls filled with some granules (mung beans or millets) bouncing repeatedly off a static flat horizontal surface is presented. We observed that the bounce number of the ball is limited and decreases regularly with an increasing number of granules. Moreover, for two balls containing a different kind of granules, their bounce numbers are basically equal when the two balls have the same mass of granules. While there is no clear relationship between the first rebound height of one ball and the number of granules, there appears an exponential decay of the second rebound height with an increase of the granule number. Furthermore, a two-dimensional numerical model has been created to find out the law of the ball's rebound height and the dissipation law of the granule nested system. A generalized prediction equation to reasonably explain the law of the bounce number has also been proposed.

Dry grinding of talc in a stirred ball mill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cayirli Serkan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to investigate micro fine size dry grindability of talc in a stirred ball mill. The effects of various parameters such as grinding time, stirrer speed, powder filling ratio and ball filling ratio were investigated. Alumina balls were used as grinding media. Experiments were carried out using the 24 full factorial design. The main and interaction effects were evaluated using the Yates method. Test results were evaluated on the basis of product size and surface area.

Ball-milling-induced crystallization and ball-milling effect on thermal crystallization kinetics in an amorphous FeMoSiB alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, F.Q.; Lu, K.

1997-01-01

Microstructure evolution in a melt-spun amorphous Fe 77.2 Mo 0.8 Si 9 B 13 alloy subjected to high-energy ball milling was investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), a transmission electron microscope (TEM), and a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). It was found that during ball milling, crystallization occurs in the amorphous ribbon sample with precipitation of an α-Fe solid solution, and the amorphous sample crystallizes completely into a single α-Fe nanostructure (rather than α-Fe and borides as in the usual thermal crystallization products) when the milling time exceeds 135 hours. The volume fraction of material crystallized was found to be approximately proportional to the milling time. The fully crystallized sample with a single α-Fe nanophase exhibits an intrinsic thermal stability against phase separation upon annealing at high temperatures. The ball-milling effect on the subsequent thermal crystallization of the amorphous phase in an as-milled sample was studied by comparison of the crystallization products and kinetic parameters between the as-quenched amorphous sample and the as-milled sample was studied by comparison of the crystallization products and kinetic parameters between the as-quenched amorphous sample and the as-milled partially crystallized samples. The crystallization temperatures and activation energies for the crystallization processes of the residual amorphous phase were considerably decreased due to ball milling, indicating that ball milling has a significant effect on the depression of thermal stability of the residual amorphous phase

New current control based MPPT technique for single stage grid connected PV systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jain, Sachin; Agarwal, Vivek

2007-01-01

This paper presents a new maximum power point tracking algorithm based on current control for a single stage grid connected photovoltaic system. The main advantage of this algorithm comes from its ability to predict the approximate amplitude of the reference current waveform or power that can be derived from the PV array with the help of an intermediate variable β. A variable step size for the change in reference amplitude during initial tracking helps in fast tracking. It is observed that if the reference current amplitude is greater than the array capacity, the system gets unstable (i.e. moves into the positive slope region of the p-v characteristics of the array). The proposed algorithm prevents the PV system from entering the positive slope region of the p-v characteristics. It is also capable of restoring stability if the system goes unstable due to a sudden environmental change. The proposed algorithm has been tested on a new single stage grid connected PV configuration recently developed by the authors to feed sinusoidal current into the grid. The system is operated in a continuous conduction mode to realize advantages such as low device current stress, high efficiency and low EMI. A fast MPPT tracker with single stage inverter topology operating in CCM makes the overall system highly efficient. Specific cases of the system, operating in just discontinuous current mode and discontinuous current mode and their relative merits and demerits are also discussed

Efficient Pseudorecursive Evaluation Schemes for Non-adaptive Sparse Grids

KAUST Repository

Buse, Gerrit

2014-01-01

In this work we propose novel algorithms for storing and evaluating sparse grid functions, operating on regular (not spatially adaptive), yet potentially dimensionally adaptive grid types. Besides regular sparse grids our approach includes truncated grids, both with and without boundary grid points. Similar to the implicit data structures proposed in Feuersänger (Dünngitterverfahren für hochdimensionale elliptische partielle Differntialgleichungen. Diploma Thesis, Institut für Numerische Simulation, Universität Bonn, 2005) and Murarasu et al. (Proceedings of the 16th ACM Symposium on Principles and Practice of Parallel Programming. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2011, pp. 25–34) we also define a bijective mapping from the multi-dimensional space of grid points to a contiguous index, such that the grid data can be stored in a simple array without overhead. Our approach is especially well-suited to exploit all levels of current commodity hardware, including cache-levels and vector extensions. Furthermore, this kind of data structure is extremely attractive for today’s real-time applications, as it gives direct access to the hierarchical structure of the grids, while outperforming other common sparse grid structures (hash maps, etc.) which do not match with modern compute platforms that well. For dimensionality d ≤ 10 we achieve good speedups on a 12 core Intel Westmere-EP NUMA platform compared to the results presented in Murarasu et al. (Proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Science—ICCS 2012. Procedia Computer Science, 2012). As we show, this also holds for the results obtained on Nvidia Fermi GPUs, for which we observe speedups over our own CPU implementation of up to 4.5 when dealing with moderate dimensionality. In high-dimensional settings, in the order of tens to hundreds of dimensions, our sparse grid evaluation kernels on the CPU outperform any other known implementation.

Determination of the boundary conditions of the grinding load in ball mills

Science.gov (United States)

Sharapov, Rashid R.

2018-02-01

The prospects of application in ball mills for grinding cement clinker with inclined partitions are shown. It is noted that ball mills with inclined partitions are more effective. An algorithm is proposed for calculating the power consumed by a ball mill with inclined inter-chamber partitions in which an axial movement of the ball load takes place. The boundary conditions in which the ball load is located are determined. The equations of bounding the grinding load are determined. The behavior of a grinding load is considered in view of the characteristic cross sections. The coordinates of the centers of gravity of the grinding load with a definite step and the shape of the cross sections are determined. It is theoretically shown that grinding load in some parts of the ball mill not only consumes, but also helps to rotate the ball mill. Methods for calculating complex analytical expressions for determining the coordinates of the centers of gravity of the grinding load under the conditions of its longitudinal motion have developed. The carried out researches allow to approach from the general positions to research of behavior of a grinding load in the ball mills equipped with various in-mill devices.

Historiografia del “Ball de Torrent”: De la moixiganga barroca al quadre de balls populars valencians (1692-1929

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raül Sanchis Francés

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Resum: El Ball de Torrent és una moixiganga dramàtica popular escenificada a la ciutat de València i altres indrets del País Valencià des de finals del segle XVII fins a principis del segle XX. Estava organitzada per agrupacions gremials, juntes d’hospitals o clavaris de festes i protagonitzada per personatges agrupats en comparses que representaven una paròdia sobre les relacions entre les estructures de poder i les classes populars. Tot i la variabilitat segons el moment històric, es conforma com una mescla de quadres amb danses, música i jocs teatrals. El ball interacciona de diverses formes amb algunes festes valencianes i és, probablement, una de les mostres de teatre de carrer més nostrades i menys estudiades de la València Moderna. En aquest article es realitza una revisió bibliogràfica crítica i una primera anàlisi historiogràfica.Paraules clau: Ball de Torrent, Dansa i música tradicional, Teatre, Moixiganga, Festa valencianaAbstract: Ball de Torrent (Dance of Torrent is a popular dramatic masquerade staged in Valencia since the late seventeenth century to the early twentieth. It was organized by guilds, hospital managements or festival organizers. The actors were grouped in associations representing a parody on the relationships between power structures and popular classes. Despite the variability depending on the historical period, it consisted of a mixture of episodes or scenes with dance, music and theatre games. Any Festivals in Valencia are connected with the Ball de Torrent. It’s probably one of the most interesting samples of street theatre and studied under of the Modern Valencia. This paper analyses historical sources to review and critique bibliography.Keywords: Dance of Torrent, Traditional Dance and Music, Theatre, Masquerade, Feasts of Valencia

Thermal Analysis of Ball screw Systems by Explicit Finite Difference Method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Min, Bog Ki [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Chun Hong; Chung, Sung Chong [KIMM, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-01-15

Friction generated from balls and grooves incurs temperature rise in the ball screw system. Thermal deformation due to the heat degrades positioning accuracy of the feed drive system. To compensate for the thermal error, accurate prediction of the temperature distribution is required first. In this paper, to predict the temperature distribution according to the rotational speed, solid and hollow cylinders are applied for analysis of the ball screw shaft and nut, respectively. Boundary conditions such as the convective heat transfer coefficient, friction torque, and thermal contact conductance (TCC) between balls and grooves are formulated according to operating and fabrication conditions of the ball screw. Explicit FDM (finite difference method) is studied for development of a temperature prediction simulator. Its effectiveness is verified through numerical analysis.

The goalkeeper influence on ball possession effectiveness in futsal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vicente-Vila Pedro

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to identify which variables were the best predictors of success in futsal ball possession when controlling for space and task related indicators, situational variables and the participation of the goalkeeper as a regular field player or not (5 vs. 4 or 4 vs. 4. The sample consisted of 326 situations of ball possession corresponding to 31 matches played by a team from the Spanish Futsal League during the 2010–2011, 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 seasons. Multidimensional qualitative data obtained from 10 ordered categorical variables were used. Data were analysed using chi-square analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis. Overall, the highest ball possession effectiveness was achieved when the goalkeeper participated as a regular field player (p<0.01, the duration of the ball possession was less than 10 s (p<0.01, the ball possession ended in the penalty area (p<0.01 and the defensive pressure was low (p<0.01. The information obtained on the relative effectiveness of offensive playing tactics can be used to improve team’s goal-scoring and goal preventing abilities.

An investigation of the generation and properties of laboratory-produced ball lightning

Science.gov (United States)

Oreshko, A. G.

2015-06-01

The experiments revealed that ball lightning is a self-confining quasi-neutral in a whole plasma system that rotates around its axis. Ball lightning has a structure of a spherical electric domain, consisting of a kernel with excess negative charge and an external spherical layer with excess positive charge. The excess of charges of one sort and the lack of charges of the other sort in the kernel or in the external spherical layer significantly reduces the possibility of electron capture by means of an electric field, created by the nearest ions and leads to a drastic slowdown of recombination process. Direct proof has been obtained that inside of ball lightning - in an external spherical layer that rotates around the axis - there is a circular current of sub-relativistic particles. This current creates and maintains its own poloidal magnetic field of ball lightning, i.e. it carries out the function of magnetic dynamo. The kernel of ball lightning is situated in a region with minimum values of induction of the magnetic field. The inequality of positive and negative charges in elements of ball lightning also significantly reduces losses of the charged plasma on bremsstrahlung. Ball lightning generation occurs in a plasmic vortex. The ball lightning energy in the region of its generation significantly differs from the ball lightning energy, which is drifting in space. The axial component of kinetic energy of particles slightly exceeds 100 keV and the rotational component of the ions energy is a bit greater than 1 MeV. Ball lightning is `embedded' in atmosphere autonomous accelerator of charged particles of a cyclotron type due to self-generation of strong crossed electric and magnetic fields. A discussion of the conditions of stability and long-term existence of ball lightning is given.

An aerodynamic analysis of recent FIFA world cup balls

Science.gov (United States)

Kiratidis, Adrian L.; Leinweber, Derek B.

2018-05-01

Drag and lift coefficients of recent FIFA world cup balls are examined. We fit a novel functional form to drag coefficient curves and in the absence of empirical data provide estimates of lift coefficient behaviour via a consideration of the physics of the boundary layer. Differences in both these coefficients for recent balls, which result from surface texture modification, can significantly alter trajectories. Numerical simulations are used to quantify the effect these changes have on the flight paths of various balls. Altitude and temperature variations at recent world cup events are also discussed. We conclude by quantifying the influence these variations have on the three most recent world cup balls, the Brazuca, the Jabulani and the Teamgeist. While our paper presents findings of interest to the professional sports scientist, it remains accessible to students at the undergraduate level.

Electrostatic charge bounds for ball lightning models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stephan, Karl D

2008-01-01

Several current theories concerning the nature of ball lightning predict a substantial electrostatic charge in order to account for its observed motion and shape (Turner 1998 Phys. Rep. 293 1; Abrahamson and Dinniss 2000 Nature 403 519). Using charged soap bubbles as a physical model for ball lightning, we show that the magnitude of charge predicted by some of these theories is too high to allow for the types of motion commonly observed in natural ball lightning, which includes horizontal motion above the ground and movement near grounded conductors. Experiments show that at charge levels of only 10-15 nC, 3-cm-diameter soap bubbles tend to be attracted by induced charges to the nearest grounded conductor and rupture. We conclude with a scaling rule that can be used to extrapolate these results to larger objects and surroundings

Numerical study of Q-ball formation in gravity mediation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hiramatsu, Takashi; Kawasaki, Masahiro; Takahashi, Fuminobu

2010-01-01

We study Q-ball formation in the expanding universe on 1D, 2D and 3D lattice simulations. We obtain detailed Q-ball charge distributions, and find that the distribution is peaked at Q 3D peak ≅ 1.9 × 10 −2 (|Φ in |/m) 2 , which is greater than the existing result by about 60%. Based on the numerical simulations, we discuss how the Q-ball formation proceeds. Also we make a comment on possible deviation of the charge distributions from what was conjectured in the past

Towards 100Sn with GASP + Si-ball + Recoil Mass Spectrometer: High-spin states of 105Sn and 103In

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Angelis, G.; Farnea, E.; Gadea, A.; Sferrazza, M.; Ackermann, D.; Bazzacco, D.; Bednarczyk, P.; Bizzeti, P.G.; Bizzeti Sona, A.M.; Brandolini, F.; Burch, R.; Buscemi, A.; De Acuna, D.; De Poli, M.; Fahlander, C.; Li, Y.; Lipoglavsek, M.; Lunardi, S.; Makishima, A.; Menegazzo, R.; Mueller, L.; Napoli, D.; Ogawa, M.; Pavan, P.; Rossi-Alvarez, C.; Scarlassara, F.; Segato, G.F.; Seweryniak, D.; Soramel, F.; Spolaore, P.; Zanon, R.

1995-01-01

Very proton rich nuclei in the A∼100 region have been investigated using the GASP array coupled with the Recoil Mass Spectrometer (RMS) and the GASP Si-ball. High-spin states of 105 Sn and 103 In nuclei formed with the reaction 58 Ni+ 50 Cr at 210MeV have been investigated up to similar 10 and 7MeV of excitation energy respectively. We have confirmed the known excited states for both nuclei and extended to higher spin the level scheme. The experimental level schemes are compared with shell model calculations. ((orig.))

Results from the crystal ball detector at SPEAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bloom, E.D.

1979-11-01

The Crystal Ball detector is a device particularly suited to the measurement of photons with energies lower than 1 GeV. The detector has as its principal component a 16 radiation length thick, highly segmented shell of NaI(Tl) surrounding cylindrical, proportional, and magnetostrictive spark chambers. The main Ball and various elements of the central chambers cover 94% of 4π sr. Segmented endcap NaI(Tl) detectors of 20 radiation lengths behind magneto strictive spark chambers supplement the main Ball. The Ball and endcaps close the solid angle for charged particle and photon detection to 98% of 4π sr. In addition, detectors of interspersed iron and proportional tubes provide for μ-π separation over 15% of 4π sr, about theta/sub CM/ = 90 0 . In this report preliminary results are presented from the data obtained. In particular, QED at E/sub CM/ = 6.5 GeV, R/sub hadron/ and related inclusive distributions, eta branching fractions at J/psi and psi'', and a detailed study of the psionium system are discussed

Measurements of the Motion of Plasma Filaments in a Plasma Ball

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campanell, M.; Laird, J.; Provost, T.; Vasquez, S.; Zweben, S.J.

2010-01-01

Measurements were made of the motion of the filamentary structures in a plasma ball using high speed cameras and other optical detectors. These filaments traverse the ball radially at ∼106 cm/sec at the driving frequency of ∼26 kHz, and drift upward through the ball at ∼1 cm/sec. Varying the applied high voltage and frequency caused the number, length, and diameter of the filaments to change. A custom plasma ball was constructed to observe the effects of varying gas pressure and species on the filament structures.

Measurements of the Motion of Plasma Filaments in a Plasma Ball

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Campanell, M.; Laird, J.; Provost, T.; Vasquez, S.; Zweben, S. J.

2010-01-26

Measurements were made of the motion of the filamentary structures in a plasma ball using high speed cameras and other optical detectors. These filaments traverse the ball radially at ~106 cm/sec at the driving frequency of ~26 kHz, and drift upward through the ball at ~1 cm/sec. Varying the applied high voltage and frequency caused the number, length, and diameter of the filaments to change. A custom plasma ball was constructed to observe the effects of varying gas pressure and species on the filament structures.

Rapid fabrication of an ordered nano-dot array by the combination of nano-plastic forming and annealing methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshino, Masahiko; Ohsawa, Hiroki; Yamanaka, Akinori

2011-01-01

In this paper, a new fabrication method for an ordered nano-dot array is developed. Combination of coating, nano-plastic forming and annealing processes is studied to produce uniformly sized and ordered gold nano-dot array on a quartz glass substrate. The experimental results reveal that patterning of a groove grid on the gold-coated substrate with NPF is effective to obtain the ordered gold nano-dot array. In the proposed fabrication process, the size of the gold nano-dot can be controlled by adjusting the groove grid size. A minimum gold nano-dot array fabricated on a quartz-glass substrate was 93 nm in diameter and 100 nm in pitch. Furthermore, the mechanism of nano-dot array generation by the presented process is investigated. Using a theoretical model it is revealed that the proposed method is capable of fabrication of smaller nano-dots than 10 nm by controlling process conditions adequately.

Supermassive dark-matter Q-balls in galactic centers?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Troitsky, Sergey [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences,60th October Anniversary Prospect 7a, Moscow 117312 (Russian Federation); Moscow Institute for Physics and Technology,Institutskii per. 9, 141700, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region (Russian Federation)

2016-11-11

Though widely accepted, it is not proven that supermassive compact objects (SMCOs) residing in galactic centers are black holes. In particular, the Milky Way’s SMCO can be a giant nontopological soliton, Q-ball, made of a scalar field: this fits perfectly all observational data. Similar but tiny Q-balls produced in the early Universe may constitute, partly or fully, the dark matter. This picture explains in a natural way, why our SMCO has very low accretion rate and why the observed angular size of the corresponding radio source is much smaller than expected. Interactions between dark-matter Q-balls may explain how SMCOs were seeded in galaxies and resolve well-known problems of standard (non-interacting) dark matter.

Structure Design and Performance Analysis of High-Speed Miniature Ball Bearing

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Songsheng; Zhang, Guoye; Chen, Bin; Shen, Yuan

2017-07-01

The working performances of miniature ball bearings are obviously affected by its’ geometric structure parameters. In this paper, quasi-static analysis theory is applied in the design of miniature ball bearings. Firstly, it is studied the influence of geometry structure, preload and rotating speed on the dynamic performance of bearing. Secondly, bearing dynamic characteristics are analyzed which include the bearing stiffness and Spin to roll Ratio. Lastly, the contact stress and bearing life are calculated. The results indicate that structure parameters play an importance role in bearing’s dynamic performances. Miniature ball bearings which have lager ball number, bigger ball diameter and smaller inner race groove radius can get better performances while velocity and preload have great impact on the bearing life. So that parameters of miniature bearing should be chosen cautiously.

Neural extrapolation of motion for a ball rolling down an inclined plane.

Science.gov (United States)

La Scaleia, Barbara; Lacquaniti, Francesco; Zago, Myrka

2014-01-01

It is known that humans tend to misjudge the kinematics of a target rolling down an inclined plane. Because visuomotor responses are often more accurate and less prone to perceptual illusions than cognitive judgments, we asked the question of how rolling motion is extrapolated for manual interception or drawing tasks. In three experiments a ball rolled down an incline with kinematics that differed as a function of the starting position (4 different positions) and slope (30°, 45° or 60°). In Experiment 1, participants had to punch the ball as it fell off the incline. In Experiment 2, the ball rolled down the incline but was stopped at the end; participants were asked to imagine that the ball kept moving and to punch it. In Experiment 3, the ball rolled down the incline and was stopped at the end; participants were asked to draw with the hand in air the trajectory that would be described by the ball if it kept moving. We found that performance was most accurate when motion of the ball was visible until interception and haptic feedback of hand-ball contact was available (Experiment 1). However, even when participants punched an imaginary moving ball (Experiment 2) or drew in air the imaginary trajectory (Experiment 3), they were able to extrapolate to some extent global aspects of the target motion, including its path, speed and arrival time. We argue that the path and kinematics of a ball rolling down an incline can be extrapolated surprisingly well by the brain using both visual information and internal models of target motion.

Neural extrapolation of motion for a ball rolling down an inclined plane.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara La Scaleia

Full Text Available It is known that humans tend to misjudge the kinematics of a target rolling down an inclined plane. Because visuomotor responses are often more accurate and less prone to perceptual illusions than cognitive judgments, we asked the question of how rolling motion is extrapolated for manual interception or drawing tasks. In three experiments a ball rolled down an incline with kinematics that differed as a function of the starting position (4 different positions and slope (30°, 45° or 60°. In Experiment 1, participants had to punch the ball as it fell off the incline. In Experiment 2, the ball rolled down the incline but was stopped at the end; participants were asked to imagine that the ball kept moving and to punch it. In Experiment 3, the ball rolled down the incline and was stopped at the end; participants were asked to draw with the hand in air the trajectory that would be described by the ball if it kept moving. We found that performance was most accurate when motion of the ball was visible until interception and haptic feedback of hand-ball contact was available (Experiment 1. However, even when participants punched an imaginary moving ball (Experiment 2 or drew in air the imaginary trajectory (Experiment 3, they were able to extrapolate to some extent global aspects of the target motion, including its path, speed and arrival time. We argue that the path and kinematics of a ball rolling down an incline can be extrapolated surprisingly well by the brain using both visual information and internal models of target motion.

Ball lightning dynamics and stability at moderate ion densities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morrow, R

2017-01-01

A general mechanism is presented for the dynamics and structure of ball lightning and for the maintenance of the ball lightning structure for several seconds. Results are obtained using a spherical geometry for air at atmospheric pressure, by solving the continuity equations for electrons, positive ions and negative ions coupled with Poisson’s equation. A lightning strike can generate conditions in the lightning channel with a majority of positive nitrogen ions, and a minority of negative oxygen ions and electrons. The calculations are initiated with electrons included; however, at the moderate ion densities chosen the electrons are rapidly lost to form negative ions, and after 1 µ s their influence on the ion dynamics is negligible. Further development after 1 µ s is followed using a simpler set of equations involving only positive ions and negative ions, but including ion diffusion. The space-charge electric field generated by the majority positive ions drives them from the centre of the distribution and drives the minority negative ions and electrons towards the centre of the distribution. In the central region the positive and negative ion distributions eventually overlap exactly and their space-charge fields cancel resulting in zero electric field, and the plasma ball formed is quite stable for a number of seconds. The formation of such plasma balls is not critically dependent on the initial diameter of the ion distributions, or the initial density of minority negative ions. The ion densities decrease relatively slowly due to mutual neutralization of positive and negative ions. The radiation from this neutralization process involving positive nitrogen ions and negative oxygen ions is not sufficient to account for the reported luminosity of ball lightning and some other source of luminosity is shown to be required; the plasma ball model used could readily incorporate other ions in order to account for the luminosity and range of colours reported for ball

Contribution of Visual Information about Ball Trajectory to Baseball Hitting Accuracy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takatoshi Higuchi

Full Text Available The contribution of visual information about a pitched ball to the accuracy of baseball-bat contact may vary depending on the part of trajectory seen. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between hitting accuracy and the segment of the trajectory of the flying ball that can be seen by the batter. Ten college baseball field players participated in the study. The systematic error and standardized variability of ball-bat contact on the bat coordinate system and pitcher-to-catcher direction when hitting a ball launched from a pitching machine were measured with or without visual occlusion and analyzed using analysis of variance. The visual occlusion timing included occlusion from 150 milliseconds (ms after the ball release (R+150, occlusion from 150 ms before the expected arrival of the launched ball at the home plate (A-150, and a condition with no occlusion (NO. Twelve trials in each condition were performed using two ball speeds (31.9 m·s-1 and 40.3 m·s-1. Visual occlusion did not affect the mean location of ball-bat contact in the bat's long axis, short axis, and pitcher-to-catcher directions. Although the magnitude of standardized variability was significantly smaller in the bat's short axis direction than in the bat's long axis and pitcher-to-catcher directions (p < 0.001, additional visible time from the R+150 condition to the A-150 and NO conditions resulted in a further decrease in standardized variability only in the bat's short axis direction (p < 0.05. The results suggested that there is directional specificity in the magnitude of standardized variability with different visible time. The present study also confirmed the limitation to visual information is the later part of the ball trajectory for improving hitting accuracy, which is likely due to visuo-motor delay.

Knee Angle and Stride Length in Association with Ball Speed in Youth Baseball Pitchers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bart van Trigt

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to determine whether stride length and knee angle of the leading leg at foot contact, at the instant of maximal external rotation of the shoulder, and at ball release are associated with ball speed in elite youth baseball pitchers. In this study, fifty-two elite youth baseball pitchers (mean age 15.2 SD (standard deviation 1.7 years pitched ten fastballs. Data were collected with three high-speed video cameras at a frequency of 240 Hz. Stride length and knee angle of the leading leg were calculated at foot contact, maximal external rotation, and ball release. The associations between these kinematic variables and ball speed were separately determined using generalized estimating equations. Stride length as percentage of body height and knee angle at foot contact were not significantly associated with ball speed. However, knee angles at maximal external rotation and ball release were significantly associated with ball speed. Ball speed increased by 0.45 m/s (1 mph with an increase in knee extension of 18 degrees at maximal external rotation and 19.5 degrees at ball release. In conclusion, more knee extension of the leading leg at maximal external rotation and ball release is associated with higher ball speeds in elite youth baseball pitchers.

Effect of surface oxide on the melting behavior of lead-free solder nanowires and nanorods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Fan; Rajathurai, Karunaharan; Cui, Qingzhou; Zhou, Guangwen; NkengforAcha, Irene; Gu Zhiyong

2012-01-01

Lead-free nanosolders have shown promise in nanowire and nanoelectronics assembly. Among various important parameters, melting is the most fundamental property affecting the assembly process. Here we report that the melting behavior of tin and tin/silver nanowires and nanorods can be significantly affected by the surface oxide of nanosolders. By controlling the nanosolder reflow atmosphere using a flux, the surface oxide of the nanowires/nanorods can be effectively removed and complete nanosolder melting can be achieved. The complete melting of the nanosolders leads to the formation of nanoscale to microscale spherical solder balls, followed by Ostwald ripening phenomenon. The contact angle of the microscale solder balls formed on Si substrate was measured by direct electron microscopic imaging. These results provide new insights into micro- and nanoscale phase transition and liquid droplet coalescence from nanowires/nanorods to spheroids, and are relevant to nanoscale assembly and smaller ball grid array formation.

Near-Body Grid Adaption for Overset Grids

Science.gov (United States)

Buning, Pieter G.; Pulliam, Thomas H.

2016-01-01

A solution adaption capability for curvilinear near-body grids has been implemented in the OVERFLOW overset grid computational fluid dynamics code. The approach follows closely that used for the Cartesian off-body grids, but inserts refined grids in the computational space of original near-body grids. Refined curvilinear grids are generated using parametric cubic interpolation, with one-sided biasing based on curvature and stretching ratio of the original grid. Sensor functions, grid marking, and solution interpolation tasks are implemented in the same fashion as for off-body grids. A goal-oriented procedure, based on largest error first, is included for controlling growth rate and maximum size of the adapted grid system. The adaption process is almost entirely parallelized using MPI, resulting in a capability suitable for viscous, moving body simulations. Two- and three-dimensional examples are presented.

