Reliability and Lifetime Prediction of Remote Phosphor Plates in Solid-State Lighting Applications Using Accelerated Degradation Testing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yazdan Mehr, M.; van Driel, W.D.; Zhang, G.Q.

2015-01-01

A methodology, based on accelerated degradation testing, is developed to predict the lifetime of remote phosphor plates used in solid-state lighting (SSL) applications. Both thermal stress and light intensity are used to accelerate degradation reaction in remote phosphor plates. A reliability model,

Emergency diesel generator reliability program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serkiz, A.W.

1989-01-01

The need for an emergency diesel generator (EDG) reliability program has been established by 10 CFR Part 50, Section 50.63, Loss of All Alternating Current Power, which requires that utilities assess their station blackout duration and recovery capability. EDGs are the principal emergency ac power sources for coping with a station blackout. Regulatory Guide 1.155, Station Blackout, identifies a need for (1) an EDG reliability equal to or greater than 0.95, and (2) an EDG reliability program to monitor and maintain the required levels. The resolution of Generic Safety Issue (GSI) B-56 embodies the identification of a suitable EDG reliability program structure, revision of pertinent regulatory guides and Tech Specs, and development of an Inspection Module. Resolution of B-56 is coupled to the resolution of Unresolved Safety Issue (USI) A-44, Station Blackout, which resulted in the station blackout rule, 10 CFR 50.63 and Regulatory Guide 1.155, Station Blackout. This paper discusses the principal elements of an EDG reliability program developed for resolving GSI B-56 and related matters

Coupled Thermo-Mechanical and Photo-Chemical Degradation Mechanisms that determine the Reliability and Operational Lifetimes for CPV Technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dauskardt, Reinhold H. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)

2017-04-30

This project sought to identify and characterize the coupled intrinsic photo-chemo-mechanical degradation mechanisms that determine the reliability and operational lifetimes for CPV technologies. Over a three year period, we have completed a highly successful program which has developed quantitative metrologies and detailed physics-based degradation models, providing new insight into the fundamental reliability physics necessary for improving materials, creating accelerated testing protocols, and producing more accurate lifetime predictions. The tasks for the program were separated into two focus areas shown in the figure below. Focus Area 1, led by Reinhold Dauskardt and Warren Cai with a primary collaboration with David Miller of NREL, studied the degradation mechanisms present in encapsulant materials. Focus Area 2, led by Reinhold Dauskardt and Ryan Brock with a primary collaboration with James Ermer and Peter Hebert of Spectrolab, studied stress development and degradation within internal CPV device interfaces. Each focus area was productive, leading to several publications, including findings on the degradation of silicone encapsulant under terrestrial UV, a model for photodegradation of silicone encapsulant adhesion, quantification and process tuning of antireflective layers on CPV, and discovery of a thermal cycling degradation mechanism present in metal gridline structures.

Reliability analysis of magnetic logic interconnect wire subjected to magnet edge imperfections

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Bin; Yang, Xiaokuo; Liu, Jiahao; Li, Weiwei; Xu, Jie

2018-02-01

Nanomagnet logic (NML) devices have been proposed as one of the best candidates for the next generation of integrated circuits thanks to its substantial advantages of nonvolatility, radiation hardening and potentially low power. In this article, errors of nanomagnetic interconnect wire subjected to magnet edge imperfections have been evaluated for the purpose of reliable logic propagation. The missing corner defects of nanomagnet in the wire are modeled with a triangle, and the interconnect fabricated with various magnetic materials is thoroughly investigated by micromagnetic simulations under different corner defect amplitudes and device spacings. The results show that as the defect amplitude increases, the success rate of logic propagation in the interconnect decreases. More results show that from the interconnect wire fabricated with materials, iron demonstrates the best defect tolerance ability among three representative and frequently used NML materials, also logic transmission errors can be mitigated by adjusting spacing between nanomagnets. These findings can provide key technical guides for designing reliable interconnects. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61302022) and the Scientific Research Foundation for Postdoctor of Air Force Engineering University (Nos. 2015BSKYQD03, 2016KYMZ06).

Predicted solar cell edge radiation effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gates, M.T.

1993-01-01

The Advanced Solar Cell Orbital Test (ASCOT) will test six types of solar cells in a high energy proton environment. During the design of the experiment a question was raised about the effects of proton radiation incident on the edge of the solar cells and whether edge radiation shielding was required. Historical geosynchronous data indicated that edge radiation damage is not detectable over the normal end of life solar cell degradation; however because the ASCOT radiation environment has a much higher and more energetic fluence of protons, considerably more edge damage is expected. A computer analysis of the problem was made by modeling the expected radiation damage at the cell edge and using a network model of small interconnected solar cells to predict degradation in the cell's electrical output. The model indicated that the deepest penetration of edge radiation was at the top of the cell near the junction where the protons have access to the cell through the low density cell/cover adhesive layer. The network model indicated that the cells could tolerate high fluences at their edge as long as there was high electrical resistance between the edge radiated region and the contact system on top of the cell. The predicted edge radiation related loss was less than 2% of maximum power for GaAs/Ge solar cells. As a result, no edge radiation protection was used for ASCOT

A Bayesian reliability evaluation method with integrated accelerated degradation testing and field information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Lizhi; Pan, Rong; Li, Xiaoyang; Jiang, Tongmin

2013-01-01

Accelerated degradation testing (ADT) is a common approach in reliability prediction, especially for products with high reliability. However, oftentimes the laboratory condition of ADT is different from the field condition; thus, to predict field failure, one need to calibrate the prediction made by using ADT data. In this paper a Bayesian evaluation method is proposed to integrate the ADT data from laboratory with the failure data from field. Calibration factors are introduced to calibrate the difference between the lab and the field conditions so as to predict a product's actual field reliability more accurately. The information fusion and statistical inference procedure are carried out through a Bayesian approach and Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. The proposed method is demonstrated by two examples and the sensitivity analysis to prior distribution assumption

Lifetime prediction and reliability estimation methodology for Stirling-type pulse tube refrigerators by gaseous contamination accelerated degradation testing

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Fubin; Tan, Yuanyuan; Jiang, Zhenhua; Chen, Xun; Wu, Yinong; Zhao, Peng

2017-12-01

Lifetime and reliability are the two performance parameters of premium importance for modern space Stirling-type pulse tube refrigerators (SPTRs), which are required to operate in excess of 10 years. Demonstration of these parameters provides a significant challenge. This paper proposes a lifetime prediction and reliability estimation method that utilizes accelerated degradation testing (ADT) for SPTRs related to gaseous contamination failure. The method was experimentally validated via three groups of gaseous contamination ADT. First, the performance degradation model based on mechanism of contamination failure and material outgassing characteristics of SPTRs was established. Next, a preliminary test was performed to determine whether the mechanism of contamination failure of the SPTRs during ADT is consistent with normal life testing. Subsequently, the experimental program of ADT was designed for SPTRs. Then, three groups of gaseous contamination ADT were performed at elevated ambient temperatures of 40 °C, 50 °C, and 60 °C, respectively and the estimated lifetimes of the SPTRs under normal condition were obtained through acceleration model (Arrhenius model). The results show good fitting of the degradation model with the experimental data. Finally, we obtained the reliability estimation of SPTRs through using the Weibull distribution. The proposed novel methodology enables us to take less than one year time to estimate the reliability of the SPTRs designed for more than 10 years.

Resolution of GSI B-56 - Emergency diesel generator reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serkiz, A.W.

1989-01-01

The need for an emergency diesel generator (EDG) reliability program has been established by 10 CFR Part 50, Section 50.63, Loss of All Alternating Current Power, which requires that licensees assess their station blackout coping and recovery capability. EDGs are the principal emergency ac power sources for avoiding a station blackout. Regulatory Guide 1.155, Station Blackout, identifies a need for (1) a nuclear unit EDG reliability level of at least 0.95, and (2) an EDG reliability program to monitor and maintain the required EDG reliability levels. NUMARC-8700, Guidelines and Technical Bases for NUMARC Initiatives Addressing Station Blackout at Light Water Reactors, also provides guidance on such needs. The resolution of GSI B-56, Diesel Reliability will be accomplished by issuing Regulatory Guide 1.9, Rev. 3, Selection, Design, Qualification, Testing, and Reliability of Diesel Generator Units Used as Onsite Electric Power Systems at Nuclear Plants. This revision will integrate into a single regulatory guide pertinent guidance previously addressed in R.G. 1.9, Rev. 2, R.G. 1.108, and Generic Letter 84-15. R.G. 1.9 has been expanded to define the principal elements of an EDG reliability program for monitoring and maintaining EDG reliability levels selected for SBO. In addition, alert levels and corrective actions have been defined to detect a deteriorating situation for all EDGs assigned to a particular nuclear unit, as well as an individual problem EDG

Reliability of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors on low dislocation density bulk GaN substrate: Implications of surface step edges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Killat, N., E-mail: Nicole.Killat@bristol.ac.uk, E-mail: Martin.Kuball@bristol.ac.uk; Montes Bajo, M.; Kuball, M., E-mail: Nicole.Killat@bristol.ac.uk, E-mail: Martin.Kuball@bristol.ac.uk [Center for Device Thermography and Reliability (CDTR), H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL (United Kingdom); Paskova, T. [Kyma Technologies, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina 27617 (United States); Materials Science and Engineering Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695 (United States); Evans, K. R. [Kyma Technologies, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina 27617 (United States); Leach, J. [Kyma Technologies, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina 27617 (United States); Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284 (United States); Li, X.; Özgür, Ü.; Morkoç, H. [Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284 (United States); Chabak, K. D.; Crespo, A.; Gillespie, J. K.; Fitch, R.; Kossler, M.; Walker, D. E.; Trejo, M.; Via, G. D.; Blevins, J. D. [Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio 45433 (United States)

2013-11-04

To enable gaining insight into degradation mechanisms of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors, devices grown on a low-dislocation-density bulk-GaN substrate were studied. Gate leakage current and electroluminescence (EL) monitoring revealed a progressive appearance of EL spots during off-state stress which signify the generation of gate current leakage paths. Atomic force microscopy evidenced the formation of semiconductor surface pits at the failure location, which corresponds to the interaction region of the gate contact edge and the edges of surface steps.

Impact of scaling on the performance and reliability degradation of metal-contacts in NEMS devices

KAUST Repository

Dadgour, Hamed F.

2011-04-01

Nano-electro-mechanical switches (NEMS) offer new possibilities for the design of ultra energy-efficient systems; however, thus far, all the fabricated NEMS devices require high supply voltages that limit their applicability for logic designs. Therefore, research is being conducted to lower the operating voltages by scaling down the physical dimensions of these devices. However, the impact of device scaling on the electrical and mechanical properties of metal contacts in NEMS devices has not been thoroughly investigated in the literature. Such a study is essential because metal contacts play a critical role in determining the overall performance and reliability of NEMS. Therefore, the comprehensive analytical study presented in this paper highlights the performance and reliability degradations of such metal contacts caused by scaling. The proposed modeling environment accurately takes into account the impact of roughness of contact surfaces, elastic/plastic deformation of contacting asperities, and various inter-molecular forces between mating surfaces (such as Van der Waals and capillary forces). The modeling results are validated and calibrated using available measurement data. This scaling analysis indicates that the key contact properties of gold contacts (resistance, stiction and wear-out) deteriorate "exponentially" with scaling. Simulation results demonstrate that reliable (stiction-free) operation of very small contact areas (≈ 6nm x 6nm) will be a daunting task due to the existence of strong surface forces. Hence, contact degradation is identified as a major problem to the scaling of NEMS transistors. © 2011 IEEE.

Statistical modeling for degradation data

CERN Document Server

Lio, Yuhlong; Ng, Hon; Tsai, Tzong-Ru

2017-01-01

This book focuses on the statistical aspects of the analysis of degradation data. In recent years, degradation data analysis has come to play an increasingly important role in different disciplines such as reliability, public health sciences, and finance. For example, information on products’ reliability can be obtained by analyzing degradation data. In addition, statistical modeling and inference techniques have been developed on the basis of different degradation measures. The book brings together experts engaged in statistical modeling and inference, presenting and discussing important recent advances in degradation data analysis and related applications. The topics covered are timely and have considerable potential to impact both statistics and reliability engineering.

Degradation Effect on Reliability Evaluation of Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitor in Backup Power Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhou, Dao; Wang, Huai; Blaabjerg, Frede

2017-01-01

DC capacitors in power electronic converters are a major constraint on improvement of power density as well as reliability. In this paper, according to the degradation data of electrolytic capacitors through the accelerated test, the time-to-failure of the capacitor cell is acquired and it can...... be further extended to lower stress levels. Then, in a case study of a fuel cell backup power application, the mission profile based lifetime expectancy of the individual capacitor and the capacitor bank is estimated in terms of the standby mode and operation mode. The lifetime prediction of the capacitor...

Accelerated reliability demonstration under competing failure modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, Wei; Zhang, Chun-hua; Chen, Xun; Tan, Yuan-yuan

2015-01-01

The conventional reliability demonstration tests are difficult to apply to products with competing failure modes due to the complexity of the lifetime models. This paper develops a testing methodology based on the reliability target allocation for reliability demonstration under competing failure modes at accelerated conditions. The specified reliability at mission time and the risk caused by sampling of the reliability target for products are allocated for each failure mode. The risk caused by degradation measurement fitting of the target for a product involving performance degradation is equally allocated to each degradation failure mode. According to the allocated targets, the accelerated life reliability demonstration test (ALRDT) plans for the failure modes are designed. The accelerated degradation reliability demonstration test plans and the associated ALRDT plans for the degradation failure modes are also designed. Next, the test plan and the decision rules for the products are designed. Additionally, the effects of the discreteness of sample size and accepted number of failures for failure modes on the actual risks caused by sampling for the products are investigated. - Highlights: • Accelerated reliability demonstration under competing failure modes is studied. • The method is based on the reliability target allocation involving the risks. • The test plan for the products is based on the plans for all the failure modes. • Both failure mode and degradation failure modes are considered. • The error of actual risks caused by sampling for the products is small enough

Blurred image restoration using knife-edge function and optimal window Wiener filtering

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Shudao; Yan, Wei

2018-01-01

Motion blur in images is usually modeled as the convolution of a point spread function (PSF) and the original image represented as pixel intensities. The knife-edge function can be used to model various types of motion-blurs, and hence it allows for the construction of a PSF and accurate estimation of the degradation function without knowledge of the specific degradation model. This paper addresses the problem of image restoration using a knife-edge function and optimal window Wiener filtering. In the proposed method, we first calculate the motion-blur parameters and construct the optimal window. Then, we use the detected knife-edge function to obtain the system degradation function. Finally, we perform Wiener filtering to obtain the restored image. Experiments show that the restored image has improved resolution and contrast parameters with clear details and no discernible ringing effects. PMID:29377950

Nonreference Medical Image Edge Map Measure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen Panetta

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Edge detection is a key step in medical image processing. It is widely used to extract features, perform segmentation, and further assist in diagnosis. A poor quality edge map can result in false alarms and misses in cancer detection algorithms. Therefore, it is necessary to have a reliable edge measure to assist in selecting the optimal edge map. Existing reference based edge measures require a ground truth edge map to evaluate the similarity between the generated edge map and the ground truth. However, the ground truth images are not available for medical images. Therefore, a nonreference edge measure is ideal for medical image processing applications. In this paper, a nonreference reconstruction based edge map evaluation (NREM is proposed. The theoretical basis is that a good edge map keeps the structure and details of the original image thus would yield a good reconstructed image. The NREM is based on comparing the similarity between the reconstructed image with the original image using this concept. The edge measure is used for selecting the optimal edge detection algorithm and optimal parameters for the algorithm. Experimental results show that the quantitative evaluations given by the edge measure have good correlations with human visual analysis.

Stability of Working Reference Standards for Hybrid K-Edge Densitometer Quality Assurance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guzzardo, T.; Pickett, C.A.; McElroy, R.; Croft, S.; Garrison, J.; Venkataraman, R.

2015-01-01

The relatively short working life of aqueous solution standards of actinides for the calibration and quality control of Hybrid K-Edge Densitometer (HKED) measurements necessitates the development of a stable matrix material less susceptible to degradation. Degradation in the form of evaporation, radiolysis, settling, sloshing, and sediment formation can all reduce the reliability and working life of an aqueous standard. These factors make aqueous solutions inadequate for long-term quality assurance measurements designed to detect weak or subtle trends in system performance. Epoxy, studied here, is an alternative matrix material that may be less vulnerable to degradation. An additional benefit of epoxy is that standards can easily be characterized as sealed sources which allows for simplified administrative controls during shipping and storage. The stability of working reference standards consisting of U 3 O 8 in an epoxy matrix for use in the HKED has been tracked for over three years through repeated X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) and K-Edge (KED) measurements. A set of six epoxy standards ranging in concentration from 1 g/l to 76 g/l uranium were determined to be stable, within the expected accuracy of the system, over the period of analysis. During this time, no effort was made to enhance the stability of the epoxy standards; the radial measurement position was not controlled and in the middle of the analysis period the HKED system and standards were shipped from the vendor's factory to the customer. Epoxy standards afford numerous benefits over those created from aqueous solutions and should be considered when developing HKED standards for quality assurance measurements. The stability of the epoxy allows the development of working standards of a stability and robustness sufficient for use in a proposed international round-robin exercise based on the exchange of such standards. (author)

A reliability program for emergency diesel generators at nuclear power plants: Program structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lofgren, E.V.; DeMoss, G.M.; Fragola, J.R.; Appignani, P.L.; Delarche, G.; Boccio, J.

1988-04-01

The purpose of this report is to provide technical guidelines for NRC staff use in the development of positions for evaluating emergency diesel generator (EDG) reliability programs. Such reviews will likely result following resolution of USI A-44 and GSI B-56. The diesel generator reliability program is a management system for achieving and maintaining a selected (or target) level of reliability. This can be achieved by: (1) understanding the factors that control the EDG reliability and (2) then applying reliability and maintenance techniques in the proper proportion to achieve selected performance goals. The concepts and guidelines discussed in this report are concepts and approaches that have been successful in applications where high levels of reliability must be maintained. Both an EDG reliability program process and a set of review items for NRC use are provided. The review items represent a checklist for reviewing EDG reliability programs. They do not, in themselves, constitute a reliability program. Rather, the review items are those distinctive features of a reliability program that must be present for the program to be effective

[Edge effects of forest gap in Pinus massoniana plantations on the decomposition of leaf litter recalcitrant components of Cinnamomum camphora and Toona ciliata.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yan; Zhang, Dan Ju; Li, Xun; Liu, Hua; Zhang, Ming Jin; Yang, Wan Qin; Zhang, Jian

2016-04-22

The objective of the study was to evaluate the dynamics of recalcitrant components during foliar litter decomposition under edge effects of forest gap in Pinus massoniana plantations in the low hilly land, Sichuan basin. A field litterbag experiment was conducted in seven forest gaps with different sizes (100, 225, 400, 625, 900, 1225, 1600 m 2 ) which were generated by thinning P. massoniana plantations. The degradation rate of four recalcitrant components, i.e., condensed tannins, total phenol, lignin and cellulose in foliar litter of two native species (Cinnamomum camphora and Toona ciliata) at the gap edge and under the closed canopy were measured. The results showed that the degradation rate of recalcitrant components in T. ciliata litter except for cellulose at the gap edge were significantly higher than that under the closed canopy. For C. camphora litter, only the degradation of lignin at the gap edge was higher than that under the closed canopy. After one-year decomposition, four recalcitrant components in two types of foliar litter exhibited an increment of degradation rate, and the degradation rate of condensed tannin was the fastest, followed by total phenol and cellulose, but the lignin degradation rate was the slowest. With the increase of gap size, except for cellulose, the degradation rate ofthe other three recalcitrant components of the T. ciliata at the edge of medium sized gaps (400 and 625 m 2 ) were significantly higher than at the edge of other gaps. However, lignin in the C. camphora litter at the 625 m 2 gap edge showed the greatest degradation rate. Both temperature and litter initial content were significantly correlated with litter recalcitrant component degradation. Our results suggested that medium sized gaps (400-625 m 2 ) had a more significant edge effect on the degradation of litter recalcitrant components in the two native species in P. massoniana plantations, however, the effect also depended on species.

Semiconductor laser engineering, reliability and diagnostics a practical approach to high power and single mode devices

CERN Document Server

Epperlein, Peter W

2013-01-01

This reference book provides a fully integrated novel approach to the development of high-power, single-transverse mode, edge-emitting diode lasers by addressing the complementary topics of device engineering, reliability engineering and device diagnostics in the same book, and thus closes the gap in the current book literature. Diode laser fundamentals are discussed, followed by an elaborate discussion of problem-oriented design guidelines and techniques, and by a systematic treatment of the origins of laser degradation and a thorough exploration of the engineering means to enhance the optical strength of the laser. Stability criteria of critical laser characteristics and key laser robustness factors are discussed along with clear design considerations in the context of reliability engineering approaches and models, and typical programs for reliability tests and laser product qualifications. Novel, advanced diagnostic methods are reviewed to discuss, for the first time in detail in book literature, performa...

Diagnosing phenotypes of single-sample individuals by edge biomarkers.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wanwei; Zeng, Tao; Liu, Xiaoping; Chen, Luonan

2015-06-01

Network or edge biomarkers are a reliable form to characterize phenotypes or diseases. However, obtaining edges or correlations between molecules for an individual requires measurement of multiple samples of that individual, which are generally unavailable in clinical practice. Thus, it is strongly demanded to diagnose a disease by edge or network biomarkers in one-sample-for-one-individual context. Here, we developed a new computational framework, EdgeBiomarker, to integrate edge and node biomarkers to diagnose phenotype of each single test sample. By applying the method to datasets of lung and breast cancer, it reveals new marker genes/gene-pairs and related sub-networks for distinguishing earlier and advanced cancer stages. Our method shows advantages over traditional methods: (i) edge biomarkers extracted from non-differentially expressed genes achieve better cross-validation accuracy of diagnosis than molecule or node biomarkers from differentially expressed genes, suggesting that certain pathogenic information is only present at the level of network and under-estimated by traditional methods; (ii) edge biomarkers categorize patients into low/high survival rate in a more reliable manner; (iii) edge biomarkers are significantly enriched in relevant biological functions or pathways, implying that the association changes in a network, rather than expression changes in individual molecules, tend to be causally related to cancer development. The new framework of edge biomarkers paves the way for diagnosing diseases and analyzing their molecular mechanisms by edges or networks in one-sample-for-one-individual basis. This also provides a powerful tool for precision medicine or big-data medicine. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Journal of Molecular Cell Biology, IBCB, SIBS, CAS. All rights reserved.

Reliability for systems of degrading components with distinct component shock sets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Sanling; Coit, David W.; Feng, Qianmei

2014-01-01

This paper studies reliability for multi-component systems subject to dependent competing risks of degradation wear and random shocks, with distinct shock sets. In practice, many systems are exposed to distinct and different types of shocks that can be categorized according to their sizes, function, affected components, etc. Previous research primarily focuses on simple systems with independent failure processes, systems with independent component time-to-failure, or components that share the same shock set or type of shocks. In our new model, we classify random shocks into different sets based on their sizes or function. Shocks with specific sizes or function can selectively affect one or more components in the system but not necessarily all components. Additionally the shocks from the different shock sets can arrive at different rates and have different relative magnitudes. Preventive maintenance (PM) optimization is conducted for the system with different component shock sets. Decision variables for two different maintenance scheduling problems, the PM replacement time interval, and the PM inspection time interval, are determined by minimizing a defined system cost rate. Sensitivity analysis is performed to provide insight into the behavior of the proposed maintenance policies. These models can be applied directly or customized for many complex systems that experience dependent competing failure processes with different component shock sets. A MEMS (Micro-electro mechanical systems) oscillator is a typical system subject to dependent and competing failure processes, and it is used as a numerical example to illustrate our new reliability and maintenance models

Edge enhancement algorithm for low-dose X-ray fluoroscopic imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Min Seok; Park, Chul Hee; Kang, Moon Gi

2017-12-01

Low-dose X-ray fluoroscopy has continually evolved to reduce radiation risk to patients during clinical diagnosis and surgery. However, the reduction in dose exposure causes quality degradation of the acquired images. In general, an X-ray device has a time-average pre-processor to remove the generated quantum noise. However, this pre-processor causes blurring and artifacts within the moving edge regions, and noise remains in the image. During high-pass filtering (HPF) to enhance edge detail, this noise in the image is amplified. In this study, a 2D edge enhancement algorithm comprising region adaptive HPF with the transient improvement (TI) method, as well as artifacts and noise reduction (ANR), was developed for degraded X-ray fluoroscopic images. The proposed method was applied in a static scene pre-processed by a low-dose X-ray fluoroscopy device. First, the sharpness of the X-ray image was improved using region adaptive HPF with the TI method, which facilitates sharpening of edge details without overshoot problems. Then, an ANR filter that uses an edge directional kernel was developed to remove the artifacts and noise that can occur during sharpening, while preserving edge details. The quantitative and qualitative results obtained by applying the developed method to low-dose X-ray fluoroscopic images and visually and numerically comparing the final images with images improved using conventional edge enhancement techniques indicate that the proposed method outperforms existing edge enhancement methods in terms of objective criteria and subjective visual perception of the actual X-ray fluoroscopic image. The developed edge enhancement algorithm performed well when applied to actual low-dose X-ray fluoroscopic images, not only by improving the sharpness, but also by removing artifacts and noise, including overshoot. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reliable Path Selection Problem in Uncertain Traffic Network after Natural Disaster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Wang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available After natural disaster, especially for large-scale disasters and affected areas, vast relief materials are often needed. In the meantime, the traffic networks are always of uncertainty because of the disaster. In this paper, we assume that the edges in the network are either connected or blocked, and the connection probability of each edge is known. In order to ensure the arrival of these supplies at the affected areas, it is important to select a reliable path. A reliable path selection model is formulated, and two algorithms for solving this model are presented. Then, adjustable reliable path selection model is proposed when the edge of the selected reliable path is broken. And the corresponding algorithms are shown to be efficient both theoretically and numerically.

Development of Markov model of emergency diesel generator for dynamic reliability analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin, Young Ho; Choi, Sun Yeong; Yang, Joon Eon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea)

1999-02-01

The EDG (Emergency Diesal Generator) of nuclear power plant is one of the most important equipments in mitigating accidents. The FT (Fault Tree) method is widely used to assess the reliability of safety systems like an EDG in nuclear power plant. This method, however, has limitations in modeling dynamic features of safety systems exactly. We, hence, have developed a Markov model to represent the stochastic process of dynamic systems whose states change as time moves on. The Markov model enables us to develop a dynamic reliability model of EDG. This model can represent all possible states of EDG comparing to the FRANTIC code developed by U.S. NRC for the reliability analysis of standby systems. to access the regulation policy for test interval, we performed two simulations based on the generic data and plant specific data of YGN 3, respectively by using the developed model. We also estimate the effects of various repair rates and the fractions of starting failures by demand shock to the reliability of EDG. And finally, Aging effect is analyzed. (author). 23 refs., 19 figs., 9 tabs.

Component reliability criticality or importance metrics for systems with degrading components

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peng, H.; Coit, D.W.; Feng, Q.

2012-01-01

This paper proposes two new importance measures: one new importance measure for systems with -independent degrading components, and another one for systems with -correlated degrading components. Importance measures in previous research are inadequate for systems with degrading components because

Analyses of reliability characteristics of emergency diesel generator population using empirical Bayes methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vesely, W.E.; Uryas'ev, S.P.; Samanta, P.K.

1993-01-01

Emergency Diesel Generators (EDGs) provide backup power to nuclear power plants in case of failure of AC buses. The reliability of EDGs is important to assure response to loss-of-offsite power accident scenarios, a dominant contributor to the plant risk. The reliable performance of EDGs has been of concern both for regulators and plant operators. In this paper the authors present an approach and results from the analysis of failure data from a large population of EDGs. They used empirical Bayes approach to obtain both the population distribution and the individual failure probabilities from EDGs failure to start and load-run data over 4 years for 194 EDGs at 63 plant units

Evaluation of full and degraded mission reliability and mission dependability for intermittently operated, multi-functional systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sols, Alberto; Ramirez-Marquez, Jose E.; Verma, Dinesh; Vitoriano, Begona

2007-01-01

Availability is one of the metrics often used in the evaluation of system effectiveness. Its use as an effectiveness metric is often dictated by the nature of the system under consideration. While some systems operate continuously, many others operate on an intermittent basis where each operational period may often involve a different set of missions. This is the most likely scenario for complex multi-functional systems, where each specific system mission may require the availability of a different combination of system elements. Similarly, for these systems, not only is it important to know whether a mission can be initiated, it is just as important to know whether the system is capable of completing such a mission. Thus, for these systems, additional measures become relevant to provide a more holistic assessment of system effectiveness. This paper presents techniques for the evaluation of both full and degraded mission reliability and mission dependability for coherent, intermittently operated multi-functional systems. These metrics complement previously developed availability and degraded availability measures of multi-functional systems, in the comprehensive assessment of system effectiveness

Influence of edge roughness on graphene nanoribbon resonant tunnelling diodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang Gengchiau; Khalid, Sharjeel Bin; Lam, Kai-Tak

2010-01-01

The edge roughness effects of graphene nanoribbons on their application in resonant tunnelling diodes with different geometrical shapes (S, H and W) were investigated. Sixty samples for each 5%, 10% and 15% edge roughness conditions of these differently shaped graphene nanoribbon resonant tunnelling diodes were randomly generated and studied. Firstly, it was observed that edge roughness in the barrier regions decreases the effective barrier height and thickness, which increases the broadening of the quantized states in the quantum well due to the enhanced penetration of the wave-function tail from the electrodes. Secondly, edge roughness increases the effective width of the quantum well and causes the lowering of the quantized states. Furthermore, the shape effects on carrier transport are modified by edge roughness due to different interfacial scattering. Finally, with the effects mentioned above, edge roughness has a considerable impact on the device performance in terms of varying the peak-current positions and degrading the peak-to-valley current ratio.

Composite polymer: Glass edge cladding for laser disks

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, H.T.; Wolfe, C.A.; Campbell, J.H.; Murray, J.E.; Riley, M.O.; Lyon, R.E.; Jessop, E.S.

1987-11-02

Large neodymium glass laser disks for disk amplifiers such as those used in the Nova laser require an edge cladding which absorbs at 1 micrometer. This cladding prevents edge reflections from causing parasitic oscillations which would otherwise deplete the gain. Nova now utilizes volume-absorbing monolithic-glass claddings which are fused at high temperature to the disks. These perform quite well but are expensive to produce. Absorbing glass strips are adhesively bonded to the edges of polygonal disks using a bonding agent whose index of refraction matches that of both the laser and absorbing glass. Optical finishing occurs after the strips are attached. Laser disks constructed with such claddings have shown identical gain performance to the previous Nova disks and have been tested for hundreds of shots without significant degradation. 18 figs.

Composite polymer-glass edge cladding for laser disks

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Howard T.; Riley, Michael O.; Wolfe, Charles R.; Lyon, Richard E.; Campbell, John H.; Jessop, Edward S.; Murray, James E.

1989-01-01

Large neodymium glass laser disks for disk amplifiers such as those used in the Nova laser require an edge cladding which absorbs at 1 micrometer. This cladding prevents edge reflections from causing parasitic oscillations which would otherwise deplete the gain. Nova now utilizes volume-absorbing monolithic-glass claddings which are fused at high temperature to the disks. These perform quite well but are expensive to produce. Absorbing glass strips are adhesively bonded to the edges of polygonal disks using a bonding agent whose index of refraction matches that of both the laser and absorbing glass. Optical finishing occurs after the strips are attached. Laser disks constructed with such claddings have shown identical gain performance to the previous Nova disks and have been tested for hundreds of shots without significant degradation.

A complex probe for tokamak plasma edge conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, R.M. de; Silva, R.P. da; Heller, M.V.A.P.; Caldas, I.L.; Nascimento, I.C.; Degasperi, F.T.

1995-01-01

The study of the physical processes that occur in the plasma edge of tokamak machines has recently grown due to the evidence that these processes influence those that occur in the center of the plasma column. Experimental studies show the existence of a strong level of fluctuations in the plasma edge. The results of these studies indicate that these fluctuations enhance particle and energy transport and degrade the confinement. In order to investigate these processes in the plasma edge of the TBR-1 Tokamak, a Langmuir probe array, a triple and a set of magnetic probes have been designed and constructed. With this set probes the mean and fluctuation values of the magnetic field were detected and correlated with the fluctuating parameters obtained with the electrostatic probes. (author). 7 refs., 5 figs

Edge detection techniques for iris recognition system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tania, U T; Motakabber, S M A; Ibrahimy, M I

2013-01-01

Nowadays security and authentication are the major parts of our daily life. Iris is one of the most reliable organ or part of human body which can be used for identification and authentication purpose. To develop an iris authentication algorithm for personal identification, this paper examines two edge detection techniques for iris recognition system. Between the Sobel and the Canny edge detection techniques, the experimental result shows that the Canny's technique has better ability to detect points in a digital image where image gray level changes even at slow rate

Multi-state reliability for coolant pump based on dependent competitive failure model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shang Yanlong; Cai Qi; Zhao Xinwen; Chen Ling

2013-01-01

By taking into account the effect of degradation due to internal vibration and external shocks. and based on service environment and degradation mechanism of nuclear power plant coolant pump, a multi-state reliability model of coolant pump was proposed for the system that involves competitive failure process between shocks and degradation. Using this model, degradation state probability and system reliability were obtained under the consideration of internal vibration and external shocks for the degraded coolant pump. It provided an effective method to reliability analysis for coolant pump in nuclear power plant based on operating environment. The results can provide a decision making basis for design changing and maintenance optimization. (authors)

Anti-impulse-noise Edge Detection via Anisotropic Morphological Directional Derivatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Shui, Peng-Lang; Wang, Fu-Ping

2017-07-13

Traditional differential-based edge detection suffers from abrupt degradation in performance when images are corrupted by impulse noises. The morphological operators such as the median filters and weighted median filters possess the intrinsic ability to counteract impulse noise. In this paper, by combining the biwindow configuration with weighted median filters, anisotropic morphological directional derivatives (AMDD) robust to impulse noise are proposed to measure the local grayscale variation around a pixel. For ideal step edges, the AMDD spatial response and directional representation are derived. The characteristics and edge resolution of two kinds of typical biwindows are analyzed thoroughly. In terms of the AMDD spatial response and directional representation of ideal step edges, the spatial matched filter is used to extract the edge strength map (ESM) from the AMDDs of an image. The spatial and directional matched filters are used to extract the edge direction map (EDM). Embedding the extracted ESM and EDM into the standard route of the differential-based edge detection, an anti-impulse-noise AMDD-based edge detector is constructed. It is compared with the existing state-of-the-art detectors on a recognized image dataset for edge detection evaluation. The results show that it attains competitive performance in noise-free and Gaussian noise cases and the best performance in impulse noise cases.

Operational safety reliability research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, R.E.; Boccio, J.L.

1986-01-01

Operating reactor events such as the TMI accident and the Salem automatic-trip failures raised the concern that during a plant's operating lifetime the reliability of systems could degrade from the design level that was considered in the licensing process. To address this concern, NRC is sponsoring the Operational Safety Reliability Research project. The objectives of this project are to identify the essential tasks of a reliability program and to evaluate the effectiveness and attributes of such a reliability program applicable to maintaining an acceptable level of safety during the operating lifetime at the plant

A system-of-systems framework for the reliability analysis of distributed generation systems accounting for the impact of degraded communication networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mo, Hua-Dong; Li, Yan-Fu; Zio, Enrico

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A system-of-systems framework is proposed for reliability analysis of DG system. • The impact of degraded communication networks is included and quantified. • Various uncertainties and contingencies in the DG system are considered. • A Monte Carlo simulation-optimal power flow computational framework is developed. • The results of the application study show the power of the proposed framework. - Abstract: Distributed generation (DG) systems install communication networks for managing real-time energy imbalance. Different from previous research, which typically assumes perfect communication networks, this work aims to quantitatively account for the impact of degraded communication networks on DG systems performance. The degraded behavior of communication networks is modeled by stochastic continuous time transmission delays and packet dropouts. On the DG systems side, we consider the inherent uncertainties of renewable energy sources, loads and energy prices. We develop a Monte Carlo simulation-optimal power flow (MCS-OPF) computational framework that is capable of generating consecutive time-dependent operating scenarios of the integrated system. Quantitative analysis is carried out to measure the impact of communication networks degradation onto the DG systems. For illustration, the framework is applied to a modified IEEE 13 nodes test feeder. The results demonstrate that the degraded communication networks can significantly deteriorate the performance of the integrated system. A grey differential model-based prediction method for reconstructing missing data is effective in mitigating the influence of the degraded communication networks.

Center edge angle measurement for hip preservation surgery: technique and caveats.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Lucas A; Gililland, Jeremy; Pelt, Christopher; Linford, Samuel; Stoddard, Gregory J; Peters, Christopher L

2011-01-01

Anterior and lateral center edge angles have traditionally been used to determine acetabular coverage, and thereby strongly influence the decision to perform acetabular reorientation versus osteochondroplasty in patients with dysplasia and/or femoroacetabular impingement. We propose templating the center of the contained articular femoral head in aspherical hips to provide reliable assessment of acetabular coverage. Digital radiographs of 30 patients with various combinations of femoral and acetabular morphologies were evaluated using 2 methods to identify the anterior center edge angle and lateral center edge angle. The control method used an estimated femoral head center for angle apex. The study technique determined the center of the femoral head by templating the congruent aspect of the femoral head contained by the acetabulum while ignoring the increasing lateral and anterior radius associated with cam deformities. Four readers measured lateral center edge angles on anteroposterior radiographs and anterior center edge angles on false-profile radiographs. Two reads were performed by each reader using both the estimated and the templated methods for a total of 4 reads. Interobserver reliability using the proposed method compared to the standard was much improved for anterior center edge angles (intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.76 vs 0.55) as well as with lateral center edge angles (ICC of 0.80 vs 0.42). Decreased correlation was most commonly associated with abnormal sourcil morphology, posterior wall deficiency combined with calcified labra, and os acetabuli. Including the anterolateral cam deformity in identifying the center of the femoral head for measuring center edge angles leads to an underestimation of acetabular coverage, which may negatively affect hip preservation surgical decision making. Copyright 2011, SLACK Incorporated.

Properties on the edge: graphene edge energies, edge stresses, edge warping, and the Wulff shape of graphene flakes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Branicio, Paulo S; Jhon, Mark H; Gan, Chee Kwan; Srolovitz, David J

2011-01-01

It has been shown that the broken bonds of an unreconstructed graphene edge generate compressive edge stresses leading to edge warping. Here, we investigate edge energies and edge stresses of graphene nanoribbons with arbitrary orientations from armchair to zigzag, considering both flat and warped edge shapes in the presence and absence of hydrogen. We use the second generation reactive empirical bond order potential to calculate the edge energies and stresses for clean and hydrogenated edges. Using these energies, we perform a Wulff construction to determine the equilibrium shapes of flat graphene flakes as a function of hydrogen chemical potential. While edge stresses for clean, flat edges are compressive, they become tensile if allowed to warp. Conversely, we find that edge energies change little (∼1%) with edge warping. Hydrogenation of the edges virtually eliminates both the edge energy and edge stresses. For warped edges an approximately linear relationship is found between amplitudes and wavelengths. The equilibrium shape of a graphene flake is determined by the value of the hydrogen chemical potential. For very small (and large) values of it the flakes have a nearly hexagonal (dodecagon) shape with zigzag oriented edges, while for intermediate values graphene flakes are found with complex shapes

High Precision Edge Detection Algorithm for Mechanical Parts

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Zhenyun; Wang, Ning; Fu, Jingshun; Zhao, Wenhui; Duan, Boqiang; Zhao, Jungui

2018-04-01

High precision and high efficiency measurement is becoming an imperative requirement for a lot of mechanical parts. So in this study, a subpixel-level edge detection algorithm based on the Gaussian integral model is proposed. For this purpose, the step edge normal section line Gaussian integral model of the backlight image is constructed, combined with the point spread function and the single step model. Then gray value of discrete points on the normal section line of pixel edge is calculated by surface interpolation, and the coordinate as well as gray information affected by noise is fitted in accordance with the Gaussian integral model. Therefore, a precise location of a subpixel edge was determined by searching the mean point. Finally, a gear tooth was measured by M&M3525 gear measurement center to verify the proposed algorithm. The theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the local edge fluctuation is reduced effectively by the proposed method in comparison with the existing subpixel edge detection algorithms. The subpixel edge location accuracy and computation speed are improved. And the maximum error of gear tooth profile total deviation is 1.9 μm compared with measurement result with gear measurement center. It indicates that the method has high reliability to meet the requirement of high precision measurement.

Reliability and maintainability assessment factors for reliable fault-tolerant systems

Science.gov (United States)

Bavuso, S. J.

1984-01-01

A long term goal of the NASA Langley Research Center is the development of a reliability assessment methodology of sufficient power to enable the credible comparison of the stochastic attributes of one ultrareliable system design against others. This methodology, developed over a 10 year period, is a combined analytic and simulative technique. An analytic component is the Computer Aided Reliability Estimation capability, third generation, or simply CARE III. A simulative component is the Gate Logic Software Simulator capability, or GLOSS. The numerous factors that potentially have a degrading effect on system reliability and the ways in which these factors that are peculiar to highly reliable fault tolerant systems are accounted for in credible reliability assessments. Also presented are the modeling difficulties that result from their inclusion and the ways in which CARE III and GLOSS mitigate the intractability of the heretofore unworkable mathematics.

Integrated core-edge-divertor modeling studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stacey, W.M.

2001-01-01

An integrated calculation model for simulating the interaction of physics phenomena taking place in the plasma core, in the plasma edge and in the SOL and divertor of tokamaks has been developed and applied to study such interactions. The model synthesises a combination of numerical calculations (1) the power and particle balances for the core plasma, using empirical confinement scaling laws and taking into account radiation losses (2), the particle, momentum and power balances in the SOL and divertor, taking into account the effects of radiation and recycling neutrals, (3) the transport of feeling and recycling neutrals, explicitly representing divertor and pumping geometry, and (4) edge pedestal gradient scale lengths and widths, evaluation of theoretical predictions (5) confinement degradation due to thermal instabilities in the edge pedestals, (6) detachment and divertor MARFE onset, (7) core MARFE onsets leading to a H-L transition, and (8) radiative collapse leading to a disruption and evaluation of empirical fits (9) power thresholds for the L-H and H-L transitions and (10) the width of the edge pedestals. The various components of the calculation model are coupled and must be iterated to a self-consistent convergence. The model was developed over several years for the purpose of interpreting various edge phenomena observed in DIII-D experiments and thereby, to some extent, has been benchmarked against experiment. Because the model treats the interactions of various phenomena in the core, edge and divertor, yet is computationally efficient, it lends itself to the investigation of the effects of different choices of various edge plasma operating conditions on overall divertor and core plasma performance. Studies of the effect of feeling location and rate, divertor geometry, plasma shape, pumping and over 'edge parameters' on core plasma properties (line average density, confinement, density limit, etc.) have been performed for DIII-D model problems. A

The Edge Detectors Suitable for Retinal OCT Image Segmentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Su Luo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Retinal layer thickness measurement offers important information for reliable diagnosis of retinal diseases and for the evaluation of disease development and medical treatment responses. This task critically depends on the accurate edge detection of the retinal layers in OCT images. Here, we intended to search for the most suitable edge detectors for the retinal OCT image segmentation task. The three most promising edge detection algorithms were identified in the related literature: Canny edge detector, the two-pass method, and the EdgeFlow technique. The quantitative evaluation results show that the two-pass method outperforms consistently the Canny detector and the EdgeFlow technique in delineating the retinal layer boundaries in the OCT images. In addition, the mean localization deviation metrics show that the two-pass method caused the smallest edge shifting problem. These findings suggest that the two-pass method is the best among the three algorithms for detecting retinal layer boundaries. The overall better performance of Canny and two-pass methods over EdgeFlow technique implies that the OCT images contain more intensity gradient information than texture changes along the retinal layer boundaries. The results will guide our future efforts in the quantitative analysis of retinal OCT images for the effective use of OCT technologies in the field of ophthalmology.

Development of composite polymer-glass edge claddings for Nova Laser Disks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, J.H.; Edwards, G.; Frick, F.A.; Gemmell, D.S.; Gim, B.M.; Jancaitis, K.S.; Jessop, E.S.; Kong, M.K.; Lyon, R.E.; Murray, J.E.; Patton, H.G.; Pitts, J.H.; Powell, H.T.; Riley, M.O.; Wallerstein, E.P.; Wolfe, C.R.; Woods, B.W.

1988-01-01

Large Nd:glass laser disks for disk amplifiers require an edge cladding which absorbs at 1 μ m. This cladding prevents edge reflections from causing parasitic oscillations that would otherwise deplete the gain. The authors have developed a composite polymer-glass edge cladding that consists of absorbing glass strips bonded to the edges of laser glass disks using an epoxy adhesive. The edge cladding must survive a fluence of approximately 20 J/cm 2 in a 0.5-ms pulse. Failure can occur either by decomposition of the polymer or by mechanical failure from thermal stresses which leads to bond delamination. An epoxy has been developed that gives the required damage resistance, refractive index match and processing characteristics. A slight tilt of the disk edges greatly reduces the threat from parasitic oscillations and a glass surface treatment is used to promote bond adhesion. Laser disks fabricated with this new cladding show identical gain performance to disks using conventional fused-glass cladding and have been tested for over 2000 shots (equivalent to about a 4-year lifetime on Nova) with out degradation

Reliability and corrosion induced degradation of electronic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tapas, V.K.; Varde, P.V.

2014-01-01

This paper describe the corrosion induced degradation of electronic system failures due to environmental conditions such as humidity, temperature, ionic or organic contaminants, residuals; etc. which can accelerates as electrochemical reaction and causes corrosion of electronic components, Corrosive gases and water vapours from humid condition come into contact with the base metal results in buildup of various chemical reaction products. Ionic contamination responsible for electrochemical reaction, forms soluble complexes with metals, it can degrade the protective oxide film that forms on the positively biased metallization and/or lead to change in the local pH. Deterioration of metal components or electronic circuitry due to electrochemical migration needs to be controlled in order to reduce the corrosion. With explosive increase in demand and miniaturization in electronic system resulted in smaller components, closer spacing and thinner metallic path, it is expected that the corrosion and deterioration of electronic components may become cause or concern. This paper summarises the current understanding of chemistry behind possible causes of corrosion of electronic devices and its failure mechanism. (author)

Individual differneces in degraded speech perception

Science.gov (United States)

Carbonell, Kathy M.

One of the lasting concerns in audiology is the unexplained individual differences in speech perception performance even for individuals with similar audiograms. One proposal is that there are cognitive/perceptual individual differences underlying this vulnerability and that these differences are present in normal hearing (NH) individuals but do not reveal themselves in studies that use clear speech produced in quiet (because of a ceiling effect). However, previous studies have failed to uncover cognitive/perceptual variables that explain much of the variance in NH performance on more challenging degraded speech tasks. This lack of strong correlations may be due to either examining the wrong measures (e.g., working memory capacity) or to there being no reliable differences in degraded speech performance in NH listeners (i.e., variability in performance is due to measurement noise). The proposed project has 3 aims; the first, is to establish whether there are reliable individual differences in degraded speech performance for NH listeners that are sustained both across degradation types (speech in noise, compressed speech, noise-vocoded speech) and across multiple testing sessions. The second aim is to establish whether there are reliable differences in NH listeners' ability to adapt their phonetic categories based on short-term statistics both across tasks and across sessions; and finally, to determine whether performance on degraded speech perception tasks are correlated with performance on phonetic adaptability tasks, thus establishing a possible explanatory variable for individual differences in speech perception for NH and hearing impaired listeners.

ESIM: Edge Similarity for Screen Content Image Quality Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ni, Zhangkai; Ma, Lin; Zeng, Huanqiang; Chen, Jing; Cai, Canhui; Ma, Kai-Kuang

2017-10-01

In this paper, an accurate full-reference image quality assessment (IQA) model developed for assessing screen content images (SCIs), called the edge similarity (ESIM), is proposed. It is inspired by the fact that the human visual system (HVS) is highly sensitive to edges that are often encountered in SCIs; therefore, essential edge features are extracted and exploited for conducting IQA for the SCIs. The key novelty of the proposed ESIM lies in the extraction and use of three salient edge features-i.e., edge contrast, edge width, and edge direction. The first two attributes are simultaneously generated from the input SCI based on a parametric edge model, while the last one is derived directly from the input SCI. The extraction of these three features will be performed for the reference SCI and the distorted SCI, individually. The degree of similarity measured for each above-mentioned edge attribute is then computed independently, followed by combining them together using our proposed edge-width pooling strategy to generate the final ESIM score. To conduct the performance evaluation of our proposed ESIM model, a new and the largest SCI database (denoted as SCID) is established in our work and made to the public for download. Our database contains 1800 distorted SCIs that are generated from 40 reference SCIs. For each SCI, nine distortion types are investigated, and five degradation levels are produced for each distortion type. Extensive simulation results have clearly shown that the proposed ESIM model is more consistent with the perception of the HVS on the evaluation of distorted SCIs than the multiple state-of-the-art IQA methods.

High Precision Edge Detection Algorithm for Mechanical Parts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duan Zhenyun

2018-04-01

Full Text Available High precision and high efficiency measurement is becoming an imperative requirement for a lot of mechanical parts. So in this study, a subpixel-level edge detection algorithm based on the Gaussian integral model is proposed. For this purpose, the step edge normal section line Gaussian integral model of the backlight image is constructed, combined with the point spread function and the single step model. Then gray value of discrete points on the normal section line of pixel edge is calculated by surface interpolation, and the coordinate as well as gray information affected by noise is fitted in accordance with the Gaussian integral model. Therefore, a precise location of a subpixel edge was determined by searching the mean point. Finally, a gear tooth was measured by M&M3525 gear measurement center to verify the proposed algorithm. The theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the local edge fluctuation is reduced effectively by the proposed method in comparison with the existing subpixel edge detection algorithms. The subpixel edge location accuracy and computation speed are improved. And the maximum error of gear tooth profile total deviation is 1.9 μm compared with measurement result with gear measurement center. It indicates that the method has high reliability to meet the requirement of high precision measurement.

Building and integrating reliability models in a Reliability-Centered-Maintenance approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verite, B.; Villain, B.; Venturini, V.; Hugonnard, S.; Bryla, P.