Home Area Networks and the Smart Grid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clements, Samuel L.; Carroll, Thomas E.; Hadley, Mark D.

2011-04-01

With the wide array of home area network (HAN) options being presented as solutions to smart grid challenges for the home, it is time to compare and contrast their strengths and weaknesses. This white paper examines leading and emerging HAN technologies. The emergence of the smart grid is bringing more networking players into the field. The need for low consistent bandwidth usage differs enough from the traditional information technology world to open the door to new technologies. The predominant players currently consist of a blend of the old and new. Within the wired world Ethernet and HomePlug Green PHY are leading the way with an advantage to HomePlug because it doesn't require installing new wires. In the wireless the realm there are many more competitors but WiFi and ZigBee seem to have the most momentum.

Dynamic analysis of double-row self-aligning ball bearings due to applied loads, internal clearance, surface waviness and number of balls

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuo, Yaobin; Zhou, Xiaojun; Yang, Chenlong

2014-11-01

In this paper, a three degrees of freedom (dof) model was established for a double-row self-aligning ball bearing (SABB) system, and was applied to study the dynamic behavior of the system during starting process and constant speed rotating process. A mathematical model was developed concerning stiffness and damping characteristics of the bearing, as well as three-dimensional applied load, rotor centrifugal force, etc. Balls and races were all considered as nonlinear springs, and the contact force between ball and race was calculated based on classic Hertzian elastic contact deformation theory and deformation compatibility theory. The changes of each ball's contact force and loaded angle of each row were taken into account. In order to solve the nonlinear dynamical equilibrium equations of the system, these equations were rewritten as differential equations and the fourth order Runge-Kutta method was used to solve the equations iteratively. In order to verify accuracy of the dynamical model and correctness of the numerical solution method, a kind of SABB-BRF30 was chosen for case studies. The effects of several important governing parameters, such as radial and axial applied loads, normal internal, inner and outer races waviness, and number of balls were investigated. These parametric studies led to a complete characterization of the shaft-bearing system vibration transmission. The research provided a theoretical reference for new type bearing design, shaft-bearing system kinetic analysis, optimal design, etc.

An overview of Ball Aerospace cryogen storage and delivery systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marquardt, J; Keller, J; Mills, G; Schmidt, J

2015-01-01

Starting on the Gemini program in the 1960s, Beech Aircraft (now Ball Aerospace) has been designing and manufacturing dewars for a variety of cryogens including liquid hydrogen and oxygen. These dewars flew on the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle spacecraft providing fuel cell reactants resulting in over 150 manned spaceflights. Since Space Shuttle, Ball has also built the liquid hydrogen fuel tanks for the Boeing Phantom Eye unmanned aerial vehicle. Returning back to its fuel cell days, Ball has designed, built and tested a volume-constrained liquid hydrogen and oxygen tank system for reactant delivery to fuel cells on unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs). Herein past history of Ball technology is described. Testing has been completed on the UUV specific design, which will be described. (paper)

A Novel Generic Ball Recognition Algorithm Based on Omnidirectional Vision for Soccer Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui Zhang

2013-11-01

Full Text Available It is significant for the final goal of RoboCup to realize the recognition of generic balls for soccer robots. In this paper, a novel generic ball recognition algorithm based on omnidirectional vision is proposed by combining the modified Haar-like features and AdaBoost learning algorithm. The algorithm is divided into offline training and online recognition. During the phase of offline training, numerous sub-images are acquired from various panoramic images, including generic balls, and then the modified Haar-like features are extracted from them and used as the input of the AdaBoost learning algorithm to obtain a classifier. During the phase of online recognition, and according to the imaging characteristics of our omnidirectional vision system, rectangular windows are defined to search for the generic ball along the rotary and radial directions in the panoramic image, and the learned classifier is used to judge whether a ball is included in the window. After the ball has been recognized globally, ball tracking is realized by integrating a ball velocity estimation algorithm to reduce the computational cost. The experimental results show that good performance can be achieved using our algorithm, and that the generic ball can be recognized and tracked effectively.

Modiolus-Hugging Intracochlear Electrode Array with Shape Memory Alloy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyou Sik Min

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In the cochlear implant system, the distance between spiral ganglia and the electrodes within the volume of the scala tympani cavity significantly affects the efficiency of the electrical stimulation in terms of the threshold current level and spatial selectivity. Because the spiral ganglia are situated inside the modiolus, the central axis of the cochlea, it is desirable that the electrode array hugs the modiolus to minimize the distance between the electrodes and the ganglia. In the present study, we propose a shape-memory-alloy-(SMA- embedded intracochlear electrode which gives a straight electrode a curved modiolus-hugging shape using the restoration force of the SMA as triggered by resistive heating after insertion into the cochlea. An eight-channel ball-type electrode array is fabricated with an embedded titanium-nickel SMA backbone wire. It is demonstrated that the electrode array changes its shape in a transparent plastic human cochlear model. To verify the safe insertion of the electrode array into the human cochlea, the contact pressures during insertion at the electrode tip and the contact pressures over the electrode length after insertion were calculated using a 3D finite element analysis. The results indicate that the SMA-embedded electrode is functionally and mechanically feasible for clinical applications.

The MammoGrid Project Grids Architecture

CERN Document Server

McClatchey, Richard; Hauer, Tamas; Estrella, Florida; Saiz, Pablo; Rogulin, Dmitri; Buncic, Predrag; Clatchey, Richard Mc; Buncic, Predrag; Manset, David; Hauer, Tamas; Estrella, Florida; Saiz, Pablo; Rogulin, Dmitri

2003-01-01

The aim of the recently EU-funded MammoGrid project is, in the light of emerging Grid technology, to develop a European-wide database of mammograms that will be used to develop a set of important healthcare applications and investigate the potential of this Grid to support effective co-working between healthcare professionals throughout the EU. The MammoGrid consortium intends to use a Grid model to enable distributed computing that spans national borders. This Grid infrastructure will be used for deploying novel algorithms as software directly developed or enhanced within the project. Using the MammoGrid clinicians will be able to harness the use of massive amounts of medical image data to perform epidemiological studies, advanced image processing, radiographic education and ultimately, tele-diagnosis over communities of medical "virtual organisations". This is achieved through the use of Grid-compliant services [1] for managing (versions of) massively distributed files of mammograms, for handling the distri...

Asymmetrical floating point array processors, their application to exploration and exploitation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geriepy, B L

1983-01-01

An asymmetrical floating point array processor is a special-purpose scientific computer which operates under asymmetrical control of a host computer. Although an array processor can receive fixed point input and produce fixed point output, its primary mode of operation is floating point. The first generation of array processors was oriented towards time series information. The next generation of array processors has proved much more versatile and their applicability ranges from petroleum reservoir simulation to speech syntheses. Array processors are becoming commonplace in mining, the primary usage being construction of grids-by usual methods or by kriging. The Australian mining community is among the world's leaders in regard to computer-assisted exploration and exploitation systems. Part of this leadership role must be providing guidance to computer vendors in regard to current and future requirements.

The head tracks and gaze predicts: how the world's best batters hit a ball.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David L Mann

Full Text Available Hitters in fast ball-sports do not align their gaze with the ball throughout ball-flight; rather, they use predictive eye movement strategies that contribute towards their level of interceptive skill. Existing studies claim that (i baseball and cricket batters cannot track the ball because it moves too quickly to be tracked by the eyes, and that consequently (ii batters do not - and possibly cannot - watch the ball at the moment they hit it. However, to date no studies have examined the gaze of truly elite batters. We examined the eye and head movements of two of the world's best cricket batters and found both claims do not apply to these batters. Remarkably, the batters coupled the rotation of their head to the movement of the ball, ensuring the ball remained in a consistent direction relative to their head. To this end, the ball could be followed if the batters simply moved their head and kept their eyes still. Instead of doing so, we show the elite batters used distinctive eye movement strategies, usually relying on two predictive saccades to anticipate (i the location of ball-bounce, and (ii the location of bat-ball contact, ensuring they could direct their gaze towards the ball as they hit it. These specific head and eye movement strategies play important functional roles in contributing towards interceptive expertise.

Predicting brain acceleration during heading of soccer ball

Science.gov (United States)

Taha, Zahari; Hasnun Arif Hassan, Mohd; Azri Aris, Mohd; Anuar, Zulfika

2013-12-01

There has been a long debate whether purposeful heading could cause harm to the brain. Studies have shown that repetitive heading could lead to degeneration of brain cells, which is similarly found in patients with mild traumatic brain injury. A two-degree of freedom linear mathematical model was developed to study the impact of soccer ball to the brain during ball-to-head impact in soccer. From the model, the acceleration of the brain upon impact can be obtained. The model is a mass-spring-damper system, in which the skull is modelled as a mass and the neck is modelled as a spring-damper system. The brain is a mass with suspension characteristics that are also defined by a spring and a damper. The model was validated by experiment, in which a ball was dropped from different heights onto an instrumented dummy skull. The validation shows that the results obtained from the model are in a good agreement with the brain acceleration measured from the experiment. This findings show that a simple linear mathematical model can be useful in giving a preliminary insight on what human brain endures during a ball-to-head impact.

The methodology of composing the exercises system with fit balls.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Voronov N.P.

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The original methodology of composing the exercises system with fit balls was considered. More than 10 publications were analysed. On the lesson with fit balls the problem was revealed. In the experiment took part 30 students at the age from 18 till 21. All the famous exercises were systematized. As a result, a big attractiveness and assimilability of the proposed complex was revealed. The effectiveness of the complex of physical exercises with fit balls for students was proved.

Stimulated leaks found with SmartBall tool

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon.

2011-05-15

Pure Technologies has developed a SmartBall leak detection tool which can be used in oil and gas pipelines. This tool contains acoustic sensors which listen for leaks and other problems in pipelines. Pig tracking units are used to track the tool along with receivers positioned on the pipe. With these technologies, SmartBall is able to detect small leaks that conventional methods would not detect and to assess their location accurately. Two runs on a Petrobras pipeline in Brazil highlighted the effectiveness of this technology, detecting three simulated leaks as small as 240mL/min. In addition, this system can give an estimation of the leak rate and traverse non piggable pipelines. Software is then used to analyze data and generate a report giving the size and location of the leaks identified. SmartBall is a technology capable of detecting small leaks and locating them in all sorts of oil and gas pipelines.

Effect of ball-milling to the surface morphology of CaCO3

Science.gov (United States)

Sulimai, N. H.; Rani, Rozina Abdul; Khusaimi, Z.; Abdullah, S.; Salifairus, M. J.; Alrokayan, Salman; Khan, Haseeb; Rusop, M.

2018-05-01

Calcium Carbonate can be synthesized in many approaches. This work studied on the physical changes to Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) by ball-milling activity in different parameters; number of ball; collision duration; revolution per minute (RPM). Zirconia balls were used in the work because it has the best durability to withstand ball-milling conditions set. Industrial grade CaCO3 particles that were run in aforementioned parameters were characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) to study the physical changes on the size and surface of the CaCO3. They were also characterized with Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy (FTIR) were fingerprint of CaCO3 regions were identified and any changes in the band position and intensity were discussed. Number of Zirconia balls and collision duration is directly proportional to the absorbance intensity whereas it is inversely proportional for the rpm. The best number of parameters producing the highest Absorbance is 100 Zirconia balls in duration of 1 hour and 100rpm.

Optimal Power Scheduling for a Grid-Connected Hybrid PV-Wind-Battery Microgrid System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hernández, Adriana Carolina Luna; Aldana, Nelson Leonardo Diaz; Savaghebi, Mehdi

2016-01-01

mathematical model, wherein the cost of energy purchased from the main grid is minimized and profits for selling energy generated by photovoltaic arrays are maximized by considering both physical constraints and requirements for a feasible deployment in the real system. The optimization model is tested...

The head tracks and gaze predicts: how the world's best batters hit the ball

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mann, D.L.; Spratford, W.; Abernethy, B.

2013-01-01

Hitters in fast ball-sports do not align their gaze with the ball throughout ball-flight; rather, they use predictive eye movement strategies that contribute towards their level of interceptive skill. Existing studies claim that (i) baseball and cricket batters cannot track the ball because it moves

Control scheme towards enhancing power quality and operational efficiency of single-phase two-stage grid-connected photovoltaic systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahmoud Salem

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Achieving high reliable grid-connected photovoltaic (PV systems with high power quality and high operation efficiency is highly required for distributed generation units. A double grid-frequency voltage ripple is found on the dc-link voltage in single-phase photovoltaic grid-connected systems due to the unbalance of the instantaneous dc input and ac output powers. This voltage ripple has undesirable effects on the power quality and operational efficiency of the whole system. Harmonic distortion in the injected current to the grid is one of the problems caused by this double grid-frequency voltage ripple. The double grid frequency ripple propagates to the PV voltage and current which disturb the extracted maximum power from the PV array. This paper introduces intelligent solutions towards mitigate the side effects of the double grid-frequency voltage ripple on the transferred power quality and the operational efficiency of single-phase two-stage grid-connected PV system. The proposed system has three control loops: MPPT control loop, dc-link voltage control loop and inverter current control loop. Solutions are introduced for all the three control loops in the system. The current controller cancels the dc-link voltage effect on the total harmonic distortion of the output current. The dc-link voltage controller is designed to generate a ripple free reference current signal that leads to enhance the quality of the output power. Also a modified MPPT controller is proposed to optimize the extracted power from the PV array. Simulation results show that higher injected power quality is achieved and higher efficiency of the overall system is realized.

The Energy Cost of Running with the Ball in Soccer.

Science.gov (United States)

Piras, Alessandro; Raffi, Milena; Atmatzidis, Charalampos; Merni, Franco; Di Michele, Rocco

2017-11-01

Running with the ball is a soccer-specific activity frequently used by players during match play and training drills. Nevertheless, the energy cost (EC) of on-grass running with the ball has not yet been determined. The purpose of this study was therefore to assess the EC of constant-speed running with the ball, and to compare it with the EC of normal running. Eight amateur soccer players performed two 6- min runs at 10 km/h on artificial turf, respectively with and without the ball. EC was measured with indirect calorimetry and, furthermore, estimated with a method based on players' accelerations measured with a GPS receiver. The EC measured with indirect calorimetry was higher in running with the ball (4.60±0.42 J/kg/m) than in normal running (4.19±0.33 J/kg/m), with a very likely moderate difference between conditions. Instead, a likely small difference was observed between conditions for EC estimated from GPS data (4.87±0.07 vs. 4.83±0.08 J/kg/m). This study sheds light on the energy expenditure of playing soccer, providing relevant data about the EC of a typical soccer-specific activity. These findings may be a reference for coaches to precisely determine the training load in drills with the ball, such as soccer-specific circuits or small-sided games. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

The coefficient of restitution of pressurized balls: a mechanistic model

Science.gov (United States)

Georgallas, Alex; Landry, Gaëtan

2016-01-01

Pressurized, inflated balls used in professional sports are regulated so that their behaviour upon impact can be anticipated and allow the game to have its distinctive character. However, the dynamics governing the impacts of such balls, even on stationary hard surfaces, can be extremely complex. The energy transformations, which arise from the compression of the gas within the ball and from the shear forces associated with the deformation of the wall, are examined in this paper. We develop a simple mechanistic model of the dependence of the coefficient of restitution, e, upon both the gauge pressure, P_G, of the gas and the shear modulus, G, of the wall. The model is validated using the results from a simple series of experiments using three different sports balls. The fits to the data are extremely good for P_G > 25 kPa and consistent values are obtained for the value of G for the wall material. As far as the authors can tell, this simple, mechanistic model of the pressure dependence of the coefficient of restitution is the first in the literature. *%K Coefficient of Restitution, Dynamics, Inflated Balls, Pressure, Impact Model

In Vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Gel Containing the Herbal Ball Extract against Propionibacterium acnes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chutima Jantarat

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The herbal ball has been used as a Thai traditional medicine for relieving many diseases including acne. However, the application process of the herbal ball in practice is complicated and time consuming. The objective of this work was to utilize an herbal ball extract to formulate a gel to reach a more favorable use of the herbal ball for acne treatment. An herbal ball consisting of Andrographis paniculata, Centella asiatica, the Benchalokawichian remedy and the stem bark powder of Hesperethusa crenulata was prepared. The obtained herbal ball was steamed and squeezed to obtain the extract. Gel formulations containing the herbal ball extract at concentrations of 0.1, 1 and 5% w/w were prepared based on a carbomer gel. The herbal ball extract had antioxidant (EC50 = 219.27 ± 36.98 μg/mL and anti Propionibacterium acnes activities (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC = 31.25 μg/mL. The 5% w/w gel formulation had antimicrobial activity against P. acnes, showing an inhibition zone value of 10.00 ± 1.00 mm. This indicates that the developed gel formulation has potential for acne treatment. In comparison to the traditional method of herbal ball usage, the application of herbal ball extract in the form of gel should be more convenient to use.

Implementation of grid-connected to/from off-grid transference for micro-grid inverters

OpenAIRE

Heredero Peris, Daniel; Chillón Antón, Cristian; Pages Gimenez, Marc; Gross, Gabriel Igor; Montesinos Miracle, Daniel

2013-01-01

This paper presents the transfer of a microgrid converter from/to on-grid to/from off-grid when the converter is working in two different modes. In the first transfer presented method, the converter operates as a Current Source Inverter (CSI) when on-grid and as a Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) when off-grid. In the second transfer method, the converter is operated as a VSI both, when operated on-grid and off-grid. The two methods are implemented successfully in a real pla...

A necrotic lung ball caused by co-infection with Candida and Streptococcus pneumoniae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yokoyama T

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Toshinobu Yokoyama, Jun Sasaki, Keita Matsumoto, Chie Koga, Yusuke Ito, Yoichiro Kaku, Morihiro Tajiri, Hiroki Natori, Masashi HirokawaDivision of Respirology, Neurology and Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, JapanIntroduction: A necrotic lung ball is a rare radiological feature that is sometimes seen in cases of pulmonary aspergillosis. This paper reports a rare occurrence of a necrotic lung ball in a young male caused by Candida and Streptococcus pneumoniae.Case report: A 28-year-old male with pulmonary candidiasis was found to have a lung ball on computed tomography (CT of the chest. The patient was treated with ß-lactams and itraconazole and then fluconazole, which improved his condition (as found on a following chest CT scan and serum ß-D-glucan level. The necrotic lung ball was suspected to have been caused by co-infection with Candida and S. pneumoniae.Conclusion: A necrotic lung ball can result from infection by Candida and/or S. pneumoniae, indicating that physicians should be aware that patients may still have a fungal infection of the lungs that could result in a lung ball, even when they do not have either Aspergillus antibodies or antigens.Keywords: lung ball, necrotic lung ball, Candida, Streptococcus pneumoniae

Soccer ball lift coefficients via trajectory analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goff, John Eric; Carre, Matt J

2010-01-01

We performed experiments in which a soccer ball was launched from a machine while two high-speed cameras recorded portions of the trajectory. Using the trajectory data and published drag coefficients, we extracted lift coefficients for a soccer ball. We determined lift coefficients for a wide range of spin parameters, including several spin parameters that have not been obtained by today's wind tunnels. Our trajectory analysis technique is not only a valuable tool for professional sports scientists, it is also accessible to students with a background in undergraduate-level classical mechanics.

Soccer ball lift coefficients via trajectory analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goff, John Eric [Department of Physics, Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA 24501 (United States); Carre, Matt J, E-mail: goff@lynchburg.ed [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD (United Kingdom)

2010-07-15

We performed experiments in which a soccer ball was launched from a machine while two high-speed cameras recorded portions of the trajectory. Using the trajectory data and published drag coefficients, we extracted lift coefficients for a soccer ball. We determined lift coefficients for a wide range of spin parameters, including several spin parameters that have not been obtained by today's wind tunnels. Our trajectory analysis technique is not only a valuable tool for professional sports scientists, it is also accessible to students with a background in undergraduate-level classical mechanics.

Source localization using a non-cocentered orthogonal loop and dipole (NCOLD) array

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Liu Zhaoting; Xu Tongyang

2013-01-01

A uniform array of scalar-sensors with intersensor spacings over a large aperture size generally offers enhanced resolution and source localization accuracy, but it may also lead to cyclic ambiguity. By exploiting the polarization information of impinging waves, an electromagnetic vec-tor-sensor array outperforms the unpolarized scalar-sensor array in resolving this cyclic ambiguity. However, the electromagnetic vector-sensor array usually consists of cocentered orthogonal loops and dipoles (COLD), which is easily subjected to mutual coupling across these cocentered dipoles/loops. As a result, the source localization performance of the COLD array may substantially degrade rather than being improved. This paper proposes a new source localization method with a non-cocentered orthogonal loop and dipole (NCOLD) array. The NCOLD array contains only one dipole or loop on each array grid, and the intersensor spacings are larger than a half-wave-length. Therefore, unlike the COLD array, these well separated dipoles/loops minimize the mutual coupling effects and extend the spatial aperture as well. With the NCOLD array, the proposed method can efficiently exploit the polarization information to offer high localization precision.

Active and reactive power neurocontroller for grid-connected photovoltaic generation system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Abadlia

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Many researchers have contributed to the development of a firm foundation for analysis and design of control applications in grid-connected renewable energy sources. This paper presents an intelligent control algorithm fond on artificial neural networks for active and reactive power controller in grid-connected photovoltaic generation system. The system is devices into two parts in which each part contains an inverter with control algorithm. A DC/DC converter in output voltage established by control magnitude besides maximum power point tracker algorithm always finds optimal power of the PV array in use. A DC/AC hysteresis inverter designed can synchronize a sinusoidal current output with the grid voltage and accurate an independent active and reactive power control. Simulation results confirm the validation of the purpose. Neurocontroller based active and reactive power presents an efficiency control that guarantees good response to the steps changing in active and reactive power with an acceptable current/voltage synchronism. In this paper the power circuit and the control system of the presented grid-connected photovoltaic generation system is simulated and tested by MatLab/Simulink.

Simulating fullerene ball bearings of ultra-low friction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Xiaoyan; Yang Wei

2007-01-01

We report the direct molecular dynamics simulations for molecular ball bearings composed of fullerene molecules (C 60 and C 20 ) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The comparison of friction levels indicates that fullerene ball bearings have extremely low friction (with minimal frictional forces of 5.283 x 10 -7 and 6.768 x 10 -7 nN/atom for C 60 and C 20 bearings) and energy dissipation (lowest dissipation per cycle of 0.013 and 0.016 meV/atom for C 60 and C 20 bearings). A single fullerene inside the ball bearings exhibits various motion statuses of mixed translation and rotation. The influences of the shaft's distortion on the long-ranged potential energy and normal force are discussed. The phonic dissipation mechanism leads to a non-monotonic function between the friction and the load rate for the molecular bearings

Holey carbon micro-arrays for transmission electron microscopy: A microcontact printing approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chester, David W.; Klemic, James F.; Stern, Eric; Sigworth, Fred J.; Klemic, Kathryn G.

2007-01-01

We have used a microcontact printing approach to produce high quality and inexpensive holey carbon micro-arrays. Fabrication involves: (1) micromolding a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) elastomer stamp from a microfabricated master that contains the desired array pattern; (2) using the PDMS stamp for microcontact printing a thin sacrificial plastic film that contains an array of holes; (3) floating the plastic film onto TEM grids; (4) evaporating carbon onto the plastic film and (5) removing the sacrificial plastic film. The final holey carbon micro-arrays are ready for use as support films in TEM applications with the fidelity of the original microfabricated pattern. This approach is cost effective as both the master and the stamps have long-term reusability. Arbitrary array patterns can be made with microfabricated masters made through a single-step photolithographic process

Visual Illusions and the Control of Ball Placement in Goal-Directed Hitting

Science.gov (United States)

Caljouw, Simone R.; Van der Kamp, John; Savelsbergh, Geert J. P.

2010-01-01

When hitting, kicking, or throwing balls at targets, online control in the target area is impossible. We assumed this lack of late corrections in the target area would induce an effect of a single-winged Muller-Lyer illusion on ball placement. After extensive practice in hitting balls to different landing locations, participants (N = 9) had to hit…

Linearly convergent stochastic heavy ball method for minimizing generalization error

KAUST Repository

Loizou, Nicolas; Richtarik, Peter

2017-01-01

In this work we establish the first linear convergence result for the stochastic heavy ball method. The method performs SGD steps with a fixed stepsize, amended by a heavy ball momentum term. In the analysis, we focus on minimizing the expected loss

Smart grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Dong Bae

2001-11-01

This book describes press smart grid from basics to recent trend. It is divided into ten chapters, which deals with smart grid as green revolution in energy with introduction, history, the fields, application and needed technique for smart grid, Trend of smart grid in foreign such as a model business of smart grid in foreign, policy for smart grid in U.S.A, Trend of smart grid in domestic with international standard of smart grid and strategy and rood map, smart power grid as infrastructure of smart business with EMS development, SAS, SCADA, DAS and PQMS, smart grid for smart consumer, smart renewable like Desertec project, convergence IT with network and PLC, application of an electric car, smart electro service for realtime of electrical pricing system, arrangement of smart grid.

Smart signal processing for an evolving electric grid

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Leandro Rodrigues Manso; Duque, Calos Augusto; Ribeiro, Paulo F.

2015-12-01

Electric grids are interconnected complex systems consisting of generation, transmission, distribution, and active loads, recently called prosumers as they produce and consume electric energy. Additionally, these encompass a vast array of equipment such as machines, power transformers, capacitor banks, power electronic devices, motors, etc. that are continuously evolving in their demand characteristics. Given these conditions, signal processing is becoming an essential assessment tool to enable the engineer and researcher to understand, plan, design, and operate the complex and smart electronic grid of the future. This paper focuses on recent developments associated with signal processing applied to power system analysis in terms of characterization and diagnostics. The following techniques are reviewed and their characteristics and applications discussed: active power system monitoring, sparse representation of power system signal, real-time resampling, and time-frequency (i.e., wavelets) applied to power fluctuations.

IceCube potential for detecting Q-ball dark matter in gauge mediation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasuya, Shinta; Kawasaki, Masahiro; Yanagida, Tsutomu T.

2015-01-01

We study Q-ball dark matter in gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking, and seek the possibility of detection in the IceCube experiment. We find that the Q balls would be the dark matter in the parameter region different from that for gravitino dark matter. In particular, the Q ball is a good dark matter candidate for low reheating temperature, which may be suitable for the Affleck–Dine baryogenesis and/or nonthermal leptogenesis. Dark matter Q balls are detectable by IceCube-like experiments in the future, which is a peculiar feature compared to the case of gravitino dark matter

GridCom, Grid Commander: graphical interface for Grid jobs and data management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galaktionov, V.V.