1998-03-01

Electricite de France (EDF) has recently developed its OMF-Structures method, designed to optimize preventive maintenance of passive structures such as pipes and support, based on risk. In particular, reliability performances of components need to be determined; it is a two-step process, consisting of a qualitative sort followed by a quantitative evaluation, involving two types of models. Initially, degradation models are widely used to exclude some components from the field of preventive maintenance. The reliability of the remaining components is then evaluated by means of quantitative reliability models. The results are then included in a risk indicator that is used to directly optimize preventive maintenance tasks. (author)

Statistical Bayesian method for reliability evaluation based on ADT data

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Dawei; Wang, Lizhi; Sun, Yusheng; Wang, Xiaohong

2018-05-01

Accelerated degradation testing (ADT) is frequently conducted in the laboratory to predict the products’ reliability under normal operating conditions. Two kinds of methods, degradation path models and stochastic process models, are utilized to analyze degradation data and the latter one is the most popular method. However, some limitations like imprecise solution process and estimation result of degradation ratio still exist, which may affect the accuracy of the acceleration model and the extrapolation value. Moreover, the conducted solution of this problem, Bayesian method, lose key information when unifying the degradation data. In this paper, a new data processing and parameter inference method based on Bayesian method is proposed to handle degradation data and solve the problems above. First, Wiener process and acceleration model is chosen; Second, the initial values of degradation model and parameters of prior and posterior distribution under each level is calculated with updating and iteration of estimation values; Third, the lifetime and reliability values are estimated on the basis of the estimation parameters; Finally, a case study is provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method. The results illustrate that the proposed method is quite effective and accuracy in estimating the lifetime and reliability of a product.

A Bayesian approach to degradation-based burn-in optimization for display products exhibiting two-phase degradation patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan, Tao; Bae, Suk Joo; Zhu, Xiaoyan

2016-01-01

Motivated by the two-phase degradation phenomena observed in light displays (e.g., plasma display panels (PDPs), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs)), this study proposes a new degradation-based burn-in testing plan for display products exhibiting two-phase degradation patterns. The primary focus of the burn-in test in this study is to eliminate the initial rapid degradation phase, while the major purpose of traditional burn-in tests is to detect and eliminate early failures from weak units. A hierarchical Bayesian bi-exponential model is used to capture two-phase degradation patterns of the burn-in population. Mission reliability and total cost are introduced as planning criteria. The proposed burn-in approach accounts for unit-to-unit variability within the burn-in population, and uncertainty concerning the model parameters, mainly in the hierarchical Bayesian framework. Available pre-burn-in data is conveniently incorporated into the burn-in decision-making procedure. A practical example of PDP degradation data is used to illustrate the proposed methodology. The proposed method is compared to other approaches such as the maximum likelihood method or the change-point regression. - Highlights: • We propose a degradation-based burn-in test for products with two-phase degradation. • Mission reliability and total cost are used as planning criteria. • The proposed burn-in approach is built within the hierarchical Bayesian framework. • A practical example was used to illustrate the proposed methodology.

A methodology and success/failure criteria for determining emergency diesel generator reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wyckoff, H.L.

1986-01-01

In the U.S., comprehensive records of nationwide emergency diesel generator (EDG) reliability at nuclear power plants have not been consistently collected. Those surveys that have been undertaken have not always been complete and accurate. Moreover, they have been based On an extremely conservative methodology and success/failure criteria that are specified in U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Reg. Guide 1.108. This Reg. Guide was one of the NRCs earlier efforts and does not yield the caliber of statistically defensible reliability values that are now needed. On behalf of the U.S. utilities, EPRI is taking the lead in organizing, investigating, and compiling a realistic database of EDG operating success/failure experience for the years 1983, 1984 and 1985. These data will be analyzed to provide an overall picture of EDG reliability. This paper describes the statistical methodology and start and run success/- failure criteria that EPRI is using. The survey is scheduled to be completed in March 1986. (author)

A methodology and success/failure criteria for determining emergency diesel generator reliability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wyckoff, H. L. [Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, California (United States)

1986-02-15

In the U.S., comprehensive records of nationwide emergency diesel generator (EDG) reliability at nuclear power plants have not been consistently collected. Those surveys that have been undertaken have not always been complete and accurate. Moreover, they have been based On an extremely conservative methodology and success/failure criteria that are specified in U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Reg. Guide 1.108. This Reg. Guide was one of the NRCs earlier efforts and does not yield the caliber of statistically defensible reliability values that are now needed. On behalf of the U.S. utilities, EPRI is taking the lead in organizing, investigating, and compiling a realistic database of EDG operating success/failure experience for the years 1983, 1984 and 1985. These data will be analyzed to provide an overall picture of EDG reliability. This paper describes the statistical methodology and start and run success/- failure criteria that EPRI is using. The survey is scheduled to be completed in March 1986. (author)

Extensions and applications of degradation modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, F.; Subudhi, M.; Samanta, P.K.; Vesely, W.E.

1991-01-01

Component degradation modeling being developed to understand the aging process can have many applications with potential advantages. Previous work has focused on developing the basic concepts and mathematical development of a simple degradation model. Using this simple model, times of degradations and failures occurrences were analyzed for standby components to detect indications of aging and to infer the effectiveness of maintenance in preventing age-related degradations from transforming to failures. Degradation modeling approaches can have broader applications in aging studies and in this paper, the authors discuss some of the extensions and applications of degradation modeling. The extensions and applications of the degradation modeling approaches discussed are: (a) theoretical developments to study reliability effects of different maintenance strategies and policies, (b) relating aging-failure rate to degradation rate, and (c) application to a continuously operating component

Performance reliability prediction for thermal aging based on kalman filtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren Shuhong; Wen Zhenhua; Xue Fei; Zhao Wensheng

2015-01-01

The performance reliability of the nuclear power plant main pipeline that failed due to thermal aging was studied by the performance degradation theory. Firstly, through the data obtained from the accelerated thermal aging experiments, the degradation process of the impact strength and fracture toughness of austenitic stainless steel material of the main pipeline was analyzed. The time-varying performance degradation model based on the state space method was built, and the performance trends were predicted by using Kalman filtering. Then, the multi-parameter and real-time performance reliability prediction model for the main pipeline thermal aging was developed by considering the correlation between the impact properties and fracture toughness, and by using the stochastic process theory. Thus, the thermal aging performance reliability and reliability life of the main pipeline with multi-parameter were obtained, which provides the scientific basis for the optimization management of the aging maintenance decision making for nuclear power plant main pipelines. (authors)

Degradation failure model of self-healing metallized film pulse capacitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Quan; Zhong Zheng; Zhou Jinglun; Zhao Jianyin; Wei Xiaofeng; Guo Liangfu; Zhou Pizhang; Li Yizheng; Chen Dehuai

2004-01-01

The high energy density self-healing metallized film pulse capacitor has been applied to all kinds of laser facilities for their power conditioning systems, whose reliability and expense are straightforwardly affected by the reliability level of the capacitors. Based on the related research in literature, this paper analyses the degradation mechanism of the capacitor, and presents a new degradation failure model--the Gauss-Poisson model. The Gauss-Poisson model divides degradation of capacitor into naturalness degradation and outburst one. Compared with traditional Weibull failure model, the new model is more precise in evaluating the lifetime of the capacitor, and the life tests for this model are simple in design, and lower in the cost of time or expense. The Gauss-Poisson model will be a fine and widely used degradation disable model. (author)

Modeling the degradation of nuclear components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stock, D.; Samanta, P.; Vesely, W.

1993-01-01

This paper describes component level reliability models that use information on degradation to predict component reliability, and which have been used to evaluate different maintenance and testing policies. The models are based on continuous time Markov processes, and are a generalization of reliability models currently used in Probabilistic Risk Assessment. An explanation of the models, the model parameters, and an example of how these models can be used to evaluate maintenance policies are discussed

Geometric Edge Description and Classification in Point Cloud Data with Application to 3D Object Recognition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Troels Bo; Buch, Anders Glent; Kraft, Dirk

2015-01-01

descriptor allows for both fast computation and fast processing by having a low dimension, while still producing highly reliable edge detections. Lastly, we use our features in a 3D object recognition application using a well-established benchmark. We show that our edge features allow for significant...

Modeling of edge effect in subaperture tool influence functions of computer controlled optical surfacing.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Songlin; Zhang, Xiangchao; He, Xiaoying; Xu, Min

2016-12-20

Computer controlled optical surfacing requires an accurate tool influence function (TIF) for reliable path planning and deterministic fabrication. Near the edge of the workpieces, the TIF has a nonlinear removal behavior, which will cause a severe edge-roll phenomenon. In the present paper, a new edge pressure model is developed based on the finite element analysis results. The model is represented as the product of a basic pressure function and a correcting function. The basic pressure distribution is calculated according to the surface shape of the polishing pad, and the correcting function is used to compensate the errors caused by the edge effect. Practical experimental results demonstrate that the new model can accurately predict the edge TIFs with different overhang ratios. The relative error of the new edge model can be reduced to 15%.

26+ Year Old Photovoltaic Power Plant: Degradation and Reliability Evaluation of Crystalline Silicon Modules -- South Array

Science.gov (United States)

Olakonu, Kolapo

As the use of photovoltaic (PV) modules in large power plants continues to increase globally, more studies on degradation, reliability, failure modes, and mechanisms of field aged modules are needed to predict module life expectancy based on accelerated lifetime testing of PV modules. In this work, a 26+ year old PV power plant in Phoenix, Arizona has been evaluated for performance, reliability, and durability. The PV power plant, called Solar One, is owned and operated by John F. Long's homeowners association. It is a 200 kW dc, standard test conditions (STC) rated power plant comprised of 4000 PV modules or frameless laminates, in 100 panel groups (rated at 175 kW ac). The power plant is made of two center-tapped bipolar arrays, the north array and the south array. Due to a limited time frame to execute this large project, this work was performed by two masters students (Jonathan Belmont and Kolapo Olakonu) and the test results are presented in two masters theses. This thesis presents the results obtained on the south array and the other thesis presents the results obtained on the north array. Each of these two arrays is made of four sub arrays, the east sub arrays (positive and negative polarities) and the west sub arrays (positive and negative polarities), making up eight sub arrays. The evaluation and analyses of the power plant included in this thesis consists of: visual inspection, electrical performance measurements, and infrared thermography. A possible presence of potential induced degradation (PID) due to potential difference between ground and strings was also investigated. Some installation practices were also studied and found to contribute to the power loss observed in this investigation. The power output measured in 2011 for all eight sub arrays at STC is approximately 76 kWdc and represents a power loss of 62% (from 200 kW to 76 kW) over 26+ years. The 2011 measured power output for the four south sub arrays at STC is 39 kWdc and represents a power

Robust PV Degradation Methodology and Application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jordan, Dirk [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Deline, Christopher A [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kurtz, Sarah [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kimball, Greg [SunPower; Anderson, Mike [SunPower

2017-11-15

The degradation rate plays an important role in predicting and assessing the long-term energy generation of PV systems. Many methods have been proposed for extracting the degradation rate from operational data of PV systems, but most of the published approaches are susceptible to bias due to inverter clipping, module soiling, temporary outages, seasonality, and sensor degradation. In this manuscript, we propose a methodology for determining PV degradation leveraging available modeled clear-sky irradiance data rather than site sensor data, and a robust year-over-year (YOY) rate calculation. We show the method to provide reliable degradation rate estimates even in the case of sensor drift, data shifts, and soiling. Compared with alternate methods, we demonstrate that the proposed method delivers the lowest uncertainty in degradation rate estimates for a fleet of 486 PV systems.

Improving Reliability of Embedded Systems through Dynamic Memory Manager Optimization using Grammatical Evolution

OpenAIRE

Colmenar, J. Manuel; Risco-Martin, Jose L.; Atienza Alonso, David; Garnica, Oscar; Hidalgo, Jose I.; Lanchares, Juan

2010-01-01

Technology scaling has offered advantages to embedded systems, such as increased performance, more available memory and reduced energy consumption. However, scaling also brings a number of problems like reliability degradation mechanisms. The intensive activity of devices and high operating temperatures are key factors for reliability degradation in latest technology nodes. Focusing on embedded systems, the memory is prone to suffer reliability problems due to the intensive use of dynamic mem...

Response of the agile antechinus to habitat edge, configuration and condition in fragmented forest.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher P Johnstone

Full Text Available Habitat fragmentation and degradation seriously threaten native animal communities. We studied the response of a small marsupial, the agile antechinus Antechinus agilis, to several environmental variables in anthropogenically fragmented Eucalyptus forest in south-east Australia. Agile antechinus were captured more in microhabitats dominated by woody debris than in other microhabitats. Relative abundances of both sexes were positively correlated with fragment core area. Male and female mass-size residuals were smaller in larger fragments. A health status indicator, haemoglobin-haematocrit residuals (HHR, did not vary as a function of any environmental variable in females, but male HHR indicated better health where sites' microhabitats were dominated by shrubs, woody debris and trees other than Eucalyptus. Females were trapped less often in edge than interior fragment habitat and their physiological stress level, indicated by the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio in peripheral blood, was higher where fragments had a greater proportion of edge habitat. The latter trend was potentially due to lymphopoenia resulting from stress hormone-mediated leukocyte trafficking. Using multiple indicators of population condition and health status facilitates a comprehensive examination of the effects of anthropogenic disturbances, such as habitat fragmentation and degradation, on native vertebrates. Male agile antechinus' health responded negatively to habitat degradation, whilst females responded negatively to the proportion of edge habitat. The health and condition indicators used could be employed to identify conservation strategies that would make habitat fragments less stressful for this or similar native, small mammals.

A General Accelerated Degradation Model Based on the Wiener Process.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Le; Li, Xiaoyang; Sun, Fuqiang; Wang, Ning

2016-12-06

Accelerated degradation testing (ADT) is an efficient tool to conduct material service reliability and safety evaluations by analyzing performance degradation data. Traditional stochastic process models are mainly for linear or linearization degradation paths. However, those methods are not applicable for the situations where the degradation processes cannot be linearized. Hence, in this paper, a general ADT model based on the Wiener process is proposed to solve the problem for accelerated degradation data analysis. The general model can consider the unit-to-unit variation and temporal variation of the degradation process, and is suitable for both linear and nonlinear ADT analyses with single or multiple acceleration variables. The statistical inference is given to estimate the unknown parameters in both constant stress and step stress ADT. The simulation example and two real applications demonstrate that the proposed method can yield reliable lifetime evaluation results compared with the existing linear and time-scale transformation Wiener processes in both linear and nonlinear ADT analyses.

A General Accelerated Degradation Model Based on the Wiener Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Le Liu

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Accelerated degradation testing (ADT is an efficient tool to conduct material service reliability and safety evaluations by analyzing performance degradation data. Traditional stochastic process models are mainly for linear or linearization degradation paths. However, those methods are not applicable for the situations where the degradation processes cannot be linearized. Hence, in this paper, a general ADT model based on the Wiener process is proposed to solve the problem for accelerated degradation data analysis. The general model can consider the unit-to-unit variation and temporal variation of the degradation process, and is suitable for both linear and nonlinear ADT analyses with single or multiple acceleration variables. The statistical inference is given to estimate the unknown parameters in both constant stress and step stress ADT. The simulation example and two real applications demonstrate that the proposed method can yield reliable lifetime evaluation results compared with the existing linear and time-scale transformation Wiener processes in both linear and nonlinear ADT analyses.

Methodology for reliability based condition assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Y.; Ellingwood, B.

1993-08-01

Structures in nuclear power plants may be exposed to aggressive environmental effects that cause their strength to decrease over an extended period of service. A major concern in evaluating the continued service for such structures is to ensure that in their current condition they are able to withstand future extreme load events during the intended service life with a level of reliability sufficient for public safety. This report describes a methodology to facilitate quantitative assessments of current and future structural reliability and performance of structures in nuclear power plants. This methodology takes into account the nature of past and future loads, and randomness in strength and in degradation resulting from environmental factors. An adaptive Monte Carlo simulation procedure is used to evaluate time-dependent system reliability. The time-dependent reliability is sensitive to the time-varying load characteristics and to the choice of initial strength and strength degradation models but not to correlation in component strengths within a system. Inspection/maintenance strategies are identified that minimize the expected future costs of keeping the failure probability of a structure at or below an established target failure probability during its anticipated service period

Two-terminal reliability analyses for a mobile ad hoc wireless network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cook, Jason L.; Ramirez-Marquez, Jose Emmanuel

2007-01-01

Reliability is one of the most important performance measures for emerging technologies. For these systems, shortcomings are often overlooked in early releases as the cutting edge technology overshadows a fragile design. Currently, the proliferation of the mobile ad hoc wireless networks (MAWN) is moving from cutting edge to commodity and thus, reliable performance will be expected. Generally, ad hoc networking is applied for the flexibility and mobility it provides. As a result, military and first responders employ this network scheme and the reliability of the network becomes paramount. To ensure reliability is achieved, one must first be able to analyze and calculate the reliability of the MAWN. This work describes the unique attributes of the MAWN and how the classical analysis of network reliability, where the network configuration is known a priori, can be adjusted to model and analyze this type of network. The methods developed acknowledge the dynamic and scalable nature of the MAWN along with its absence of infrastructure. Thus, the methods rely on a modeling approach that considers the probabilistic formation of different network configurations in a MAWN. Hence, this paper proposes reliability analysis methods that consider the effect of node mobility and the continuous changes in the network's connectivity

Stability of edge states and edge magnetism in graphene nanoribbons

OpenAIRE

Kunstmann, Jens; Özdoğan, Cem; Quandt, Alexander; Fehske, Holger

2010-01-01

We critically discuss the stability of edge states and edge magnetism in zigzag edge graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs). We point out that magnetic edge states might not exist in real systems, and show that there are at least three very natural mechanisms - edge reconstruction, edge passivation, and edge closure - which dramatically reduce the effect of edge states in ZGNRs or even totally eliminate them. Even if systems with magnetic edge states could be made, the intrinsic magnetism would not be ...

Adaptive Pseudo Dilation for Gestalt Edge Grouping and Contour Detection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Papari, Giuseppe; Petkov, Nicolai

2008-01-01

We consider the problem of detecting object contours in natural images. In many cases, local luminance changes turn out to be stronger in textured areas than on object contours. Therefore, local edge features, which only look at a small neighborhood of each pixel, cannot be reliable indicators of

Method of Preparation AZP4330 PR Pattern with Edge Slope 40°

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jie; Zhao, Hongyuan; Yu, Yuanwei; Zhu, Jian

2018-03-01

When the edge which is under the multi-film is more steep or angular, the stress in the multilayer film near the edge is concentrated, this situation will greatly reduce the reliability of electronic components. And sometimes, we need some special structure such as a slope with a specific angle in the MEMS, so that the metal line can take the signal to the output pad through the slope instead of deep step. To cover these problems, the lithography method of preparing the structure with edge slope is studied. In this paper, based on the Kirchhoff scalar diffraction theory we try to change the contact exposure gap and the post-baking time at the specific temperature to find out the effect about the edge angle of the photoresist. After test by SEM, the results were presented by using AZP4330 photoresist, we can get the PR Pattern with edge slope 40° of the process and the specific process parameters.

Reliability residual-life prediction method for thermal aging based on performance degradation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren Shuhong; Xue Fei; Yu Weiwei; Ti Wenxin; Liu Xiaotian

2013-01-01

The paper makes the study of the nuclear power plant main pipeline. The residual-life of the main pipeline that failed due to thermal aging has been studied by the use of performance degradation theory and Bayesian updating methods. Firstly, the thermal aging impact property degradation process of the main pipeline austenitic stainless steel has been analyzed by the accelerated thermal aging test data. Then, the thermal aging residual-life prediction model based on the impact property degradation data is built by Bayesian updating methods. Finally, these models are applied in practical situations. It is shown that the proposed methods are feasible and the prediction accuracy meets the needs of the project. Also, it provides a foundation for the scientific management of aging management of the main pipeline. (authors)

Time-variant flexural reliability of RC beams with externally bonded CFRP under combined fatigue-corrosion actions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bigaud, David; Ali, Osama

2014-01-01

Time-variant reliability analysis of RC highway bridges strengthened with carbon fibre reinforced polymer CFRP laminates under four possible competing damage modes (concrete crushing, steel rupture after yielding, CFRP rupture and FRP plate debonding) and three degradation factors is analyzed in terms of reliability index β using FORM. The first degradation factor is chloride-attack corrosion which induces reduction in steel area and concrete cover cracking at characteristic key times (corrosion initiation, severe surface cover cracking). The second degradation factor considered is fatigue which leads to damage in concrete and steel rebar. Interaction between corrosion and fatigue crack growth in steel reinforcing bars is implemented. The third degradation phenomenon is the CFRP properties deterioration due to aging. Considering these three degradation factors, the time-dependent flexural reliability profile of a typical simple 15 m-span intermediate girder of a RC highway bridge is constructed under various traffic volumes and under different corrosion environments. The bridge design options follow AASHTO-LRFD specifications. Results of the study have shown that the reliability is very sensitive to factors governing the corrosion. Concrete damage due to fatigue slightly affects reliability profile of non-strengthened section, while service life after strengthening is strongly related to fatigue damage in concrete. - Highlights: • We propose a method to follow the time-variant reliability of strengthened RC beams. • We consider multiple competing failure modes of CFRP strengthened RC beams. • We consider combined degradation mechanisms (corrosion, fatigue, ageing of CFRP)

Device reliability challenges for modern semiconductor circuit design – a review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Schlünder

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Product development based on highly integrated semiconductor circuits faces various challenges. To ensure the function of circuits the electrical parameters of every device must be in a specific window. This window is restricted by competing mechanisms like process variations and device degradation (Fig. 1. Degradation mechanisms like Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI or Hot Carrier Injection (HCI lead to parameter drifts during operation adding on top of the process variations.

The safety margin between real lifetime of MOSFETs and product lifetime requirements decreases at advanced technologies. The assignment of tasks to ensure the product lifetime has to be changed for the future. Up to now technology development has the main responsibility to adjust the technology processes to achieve the required lifetime. In future, reliability can no longer be the task of technology development only. Device degradation becomes a collective challenge for semiconductor technologist, reliability experts and circuit designers. Reliability issues have to be considered in design as well to achieve reliable and competitive products. For this work, designers require support by smart software tools with built-in reliability know how. Design for reliability will be one of the key requirements for modern product designs.

An overview will be given of the physical device damage mechanisms, the operation conditions within circuits leading to stress and the impact of the corresponding device parameter degradation on the function of the circuit. Based on this understanding various approaches for Design for Reliability (DfR will be described. The function of aging simulators will be explained and the flow of circuit-simulation will be described. Furthermore, the difference between full custom and semi custom design and therefore, the different required approaches will be discussed.

Shuttle Wing Leading Edge Root Cause NDE Team Findings and Implementation of Quantitative Flash Infrared Thermography

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Eric R.

2009-01-01

Comparison metrics can be established to reliably and repeatedly establish the health of the joggle region of the Orbiter Wing Leading Edge reinforced carbon carbon (RCC) panels. Using these metrics can greatly reduced the man hours needed to perform, wing leading edge scanning for service induced damage. These time savings have allowed for more thorough inspections to be preformed in the necessary areas with out affecting orbiter flow schedule. Using specialized local inspections allows for a larger margin of safety by allowing for more complete characterizations of panel defects. The presence of the t-seal during thermographic inspection can have adverse masking affects on ability properly characterize defects that exist in the joggle region of the RCC panels. This masking affect dictates the final specialized inspection should be preformed with the t-seal removed. Removal of the t-seal and use of the higher magnification optics has lead to the most effective and repeatable inspection method for characterizing and tracking defects in the wing leading edge. Through this study some inadequacies in the main health monitoring system for the orbiter wing leading edge have been identified and corrected. The use of metrics and local specialized inspection have lead to a greatly increased reliability and repeatable inspection of the shuttle wing leading edge.

A robust sub-pixel edge detection method of infrared image based on tremor-based retinal receptive field model

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Kun; Yang, Hu; Chen, Xiaomei; Ni, Guoqiang

2008-03-01

Because of complex thermal objects in an infrared image, the prevalent image edge detection operators are often suitable for a certain scene and extract too wide edges sometimes. From a biological point of view, the image edge detection operators work reliably when assuming a convolution-based receptive field architecture. A DoG (Difference-of- Gaussians) model filter based on ON-center retinal ganglion cell receptive field architecture with artificial eye tremors introduced is proposed for the image contour detection. Aiming at the blurred edges of an infrared image, the subsequent orthogonal polynomial interpolation and sub-pixel level edge detection in rough edge pixel neighborhood is adopted to locate the foregoing rough edges in sub-pixel level. Numerical simulations show that this method can locate the target edge accurately and robustly.

Performance-based maintenance of gas turbines for reliable control of degraded power systems

Science.gov (United States)

Mo, Huadong; Sansavini, Giovanni; Xie, Min

2018-03-01

Maintenance actions are necessary for ensuring proper operations of control systems under component degradation. However, current condition-based maintenance (CBM) models based on component health indices are not suitable for degraded control systems. Indeed, failures of control systems are only determined by the controller outputs, and the feedback mechanism compensates the control performance loss caused by the component deterioration. Thus, control systems may still operate normally even if the component health indices exceed failure thresholds. This work investigates the CBM model of control systems and employs the reduced control performance as a direct degradation measure for deciding maintenance activities. The reduced control performance depends on the underlying component degradation modelled as a Wiener process and the feedback mechanism. To this aim, the controller features are quantified by developing a dynamic and stochastic control block diagram-based simulation model, consisting of the degraded components and the control mechanism. At each inspection, the system receives a maintenance action if the control performance deterioration exceeds its preventive-maintenance or failure thresholds. Inspired by realistic cases, the component degradation model considers random start time and unit-to-unit variability. The cost analysis of maintenance model is conducted via Monte Carlo simulation. Optimal maintenance strategies are investigated to minimize the expected maintenance costs, which is a direct consequence of the control performance. The proposed framework is able to design preventive maintenance actions on a gas power plant, to ensuring required load frequency control performance against a sudden load increase. The optimization results identify the trade-off between system downtime and maintenance costs as a function of preventive maintenance thresholds and inspection frequency. Finally, the control performance-based maintenance model can reduce

Scaled CMOS Technology Reliability Users Guide

Science.gov (United States)

White, Mark

2010-01-01

The desire to assess the reliability of emerging scaled microelectronics technologies through faster reliability trials and more accurate acceleration models is the precursor for further research and experimentation in this relevant field. The effect of semiconductor scaling on microelectronics product reliability is an important aspect to the high reliability application user. From the perspective of a customer or user, who in many cases must deal with very limited, if any, manufacturer's reliability data to assess the product for a highly-reliable application, product-level testing is critical in the characterization and reliability assessment of advanced nanometer semiconductor scaling effects on microelectronics reliability. A methodology on how to accomplish this and techniques for deriving the expected product-level reliability on commercial memory products are provided.Competing mechanism theory and the multiple failure mechanism model are applied to the experimental results of scaled SDRAM products. Accelerated stress testing at multiple conditions is applied at the product level of several scaled memory products to assess the performance degradation and product reliability. Acceleration models are derived for each case. For several scaled SDRAM products, retention time degradation is studied and two distinct soft error populations are observed with each technology generation: early breakdown, characterized by randomly distributed weak bits with Weibull slope (beta)=1, and a main population breakdown with an increasing failure rate. Retention time soft error rates are calculated and a multiple failure mechanism acceleration model with parameters is derived for each technology. Defect densities are calculated and reflect a decreasing trend in the percentage of random defective bits for each successive product generation. A normalized soft error failure rate of the memory data retention time in FIT/Gb and FIT/cm2 for several scaled SDRAM generations is

D5.3 Reading reliability report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cetin, Bilge Kartal; Galiotto, Carlo; Cetin, Kamil

2010-01-01

This deliverable presents a detailed description of the main causes of reading reliability degradation. Two main groups of impairments are recognized: those at the physical layer (e.g., fading, multipath, electromagnetic interference, shadowing due to obstacles, tag orientation misalignment, tag...... bending, metallic environments, etc.) and those at the medium access control sub-layer (e.g., collisions due to tag-to-tag, reader-to-reader and multiple readers-to-tag interference). The review presented in this deliverable covers previous reliability reports and existing definitions of RFID reading...... reliability. Performance metrics and methodologies for assessing reading reliability are further discussed. This document also presents a review of state-of-the-art RFID reading reliability improvement schemes. The solutions are classified into physical- (PHY), medium access control- (MAC), upper-, and cross...

Note: reliable and reusable ultrahigh vacuum optical viewports.

Science.gov (United States)

Arora, P; Sen Gupta, A

2012-04-01

We report a simple technique for the realization of ultrahigh vacuum optical viewports. The technique relies on using specially designed thin copper knife-edges and using a thin layer of Vacseal(®) on tip of the knife-edges between the optical flat and the ConFlat(®) (CF) flange. The design of the windows is such that it gives uniform pressure on the flat without breaking it. The assembled window is a complete unit, which can be mounted directly onto a CF flange of the vacuum chamber. It can be removed and reused without breaking the window seal. The design is reliable as more than a dozen such windows have survived several bake out and cooling cycles and have been leak tested up to 10(-11) Torr l/s level with a commercial Helium leak detector. The advantages of this technique are ease of assembly and leak proof sealing that survives multiple temperature cycling making the windows reliable and reusable. © 2012 American Institute of Physics

Assessment of the degradation efficiency of full-scale biogas plants: A comparative study of degradation indicators.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chao; Nges, Ivo Achu; Lu, Wenjing; Wang, Haoyu

2017-11-01

Increasing popularity and applications of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process has necessitated the development and identification of tools for obtaining reliable indicators of organic matter degradation rate and hence evaluate the process efficiency especially in full-scale, commercial biogas plants. In this study, four biogas plants (A1, A2, B and C) based on different feedstock, process configuration, scale and operational performance were selected and investigated. Results showed that the biochemical methane potential (BMP) based degradation rate could be use in incisively gauging process efficiency in lieu of the traditional degradation rate indicators. The BMP degradation rates ranged from 70 to 90% wherein plants A2 and C showed the highest throughput. This study, therefore, corroborates the feasibility of using the BMP degradation rate as a practical tool for evaluating process performance in full-scale biogas processes and spots light on the microbial diversity in full-scale biogas processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Model Development of Degradation of PV Modules Backsheet with Locating Place of Module

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kempe, Michael D [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Wang, Yu [Case Western Reserve University; Fairbrother, Andrew [National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); Merzlic, Sebastien [Arkema; Julien, Scott [Northeastern University; Fridman, Lucas S. [Case Western Reserve University; Loyer, Camille [Arkema; Lefebvre, Amy L. [Arkema; O' Brien, Gregory [Arkema; Gu, Xiaohong [National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); Ji, Liang [Underwriters Laboratories; Boyce, Kenneth P. [Underwriters Laboratories; Wan, Kai-tak [Northeastern University; French, Roger H. [Case Western Reserve University; Bruckman, Laura S. [Case Western Reserve University

2017-08-23

Performance of a photovoltaic (PV) module is related to the micro-environment around the module. The position of photovoltaic modules in an array row have a large effect on the yellowing and gloss of PV module backsheet exposed in Dfa climatic zone (Gaithersburg, MD) with a polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) outer layer. Stress/Response models of yellowing and gloss-losing as function of location parameters of module, including the shed, row, measurement position in a same module and the distance of module location to the row center, are under development. The module installation height had the greatest influence on degradation of PEN PV backsheet in the Dfa climatic zone. The module backsheets at the end of an array have higher degradation rate (edge effect). The edge effect decreases with increasing of module installation heights.

A reliability program for emergency diesel generators at nuclear power plants: Maintenance, surveillance, and condition monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lofgren, E.V.; Henderson, W.; Burghardt, D.; Kripps, L.; Rothleder, B.

1988-12-01

This report is a companion report on NUREG/CR-5078, Volume 1, ''A Reliability Program for Emergency Diesel Generators at Nuclear Power Plants: Program Structure.'' The purpose of this report is to provide technical findings and insights related to: failure evaluation, troubleshooting, maintenance, surveillance, and condition monitoring. Examples and recommendations are provided for each of these areas based on actual emergency diesel generator (EDG) operating experience and the opinions of diesel generator experts. This report expands the more general guidance provided in Volume 1. In addition, a discussion of EDG interactions with other plant systems (e.g., instrument, air, service water, dc power) is provided since experience has shown that these support systems and their operation can adversely affect EDG reliability. Portions of this report have been designed for use by onsite personnel for evaluating operational characteristics of EDGs. 5 refs., 8 figs., 7 tabs

Further HTGR core support structure reliability studies. Interim report No. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Platus, D.L.

1976-01-01

Results of a continuing effort to investigate high temperature gas cooled reactor (HTGR) core support structure reliability are described. Graphite material and core support structure component physical, mechanical and strength properties required for the reliability analysis are identified. Also described are experimental and associated analytical techniques for determining the required properties, a procedure for determining number of tests required, properties that might be monitored by special surveillance of the core support structure to improve reliability predictions, and recommendations for further studies. Emphasis in the study is directed towards developing a basic understanding of graphite failure and strength degradation mechanisms; and validating analytical methods for predicting strength and strength degradation from basic material properties

Machine-vision-based identification of broken inserts in edge profile milling heads

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fernandez Robles, Laura; Azzopardi, George; Alegre, Enrique; Petkov, Nicolai

This paper presents a reliable machine vision system to automatically detect inserts and determine if they are broken. Unlike the machining operations studied in the literature, we are dealing with edge milling head tools for aggressive machining of thick plates (up to 12 centimetres) in a single

Feasibility of compensating for EUV field edge effects through OPC

Science.gov (United States)

Maloney, Chris; Word, James; Fenger, Germain L.; Niroomand, Ardavan; Lorusso, Gian F.; Jonckheere, Rik; Hendrickx, Eric; Smith, Bruce W.

2014-04-01

As EUV Lithography (EUVL) continues to evolve, it offers a possible solution to the problems of additional masks and lithography steps that drive up the cost and complexity of 193i multiple patterning. EUVL requires a non-telecentric reflective optical system for operation. This requirement causes EUV specific effects such as shadowing. The absorber physically shadows the reflective multilayer (ML) on an EUV reticle resulting in pattern fidelity degradation. To reduce this degradation, a thinner absorber may help. Yet, as the absorber thickness decreases, reflectivity increases in the `dark' region around the image field, resulting in a loss of contrast. The region around the edge of the die on the mask of unpatterned absorber material deposited on top of ML, known as the image border, is also susceptible to undesirable reflections in an ideally dark region. For EUVL to be enabled for high-volume manufacturing (HVM), reticle masking (REMA) blades are used to shield light from the image border to allow for the printing of densely spaced die. When die are printed densely, the image border of each neighboring die will overlap with the edge of a given die resulting in an increase of dose that overexposes features at the edge of the field. This effect is convolved with a fingerprint from the edge of the REMA blades. This phenomenon will be referred to as a field edge effect. One such mitigation strategy that has been investigated to reduce the field edge effect is to fully remove the ML along the image border to ensure that no actinic-EUV radiation can be reflected onto neighboring die. This has proven to suppress the effect, but residual out-of-band radiation still provides additional dose to features near the image border, especially in the corners where three neighboring fields overlap. Measurements of dense contact holes (CHs) have been made along the image border with and without a ML-etched border at IMEC in collaboration with Micron using the ASML NXE:3100. The

Automated on-line L-edge measurement of SNM concentration for near-real-time accounting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russo, P.A.; Marks, T. Jr.; Stephens, M.M.; Baker, A.L.; Cobb, D.D.

1982-09-01

An L-edge densitometer has been modified, tested, and demonstrated for on-line assay of special nuclear material concentration in flowing solution streams. The demonstration was part of a larger demonstration of near-real-time nuclear materials accounting during a continuous, week-long, cold operation of the Barnwell facility. The L-edge data were automatically analyzed and the results were transmitted to the materials accounting computer once every 5.5 min for the duration of the cold run. This report compares the results of the L-edge analyses with the delayed results obtained from destructive analysis of samples withdrawn from the same process line. Comparisons are also made with the results obtained in near real time from an automated process control instrument installed in series with the L-edge densitometer. The performance of the L-edge instrument was reliable throughout the continuous operation. The assay precision was consistent with that predicted by the counting statistics of the measurement. The results of the L-edge assays show good agreement with those of the destructive assays. A gradually varying discrepancy (of a few percent) between the L-edge and the process control results remains unexplained

Quantitative accelerated degradation testing: Practical approaches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohammadian, S. Hossein; Ait-Kadi, Daoud; Routhier, Francois

2010-01-01

The concept of accelerated testing by tracking degradation of samples over test time needs to be developed for reliability estimation. This paper aims at proposing practical approaches to conduct accelerated degradation testing on new and available used samples. For this purpose, product failure is related to a suitable physical property. Then, its failure time is defined as the expected time in which its property reaches the critical level. Degradation model of field samples returned from service due to a degrading failure mode has been estimated based on the least square method, and available gap between manufacturer criterion and user's claim (to report a failure) has also been discussed. For a product under some stresses, a general formula has been proposed by the superposition principle in order to estimate its degradation for independent and dependent failure modes. If used samples are available, and acceleration factor of the related test is unknown, partial aging method has been presented to considerably shorten the test time.

Interplay between phosphoinositide lipids and calcium signals at the leading edge of chemotaxing ameboid cells☆

Science.gov (United States)

Falke, Joseph J.; Ziemba, Brian P.

2014-01-01

The chemotactic migration of eukaryotic ameboid cells up concentration gradients is among the most advanced forms of cellular behavior. Chemotaxis is controlled by a complex network of signaling proteins bound to specific lipids on the cytoplasmic surface of the plasma membrane at the front of the cell, or the leading edge. The central lipid players in this leading edge signaling pathway include the phosphoinositides PI(4,5)P2 (PIP2) and PI(3,4,5)P3 (PIP3), both of which play multiple roles. The products of PI(4,5)P2 hydrolysis, diacylglycerol (DAG) and Ins(1,4,5)P3 (IP3), are also implicated as important players. Together, these leading edge phosphoinositides and their degradation products, in concert with a local Ca2+ signal, control the recruitment and activities of many peripheral membrane proteins that are crucial to the leading edge signaling network. The present critical review summarizes the current molecular understanding of chemotactic signaling at the leading edge, including newly discovered roles of phosphoinositide lipids and Ca2+, while highlighting key questions for future research. PMID:24451847

Screening and biological characteristics of fufenozide degrading bacteria

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Chenhao; Gong, Mingfu; Guan, Qinlan; Deng, Xia; Deng, Hongyan; Huang, Jiao

2018-04-01

Fufenozide was a novel pesticide for the control of Lepidoptera pests, which was highly toxic to silkworm. Fufenozide-contaminated soil samples were collected and the bacteria that degrade fufenozide were isolated and screened by selective medium. The colony characteristics, cell characteristics and degradation characteristics in different concentrations fufenozide of the fufenozide degrading bacteria were studied. The results indicated that seven strains of fufenozide degradeing bacteria, named as DDH01, DDH03, DDH04, DDH04, DDH05, DDH07 and DDH07 respectively, were isolated from soil contaminated with fufenozide. DDH01, DDH02, DDH04 and DDH05 of seven fufenozide degrading bacteria, was gram-positive bacteria, and DDH03, DDH06 and DDH07 was gram-negative bacteria. All of seven strains of fufenozide degrading bacteria were not spores, weeks flagella, rod-shaped bacteria. DDH06 and DDH07 had capsules, and the remaining five strains had not capsule. The colonies formed by seven strains of fufenozide degradation bacteria on beef extract peptone medium plate were milky white colonies with irregular edges, thinner lawn, smaller colony with smooth surface. The growth of 7 strains of fufenozide degradation bacteria was significantly affected by the concentration of fufenozide, All of 7 strains grown in the range from 0.00025 g/mL to 1 g/mL of 10% fufenozide suspension. DDH2 was the best among the 7 strains of fufenozide degrading bacteria grown in 10% fufenozide suspension medium.

Electron temperature and pressure at the edge of ASDEX Upgrade plasmas. Estimation via electron cyclotron radiation and investigations on the effect of magnetic perturbations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rathgeber, Sylvia K.

2013-01-01

Understanding and control of the plasma edge behaviour are essential for the success of ITER and future fusion plants. This requires the availability of suitable methods for assessing the edge parameters and reliable techniques to handle edge phenomena, e.g. to mitigate 'Edge Localized Modes' (ELMs) - a potentially harmful plasma edge instability. This thesis introduces a new method for the estimation of accurate edge electron temperature profiles by forward modelling of the electron cyclotron radiation transport and demonstrates its successful application to investigate the impact of Magnetic Perturbation (MP) fields used for ELM mitigation on the edge kinetic data. While for ASDEX Upgrade bulk plasmas, straightforward analysis of the measured electron cyclotron intensity spectrum based on the optically thick plasma approximation is usually justified, reasonable analysis of the steep and optically thin edge region relies on full treatment of the radiation transport considering broadened emission and absorption profiles. This is realized in the framework of integrated data analysis which applies Bayesian probability theory for joint analysis of the electron density and temperature with data of different independent and complementary diagnostics. The method reveals that in regimes with improved confinement ('High-confinement modes' (H-modes)) the edge gradient of the electron temperature can be several times higher than that of the radiation temperature. Furthermore, the model is able to reproduce the 'shine-through' peak - the observation of increased radiation temperatures at frequencies with cold resonance outside the confined plasma region. This phenomenon is caused by strongly down-shifted radiation of Maxwellian tail electrons located in the H-mode edge region and, therefore, contains valuable information about the electron temperature edge gradient. The accurate knowledge about the edge profiles and gradients of the electron temperature and - including the

Predicting degradability of organic chemicals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Finizio, A; Vighi, M [Milan Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Entomologia Agraria

1992-05-01

Degradability, particularly biodegradability, is one of the most important factors governing the persistence of pollutants in the environment and consequently influencing their behavior and toxicity in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The need for reliable persistence data in order to assess the environmental fate and hazard of chemicals by means of predictive approaches, is evident. Biodegradability tests are requested by the EEC directive on new chemicals. Neverthless, degradation tests are not easy to carry out and data on existing chemicals are very scarce. Therefore, assessing the fate of chemicals in the environment from the simple study of their structure would be a useful tool. Rates of degradation are a function of the rates of a series of processes. Correlation between degradation rates and structural parameters are will be facilitated if one of the processes is rate determining. This review is a survey of studies dealing with relationships between structure and biodegradation of organic chemicals, to identify the value and limitations of this approach.

Degraded Crater Rim

Science.gov (United States)

2002-01-01

(Released 3 May 2002) The Science The eastern rim of this unnamed crater in Southern Arabia Terra is very degraded (beaten up). This indicates that this crater is very ancient and has been subjected to erosion and subsequent bombardment from other impactors such as asteroids and comets. One of these later (younger) craters is seen in the upper right of this image superimposed upon the older crater rim material. Note that this smaller younger crater rim is sharper and more intact than the older crater rim. This region is also mantled with a blanket of dust. This dust mantle causes the underlying topography to take on a more subdued appearance. The Story When you think of Arabia, you probably think of hot deserts and a lot of profitable oil reserves. On Mars, however, Southern Arabia Terra is a cold place of cratered terrain. This almost frothy-looking image is the badly battered edge of an ancient crater, which has suffered both erosion and bombardment from asteroids, comets, or other impacting bodies over the long course of its existence. A blanket of dust has also settled over the region, which gives the otherwise rugged landscape a soft and more subdued appearance. The small, round crater (upper left) seems almost gemlike in its setting against the larger crater ring. But this companionship is no easy romance. Whatever formed the small crater clearly whammed into the larger crater rim at some point, obliterating part of its edge. You can tell the small crater was formed after the first and more devastating impact, because it is laid over the other larger crater. How much younger is the small one? Well, its rim is also much sharper and more intact, which gives a sense that it is probably far more youthful than the very degraded, ancient crater.

Effect of Wavy Trailing Edge on 100meter Flatback Wind Turbine Blade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, SJ; Baeder, J D

2016-01-01

The flatback trailing edge design for modern 100meter wind turbine blade has been developed and proposed to make wind turbine blade to be slender and lighter. On the other hand, it will increase aerodynamic drag; consequently the increased drag diminishes turbine power generation. Thus, an aerodynamic drag reducing technique should be accompanied with the flatback trailing edge in order to prevent loss of turbine power generation. In this work, a drag mitigation design, span-wise wavy trailing edge blade, has been applied to a modern 100meter blade. The span-wise trailing edge acts as a vortex generator, and breaks up the strong span-wise coherent trailing edge vortex structure at the flatback airfoil trailing edge which is a major source of large drag. Three-dimensional unsteady Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations have been performed for real scale wind turbine blade geometries. Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES) with the modified laminar-turbulent transition model has been applied to obtain accurate flow field predictions. Graphical Processor Unit (GPU)-accelerated computation has been conducted to reduce computational costs of the real scale wind turbine blade simulations. To verify the structural reliability of the wavy modification of the blade a simple Eigen buckling analysis has been performed in the current study. (paper)

Degraded voltage protection at nuclear plant safety buses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haddad, S.Z.; Berger, W.E.

1989-01-01

This paper reviews the events that led to the NRC's degraded voltage protection requirement and outlines the related NRC positions. It describes problems that have occurred with the protection scheme and identifies the measures required to minimize the occurrence of these problems. The paper recommends new guidelines for degraded voltage protection and proposes a protection scheme logic that aims at enhancing the reliability of the safety systems

Development flight tests of JetStar LFC leading-edge flight test experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, David F.; Fischer, Michael C.

1987-01-01

The overall objective of the flight tests on the JetStar aircraft was to demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of laminar flow control under representative flight conditions. One specific objective was to obtain laminar flow on the JetStar leading-edge test articles for the design and off-design conditions. Another specific objective was to obtain operational experience on a Laminar Flow Control (LFC) leading-edge system in a simulated airline service. This included operational experience with cleaning requirements, the effect of clogging, possible foreign object damage, erosion, and the effects of ice particle and cloud encounters. Results are summarized.

Hypersonic Engine Leading Edge Experiments in a High Heat Flux, Supersonic Flow Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Gladden, Herbert J.; Melis, Matthew E.

1994-01-01

A major concern in advancing the state-of-the-art technologies for hypersonic vehicles is the development of an aeropropulsion system capable of withstanding the sustained high thermal loads expected during hypersonic flight. Three aerothermal load related concerns are the boundary layer transition from laminar to turbulent flow, articulating panel seals in high temperature environments, and strut (or cowl) leading edges with shock-on-shock interactions. A multidisciplinary approach is required to address these technical concerns. A hydrogen/oxygen rocket engine heat source has been developed at the NASA Lewis Research Center as one element in a series of facilities at national laboratories designed to experimentally evaluate the heat transfer and structural response of the strut (or cowl) leading edge. A recent experimental program conducted in this facility is discussed and related to cooling technology capability. The specific objective of the experiment discussed is to evaluate the erosion and oxidation characteristics of a coating on a cowl leading edge (or strut leading edge) in a supersonic, high heat flux environment. Heat transfer analyses of a similar leading edge concept cooled with gaseous hydrogen is included to demonstrate the complexity of the problem resulting from plastic deformation of the structures. Macro-photographic data from a coated leading edge model show progressive degradation over several thermal cycles at aerothermal conditions representative of high Mach number flight.

Edge disturbance drives liana abundance increase and alteration of liana-host tree interactions in tropical forest fragments.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Mason J; Edwards, Will; Magrach, Ainhoa; Alamgir, Mohammed; Porolak, Gabriel; Mohandass, D; Laurance, William F

2018-04-01

Closed-canopy forests are being rapidly fragmented across much of the tropical world. Determining the impacts of fragmentation on ecological processes enables better forest management and improves species-conservation outcomes. Lianas are an integral part of tropical forests but can have detrimental and potentially complex interactions with their host trees. These effects can include reduced tree growth and fecundity, elevated tree mortality, alterations in tree-species composition, degradation of forest succession, and a substantial decline in forest carbon storage. We examined the individual impacts of fragmentation and edge effects (0-100-m transect from edge to forest interior) on the liana community and liana-host tree interactions in rainforests of the Atherton Tableland in north Queensland, Australia. We compared the liana and tree community, the traits of liana-infested trees, and determinants of the rates of tree infestation within five forest fragments (23-58 ha in area) and five nearby intact-forest sites. Fragmented forests experienced considerable disturbance-induced degradation at their edges, resulting in a significant increase in liana abundance. This effect penetrated to significantly greater depths in forest fragments than in intact forests. The composition of the liana community in terms of climbing guilds was significantly different between fragmented and intact forests, likely because forest edges had more small-sized trees favoring particular liana guilds which preferentially use these for climbing trellises. Sites that had higher liana abundances also exhibited higher infestation rates of trees, as did sites with the largest lianas. However, large lianas were associated with low-disturbance forest sites. Our study shows that edge disturbance of forest fragments significantly altered the abundance and community composition of lianas and their ecological relationships with trees, with liana impacts on trees being elevated in fragments relative

Integrated reliability condition monitoring and maintenance of equipment

CERN Document Server

Osarenren, John

2015-01-01

Consider a Viable and Cost-Effective Platform for the Industries of the Future (IOF) Benefit from improved safety, performance, and product deliveries to your customers. Achieve a higher rate of equipment availability, performance, product quality, and reliability. Integrated Reliability: Condition Monitoring and Maintenance of Equipment incorporates reliable engineering and mathematical modeling to help you move toward sustainable development in reliability condition monitoring and maintenance. This text introduces a cost-effective integrated reliability growth monitor, integrated reliability degradation monitor, technological inheritance coefficient sensors, and a maintenance tool that supplies real-time information for predicting and preventing potential failures of manufacturing processes and equipment. The author highlights five key elements that are essential to any improvement program: improving overall equipment and part effectiveness, quality, and reliability; improving process performance with maint...

Iodinated contrast media electro-degradation: process performance and degradation pathways.