2011-01-01

GridCom - the software package for maintenance of automation of access to means of distributed system Grid (jobs and data). The client part, executed in the form of Java-applets, realises the Web-interface access to Grid through standard browsers. The executive part Lexor (LCG Executor) is started by the user in UI (User Interface) machine providing performance of Grid operations

An assessment of dioxin levels in processed ball clay from the United States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferrario, J.; Byrne, C. [USEPA, Stennis Space Ctr. Mississippi (United States); Schaum, J. [USEPA, Washington, DC (United States)

2004-09-15

Introduction The presence of dioxin-like compounds in ball clay was discovered in 1996 as a result of an investigation to determine the sources of elevated levels of dioxin found in two chicken fat samples from a national survey of poultry. The investigation indicated that soybean meal added to chicken feed was the source of dioxin contamination. Further investigation showed that the dioxin contamination came from the mixing of a natural clay known as ''ball clay'' with the soybean meal as an anti-caking agent. The FDA subsequently discontinued the use of contaminated ball clay as an anti-caking agent in animal feeds. The source of the dioxins found in ball clay has yet to be established. A comparison of the characteristic dioxin profile found in ball clay to those of known anthropogenic sources from the U.S.EPA Source Inventory has been undertaken, and none of those examined match the features found in the clays. These characteristic features together with the fact that the geologic formations in which the clays are found are ancient suggest a natural origin for the dioxins. The plasticity of ball clays makes them an important commercial resource for a variety of commercial uses. The percentage of commercial uses of ball clay in 2000 included: 29% for floor and wall tile, 24% for sanitary ware, 10% pottery, and 37% for other industrial and commercial uses. The total mining of ball clay in the U.S. for 2003 was 1.12 million metric tons. EPA is examining the potential for the environmental release of dioxins from the processing/use of ball clays and evaluating potential exposure pathways. Part of this overall effort and the subject of this study includes the analysis of dioxin levels found in commercially available ball clays commonly used in ceramic art studios.

Numerical simulation and analysis of ball valve three-dimensional flow based on CFD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, S C; Zhang, Y L; Fang, Z M

2012-01-01

The new rotor oil-gas mixture pump that added ball valves in its export is a kind of innovative products, which can better adapt to the oil and gas mixed condition. In order to explore the rule of flow field in the export ball valve of new rotor oil-gas mixture pump, established the 3 d model of ball valve flow field was established. Using the FLUENT software, combining the standard k-ε turbulent model with multiphase flow technology and adopting the SIMPLE algorithm to simulate the 3 d gas-liquid two phase flow field in export ball valve of new rotor oil-gas mixture pump. In the different conditions that the volume of gas rate was 25%, 50%, 75%, through analyzing the velocity field, stress field and the distribution of the liquid and gas with the ball valve open height respectively at 3mm, 5mm, 7mm. Discussed how open height and different volume of gas rate to influence the field in export ball valve in the process of gas-liquid mixing was discussed. The simulation results showed that the greater the open height, the smaller the difference pressure of ball valve; the gap velocity decreasing with the open height increasing. The gas is mainly distributed in the vicinity of the valve ball in the process of gas-liquid mixing. The gas liquid ratio has a little effect on the gap velocity in the same open height. The results showed the flow field forms in the ball valve directly, to a certain degree, it had released the rules of gas-liquid flow in the valve and provided the theoretical guidance for design and optimization of the new rotor oil-gas mixture pump export ball valve.

Size doesn't really matter: ambiguity aversion in Ellsberg urns with few balls.

Science.gov (United States)

Pulford, Briony D; Colman, Andrew M

2008-01-01

When attempting to draw a ball of a specified color either from an urn containing 50 red balls and 50 black balls or from an urn containing an unknown ratio of 100 red and black balls, a majority of decision makers prefer the known-risk urn, and this ambiguity aversion effect violates expected utility theory. In an experimental investigation of the effect of urn size on ambiguity aversion, 149 participants showed similar levels of aversion when choosing from urns containing 2, 10, or 100 balls. The occurrence of a substantial and significant ambiguity aversion effect even in the smallest urn suggests that influential theoretical interpretations of ambiguity aversion may need to be reconsidered.

Space Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering Subsystem (OMS) Engine Propellant Leakage Ball-Valve Shaft Seals

Science.gov (United States)

Lueders, Kathy; Buntain, Nick; Fries, Joseph (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

Evidence of propellant leakage across ball-valve shaft seals has been noted during the disassembly of five flight engines and one test engine at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, White Sands Test Facility. Based on data collected during the disassembly of these five engines, the consequences of propellant leakage across the ball-valve shaft seals can be divided into four primary areas of concern: Damage to the ball-valve pinion shafts, damage to sleeved bearings inside the ball-valve and actuator assemblies, degradation of the synthetic rubber o-rings used in the actuator assemblies, and corrosion and degradation to the interior of the actuator assemblies. The exact time at which leakage across the ball-valve shaft seals occurs has not been determined, however, the leakage most likely occurs during engine firings when, depending on the specification used, ball-valve cavity pressures range as high as 453 to 550 psia. This potential pressure range for the ball-valve cavities greatly exceeds the acceptance leakage test pressure of 332 psia. Since redesign and replacement of the ball-valve shaft seals is unlikely, the near term solution to prevent damage that occurs from shaft-seal leakage is to implement a routine overhaul and maintenance program for engines in the fleet. Recommended repair, verification, and possible preventative maintenance measures are discussed in the paper.

Biaxial testing for nuclear grade graphite by ball on three balls assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Reusmaazran Yusof; Yusof Abdullah

2012-01-01

Nuclear grade (high-purity) graphite for fuel element and moderator material in Advanced Gas Cooling Reactors (AGR) displays large scatter in strength and a non-linear stress-strain response from the damage accumulation. These responses can be characterized as quasi-brittle behaviour. Current assessments of fracture in core graphite components are based on the linear elastic approximation and thus represent a major assumption. The quasi-brittle behaviour gives challenge to assess the real nuclear graphite component. The selected test method would help to bridge the gap between microscale to macro-scale in real reactor component. The small scale tests presented here can contribute some statistical data to manifests the failure in real component. The evaluation and choice of different solution design of biaxial test will be discussed in this paper. The ball on-three ball test method was used for assessment test follows by numerous of analytical method. The results shown that biaxial strength of the EY9 grade graphite depends on the method used for evaluation. Some of the analytical methods use to calculate biaxial strength were found not to be valid and therefore should not be used to assess the mechanical properties of nuclear graphite. (author)

Suppressing Heavy Metal Leaching through Ball Milling of Fly Ash

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiliang Chen

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Ball milling is investigated as a method of reducing the leaching concentration (often termed stablilization of heavy metals in municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI fly ash. Three heavy metals (Cu, Cr, Pb loose much of their solubility in leachate by treating fly ash in a planetary ball mill, in which collisions between balls and fly ash drive various physical processes, as well as chemical reactions. The efficiency of stabilization is evaluated by analysing heavy metals in the leachable fraction from treated fly ash. Ball milling reduces the leaching concentration of Cu, Cr, and Pb, and water washing effectively promotes stabilization efficiency by removing soluble salts. Size distribution and morphology of particles were analysed by laser particle diameter analysis and scanning electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals significant reduction of the crystallinity of fly ash by milling. Fly ash particles can be activated through this ball milling, leading to a significant decrease in particle size, a rise in its BET-surface, and turning basic crystals therein into amorphous structures. The dissolution rate of acid buffering materials present in activated particles is enhanced, resulting in a rising pH value of the leachate, reducing the leaching out of some heavy metals.

CFD Study of Drag and Lift of Sepak Takraw Ball at Different Face Orientations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Syakir Abdul Mubin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available There have been a significant number of researches on computational fluid dynamic (CFD analysis of balls used in sports such as golf balls, tennis balls, and soccer balls. Sepak takraw is a high speed court game predominantly played in Southeast Asia using mainly the legs and head. The sepak takraw ball is unique because it is not enclosed and made of woven plastic. Hence a study of its aerodynamicswould give insight into its behaviour under different conditions of play. In this study the dynamics of the fluid around a static sepak takraw ball was investigated at different wind speeds for three different orientations using CFD. It was found that although the drag did not differ very much, increasing the wind velocity causes an increase in drag. The lift coefficientvaries as the velocity increases and does not show a regular pattern. The drag and lift coefficients are influenced by the orientation of the sepak takraw ball.

Response to Thermal Exposure of Ball-Milled Aluminum-Borax Powder Blends

Science.gov (United States)

Birol, Yucel

2013-04-01

Aluminum-borax powder mixtures were ball milled and heated above 873 K (600 °C) to produce Al-B master alloys. Ball-milled powder blends reveal interpenetrating layers of deformed aluminum and borax grains that are increasingly refined with increasing milling time. Thermal exposure of the ball-milled powder blends facilitates a series of thermite reactions between these layers. Borax, dehydrated during heating, is reduced by Al, and B thus generated reacts with excess Al to produce AlB2 particles dispersed across the aluminum grains starting at 873 K (600 °C). AlB2 particles start to form along the interface of the aluminum and borax layers. Once nucleated, these particles grow readily to become hexagonal-shaped crystals that traverse the aluminum grains with increasing temperatures as evidenced by the increase in the size as well as in the number of the AlB2 particles. Ball milling for 1 hour suffices to achieve a thermite reaction between borax and aluminum. Ball milling further does not impact the response of the powder blend to thermal exposure. The nucleation-reaction sites are multiplied, however, with increasing milling time and thus insure a higher number of smaller AlB2 particles. The size of the AlB2 platelets may be adjusted with the ball milling time.

Exact solutions, energy, and charge of stable Q-balls

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bazeia, D.; Marques, M.A. [Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Departamento de Fisica, Joao Pessoa, PB (Brazil); Menezes, R. [Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Departamento de Ciencias Exatas, Rio Tinto, PB (Brazil); Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Departamento de Fisica, Campina Grande, PB (Brazil)

2016-05-15

In this work we deal with nontopological solutions of the Q-ball type in two spacetime dimensions. We study models of current interest, described by a Higgs-like and other, similar potentials which unveil the presence of exact solutions. We use the analytic results to investigate how to control the energy and charge to make the Q-balls stable. (orig.)

Attempted - to -Phase Conversion of Croconic Acid via Ball Milling

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-18

ARL-TN-0824 MAY 2017 US Army Research Laboratory Attempted α- to β-Phase Conversion of Croconic Acid via Ball Milling by...Laboratory Attempted α- to β-Phase Conversion of Croconic Acid via Ball Milling by Steven W Dean, Rose A Pesce-Rodriguez, and Jennifer A Ciezak...

Development of Stick and Ball Sports on Gateball

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Indriyanti

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to make product design development of stick and ball sports in gateball. The approach used in this study is a method of Research and Development. The subject of this research is the Central Java on gateball club event gateball in Semarang and Yogyakarta. Experts and expert expert gateball expert in mechanical engineering. The data analysis phase the work field, and the data analysis stage include observation, observation, interviews, and documentation of the test kefektifan products, expert judgment expert expert gateball and expert mechanical engineering expert. The results of this research are stick and ball exercise for beginner players gateball gateball. The result of the validator 3 expert expert from the expert gateball and expert mechanical engineering product validation data beginning the first phase obtained a score above 73 definitions of the criteria of “good”, on the second stage of the product validation data obtained a score above the 81 criteria for “excellent”. The results of the interviews to the development of gateball players 19 stick and ball gateball can not be used to play in a match and can be used for subsequent exercises but for beginners a product development tool model stick and ball gateball “ INC. “can be used to enhance the ability of basic techniques in motion game for players, gateball.

Enabling Campus Grids with Open Science Grid Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weitzel, Derek; Fraser, Dan; Pordes, Ruth; Bockelman, Brian; Swanson, David

2011-01-01

The Open Science Grid is a recognized key component of the US national cyber-infrastructure enabling scientific discovery through advanced high throughput computing. The principles and techniques that underlie the Open Science Grid can also be applied to Campus Grids since many of the requirements are the same, even if the implementation technologies differ. We find five requirements for a campus grid: trust relationships, job submission, resource independence, accounting, and data management. The Holland Computing Center's campus grid at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was designed to fulfill the requirements of a campus grid. A bridging daemon was designed to bring non-Condor clusters into a grid managed by Condor. Condor features which make it possible to bridge Condor sites into a multi-campus grid have been exploited at the Holland Computing Center as well.

Investigation of a Ball Screw Feed Drive System Based on Dynamic Modeling for Motion Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Cheng Huang

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the frequency response relationship between the ball screw nut preload, ball screw torsional stiffness variations and table mass effect for a single-axis feed drive system. Identification for the frequency response of an industrial ball screw drive system is very important for the precision motion when the vibration modes of the system are critical for controller design. In this study, there is translation and rotation modes of a ball screw feed drive system when positioning table is actuated by a servo motor. A lumped dynamic model to study the ball nut preload variation and torsional stiffness of the ball screw drive system is derived first. The mathematical modeling and numerical simulation provide the information of peak frequency response as the different levels of ball nut preload, ball screw torsional stiffness and table mass. The trend of increasing preload will indicate the abrupt peak change in frequency response spectrum analysis in some mode shapes. This study provides an approach to investigate the dynamic frequency response of a ball screw drive system, which provides significant information for better control performance when precise motion control is concerned.

Performance of a grid connected PV system used as active filter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calleja, Hugo; Jimenez, Humberto

2004-01-01

In this paper, the performance of a grid connected photovoltaic (PV) system used as an active filter is presented. Its main feature is the capability to compensate the reactive and harmonic currents drawn by nonlinear loads while simultaneously injecting into the grid the maximum power available from the cells. The system can also operate as a stand alone active filter. The system was connected to a 1 kW PV array and tested with the loads typically found in households: small motors, personal computers and electronic ballasts. The results show that the system can correct the power factor to values close to unity for all the cases tested, thereby improving the efficiency of the electric energy supply

Assessment of grid optimisation measures for the German transmission grid using open source grid data

Science.gov (United States)

Böing, F.; Murmann, A.; Pellinger, C.; Bruckmeier, A.; Kern, T.; Mongin, T.

2018-02-01

The expansion of capacities in the German transmission grid is a necessity for further integration of renewable energy sources into the electricity sector. In this paper, the grid optimisation measures ‘Overhead Line Monitoring’, ‘Power-to-Heat’ and ‘Demand Response in the Industry’ are evaluated and compared against conventional grid expansion for the year 2030. Initially, the methodical approach of the simulation model is presented and detailed descriptions of the grid model and the used grid data, which partly originates from open-source platforms, are provided. Further, this paper explains how ‘Curtailment’ and ‘Redispatch’ can be reduced by implementing grid optimisation measures and how the depreciation of economic costs can be determined considering construction costs. The developed simulations show that the conventional grid expansion is more efficient and implies more grid relieving effects than the evaluated grid optimisation measures.

Enabling campus grids with open science grid technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weitzel, Derek [Nebraska U.; Bockelman, Brian [Nebraska U.; Swanson, David [Nebraska U.; Fraser, Dan [Argonne; Pordes, Ruth [Fermilab

2011-01-01

The Open Science Grid is a recognized key component of the US national cyber-infrastructure enabling scientific discovery through advanced high throughput computing. The principles and techniques that underlie the Open Science Grid can also be applied to Campus Grids since many of the requirements are the same, even if the implementation technologies differ. We find five requirements for a campus grid: trust relationships, job submission, resource independence, accounting, and data management. The Holland Computing Center's campus grid at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was designed to fulfill the requirements of a campus grid. A bridging daemon was designed to bring non-Condor clusters into a grid managed by Condor. Condor features which make it possible to bridge Condor sites into a multi-campus grid have been exploited at the Holland Computing Center as well.

Surface modification of titanium hydride with epoxy resin via microwave-assisted ball milling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ning, Rong; Chen, Ding; Zhang, Qianxia; Bian, Zhibing; Dai, Haixiong; Zhang, Chi

2014-01-01

Highlights: • TiH 2 was modified with epoxy resin by microwave-assisted ball milling. • The epoxy ring was opened under the coupling effect of microwave and ball milling. • Microwave-assisted ball milling improved the compatibility of TiH 2 with epoxy. - Abstract: Surface modification of titanium hydride with epoxy resin was carried out via microwave-assisted ball milling and the products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermo-gravimetry (TG) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). A sedimentation test was performed to investigate the compatibility of the modified nano titanium hydride with the epoxy resin. The results show that the epoxy resin molecules were grafted on the surface of nano titanium hydride particles during the microwave-assisted ball milling process, which led to the improvement of compatibility between the nanoparticles and epoxy resin. According to the FT-IR, the grafting site was likely to be located around the epoxy group due to the fact that the epoxy ring was opened. However, compared with microwave-assisted ball milling, the conventional ball milling could not realize the surface modification, indicating that the coupling effect of mechanical force and microwave played a key role during the process

Visual strategies underpinning the development of visual-motor expertise when hitting a ball

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sarpeshkar, Vishnu; Abernethy, B.; Mann, D.L.

2017-01-01

It is well known that skilled batters in fast-ball sports do not align their gaze with the ball throughout ball-flight, but instead adopt a unique sequence of eye and head movements that contribute toward their skill. However, much of what we know about visual-motor behavior in hitting is based on

Ball tip method for thoracic pedicle screw placement in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Kota; Matsumoto, Morio; Iizuka, Shingo

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of ball tip method for thoracic pedicle screw placements in idiopathic scoliosis patients. 24 patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis were included in this study. Conventional method was performed in 12 patients. Ball tip method was performed in 12 patients. Accuracy of the pedicle screw placement was evaluated based on the postoperative CT. In the ball tip method, a probe which was consisted of ball tip with flexible shaft was used. After removing of cortical bone at a starting point, the probe was inserted manually or sometimes with gently tapping by hammer. During the maneuver, the probe will gradually progress into cancellous bone in the pedicle, without perforating cortical bone in the pedicle. Following expansion of the hole by a rigid gear shift probe, screw was placed in the pedicle. 65.1% of screws were located within pedicle in the conventional group and 86.5% in the ball tip group. 5.3% of screws were located out of pedicle within 2 mm in the conventional group and 8.2% in the ball tip group. 15.8% of screws were located out of pedicle beyond 2 mm and 1.8% in the ball tip group. The ball tip method enhanced the accuracy of thoracic pedicle screw placements in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients. The ball tip method may be effective for accurate pedicle screw placement in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. (author)

Ball Bearings Equipped for In Situ Lubrication on Demand

Science.gov (United States)

Marchetti, Mario; Jones, William R., Jr.; Pepper, Stephen V.; Jansen, Mark; Predmore, Roamer

2005-01-01

In situ systems that provide fresh lubricants to ball/race contacts on demand have been developed to prolong the operational lives of ball bearings. These systems were originally intended to be incorporated into ball bearings in mechanisms that are required to operate in outer space for years, in conditions in which lubricants tend to deteriorate and/or evaporate. These systems may also be useful for similarly prolonging bearing lifetimes on Earth. Reservoirs have been among the means used previously to resupply lubricants. Lubricant- resupply reservoirs are bulky and add complexity to bearing assemblies. In addition, such a reservoir cannot be turned on or off as needed: it supplies lubricant continuously, often leading to an excess of lubricant in the bearing. A lubricator of the present type includes a porous ring cartridge attached to the inner or the outer ring of a ball bearing (see Figure 1). Oil is stored in the porous cartridge and is released by heating the cartridge: Because the thermal expansion of the oil exceeds that of the cartridge, heating causes the ejection of some oil. A metal film can be deposited on a face of the cartridge to serve as an electrical-resistance heater. The heater can be activated in response to a measured increase in torque that signals depletion of oil from the bearing/race contacts. Because the oil has low surface tension and readily wets the bearing-ring material, it spreads over the bearing ring and eventually reaches the ball/race contacts. The Marangoni effect (a surface-tension gradient associated with a temperature gradient) is utilized to enhance the desired transfer of lubricant to the ball/race contacts during heating. For a test, a ball bearing designed for use at low speed was assembled without lubricant and equipped with a porous-ring lubricator, the resistance heater of which consumed a power of less than 1 W when triggered on by a torque-measuring device. In the test, a load of 20 lb (.89 N) was applied and the

New Q-ball solutions in gauge-mediation, Affleck-Dine baryogenesis and gravitino dark matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doddato, Francesca; McDonald, John

2012-01-01

Affleck-Dine (AD) baryogenesis along a d = 6 flat direction in gauge-mediated supersymmetry-breaking (GMSB) models can produce unstable Q-balls which naturally have field strength similar to the messenger scale. In this case a new kind of Q-ball is formed, intermediate between the gravity-mediated and gauge-mediated types. We study in detail these new Q-ball solutions, showing how their properties interpolate between standard gravity-mediated and gauge-mediated Q-balls as the AD field becomes larger than the messenger scale. It is shown that E/Q for the Q-balls can be greater than the nucleon mass but less than the MSSM-LSP mass, leading to Q-ball decay primarily to Standard Model fermions. More significantly, if E/Q is greater than the MSSM-LSP mass, decaying Q-balls can provide a natural source of non-thermal MSSM-LSPs, which can subsequently decay to gravitino dark matter without violating nucleosynthesis constraints. The model therefore provides a minimal scenario for baryogenesis and gravitino dark matter in the gauge-mediated MSSM, requiring no new fields

Law guide for photovoltaic installations: Array installation; Connecting the grid; Financing; The new legal regime implemented in 2011; Is green taxing still so green?; Which judge will bring the light?: Reactions of actors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferracci, Vanina; Vandervorst, Alain; Tixier, Jean-Luc; Barthelemy, Christophe; Cloche-Dubois, Celine; Tenailleau, Francois; Rubio, Aurore-Emmanuelle; Pechamat, Olivier; Gandet, Stephanie; Deharbe, David; Rousset, Alain; Boedec, Morgan; Joffre, Andre; Blosseville, Thomas; Meunier, Stephane; Maincent, Guillaume

2011-01-01

The authors discuss legal issues and aspects regarding photovoltaic installations in France: the array installation (constraints related to urban planning: rules, authorizations and competencies when setting up on the ground or on buildings, urban taxes, estate issues), the connection to the grid, the financing (electricity prices, partnership contract), the new legal regime implemented in 2011, the question whether green taxing is still sufficiently attractive, the dispute about the mandatory purchase mechanism, and the attitude of the different actors (notably local communities, and industries) in front of the decrease of purchase prices

Durability Tests of Ball Valve Prototype with Flowmeter Operation

Science.gov (United States)

Rogula, J.; Romanik, G.

2018-02-01

The results of the investigation of the prototypical ball valve are presented in this article. The innovation of the tested valve is a ball with a built-in measuring orifice. The valve has been subjected to durability tests. Leakage under three temperatures: ambient, -30°C and +100°C was analyzed. Sealing elements of the valve were tested for roughness and deviation of shape before and after the cycles of operation. Ball valve operation means cycles of open/close. It was planned to perform 1000 cycles at each temperature condition accordingly. Tests of the valve were performed under gas pressure equal to 10 MPa. The research was carried out under the Operational Program "Intelligent Development" (POIR 01.01.01-00-0013 / 15 "Development of devices for measurement of media flow on industrial trunk-lines".

Geometrical origin of chaoticity in the bouncing ball billiard

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mátyás, L.; Barna, I.F.

2011-01-01

Highlights: ► We study the possible separation of neighouring trajectories in the bouncing ball billiard. ► In a certain interval of frequencies semianalitical evaluations are possible. ► One may find a lower bound for the maximal Lyapunov exponent in case of a resonance. - Abstract: We present a study of the chaotic behaviour of the bouncing ball billiard. The work is realised on the purpose of finding at least certain causes of separation of the neighbouring trajectories. Having in view the geometrical construction of the system, we report a clear origin of chaoticity of the bouncing ball billiard. By this we claim that in case when the floor is made of arc of circles – in a certain interval of frequencies – one can give semi-analytical estimates on chaotic behaviour.

Analysis on Sealing Reliability of Bolted Joint Ball Head Component of Satellite Propulsion System

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Tao; Fan, Yougao; Gao, Feng; Gu, Shixin; Wang, Wei

2018-01-01

Propulsion system is one of the important subsystems of satellite, and its performance directly affects the service life, attitude control and reliability of the satellite. The Paper analyzes the sealing principle of bolted joint ball head component of satellite propulsion system and discuss from the compatibility of hydrazine anhydrous and bolted joint ball head component, influence of ground environment on the sealing performance of bolted joint ball heads, and material failure caused by environment, showing that the sealing reliability of bolted joint ball head component is good and the influence of above three aspects on sealing of bolted joint ball head component can be ignored.

Noninvasive medical management of fungus ball uropathy in a premature infant.

Science.gov (United States)

Alkalay, A L; Srugo, I; Blifeld, C; Komaiko, M S; Pomerance, J J

1991-09-01

Unilateral renal obstruction secondary to fungus balls is described in a premature infant. Noninvasive medical management, which included amphotericin B and 5-flucytosine therapy and forced diuresis, resulted in disappearance of fungus balls and resolution of the obstruction.

Plasma balls in large-N gauge theories and localized black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aharony, Ofer; Minwalla, Shiraz; Wiseman, Toby

2006-01-01

We argue for the existence of plasma balls-metastable, nearly homogeneous lumps of gluon plasma at just above the deconfinement energy density-in a class of large-N confining gauge theories that undergo first-order deconfinement transitions. Plasma balls decay over a time scale of order N 2 by thermally radiating hadrons at the deconfinement temperature. In gauge theories that have a dual description that is well approximated by a theory of gravity in a warped geometry, we propose that plasma balls map to a family of classically stable finite-energy black holes localized in the IR. We present a conjecture for the qualitative nature of large-mass black holes in such backgrounds and numerically construct these black holes in a particular class of warped geometries. These black holes have novel properties; in particular, their temperature approaches a nonzero constant value at large mass. Black holes dual to plasma balls shrink as they decay by Hawking radiation; towards the end of this process, they resemble ten-dimensional Schwarzschild black holes, which we propose are dual to small plasma balls. Our work may find practical applications in the study of the physics of localized black holes from a dual viewpoint

Mechanically Induced Graphite-Nanodiamonds-Phase Transformations During High-Energy Ball Milling

Science.gov (United States)

El-Eskandarany, M. Sherif

2017-05-01

Due to their unusual mechanical, chemical, physical, optical, and biological properties, nearly spherical-like nanodiamonds have received much attention as desirable advanced nanomaterials for use in a wide spectrum of applications. Although, nanodiamonds can be successfully synthesized by several approaches, applications of high temperature and/or high pressure may restrict the real applications of such strategic nanomaterials. Distinct from the current preparation approaches used for nanodiamonds preparation, here we show a new process for preparing ultrafine nanodiamonds (3-5 nm) embedded in a homogeneous amorphous-carbon matrix. Our process started from high-energy ball milling of commercial graphite powders at ambient temperature under normal atmospheric helium gas pressure. The results have demonstrated graphite-single wall carbon nanotubes-amorphous-carbon-nanodiamonds phase transformations carried out through three subsequent stages of ball milling. Based on XRD and RAMAN analyses, the percentage of nanodiamond phase + C60 (crystalline phase) produced by ball milling was approximately 81%, while the amorphous phase amount was 19%. The pressure generated on the powder together the with temperature increase upon the ball-powder-ball collision is responsible for the phase transformations occurring in graphite powders.

RadBall Technology Testing and MCNP Modeling of the Tungsten Collimator.

Science.gov (United States)

Farfán, Eduardo B; Foley, Trevor Q; Coleman, J Rusty; Jannik, G Timothy; Holmes, Christopher J; Oldham, Mark; Adamovics, John; Stanley, Steven J

2010-01-01

The United Kingdom's National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) has developed a remote, non-electrical, radiation-mapping device known as RadBall(™), which can locate and quantify radioactive hazards within contaminated areas of the nuclear industry. RadBall(™) consists of a colander-like outer shell that houses a radiation-sensitive polymer sphere. The outer shell works to collimate radiation sources and those areas of the polymer sphere that are exposed react, becoming increasingly more opaque, in proportion to the absorbed dose. The polymer sphere is imaged in an optical-CT scanner, which produces a high resolution 3D map of optical attenuation coefficients. Subsequent analysis of the optical attenuation matrix provides information on the spatial distribution of sources in a given area forming a 3D characterization of the area of interest. RadBall(™) has no power requirements and can be positioned in tight or hard-to reach locations. The RadBall(™) technology has been deployed in a number of technology trials in nuclear waste reprocessing plants at Sellafield in the United Kingdom and facilities of the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). This study focuses on the RadBall(™) testing and modeling accomplished at SRNL.