Science.gov (United States)

Del Moro, Guido; Pastore, Carlo; Di Iaconi, Claudio; Mascolo, Giuseppe

2015-02-15

The electrochemical degradation of six of the most widely used iodinated contrast media was investigated. Batch experiments were performed under constant current conditions using two DSA® electrodes (titanium coated with a proprietary and patented mixed metal oxide solution of precious metals such as iridium, ruthenium, platinum, rhodium and tantalum). The degradation removal never fell below 85% (at a current density of 64 mA/cm(2) with a reaction time of 150 min) when perchlorate was used as the supporting electrolyte; however, when sulphate was used, the degradation performance was above 80% (at a current density of 64 mA/cm(2) with a reaction time of 150 min) for all of the compounds studied. Three main degradation pathways were identified, namely, the reductive de-iodination of the aromatic ring, the reduction of alkyl aromatic amides to simple amides and the de-acylation of N-aromatic amides to produce aromatic amines. However, as amidotrizoate is an aromatic carboxylate, this is added via the decarboxylation reaction. The investigation did not reveal toxicity except for the lower current density used, which has shown a modest toxicity, most likely for some reaction intermediates that are not further degraded. In order to obtain total removal of the contrast media, it was necessary to employ a current intensity between 118 and 182 mA/cm(2) with energy consumption higher than 370 kWh/m(3). Overall, the electrochemical degradation was revealed to be a reliable process for the treatment of iodinated contrast media that can be found in contaminated waters such as hospital wastewater or pharmaceutical waste-contaminated streams. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Transaortic Alfieri Edge-to-Edge Repair for Functional Mitral Regurgitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Imasaka, Ken-Ichi; Tayama, Eiki; Morita, Shigeki; Toriya, Ryohei; Tomita, Yukihiro

2018-03-01

There is controversy about handling functional mitral regurgitation in patients undergoing aortic valve or proximal aortic operations. We describe a transaortic Alfieri edge-to-edge repair for functional mitral regurgitation that reduces operative excessive invasion and prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass time. Between May 2013 and December 2016, 10 patients underwent transaortic Alfieri edge-to-edge mitral repair. There were no operative deaths. The severity of mitral regurgitation immediately after the operation by transesophageal echocardiography was none or trivial in all patients. A transaortic Alfieri edge-to-edge repair for functional mitral regurgitation is a simple and safe approach. Copyright © 2018 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reliability tests for reactor internals rejuvenation technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujimaki, Katsumi; Hitoki, Yoichi; Otsubo, Toru; Uchiyama, Junichi

1998-01-01

Structural damage due to aging degradation of LWR reactor internals has been reported in several nuclear plants. NUPEC has started a project to test the reliability of the technology for rejuvenating reactor internals which has been funded by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan since 1995. The project follows the policy of a report that the MITI has formally issued in April 1996 summarizing the countermeasures to be considered for aging nuclear plants and equipment. This paper gives an outline of the test plans and results which are directed at preventive maintenance before damage and repair after damage for reactor internals aging degradation. The test results for the replacement methods of ICM housing and BWR core shroud have shown that the methods were reliable and the structural integrity was appropriate based on the evaluation. (author)

Detecting and monitoring deforestation and forest degradation: Issues and obstacles for Southeast Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Douglas Muchoney; Sharon Hamann

2013-01-01

Forest degradation can be defined as the loss of forest volume, biomass and/or forest productivity caused by natural or human influences. Achieving Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) requires that deforestation and degradation can be efficiently, reliably, and cost-effectively detected and quantified, often where ground and aerial...

Photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin drug in water using ZnO nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

El-Kemary, Maged, E-mail: elkemary@yahoo.co [Photo- and Nanochemistry Laboratory, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Kafrelsheikh University, 33516 Kafr ElSheikh (Egypt); El-Shamy, Hany; El-Mehasseb, Ibrahim [Photo- and Nanochemistry Laboratory, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Kafrelsheikh University, 33516 Kafr ElSheikh (Egypt)

2010-12-15

We report the synthesis of nanostructure ZnO semiconductor with {approx}2.1 nm diameter using a chemical precipitation method. The resulting nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The optical properties were investigated by UV-vis and fluorescence techniques. The absorption spectra exhibit a sharp absorption edge at {approx}334 nm corresponding to band gap of {approx}3.7 eV. The fluorescence spectra displayed a near-band-edge ultraviolet excitonic emission at {approx}410 nm and a green emission peak at {approx}525 nm, due to a transition of a photo-generated electron from the conduction band to a deeply trapped hole. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared ZnO nanoparticles has been investigated for the degradation of ciprofloxacin drug under UV light irradiation in aqueous solutions of different pH values. The results showed that the photocatalytic degradation process is effective at pH 7 and 10, but it is rather slow at pH 4. Higher degradation efficiency ({approx}50%) of the drug was observed at pH 10 after 60 min. Photodegradation of the drug follows a pseudo-first-order kinetics.

Edge-functionalization of armchair graphene nanoribbons with pentagonal-hexagonal edge structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Ryou, Junga; Park, Jinwoo; Kim, Gunn; Hong, Suklyun

2017-06-21

Using density functional theory calculations, we have studied the edge-functionalization of armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) with pentagonal-hexagonal edge structures. While the AGNRs with pentagonal-hexagonal edge structures (labeled (5,6)-AGNRs) are metallic, the edge-functionalized (5,6)-AGNRs with substitutional atoms opens a band gap. We find that the band structures of edge-functionalized (5,6)-N-AGNRs by substitution resemble those of defect-free (N-1)-AGNR at the Γ point, whereas those at the X point show the original ones of the defect-free N-AGNR. The overall electronic structures of edge-functionalized (5,6)-AGNRs depend on the number of electrons, supplied by substitutional atoms, at the edges of functionalized (5,6)-AGNRs.

Service Degradation in Context Management Frameworks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shawky, Ahmed; Olsen, Rasmus Løvenstein; Pedersen, Jens Myrup

2011-01-01

information. The paper considers a developed framework from the ICT project, OPEN, and investigates the impact of applying Differentiated Services (DiffServ) Quality of Services (QoS). The paper finally provides insight in how the insight gained can be utilized to ensure reliable remote accessed context......Context aware network services are a new and inter-esting way to enhance network users experience. A context aware application/service enhances network performance in relation to dynamic context information, e.g. mobility, location and device information as it senses and reacts to environment...... changes. The reliability of the information accessed is a key factor in achieving reliable context aware application. This paper will review the service degradation in Context Management Frameworks (CMF) and the effect of high network utilization, with particular focus on the reliability of the accessed...

Hot carrier degradation in semiconductor devices

CERN Document Server

2015-01-01

This book provides readers with a variety of tools to address the challenges posed by hot carrier degradation, one of today’s most complicated reliability issues in semiconductor devices.  Coverage includes an explanation of carrier transport within devices and book-keeping of how they acquire energy (“become hot”), interaction of an ensemble of colder and hotter carriers with defect precursors, which eventually leads to the creation of a defect, and a description of how these defects interact with the device, degrading its performance. • Describes the intricacies of hot carrier degradation in modern semiconductor technologies; • Covers the entire hot carrier degradation phenomenon, including topics such as characterization, carrier transport, carrier-defect interaction, technological impact, circuit impact, etc.; • Enables detailed understanding of carrier transport, interaction of the carrier ensemble with the defect precursors, and an accurate assessment of how the newly created defects imp...

Edge passivation induced single-edge ferromagnetism of zigzag MoS_2 nanoribbons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Rui; Sun, Hui; Ma, Ben; Hu, Jingguo; Pan, Jing

2017-01-01

We performed density functional theory study on electronic structure, magnetic properties and stability of zigzag MoS_2 nanoribbons (ZMoS_2NRs) with and without oxygen (O) passivation. The bare ZMoS_2NRs are magnetic metal with ferromagnetic edge states, edge passivation decreases their magnetism because of the decrease of edge unsaturated electrons. Obviously, the electronic structure and magnetic properties of ZMoS_2NRs greatly depend on edge states. When both edges are passivated by O atoms, ZMoS_2NRs are nonmagnetic metals. When either edge is passivated by O atoms, the systems exhibit single-edge ferromagnetism and magnetism concentrates on the non-passivated edge. Edge passivation can not only tune the magnetism of ZMoS_2NRs, but also enhance their stability by eliminating dangling bonds. These interesting findings on ZMoS_2NRs may open the possibility of their application in nanodevices and spintronics. - Highlights: • Edge passivation for tuning magnetism of zigzag MoS_2 nanoribbons (ZMoS_2NRs) is proposed. • Edge passivation can tune ZMoS_2NRs from nonmagnetic metal to ferromagnetic metal. • When either edge is passivated, the systems exhibit single-edge ferromagnetic states. • These findings may inspire great interest in the community of ZMoS_2NRs and motivate numerous experimental researches.

Automated on-line L-edge measurement of SNM concentration for near-real-time accounting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russo, P.A.; Marks, T. Jr.; Stephens, M.M.; Hsue, S.T.; Baker, A.L.; Cobb, D.D.

1982-01-01

The L-edge densitometer developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory has been modified, tested, and demonstrated for on-line assay of special nuclear material concentration in flowing solution streams. The demonstration was part of a larger demonstration of near-real-time nuclear materials accounting during a continuous, week-long, cold operation of the Allied General Nuclear Services facility in Barnwell, South Carolina. The L-edge data were automatically analyzed and the results were transmitted to the materials accounting computer once every 5.5 min for the duration of the cold run. This report compares the results of the L-edge analyses with the delayed results obtained from destructive analysis of samples withdrawn from the same process line. Comparisons are also made with the results obtained in near real time from an automated process control instrument installed in series with the L-edge densitometer. The performance of the L-edge instrument was reliable throughout the continous operation. The assay precision was consistent with that predicted by the counting statistics of the measurement. The results of the L-edge assays show good agreement with those of the destructive assays. A gradually varying discrepancy (of a few percent) between the L-edge and the process control results remains unexplained. 9 figures

Parameter Estimation of a Reliability Model of Demand-Caused and Standby-Related Failures of Safety Components Exposed to Degradation by Demand Stress and Ageing That Undergo Imperfect Maintenance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Martorell

2017-01-01

Full Text Available One can find many reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM models proposed in the literature. However, such models become more complex day after day, as there is an attempt to capture equipment performance in a more realistic way, such as, explicitly addressing the effect of component ageing and degradation, surveillance activities, and corrective and preventive maintenance policies. Then, there is a need to fit the best model to real data by estimating the model parameters using an appropriate tool. This problem is not easy to solve in some cases since the number of parameters is large and the available data is scarce. This paper considers two main failure models commonly adopted to represent the probability of failure on demand (PFD of safety equipment: (1 by demand-caused and (2 standby-related failures. It proposes a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE approach for parameter estimation of a reliability model of demand-caused and standby-related failures of safety components exposed to degradation by demand stress and ageing that undergo imperfect maintenance. The case study considers real failure, test, and maintenance data for a typical motor-operated valve in a nuclear power plant. The results of the parameters estimation and the adoption of the best model are discussed.

Reliability tests for reactor internals replacement technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujimaki, K.; Uchiyama, J.; Ohtsubo, T.

2000-01-01

Structural damage due to aging degradation of LWR reactor internals has been reported in several nuclear plants. NUPEC has started a project to test the reliability of the technology for replacing reactor internals, which was directed at preventive maintenance before damage and repair after damage for the aging degradation. The project has been funded by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan since 1995, and it follows the policy of a report that the MITI has formally issued in April 1996 summarizing the countermeasures to be considered for aging nuclear plants and equipment. This paper gives an outline of the whole test plans and the test results for the BWR reactor internals replacement methods; core shroud, ICM housing, and CRD Housing and stub tube. The test results have shown that the methods were reliable and the structural integrity was appropriate based on the evaluation. (author)

Interplay between phosphoinositide lipids and calcium signals at the leading edge of chemotaxing ameboid cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Falke, Joseph J; Ziemba, Brian P

2014-09-01

The chemotactic migration of eukaryotic ameboid cells up concentration gradients is among the most advanced forms of cellular behavior. Chemotaxis is controlled by a complex network of signaling proteins bound to specific lipids on the cytoplasmic surface of the plasma membrane at the front of the cell, or the leading edge. The central lipid players in this leading edge signaling pathway include the phosphoinositides PI(4,5)P2 (PIP2) and PI(3,4,5)P3 (PIP3), both of which play multiple roles. The products of PI(4,5)P2 hydrolysis, diacylglycerol (DAG) and Ins(1,4,5)P3 (IP3), are also implicated as important players. Together, these leading edge phosphoinositides and their degradation products, in concert with a local Ca(2+) signal, control the recruitment and activities of many peripheral membrane proteins that are crucial to the leading edge signaling network. The present critical review summarizes the current molecular understanding of chemotactic signaling at the leading edge, including newly discovered roles of phosphoinositide lipids and Ca(2+), while highlighting key questions for future research. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing the early degradation of photovoltaic modules performance in the Saharan region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kahoul, Nabil; Houabes, Mourad; Sadok, Mohammed

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The study underlines the reliability of PV modules in South Algeria. • Early degradation of PV modules operating in the Saharan region for 11 years. • Performance analysis of these PV panels with suitable explanation of results. • Discovery of early degradation of PV modules performance and some PV defects. - Abstract: In this study, the electrical performance degradation of photovoltaic modules (UDTS-50) functioning for a period of 11 years in a region of the Sahara (URER-MS ADRAR) is analyzed. This paper is devoted to an experimental study of current–voltage characteristics of several PV modules exposed to the extreme weather conditions in desert area. The electrical performance degradation and failure modes are estimated from series of current–voltage characteristics performed in the field. Experimental results show that some PV modules degrade up to 12% compared to their initial state. The performance analysis of the others tested modules revealed some defects, such as cracked cells and physical material defects. The identification of the origin of degradation and failure modes and how they affect the photovoltaic modules is necessary to improve the reliability of photovoltaic installations

Effects of organic degradation products on the sorption of actinides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baston, G.M.N.; Berry, J.A.; Bond, K.A.; Brownsword, M.; Linklater, C.M.

1992-01-01

Previous work has shown that products from the chemical degradation of cellulosic matter can significantly reduce sorption of uranium(VI) and plutonium(IV) on geological materials. Uranium(IV) batch sorption experiments have now been performed to study the effect of organic degradation products in a reducing environment. Thorium(IV) sorption has also been studied since thorium is an important radioelement in its own right and has potential use as a simulant for other tetravalent actinides. Sorption onto London clay, Caithness flagstones and St. Bees sandstone was investigated. Experimental conditions were chosen to simulate both those expected close to cementitious repository (pH ∝ 11) and at the edge of the zone of migration of the alkaline plume (pH ∝ 8). Work was carried out with both authentic degradation products and with gluconate, acting as a well-characterized simulant for cellulosic degradation products. The results show that the presence of organic species can cause a reduction in sorption. This is especially so in the presence of a high concentration of gluconate ions, but the reduction is significantly less with authentic degradation products. (orig.)

Edge Detection and Feature Line Tracing in 3D-Point Clouds by Analyzing Geometric Properties of Neighborhoods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huan Ni

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an automated and effective method for detecting 3D edges and tracing feature lines from 3D-point clouds. This method is named Analysis of Geometric Properties of Neighborhoods (AGPN, and it includes two main steps: edge detection and feature line tracing. In the edge detection step, AGPN analyzes geometric properties of each query point’s neighborhood, and then combines RANdom SAmple Consensus (RANSAC and angular gap metric to detect edges. In the feature line tracing step, feature lines are traced by a hybrid method based on region growing and model fitting in the detected edges. Our approach is experimentally validated on complex man-made objects and large-scale urban scenes with millions of points. Comparative studies with state-of-the-art methods demonstrate that our method obtains a promising, reliable, and high performance in detecting edges and tracing feature lines in 3D-point clouds. Moreover, AGPN is insensitive to the point density of the input data.

Edge localized mode control by resonant magnetic perturbations in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orain, Francois

2014-01-01

The growth of plasma instabilities called Edge Localized Modes (ELMs) in tokamaks results in the quasi-periodic relaxation of the edge pressure profile. These relaxations induce large heat fluxes which might be harmful for the divertor in ITER, thus ELM control is mandatory in ITER. One of the promising control methods planned in ITER is the application of external resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs), already efficient for ELM mitigation/suppression in current tokamak experiments. However a better understanding of the interaction between ELMs, RMPs and plasma flows is needed to explain the experimental results and make reliable predictions for ITER. In this perspective, non-linear modeling of ELMs and RMPs is done with the reduced MHD code JOREK, in toroidal geometry including the X-point and the Scrape-Off Layer. The initial model has been further developed to describe self-consistent plasma flows - with the addition of the bi-fluid diamagnetic drifts, the neoclassical friction and a source of parallel rotation - and to simulate the RMP penetration consistently with the plasma response. As a first step, the plasma response to RMPs (without ELMs) is studied for JET, MAST and ITER realistic plasma parameters and geometry. The general behaviour of the plasma/RMP interaction is similar for the three studied cases: RMPs are generally screened by the formation of response currents, induced by the plasma rotation on the resonant surfaces. RMPs however penetrate at the very edge where an ergodic zone is formed. The amplification of the non-resonant spectrum of the magnetic perturbations is also observed in the core. The edge ergodization induces an enhanced transport at the edge, which slightly degrades the pedestal profiles. RMPs also generate the 3D-deformation of the plasma boundary with a maximum deformation near the X-point where lobe structures are formed. Then the full dynamics of a multi-ELM cycle (without RMPs) is modeled for the first time in realistic

Exact reliability quantification of highly reliable systems with maintenance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bris, Radim, E-mail: radim.bris@vsb.c [VSB-Technical University Ostrava, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Applied Mathematics, 17. listopadu 15, 70833 Ostrava-Poruba (Czech Republic)

2010-12-15

When a system is composed of highly reliable elements, exact reliability quantification may be problematic, because computer accuracy is limited. Inaccuracy can be due to different aspects. For example, an error may be made when subtracting two numbers that are very close to each other, or at the process of summation of many very different numbers, etc. The basic objective of this paper is to find a procedure, which eliminates errors made by PC when calculations close to an error limit are executed. Highly reliable system is represented by the use of directed acyclic graph which is composed from terminal nodes, i.e. highly reliable input elements, internal nodes representing subsystems and edges that bind all of these nodes. Three admissible unavailability models of terminal nodes are introduced, including both corrective and preventive maintenance. The algorithm for exact unavailability calculation of terminal nodes is based on merits of a high-performance language for technical computing MATLAB. System unavailability quantification procedure applied to a graph structure, which considers both independent and dependent (i.e. repeatedly occurring) terminal nodes is based on combinatorial principle. This principle requires summation of a lot of very different non-negative numbers, which may be a source of an inaccuracy. That is why another algorithm for exact summation of such numbers is designed in the paper. The summation procedure uses benefits from a special number system with the base represented by the value 2{sup 32}. Computational efficiency of the new computing methodology is compared with advanced simulation software. Various calculations on systems from references are performed to emphasize merits of the methodology.

Power spectrum weighted edge analysis for straight edge detection in images

Science.gov (United States)

Karvir, Hrishikesh V.; Skipper, Julie A.

2007-04-01

Most man-made objects provide characteristic straight line edges and, therefore, edge extraction is a commonly used target detection tool. However, noisy images often yield broken edges that lead to missed detections, and extraneous edges that may contribute to false target detections. We present a sliding-block approach for target detection using weighted power spectral analysis. In general, straight line edges appearing at a given frequency are represented as a peak in the Fourier domain at a radius corresponding to that frequency, and a direction corresponding to the orientation of the edges in the spatial domain. Knowing the edge width and spacing between the edges, a band-pass filter is designed to extract the Fourier peaks corresponding to the target edges and suppress image noise. These peaks are then detected by amplitude thresholding. The frequency band width and the subsequent spatial filter mask size are variable parameters to facilitate detection of target objects of different sizes under known imaging geometries. Many military objects, such as trucks, tanks and missile launchers, produce definite signatures with parallel lines and the algorithm proves to be ideal for detecting such objects. Moreover, shadow-casting objects generally provide sharp edges and are readily detected. The block operation procedure offers advantages of significant reduction in noise influence, improved edge detection, faster processing speed and versatility to detect diverse objects of different sizes in the image. With Scud missile launcher replicas as target objects, the method has been successfully tested on terrain board test images under different backgrounds, illumination and imaging geometries with cameras of differing spatial resolution and bit-depth.

Quantifying South East Asia's forest degradation using latest generation optical and radar satellite remote sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Broich, M.; Tulbure, M. G.; Wijaya, A.; Weisse, M.; Stolle, F.

2017-12-01

Deforestation and forest degradation form the 2nd largest source of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. While deforestation is being globally mapped with satellite image time series, degradation remains insufficiently quantified. Previous studies quantified degradation for small scale, local sites. A method suitable for accurate mapping across large areas has not yet been developed due to the variability of the low magnitude and short-lived degradation signal and the absence of data with suitable resolution properties. Here we use a combination of newly available streams of free optical and radar image time series acquired by NASA and ESA, and HPC-based data science algorithms to innovatively quantify degradation consistently across Southeast Asia (SEA). We used Sentinel1 c-band radar data and NASA's new Harmonized Landsat8 (L8) Sentinel2 (S2) product (HLS) for cloud free optical images. Our results show that dense time series of cloud penetrating Sentinel 1 c-band radar can provide degradation alarm flags, while the HLS product of cloud-free optical images can unambiguously confirm degradation alarms. The detectability of degradation differed across SEA. In the seasonal forest of continental SEA the reliability of our radar-based alarm flags increased as the variability in landscape moisture decreases in the dry season. We reliably confirmed alarms with optical image time series during the late dry season, where degradation in open canopy forests becomes detectable once the undergrowth vegetation has died down. Conversely, in insular SEA landscape moisture is low, the radar time series generated degradation alarms flags with moderate to high reliability throughout the year, further confirmed with the HLS product. Based on the HLS product we can now confirm degradation within time series provides better results than either one on its own. Our results provide significant information with application for carbon trading policy and land management.

Automated Degradation Diagnosis in Character Recognition System Subject to Camera Vibration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunmei Liu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Degradation diagnosis plays an important role for degraded character processing, which can tell the recognition difficulty of a given degraded character. In this paper, we present a framework for automated degraded character recognition system by statistical syntactic approach using 3D primitive symbol, which is integrated by degradation diagnosis to provide accurate and reliable recognition results. Our contribution is to design the framework to build the character recognition submodels corresponding to degradation subject to camera vibration or out of focus. In each character recognition submodel, statistical syntactic approach using 3D primitive symbol is proposed to improve degraded character recognition performance. In the experiments, we show attractive experimental results, highlighting the system efficiency and recognition performance by statistical syntactic approach using 3D primitive symbol on the degraded character dataset.

Component reliability for electronic systems

CERN Document Server

Bajenescu, Titu-Marius I

2010-01-01

The main reason for the premature breakdown of today's electronic products (computers, cars, tools, appliances, etc.) is the failure of the components used to build these products. Today professionals are looking for effective ways to minimize the degradation of electronic components to help ensure longer-lasting, more technically sound products and systems. This practical book offers engineers specific guidance on how to design more reliable components and build more reliable electronic systems. Professionals learn how to optimize a virtual component prototype, accurately monitor product reliability during the entire production process, and add the burn-in and selection procedures that are the most appropriate for the intended applications. Moreover, the book helps system designers ensure that all components are correctly applied, margins are adequate, wear-out failure modes are prevented during the expected duration of life, and system interfaces cannot lead to failure.

Blu-Ray-based micromechanical characterization platform for biopolymer degradation assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Casci Ceccacci, Andrea; Chen, Ching-Hsiu; Hwu, En-Te

2017-01-01

Degradable biopolymers are used as carrier materials in drug delivery devices. A complete understanding of their degradation behaviour is thus crucial in the design of new delivery systems. Here we combine a reliable method, based on spray coated micromechanical resonators and a disposable...... microfluidic chip, to characterize biopolymer degradation under the action of enzymes in controlled flow condition. The sensing platform is based on the mechanics and optics from a Blu-Ray player, which automatically localize individual sensors within the array, and sequentially measure and record...

Structuring β-Ga2O3 photonic crystal photocatalyst for efficient degradation of organic pollutants.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiaofang; Zhen, Xiuzheng; Meng, Sugang; Xian, Jiangjun; Shao, Yu; Fu, Xianzhi; Li, Danzhen

2013-09-03

Coupling photocatalysts with photonic crystals structure is based on the unique property of photonic crystals in confining, controlling, and manipulating the incident photons. This combination enhances the light absorption in photocatalysts and thus greatly improves their photocatalytic performance. In this study, Ga2O3 photonic crystals with well-arranged skeleton structures were prepared via a dip-coating infiltration method. The positions of the electronic band absorption for Ga2O3 photonic crystals could be made to locate on the red edge, on the blue edge, and away from the edge of their photonic band gaps by changing the pore sizes of the samples, respectively. Particularly, the electronic band absorption of the Ga2O3 photonic crystal with a pore size of 135 nm was enhanced more than other samples by making it locate on the red edge of its photonic band gap, which was confirmed by the higher instantaneous photocurrent and photocatalytic activity for the degradation of various organic pollutants under ultraviolet light irradiation. Furthermore, the degradation mechanism over Ga2O3 photonic crystals was discussed. The design of Ga2O3 photonic crystals presents a prospective application of photonic crystals in photocatalysis to address light harvesting and quantum efficiency problems through manipulating photons or constructing photonic crystal structure as groundwork.

Human Sex Determination at the Edge of Ambiguity: INHERITED XY SEX REVERSAL DUE TO ENHANCED UBIQUITINATION AND PROTEASOMAL DEGRADATION OF A MASTER TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR.

Science.gov (United States)

Racca, Joseph D; Chen, Yen-Shan; Yang, Yanwu; Phillips, Nelson B; Weiss, Michael A

2016-10-14

A general problem is posed by analysis of transcriptional thresholds governing cell fate decisions in metazoan development. A model is provided by testis determination in therian mammals. Its key step, Sertoli cell differentiation in the embryonic gonadal ridge, is initiated by SRY, a Y-encoded architectural transcription factor. Mutations in human SRY cause gonadal dysgenesis leading to XY female development (Swyer syndrome). Here, we have characterized an inherited mutation compatible with either male or female somatic phenotypes as observed in an XY father and XY daughter, respectively. The mutation (a crevice-forming substitution at a conserved back surface of the SRY high mobility group box) markedly destabilizes the domain but preserves specific DNA affinity and induced DNA bend angle. On transient transfection of diverse human and rodent cell lines, the variant SRY exhibited accelerated proteasomal degradation (relative to wild type) associated with increased ubiquitination; in vitro susceptibility to ubiquitin-independent ("default") cleavage by the 20S core proteasome was unchanged. The variant's gene regulatory activity (as assessed in a cellular model of the rat embryonic XY gonadal ridge) was reduced by 2-fold relative to wild-type SRY at similar levels of mRNA expression. Chemical proteasome inhibition restored native-like SRY expression and transcriptional activity in association with restored occupancy of a sex-specific enhancer element in principal downstream gene Sox9, demonstrating that the variant SRY exhibits essentially native activity on a per molecule basis. Our findings define a novel mechanism of impaired organogenesis, accelerated ubiquitin-directed proteasomal degradation of a master transcription factor leading to a developmental decision poised at the edge of ambiguity. © 2016 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Implications of a New Global Picture of Land Degradation (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Olsson, L.; Dent, D.

2009-12-01

Effective responses to desertification have always been hampered by a lack of a scientific understanding and reliable data on the extent and severity of land degradation. We also argue that the poor scientific understanding of desertification is partly a consequence of the lack of reliable data. Policy development has to a large extent relied upon data from the 1990 GLASOD assessment that was compiled from expert judgements. This is a map of perceptions, not measurements, that doesn't stand scrutiny and lent itself to selective interpretations. Based on the GLASOD assessment, land degradation in arid and semi-arid regions have been emphasised over other regions as hotspots of land degradation. A recent analysis of consistent, remotely-sensed data and climatic observations, using clearly-defined methods, makes allowance for droughts and global warming. It indicates that 24 per cent of land has suffered declining net primary productivity over the last 25 years; this area is home to a quarter of the world's people. When adjusted for climatic variations, the loss of primary productivity is interpreted as land degradation. In contrast to received wisdom, dry lands don't feature strongly. Forests and croplands are most affected by land degradation and protected areas fare no better than anywhere else. Unprecedented land use change is being driven not only by local processes but also by external pressures related to burgeoning population, economic & technology developments and globalisation; and unsustainable land use is causing land degradation. This suggests a need for a policy shift from desertification in dry lands to land degradation globally, and from environmental protection to developmental initiatives. The paper will discuss potential responses to land degradation that are informed by the new insights into the extent and severity of land degradation globally.

Pre-Proposal Assessment of Reliability for Spacecraft Docking with Limited Information

Science.gov (United States)

Brall, Aron

2013-01-01

This paper addresses the problem of estimating the reliability of a critical system function as well as its impact on the system reliability when limited information is available. The approach addresses the basic function reliability, and then the impact of multiple attempts to accomplish the function. The dependence of subsequent attempts on prior failure to accomplish the function is also addressed. The autonomous docking of two spacecraft was the specific example that generated the inquiry, and the resultant impact on total reliability generated substantial interest in presenting the results due to the relative insensitivity of overall performance to basic function reliability and moderate degradation given sufficient attempts to try and accomplish the required goal. The application of the methodology allows proper emphasis on the characteristics that can be estimated with some knowledge, and to insulate the integrity of the design from those characteristics that can't be properly estimated with any rational value of uncertainty. The nature of NASA's missions contains a great deal of uncertainty due to the pursuit of new science or operations. This approach can be applied to any function where multiple attempts at success, with or without degradation, are allowed.

Edge detection of iris of the eye for human biometric identification system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kateryna O. Tryfonova

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Method of human biometric identification by iris of the eye is considered as one of the most accurate and reliable methods of identification. Aim of the research is to solve the problem of edge detection of digital image of the human eye iris to be able to implement human biometric identification system by means of mobile device. To achieve this aim the algorithm of edge detection by Canny is considered in work. It consists of the following steps: smoothing, finding gradients, non-maximum suppression, double thresholding with hysteresis. The software implementation of the Canny algorithm is carried out for the Android mobile platform with the use of high level programming language Java.

Analysis of crack opening stresses for center- and edge-crack tension specimens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tong Di-Hua

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Accurate determination of crack opening stress is of central importance to fatigue crack growth analysis and life prediction based on the crack-closure model. This paper studies the crack opening behavior for center- and edge-crack tension specimens. It is found that the crack opening stress is affected by the crack tip element. By taking the crack tip element into account, a modified crack opening stress equation is given for the center-crack tension specimen. Crack surface displacement equations for an edge crack in a semi-infinite plate under remote uniform tension and partially distributed pressure are derived by using the weight function method. Based on these displacements, a crack opening stress equation for an edge crack in a semi-infinite plate under uniform tension has been developed. The study shows that the crack opening stress is geometry-dependent, and the weight function method provides an effective and reliable tool to deal with such geometry dependence.

Beyond reliability, multi-state failure analysis of satellite subsystems: A statistical approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castet, Jean-Francois; Saleh, Joseph H.

2010-01-01

Reliability is widely recognized as a critical design attribute for space systems. In recent articles, we conducted nonparametric analyses and Weibull fits of satellite and satellite subsystems reliability for 1584 Earth-orbiting satellites launched between January 1990 and October 2008. In this paper, we extend our investigation of failures of satellites and satellite subsystems beyond the binary concept of reliability to the analysis of their anomalies and multi-state failures. In reliability analysis, the system or subsystem under study is considered to be either in an operational or failed state; multi-state failure analysis introduces 'degraded states' or partial failures, and thus provides more insights through finer resolution into the degradation behavior of an item and its progression towards complete failure. The database used for the statistical analysis in the present work identifies five states for each satellite subsystem: three degraded states, one fully operational state, and one failed state (complete failure). Because our dataset is right-censored, we calculate the nonparametric probability of transitioning between states for each satellite subsystem with the Kaplan-Meier estimator, and we derive confidence intervals for each probability of transitioning between states. We then conduct parametric Weibull fits of these probabilities using the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) approach. After validating the results, we compare the reliability versus multi-state failure analyses of three satellite subsystems: the thruster/fuel; the telemetry, tracking, and control (TTC); and the gyro/sensor/reaction wheel subsystems. The results are particularly revealing of the insights that can be gleaned from multi-state failure analysis and the deficiencies, or blind spots, of the traditional reliability analysis. In addition to the specific results provided here, which should prove particularly useful to the space industry, this work highlights the importance

Elastically Deformable Side-Edge Link for Trailing-Edge Flap Aeroacoustic Noise Reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Khorrami, Mehdi R. (Inventor); Lockard, David P. (Inventor); Moore, James B. (Inventor); Su, Ji (Inventor); Turner, Travis L. (Inventor); Lin, John C. (Inventor); Taminger, Karen M. (Inventor); Kahng, Seun K. (Inventor); Verden, Scott A. (Inventor)

2014-01-01

A system is provided for reducing aeroacoustic noise generated by an aircraft having wings equipped with trailing-edge flaps. The system includes a plurality of elastically deformable structures. Each structure is coupled to and along one of the side edges of one of the trailing-edge flaps, and is coupled to a portion of one of the wings that is adjacent to the one of the side edges. The structures elastically deform when the trailing-edge flaps are deployed away from the wings.

Localized Edge Vibrations and Edge Reconstruction by Joule Heating in Graphene Nanostructures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engelund, Mads; Fürst, Joachim Alexander; Jauho, Antti-Pekka

2010-01-01

Control of the edge topology of graphene nanostructures is critical to graphene-based electronics. A means of producing atomically smooth zigzag edges using electronic current has recently been demonstrated in experiments [Jia et al., Science 323, 1701 (2009)]. We develop a microscopic theory...... for current-induced edge reconstruction using density functional theory. Our calculations provide evidence for localized vibrations at edge interfaces involving unpassivated armchair edges. We demonstrate that these vibrations couple to the current, estimate their excitation by Joule heating, and argue...

Material degradation - a nuclear utility's view

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spekkens, P.

2007-01-01

Degradation of nuclear plant materials has been responsible for major costs and unit outage time. As such, nuclear utilities are important end users of the information produced by R and D on material degradation. This plenary describes the significance of material degradation for the nuclear utilities, and how utilities use information about material degradation in their short, medium and long term planning activities. Utilities invest in R and D programs to assist them in their business objective of operating safely, reliably and cost competitively. Material degradation impacts all three of these business drivers. Utilities make decisions on life cycle planning, unit refurbishment and 'new build' projects on the basis of their understanding of the behaviour of a variety of materials in a broad range of environments. The R and D being carried out today will determine the future business success of the nuclear utilities. The R and D program needs to be broadly based to include a range of materials, environments and time-frames, particularly any new materials proposed for use in new units. The R and D community needs to help the utility managers make choices that will result in an optimized materials R and D program

Sulfur K-edge absorption spectroscopy on selected biological systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lichtenberg, Henning

2008-07-01

Sulfur is an essential element in organisms. In this thesis investigations of sulfur compounds in selected biological systems by XANES (X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure) spectroscopy are reported. XANES spectroscopy at the sulfur K-edge provides an excellent tool to gain information about the local environments of sulfur atoms in intact biological samples - no extraction processes are required. Spatially resolved measurements using a Kirkpatrick-Baez mirror focusing system were carried out to investigate the infection of wheat leaves by rust fungi. The results give information about changes in the sulfur metabolism of the host induced by the parasite and about the extension of the infection into visibly uninfected plant tissue. Furthermore, XANES spectra of microbial mats from sulfidic caves were measured. These mats are dominated by microbial groups involved in cycling sulfur. Additionally, the influence of sulfate deprivation and H 2 S exposure on sulfur compounds in onion was investigated. To gain an insight into the thermal degradation of organic material the influence of roasting of sulfur compounds in coffee beans was studied. (orig.)

Degradation analysis of the encapsulation polymer in photovoltaic modules by Raman spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peike, Cornelia

2015-07-01

Understanding the degradation behavior of photovoltaic modules is of great importance for the production of reliable and durable PV modules. Within this work, the applicability of Raman spectroscopy as a non-destructive method for PV module degradation analysis was investigated. In addition, the influence of polymer stabilizers on the photochemical discoloration of EVA as well as the impact of EVA aging on the cell metallization degradation under damp-heat conditions was studied.

A Data-Driven Reliability Estimation Approach for Phased-Mission Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hua-Feng He

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We attempt to address the issues associated with reliability estimation for phased-mission systems (PMS and present a novel data-driven approach to achieve reliability estimation for PMS using the condition monitoring information and degradation data of such system under dynamic operating scenario. In this sense, this paper differs from the existing methods only considering the static scenario without using the real-time information, which aims to estimate the reliability for a population but not for an individual. In the presented approach, to establish a linkage between the historical data and real-time information of the individual PMS, we adopt a stochastic filtering model to model the phase duration and obtain the updated estimation of the mission time by Bayesian law at each phase. At the meanwhile, the lifetime of PMS is estimated from degradation data, which are modeled by an adaptive Brownian motion. As such, the mission reliability can be real time obtained through the estimated distribution of the mission time in conjunction with the estimated lifetime distribution. We demonstrate the usefulness of the developed approach via a numerical example.

Reliability test and failure analysis of high power LED packages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Zhaohui; Zhang Qin; Wang Kai; Luo Xiaobing; Liu Sheng

2011-01-01

A new type application specific light emitting diode (LED) package (ASLP) with freeform polycarbonate lens for street lighting is developed, whose manufacturing processes are compatible with a typical LED packaging process. The reliability test methods and failure criterions from different vendors are reviewed and compared. It is found that test methods and failure criterions are quite different. The rapid reliability assessment standards are urgently needed for the LED industry. 85 0 C/85 RH with 700 mA is used to test our LED modules with three other vendors for 1000 h, showing no visible degradation in optical performance for our modules, with two other vendors showing significant degradation. Some failure analysis methods such as C-SAM, Nano X-ray CT and optical microscope are used for LED packages. Some failure mechanisms such as delaminations and cracks are detected in the LED packages after the accelerated reliability testing. The finite element simulation method is helpful for the failure analysis and design of the reliability of the LED packaging. One example is used to show one currently used module in industry is vulnerable and may not easily pass the harsh thermal cycle testing. (semiconductor devices)

The importance of reliability to the SunShot Initiative (Presentation Recording)

Science.gov (United States)

Jones-Albertus, Rebecca

2015-09-01

The U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative was launched in 2011 to make subsidy-free solar electricity cost competitive with conventional energy sources by the end of the decade. Research in reliability can play a major role in realizing the SunShot goal of 0.06/kWh. By improving photovoltaic module lifetime and reducing degradation rates, a system's lifetime energy output is increased. Increasing confidence in photovoltaic performance prediction can lower perceived investment risk and thus the cost of capital. Accordingly, in 2015, SunShot expects to award more than $40 million through its SunShot National Laboratory Multiyear Partnership (SuNLaMP) and Physics of Reliability: Evaluating Design Insights for Component Technologies in Solar (PREDICTS) 2 funding programs, for research into reliability topics such as determining acceleration factors, modeling degradation rates and failure mechanisms, improving predictive performance models, and developing new test methods and instrumentation.

Effects of organic degradation products on the sorption of actinides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baston, G.M.N.; Berry, J.A.; Bond, K.A.; Brownsword, M.; Linklater, C.M. (AEA Decommissioning and Radwaste, Harwell Lab. (United Kingdom))

1992-01-01

Previous work has shown that products from the chemical degradation of cellulosic matter can significantly reduce sorption of uranium(VI) and plutonium(IV) on geological materials. Uranium(IV) batch sorption experiments have now been performed to study the effect of organic degradation products in a reducing environment. Thorium(IV) sorption has also been studied since thorium is an important radioelement in its own right and has potential use as a simulant for other tetravalent actinides. Sorption onto London clay, Caithness flagstones and St. Bees sandstone was investigated. Experimental conditions were chosen to simulate both those expected close to cementitious repository (pH [proportional to] 11) and at the edge of the zone of migration of the alkaline plume (pH [proportional to] 8). Work was carried out with both authentic degradation products and with gluconate, acting as a well-characterized simulant for cellulosic degradation products. The results show that the presence of organic species can cause a reduction in sorption. This is especially so in the presence of a high concentration of gluconate ions, but the reduction is significantly less with authentic degradation products. (orig.).

Reduction of airfoil trailing edge noise by trailing edge blowing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerhard, T; Carolus, T; Erbslöh, S

2014-01-01

The paper deals with airfoil trailing edge noise and its reduction by trailing edge blowing. A Somers S834 airfoil section which originally was designed for small wind turbines is investigated. To mimic realistic Reynolds numbers the boundary layer is tripped on pressure and suction side. The chordwise position of the blowing slot is varied. The acoustic sources, i.e. the unsteady flow quantities in the turbulent boundary layer in the vicinity of the trailing edge, are quantified for the airfoil without and with trailing edge blowing by means of a large eddy simulation and complementary measurements. Eventually the far field airfoil noise is measured by a two-microphone filtering and correlation and a 40 microphone array technique. Both, LES-prediction and measurements showed that a suitable blowing jet on the airfoil suction side is able to reduce significantly the turbulence intensity and the induced surface pressure fluctuations in the trailing edge region. As a consequence, trailing edge noise associated with a spectral hump around 500 Hz could be reduced by 3 dB. For that a jet velocity of 50% of the free field velocity was sufficient. The most favourable slot position was at 90% chord length

Investigation of abrupt degradation of drain current caused by under-gate crack in AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors during high temperature operation stress

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zeng, Chang; Liao, XueYang; Li, RuGuan; Wang, YuanSheng; Chen, Yiqiang, E-mail: yiqiang-chen@hotmail.com; Su, Wei; Liu, Yuan; Wang, Li Wei; Lai, Ping; Huang, Yun; En, YunFei [Science and Technology on Reliability Physics and Application of Electronic Component Laboratory, The 5th Electronics Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 510610 Guangzhou (China)

2015-09-28

In this paper, we investigate the degradation mode and mechanism of AlGaN/GaN based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) during high temperature operation (HTO) stress. It demonstrates that there was abrupt degradation mode of drain current during HTO stress. The abrupt degradation is ascribed to the formation of crack under the gate which was the result of the brittle fracture of epilayer based on failure analysis. The origin of the mechanical damage under the gate is further investigated and discussed based on top-down scanning electron microscope, cross section transmission electron microscope and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analysis, and stress simulation. Based on the coupled analysis of the failure physical feature and stress simulation considering the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch in different materials in gate metals/semiconductor system, the mechanical damage under the gate is related to mechanical stress induced by CTE mismatch in Au/Ti/Mo/GaN system and stress concentration caused by the localized structural damage at the drain side of the gate edge. These results indicate that mechanical stress induced by CTE mismatch of materials inside the device plays great important role on the reliability of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs during HTO stress.

Node-pair reliability of network systems with small distances between adjacent nodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malinowski, Jacek

2007-01-01

A new method for computing the node-pair reliability of network systems modeled by random graphs with nodes arranged in sequence is presented. It is based on a recursive algorithm using the 'sliding window' technique, the window being composed of several consecutive nodes. In a single step, the connectivity probabilities for all nodes included in the window are found. Subsequently, the window is moved one node forward. This process is repeated until, in the last step, the window reaches the terminal node. The connectivity probabilities found at that point are used to compute the node-pair reliability of the network system considered. The algorithm is designed especially for graphs with small distances between adjacent nodes, where the distance between two nodes is defined as the absolute value of the difference between the nodes' numbers. The maximal distance between any two adjacent nodes is denoted by Γ(G), where G symbolizes a random graph. If Γ(G)=2 then the method can be applied for directed as well as undirected graphs whose nodes and edges are subject to failure. This is important in view of the fact that many algorithms computing network reliability are designed for graphs with failure-prone edges and reliable nodes. If Γ(G)=3 then the method's applicability is limited to undirected graphs with reliable nodes. The main asset of the presented algorithms is their low numerical complexity-O(n), where n denotes the number of nodes

Determining the Gaussian Modulus and Edge Properties of 2D Materials: From Graphene to Lipid Bilayers

Science.gov (United States)

Zelisko, Matthew; Ahmadpoor, Fatemeh; Gao, Huajian; Sharma, Pradeep

2017-08-01

The dominant deformation behavior of two-dimensional materials (bending) is primarily governed by just two parameters: bending rigidity and the Gaussian modulus. These properties also set the energy scale for various important physical and biological processes such as pore formation, cell fission and generally, any event accompanied by a topological change. Unlike the bending rigidity, the Gaussian modulus is, however, notoriously difficult to evaluate via either experiments or atomistic simulations. In this Letter, recognizing that the Gaussian modulus and edge tension play a nontrivial role in the fluctuations of a 2D material edge, we derive closed-form expressions for edge fluctuations. Combined with atomistic simulations, we use the developed approach to extract the Gaussian modulus and edge tension at finite temperatures for both graphene and various types of lipid bilayers. Our results possibly provide the first reliable estimate of this elusive property at finite temperatures and appear to suggest that earlier estimates must be revised. In particular, we show that, if previously estimated properties are employed, the graphene-free edge will exhibit unstable behavior at room temperature. Remarkably, in the case of graphene, we show that the Gaussian modulus and edge tension even change sign at finite temperatures.

Determination of LEDs degradation with entropy generation rate

Science.gov (United States)

Cuadras, Angel; Yao, Jiaqiang; Quilez, Marcos

2017-10-01

We propose a method to assess the degradation and aging of light emitting diodes (LEDs) based on irreversible entropy generation rate. We degraded several LEDs and monitored their entropy generation rate ( S ˙ ) in accelerated tests. We compared the thermoelectrical results with the optical light emission evolution during degradation. We find a good relationship between aging and S ˙ (t), because S ˙ is both related to device parameters and optical performance. We propose a threshold of S ˙ (t) as a reliable damage indicator of LED end-of-life that can avoid the need to perform optical measurements to assess optical aging. The method lays beyond the typical statistical laws for lifetime prediction provided by manufacturers. We tested different LED colors and electrical stresses to validate the electrical LED model and we analyzed the degradation mechanisms of the devices.

Edge printability: techniques used to evaluate and improve extreme wafer edge printability

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Bill; Demmert, Cort; Jekauc, Igor; Tiffany, Jason P.

2004-05-01

The economics of semiconductor manufacturing have forced process engineers to develop techniques to increase wafer yield. Improvements in process controls and uniformities in all areas of the fab have reduced film thickness variations at the very edge of the wafer surface. This improved uniformity has provided the opportunity to consider decreasing edge exclusions, and now the outermost extents of the wafer must be considered in the yield model and expectations. These changes have increased the requirements on lithography to improve wafer edge printability in areas that previously were not even coated. This has taxed all software and hardware components used in defining the optical focal plane at the wafer edge. We have explored techniques to determine the capabilities of extreme wafer edge printability and the components of the systems that influence this printability. We will present current capabilities and new detection techniques and the influence that the individual hardware and software components have on edge printability. We will show effects of focus sensor designs, wafer layout, utilization of dummy edge fields, the use of non-zero overlay targets and chemical/optical edge bead optimization.

Current profile control and magnetohydrodynamic stability in Tore Supra discharges with edge-plasma control by the ergodic divertor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zabiego, M.; Friant, C.; Ghendrih, P.; Becoulet, M.; Bucalossi, J.; Saint-Laurent, F.

1999-01-01

Although ergodic divertors are primarily designed to control particle and heat fluxes at the plasma edge, they also happen to affect the MHD stability of tokamak discharges. On Tore Supra, the ergodic divertor has long been known to stabilize the m/n=2/1 tearing mode induced, for instance, by edge radiation and detachment processes, thus allowing safe high-current and high-density operations. More recently, though, in discharges where ergodic divertor operations were optimised relative to the control of the edge-plasma (i.e., with large divertor perturbation), a detrimental increase in the disruptiveness has been observed. The action that the ergodic divertor has on the MHD activity is interpreted in terms of a redistribution of the current profile. The latter results from a large increase in the edge resistivity, primarily induced by the degradation of the electron energy confinement in the ergodic layer. The possibility that a transport barrier develops in the vicinity of the separatrix strongly affects the considered modelling. (authors)

Edge enhancement improves disruptive camouflage by emphasising false edges and creating pictorial relief.

Science.gov (United States)

Egan, John; Sharman, Rebecca J; Scott-Brown, Kenneth C; Lovell, Paul George

2016-12-06

Disruptive colouration is a visual camouflage composed of false edges and boundaries. Many disruptively camouflaged animals feature enhanced edges; light patches are surrounded by a lighter outline and/or a dark patches are surrounded by a darker outline. This camouflage is particularly common in amphibians, reptiles and lepidopterans. We explored the role that this pattern has in creating effective camouflage. In a visual search task utilising an ultra-large display area mimicking search tasks that might be found in nature, edge enhanced disruptive camouflage increases crypsis, even on substrates that do not provide an obvious visual match. Specifically, edge enhanced camouflage is effective on backgrounds both with and without shadows; i.e. this is not solely due to background matching of the dark edge enhancement element with the shadows. Furthermore, when the dark component of the edge enhancement is omitted the camouflage still provided better crypsis than control patterns without edge enhancement. This kind of edge enhancement improved camouflage on all background types. Lastly, we show that edge enhancement can create a perception of multiple surfaces. We conclude that edge enhancement increases the effectiveness of disruptive camouflage through mechanisms that may include the improved disruption of the object outline by implying pictorial relief.

Indented Cu2MoS4 nanosheets with enhanced electrocatalytic and photocatalytic activities realized through edge engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bang-Bao; Ma, De-Kun; Ke, Qing-Ping; Chen, Wei; Huang, Shao-Ming

2016-03-07

Edges often play a role as active centers for catalytic reactions in some nanomaterials. Therefore it is highly desirable to enhance catalytic activity of a material through modulating the microstructure of the edges. However, the study associated with edge engineering is less investigated and still at its preliminary stage. Here we report that Cu2MoS4 nanosheets with indented edges can be fabricated through a simple chemical etching route at room temperature, using Cu2MoS4 nanosheets with flat ones as sacrifice templates. Taking the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and conversion of benzyl alcohol as examples, the catalytic activity of Cu2MoS4 indented nanosheets (INSs) obtained through edge engineering was comparatively studied with those of Cu2MoS4 flat nanosheets (FNSs) without any modification. The photocatalytic tests revealed that the catalytic active sites of Cu2MoS4 nanosheets were associated with their edges rather than basal planes. Cu2MoS4 INSs were endowed with larger electrochemically active surface area (ECSA), more active edges and better hydrophilicity through the edge engineering. As a result, the as-fabricated Cu2MoS4 INSs exhibited an excellent HER activity with a small Tafel slope of 77 mV dec(-1), which is among the best records for Cu2MoS4 catalysts. The present work demonstrated the validity of adjusting catalytic activity of the material through edge engineering and provided a new strategy for designing and developing highly efficient catalysts.

Edge Matters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Earon, Ofri

2013-01-01

of this container is to separate inside from outside and to protect and provide privacy, psychological as well as physical (Venturi, 1966). But, if dwelling phenomenon takes place both inside and outside the private house – why is the urban house an enclosed box? What is the differentiation between inside...... and outside the contemporary urban house? And what is the interplay between them? The research argues for re-thinking the edge zone between inside and outside the urban house. Therefore, although, residential buildings in the city are the objects of study, the focal point here is the edge zone along...... the building. The research explores and develops the architectural characteristics of correlations between the resident, the singular unit, the building and the given location at the edge zone. It approaches the edge zone of the urban house as a platform for dynamic interactions between these behaviours...

Edge effects and beta diversity in ground and canopy beetle communities of fragmented subtropical forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Marisa J; Catterall, Carla P; Stork, Nigel E

2018-01-01

Clearing of dry forests globally creates edges between remnant forest and open anthropogenic habitats. We used flight intercept traps to evaluate how forest beetle communities are influenced by distance from such edges, together with vertical height, spatial location, and local vegetation structure, in an urbanising region (Brisbane, Australia). Species composition (but not total abundance or richness) differed greatly between ground and canopy. Species composition also varied strongly among sites at both ground and canopy levels, but almost all other significant effects occurred only at ground level, where: species richness declined from edge to interior; composition differed between positions near edges ( 50 m); high local canopy cover was associated with greater total abundance and richness and differing composition; and greater distances to the city centre were associated with increased total abundances and altered composition. Analyses of individual indicator species associated with this variation enabled further biological interpretations. A global literature synthesis showed that most spatially well-replicated studies of edge effects on ground-level beetles within forest fragments have likewise found that positions within tens of metres from edges with open anthropogenic habitats had increased species richness and different compositions from forest interior sites, with fewer effects on abundance. Accordingly, negative edge effects will not prevent relatively small compact fragments (if >10-20 ha) from supporting forest-like beetle communities, although indirect consequences of habitat degradation remain a threat. Retention of multiple spatially scattered forest areas will also be important in conserving forest-dependent beetles, given high levels of between-site diversity.