A ball diameter-measuring instrument in a gauge block interferometer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kotte, G.J.W.L.; Haitjema, H.; Decker, J.E.; Brown, N.

1998-01-01

An instrument for the measurement of ball diameters in the 0.5-20 mm range in a gauge block interferometer is realized. The measurement principle is that the ball is positioned between an optical flat and a calibrated gauge block. The total length is measured in a gauge block relative to the optical

DIFFERENCES IN TECHNICAL MOVEMENT PRECISION WITH BALL TO NEW AGES SOCCER PLAYERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sami Sermaxhaj

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The primary goal of this research is to compare the accuracy of the collision of the ball to players of both age groups U-17 and U-19. The research was conducted on a sample of 100 young soccer players Kosovo divided into two groups: the first group comprised of 50 young players U17 and second group comprised of 50 young soccer players U-19. To assess the precision of the attack on the ball all the players they have subjected technical demonstration testing in four tests: (T-JUGGL, T-PASI, T-KROS, T-SHOOT. Through T-test method are proven differences in favor of players U-19 to U-17 in all tests of precision technical movements with the ball, but statistically significant differences are shown in the collision test at the gateway (T-SHOOT and the test ball juggling (T-JUGGL . The results obtained show us that more experienced players U-19 have a better precision in demonstrating the technical movements with the ball, compared to U-17 players. Assuming that the training process is very important to voice learning, mastering demonstration, acquisition, and precise technical movements with the ball, because the precision peak levels is very significant.

Social Media and Big Data – Cracks in the Crystal Ball?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westera, Wim

2013-01-01

Westera, W. (2013, 14 October). Social Media and Big Data – Cracks in the Crystal Ball? Invited e-paper at ESOMAR RW Connect. http://rwconnect.esomar.org/using-social-media-for-market-analysis-cracks-in-the-alleged-crystal-ball/

Study of Complexities in Bouncing Ball Dynamical System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lal Mohan SAHA

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Evolutionary motions in a bouncing ball system consisting of a ball having a free fall in the Earth’s gravitational field have been studied systematically. Because of nonlinear form of the equations of motion, evolutions show chaos for certain set of parameters for certain initial conditions. Bifurcation diagram has been drawn to study regular and chaotic behavior. Numerical calculations have been performed to calculate Lyapunov exponents, topological entropies and correlation dimension as measures of complexity. Numerical results are shown through interesting graphics.

Patient satisfaction of tooth supported overdentures utilizing ball attachments

OpenAIRE

Nassar, Hossam I.

2016-01-01

Statement of problem: Teeth retained overdenture therapy is an alternative treatment rarely used in cases with few remaining teeth. Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the patient satisfaction associated with teeth retained maxillary and mandibular overdentures utilizing ready made ball attachment. Materials and methods: Thirty patients treated with teeth retained overdenture utilizing ready made ball attachment. Participants completed a series of questionnaires (OHIP-14 ques...

A new ball launching system with controlled flight parameters for catching experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

d'Avella, A; Cesqui, B; Portone, A; Lacquaniti, F

2011-03-30

Systematic investigations of sensorimotor control of interceptive actions in naturalistic conditions, such as catching or hitting a ball moving in three-dimensional space, requires precise control of the projectile flight parameters and of the associated visual stimuli. Such control is challenging when air drag cannot be neglected because the mapping of launch parameters into flight parameters cannot be computed analytically. We designed, calibrated, and experimentally validated an actuated launching apparatus that can control the average spatial position and flight duration of a ball at a given distance from a fixed launch location. The apparatus was constructed by mounting a ball launching machine with adjustable delivery speed on an actuated structure capable of changing the spatial orientation of the launch axis while projecting balls through a hole in a screen hiding the apparatus. The calibration procedure relied on tracking the balls with a motion capture system and on approximating the mapping of launch parameters into flight parameters by means of polynomials functions. Polynomials were also used to estimate the variability of the flight parameters. The coefficients of these polynomials were obtained using the launch and flight parameters of 660 launches with 65 different initial conditions. The relative accuracy and precision of the apparatus were larger than 98% for flight times and larger than 96% for ball heights at a distance of 6m from the screen. Such novel apparatus, by reliably and automatically controlling desired ball flight characteristics without neglecting air drag, allows for a systematic investigation of naturalistic interceptive tasks. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Kinase inhibition by the Jamaican ball moss, Tillandsia recurvata L.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowe, Henry I C; Watson, Charah T; Badal, Simone; Toyang, Ngeh J; Bryant, Joseph

2012-10-01

This research was undertaken in order to investigate the inhibitory potential of the Jamaican ball moss, Tillandsia recurvata against several kinases. The inhibition of these kinases has emerged as a potential solution to restoring the tight regulation of normal cellular growth, the loss of which leads to cancer cell formation. Kinase inhibition was investigated using competition binding (to the ATP sites) assays, which have been previously established and authenticated. Four hundred and fifty one kinases were tested against the Jamaican ball moss extract and a dose-response was tested on 40 kinases, which were inhibited by more than 35% compared to the control. Out of the 40 kinases, the Jamaican ball moss selectively inhibited 5 (CSNK2A2, MEK5, GAK, FLT and DRAK1) and obtained Kd(50)s were below 20 μg/ml. Since MEK5 and GAK kinases have been associated with aggressive prostate cancer, the inhibitory properties of the ball moss against them, coupled with its previously found bioactivity towards the PC-3 cell line, makes it promising in the arena of drug discovery towards prostate cancer.

Acoustic monitoring of a ball sinking in vibrated granular sediments

Science.gov (United States)

van den Wildenberg, Siet; Léopoldès, Julien; Tourin, Arnaud; Jia, Xiaoping

2017-06-01

We develop an ultrasound probing to investigate the dynamics of a high density ball sinking in 3D opaque dense granular suspensions under horizontal weak vibrations. We show that the motion of the ball in these horizontally vibrated glass bead packings saturated by water is consistent with the frictional rheology. The extracted stress-strain relation evidences an evolution of flow behaviour from frictional creep to inertial regimes. Our main finding is that weak external vibration primarily affects the yield stress and controls the depth of sinking via vibration-induced sliding at the grain contact. Also, we observe that the extracted rheological parameters depend on the size of the probing ball, suggesting thus a non-local rheology.

Nanodiamond arrays on glass for quantification and fluorescence characterisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Heffernan, Ashleigh H; Greentree, Andrew D; Gibson, Brant C

2017-08-23

Quantifying the variation in emission properties of fluorescent nanodiamonds is important for developing their wide-ranging applicability. Directed self-assembly techniques show promise for positioning nanodiamonds precisely enabling such quantification. Here we show an approach for depositing nanodiamonds in pre-determined arrays which are used to gather statistical information about fluorescent lifetimes. The arrays were created via a layer of photoresist patterned with grids of apertures using electron beam lithography and then drop-cast with nanodiamonds. Electron microscopy revealed a 90% average deposition yield across 3,376 populated array sites, with an average of 20 nanodiamonds per site. Confocal microscopy, optimised for nitrogen vacancy fluorescence collection, revealed a broad distribution of fluorescent lifetimes in agreement with literature. This method for statistically quantifying fluorescent nanoparticles provides a step towards fabrication of hybrid photonic devices for applications from quantum cryptography to sensing.

Reduced graphene oxide synthesis by high energy ball milling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mondal, O. [Department of Physics, M.U.C Women' s College, Burdwan 713104 (India); Mitra, S. [MLS Prof' s Unit, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata 700032 (India); Pal, M. [CSIR-Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata 700032 (India); Datta, A. [University School of Basic and Applied Science (USBAS), Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi 110075 (India); Dhara, S. [Surface and Nanoscience Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603102 (India); Chakravorty, D., E-mail: mlsdc@iacs.res.in [MLS Prof' s Unit, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata 700032 (India)

2015-07-01

Graphene oxide is transformed to reduced graphene oxide by high energy ball milling in inert atmosphere. The process of ball milling introduces defects and removes oxygen functional groups, thereby creating the possibility of fine tuning the band gap of all intermediate stages of the structural evolution. A limit of the backbone sp{sup 2} network structure has been found which should be able to accommodate defects, before amorphization sets in. The amorphization of graphene oxide is achieved rather quickly in comparison to that of graphite. From thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetric analysis along with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopic studies, it is found that the number of oxygen-containing groups decreases at a faster rate than that of aromatic double bonds with increasing ball milling time with a maximum limit of 3 h. Several characterization techniques (FTIR, Raman, UV–Visible and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) have confirmed that the material synthesized is, indeed, reduced graphene oxide. - Highlights: • Graphene oxide is transformed to reduced graphene oxide by high energy ball milling in inert atmosphere. • Fine tuning the band gap by introducing defects and removing oxygen functional groups. • Introduction of excess defects leads to amorphization. • Photoluminescence has been observed in the UV-blue region.

GridCom, Grid Commander: graphical interface for Grid jobs and data management; GridCom, Grid Commander: graficheskij interfejs dlya raboty s zadachami i dannymi v gride

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galaktionov, V V

2011-07-01

GridCom - the software package for maintenance of automation of access to means of distributed system Grid (jobs and data). The client part, executed in the form of Java-applets, realises the Web-interface access to Grid through standard browsers. The executive part Lexor (LCG Executor) is started by the user in UI (User Interface) machine providing performance of Grid operations

Fabrication and Study of Micro Monolithic Tungsten Ball Tips for Micro/Nano-CMM Probes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruijun Li

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Micro ball tips with high precision, small diameter, and high stiffness stems are required to measure microstructures with high aspect ratio. Existing ball tips cannot meet such demands because of their weak qualities. This study used an arc-discharge melting method to fabricate a micro monolithic tungsten ball tip on a tungsten stylus. The principles of arc discharge and surface tension phenomenon were introduced. The experimental setup was designed and established. Appropriate process parameters, such as impulse voltage, electro discharge time, and discharge gap were determined. Experimental results showed that a ball tip of approximately 60 µm in diameter with less than 0.6 µm roundness error and 0.6 µm center offset could be realized on a 100 µm-diameter tungsten wire. The fabricated micro ball tip was installed on a homemade probe, touched by high-precision gauge blocks in different directions. A repeatability of 41 nm (K = 2 was obtained. Several interesting phenomena in the ball-forming process were also discussed. The proposed method could be used to fabricate a monolithic probe ball tip, which is necessary for measuring microstructures.

A Tsunami Ball Approach to Storm Surge and Inundation: Application to Hurricane Katrina, 2005

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven N. Ward

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Most analyses of storm surge and inundation solve equations of continuity and momentum on fixed finite-difference/finite-element meshes. I develop a completely new approach that uses a momentum equation to accelerate bits or balls of water over variable depth topography. The thickness of the water column at any point equals the volume density of balls there. In addition to being more intuitive than traditional methods, the tsunami ball approach has several advantages. (a By tracking water balls of fixed volume, the continuity equation is satisfied automatically and the advection term in the momentum equation becomes unnecessary. (b The procedure is meshless in the finite-difference/finite-element sense. (c Tsunami balls care little if they find themselves in the ocean or inundating land. (d Tsunami ball calculations of storm surge can be done on a laptop computer. I demonstrate and calibrate the method by simulating storm surge and inundation around New Orleans, Louisiana caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and by comparing model predictions with field observations. To illustrate the flexibility of the tsunami ball technique, I run two “What If” hurricane scenarios—Katrina over Savannah, Georgia and Katrina over Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Progress in Grid Generation: From Chimera to DRAGON Grids

Science.gov (United States)

Liou, Meng-Sing; Kao, Kai-Hsiung

1994-01-01

Hybrid grids, composed of structured and unstructured grids, combines the best features of both. The chimera method is a major stepstone toward a hybrid grid from which the present approach is evolved. The chimera grid composes a set of overlapped structured grids which are independently generated and body-fitted, yielding a high quality grid readily accessible for efficient solution schemes. The chimera method has been shown to be efficient to generate a grid about complex geometries and has been demonstrated to deliver accurate aerodynamic prediction of complex flows. While its geometrical flexibility is attractive, interpolation of data in the overlapped regions - which in today's practice in 3D is done in a nonconservative fashion, is not. In the present paper we propose a hybrid grid scheme that maximizes the advantages of the chimera scheme and adapts the strengths of the unstructured grid while at the same time keeps its weaknesses minimal. Like the chimera method, we first divide up the physical domain by a set of structured body-fitted grids which are separately generated and overlaid throughout a complex configuration. To eliminate any pure data manipulation which does not necessarily follow governing equations, we use non-structured grids only to directly replace the region of the arbitrarily overlapped grids. This new adaptation to the chimera thinking is coined the DRAGON grid. The nonstructured grid region sandwiched between the structured grids is limited in size, resulting in only a small increase in memory and computational effort. The DRAGON method has three important advantages: (1) preserving strengths of the chimera grid; (2) eliminating difficulties sometimes encountered in the chimera scheme, such as the orphan points and bad quality of interpolation stencils; and (3) making grid communication in a fully conservative and consistent manner insofar as the governing equations are concerned. To demonstrate its use, the governing equations are

Solid lubricant mass contact transfer technology usage for vacuum ball bearings longevity increasing

Science.gov (United States)

Arzymatov, B.; Deulin, E.

2016-07-01

A contact mass transfer technological method of solid lubricant deposition on components of vacuum ball bearings is presented. Physics-mathematical model of process contact mass transfer is being considered. The experimental results of ball bearings covered with solid lubricant longevity in vacuum are presented. It is shown that solid lubricant of contact mass transfer method deposition is prospective for ball bearing longevity increasing.

Analisis Perbandingan Experiential Value antara Hong Tang dan Black Ball serta Hubungannya dengan Customer Satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annetta Gunawan

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Black Ball and Hong Tang are two pioneers of Taiwanese dessert sellers in Jakarta. Both of them have product offering characteristics that are alike and have the same target market. From the initial observation, the researcher found that even though Black Ball has more outlets than Hong Tang, but Black Ball seems to be less popular than Hong Tang. The consumers’ preferences are varied, there are some consumers prefer Hong Tang, but there are also those who choose Black Ball, because of the food quality, the service provided, and also the experiences they get during the consumption process. Therefore, both Black Ball and Hong Tang have to consider about the experiential value to be offered to their customers, in order to increase their customer satisfaction, so that they can sustainably survive in the midst of challenging competition. The objectives of this research are to examine whether there is any difference of experiential value dimensions and customer satisfaction between Hong Tang and Black Ball and to examine the relationship between experiential value dimensions and customer satisfaction of Hong Tang and Black Ball. The result of this research concludes that there is no difference of all experiential value dimensions and customer satisfaction between Hong Tang and Black Ball and there is a strong and significant relationship between all experiential value dimensions and customer satisfaction of Hong Tang and Black Ball.

Optimum condition determination of Rirang uranium ores grinding using ball mill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Affandi, Kosim; Waluyo, Sugeng; Sarono, Budi; Sujono; Muhammad

2002-01-01

The grinding experiment on Rirang Uranium ore has been carried out with the aim is to find out the optimum condition of wet grinding using ball mill to produce particle size -325, -200 and -100 mesh. This will be used for decomposition feed the test was done by examine the parameters comparison of ore's weight against ball's weight and time of grinding. The test shown that the product of particle size -325 meshes was achieved optimum condition at the comparison ore's weight: ball = 1:3, grinding time 150 minutes, % solid 60, speed rotation of ball mill 60 rpm and recovery of grinding was 93.51 % of -325 mesh. The product of particle size -200 mesh was achieved optimum condition at comparison ore's weight: ball = 1:2, time of grinding 60 minutes, the fraction of + 200 mesh was regrind, the recovery of grinding 6.82% at particle size of (-200 + 250) mesh, 5.75 % at (-250 + 325)m mesh and, 47.93 % -325 mesh. The product of particle size -100 mesh was achieved the optimum condition at comparison ore's weight: ball = 1:2, time of grinding at 30 minutes particle size +100 mesh regrinding using mortar grinder, recovery of grinding 30.10% at particle size (-100 + 150) m, 12.28 % at (-150 + 200) mesh, 15.92 % at (-200 + 250) mesh, 12.44 % at (-250 + 325) mesh and 29.26 % -325 mesh. The determination of specific gravity of Rirang uranium ore was between 4.15 - 4.55 g/cm 3

Kicking velocity and effect on match performance when using a smaller, lighter ball in women's football

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Thomas B.; Krustrup, Peter; Bendiksen, Mads

2016-01-01

The present study evaluated the effect of a smaller, lighter ball on kicking speed and technical-tactical and physical match performance in high-level adult female footballers. In the laboratory test setting, the peak ball velocity was 6% higher with the new ball (NB) than the standard ball (SB...

Ball lightning. What nature is trying to tell the plasma research community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roth, J.R.

1995-01-01

Ball lightning has been extensively observed in atmospheric air, usually in association with thunderstorms, by untrained observers who were not in a position to make careful observations. These chance sightings have been documented by polling observers, who constitute perhaps 5% of the adult U.S. population. Unfortunately, ball lightning is not accessible to scientific analysis because it cannot be reproduced in the laboratory under controlled conditions. Natural ball lightning has been observed to last longer than 90 s and to have diameters from 1 cm to several meters. The energy density of a few lightning balls has been observed to be as high as 20000 J/cm 3 , well above the limit of chemical energy storage of, for example, TNT at 2000 J/cm 3 . Such observations suggest a plasma-related phenomenon with significant magnetic energy storage. If this is the case, ball lightning should have very interesting implications for fusion research, industrial plasma engineering, and military applications, as well as being of great theoretical and practical interest to the plasma research community. 20 refs., 15 figs., 2 tabs

Formation Mechanism and Characteristics Research of Ball Lightning Based on Vortex Model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zicheng; Yang Guohua

2011-01-01

The strange characteristics of ball lightning are considered as a question hard to explain. In order to solve the problem, in this paper a complete model of plasma vortex is presented for the ball lightning. By ideal MHD equations, through imposing disturbance to plasma column, the possibility of sausage and kink instability of the lightning channel is analyzed from the perspective the minimum potential energy. The conclusion is that the kink instability (m = 1) is most prone to occur. And when instability occurs, because of the difference of the magnetic field in the twisted area, the magnetic pressure makes the trend further and therefore forming the plasma vortex that may eventually turn into ball lightning if the energy of the vortex is large enough. The existence of the vortex makes ball lightning have a short period of time stability. By the proposed model, the ball lightning features that are hard to understand in the past are explained. In this paper, the reason for bead lightning is also explained from the perspective of the sausage instability. (physics of gases, plasmas, and electric discharges)

MEDEA: A multi element detector array for gamma ray and light charged particle detection at the LNS-Catania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Migneco, E.; Agodi, C.; Alba, R.; Coniglione, R.; Del Zoppo, A.; Finocchiaro, P.; Maiolino, C.; Piattelli, P.; Raia, G.; Sapienza, P.; Bellia, G.

1992-01-01

A 4π highly granular Multi Element Detector Array (MEDEA) for γ-rays and light charged particles is described. Its basic configuration consists of 180 barium fluoride scintillator crystals, arranged in the shape of a ball, plus a forward angle wall of 120 phoswich detectors. The inner radius of the ball (22 cm) and the distance of the wall from the target (55 cm) allow the placement of other detectors in the inner volume. The whole detection system operates under vacuum inside a large scattering chamber. Dedicated electronics has been designed and realized. It includes a powerful hardware second level trigger and preanalysis system, which allows on-line event selection, and a modular VME-bus based data acquisition system. In-beam performances of the system are also described. (orig.)

Simulation of Trajectories of Tar Ball Transport to the Goa Coast

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Suneel, V.; Vethamony, P.; VinodKumar, K.; Babu, M.T.; Prasad, V.S.R.

Arrival of tar balls to the Goa coast during pre- and southwest monsoon seasons has been a regular phenomenon in the past few years. In one such event, we observed tar ball deposits along the Goa coast during August 2010, April 2011 and May 2011...

Damage mapping in structural health monitoring using a multi-grid architecture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mathews, V. John [Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States)

2015-03-31

This paper presents a multi-grid architecture for tomography-based damage mapping of composite aerospace structures. The system employs an array of piezo-electric transducers bonded on the structure. Each transducer may be used as an actuator as well as a sensor. The structure is excited sequentially using the actuators and the guided waves arriving at the sensors in response to the excitations are recorded for further analysis. The sensor signals are compared to their baseline counterparts and a damage index is computed for each actuator-sensor pair. These damage indices are then used as inputs to the tomographic reconstruction system. Preliminary damage maps are reconstructed on multiple coordinate grids defined on the structure. These grids are shifted versions of each other where the shift is a fraction of the spatial sampling interval associated with each grid. These preliminary damage maps are then combined to provide a reconstruction that is more robust to measurement noise in the sensor signals and the ill-conditioned problem formulation for single-grid algorithms. Experimental results on a composite structure with complexity that is representative of aerospace structures included in the paper demonstrate that for sufficiently high sensor densities, the algorithm of this paper is capable of providing damage detection and characterization with accuracy comparable to traditional C-scan and A-scan-based ultrasound non-destructive inspection systems quickly and without human supervision.

Intercepting virtual balls approaching under different gravity conditions: evidence for spatial prediction.

Science.gov (United States)

Russo, Marta; Cesqui, Benedetta; La Scaleia, Barbara; Ceccarelli, Francesca; Maselli, Antonella; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Zago, Myrka; Lacquaniti, Francesco; d'Avella, Andrea

2017-10-01

To accurately time motor responses when intercepting falling balls we rely on an internal model of gravity. However, whether and how such a model is also used to estimate the spatial location of interception is still an open question. Here we addressed this issue by asking 25 participants to intercept balls projected from a fixed location 6 m in front of them and approaching along trajectories with different arrival locations, flight durations, and gravity accelerations (0 g and 1 g ). The trajectories were displayed in an immersive virtual reality system with a wide field of view. Participants intercepted approaching balls with a racket, and they were free to choose the time and place of interception. We found that participants often achieved a better performance with 1 g than 0 g balls. Moreover, the interception points were distributed along the direction of a 1 g path for both 1 g and 0 g balls. In the latter case, interceptions tended to cluster on the upper half of the racket, indicating that participants aimed at a lower position than the actual 0 g path. These results suggest that an internal model of gravity was probably used in predicting the interception locations. However, we found that the difference in performance between 1 g and 0 g balls was modulated by flight duration, the difference being larger for faster balls. In addition, the number of peaks in the hand speed profiles increased with flight duration, suggesting that visual information was used to adjust the motor response, correcting the prediction to some extent. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Here we show that an internal model of gravity plays a key role in predicting where to intercept a fast-moving target. Participants also assumed an accelerated motion when intercepting balls approaching in a virtual environment at constant velocity. We also show that the role of visual information in guiding interceptive movement increases when more time is available. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological

The dialogue between data and model: passive stability and relaxation behavior in a ball bouncing task

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, T.M.H.; Katsumata, H.; Rugy, A. de; Sternad, D.

2004-01-01

We investigate the skill of rhythmically bouncing a ball on a racket with a focus on the mathematical modeling of the stability of performance. As a first step we derive the deterministic ball bouncing map as a Poincar´e section of a sinusoidally driven bouncing ball. Subsequently, we show the ball

Grid3: An Application Grid Laboratory for Science

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2004-01-01

level services required by the participating experiments. The deployed infrastructure has been operating since November 2003 with 27 sites, a peak of 2800 processors, work loads from 10 different applications exceeding 1300 simultaneous jobs, and data transfers among sites of greater than 2 TB/day. The Grid3 infrastructure was deployed from grid level services provided by groups and applications within the collaboration. The services were organized into four distinct "grid level services" including: Grid3 Packaging, Monitoring and Information systems, User Authentication and the iGOC Grid Operatio...

The correct "ball bearings" data.

Science.gov (United States)

Caroni, C

2002-12-01

The famous data on fatigue failure times of ball bearings have been quoted incorrectly from Lieblein and Zelen's original paper. The correct data include censored values, as well as non-fatigue failures that must be handled appropriately. They could be described by a mixture of Weibull distributions, corresponding to different modes of failure.

Evaluation of safety balls and faceguards for prevention of injuries in youth baseball.

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Stephen W; Mueller, Frederick O; Kirby, Daniel P; Yang, Jingzhen

2003-02-05

Safety balls and faceguards are widely used in youth baseball, but their effectiveness in reducing injury is unknown. To evaluate the association of the use of faceguards and safety balls and injuries in youth baseball. Ecological study using a national database of compensated insurance claims maintained by Little League Baseball Incorporated, combined with data on the number of participants in Little League and data from a census of protective equipment usage for youth aged 5 to 18 years participating in Little League Baseball in the United States during 1997-1999. Rate of injury and injury rate ratio comparing users with nonusers of protective equipment. A total of 6 744 240 player-seasons of follow-up and 4233 compensated injury claims were available for analysis. The absolute incidence of compensated injury per 100 000 player-seasons was 28.02 (95% confidence interval [CI], 26.76-29.29) for ball-related injury and 2.71 (95% CI, 2.32-3.11) for facial injury. Overall, use of safety balls was associated with a reduced risk of ball-related injury (adjusted rate ratio, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.64-0.93). This reduction was essentially due to 1 type of safety ball, known as the reduced-impact ball (adjusted rate ratio, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.57-0.91). Use of faceguards reduced the risk of facial injury (adjusted rate ratio, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.43-0.98). Metal and plastic guards appeared to be equally effective. Safety balls appeared to be more effective in the minor division (ages 7-12 years) than in the regular division (ages 9-12 years). Reduced-impact balls and faceguards were associated with a reduced risk of injury in youth baseball. These findings support increased usage of these items; however, it should be noted that the absolute incidence of injury in youth baseball is low and that these equipment items do not prevent all injuries.

Between Traditions: Stephen Ball and the Critical Sociology of Education

Science.gov (United States)

Apple, Michael W.

2013-01-01

Stephen Ball's work has deservedly received a good deal of attention. In this article, I detail a number of tasks in which the critical sociologist of education--as a "public intellectual"--should engage. I then place Ball's work within these tasks and evaluate his contributions to them. In the process, I show that one of the…

Grid-connected to/from off-grid transference for micro-grid inverters

OpenAIRE

Heredero Peris, Daniel; Chillón Antón, Cristian; Pages Gimenez, Marc; Gross, Gabriel Igor; Montesinos Miracle, Daniel

2013-01-01

This paper compares two methods for controlling the on-line transference from connected to stand-alone mode and vice versa in converters for micro-grids. The first proposes a method where the converter changes from CSI (Current Source Inverter) in grid-connected mode to VSI (Voltage Source Inverter) in off-grid. In the second method, the inverter always works as a non-ideal voltage source, acting as VSI, using AC droop control strategy.

Bound on the estimation grid size for sparse reconstruction in direction of arrival estimation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Coutiño Minguez, M.A.; Pribic, R; Leus, G.J.T.

2016-01-01

A bound for sparse reconstruction involving both the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the estimation grid size is presented. The bound is illustrated for the case of a uniform linear array (ULA). By reducing the number of possible sparse vectors present in the feasible set of a constrained ℓ1-norm

CVD carbon powders modified by ball milling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazmierczak Tomasz

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Carbon powders produced using a plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD methods are an interesting subject of research. One of the most interesting methods of synthesizing these powders is using radio frequency plasma. This method, originally used in deposition of carbon films containing different sp2/sp3 ratios, also makes possible to produce carbon structures in the form of powder. Results of research related to the mechanical modification of these powders have been presented. The powders were modified using a planetary ball mill with varying parameters, such as milling speed, time, ball/powder mass ratio and additional liquids. Changes in morphology and particle sizes were measured using scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. Phase composition was analyzed using Raman spectroscopy. The influence of individual parameters on the modification outcome was estimated using statistical method. The research proved that the size of obtained powders is mostly influenced by the milling speed and the amount of balls. Powders tend to form conglomerates sized up to hundreds of micrometers. Additionally, it is possible to obtain nanopowders with the size around 100 nm. Furthermore, application of additional liquid, i.e. water in the process reduces the graphitization of the powder, which takes place during dry milling.