Edge effects and beta diversity in ground and canopy beetle communities of fragmented subtropical forest

Science.gov (United States)

Catterall, Carla P.; Stork, Nigel E.

2018-01-01

Clearing of dry forests globally creates edges between remnant forest and open anthropogenic habitats. We used flight intercept traps to evaluate how forest beetle communities are influenced by distance from such edges, together with vertical height, spatial location, and local vegetation structure, in an urbanising region (Brisbane, Australia). Species composition (but not total abundance or richness) differed greatly between ground and canopy. Species composition also varied strongly among sites at both ground and canopy levels, but almost all other significant effects occurred only at ground level, where: species richness declined from edge to interior; composition differed between positions near edges ( 50 m); high local canopy cover was associated with greater total abundance and richness and differing composition; and greater distances to the city centre were associated with increased total abundances and altered composition. Analyses of individual indicator species associated with this variation enabled further biological interpretations. A global literature synthesis showed that most spatially well-replicated studies of edge effects on ground-level beetles within forest fragments have likewise found that positions within tens of metres from edges with open anthropogenic habitats had increased species richness and different compositions from forest interior sites, with fewer effects on abundance. Accordingly, negative edge effects will not prevent relatively small compact fragments (if >10–20 ha) from supporting forest-like beetle communities, although indirect consequences of habitat degradation remain a threat. Retention of multiple spatially scattered forest areas will also be important in conserving forest-dependent beetles, given high levels of between-site diversity. PMID:29494680

A method to assign failure rates for piping reliability assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gamble, R.M.; Tagart, S.W. Jr.

1991-01-01

This paper reports on a simplified method that has been developed to assign failure rates that can be used in reliability and risk studies of piping. The method can be applied on a line-by-line basis by identifying line and location specific attributes that can lead to piping unreliability from in-service degradation mechanisms and random events. A survey of service experience for nuclear piping reliability also was performed. The data from this survey provides a basis for identifying in-service failure attributes and assigning failure rates for risk and reliability studies

Evaluation criteria of structural steel reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zav'yalov, A.S.

1980-01-01

Different low-carbon and medium-carbon structural steels are investigated. It is stated that steel reliability evaluation criteria depend on the fracture mode, steel suffering from the brittle fracture under the influence of the stresses (despite their great variety) arising in articles during the production and operation. Fibrous steel fracture at the given temperature and article thickness says about its high ductility and toughness and brittle fractures are impossible. Brittle fractures take place in case of a crystalline and mixed fracture with a predominant crystalline component. Evaluation methods of article and sample steel structural strength differing greatly from real articles in a thickness (diameter) or used at temperatures higher than possible operation temperatures cannot be reliability evaluation criteria because at a great thickness (diameter) and lower operation temperatures steel fracture and its strain mode can change resulting in a sharp reliability degradation

An edge pedestal model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stacev, W.M.

2001-01-01

A new model for calculation of the gradient scale lengths in the edge pedestal region and of the edge transport barrier width in H-mode tokamak plasmas will be described. Model problem calculations which demonstrate the promise of this model for predicting experimental pedestal properties will be discussed. The density and Prague gradient scale lengths (L) in the edge are calculated from the particle and ion and electron energy radial transport equations, making use of (presumed) known particle and energy fluxes flowing across the edge transport barrier from the core into the SOL and of edge transport coefficients. The average values of the particle and heat fluxes in the edge transport barrier are calculated in terms of the fluxes crossing into the SOL and the atomic physics reaction rates (ionisation, charge-exchange, elastic scattering, impurity radiation) in the edge by integrating the respective transport equations from the pedestal to the separatrix. An important implication of this model is that the pedestal gradient scale lengths depend not just on local pedestal platers properties but also on particle and energy fluxes from the core plasma and on recycling neutral fluxes that penetrate into the plasma edge, both of which in turn depend on the pedestal properties. The MHD edge pressure gradient constraint α≤ α C is used to determine the pressure width of the edge transport barrier, Δ TB = Δ TB (α c ). Three different models for the MHD edge pressure gradient constraint have been investigated: (1) nominal ideal ballooning mode theory, (2) ballooning mode theory taking into account the edge geometry and shear to access He second stability region; and pedestal β-limit theory when the ballooning modes are stabilised by diamagnetic effects. A series of calculations have been made for a DIII-D model problem. The calculated gradient scale lengths and edge transport barrier widths are of the magnitude of values observed experimentally, and certain trends

Degradation Mechanisms for GaN and GaAs High Speed Transistors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fan Ren

2012-11-01

Full Text Available We present a review of reliability issues in AlGaN/GaN and AlGaAs/GaAs high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs as well as Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (HBTs in the AlGaAs/GaAs materials systems. Because of the complex nature and multi-faceted operation modes of these devices, reliability studies must go beyond the typical Arrhenius accelerated life tests. We review the electric field driven degradation in devices with different gate metallization, device dimensions, electric field mitigation techniques (such as source field plate, and the effect of device fabrication processes for both DC and RF stress conditions. We summarize the degradation mechanisms that limit the lifetime of these devices. A variety of contact and surface degradation mechanisms have been reported, but differ in the two device technologies: For HEMTs, the layers are thin and relatively lightly doped compared to HBT structures and there is a metal Schottky gate that is directly on the semiconductor. By contrast, the HBT relies on pn junctions for current modulation and has only Ohmic contacts. This leads to different degradation mechanisms for the two types of devices.

Degradation Mechanisms for GaN and GaAs High Speed Transistors

Science.gov (United States)

Cheney, David J.; Douglas, Erica A.; Liu, Lu; Lo, Chien-Fong; Gila, Brent P.; Ren, Fan; Pearton, Stephen J.

2012-01-01

We present a review of reliability issues in AlGaN/GaN and AlGaAs/GaAs high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) as well as Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (HBTs) in the AlGaAs/GaAs materials systems. Because of the complex nature and multi-faceted operation modes of these devices, reliability studies must go beyond the typical Arrhenius accelerated life tests. We review the electric field driven degradation in devices with different gate metallization, device dimensions, electric field mitigation techniques (such as source field plate), and the effect of device fabrication processes for both DC and RF stress conditions. We summarize the degradation mechanisms that limit the lifetime of these devices. A variety of contact and surface degradation mechanisms have been reported, but differ in the two device technologies: For HEMTs, the layers are thin and relatively lightly doped compared to HBT structures and there is a metal Schottky gate that is directly on the semiconductor. By contrast, the HBT relies on pn junctions for current modulation and has only Ohmic contacts. This leads to different degradation mechanisms for the two types of devices.

Reliability of structures by using probability and fatigue theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Ouk Sub; Kim, Dong Hyeok; Park, Yeon Chang

2008-01-01

Methodologies to calculate failure probability and to estimate the reliability of fatigue loaded structures are developed. The applicability of the methodologies is evaluated with the help of the fatigue crack growth models suggested by Paris and Walker. The probability theories such as the FORM (first order reliability method), the SORM (second order reliability method) and the MCS (Monte Carlo simulation) are utilized. It is found that the failure probability decreases with the increase of the design fatigue life and the applied minimum stress, the decrease of the initial edge crack size, the applied maximum stress and the slope of Paris equation. Furthermore, according to the sensitivity analysis of random variables, the slope of Pairs equation affects the failure probability dominantly among other random variables in the Paris and the Walker models

Forest edge disturbance increases rattan abundance in tropical rain forest fragments.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Mason J; Edwards, Will; Magrach, Ainhoa; Laurance, Susan G; Alamgir, Mohammed; Porolak, Gabriel; Laurance, William F

2017-07-20

Human-induced forest fragmentation poses one of the largest threats to global diversity yet its impact on rattans (climbing palms) has remained virtually unexplored. Rattan is arguably the world's most valuable non-timber forest product though current levels of harvesting and land-use change place wild populations at risk. To assess rattan response to fragmentation exclusive of harvesting impacts we examined rattan abundance, demography and ecology within the forests of northeastern, Australia. We assessed the community abundance of rattans, and component adult (>3 m) and juvenile (≤3 m) abundance in five intact forests and five fragments (23-58 ha) to determine their response to a range of environmental and ecological parameters. Fragmented forests supported higher abundances of rattans than intact forests. Fragment size and edge degradation significantly increased adult rattan abundance, with more in smaller fragments and near edges. Our findings suggest that rattan increase within fragments is due to canopy disturbance of forest edges resulting in preferential, high-light habitat. However, adult and juvenile rattans may respond inconsistently to fragmentation. In managed forest fragments, a rattan abundance increase may provide economic benefits through sustainable harvesting practices. However, rattan increases in protected area forest fragments could negatively impact conservation outcomes.

High temperature degradation in power plants and refineries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Furtado Heloisa Cunha

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Thermal power plants and refineries around the world share many of the same problems, namely aging equipment, high costs of replacement, and the need to produce more efficiently while being increasingly concerned with issues of safety and reliability. For equipment operating at high temperature, there are many different mechanisms of degradation, some of which interact, and the rate of accumulation of damage is not simple to predict. The paper discusses the mechanisms of degradation at high temperature and methods of assessment of such damage and of the remaining safe life for operation.

Materials Degradation in Light Water Reactors: Life After 60,

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Busby, Jeremy T; Nanstad, Randy K; Stoller, Roger E; Feng, Zhili; Naus, Dan J

2008-01-01

Nuclear reactors present a very harsh environment for components service. Components within a reactor core must tolerate high temperature water, stress, vibration, and an intense neutron field. Degradation of materials in this environment can lead to reduced performance, and in some cases, sudden failure. A recent EPRI-led study interviewed 47 US nuclear utility executives to gauge perspectives on long-term operation of nuclear reactors. Nearly 90% indicated that extensions of reactor lifetimes to beyond 60 years were likely. When polled on the most challenging issues facing further life extension, two-thirds cited plant reliability as the key issue with materials aging and cable/piping as the top concerns for plant reliability. Materials degradation within a nuclear power plant is very complex. There are many different types of materials within the reactor itself: over 25 different metal alloys can be found with can be found within the primary and secondary systems, not to mention the concrete containment vessel, instrumentation and control, and other support facilities. When this diverse set of materials is placed in the complex and harsh environment coupled with load, degradation over an extended life is indeed quite complicated. To address this issue, the USNRC has developed a Progressive Materials Degradation Approach (NUREG/CR-6923). This approach is intended to develop a foundation for appropriate actions to keep materials degradation from adversely impacting component integrity and safety and identify materials and locations where degradation can reasonably be expected in the future. Clearly, materials degradation will impact reactor reliability, availability, and potentially, safe operation. Routine surveillance and component replacement can mitigate these factors, although failures still occur. With reactor life extensions to 60 years or beyond or power uprates, many components must tolerate the reactor environment for even longer times. This may increase

Improving Power Converter Reliability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ghimire, Pramod; de Vega, Angel Ruiz; Beczkowski, Szymon

2014-01-01

of a high-power IGBT module during converter operation, which may play a vital role in improving the reliability of the power converters. The measured voltage is used to estimate the module average junction temperature of the high and low-voltage side of a half-bridge IGBT separately in every fundamental......The real-time junction temperature monitoring of a high-power insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module is important to increase the overall reliability of power converters for industrial applications. This article proposes a new method to measure the on-state collector?emitter voltage...... is measured in a wind power converter at a low fundamental frequency. To illustrate more, the test method as well as the performance of the measurement circuit are also presented. This measurement is also useful to indicate failure mechanisms such as bond wire lift-off and solder layer degradation...

Tangential 2-D Edge Imaging for GPI and Edge/Impurity Modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maqueda, Ricardo; Levinton, Fred M.

2011-01-01

Nova Photonics, Inc. has a collaborative effort at the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). This collaboration, based on fast imaging of visible phenomena, has provided key insights on edge turbulence, intermittency, and edge phenomena such as edge localized modes (ELMs) and multi-faceted axisymmetric radiation from the edge (MARFE). Studies have been performed in all these areas. The edge turbulence/intermittency studies make use of the Gas Puff Imaging diagnostic developed by the Principal Investigator (Ricardo Maqueda) together with colleagues from PPPL. This effort is part of the International Tokamak Physics Activity (ITPA) edge, scrape-off layer and divertor group joint activity (DSOL-15: Inter-machine comparison of blob characteristics). The edge turbulence/blob study has been extended from the current location near the midplane of the device to the lower divertor region of NSTX. The goal of this effort was to study turbulence born blobs in the vicinity of the X-point region and their circuit closure on divertor sheaths or high density regions in the divertor. In the area of ELMs and MARFEs we have studied and characterized the mode structure and evolution of the ELM types observed in NSTX, as well as the study of the observed interaction between MARFEs and ELMs. This interaction could have substantial implications for future devices where radiative divertor regions are required to maintain detachment from the divertor plasma facing components.

Remaining life prediction of I and C cables for reliability assessment of NPP systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santhosh, T.V.; Ghosh, A.K.; Fernandes, B.G.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► A framework for time dependent reliability prediction of I and C cables for use in PSA of NPP has been developed using stress–strength interference theory. ► The proposed methodology has been illustrated with the accelerated thermal aging data on a typical XLPE cable. ► The behavior of insulation resistance when the degradation process is linear or exponential has also been modeled. ► The reliability index or probability of failure obtained from this approach can be used in system reliability evaluation to account for cable aging for PSA of NPP. - Abstract: Instrumentation and control (I and C) cables are one of the most important components in nuclear power plants (NPPs) because they provide power to safety-related equipment and also to transmit signals to and from various controllers to perform safety operations. I and C cables in NPP are subjected to a variety of aging and degradation stressors that can produce immediate degradation or aging-related mechanisms causing the degradation of cable components over time. Although, there exits several life estimation techniques, currently there is no any standard methodology or an approach toward estimating the time dependent reliability of I and C cables that can be directly used in probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) applications. Hence, the objective of this study is to develop an approach to estimate and confirm the continued acceptable margin in cable insulation life over time subjected to aging. This paper presents a framework based on the structural reliability theory to quantify the life time of I and C cable subjecting to thermal aging. Since cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cables are extensively being used in Indian NPPs, the remaining life time evaluations have been carried out for a typical XLPE cable. However, the methodology can be extended to other cables such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene propylene rubber (EPR), etc.

Reliability physics and engineering time-to-failure modeling

CERN Document Server

McPherson, J W

2013-01-01

Reliability Physics and Engineering provides critically important information that is needed for designing and building reliable cost-effective products. Key features include:  ·       Materials/Device Degradation ·       Degradation Kinetics ·       Time-To-Failure Modeling ·       Statistical Tools ·       Failure-Rate Modeling ·       Accelerated Testing ·       Ramp-To-Failure Testing ·       Important Failure Mechanisms for Integrated Circuits ·       Important Failure Mechanisms for  Mechanical Components ·       Conversion of Dynamic  Stresses into Static Equivalents ·       Small Design Changes Producing Major Reliability Improvements ·       Screening Methods ·       Heat Generation and Dissipation ·       Sampling Plans and Confidence Intervals This textbook includes numerous example problems with solutions. Also, exercise problems along with the answers are included at the end of each chapter. Relia...

Reliability-based condition assessment of steel containment and liners

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellingwood, B.; Bhattacharya, B.; Zheng, R.

1996-11-01

Steel containments and liners in nuclear power plants may be exposed to aggressive environments that may cause their strength and stiffness to decrease during the plant service life. Among the factors recognized as having the potential to cause structural deterioration are uniform, pitting or crevice corrosion; fatigue, including crack initiation and propagation to fracture; elevated temperature; and irradiation. The evaluation of steel containments and liners for continued service must provide assurance that they are able to withstand future extreme loads during the service period with a level of reliability that is sufficient for public safety. Rational methodologies to provide such assurances can be developed using modern structural reliability analysis principles that take uncertainties in loading, strength, and degradation resulting from environmental factors into account. The research described in this report is in support of the Steel Containments and Liners Program being conducted for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The research demonstrates the feasibility of using reliability analysis as a tool for performing condition assessments and service life predictions of steel containments and liners. Mathematical models that describe time-dependent changes in steel due to aggressive environmental factors are identified, and statistical data supporting the use of these models in time-dependent reliability analysis are summarized. The analysis of steel containment fragility is described, and simple illustrations of the impact on reliability of structural degradation are provided. The role of nondestructive evaluation in time-dependent reliability analysis, both in terms of defect detection and sizing, is examined. A Markov model provides a tool for accounting for time-dependent changes in damage condition of a structural component or system. 151 refs

Enhance pump reliability through improved inservice testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Healy, J.J.

1990-01-01

EPRI has undertaken a study to assess the effectiveness of existing testing programs to accurately monitor and predict performance changes before either pump performance degrades or an actual failure occurs. Anticipated changes in inservice testing techniques are directed towards enhancing the validity of test data, ensuring its repeatability, and avoiding deterioration of the pump assembly. There is a new-found interest in test programs of all types that has occurred, in part, because of an increase in reported pump degradation and pump failure. Inservice testing of pumps, which has long been a basis for assuring operability, has apparently produced an opposite effect; namely, the appearance of a reduction in reliability

Final report on reliability and lifetime prediction.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gillen, Kenneth T; Wise, Jonathan; Jones, Gary D.; Causa, Al G.; Terrill, Edward R.; Borowczak, Marc

2012-12-01

This document highlights the important results obtained from the subtask of the Goodyear CRADA devoted to better understanding reliability of tires and to developing better lifetime prediction methods. The overall objective was to establish the chemical and physical basis for the degradation of tires using standard as well as unique models and experimental techniques. Of particular interest was the potential application of our unique modulus profiling apparatus for assessing tire properties and for following tire degradation. During the course of this complex investigation, extensive relevant information was generated, including experimental results, data analyses and development of models and instruments. Detailed descriptions of the findings are included in this report.

Optimal design of degradation tests in presence of cost constraint

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, S.-J.; Chang, C.-T.

2002-01-01

Degradation test is a useful technique to provide information about the lifetime of highly reliable products. We obtain the degradation measurements over time in such a test. In general, the degradation data are modeled by a nonlinear regression model with random coefficients. If we can obtain the estimates of parameters under the model, then the failure time distribution can be estimated. However, in order to obtain a precise estimate of the percentile of failure time distribution, one needs to design an optimal degradation test. Therefore, this study proposes an approach to determine the number of units to test, inspection frequency, and termination time of a degradation test under a determined cost of experiment such that the variance of estimator of percentile of failure time distribution is minimum. The method will be applied to a numerical example and the sensitivity analysis will be discussed

Composite polymer/glass edge claddings for new Nova laser disks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powell, H.T.; Campbell, J.H.; Edwards, G.

1987-01-01

Large Nd:glass laser disks like those used in Nova require an edge cladding which absorbs at 1 μm. This cladding prevents Fresnel reflections from the edges from causing parasitic oscillations which would otherwise reduce the gain. The original Nova disks had a Cu/sup 2+/-doped phosphate glass cladding which was cast at high temperature around the circumference of the disk. Although the performance of this cladding is excellent, it was expensive to produce. Consequently, in parallel with their efforts to develop Pt inclusion-free laser glass, the authors developed a composite polymer/glass edge cladding that can be applied at greatly reduced cost. Laser disks constructed with the new cladding design show identical performance to the previous Nova disks and have been tested for hundreds of shots without degradation. The new cladding consists of absorbing glass strips which are bonded to the edges of polygonal-rather that elliptical-shaped disks. The bond is made by an --25-μm thick clear epoxy adhesive whose index of refraction matches both the laser and absorbing glass. By blending aromatic and aliphatic epoxy constituents, they achieved an index-of-refraction match within approximately +-0.003 between the epoxy and glass. The epoxy was also chosen based on its damage resistance to flashlamp light and its adhesive strength to glass. The present cladding is a major improvement over a previous experimental cladding utilizing silicone rubber as a coupling agent. Early prototypes constructed without using the presented techniques exhibited failures from both mechanisms. Delamination failures occurred which clearly showed both surface and bulk-mode parasitic oscillation. Requirements on the polymer, disk size, and Nd doping to prevent these problems are presented

Safety significance of steam generator tube degradation mechanisms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roussel, G; Mignot, P [AIB-Vincotte Nuclear - AVN, Brussels (Belgium)

1991-07-01

Steam generator (SG) tube bundle is a part of the Reactor Coolant Pressure Boundary (RCPB): this means that its integrity must be maintained. However, operating experience shows various types of tube degradation to occur in the SG tubing, which may lead to SG tube leaks or SG tube ruptures and create a loss of primary system coolant through the SG, therefore providing a direct path to the environment outside the primary containment structure. In this paper, the major types of known SG tube degradations are described and analyzed in order to assess their safety significance with regard to SG tube integrity. In conclusion: The operational reliability and the safety of the PWR steam generator s requires a sufficient knowledge of the degradation mechanisms to determine the amount of degradation that a tube can withstand and the time that it may remain in operation. They also require the availability of inspection techniques to accurately detect and characterize the various degradations. The status of understanding of the major types of degradation summarized in this paper shows and justifies why efforts are being performed to improve the management of the steam generator tube defects.

Interactive Video Coding and Transmission over Heterogeneous Wired-to-Wireless IP Networks Using an Edge Proxy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Modestino James W

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Digital video delivered over wired-to-wireless networks is expected to suffer quality degradation from both packet loss and bit errors in the payload. In this paper, the quality degradation due to packet loss and bit errors in the payload are quantitatively evaluated and their effects are assessed. We propose the use of a concatenated forward error correction (FEC coding scheme employing Reed-Solomon (RS codes and rate-compatible punctured convolutional (RCPC codes to protect the video data from packet loss and bit errors, respectively. Furthermore, the performance of a joint source-channel coding (JSCC approach employing this concatenated FEC coding scheme for video transmission is studied. Finally, we describe an improved end-to-end architecture using an edge proxy in a mobile support station to implement differential error protection for the corresponding channel impairments expected on the two networks. Results indicate that with an appropriate JSCC approach and the use of an edge proxy, FEC-based error-control techniques together with passive error-recovery techniques can significantly improve the effective video throughput and lead to acceptable video delivery quality over time-varying heterogeneous wired-to-wireless IP networks.

Forests on the edge: Microenvironmental drivers of carbon cycle response to edge effects

Science.gov (United States)

Reinmann, A.; Hutyra, L.; Smith, I. A.; Thompson, J.

2017-12-01

Twenty percent of the world's forest is within 100 m of a forest edge, but much of our understanding of forest carbon (C) cycling comes from large, intact ecosystems, which creates an important mismatch between the landscapes we study and those we aim to characterize. The temperate broadleaf forest is the most heavily fragmented forest biome in the world and its growth and carbon storage responses to forest edge effects appear to be the opposite of those in the tropical and boreal regions. We used field measurements to quantify the drivers of temperate forest C cycling response to edge effects, characterizing vegetative growth, respiration, and forest structure. We find large gradients in air and soil temperature from the forest interior to edge (up to 4 and 10° C, respectively) and the magnitude of this gradient is inversely correlated to the size of the forest edge growth enhancement. Further, leaf area index increases with proximity to the forest edge. While we also find increases in soil respiration between the forest interior and edge, this flux is small relative to aboveground growth enhancement near the edge. These findings represent an important advancement in our understanding of forest C cycle response to edge effects and will greatly improve our capacity to constrain biogenic C fluxes in fragmented and heterogeneous landscapes.

Degradation model and application in life prediction of rotating-mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Yuhui

2009-01-01

The degradation data can provide additional information beyond that provided by the failure observations, both sets of observations need to be considered when doing inference on the statistical parameters of the product and system lifetime distributions. By the degradation model showing the wear out failure, the predicted results of mechanism life is more accurate. Strength is one of the important capabilities of the rotating mechanism. In this paper, the degradation data of strength are described as a stochastic process model. Accelerated tests expose the products to greater environmental stress levels so that we can obtain lifetime and degradation measurements in a more timely fashion. Using the Best Linear Unbiased Estimation (BLUE) Method, the parameters under the degradation path were estimated from the accelerated life test (ALT) data of the rotating mechanism. Based on solving the singularity of degradation equation, at any time the reliability is estimated by the using the strength-stress interference theory. So we can predict the life of the rotating mechanism. (authors)

Edge modulation of electronics and transport properties of cliff-edge phosphorene nanoribbons

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Caixia; Wang, Tianxing; Xia, Congxin; Liu, Yufang

2017-12-01

Based on the first-principles calculations, we study the electronic structures and transport properties of cliff-like edge phosphorene nanoribbons (CPNRs), considering different types of edge passivation. The band structures of bare CPNRs possess the metallic features; while hydrogen (H), fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl) and oxygen (O) atoms-passivated CPNRs are semiconductor materials, and the band gap values monotonically decrease when the ribbon width increases. Moreover, the H and F-passivated CPNRs exhibit the direct band gap characteristics, while the Cl and O-passivated cases show the features of indirect band gap. In addition, the edge passivated CPNRs are more energetically stable than bare edge case. Meanwhile, our results also show that the transport properties of the CPNRs can be obviously influenced by the different edge passivation.

Prediction of Seismic Damage-Based Degradation in RC Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkegaard, Poul Henning; Gupta, Vinay K.; Nielsen, Søren R.K.