The GridSite Web/Grid security system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McNab, Andrew; Li Yibiao

2010-01-01

We present an overview of the current status of the GridSite toolkit, describing the security model for interactive and programmatic uses introduced in the last year. We discuss our experiences of implementing these internal changes and how they and previous rounds of improvements have been prompted by requirements from users and wider security trends in Grids (such as CSRF). Finally, we explain how these have improved the user experience of GridSite-based websites, and wider implications for portals and similar web/grid sites.

Geometric modeling in the problem of ball bearing accuracy

Science.gov (United States)

Glukhov, V. I.; Pushkarev, V. V.; Khomchenko, V. G.

2017-06-01

The manufacturing quality of ball bearings is an urgent problem for machine-building industry. The aim of the research is to improve the geometric specifications accuracy of bearings based on evidence-based systematic approach and the method of adequate size, location and form deviations modeling of the rings and assembled ball bearings. The present work addressed the problem of bearing geometric specifications identification and the study of these specifications. The deviation from symmetric planar of rings and bearings assembly and mounting width are among these specifications. A systematic approach to geometric specifications values and ball bearings tolerances normalization in coordinate systems will improve the quality of bearings by optimizing and minimizing the number of specifications. The introduction of systematic approach to the international standards on rolling bearings is a guarantee of a significant increase in accuracy of bearings and the quality of products where they are applied.

Validation of single ball rolling contact fatigue machine dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allison, Bryan [SKF Aeroengine, Falconer (United States)

2017-01-15

Single ball test machines are a common method for accelerated rolling contact fatigue testing of bearing materials. Historically, it has always been assumed that the force applied by the retaining bars is negligible, without any data to support this claim. In this study, strain gauges were placed on the retaining bars to determine the load experienced by the retaining bars. This value was then compared to the applied load. It was found that a load of approximately 4 N was transferred to the retainer by the test ball during steady state operation, when a 8385 N load was applied to the ball via the rings. A simulation of the system was also created and successfully predicted the expected loads with reasonable accuracy. This information, as well as the technique of strain gauging the retaining bars, may be useful in the development of similar testing machinery.

Identification of sources of tar balls deposited along the Goa coast, India, using fingerprinting techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suneel, V.; Vethamony, P.; Zakaria, M.P.; Naik, B.G.; Prasad, K.V.S.R.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► This is first fingerprinting study in India on identification of source of tar balls. ► Tar balls were formed from tanker-wash spills and they resemble floating tar ball. ► δ 13 C values of Bombay High crude oil and the present tar balls do not match. ► Compound specific stable carbon isotope analysis confirmed the source of tar balls. ► Source is confirmed as the South East Asian Crude Oil and not the Bombay High crude. -- Abstract: Deposition of tar balls along the coast of Goa, India is a common phenomenon during the southwest monsoon. Representative tar ball samples collected from various beaches of Goa and one Bombay High (BH) crude oil sample were subjected to fingerprint analysis based on diagnostic ratios of n-alkane, biomarkers of pentacyclic tri-terpanes and compound specific stable carbon isotope (δ 13 C) analysis to confirm the source. The results were compared with the published data of Middle East Crude Oil (MECO) and South East Asian Crude Oil (SEACO). The results revealed that the tar balls were from tanker-wash derived spills. The study also confirmed that the source is not the BH, but SEACO. The present study suggests that the biomarkers of alkanes and hopanes coupled with stable carbon isotope analysis act as a powerful tool for tracing the source of tar balls, particularly when the source specific biomarkers fail to distinguish the source

Current Grid operation and future role of the Grid

Science.gov (United States)

Smirnova, O.

2012-12-01

Grid-like technologies and approaches became an integral part of HEP experiments. Some other scientific communities also use similar technologies for data-intensive computations. The distinct feature of Grid computing is the ability to federate heterogeneous resources of different ownership into a seamless infrastructure, accessible via a single log-on. Like other infrastructures of similar nature, Grid functioning requires not only technologically sound basis, but also reliable operation procedures, monitoring and accounting. The two aspects, technological and operational, are closely related: weaker is the technology, more burden is on operations, and other way around. As of today, Grid technologies are still evolving: at CERN alone, every LHC experiment uses an own Grid-like system. This inevitably creates a heavy load on operations. Infrastructure maintenance, monitoring and incident response are done on several levels, from local system administrators to large international organisations, involving massive human effort worldwide. The necessity to commit substantial resources is one of the obstacles faced by smaller research communities when moving computing to the Grid. Moreover, most current Grid solutions were developed under significant influence of HEP use cases, and thus need additional effort to adapt them to other applications. Reluctance of many non-HEP researchers to use Grid negatively affects the outlook for national Grid organisations, which strive to provide multi-science services. We started from the situation where Grid organisations were fused with HEP laboratories and national HEP research programmes; we hope to move towards the world where Grid will ultimately reach the status of generic public computing and storage service provider and permanent national and international Grid infrastructures will be established. How far will we be able to advance along this path, depends on us. If no standardisation and convergence efforts will take place

Current Grid operation and future role of the Grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smirnova, O

2012-01-01

Grid-like technologies and approaches became an integral part of HEP experiments. Some other scientific communities also use similar technologies for data-intensive computations. The distinct feature of Grid computing is the ability to federate heterogeneous resources of different ownership into a seamless infrastructure, accessible via a single log-on. Like other infrastructures of similar nature, Grid functioning requires not only technologically sound basis, but also reliable operation procedures, monitoring and accounting. The two aspects, technological and operational, are closely related: weaker is the technology, more burden is on operations, and other way around. As of today, Grid technologies are still evolving: at CERN alone, every LHC experiment uses an own Grid-like system. This inevitably creates a heavy load on operations. Infrastructure maintenance, monitoring and incident response are done on several levels, from local system administrators to large international organisations, involving massive human effort worldwide. The necessity to commit substantial resources is one of the obstacles faced by smaller research communities when moving computing to the Grid. Moreover, most current Grid solutions were developed under significant influence of HEP use cases, and thus need additional effort to adapt them to other applications. Reluctance of many non-HEP researchers to use Grid negatively affects the outlook for national Grid organisations, which strive to provide multi-science services. We started from the situation where Grid organisations were fused with HEP laboratories and national HEP research programmes; we hope to move towards the world where Grid will ultimately reach the status of generic public computing and storage service provider and permanent national and international Grid infrastructures will be established. How far will we be able to advance along this path, depends on us. If no standardisation and convergence efforts will take place

Decay rates of Gaussian-type I-balls and Bose-enhancement effects in 3+1 dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawasaki, Masahiro; Yamada, Masaki

2014-01-01

I-balls/oscillons are long-lived spatially localized lumps of a scalar field which may be formed after inflation. In the scalar field theory with monomial potential nearly and shallower than quadratic, which is motivated by chaotic inflationary models and supersymmetric theories, the scalar field configuration of I-balls is approximately Gaussian. If the I-ball interacts with another scalar field, the I-ball eventually decays into radiation. Recently, it was pointed out that the decay rate of I-balls increases exponentially by the effects of Bose enhancement under some conditions and a non-perturbative method to compute the exponential growth rate has been derived. In this paper, we apply the method to the Gaussian-type I-ball in 3+1 dimensions assuming spherical symmetry, and calculate the partial decay rates into partial waves, labelled by the angular momentum of daughter particles. We reveal the conditions that the I-ball decays exponentially, which are found to depend on the mass and angular momentum of daughter particles and also be affected by the quantum uncertainty in the momentum of daughter particles

KINEMATICS AND DYNAMICS OF BALLS WHILE BEING POLISHED BETWEEN MISALIGNED DISKS IN DRIVEN SEPARATOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. G. Schetnikovich

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The paper contains description of tool design which is used for rough polishing of balls made of brittle materials. This tool consists of top disk, which is fi-eely set on pouring bearing of the separator shaft, and a bottom disk with elastic coating. Theoretical investigations of ball kinematics have permitted to determine an angular velocity of the balls in the machining zone, value and direction oi slipping speed with respect to the tool.it has been determined that even change of the position of bail rotation instantaneous axis relative to the separator is reached at equality of angular velocities of the bottom disk and the separator. When the top disk is freely set slipping speed is equal for all the balls of the machined lot. When the top disk is stationary slipping speed is significantly increasing however its value becomes variable and depends on ball distance to separator rotation axis.The presented equations of ball dynamics in the machining zone have made it possible to detennine a cohesive force with the bottom disk, frictional forces against the top disk and separator. Recommendations on selection of machining modes at initial and final stages of ball polishing are given in the paper.

AM06-25-004 3-D analysis of sports ball flight trajectory by high speed camera

OpenAIRE

溝田, 武人; 小倉, 聡樹; Taketo, MIZOTA; Satoki, OGURA; 福岡工大; 福岡工大:(現)(株)日立建機アルバ; FIT; FIT

2006-01-01

Outdoor experiments of valley ball and soccer ball free fall are conducted at Aso choyo big bridge. High speed camera captured these 3-D trajectories of ball fall process. Image processing of these pictures and Newton's equation of motion were available to clarify unsteady lift C_L and side force C_S. Strouhal number concerning of these sports balls, which are estimated by the unsteady air force, implies that the wavy motion of the balls are a kind of flutter phenomena by wake perturbation an...

A study on improvement of analytical prediction model for spacer grid pressure loss coefficients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, Jonh Seon

2002-02-01

Nuclear fuel assemblies used in the nuclear power plants consist of the nuclear fuel rods, the control rod guide tubes, an instrument guide tube, spacer grids,a bottom nozzle, a top nozzle. The spacer grid is the most important component of the fuel assembly components for thermal hydraulic and mechanical design and analyses. The spacer grids fixed with the guide tubes support the fuel rods and have the very important role to activate thermal energy transfer by the coolant mixing caused to the turbulent flow and crossflow in the subchannels. In this paper, the analytical spacer grid pressure loss prediction model has been studied and improved by considering the test section wall to spacer grid gap pressure loss independently and applying the appropriate friction drag coefficient to predict pressure loss more accurately at the low Reynolds number region. The improved analytical model has been verified based on the hydraulic pressure drop test results for the spacer grids of three types with 5x5, 16x16, 17x17 arrays, respectively. The pressure loss coefficients predicted by the improved analytical model are coincident with those test results within ±12%. This result shows that the improved analytical model can be used for research and design change of the nuclear fuel assembly

A micro-CL system and its applications

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Zenghui; Yuan, Lulu; Liu, Baodong; Wei, Cunfeng; Sun, Cuili; Yin, Pengfei; Wei, Long

2017-11-01

The computed laminography (CL) method is preferable to computed tomography for the non-destructive testing of plate-like objects. A micro-CL system is developed for three-dimensional imaging of plate-like objects. The details of the micro-CL system are described, including the system architecture, scanning modes, and reconstruction algorithm. The experiment results of plate-like fossils, insulated gate bipolar translator module, ball grid array packaging, and printed circuit board are also presented to demonstrate micro-CL's ability for 3D imaging of flat specimens and universal applicability in various fields.

Birth ball or heat therapy? A randomized controlled trial to compare the effectiveness of birth ball usage with sacrum-perineal heat therapy in labor pain management.

Science.gov (United States)

Taavoni, Simin; Sheikhan, Fatemeh; Abdolahian, Somayeh; Ghavi, Fatemeh

2016-08-01

Labor pain and its management is a major concern for childbearing women, their families and health care providers. This study aimed to investigate the effects of two non-pharmacological methods such as birth ball and heat therapy on labor pain relief. This randomized control trial was undertaken on 90 primiparous women aged 18-35 years old who were randomly assigned to two intervention (birth ball and heat) and control groups. The pain score was recorded by using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) before the intervention and every 30 min in three groups until cervical dilatation reached 8 cm. The mean pain severity score in the heat therapy group was less than that of in control group at 60 and 90 min after intervention (p pain scores in the birth ball group after all three investigated times in comparison to control group. Both heat therapy and birth ball can use as inexpensive complementary and low risk treatment for labor pain. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Golf Balls, Boomerangs and Asteroids The Impact of Missiles on Society

CERN Document Server

Kaye, Brian H

1996-01-01

Exciting reading for anyone with a curious mind!. 'Walking one day by a golf course in Wisconsin, I was startled to hear a sharp bang as a golf ball narrowly missed my head and hit a tree. My companion cheerfully remarked, 'That could have killed you, you know.' I picked up the innocent looking little white ball and looked at it with new respect.'. Prompted by this perilous experience, Brian Kaye has written a delightful and informative book on the design and behavior of different kinds of missiles from golf balls, arrows, and slingshots to comets and rockets to outer space. You'll learn about

OGC and Grid Interoperability in enviroGRIDS Project

Science.gov (United States)

Gorgan, Dorian; Rodila, Denisa; Bacu, Victor; Giuliani, Gregory; Ray, Nicolas

2010-05-01

EnviroGRIDS (Black Sea Catchment Observation and Assessment System supporting Sustainable Development) [1] is a 4-years FP7 Project aiming to address the subjects of ecologically unsustainable development and inadequate resource management. The project develops a Spatial Data Infrastructure of the Black Sea Catchment region. The geospatial technologies offer very specialized functionality for Earth Science oriented applications as well as the Grid oriented technology that is able to support distributed and parallel processing. One challenge of the enviroGRIDS project is the interoperability between geospatial and Grid infrastructures by providing the basic and the extended features of the both technologies. The geospatial interoperability technology has been promoted as a way of dealing with large volumes of geospatial data in distributed environments through the development of interoperable Web service specifications proposed by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), with applications spread across multiple fields but especially in Earth observation research. Due to the huge volumes of data available in the geospatial domain and the additional introduced issues (data management, secure data transfer, data distribution and data computation), the need for an infrastructure capable to manage all those problems becomes an important aspect. The Grid promotes and facilitates the secure interoperations of geospatial heterogeneous distributed data within a distributed environment, the creation and management of large distributed computational jobs and assures a security level for communication and transfer of messages based on certificates. This presentation analysis and discusses the most significant use cases for enabling the OGC Web services interoperability with the Grid environment and focuses on the description and implementation of the most promising one. In these use cases we give a special attention to issues such as: the relations between computational grid and

Estimating distribution of hidden objects with drones: from tennis balls to manatees.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julien Martin

Full Text Available Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV, or drones, have been used widely in military applications, but more recently civilian applications have emerged (e.g., wildlife population monitoring, traffic monitoring, law enforcement, oil and gas pipeline threat detection. UAV can have several advantages over manned aircraft for wildlife surveys, including reduced ecological footprint, increased safety, and the ability to collect high-resolution geo-referenced imagery that can document the presence of species without the use of a human observer. We illustrate how geo-referenced data collected with UAV technology in combination with recently developed statistical models can improve our ability to estimate the distribution of organisms. To demonstrate the efficacy of this methodology, we conducted an experiment in which tennis balls were used as surrogates of organisms to be surveyed. We used a UAV to collect images of an experimental field with a known number of tennis balls, each of which had a certain probability of being hidden. We then applied spatially explicit occupancy models to estimate the number of balls and created precise distribution maps. We conducted three consecutive surveys over the experimental field and estimated the total number of balls to be 328 (95%CI: 312, 348. The true number was 329 balls, but simple counts based on the UAV pictures would have led to a total maximum count of 284. The distribution of the balls in the field followed a simulated environmental gradient. We also were able to accurately estimate the relationship between the gradient and the distribution of balls. Our experiment demonstrates how this technology can be used to create precise distribution maps in which discrete regions of the study area are assigned a probability of presence of an object. Finally, we discuss the applicability and relevance of this experimental study to the case study of Florida manatee distribution at power plants.

Estimating distribution of hidden objects with drones: from tennis balls to manatees.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Julien; Edwards, Holly H; Burgess, Matthew A; Percival, H Franklin; Fagan, Daniel E; Gardner, Beth E; Ortega-Ortiz, Joel G; Ifju, Peter G; Evers, Brandon S; Rambo, Thomas J

2012-01-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones, have been used widely in military applications, but more recently civilian applications have emerged (e.g., wildlife population monitoring, traffic monitoring, law enforcement, oil and gas pipeline threat detection). UAV can have several advantages over manned aircraft for wildlife surveys, including reduced ecological footprint, increased safety, and the ability to collect high-resolution geo-referenced imagery that can document the presence of species without the use of a human observer. We illustrate how geo-referenced data collected with UAV technology in combination with recently developed statistical models can improve our ability to estimate the distribution of organisms. To demonstrate the efficacy of this methodology, we conducted an experiment in which tennis balls were used as surrogates of organisms to be surveyed. We used a UAV to collect images of an experimental field with a known number of tennis balls, each of which had a certain probability of being hidden. We then applied spatially explicit occupancy models to estimate the number of balls and created precise distribution maps. We conducted three consecutive surveys over the experimental field and estimated the total number of balls to be 328 (95%CI: 312, 348). The true number was 329 balls, but simple counts based on the UAV pictures would have led to a total maximum count of 284. The distribution of the balls in the field followed a simulated environmental gradient. We also were able to accurately estimate the relationship between the gradient and the distribution of balls. Our experiment demonstrates how this technology can be used to create precise distribution maps in which discrete regions of the study area are assigned a probability of presence of an object. Finally, we discuss the applicability and relevance of this experimental study to the case study of Florida manatee distribution at power plants.

Comparative Performance and Model Agreement of Three Common Photovoltaic Array Configurations.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyd, Matthew T

2018-02-01

Three grid-connected monocrystalline silicon arrays on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) campus in Gaithersburg, MD have been instrumented and monitored for 1 yr, with only minimal gaps in the data sets. These arrays range from 73 kW to 271 kW, and all use the same module, but have different tilts, orientations, and configurations. One array is installed facing east and west over a parking lot, one in an open field, and one on a flat roof. Various measured relationships and calculated standard metrics have been used to compare the relative performance of these arrays in their different configurations. Comprehensive performance models have also been created in the modeling software pvsyst for each array, and its predictions using measured on-site weather data are compared to the arrays' measured outputs. The comparisons show that all three arrays typically have monthly performance ratios (PRs) above 0.75, but differ significantly in their relative output, strongly correlating to their operating temperature and to a lesser extent their orientation. The model predictions are within 5% of the monthly delivered energy values except during the winter months, when there was intermittent snow on the arrays, and during maintenance and other outages.

Self-dispersed crumpled graphene balls in oil for friction and wear reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Dou, Xuan; Koltonow, Andrew R; He, Xingliang; Jang, Hee Dong; Wang, Qian; Chung, Yip-Wah; Huang, Jiaxing

2016-02-09

Ultrafine particles are often used as lubricant additives because they are capable of entering tribological contacts to reduce friction and protect surfaces from wear. They tend to be more stable than molecular additives under high thermal and mechanical stresses during rubbing. It is highly desirable for these particles to remain well dispersed in oil without relying on molecular ligands. Borrowing from the analogy that pieces of paper that are crumpled do not readily stick to each other (unlike flat sheets), we expect that ultrafine particles resembling miniaturized crumpled paper balls should self-disperse in oil and could act like nanoscale ball bearings to reduce friction and wear. Here we report the use of crumpled graphene balls as a high-performance additive that can significantly improve the lubrication properties of polyalphaolefin base oil. The tribological performance of crumpled graphene balls is only weakly dependent on their concentration in oil and readily exceeds that of other carbon additives such as graphite, reduced graphene oxide, and carbon black. Notably, polyalphaolefin base oil with only 0.01-0.1 wt % of crumpled graphene balls outperforms a fully formulated commercial lubricant in terms of friction and wear reduction.

Bouncing Ball with a Uniformly Varying Velocity in a Metronome Synchronization Task.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yingyu; Gu, Li; Yang, Junkai; Wu, Xiang

2017-09-21

Sensorimotor synchronization (SMS), a fundamental human ability to coordinate movements with external rhythms, has long been thought to be modality specific. In the canonical metronome synchronization task that requires tapping a finger along with an isochronous sequence, a well-established finding is that synchronization is much more stable to an auditory sequence consisting of auditory tones than to a visual sequence consisting of visual flashes. However, recent studies have shown that periodically moving visual stimuli can substantially improve synchronization compared with visual flashes. In particular, synchronization of a visual bouncing ball that has a uniformly varying velocity was found to be not less stable than synchronization of auditory tones. Here, the current protocol describes the application of the bouncing ball with a uniformly varying velocity in a metronome synchronization task. The usage of the bouncing ball in sequences with different inter-onset intervals (IOI) is included. The representative results illustrate synchronization performance of the bouncing ball, as compared with the performances of auditory tones and visual flashes. Given its comparable synchronization performance to that of auditory tones, the bouncing ball is of particular importance for addressing the current research topic of whether modality-specific mechanisms underlay SMS.

Computer Drawing Method for Operating Characteristic Curve of PV Power Plant Array Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Jianbin

2018-02-01

According to the engineering design of large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power stations and the research and development of many simulation and analysis systems, it is necessary to draw a good computer graphics of the operating characteristic curves of photovoltaic array elements and to propose a good segmentation non-linear interpolation algorithm. In the calculation method, Component performance parameters as the main design basis, the computer can get 5 PV module performances. At the same time, combined with the PV array series and parallel connection, the computer drawing of the performance curve of the PV array unit can be realized. At the same time, the specific data onto the module of PV development software can be calculated, and the good operation of PV array unit can be improved on practical application.

Monte Carlo simulation of ion-neutral charge exchange collisions and grid erosion in an ion thruster

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Xiaohang; Ruyten, Wilhelmus M.; Keefer, Dennis

1991-01-01

A combined particle-in-cell (PIC)/Monte Carlo simulation model has been developed in which the PIC method is used to simulate the charge exchange collisions. It is noted that a number of features were reproduced correctly by this code, but that its assumption of two-dimensional axisymmetry for a single set of grid apertures precluded the reproduction of the most characteristic feature of actual test data; namely, the concentrated grid erosion at the geometric center of the hexagonal aperture array. The first results of a three-dimensional code, which takes into account the hexagonal symmetry of the grid, are presented. It is shown that, with this code, the experimentally observed erosion patterns are reproduced correctly, demonstrating explicitly the concentration of sputtering between apertures.

Ferromagnetic behavior of nanocrystalline Cu–Mn alloy prepared by ball milling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mondal, B.N., E-mail: bholanath_mondal@yahoo.co.in [Department of Central Scientific Services, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700 032 (India); Sardar, G. [Department of Zoology, Baruipur College, South 24 parganas 743 610 (India); Nath, D.N. [Department of Physical Chemistry, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700 032 (India); Chattopadhyay, P.P. [Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, Howrah 711 103 (India)

2014-12-15

50Cu–50Mn (wt%) alloy was produced by ball milling. The milling was continued up to 30 h followed by isothermal annealing over a four interval of temperature from 350 to 650 °C held for 1 h. Crystallite size, lattice strain, lattice parameter were determined by Rietveld refinement structure analysis of X-ray diffraction data. The amount of dissolved/precipitated Mn (wt%) after ball milling/milling followed by annealing was calculated by quantative phase analysis (QPA). The increase of coercivity could be attributed to the introduction of lattice strain and reduction of crystallite size as a function of milling time. Electron paramagnetic resonance and superconducting quantum interface device analysis indicate that soft ferromagnetic behavior has been achieved by ball milled and annealed Cu–Mn alloy. The maximum coercivity value of Cu–Mn alloy obtained after annealing at 350 °C for 1 h is 277 Oe. - Highlights: • A small amount of Mn has dissolved in Cu after ball milling for 30 h. • Coercivity of the Cu–Mn alloy has increased with an increase in milling time. • Substantial MnO has formed after annealing at 650 °C for 1 h. • The ball milled and annealed alloy have revealed soft ferromagnetic behavior. • The alloy annealed at 350 °C shows the maximum value of coercivity.

Reflections on a Disco Ball

Science.gov (United States)

Ribeiro, Jair Lúcio Prados

2016-01-01

A disco ball is a spherical object covered with small plane mirrors. When light reflects on these mirrors, it is scattered in many directions, producing a novel effect. The mirror globe is usually set to rotate, creating a profusion of moving spots (Fig. 1). In this article, we present a geometrical description of the movement of these spots and…

Dual PD Control Regulation with Nonlinear Compensation for a Ball and Plate System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Galvan-Colmenares

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The normal proportional derivative (PD control is modified to a new dual form for the regulation of a ball and plate system. First, to analyze this controller, a novel complete nonlinear model of the ball and plate system is obtained. Second, an asymptotic stable dual PD control with a nonlinear compensation is developed. Finally, the experimental results of ball and plate system are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

Study on the luminous characteristics of a natural ball lightning

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hao; Yuan, Ping; Cen, Jianyong; Liu, Guorong

2018-02-01

According to the optical images of the whole process of a natural ball lightning recorded by two slit-less spectrographs in the Qinghai plateau of China, the simulated observation experiment on the luminous intensity of the spherical light source was carried out. The luminous intensity and the optical power of the natural ball lightning in the wavelength range of 400-690 nm were estimated based on the experimental data and the Lambert-Beer Law. The results show that the maximum luminous intensity was about 1.24 × 105 cd in the initial stage of the natural ball lightning, and the maximum luminous intensity and the maximum optical power in most time of its life were about 5.9 × 104 cd and 4.2 × 103 W, respectively.

caGrid 1.0: a Grid enterprise architecture for cancer research.

Science.gov (United States)

Oster, Scott; Langella, Stephen; Hastings, Shannon; Ervin, David; Madduri, Ravi; Kurc, Tahsin; Siebenlist, Frank; Covitz, Peter; Shanbhag, Krishnakant; Foster, Ian; Saltz, Joel

2007-10-11

caGrid is the core Grid architecture of the NCI-sponsored cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG) program. The current release, caGrid version 1.0, is developed as the production Grid software infrastructure of caBIG. Based on feedback from adopters of the previous version (caGrid 0.5), it has been significantly enhanced with new features and improvements to existing components. This paper presents an overview of caGrid 1.0, its main components, and enhancements over caGrid 0.5.

Push plate, mounting assembly, circuit board, and method of assembling thereof for ball grid array packages

Science.gov (United States)

Vaughn, Mark R.; Montague, Stephen

2017-05-16

A push plate that includes springs in the form of cantilever flexures and an inspection window is disclosed. The push plate provides a known, uniform, down force and minimal torque to a package to be tested. The cantilevers have a known, calculable down force producing stiffness. The window provides for viewing of the package during testing.

An experiment on a ball-lightning model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ignatovich, F.V.; Ignatovich, V.K.

2010-01-01

We discuss total internal reflection (TIR) from an interface between glass and gainy gaseous media and propose an experiment for strong light amplification related to investigation of a ball-lightning model

A controlled study on batted ball speed and available pitcher reaction time in slowpitch softball

Science.gov (United States)

McDowell, M; Ciocco, M

2005-01-01

Objectives: To investigate safety risks in slowpitch softball by conducting laboratory and experimental studies on the performance of high tech softball bats with polyurethane softballs. To compare the results with the recommended safety standards. Methods: ASTM standard compression testing of seven softball models was conducted. Using these seven softball models, bat/ball impact testing was performed using seven adult male softball players and six high tech softball bat models to determine mean batted ball speeds. Over 500 bat/ball impact measurements were recorded and analysed. Available pitcher reaction time was calculated from the mean batted ball speed measurements. Results: According to the United States Specialty Sports Association and the Amateur Softball Association, the maximum initial batted ball speed should be 137.2 km/h, which corresponds to a minimum pitcher reaction time of 0.420 second. These experiments produced mean batted ball speeds of 134.0–159.7 km/h, which correspond to available pitcher reaction times of 0.409–0.361 second. Conclusion: The use of high tech softball bats with polyurethane softballs can result in batted ball speeds that exceed the recommended safety limits, which correspond to decreased available pitcher reaction times. PMID:15793092

Study of the dynamic properties and effects of temperature using a spring model for the bouncing ball

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wadhwa, Ajay

2013-01-01

We studied the motion of a bouncing ball by representing it through an equivalent mass–spring system executing damped harmonic oscillations. We represented the elasticity of the system through the spring constant ‘k’ and the viscous damping effect, causing loss of energy, through damping constant ‘c’. By including these two factors we formed a differential equation for the equivalent mass–spring system of the bouncing ball. This equation was then solved to study the elastic and dynamic properties of its motion by expressing them in terms of experimentally measurable physical quantities such as contact time, coefficient of restitution, etc. We used our analysis for different types of ball material: rubber (lawn-tennis ball, super ball, soccer ball and squash ball) and plastic (table-tennis ball) at room temperature. Since the effect of temperature on the bounce of a squash ball is significant, we studied the temperature dependence of its elastic properties. The experiments were performed using audio and surface-temperature sensors interfaced with a computer through a USB port. The work presented here is suitable for undergraduate laboratories. It particularly emphasizes the use of computer interfacing for conducting conventional physics experiments. (paper)

Radar speed gun true velocity measurements of sports-balls in flight: application to tennis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, Garry; Robinson, Ian

2016-01-01

Spectators of ball-games often seem to be fascinated by the speed of delivery of the ball. They appear to be less interested in or even oblivious to the mechanism and accuracy of the measurement or where in the flight path of the ball the measurement is actually made. Radar speed guns using the Doppler effect are often employed for such speed measurements. It is well known that such guns virtually always measure the line-of-sight or radial velocity of the ball and as such will return a reading less than or equal to the true speed of the ball. In this paper, using only basic physics principles we investigate such measurements, in particular those associated with the service stroke in tennis. For the service trajectories employed here, a single radar gun located in line with the centre-line of the court in fact under-estimates the speed of a wide serve by about 3.4% at the point of delivery, and by about 14.3% on impact with the court. However, we demonstrate that both the magnitude and direction of the true velocity of the ball throughout its entire flight path may be obtained, at least in principle, by the use of four suitably placed radar speed guns. These four guns must be able to measure the ‘range’ to the ball, enabling its position in flight to be determined, and three of them must be able to measure the radial velocity of the ball. Restrictions on the locations of the speed guns are discussed. Such restrictions are quite liberal, although there are certain configurations of the radar gun positions which cannot be used. Importantly, with the one proviso that no speed gun can be directly in the path of the ball (not only for the obvious reasons), we find that if the speed of the ball can be determined for one point in the trajectory, it can also be determined for all points. The accuracy of the range and radial velocity measurements required to give meaningful results for the true velocity are also briefly discussed. It is found that the accuracy required

Comparison of exit time moment spectra for extrinsic metric balls

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hurtado, Ana; Markvorsen, Steen; Palmer, Vicente

2012-01-01

We prove explicit upper and lower bounds for the $L^1$-moment spectra for the Brownian motion exit time from extrinsic metric balls of submanifolds $P^m$ in ambient Riemannian spaces $N^n$. We assume that $P$ and $N$ both have controlled radial curvatures (mean curvature and sectional curvature...... obtain new intrinsic comparison results for the exit time spectra for metric balls in the ambient manifolds $N^n$ themselves....

Review of the dynamic behaviour of sports balls during normal and oblique impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Haron, Muhammad Adli; Jailani, Azrol; Abdullah, Nik Ahmad Faris Nik; Ismail, Rafis Suizwan; Rahim, Shayfull Zamree Abd; Ghazali, Mohd Fathullah

2017-09-01

In this paper are review of impact experiment to study the dynamic behaviour of sports ball during oblique and normal impacts. In previous studies, the investigation was done on the dynamic behaviour of a sports ball during oblique and normal impacts from experimental, numerical, and theoretical viewpoints. The experimental results are analysed and compared with the theories, in order to understand the dynamics behaviours based on the phenomenological occurrence. Throughout the experimental studies previously, there are results of dynamics behaviours examined by many researchers such as the coefficient of restitution, tangential coefficient, local deformation, dynamic impact force, contact time, angle of impact (inbound and rebound), spin rate of the ball, ball stiffness and damping coefficient which dependable of the initial or impact velocity.

On the dynamics of ball bearings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wensing, J.A.

1998-01-01

This investigation on the dynamic behaviour of ball bearings was motivated by the demand for silent bearings in noise-sensitive applications, especially in the household appliance and automotive industry. The present investigations are intended to provide a clear understanding of the role of the

Improvement of Data Acquisition of the BRTR (PS-43) Seismic Array

Science.gov (United States)

Ozel, N. M.; Kocak, S.; Semin, K. U.; Necmioglu, O.; Destici, T. C.; Teoman, U.

2010-05-01

Bogazici University, Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute(KOERI) is currently operating the BRTR( PS-43) seismic arrays located in the vicinity of Ankara and town Keskin, providing real-time data to IDC. PS-43 is composed of two sub-arrays, the medium-period array with a ~45km radius located in Ankara and the short-period array with ~3 km radius located in Keskin. In 2009, data availabilty of the BRTR is exceeded %98 that value is the requirment of IDC. Substantial contribution to obtain this availabiliy is implementing the improvements that mainly replacement of the grid type parabolic antennas with the heavy-duty dish antennas at necessary sites called the repeater sites RE-BRTR (CCF), RE-PS43 (Mt. Elmadag), CF-PS43 (Central Recording Building) and all MP sites. Even this renewed system is at the tentative stage, communication status of the seismic arrays are solid and continuous. BRTR is expecting another improvement, June 2010, about the power system at Mt. Elmadag and the MP site BR237. Completion of this improvement will be stabilize of our current mission.

Biomechanical predictors of ball velocity during punt kicking in elite rugby league kickers

OpenAIRE

Sinclair, Jonathan Kenneth; Taylor, Paul John; Atkins, Stephen; Hobbs, Sarah Jane

2016-01-01

Punt kicking is integral to the attacking and defensive elements of rugby league and the ability to kick the ball with high\\ud velocity is desirable. This study aimed to identify important technical aspects of kicking linked to the generation of ball\\ud velocity. Maximal punt kicks were obtained from six elite rugby league kickers using a 10-camera motion capture system.\\ud Three-dimensional kinematics of the lower extremities was obtained. Regression analysis with ball velocity as criterion\\...

Preparation of tungsten-iron carbide by ball milling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, G.M.; Campbell, S.J.; Calka, A.; Kaczmarek, W.A.

1996-01-01

Several sets of elemental powder mixtures of Fe-W-C (W 46 Fe 46 C 8 , W 60 Fe 20 C 20 and W 34 Fe 33 C 33 ) were ball milled using Uni-Ball mill for periods of up to 550 h in vacuum with a ball - to - powder ratio of about 35:1. Depending on the milling time, the main component of the as-milled materials was found to be solid solutions of Fe-W-C or Fe-C. Ternary phase W 3 Fe 3 C was obtained on annealing the as-milled materials at about 700 deg C. This product was then found to transfer to (FeW) 6 C on heat treatment at about 800 deg C. The resultant products of the annealing processes were found to depend not only on the annealing temperature, but also the starting composition, especially the initial carbon concentration. Detailed information on the structural and phase evolution during thermal treatment as measured using x-ray diffraction, Moessbauer spectroscopy and thermal analysis is presented. Special interest is focused on the competition for formation in this system between the Fe-C, W-Fe and W-C phases

Dark matter gravitinos and baryons via Q-ball decay in the gauge-mediated MSSM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doddato, Francesca; McDonald, John

2013-01-01

We show that late Q-ball decay in the MSSM with gauge-mediated SUSY breaking can provide a natural source of non-thermal NLSPs which subsequently decay to gravitino dark matter without violating nucleosynthesis constraints. To show this, we perform a global analysis of Q-ball formation and decay in Affleck-Dine baryogenesis for a d = 6 (u c d c d c ) 2 flat direction of the gauge-mediated MSSM. A general phenomenological potential for the flat-direction is studied and the Q-ball decay properties are obtained as a function of its parameters. The corresponding gravitino mass necessary to account for dark matter is then determined for the case of stau NLSPs. The decay temperature depends on the charge of the Q-balls, which is determined by the fragmentation of the AD condensate. Different fragmentation scenarios are considered, and the final non-thermal NLSP density from Q-ball decay and NLSP annihilation is determined. Particular care is taken to establish that NLSPs from Q-ball decay become homogeneous and non-relativistic prior to annihilation. The gravitino mass necessary for dark matter is naturally consistent with the theoretical gravitino mass in the gauge-mediation model

CFD simulation of rotor aerodynamic performance when using additional surface structure array

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Bing; Kong, Deyi

2017-10-01

The present work analyses the aerodynamic performance of the rotor with additional surface structure array in an attempt to maximize its performance in hover flight. The unstructured grids and the Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes equations were used to calculate the performance of the prototype rotor and the rotor with additional surface structure array in the air. The computational fluid dynamics software FLUENT was used to simulate the thrust of the rotors. The results of the calculations are in reasonable agreement with experimental data, which shows that the calculation model used in this work is useful in simulating the performance of the rotor with additional surface structure array. With this theoretical calculation model, the thrusts of the rotors with arrays of surface structure in three different shapes were calculated. According to the simulation results and the experimental data, the rotor with triangle surface structure array has better aerodynamic performance than the other rotors. In contrast with the prototype rotor, the thrust of the rotor with triangle surface structure array increases by 5.2% at the operating rotating speed of 3000r/min, and the additional triangle surface structure array has almost no influence on the efficiency of the rotor.

Effect of tea polyphenols on microbiological and biochemical quality of Collichthys fish ball.

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Shumin; Li, Jianrong; Zhu, Junli; Lin, Yi; Fu, Linglin; Chen, Wei; Li, Xuepeng

2011-07-01

Tea polyphenols (TP), as the most active constituents of tea, are considered natural food additives. This study examined the preservative properties of TP for Collichthys fish ball in well storage. Vacuum-packed Collichthys fish balls were treated with 0, 0.1, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25, and 0.30 g kg(-1) TP and stored at 0 °C for 17 days. Microbiological results were obtained using a biochemical test, API system kit, and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Results confirmed that the dominant bacteria in Collichthys fish balls are the genera Serratia and Pseudomonas. Total viable counts dropped two orders of magnitude in Collichthys fish balls with 0.25 g kg(-1) TP compared with the control. The advantages of total volatile basic nitrogen value, 2-thiobarbituric acid value and texture value were clearly observed, whereas pH and whiteness value exhibited no significant decrease for the group treated with 0.25 g kg(-1) TP. More than 0.25 g kg(-1) TP added could retain excellent fish ball characteristics in terms of sensory assessment after 17 days. The shelf life of Collichthys fish balls supplemented with tea polyphenols can be prolonged for an additional 6 days in good condition at 0 °C storage. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Enhanced R200 with Frisch-Grid CZT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolotnikov, A. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

2017-12-01

The goal of this project is to demonstrate an engineering prototype of a gamma ray spectrometer that uses Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) in a configuration comprised of an array of position-sensitive virtual Frisch grid (PSVFG) detectors and show its capability to perform functions that would be useful to the IAEA. The detectors should achieve energy resolution of ~2% at 200 keV and <1% at > 662 keV, thereby outperforming all hand-held instruments currently in use other than cryogenically cooled germanium. BNL will make every effort to transfer the technology to an industrial partner so that robust, fieldable instruments can be manufactured.

Crystal Ball results on tau decays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowe, S.T.

1987-10-01

This report reviews measurements and upper limit determinations for a number of exclusive 1-prong tau decay modes using the Crystal Ball detector. These results are important input to the apparent discrepancy between the topological and sum-of-exclusive branching fractions in 1-prong tau decays

Gridded Species Distribution, Version 1: Global Amphibians Presence Grids

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Global Amphibians Presence Grids of the Gridded Species Distribution, Version 1 is a reclassified version of the original grids of amphibian species distribution...

Phase transition of Ni-Mn-Ga alloy powders prepared by vibration ball milling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian, B.; Chen, F.; Tong, Y.X.; Li, L.; Zheng, Y.F.; Liu, Y.; Li, Q.Z.

2011-01-01

Research highlights: → The vibration ball milling with a high milling energy introduces the atomic disorder and large lattice distortion in the alloy during milling and makes the formation of disordered fcc structure phase in the alloy. → The transition temperature and activation energy for disordered fcc → disordered bcc are ∼320 o C and 209 ± 8 kJ/mol, respectively. → The alloy powders annealed at 800 o C for 1 h show a one-stage martensitic transformation with quite lower latent heat compared to the bulk alloy. - Abstract: This study investigated the phase transformation of the flaky shaped Ni-Mn-Ga powder particles with thickness around 1 μm prepared by vibration ball milling and post-annealing. The SEM, XRD, DSC and ac magnetic susceptibility measurement techniques were used to characterize the Ni-Mn-Ga powders. The structural transition of Heusler → disordered fcc occurred in the powders prepared by vibration ball milling (high milling energy) for 4 h, which was different from the structural transition of Heusler → disordered fct of the powders fabricated by planetary ball milling (low milling energy) for 4 h. The two different structures after ball milling should be due to the larger lattice distortion occurred in the vibration ball milling process than in the planetary ball milling process. The structural transition of disordered fcc → disordered bcc took place at ∼320 o C during heating the as-milled Ni-Mn-Ga powders, which was attributed to the elimination of lattice distortion caused by ball milling. The activation energy for this transition was 209 ± 8 kJ/mol. The Ni-Mn-Ga powder annealed at 800 o C mainly contained Heusler austenite phase at room temperature and showed a low volume of martensitic transformation upon cooling. The inhibition of martensitic transformation might be attributed to the reduction of grain size in the annealed Ni-Mn-Ga particles.

Ball Bearing Stiffnesses- A New Approach Offering Analytical Expressions

Science.gov (United States)

Guay, Pascal; Frikha, Ahmed

2015-09-01

Space mechanisms use preloaded ball bearings in order to withstand the severe vibrations during launch.The launch strength requires the calculation of the bearing stiffness, but this calculation is complex. Nowadays, there is no analytical expression that gives the stiffness of a bearing. Stiffness is computed using an iterative algorithm such as Newton-Raphson, to solve the nonlinear system of equations.This paper aims at offering a simplified analytical approach, based on the assumption that the contact angle is constant. This approach gives analytical formulas of the stiffness of preloaded ball bearing.

Comparative Analysis of Inversors for Small PV Systems Grid Connected

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sidrach de Cardona, M.; Ramirez, L.

2001-01-01

The energy produced by a grid connected photovoltaic system is a function of weather conditions, mainly available radiation and temperature, photovoltaic array efficiency and inverter characteristics. The results obtained in experimental measurements with four small grid-connected inverters are described in this work. The main goal is to know the inverter performance in real operation conditions. For this purpose a 2 kW photovoltaic system has been used. These results allow us to know both the inverter efficiency and its output power quality. The following parameters have been evaluated as a function of output inverter power: efficiency, point of maximum power tracking, intensity and voltage waveform, total harmonic distortion and harmonic values to 31 order, frequency, power factor and reactive power. Other interesting parameters like stand-by energy consumption and daily losses due to the inverter threshold have also been analyzed. The results allow us to know the inverter features as a function of its real work point. In our comparative study it is possible to observe remarkable differences between the inverters; these results show how important it is to have a unique standard for inverters to photovoltaic grid-connected systems. (Author) 10 refs

Linearly convergent stochastic heavy ball method for minimizing generalization error

KAUST Repository

Loizou, Nicolas

2017-10-30

In this work we establish the first linear convergence result for the stochastic heavy ball method. The method performs SGD steps with a fixed stepsize, amended by a heavy ball momentum term. In the analysis, we focus on minimizing the expected loss and not on finite-sum minimization, which is typically a much harder problem. While in the analysis we constrain ourselves to quadratic loss, the overall objective is not necessarily strongly convex.

A Wireless and Batteryless Microsystem with Implantable Grid Electrode/3-Dimensional Probe Array for ECoG and Extracellular Neural Recording in Rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chih-Wei Chang

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the design and implementation of an integrated wireless microsystem platform that provides the possibility to support versatile implantable neural sensing devices in free laboratory rats. Inductive coupled coils with low dropout regulator design allows true long-term recording without limitation of battery capacity. A 16-channel analog front end chip located on the headstage is designed for high channel account neural signal conditioning with low current consumption and noise. Two types of implantable electrodes including grid electrode and 3D probe array are also presented for brain surface recording and 3D biopotential acquisition in the implanted target volume of tissue. The overall system consumes less than 20 mA with small form factor, 3.9 × 3.9 cm2 mainboard and 1.8 × 3.4 cm2 headstage, is packaged into a backpack for rats. Practical in vivo recordings including auditory response, brain resection tissue and PZT-induced seizures recording demonstrate the correct function of the proposed microsystem. Presented achievements addressed the aforementioned properties by combining MEMS neural sensors, low-power circuit designs and commercial chips into system-level integration.

A study on the noise characteristics of polymer ball bearings under various lubrication conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Dinç, S. K.; Temiz, V.; Kamburoǧlu, E.

2013-12-01

Polymer bearings are generally praised by the manufacturers for running silently. However such statements never go beyond qualitative assumptions. Therefore, studying polymer ball bearing noise would have been meaningful solely on the perspective of silent running machinery. On the other hand, the service life of a polymer ball bearing is unpredictable and there's no preventive maintenance practice that provides data regarding the condition of a polymer ball bearing. In this study, we assume that an investigation of their noise characteristics could also reveal clues concerning their performances. The main objective of this study is to determine the noise characteristics of polymer ball bearings lubricated with different lubricant greases of varying viscosity grades through experimental means. Sound pressure level measurements of SKF brand polymer bearings with polypropylene rings, polypropylene cage and glass balls were made with a 1/2 inch microphone in 1/3-octave bands, at frequencies up to 12.5 kHz, under various radial loads and rotational speeds. The bearings were mounted on a shaft driven by an AC motor with stepless speed control, adjustable between 0 - 1400 rpm. The ball bearings were running inside an acoustic chamber designed for the insulation of environmental noise and the noise of the motor at target frequencies. The resulting sound pressure level spectra were evaluated and the effects of the lubrication conditions on the noise of the ball bearing and possible diagnostic insight that could be gained through studying bearing noise characteristics were discussed.

Chimera Grid Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, William M.; Rogers, Stuart E.; Nash, Steven M.; Buning, Pieter G.; Meakin, Robert

2005-01-01

Chimera Grid Tools (CGT) is a software package for performing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis utilizing the Chimera-overset-grid method. For modeling flows with viscosity about geometrically complex bodies in relative motion, the Chimera-overset-grid method is among the most computationally cost-effective methods for obtaining accurate aerodynamic results. CGT contains a large collection of tools for generating overset grids, preparing inputs for computer programs that solve equations of flow on the grids, and post-processing of flow-solution data. The tools in CGT include grid editing tools, surface-grid-generation tools, volume-grid-generation tools, utility scripts, configuration scripts, and tools for post-processing (including generation of animated images of flows and calculating forces and moments exerted on affected bodies). One of the tools, denoted OVERGRID, is a graphical user interface (GUI) that serves to visualize the grids and flow solutions and provides central access to many other tools. The GUI facilitates the generation of grids for a new flow-field configuration. Scripts that follow the grid generation process can then be constructed to mostly automate grid generation for similar configurations. CGT is designed for use in conjunction with a computer-aided-design program that provides the geometry description of the bodies, and a flow-solver program.

Keep your eyes on the ball: smooth pursuit eye movements enhance prediction of visual motion.

Science.gov (United States)

Spering, Miriam; Schütz, Alexander C; Braun, Doris I; Gegenfurtner, Karl R

2011-04-01

Success of motor behavior often depends on the ability to predict the path of moving objects. Here we asked whether tracking a visual object with smooth pursuit eye movements helps to predict its motion direction. We developed a paradigm, "eye soccer," in which observers had to either track or fixate a visual target (ball) and judge whether it would have hit or missed a stationary vertical line segment (goal). Ball and goal were presented briefly for 100-500 ms and disappeared from the screen together before the perceptual judgment was prompted. In pursuit conditions, the ball moved towards the goal; in fixation conditions, the goal moved towards the stationary ball, resulting in similar retinal stimulation during pursuit and fixation. We also tested the condition in which the goal was fixated and the ball moved. Motion direction prediction was significantly better in pursuit than in fixation trials, regardless of whether ball or goal served as fixation target. In both fixation and pursuit trials, prediction performance was better when eye movements were accurate. Performance also increased with shorter ball-goal distance and longer presentation duration. A longer trajectory did not affect performance. During pursuit, an efference copy signal might provide additional motion information, leading to the advantage in motion prediction.

Processing of magnetically anisotropic MnBi particles by surfactant assisted ball milling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kanari, K. [Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki (Greece); Sarafidis, C., E-mail: hsara@physics.auth.gr [Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki (Greece); Gjoka, M.; Niarchos, D. [INN, NCSR Demokritos, Athens 15310 (Greece); Kalogirou, O. [Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki (Greece)

2017-03-15

MnBi particles are obtained from bulk MnBi using mechanochemical processing. The structure and magnetic properties of the MnBi particles are investigated by means of X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy and magnetometry. Surfactant assisted high energy ball milling results to the samples’ degradation even after one hour of milling. In the case of surfactant assisted low energy ball milling the increase of ball milling duration decreases the average particle size while the particles seem to be more separated. The saturation magnetization (M{sub s}) was found to decrease for large milling times beginning from 61 Am{sup 2}/kg, while the coercivity (μ{sub 0}H{sub c}) increases with the increase of ball milling duration up to 35 min where it reaches 1.62 T and thereafter it decreases. - Highlights: • Effect of surfactants in processing of MnBi. • Magnetization degradation due to air storage and due to processing. • Coercivity of 1.6 T in epoxy resin oriented material.

An asymmetric resonant coupling wireless power transmission link for Micro-Ball Endoscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Tianjia; Xie, Xiang; Li, Guolin; Gu, Yingke; Deng, Yangdong; Wang, Ziqiang; Wang, Zhihua

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the design and optimization of a wireless power transmission link targeting Micro-Ball Endoscopy applications. A novel asymmetric resonant coupling structure is proposed to deliver power to an endoscopic Micro-Ball system for image read-out after it is excreted. Such a technology enables many key medical applications with stringent requirements for small system volume and high power delivery efficiency. A prototyping power transmission sub-system of the Micro-Ball system was implemented. It consists of primary coil, middle resonant coil, and cube-like full-direction secondary receiving coils. Our experimental results proved that 200mW of power can be successfully delivered. Such a wireless power transmission capability could satisfy the requirements of the Micro-Ball based endoscopy application. The transmission efficiency is in the range of 41% (worst working condition) to 53% (best working condition). Comparing to conventional structures, Asymmetric Resonant Coupling Structure improves power efficiency by 13%.

Ball lightning: What nature is trying to tell the plasma research community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roth, J.R.

1993-01-01

Ball lightning has been frequently observed and chance observations of it have been extensively documented by polling observers, who constitute perhaps 5% of the adult US population. Ball lightning is not accessible to scientific analysis at the present time, because it cannot be reproduced in the laboratory under controlled conditions. It has been extensively observed in atmospheric air, usually in association with thunderstorms, and by untrained observers who were not disposed to make careful observations. Ball lightning has been observed to last as long a 90 seconds, and to have diameters from one centimeter to several meters. The energy density of a few lightning balls has been observed to be as high as 20,000 joules per cubic centimeter, well above the limit of chemical energy storage of, for example, TNT at 2,000 per cubic centimeter. This suggests magnetic energy storage in a plasma-related phenomenon, which should be of great theoretical and practical interest to the plasma research community

Using Balls of Different Sports To Model the Variation of Atomic Sizes

Science.gov (United States)

Pinto, Gabriel

1998-06-01

In this article, an analogy is described about the order of magnitude of the variation of atomic sizes that can be used for discussion in introductory chemistry classes. The order of magnitude of this variation, involving microscopic magnitudes, is difficult for students to imagine. For the most part, the students are very familiar with the world of sports. In any case for example, the teacher can make use of the wide, informative coverage given to the olympic games or similar events, where different sports are televised in a few days. The radii of official balls for seven well-known sports are given, and students must assign an atom to each ball by using tabulated single-bond, covalent radii and by assigning the smallest ball (i.e., corresponding to ping-pong) to the smallest atom (i.e., hydrogen). The balls can also be used to show how the ionic radii change upon ionization.

Grid: From EGEE to EGI and from INFN-Grid to IGI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giselli, A.; Mazzuccato, M.

2009-01-01

In the last fifteen years the approach of the computational Grid has changed the way to use computing resources. Grid computing has raised interest worldwide in academia, industry, and government with fast development cycles. Great efforts, huge funding and resources have been made available through national, regional and international initiatives aiming at providing Grid infrastructures, Grid core technologies, Grid middle ware and Grid applications. The Grid software layers reflect the architecture of the services developed so far by the most important European and international projects. In this paper Grid e-Infrastructure story is given, detailing European, Italian and international projects such as EGEE, INFN-Grid and NAREGI. In addition the sustainability issue in the long-term perspective is described providing plans by European and Italian communities with EGI and IGI.

From the grid to the smart grid, topologically

Science.gov (United States)

Pagani, Giuliano Andrea; Aiello, Marco

2016-05-01

In its more visionary acceptation, the smart grid is a model of energy management in which the users are engaged in producing energy as well as consuming it, while having information systems fully aware of the energy demand-response of the network and of dynamically varying prices. A natural question is then: to make the smart grid a reality will the distribution grid have to be upgraded? We assume a positive answer to the question and we consider the lower layers of medium and low voltage to be the most affected by the change. In our previous work, we analyzed samples of the Dutch distribution grid (Pagani and Aiello, 2011) and we considered possible evolutions of these using synthetic topologies modeled after studies of complex systems in other technological domains (Pagani and Aiello, 2014). In this paper, we take an extra important step by defining a methodology for evolving any existing physical power grid to a good smart grid model, thus laying the foundations for a decision support system for utilities and governmental organizations. In doing so, we consider several possible evolution strategies and apply them to the Dutch distribution grid. We show how increasing connectivity is beneficial in realizing more efficient and reliable networks. Our proposal is topological in nature, enhanced with economic considerations of the costs of such evolutions in terms of cabling expenses and economic benefits of evolving the grid.

Grid Generation Techniques Utilizing the Volume Grid Manipulator

Science.gov (United States)

Alter, Stephen J.

1998-01-01

This paper presents grid generation techniques available in the Volume Grid Manipulation (VGM) code. The VGM code is designed to manipulate existing line, surface and volume grids to improve the quality of the data. It embodies an easy to read rich language of commands that enables such alterations as topology changes, grid adaption and smoothing. Additionally, the VGM code can be used to construct simplified straight lines, splines, and conic sections which are common curves used in the generation and manipulation of points, lines, surfaces and volumes (i.e., grid data). These simple geometric curves are essential in the construction of domain discretizations for computational fluid dynamic simulations. By comparison to previously established methods of generating these curves interactively, the VGM code provides control of slope continuity and grid point-to-point stretchings as well as quick changes in the controlling parameters. The VGM code offers the capability to couple the generation of these geometries with an extensive manipulation methodology in a scripting language. The scripting language allows parametric studies of a vehicle geometry to be efficiently performed to evaluate favorable trends in the design process. As examples of the powerful capabilities of the VGM code, a wake flow field domain will be appended to an existing X33 Venturestar volume grid; negative volumes resulting from grid expansions to enable flow field capture on a simple geometry, will be corrected; and geometrical changes to a vehicle component of the X33 Venturestar will be shown.

A real-time surface inspection system for precision steel balls based on machine vision

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yi-Ji; Tsai, Jhy-Cherng; Hsu, Ya-Chen

2016-07-01

Precision steel balls are one of the most fundament components for motion and power transmission parts and they are widely used in industrial machinery and the automotive industry. As precision balls are crucial for the quality of these products, there is an urgent need to develop a fast and robust system for inspecting defects of precision steel balls. In this paper, a real-time system for inspecting surface defects of precision steel balls is developed based on machine vision. The developed system integrates a dual-lighting system, an unfolding mechanism and inspection algorithms for real-time signal processing and defect detection. The developed system is tested under feeding speeds of 4 pcs s-1 with a detection rate of 99.94% and an error rate of 0.10%. The minimum detectable surface flaw area is 0.01 mm2, which meets the requirement for inspecting ISO grade 100 precision steel balls.

A New Family of Multilevel Grid Connected Inverters Based on Packed U Cell Topology.

Science.gov (United States)

Pakdel, Majid; Jalilzadeh, Saeid

2017-09-29

In this paper a novel packed U cell (PUC) based multilevel grid connected inverter is proposed. Unlike the U cell arrangement which consists of two power switches and one capacitor, in the proposed converter topology a lower DC power supply from renewable energy resources such as photovoltaic arrays (PV) is used as a base power source. The proposed topology offers higher efficiency and lower cost using a small number of power switches and a lower DC power source which is supplied from renewable energy resources. Other capacitor voltages are extracted from the base lower DC power source using isolated DC-DC power converters. The operation principle of proposed transformerless multilevel grid connected inverter is analyzed theoretically. Operation of the proposed multilevel grid connected inverter is verified through simulation studies. An experimental prototype using STM32F407 discovery controller board is performed to verify the simulation results.

Research on Experiment of Islanding Protection Device of Grid-connected Photovoltaic System Based on RTDS

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Ning; Yang, Jia; Cheng, Zheng; Chen, Bo; Su, Yong Chun; Shu, Zhan; Zou, Jin

2017-06-01

Solar photovoltaic power generation is the power generation using solar cell module converting sunlight into DC electric energy. In the paper an equivalent model of solar photovoltaic power generation system is built in RTDS. The main circuit structure of the two-stage PV grid-connected system consists of the DC-DC, DC-AC circuit. The MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) control of the PV array is controlled by adjusting the duty ratio of the DC-DC circuit. The proposed control strategy of constant voltage/constant reactive power (V/Q) control is successfully implemented grid-connected control of the inverter when grid-connected operation. The closed-loop experiment of islanding protection device of photovoltaic power plant on RTDS, verifies the correctness of the simulation model, and the experimental verification can be applied to this type of device.

The Grid

CERN Document Server

Klotz, Wolf-Dieter

2005-01-01

Grid technology is widely emerging. Grid computing, most simply stated, is distributed computing taken to the next evolutionary level. The goal is to create the illusion of a simple, robust yet large and powerful self managing virtual computer out of a large collection of connected heterogeneous systems sharing various combinations of resources. This talk will give a short history how, out of lessons learned from the Internet, the vision of Grids was born. Then the extensible anatomy of a Grid architecture will be discussed. The talk will end by presenting a selection of major Grid projects in Europe and US and if time permits a short on-line demonstration.

Parallel grid population

Science.gov (United States)

Wald, Ingo; Ize, Santiago

2015-07-28

Parallel population of a grid with a plurality of objects using a plurality of processors. One example embodiment is a method for parallel population of a grid with a plurality of objects using a plurality of processors. The method includes a first act of dividing a grid into n distinct grid portions, where n is the number of processors available for populating the grid. The method also includes acts of dividing a plurality of objects into n distinct sets of objects, assigning a distinct set of objects to each processor such that each processor determines by which distinct grid portion(s) each object in its distinct set of objects is at least partially bounded, and assigning a distinct grid portion to each processor such that each processor populates its distinct grid portion with any objects that were previously determined to be at least partially bounded by its distinct grid portion.

The small displacement elastic solution to the ball-on-ring testing method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frandsen, Henrik Lund

2012-01-01

The ball-on-ring experiment is used for testing of the biaxial strength of ceramics. In this work the solution for the stress distribution and displacements of the disc specimen in the ball-on-ring experiment are determined on closed form. The solution comprises the displacement field and its...

Survival of Phytophthora ramorum in Rhododendron root balls and in rootless substrates

Science.gov (United States)

A. Vercauteren; M. Riedel; M. Maes; S. Werres; K. Heungens

2013-01-01

This study assesses the survival of Phytophthora ramorum in the root ball of Rhododendron container plants as well as in different rootless forest substrates and a horticultural potting medium. Following inoculation of the root balls, the aboveground plant parts stayed symptomless, whilst the pathogen could be recovered with a...

Evaluation of possible head injuries ensuing a cricket ball impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohotti, Damith; Fernando, P L N; Zaghloul, Amir

2018-05-01

The aim of this research is to study the behaviour of a human head during the event of an impact of a cricket ball. While many recent incidents were reported in relation to head injuries caused by the impact of cricket balls, there is no clear information available in the published literature about the possible threat levels and the protection level of the current protective equipment. This research investigates the effects of an impact of a cricket ball on a human head and the level of protection offered by the existing standard cricket helmet. An experimental program was carried out to measure the localised pressure caused by the impact of standard cricket balls. The balls were directed at a speed of 110 km/h on a 3D printed head model, with and without a standard cricket helmet. Numerical simulations were carried out using advanced finite element package LS-DYNA to validate the experimental results. The experimental and numerical results showed approximately a 60% reduction in the pressure on the head model when the helmet was used. Both frontal and side impact resulted in head acceleration values in the range of 225-250 g at a ball speed of 110 km/h. There was a 36% reduction observed in the peak acceleration of the brain when wearing a helmet. Furthermore, numerical simulations showed a 67% reduction in the force on the skull and a 95% reduction in the skull internal energy when introducing the helmet. (1) Upon impact, high localised pressure could cause concussion for a player without helmet. (2) When a helmet was used, the acceleration of the brain observed in the numerical results was at non-critical levels according to existing standards. (3) A significant increase in the threat levels was observed for a player without helmet, based on force, pressure, acceleration and energy criteria, which resulted in recommending the compulsory use of the cricket helmet. (4) Numerical results showed a good correlation with experimental results and hence, the

Monolithic millimeter-wave diode array beam controllers: Theory and experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Sjogren, L. B.; Liu, H.-X. L.; Wang, F.; Liu, T.; Wu, W.; Qin, X.-H.; Chung, E.; Domier, C. W.; Luhmann, N. C., Jr.; Maserjian, J.

1992-01-01

In the current work, multi-function beam control arrays have been fabricated and have successfully demonstrated amplitude control of transmitted beams in the W and D bands (75-170 GHz). While these arrays are designed to provide beam control under DC bias operation, new designs for high-speed electronic and optical control are under development. These arrays will fill a need for high-speed watt-level beam switches in pulsed reflectometer systems under development for magnetic fusion plasma diagnostics. A second experimental accomplishment of the current work is the demonstration in the 100-170 GHz (D band) frequency range of a new technique for the measurement of the transmission phase as well as amplitude. Transmission data can serve as a means to extract ('de-embed') the grid parameters; phase information provides more complete data to assist in this process. Additional functions of the array beam controller yet to be tested include electronically controlled steering and focusing of a reflected beam. These have application in the areas of millimeter-wave electronic scanning radar and reflectometry, respectively.

Caesium releases under the form of silicon micro-balls during the Fukushima-Daiichi accident. Information note

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

After having outlined that the most part (89 per cent) of radioactive cesium released in the atmosphere during the Fukushima accident was made under the form of silicon micro-balls which were more irradiating than other aerosols marked by cesium radioactive isotopes, this note first discusses whether these silicon micro-balls containing radioactive cesium were resulting from a specific phase of atmospheric release. It discusses the nature of these micro-balls, and discusses whether it is possible to quantitatively assess the contribution of these micro-balls to global releases and deposits. It discusses how these micro-balls could have formed, whether their formation can be associated with a specific phase of reactor degradation or with the degradation of a specific reactor. It discusses whether a specific behaviour of these micro-balls can be expected in the environment, and their possible impacts on radiological consequences

The MicroGrid: A Scientific Tool for Modeling Computational Grids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H.J. Song

2000-01-01

Full Text Available The complexity and dynamic nature of the Internet (and the emerging Computational Grid demand that middleware and applications adapt to the changes in configuration and availability of resources. However, to the best of our knowledge there are no simulation tools which support systematic exploration of dynamic Grid software (or Grid resource behavior. We describe our vision and initial efforts to build tools to meet these needs. Our MicroGrid simulation tools enable Globus applications to be run in arbitrary virtual grid resource environments, enabling broad experimentation. We describe the design of these tools, and their validation on micro-benchmarks, the NAS parallel benchmarks, and an entire Grid application. These validation experiments show that the MicroGrid can match actual experiments within a few percent (2% to 4%.

A Case of Lung Lesions Induced by a soccer Ball

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masaaki Takemoto

2013-01-01

Full Text Available An 18-year-old youth soccer forward received a direct hit from a kicked soccer ball on the anterior right chest when the goal keeper kicked the ball from a distance of 1 meter. Immediately following the hit, the subject experienced dypnea, chest pain and had a cough, with several milliliters of hemoptysis. His symptoms subsided after 20 minutes of rest. However, he still felt mild discomfort and was taken to our department for evaluation. On examination, all vital signs were normal. A computed tomography scan of the chest was obtained, and revealed a small area of opacification in the right lung field suggesting a pulmonary contusion or traumatic lung edema. Ten days after the initial injury, he was cleared for full participation. We herein reported the first case of a lung lesion induced by a soccer ball. Conservative treatment resulted in a favorable outcome.

Dark matter gravitinos and baryons via Q-ball decay in the gauge-mediated MSSM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doddato, Francesca; McDonald, John, E-mail: f.doddato@lancaster.ac.uk, E-mail: j.mcdonald@lancaster.ac.uk [Lancaster-Manchester-Sheffield Consortium for Fundamental Physics, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics Group, Dept. of Physics, University of Lancaster, Lancaster LA1 4YB (United Kingdom)

2013-07-01

We show that late Q-ball decay in the MSSM with gauge-mediated SUSY breaking can provide a natural source of non-thermal NLSPs which subsequently decay to gravitino dark matter without violating nucleosynthesis constraints. To show this, we perform a global analysis of Q-ball formation and decay in Affleck-Dine baryogenesis for a d = 6 (u{sup c}d{sup c}d{sup c}){sup 2} flat direction of the gauge-mediated MSSM. A general phenomenological potential for the flat-direction is studied and the Q-ball decay properties are obtained as a function of its parameters. The corresponding gravitino mass necessary to account for dark matter is then determined for the case of stau NLSPs. The decay temperature depends on the charge of the Q-balls, which is determined by the fragmentation of the AD condensate. Different fragmentation scenarios are considered, and the final non-thermal NLSP density from Q-ball decay and NLSP annihilation is determined. Particular care is taken to establish that NLSPs from Q-ball decay become homogeneous and non-relativistic prior to annihilation. The gravitino mass necessary for dark matter is naturally consistent with the theoretical gravitino mass in the gauge-mediation model.

Application of neural networks to digital pulse shape analysis for an array of silicon strip detectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Flores, J.L. [Dpto de Ingeniería Eléctrica y Térmica, Universidad de Huelva (Spain); Martel, I. [Dpto de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Huelva (Spain); CERN, ISOLDE, CH 1211 Geneva, 23 (Switzerland); Jiménez, R. [Dpto de Ingeniería Electrónica, Sist. Informáticos y Automática, Universidad de Huelva (Spain); Galán, J., E-mail: jgalan@diesia.uhu.es [Dpto de Ingeniería Electrónica, Sist. Informáticos y Automática, Universidad de Huelva (Spain); Salmerón, P. [Dpto de Ingeniería Eléctrica y Térmica, Universidad de Huelva (Spain)

2016-09-11

The new generation of nuclear physics detectors that used to study nuclear reactions is considering the use of digital pulse shape analysis techniques (DPSA) to obtain the (A,Z) values of the reaction products impinging in solid state detectors. This technique can be an important tool for selecting the relevant reaction channels at the HYDE (HYbrid DEtector ball array) silicon array foreseen for the Low Energy Branch of the FAIR facility (Darmstadt, Germany). In this work we study the feasibility of using artificial neural networks (ANNs) for particle identification with silicon detectors. Multilayer Perceptron networks were trained and tested with recent experimental data, showing excellent identification capabilities with signals of several isotopes ranging from {sup 12}C up to {sup 84}Kr, yielding higher discrimination rates than any other previously reported.

Pelvic rotation torque during fast-pitch softball hitting under three ball height conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Iino, Yoichi; Fukushima, Atsushi; Kojima, Takeji

2014-08-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relevance of hip joint angles to the production of the pelvic rotation torque in fast-pitch softball hitting and to examine the effect of ball height on this production. Thirteen advanced female softball players hit stationary balls at three different heights: high, middle, and low. The pelvic rotation torque, defined as the torque acting on the pelvis through the hip joints about the pelvic superior-inferior axis, was determined from the kinematic and force plate data using inverse dynamics. Irrespective of the ball heights, the rear hip extension, rear hip external rotation, front hip adduction, and front hip flexion torques contributed to the production of pelvic rotation torque. Although the contributions of the adduction and external rotation torques at each hip joint were significantly different among the ball heights, the contributions of the front and rear hip joint torques were similar among the three ball heights owing to cancelation of the two torque components. The timings of the peaks of the hip joint torque components were significantly different, suggesting that softball hitters may need to adjust the timings of the torque exertions fairly precisely to rotate the upper body effectively.

An autopsy case related to a terrorist attack using a ball-bearing bomb.

Science.gov (United States)

Takamiya, Masataka; Biwasaka, Hitoshi; Niitsu, Hisae; Saigusa, Kiyoshi; Aoki, Yasuhiro

2009-03-01

We encountered an autopsy case related to a terrorist attack using a ball-bearing bomb. The decedent was a 51-year-old male without significant medical histories. During dinner in a restaurant, the perpetrator suddenly exploded a ball-bearing bomb, the blast from which blew the victim off his chair. The victim was found to be unresponsive, and pronounced dead. X-ray photographs taken before autopsy revealed six spherical shadows. Three penetrating wounds in the head, one in the neck and chest, and two in the left upper arm were observed in vivo. Six projectiles recovered from the body were identified as ball-bearings, one of which traveled through the midbrain, diencephalon, and left temporal lobe. Although blast injuries and penetrating wounds are often combined in bomb attack victims, penetrating brain injury would be the cause of death in this case. Lethal injuries to major organs can thus occur even though the destructive force of a ball-bearing bomb is weak. X-ray films were informative for detecting the ball-bearings in this case, suggesting that autopsy imaging is essential in cases of terrorism victims.

Modelling noise propagation using Grid Resources. Progress within GDI-Grid

Science.gov (United States)

Kiehle, Christian; Mayer, Christian; Padberg, Alexander; Stapelfeld, Hartmut

2010-05-01

Modelling noise propagation using Grid Resources. Progress within GDI-Grid. GDI-Grid (english: SDI-Grid) is a research project funded by the German Ministry for Science and Education (BMBF). It aims at bridging the gaps between OGC Web Services (OWS) and Grid infrastructures and identifying the potential of utilizing the superior storage capacities and computational power of grid infrastructures for geospatial applications while keeping the well-known service interfaces specified by the OGC. The project considers all major OGC webservice interfaces for Web Mapping (WMS), Feature access (Web Feature Service), Coverage access (Web Coverage Service) and processing (Web Processing Service). The major challenge within GDI-Grid is the harmonization of diverging standards as defined by standardization bodies for Grid computing and spatial information exchange. The project started in 2007 and will continue until June 2010. The concept for the gridification of OWS developed by lat/lon GmbH and the Department of Geography of the University of Bonn is applied to three real-world scenarios in order to check its practicability: a flood simulation, a scenario for emergency routing and a noise propagation simulation. The latter scenario is addressed by the Stapelfeldt Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH located in Dortmund adapting their LimA software to utilize grid resources. Noise mapping of e.g. traffic noise in urban agglomerates and along major trunk roads is a reoccurring demand of the EU Noise Directive. Input data requires road net and traffic, terrain, buildings and noise protection screens as well as population distribution. Noise impact levels are generally calculated in 10 m grid and along relevant building facades. For each receiver position sources within a typical range of 2000 m are split down into small segments, depending on local geometry. For each of the segments propagation analysis includes diffraction effects caused by all obstacles on the path of sound propagation

An Investigation on Irradiation-induced Grid Width Growth in Advanced Fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Young Ki; Jeon, Kyeong Lak; Kim, Yong Hwan; Kim, Jae Ik; Hwang, Sun Tack; Kim, Man Su; Lee, Tae Hyoung; Yoo, Myeong Jong; Yoon, Yong Bae; Kim, Tae Wan

2011-01-01

The spacer grids for fuel assembly are fabricated from preformed Zircaloy or Inconel strips interlocked in an egg crate fashion and welded or brazed together. The spacer grid is the important component to maintain the fuel rod array by providing positive lateral restraint to the fuel rods but only frictional restraint to axial fuel rod motion. To improve economy and safety aspects, advanced nuclear fuels of PLUS7, 16ACE7 and 17ACE7 were developed. The former is for Optimized Power Reactor of 1000 MWe (OPR1000) and Advanced Power Reactor of 1400 MWe (APR1400) and the latter two are for 16x16 and 17x17 Westinghouse type reactors, respectively. The material for top and bottom spacer grids on these advanced fuels are Inconel and the mid grids are Zirlo patented by Westinghouse. For neutron economy, the fuel assemblies are arranged very closely and the gaps between assemblies are kept to around 1 mm based on the worst case. The Zirconium-based alloys grow during irradiation in reactor. The large growth may cause some difficulties in loading and unloading fuel assemblies during refueling outage in reactor. The severe growth may cause some problems that fuel assemblies may be stuck within the core shroud and a modification of loading pattern is required. In addition, the grid growth with grid spring relaxation may cause different rod vibration behavior and results in the different wear mechanism. The grid width growth on the advanced fuels were predicted by using the growth models before the irradiation in reactor and were examined using lead test assemblies (LTAs) after each cycle in Ulchin unit 3 and Kori units 2 and 3, respectively. To reconfirm irradiation performance results using LTAs, the additional examinations are being performed through the surveillance programs on the commercially supplied fuels in Yonggwang unit 5 and Kori units 2 and 4. It is investigated on this study whether the grid widths on the advanced fuels meet their criteria and the predicted models

Lucille Ball, the Queen of Show Business versus Lucy Ricardo, the Failed Actress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurélie Blot

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Most American people, all generations taken into account, remember Lucille Ball as a great comic figure of the Fifties. Nonetheless, just a few people remember her as one of the most powerful women of her time. This might be because Lucille Ball refused to be considered as a businesswoman; she wanted to be seen as an actress above all. In this article, I will analyze how Lucille Ball became a businesswoman in spite of herself and how her success as an actress contributed to her success as a businesswoman.

Ball Milling Assisted Solvent and Catalyst Free Synthesis of Benzimidazoles and Their Derivatives.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Sayed, Taghreed H; Aboelnaga, Asmaa; Hagar, Mohamed

2016-08-24

Benzoic acid and o-phenylenediamine efficiently reacted under the green solvent-free Ball Milling method. Several reaction parameters were investigated such as rotation frequency; milling balls weight and milling time. The optimum reaction condition was milling with 56.6 g weight of balls at 20 Hz frequency for one hour milling time. The study was extended for synthesis of a series of benzimidazol-2-one or benzimidazol-2-thione using different aldehydes; carboxylic acids; urea; thiourea or ammonium thiocyanate with o-phenylenediamine. Moreover; the alkylation of benzimidazolone or benzimidazolthione using ethyl chloroacetate was also studied.

Interference-Fit Life Factors for Ball Bearings

Science.gov (United States)

Oswald, Fred B.; Zaretsky, Erwin V.; Poplawski, Joseph V.

2010-01-01

The effect of hoop stresses on the rolling-element fatigue life of angular-contact and deep-groove ball bearings was determined for common inner-ring interference fits at the ABEC-5 tolerance level. The analysis was applied to over 1150 bearing configurations and load cases. Hoop stresses were superimposed on the Hertzian principal stresses created by the applied bearing load to calculate the inner-race maximum shearing stress. The resulting fatigue life of the bearing was recalculated through a series of equations. The reduction in the fatigue life is presented as life factors that are applied to the unfactored bearing life. The life factors found in this study ranged from 1.00 (no life reduction)--where there was no net interface pressure--to a worst case of 0.38 (a 62-percent life reduction). For a given interference fit, the reduction in life is different for angular-contact and deep-groove ball bearings. Interference fits also affect the maximum Hertz stress-life relation. Experimental data of Czyzewski, showing the effect of interference fit on rolling-element fatigue life, were reanalyzed to determine the shear stress-life exponent. The Czyzewski data shear stress-life exponent c equals 8.77, compared with the assumed value of 9. Results are presented as tables and charts of life factors for angular-contact and deep-groove ball bearings with light, normal, and heavy loads and interference fits ranging from extremely light to extremely heavy.

Process intensification effect of ball milling on the hydrothermal pretreatment for corn straw enzymolysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan, Zhengqiu; Long, Jinxing; Wang, Tiejun; Shu, Riyang; Zhang, Qi; Ma, Longlong

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Novel pretreatment of ball milling combined with hydrothermal method was presented. • Intensification effect of ball milling was significant for corn straw enzymolysis. • Ball milling destroyed the physical structure of corn straw. • Chemical (liquid mixture) method removed lignin and hemicellulose. • Glucose yield increased from 0.41 to 13.86 mg mL −1 under the optimized condition. - Abstract: Enhancement of the cellulose accessibility is significant for biomass enzymatic hydrolysis. Here, we reported an efficient combined pretreatment for corn straw enzymolysis using ball milling and dilute acid hydrothermal method (a mixture solvent of H 2 O/ethanol/sulfuric acid/hydrogen peroxide liquid). The process intensification effect of ball milling on the pretreatment of the corn straw was studied through the comparative characterization of the physical–chemical properties of the raw and pretreated corn straw using FT-IR, BET, XRD, SEM, and HPLC analysis. The effect of the pretreatment temperature was also investigated. Furthermore, various pretreatment methods were compared as well. Moreover, the pretreatment performance was measured by enzymolysis. The results showed that ball milling had a significant process intensification effect on the corn straw enzymolysis. The glucose concentration was dramatically increased from 0.41 to 13.86 mg mL −1 after the combined treatment of ball milling and hydrothermal. The efficient removal of lignin and hemicellulose and the enlargement of the surface area were considered to be responsible for this significant increase based on the intensive analysis on the main components and the physical–chemical properties of the raw and pretreated corn straw

The documentation of tar balls on oiled shorelines : lessons from the New Carissa, Oregon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Owens, E.H.; Zimlicki-Owens, L.M.; Lamarche, A.; Reimer, P.D.; Martin, C.A.

2000-01-01

The New Carissa, carrying approximately 400,000 gallons of fuel oils ran aground on the outer shore of North Spit, in the vicinity of Coos Bay, Oregon, on February 4, 1999. The oil was released directly into the nearshore surf zone. Following the spill, a stretch of approximately 300 km of the coast of Oregon was surveyed and monitored. The need for the documentation of stranded tar balls in the neighbourhood of the spill site prompted the implementation of a long-term observation program. Initially, Shoreline Clean-up and Assessment Technique (SCAT) reporting procedures were required. Heavy oiling was followed by stranded oil taking the form of tar balls. The amount of oil on the shoreline decreased and the SCAT procedures alone were no longer adequate. They provided estimations of oil quantities that were too high and failed to provide any discrimination between amounts of oil observed on the beaches. A new reporting technique called Beach Assessment Reporting was designed to overcome the difficulties and record adequately the character and frequency of stranded tar balls. Maps, tables and histograms of stranded tar ball volumes and concentrations were discussed. Since the data spanned nine orders of magnitude at times, the semi-logarithmic scale time series plots of the concentration of the tar balls was used in order to identify trends. Conventional histograms only identified large values and camouflaged smaller trends in the time series. A direct method for describing tar ball concentrations geographically proved to be the use of weekly maximum tar ball concentration maps by segment. 10 refs., 2 tabs., 9 figs

Real-time MR diffusion tensor and Q-ball imaging using Kalman filtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poupon, C.; Roche, A.; Dubois, J.; Mangin, J.F.; Poupon, F.

2008-01-01

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) has become an established research tool for the investigation of tissue structure and orientation. In this paper, we present a method for real-time processing of diffusion tensor and Q-ball imaging. The basic idea is to use Kalman filtering framework to fit either the linear tensor or Q-ball model. Because the Kalman filter is designed to be an incremental algorithm, it naturally enables updating the model estimate after the acquisition of any new diffusion-weighted volume. Processing diffusion models and maps during ongoing scans provides a new useful tool for clinicians, especially when it is not possible to predict how long a subject may remain still in the magnet. First, we introduce the general linear models corresponding to the two diffusion tensor and analytical Q-ball models of interest. Then, we present the Kalman filtering framework and we focus on the optimization of the diffusion orientation sets in order to speed up the convergence of the online processing. Last, we give some results on a healthy volunteer for the online tensor and the Q-ball model, and we make some comparisons with the conventional offline techniques used in the literature. We could achieve full real-time for diffusion tensor imaging and deferred time for Q-ball imaging, using a single workstation. (authors)

Physical characteristics that predict involvement with the ball in recreational youth soccer.

Science.gov (United States)

Ré, Alessandro H Nicolai; Cattuzzo, Maria Teresa; Henrique, Rafael Dos Santos; Stodden, David F

2016-09-01

This study examined the relative contribution of age, stage of puberty, anthropometric characteristics, health-related fitness, soccer-specific tests and match-related technical performance to variance in involvements with the ball during recreational 5-a-side small-sided (32 × 15 m) soccer matches. Using a cross-sectional design, 80 healthy male students (14.6 ± 0.5 years of age; range 13.6-15.4) who played soccer recreationally were randomly divided into 10 teams and played against each other. Measurements included height, body mass, pubertal status, health-related fitness (12-min walk/run test, standing long jump, 15-m sprint and sit-ups in 30 s), soccer-specific tests (kicking for speed, passing for accuracy and agility run with and without a ball), match-related technical performance (kicks, passes and dribbles) and involvements with the ball during matches. Forward multiple regression analysis revealed that cardiorespiratory fitness (12-min walk/run test) accounted for 36% of the variance in involvements with the ball. When agility with the ball (zigzag running) and power (standing long jump) were included among the predictors, the total explained variance increased to 62%. In conclusion, recreational adolescent players, regardless of their soccer-specific skills, may increase participation in soccer matches most through physical activities that promote improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle power and agility.

Smart grid security

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cuellar, Jorge (ed.) [Siemens AG, Muenchen (Germany). Corporate Technology

2013-11-01

The engineering, deployment and security of the future smart grid will be an enormous project requiring the consensus of many stakeholders with different views on the security and privacy requirements, not to mention methods and solutions. The fragmentation of research agendas and proposed approaches or solutions for securing the future smart grid becomes apparent observing the results from different projects, standards, committees, etc, in different countries. The different approaches and views of the papers in this collection also witness this fragmentation. This book contains the following papers: 1. IT Security Architecture Approaches for Smart Metering and Smart Grid. 2. Smart Grid Information Exchange - Securing the Smart Grid from the Ground. 3. A Tool Set for the Evaluation of Security and Reliability in Smart Grids. 4. A Holistic View of Security and Privacy Issues in Smart Grids. 5. Hardware Security for Device Authentication in the Smart Grid. 6. Maintaining Privacy in Data Rich Demand Response Applications. 7. Data Protection in a Cloud-Enabled Smart Grid. 8. Formal Analysis of a Privacy-Preserving Billing Protocol. 9. Privacy in Smart Metering Ecosystems. 10. Energy rate at home Leveraging ZigBee to Enable Smart Grid in Residential Environment.

The Soccer-Ball Problem

Science.gov (United States)

Hossenfelder, Sabine

2014-07-01

The idea that Lorentz-symmetry in momentum space could be modified but still remain observer-independent has received quite some attention in the recent years. This modified Lorentz-symmetry, which has been argued to arise in Loop Quantum Gravity, is being used as a phenomenological model to test possibly observable effects of quantum gravity. The most pressing problem in these models is the treatment of multi-particle states, known as the 'soccer-ball problem'. This article briefly reviews the problem and the status of existing solution attempts.

Control and performance analysis of grid connected photovoltaic systems of two different technologies in a desert environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Layachi ZAGHBA

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In this study, is to investigate the effect of real climatic conditions on the performance parameters of a 9 kWp grid connected photovoltaic plant during one-year using typical days installed in the desert environment in south of Algeria (Ghardaia site. The PV plant contain the following components: solar PV array, with a DC/DC boost converter, neural MPPT, that allow maximal power conversion into the grid, have been included. These methods can extract maximum power from each of the independent PV arrays connected to DC link voltage level, a DC/AC inverter and a PI current control system. The PV array is divides in two parallel PV technology types; the first includes 100 PV modules mono-crystalline silicon (mc-Si arranged in 20 parallel groups of 5 modules in series, and the second of composed of 24 amorphous modules (Inventux X series, arranged in 6 parallel groups of 4 modules in series. The proposed system tested using MATLAB/SIMULINK platform in which a maximum power tracked under constant and real varying solar irradiance. The study concluded that output power and energy from two PV technology types (mc-Si and Amorphous-Si increases linearly with increase of solar irradiance.

Modified Perfect Harmonics Cancellation Control of a Grid Interfaced SPV Power Generation

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, B.; Shahani, D. T.; Verma, A. K.

2015-03-01

This paper deals with a grid interfaced solar photo voltaic (SPV) power generating system with modified perfect harmonic cancellation (MPHC) control for power quality improvement in terms of mitigation of the current harmonics, power factor correction, control of point of common coupling (PCC) voltage with reactive power compensation and load balancing in a three phase distribution system. The proposed grid interfaced SPV system consists of a SPV array, a dc-dc boost converter and a voltage source converter (VSC) used for the compensation of other connected linear and nonlinear loads at PCC. The reference grid currents are estimated using MPHC method and control signals are derived by using pulse width modulation (PWM) current controller of VSC. The SPV power is fed to the common dc bus of VSC and dc-dc boost converter using maximum power point tracking (MPPT). The dc link voltage of VSC is regulated by using dc voltage proportional integral (PI) controller. The analysis of the proposed SPV power generating system is carried out under dc/ac short circuit and severe SPV-SX and SPV-TX intrusion.

Wiffle Ball: Turning a Backyard Favorite into an Appropriate Physical Education Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Layne, Todd E.

2017-01-01

Wiffle ball is a game that has been played for many years (Santora, 2003). Unfortunately, implementation in physical education has been inconsistent at best. The sport education model outlined in this article provides an appropriate method for teaching skills associated with wiffle ball for a variety of ages. Students can develop appropriate…

Pilot study of ice-ball cryotherapy for radiation-induced oral mucositis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohyama, Waichiro; Ebihara, Satoshi

1996-01-01

Oral mucositis caused by radiotherapy is intractable and may worsen the patient's nutritional condition and interrupt treatment. To reduce the incidence and severity of oral mucositis induced by cancer therapy and promote early improvement of its symptoms, we devised cryotherapy by ice balls using Elase (fibrinolysin and deoxyribonuclease, combined). The therapeutic effect of ice-ball cryotherapy was evaluated in 10 patients with carcinoma of the oral cavity and pharynx who were undergoing radiotherapy. Cryotherapy was continued from the development of oral mucositis until its disappearance. The severity of various symptoms of mucositis were reduced by cryotherapy. Healing required 3 to 16 days (median, 7 days) after the end of radiotherapy. Radiotherapy was not interrupted in any cases. This preliminary report suggests that ice-ball cryotherapy is an effective treatment for radiation-induced oral mucositis. (author)

A software application for energy flow simulation of a grid connected photovoltaic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamad, Ayman A.; Alsaad, Mohammad A.

2010-01-01

A computer software application was developed to simulate hourly energy flow of a grid connected photovoltaic system. This software application enables conducting an operational evaluation of a studied photovoltaic system in terms of energy exchange with the electrical grid. The system model consists of a photovoltaic array, a converter and an optional generic energy storage component that supports scheduled charging/discharging. In addition to system design parameters, the software uses hourly solar data and hourly load data to determine the amount of energy exchanged with electrical grid for each hour of the simulated year. The resulting information is useful in assessing the impact of the system on demand for electrical energy of a building that uses it. The software also aggregates these hourly results in daily, monthly and full year sums. The software finds the financial benefit of the system as the difference in grid electrical energy cost between two simultaneously considered cases. One is with load supplied only by the electrical grid, while the other is with the photovoltaic system present and contributing energy. The software supports the energy pricing scheme used in Jordan for domestic consumers, which is based on slices of monthly consumption. By projecting the yearly financial results on the system lifetime, the application weighs the financial benefit resulting from using the system against its cost, thus facilitating an economical evaluation.

Synchronization in single-phase grid-connected photovoltaic systems under grid faults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yang, Yongheng; Blaabjerg, Frede

2012-01-01

The highly increasing penetration of single-phase photovoltaic (PV) systems pushes the grid requirements related to the integration of PV power systems to be updated. These upcoming regulations are expected to direct the grid-connected renewable generators to support the grid operation and stabil......The highly increasing penetration of single-phase photovoltaic (PV) systems pushes the grid requirements related to the integration of PV power systems to be updated. These upcoming regulations are expected to direct the grid-connected renewable generators to support the grid operation...

Prospective versus predictive control in timing of hitting a falling ball.

Science.gov (United States)

Katsumata, Hiromu; Russell, Daniel M

2012-02-01

Debate exists as to whether humans use prospective or predictive control to intercept an object falling under gravity (Baurès et al. in Vis Res 47:2982-2991, 2007; Zago et al. in Vis Res 48:1532-1538, 2008). Prospective control involves using continuous information to regulate action. τ, the ratio of the size of the gap to the rate of gap closure, has been proposed as the information used in guiding interceptive actions prospectively (Lee in Ecol Psychol 10:221-250, 1998). This form of control is expected to generate movement modulation, where variability decreases over the course of an action based upon more accurate timing information. In contrast, predictive control assumes that a pre-programmed movement is triggered at an appropriate criterion timing variable. For a falling object it is commonly argued that an internal model of gravitational acceleration is used to predict the motion of the object and determine movement initiation. This form of control predicts fixed duration movements initiated at consistent time-to-contact (TTC), either across conditions (constant criterion operational timing) or within conditions (variable criterion operational timing). The current study sought to test predictive and prospective control hypotheses by disrupting continuous visual information of a falling ball and examining consistency in movement initiation and duration, and evidence for movement modulation. Participants (n = 12) batted a ball dropped from three different heights (1, 1.3 and 1.5 m), under both full-vision and partial occlusion conditions. In the occlusion condition, only the initial ball drop and the final 200 ms of ball flight to the interception point could be observed. The initiation of the swing did not occur at a consistent TTC, τ, or any other timing variable across drop heights, in contrast with previous research. However, movement onset was not impacted by occluding the ball flight for 280-380 ms. This finding indicates that humans did not

Experimental study on the convective heat transfer enhancement in single-phase steam flow by a support grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Byoung Jae; Kim, Kihwan; Kim, Dong-Eok; Youn, Young-Jung; Park, Jong-Kuk; Moon, Sang-Ki; Song, Chul-Hwa

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The convective heat transfer enhancement by support grids is investigated. • Experiments were performed in a square array 2 × 2 rod bundle. • The enhancement was affected not only by the blockage ratio also by the Reynolds number. • For low Reynolds numbers, the enhancement depends on the Reynolds number (Re). • For high Reynolds numbers, the enhancement is nearly independent of Re. - Abstract: Single-phase flow occurs in the fuel rod bundle of a pressurized water reactor, during the normal operation period or at the early stage of the reflood phase in a loss-of-coolant accident scenario. In the former period, the flow is single-phase water flow, but in the latter case, the flow is single-phase steam flow. Support grids are required to maintain a proper geometry configuration of fuel rods within nuclear fuel assemblies. This study was conducted to elucidate the effects of support grids on the convective heat transfer in single-phase steam flow. Experiments were made in a square array 2 × 2 rod bundle. The four electrically-heating rods were maintained by support grids with mixing vanes creating a swirl flow. Two types of support grids were considered in this study. The two types are geometrically similar except the blockage ratio by different mixing vane angles. For all test runs, 2 kW power was supplied to each rod. The working fluid was superheated steam with Re = 2,301–39,594. The axial profile of the rod surface temperatures was measured, and the convective heat transfer enhancement by the presence of the support grids was examined. The peak heat transfer enhancement was a function of not only the blockage ratio but also the Reynolds number. Given the same blockage ratio, the heat transfer enhancement was sensitive to the Reynolds number in laminar flow, whereas it was nearly independent of the Reynolds number in turbulent flow

Grid generation methods

CERN Document Server

Liseikin, Vladimir D

2010-01-01

This book is an introduction to structured and unstructured grid methods in scientific computing, addressing graduate students, scientists as well as practitioners. Basic local and integral grid quality measures are formulated and new approaches to mesh generation are reviewed. In addition to the content of the successful first edition, a more detailed and practice oriented description of monitor metrics in Beltrami and diffusion equations is given for generating adaptive numerical grids. Also, new techniques developed by the author are presented, in particular a technique based on the inverted form of Beltrami’s partial differential equations with respect to control metrics. This technique allows the generation of adaptive grids for a wide variety of computational physics problems, including grid clustering to given function values and gradients, grid alignment with given vector fields, and combinations thereof. Applications of geometric methods to the analysis of numerical grid behavior as well as grid ge...

Smart grid technologies in local electric grids

Science.gov (United States)

Lezhniuk, Petro D.; Pijarski, Paweł; Buslavets, Olga A.

2017-08-01

The research is devoted to the creation of favorable conditions for the integration of renewable sources of energy into electric grids, which were designed to be supplied from centralized generation at large electric power stations. Development of distributed generation in electric grids influences the conditions of their operation - conflict of interests arises. The possibility of optimal functioning of electric grids and renewable sources of energy, when complex criterion of the optimality is balance reliability of electric energy in local electric system and minimum losses of electric energy in it. Multilevel automated system for power flows control in electric grids by means of change of distributed generation of power is developed. Optimization of power flows is performed by local systems of automatic control of small hydropower stations and, if possible, solar power plants.

Modeling of wind turbine vortex generators in considering the inter-effects between arrays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhao, Zhenzhou; Shen, Wenzhong; Wang, Ruixin

2017-01-01

circulation created by VGs and created various parametric models used with the Navier-Stokes equations, but most of them are based on a single winglet of VGs and do not include the inter-effects between the winglets. This paper proposes a parameterized VG array model based on counter-rotating VGs, which...... properly takes into account the inter-effects between winglets. Two cases, i.e., a plate with a pair of VGs and a DU-W2-250 blade segment with five pairs of VGs, are investigated to validate this model; the array type parametric model is in closer agreement with experimental data than traditional models....... Compared to the solid VG model, the array type model has similar streamlines and surface pressure coefficients on the suction surface. The array type VG model can effectively reduce the number of grid points and yield highly accurate predictions of wind turbine blade aerodynamic characteristics....

Sensitivity of the speed evaluation tests of carrying the ball in youth soccer players

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rakojević Bojan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This research is aimed at examining sensitivity of the speed evaluation tests while carrying the ball. The research included 76 male examinees, aged 17 years (+/- 6 months, who were divided into two qualitatively different subgroups. For determining the speed while carrying the ball, the tests of M type of carrying the ball between cones and slalom ball carrying with a pass were performed. The obtained results proved that the examinees from the group of more successful soccer players (Group 1 scored better on the applied tests when compared to the results of the group consisting of the soccer players from lower ranked clubs and who are not national team members (Group 2. High values of the result homogeneity in the two groups (for the Groups 1 and 2 it was 75% and 68.75% respectively lead to the conclusion that this ability is essential characteristics of young soccer players. The coefficient of discrimination of 0.269 for the results of M type test and 0.197 for the results of the test of carrying the ball with a pass indicate that the results of the two tests provide possibility to qualitatively distinguish youth players. Therefore, it can be concluded that as a technical element, carrying the ball significantly affects the quality of players' performance.

Ball lightning from atmospheric discharges via metal nanosphere oxidation: from soils, wood or metals.

Science.gov (United States)

Abrahamson, John

2002-01-15

The slow (diffusion-limited) oxidation of metal nanoparticles has previously been proposed as the mechanism for ball lightning energy release, and argued to be the result of a normal lightning strike on soil. Here this basic model of networked nanoparticles is detailed further, and extended to lightning strikes on metal structures, and also to the action of other storm-related discharges or man-made discharges. The basic model predicted the important properties of "average" observed ball lightning, and the extension in this paper also covers high-energy examples of ball lightning. Laboratory checks of the theory are described, and predictions given of what conditions are necessary for observing ball lightning in the laboratory. Key requirements of the model are a sheltered region near the strike foot and starting materials which can generate a metal vapour under intensive heating, including soil, wood or a metal structure. The evolution of hydrocarbons (often plastics) along with metal vapour can ensure the local survival of the metal vapour even in an oxidizing atmosphere. Subsequent condensation of this vapour to metallic nanoparticles in networks provides the coherence of a ball structure, which also releases light over an extended time. Also discussed is the passage of ball lightning through a sheet of building material, including glass, and its occasional charring of flesh on close contact.

System modelling and online optimal management of MicroGrid using Mesh Adaptive Direct Search

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mohamed, Faisal A. [Department of Electrical Engineering, Omar Al-Mukhtar University, P.O. Box 919, El-Bieda (Libya); Koivo, Heikki N. [Department of Automation and Systems Technology, Helsinki University of Technology, P.O. Box 5500, FIN-02015 HUT (Finland)

2010-06-15

This paper presents a generalized formulation to determine the optimal operating strategy and cost optimization scheme for a MicroGrid. Prior to the optimization of the MicroGrid itself, models for the system components are determined using real data. The proposed cost function takes into consideration the costs of the emissions, NO{sub x}, SO{sub 2}, and CO{sub 2}, start-up costs, as well as the operation and maintenance costs. A daily income and outgo from sold or purchased power is also added. The MicroGrid considered in this paper consists of a wind turbine, a micro turbine, a diesel generator, a photovoltaic array, a fuel cell, and a battery storage. In this work, the Mesh Adaptive Direct Search (MADS) algorithm is used to minimize the cost function of the system while constraining it to meet the customer demand and safety of the system. In comparison with previously proposed techniques, a significant reduction is obtained. (author)

Fractal Aggregates in Tennis Ball Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Sabin, J.; Bandin, M.; Prieto, G.; Sarmiento, F.

2009-01-01

We present a new practical exercise to explain the mechanisms of aggregation of some colloids which are otherwise not easy to understand. We have used tennis balls to simulate, in a visual way, the aggregation of colloids under reaction-limited colloid aggregation (RLCA) and diffusion-limited colloid aggregation (DLCA) regimes. We have used the…

From a Ball Game to Incompleteness

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

We present a ball game that can be continued as long as wewish. It looks as though the game would never end. But byapplying a result on trees, we show that the game nonethelessends in some finite number of moves. We then point out somedeep results on the natural number system connected withthe game.

Greening the Grid - Advancing Solar, Wind, and Smart Grid Technologies (Spanish Version)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2016-04-01

This is the Spanish version of 'Greening the Grid - Advancing Solar, Wind, and Smart Grid Technologies'. Greening the Grid provides technical assistance to energy system planners, regulators, and grid operators to overcome challenges associated with integrating variable renewable energy into the grid.

Acquisition and reduction of data obtained from Tank 101-SY in-situ ball rheometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shepard, C.L.; Chieda, M.A.; Kirihara, L.J.

1994-12-01

Development of the ball rheometer to measure rheological properties and density of the waste in Hanford Tank 241-SY-101 will be completed around September 1994. Since the ball rheometer project began, a mixer pump has been installed in this tank, and by all accounts this pump has been very successful at mitigating the flammable gas problem associated with Tank 101-SY. Present plans now call for the use of mixer pumps in several other tanks. The ball rheometer will serve as a diagnostic tool for judging the effectiveness of mixing in Tank 101-SY and others and will be one of few in-situ probes available for diagnostic measurements. The in-situ data collection strategy and the methods of data analysis and reduction are presented in this final report concerning this instrument. It is believed that a generalized Bingham fluid model (Herschel-Bulkley fluid model) may be useful for describing at least some of the waste contained in Tank 101-SY, and data obtained in the tank will initially be reduced using this fluid model. The single largest uncertainty in the determination of the drag force on the ball is the drag force which will be experienced by the cable attached to the ball. This drag can be a substantial fraction of the total drag when the ball is deep within the tank. Careful accounting of the cable drag will be important in the reduction of the data. The data collection strategy allows the determination of the waste fluid rheology both in the undisturbed state and after it has been disturbed by the ball. Fluid density will be measured at regular intervals

Micro grids toward the smart grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guerrero, J.

2011-01-01

Worldwide electrical grids are expecting to become smarter in the near future, with interest in Microgrids likely to grow. A microgrid can be defined as a part of the grid with elements of prime energy movers, power electronics converters, distributed energy storage systems and local loads, that can operate autonomously but also interacting with main grid. Thus, the ability of intelligent Microgrids to operate in island mode or connected to the grid will be a keypoint to cope with new functionalities and the integration of renewable energy resources. The functionalities expected for these small grids are: black start operation, frequency and voltage stability, active and reactive power flow control, active power filter capabilities, and storage energy management. In this presentation, a review of the main concepts related to flexible Microgrids will be introduced, with examples of real Microgrids. AC and DC Microgrids to integrate renewable and distributed energy resources will also be presented, as well as distributed energy storage systems, and standardization issues of these Microgrids. Finally, Microgrid hierarchical control will be analyzed looking at three different levels: i) a primary control based on the droop method, including an output impedance virtual loop; ii) a secondary control, which enables restoring any deviations produced by the primary control; and iii) a tertiary control to manage the power flow between the microgrid and the external electrical distribution system.

Rapid Active Power Control of Photovoltaic Systems for Grid Frequency Support

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoke, Anderson; Shirazi, Mariko; Chakraborty, Sudipta; Muljadi, Eduard; Maksimovic, Dragan

2017-01-01

As deployment of power electronic coupled generation such as photovoltaic (PV) systems increases, grid operators have shown increasing interest in calling on inverter-coupled generation to help mitigate frequency contingency events by rapidly surging active power into the grid. When responding to contingency events, the faster the active power is provided, the more effective it may be for arresting the frequency event. This paper proposes a predictive PV inverter control method for very fast and accurate control of active power. This rapid active power control method will increase the effectiveness of various higher-level controls designed to mitigate grid frequency contingency events, including fast power-frequency droop, inertia emulation, and fast frequency response, without the need for energy storage. The rapid active power control method, coupled with a maximum power point estimation method, is implemented in a prototype PV inverter connected to a PV array. The prototype inverter's response to various frequency events is experimentally confirmed to be fast (beginning within 2 line cycles and completing within 4.5 line cycles of a severe test event) and accurate (below 2% steady-state error).

Preliminary design and manufacturing feasibility study for a machined Zircaloy triangular pitch fuel rod support system (grids) (AWBA development program)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horwood, W.A.

1981-07-01

General design features and manufacturing operations for a high precision machined Zircaloy fuel rod support grid intended for use in advanced light water prebreeder or breeder reactor designs are described. The grid system consists of a Zircaloy main body with fuel rod and guide tube cells machined using wire EDM, a separate AM-350 stainless steel insert spring which fits into a full length T-slot in each fuel rod cell, and a thin (0.025'' or 0.040'' thick) wire EDM machined Zircaloy coverplate laser welded to each side of the grid body to retain the insert springs. The fuel rods are placed in a triangular pitch array with a tight rod-to-rod spacing of 0.063 inch nominal. Two dimples are positioned at the mid-thickness of the grid (single level) with a 90 0 included angle. Data is provided on the effectiveness of the manufacturing operations chosen for grid machining and assembly

Failure analysis of the ball bearings of dental air turbine handpieces.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, M; Dyson, J E; Darvell, B W

2013-12-01

The aim of this study was to identify the nature and causes of deterioration and failure in dental handpiece ball bearings and thus provide guidance for clinical handling for service longevity. The bearings of 36 turbine assemblies were dismantled for visual inspection, documented using a digital camera, and examined using scanning electron microscopy, as appropriate. For the metal parts of the ball bearing assembly, defects observed were mainly wear arising from the running load and corrosion. This was in the form of scratches and discoloured circumferential bands on the balls, and dull or worn surfaces extending around the circumference of the raceways. Cage damage including cracking, fracture, surface rubbing and distortion occurred, in varying degrees, in every failed turbine. Dental ball bearing failure modes have been identified. Cumulative effects of damage from corrosion and mechanical factors lead to handpiece deterioration. The cage was found to be very vulnerable to damage, and this may be the key limitation on bearing lifetime. Autoclaving may contribute to that, as it does to corrosion in the absence of adequate lubrication, but this seems to be minor in comparison to the effects of abuse. There is no justification for failing to observe usage and sterilization instructions. © 2013 Australian Dental Association.

Smart grid security

CERN Document Server

Goel, Sanjay; Papakonstantinou, Vagelis; Kloza, Dariusz

2015-01-01

This book on smart grid security is meant for a broad audience from managers to technical experts. It highlights security challenges that are faced in the smart grid as we widely deploy it across the landscape. It starts with a brief overview of the smart grid and then discusses some of the reported attacks on the grid. It covers network threats, cyber physical threats, smart metering threats, as well as privacy issues in the smart grid. Along with the threats the book discusses the means to improve smart grid security and the standards that are emerging in the field. The second part of the b

The Grid2003 Production Grid Principles and Practice

CERN Document Server

Foster, I; Gose, S; Maltsev, N; May, E; Rodríguez, A; Sulakhe, D; Vaniachine, A; Shank, J; Youssef, S; Adams, D; Baker, R; Deng, W; Smith, J; Yu, D; Legrand, I; Singh, S; Steenberg, C; Xia, Y; Afaq, A; Berman, E; Annis, J; Bauerdick, L A T; Ernst, M; Fisk, I; Giacchetti, L; Graham, G; Heavey, A; Kaiser, J; Kuropatkin, N; Pordes, R; Sekhri, V; Weigand, J; Wu, Y; Baker, K; Sorrillo, L; Huth, J; Allen, M; Grundhoefer, L; Hicks, J; Luehring, F C; Peck, S; Quick, R; Simms, S; Fekete, G; Van den Berg, J; Cho, K; Kwon, K; Son, D; Park, H; Canon, S; Jackson, K; Konerding, D E; Lee, J; Olson, D; Sakrejda, I; Tierney, B; Green, M; Miller, R; Letts, J; Martin, T; Bury, D; Dumitrescu, C; Engh, D; Gardner, R; Mambelli, M; Smirnov, Y; Voeckler, J; Wilde, M; Zhao, Y; Zhao, X; Avery, P; Cavanaugh, R J; Kim, B; Prescott, C; Rodríguez, J; Zahn, A; McKee, S; Jordan, C; Prewett, J; Thomas, T; Severini, H; Clifford, B; Deelman, E; Flon, L; Kesselman, C; Mehta, G; Olomu, N; Vahi, K; De, K; McGuigan, P; Sosebee, M; Bradley, D; Couvares, P; De Smet, A; Kireyev, C; Paulson, E; Roy, A; Koranda, S; Moe, B; Brown, B; Sheldon, P

2004-01-01

The Grid2003 Project has deployed a multi-virtual organization, application-driven grid laboratory ("GridS") that has sustained for several months the production-level services required by physics experiments of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (ATLAS and CMS), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey project, the gravitational wave search experiment LIGO, the BTeV experiment at Fermilab, as well as applications in molecular structure analysis and genome analysis, and computer science research projects in such areas as job and data scheduling. The deployed infrastructure has been operating since November 2003 with 27 sites, a peak of 2800 processors, work loads from 10 different applications exceeding 1300 simultaneous jobs, and data transfers among sites of greater than 2 TB/day. We describe the principles that have guided the development of this unique infrastructure and the practical experiences that have resulted from its creation and use. We discuss application requirements for grid services deployment and configur...

Casimir Energies for Isorefractive or Diaphanous Balls

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kimball A. Milton

2018-03-01

Full Text Available It is known that the Casimir self-energy of a homogeneous dielectric ball is divergent, although a finite self-energy can be extracted through second order in the deviation of the permittivity from the vacuum value. The exception occurs when the speed of light inside the spherical boundary is the same as that outside, so the self-energy of a perfectly conducting spherical shell is finite, as is the energy of a dielectric-diamagnetic sphere with ε μ = 1 , a so-called isorefractive or diaphanous ball. Here we re-examine that example and attempt to extend it to an electromagnetic δ -function sphere, where the electric and magnetic couplings are equal and opposite. Unfortunately, although the energy expression is superficially ultraviolet finite, additional divergences appear that render it difficult to extract a meaningful result in general, but some limited results are presented.

Relative locality and the soccer ball problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amelino-Camelia, Giovanni; Freidel, Laurent; Smolin, Lee; Kowalski-Glikman, Jerzy

2011-01-01

We consider the behavior of macroscopic bodies within the framework of relative locality [G. Amelino-Camelia, L. Freidel, J. Kowalski-Glikman, and L. Smolin, arXiv:1101.0931]. This is a recent proposal for Planck scale modifications of the relativistic dynamics of particles which are described as arising from deformations in the geometry of momentum space. We consider and resolve a common objection against such proposals, which is that, even if the corrections are small for elementary particles in current experiments, they are huge when applied to composite systems such as soccer balls, planets, and stars, with energies E macro much larger than M P . We show that this soccer ball problem does not arise within the framework of relative locality because the nonlinear effects for the dynamics of a composite system with N elementary particles appear at most of order E macro /N·M P .

Mapping of grid faults and grid codes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iov, F.; Hansen, Anca Daniela; Sørensen, Poul Ejnar

loads of wind turbines. The goal is also to clarify and define possible new directions in the certification process of power plant wind turbines, namely wind turbines, which participate actively in the stabilisation of power systems. Practical experience shows that there is a need...... challenges for the design of both the electrical system and the mechanical structure of wind turbines. An overview over the frequency of grid faults and the grid connection requirements in different relevant countries is done in this report. The most relevant study cases for the quantification of the loads......The present report is a part of the research project ''Grid fault and designbasis for wind turbine'' supported by Energinet.dk through the grant PSO F&U 6319. The objective of this project is to investigate into the consequences of the new grid connection requirements for the fatigue and extreme...