Estimation of structural damage from known increase in the fundamental period of a structure after an earthquake or prediction of degradation of stiffness and strength for known damage requires reliable correlations between these response functionals. This study proposes a modified Clough-Johnsto...

Study on the degradation of chitosan slurries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Martini

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In the present work, we measured the degradation rate of different chitosan slurries. Several parameters were monitored such as temperature (25 °C, 37 °C, 50 °C; chitosan concentration (1% and 2% (w/V; and polymer molecular weight. The samples were tested in dynamic sweep test mode. This test is able to provide a reliable estimation of viscosity variations of the slurries; in turn, these variations could be related to degradation rate of the system in the considered conditions. The resulting information is particularly important especially in applications in which there is a close relationship between physical properties and molecular structure.

Smoothness in Binomial Edge Ideals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamid Damadi

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper we study some geometric properties of the algebraic set associated to the binomial edge ideal of a graph. We study the singularity and smoothness of the algebraic set associated to the binomial edge ideal of a graph. Some of these algebraic sets are irreducible and some of them are reducible. If every irreducible component of the algebraic set is smooth we call the graph an edge smooth graph, otherwise it is called an edge singular graph. We show that complete graphs are edge smooth and introduce two conditions such that the graph G is edge singular if and only if it satisfies these conditions. Then, it is shown that cycles and most of trees are edge singular. In addition, it is proved that complete bipartite graphs are edge smooth.

Cutting Edge Localisation in an Edge Profile Milling Head

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fernandez Robles, Laura; Azzopardi, George; Alegre, Enrique; Petkov, Nicolai

2015-01-01

Wear evaluation of cutting tools is a key issue for prolonging their lifetime and ensuring high quality of products. In this paper, we present a method for the effective localisation of cutting edges of inserts in digital images of an edge profile milling head. We introduce a new image data set of

Bridging the gap between metallurgy and fatigue reliability of hydraulic turbine runners

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thibault, D; Gagnon, M; Godin, S

2014-01-01

The failure of hydraulic turbine runners is a very rare event. Hence, in order to assess the reliability of these components, one cannot rely on statistical models based on the number of failures in a given population. However, as there is a limited number of degradation mechanisms involved, it is possible to use physically-based reliability models. Such models are more complicated but have the advantage of being able to account for physical parameters in the prediction of the evolution of runner degradation. They can therefore propose solutions to help improve reliability. With the use of such models, the effect of materials properties on runner reliability can easily be illustrated. This paper will present a brief review of the Kitagawa-Takahashi diagram that links the damage tolerance approach, based on fracture mechanics, to the stress or strain-life approaches. This diagram is at the centre of the reliability model used in this study. Using simplified response spectra obtained from on-site runner stress measurements, the paper will show how fatigue reliability is impacted by materials fatigue properties, namely fatigue crack propagation behaviour and fatigue limit obtained on S-N curves. It will also present a review of the most important microstructural features of 13%Cr- 4%Ni stainless steels used for runner manufacturing and will review how they influence fatigue properties in an effort to bridge the gap between metallurgy and turbine runners reliability

Edge colouring by total labellings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Stephan; Rautenbach, D.; Stiebitz, M.

2010-01-01

We introduce the concept of an edge-colouring total k-labelling. This is a labelling of the vertices and the edges of a graph G with labels 1, 2, ..., k such that the weights of the edges define a proper edge colouring of G. Here the weight of an edge is the sum of its label and the labels of its...

Wavelet based edge detection algorithm for web surface inspection of coated board web

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barjaktarovic, M; Petricevic, S, E-mail: slobodan@etf.bg.ac.r [School of Electrical Engineering, Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 73, 11000 Belgrade (Serbia)

2010-07-15

This paper presents significant improvement of the already installed vision system. System was designed for real time coated board inspection. The improvement is achieved with development of a new algorithm for edge detection. The algorithm is based on the redundant (undecimated) wavelet transform. Compared to the existing algorithm better delineation of edges is achieved. This yields to better defect detection probability and more accurate geometrical classification, which will provide additional reduction of waste. Also, algorithm will provide detailed classification and more reliably tracking of defects. This improvement requires minimal changes in processing hardware, only a replacement of the graphic card would be needed, adding only negligibly to the system cost. Other changes are accomplished entirely in the image processing software.

Degradation Characterization of Thermal Interface Greases

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Major, Joshua [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Narumanchi, Sreekant V [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Paret, Paul P [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Blackman, Gregory [DuPont; Wong, Arnold [DuPont; Meth, Jeffery [DuPont

2018-02-12

Thermal interface materials (TIMs) are used in power electronics packaging to minimize thermal resistance between the heat generating component and the heat sink. Thermal greases are one such class. The conformability and thin bond line thickness (BLT) of these TIMs can potentially provide low thermal resistance throughout the operation lifetime of a component. However, their performance degrades over time due to pump-out and dry-out during thermal and power cycling. The reliability performance of greases through operational cycling needs to be quantified to develop new materials with superior properties. NREL, in collaboration with DuPont, has performed thermal and reliability characterization of several commercially available thermal greases. Initial bulk and contact thermal resistance of grease samples were measured, and then the thermal degradation that occurred due to pump-out and dry-out during temperature cycling was monitored. The thermal resistances of five different grease materials were evaluated using NREL's steady-state thermal resistance tester based on the ASTM test method D5470. Greases were then applied, utilizing a 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm stencil, between invar and aluminum plates to compare the thermomechanical performance of the materials in a representative test fixture. Scanning Acoustic microscopy, thermal, and compositional analyses were performed periodically during thermal cycling from -40 degrees C to 125 degrees C. Completion of this characterization has allowed for a comprehensive evaluation of thermal greases both for their initial bulk and contact thermal performance, as well as their degradation mechanisms under accelerated thermal cycling conditions.

Development of Amorphous/Microcrystalline Silicon Tandem Thin-Film Solar Modules with Low Output Voltage, High Energy Yield, Low Light-Induced Degradation, and High Damp-Heat Reliability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chin-Yi Tsai

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this work, tandem amorphous/microcrystalline silicon thin-film solar modules with low output voltage, high energy yield, low light-induced degradation, and high damp-heat reliability were successfully designed and developed. Several key technologies of passivation, transparent-conducting-oxide films, and cell and segment laser scribing were researched, developed, and introduced into the production line to enhance the performance of these low-voltage modules. A 900 kWp photovoltaic system with these low-voltage panels was installed and its performance ratio has been simulated and projected to be 92.1%, which is 20% more than the crystalline silicon and CdTe counterparts.

Reliability and Engineering of Thin-Film Photovoltaic Modules. Research forum proceedings

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, R. G., Jr. (Editor); Royal, E. L. (Editor)

1985-01-01

A Research Forum on Reliability and Engineering of Thin Film Photovoltaic Modules, under sponsorship of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Flat Plate Solar Array (FSA) Project and the U.S. Department of Energy, was held in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 1985. Reliability attribute investigations of amorphous silicon cells, submodules, and modules were the subjects addressed by most of the Forum presentations. Included among the reliability research investigations reported were: Arrhenius-modeled accelerated stress tests on a Si cells, electrochemical corrosion, light induced effects and their potential effects on stability and reliability measurement methods, laser scribing considerations, and determination of degradation rates and mechanisms from both laboratory and outdoor exposure tests.

Reliability assessment of competing risks with generalized mixed shock models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rafiee, Koosha; Feng, Qianmei; Coit, David W.

2017-01-01

This paper investigates reliability modeling for systems subject to dependent competing risks considering the impact from a new generalized mixed shock model. Two dependent competing risks are soft failure due to a degradation process, and hard failure due to random shocks. The shock process contains fatal shocks that can cause hard failure instantaneously, and nonfatal shocks that impact the system in three different ways: 1) damaging the unit by immediately increasing the degradation level, 2) speeding up the deterioration by accelerating the degradation rate, and 3) weakening the unit strength by reducing the hard failure threshold. While the first impact from nonfatal shocks comes from each individual shock, the other two impacts are realized when the condition for a new generalized mixed shock model is satisfied. Unlike most existing mixed shock models that consider a combination of two shock patterns, our new generalized mixed shock model includes three classic shock patterns. According to the proposed generalized mixed shock model, the degradation rate and the hard failure threshold can simultaneously shift multiple times, whenever the condition for one of these three shock patterns is satisfied. An example using micro-electro-mechanical systems devices illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach with sensitivity analysis. - Highlights: • A rich reliability model for systems subject to dependent failures is proposed. • The degradation rate and the hard failure threshold can shift simultaneously. • The shift is triggered by a new generalized mixed shock model. • The shift can occur multiple times under the generalized mixed shock model.

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) mediate large-scale edge effects in a lowland tropical rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujinuma, Junichi; Harrison, Rhett D

2012-01-01

Edge-effects greatly extend the area of tropical forests degraded through human activities. At Pasoh, Peninsular Malaysia, it has been suggested that soil disturbance by highly abundant wild pigs (Sus scrofa), which feed in adjacent Oil Palm plantations, may have mediated the invasion of Clidemia hirta (Melastomataceae) into the diverse tropical lowland rain forest. To investigate this hypothesis, we established three 1 km transects from the forest/Oil Palm plantation boundary into the forest interior. We recorded the distribution of soil disturbance by wild pigs, C. hirta abundance, and environmental variables. These data were analyzed using a hierarchical Bayesian model that incorporated spatial auto-correlation in the environmental variables. As predicted, soil disturbance by wild pigs declined with distance from forest edge and C. hirta abundance was correlated with the level of soil disturbance. Importantly there was no effect of distance on C. hirta abundance, after controlling for the effect of soil disturbance. Clidemia hirta abundance was also correlated with the presence of canopy openings, but there was no significant association between the occurrence of canopy openings and distance from the edge. Increased levels of soil disturbance and C. hirta abundance were still detectable approximately 1 km from the edge, demonstrating the potential for exceptionally large-scale animal mediated edge effects.

Towards intrinsic magnetism of graphene sheets with irregular zigzag edges.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Lianlian; Guo, Liwei; Li, Zhilin; Zhang, Han; Lin, Jingjing; Huang, Jiao; Jin, Shifeng; Chen, Xiaolong

2013-01-01

The magnetism of graphene has remained divergent and controversial due to absence of reliable experimental results. Here we show the intrinsic magnetism of graphene edge states revealed based on unidirectional aligned graphene sheets derived from completely carbonized SiC crystals. It is found that ferromagnetism, antiferromagnetism and diamagnetism along with a probable superconductivity exist in the graphene with irregular zigzag edges. A phase diagram is constructed to show the evolution of the magnetism. The ferromagnetic ordering curie-temperature of the fundamental magnetic order unit (FMOU) is 820 ± 80 K. The antiferromagnetic ordering Neel temperature of the FMOUs belonging to different sublattices is about 54 ± 2 K. The diamagnetism is similar to that of graphite and can be well described by the Kotosonov's equation. Our experimental results provide new evidences to clarify the controversial experimental phenomena observed in graphene and contribute to a deeper insight into the nature of magnetism in graphene based system.

Component- and system-level degradation modeling of digital Instrumentation and Control systems based on a Multi-State Physics Modeling Approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Wei; Di Maio, Francesco; Zio, Enrico

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A Multi-State Physics Modeling (MSPM) framework for reliability assessment is proposed. • Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is utilized to estimate the degradation state probability. • Due account is given to stochastic uncertainty and deterministic degradation progression. • The MSPM framework is applied to the reliability assessment of a digital I&C system. • Results are compared with the results obtained with a Markov Chain Model (MCM). - Abstract: A system-level degradation modeling is proposed for the reliability assessment of digital Instrumentation and Control (I&C) systems in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). At the component level, we focus on the reliability assessment of a Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD), which is an important digital I&C component used to guarantee the safe operation of NPPs. A Multi-State Physics Model (MSPM) is built to describe this component degradation progression towards failure and Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is used to estimate the probability of sojourn in any of the previously defined degradation states, by accounting for both stochastic and deterministic processes that affect the degradation progression. The MC simulation relies on an integrated modeling of stochastic processes with deterministic aging of components that results to be fundamental for estimating the joint cumulative probability distribution of finding the component in any of the possible degradation states. The results of the application of the proposed degradation model to a digital I&C system of literature are compared with the results obtained by a Markov Chain Model (MCM). The integrated stochastic-deterministic process here proposed to drive the MC simulation is viable to integrate component-level models into a system-level model that would consider inter-system or/and inter-component dependencies and uncertainties.

Degradation of proton depth dose distributions attributable to microstructures in lung-equivalent material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Titt, Uwe, E-mail: utitt@mdanderson.org; Mirkovic, Dragan; Mohan, Radhe [Department of Radiation Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77030 (United States); Sell, Martin [Department of Radiation Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77030 and Department of Medical Physics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120 (Germany); Unkelbach, Jan [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114 (United States); Bangert, Mark [Department of Medical Physics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120 (Germany); Oelfke, Uwe [Department of Medical Physics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany and Department of Physics, The Institute of Cancer Research, 123 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3RP (United Kingdom)

2015-11-15

Purpose: The purpose of the work reported here was to investigate the influence of sub-millimeter size heterogeneities on the degradation of the distal edges of proton beams and to validate Monte Carlo (MC) methods’ ability to correctly predict such degradation. Methods: A custom-designed high-resolution plastic phantom approximating highly heterogeneous, lung-like structures was employed in measurements and in Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the degradation of proton Bragg curves penetrating heterogeneous media. Results: Significant differences in distal falloff widths and in peak dose values were observed in the measured and the Monte Carlo simulated curves compared to pristine proton Bragg curves. Furthermore, differences between simulations of beams penetrating CT images of the phantom did not agree well with the corresponding experimental differences. The distal falloff widths in CT image-based geometries were underestimated by up to 0.2 cm in water (corresponding to 0.8–1.4 cm in lung tissue), and the peak dose values of pristine proton beams were overestimated by as much as ~35% compared to measured curves or depth-dose curves simulated on the basis of true geometry. The authors demonstrate that these discrepancies were caused by the limited spatial resolution of CT images that served as a basis for dose calculations and lead to underestimation of the impact of the fine structure of tissue heterogeneities. A convolution model was successfully applied to mitigate the underestimation. Conclusions: The results of this study justify further development of models to better represent heterogeneity effects in soft-tissue geometries, such as lung, and to correct systematic underestimation of the degradation of the distal edge of proton doses.

Degradation of proton depth dose distributions attributable to microstructures in lung-equivalent material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Titt, Uwe; Mirkovic, Dragan; Mohan, Radhe; Sell, Martin; Unkelbach, Jan; Bangert, Mark; Oelfke, Uwe

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of the work reported here was to investigate the influence of sub-millimeter size heterogeneities on the degradation of the distal edges of proton beams and to validate Monte Carlo (MC) methods’ ability to correctly predict such degradation. Methods: A custom-designed high-resolution plastic phantom approximating highly heterogeneous, lung-like structures was employed in measurements and in Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the degradation of proton Bragg curves penetrating heterogeneous media. Results: Significant differences in distal falloff widths and in peak dose values were observed in the measured and the Monte Carlo simulated curves compared to pristine proton Bragg curves. Furthermore, differences between simulations of beams penetrating CT images of the phantom did not agree well with the corresponding experimental differences. The distal falloff widths in CT image-based geometries were underestimated by up to 0.2 cm in water (corresponding to 0.8–1.4 cm in lung tissue), and the peak dose values of pristine proton beams were overestimated by as much as ~35% compared to measured curves or depth-dose curves simulated on the basis of true geometry. The authors demonstrate that these discrepancies were caused by the limited spatial resolution of CT images that served as a basis for dose calculations and lead to underestimation of the impact of the fine structure of tissue heterogeneities. A convolution model was successfully applied to mitigate the underestimation. Conclusions: The results of this study justify further development of models to better represent heterogeneity effects in soft-tissue geometries, such as lung, and to correct systematic underestimation of the degradation of the distal edge of proton doses

Development of edge effects around experimental ecosystem hotspots is affected by edge density and matrix type

Science.gov (United States)

Ecological edge effects are sensitive to landscape context. In particular, edge effects can be altered by matrix type and by the presence of other nearby edges. We experimentally altered patch configurations in an African savanna to determine how edge density and matrix type influence edge effect de...

Edge effects in composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guz, A.N.; Kokhanenko, Yu.V.

1995-01-01

In the present article we survey papers on edge effects investigated by the rigorous approach. We interpret edge effects as stressed states created in a composite as a result of zones in which the stresses exhibit a rapidly changing behavior in comparison with the slow variation of the stresses outside such zones. Here the range of the edge effect is defined as the distance from the point of its inception to the boundary of the edge zone in a given direction. The transition of the stresses to the slowly varying state is determined within prescribed error limits. The size and configuration of the edge zone depends on the tolerated error. Clearly, the main difficulty associated with the rigorous approach is finding solutions of the elasticity problems. The finite-difference approach is suggested for the approximate solution of these problems. In light of the comparative time consumption of the finite-difference approach, it is best directed at certain classes of problems rather than at particular individual problems. Not too many papers on the investigation of edge effects by the rigorous approach have been published to date. Below, following in their footsteps, we formulate edge effect problems in composites, determine classes of problems, and investigate edge effects in composite materials and structural elements using them in Cartesian (planar and three-dimensional problems) and cylindrical (axisymmetric problems) coordinate frames. We note that the division of approaches to the study of edge effects into qualitative (nonrigorous) and quantitative (rigorous) reflects the authors own point of view. Of course, other schemes of classification of the approaches to the investigation of the regions of rapidly varying states in composites are possible

Optically Unraveling the Edge Chirality-Dependent Band Structure and Plasmon Damping in Graphene Edges.

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Jiahua; Chen, Runkun; Cheng, Yuan; Yang, Tianzhong; Zhai, Feng; Dai, Qing; Chen, Jianing

2018-05-01

The nontrivial topological origin and pseudospinorial character of electron wavefunctions make edge states possess unusual electronic properties. Twenty years ago, the tight-binding model calculation predicted that zigzag termination of 2D sheets of carbon atoms have peculiar edge states, which show potential application in spintronics and modern information technologies. Although scanning probe microscopy is employed to capture this phenomenon, the experimental demonstration of its optical response remains challenging. Here, the propagating graphene plasmon provides an edge-selective polaritonic probe to directly detect and control the electronic edge state at ambient condition. Compared with armchair, the edge-band structure in the bandgap gives rise to additional optical absorption and strongly absorbed rim at zigzag edge. Furthermore, the optical conductivity is reconstructed and the anisotropic plasmon damping in graphene systems is revealed. The reported approach paves the way for detecting edge-specific phenomena in other van der Waals materials and topological insulators. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Analysis of the degradation mechanisms in an impacted ceramic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Denoual, C.; Cottenot, C. E.; Hild, F.

1998-01-01

To analyze the degradation mechanisms in a natural sintered SiC (SSiC) ceramic during impact, three edge-on impact configurations are considered. First, the ceramic is confined by aluminum to allow a post-mortem analysis. In the second configuration, a polished surface of the ceramic is observed each micro-second by a high-speed camera to follow the damage generation and evolution. The third configuration uses a high-speed Moire photography system to measure dynamic 2-D strain fields. Sequences of fringe patterns are analyzed

Infective endocarditis following transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Asmarats, Lluis; Rodriguez-Gabella, Tania; Chamandi, Chekrallah; Bernier, Mathieu; Beaudoin, Jonathan; O'Connor, Kim; Dumont, Eric; Dagenais, François; Paradis, Jean-Michel; Rodés-Cabau, Josep

2018-05-10

To assess the clinical characteristics, management, and outcomes of patients diagnosed with infective endocarditis (IE) after edge-to-edge mitral valve repair with the MitraClip device. Transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair has emerged as an alternative to surgery in high-risk patients. However, few data exist on IE following transcatheter mitral procedures. Four electronic databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, and Cochrane Library) were searched for original published studies on IE after edge-to-edge transcatheter mitral valve repair from 2003 to 2017. A total of 10 publications describing 12 patients with definitive IE (median age 76 years, 55% men) were found. The mean logistic EuroSCORE/EuroSCORE II were 41% and 45%, respectively. The IE episode occurred early (within 12 months post-procedure) in nine patients (75%; within the first month in five patients). Staphylococcus aureus was the most frequent (60%) causal microorganism, and severe mitral regurgitation was present in all cases but one. Surgical mitral valve replacement (SMVR) was performed in most (67%) patients, and the mortality associated with the IE episode was high (42%). IE following transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair is a rare but life-threatening complication, usually necessitating SMVR despite the high-risk profile of the patients. These results highlight the importance of adequate preventive measures and a prompt diagnosis and treatment of this serious complication. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Position-sensitive transition-edge sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iyomoto, N.; Bandler, S.R.; Brekosky, R.P.; Chervenak, J.A.; Figueroa-Feliciano, E.; Finkbeiner, F.M.; Kelley, R.L.; Kilbourne, C.A.; Lindeman, M.A.; Murphy, K.; Porter, F.S.; Saab, T.; Sadleir, J.E.; Talley, D.J.

2006-01-01

We report the latest results from our development of Position-Sensitive Transition-edge sensors (PoSTs), which are one-dimensional imaging spectrometers. In PoSTs with segmented Au absorbers, we obtained 8eV energy resolution on K Kα lines, which is consistent to the baseline energy resolution and the design values, on all of the nine pixels, by choosing the best combination of the thermal conductance in absorbers and in links that connects the absorbers. The pulse decay time of 193μs is fast enough for our purpose. In a PoST with a continuous Bi/Cu absorber, by dividing the events into 63 effective pixels, we obtained energy resolutions of 16eV at the center 'pixel', which is comparable to the baseline energy resolution, and 33eV at the outer 'pixel'. The degradation of the energy resolution in the outer 'pixel' is due to position dependence, which we can cancel out by dividing the events into smaller 'pixels' when we have sufficient X-ray events

Integrative computational approach for genome-based study of microbial lipid-degrading enzymes.

Science.gov (United States)

Vorapreeda, Tayvich; Thammarongtham, Chinae; Laoteng, Kobkul

2016-07-01

Lipid-degrading or lipolytic enzymes have gained enormous attention in academic and industrial sectors. Several efforts are underway to discover new lipase enzymes from a variety of microorganisms with particular catalytic properties to be used for extensive applications. In addition, various tools and strategies have been implemented to unravel the functional relevance of the versatile lipid-degrading enzymes for special purposes. This review highlights the study of microbial lipid-degrading enzymes through an integrative computational approach. The identification of putative lipase genes from microbial genomes and metagenomic libraries using homology-based mining is discussed, with an emphasis on sequence analysis of conserved motifs and enzyme topology. Molecular modelling of three-dimensional structure on the basis of sequence similarity is shown to be a potential approach for exploring the structural and functional relationships of candidate lipase enzymes. The perspectives on a discriminative framework of cutting-edge tools and technologies, including bioinformatics, computational biology, functional genomics and functional proteomics, intended to facilitate rapid progress in understanding lipolysis mechanism and to discover novel lipid-degrading enzymes of microorganisms are discussed.

Degradation testing and failure analysis of DC film capacitors under high humidity conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Huai; Nielsen, Dennis Achton; Blaabjerg, Frede

2015-01-01

Metallized polypropylene film capacitors are widely used for high-voltage DC-link applications in power electronic converters. They generally have better reliability performance compared to aluminum electrolytic capacitors under electro-thermal stresses within specifications. However......, the degradation of the film capacitors is a concern in applications exposed to high humidity environments. This paper investigates the degradation of a type of plastic-boxed metallized DC film capacitors under different humidity conditions based on a total of 8700 h of accelerated testing and also post failure...... of interest is also presented. The study enables a better understanding of the humidity-related failure mechanisms and reliability performance of DC film capacitors for power electronics applications....

Development and application of degradation modeling to define maintenance practices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stock, D.; Samanta, P.; Vesely, W.

1994-06-01

This report presents the development and application of component degradation modeling to analyze degradation effects on reliability and to identify aspects of maintenance practices that mitigate degradation and aging effects. Using continuous time Markov approaches, a component degradation model is discussed that includes information about degradation and maintenance. The component model commonly used in probabilistic risk assessments is a simple case of this general model. The parameters used in the general model have engineering interpretations and can be estimated using data and engineering experience. The generation of equations for specific models, the solution of these equations, and a methodology for estimating the needed parameters are all discussed. Applications in this report show how these models can be used to quantitatively assess the benefits that are expected from maintaining a component, the effects of different maintenance efficiencies, the merits of different maintenance policies, and the interaction of surveillance test intervals with maintenance practices

Degradation effects ad Si-depth profiling in photoresists using ion beam analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ijzendoorn, L.J. van; Schellekens, J.P.W.

1989-01-01

The reaction of silicon-containing vapour with a photoresist layer, as used in dry developable lithographic processes, was studied with Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS). Degradation of the polymer layer was observed, but the total amount of incorporated Si was found to be constant during the measurement. Si-depth profiles were found to be independent of dose and in agreement with profiles obtained with secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The detection of hydrogen by elastic recoil detection (ERD) was used to study the degradation in detail. The decrease in hydrogen countrate from a layer of polystyrene on Si in combination with the shift of the Si-substrate edge in the corresponding RBS spectra was used for a model description. Only one degradation cross-section for hydrogen and one for carbon, both independent of beam current and dose, were required for a successful fit of the experimental data. (orig.)

Towards understanding edge localised mode mitigation by resonant magnetic perturbations in MAST

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chapman, I. T.; Kirk, A.; Ham, C. J.; Harrison, J. R.; Liu, Y. Q.; Saarelma, S.; Scannell, R.; Thornton, A. J.; Team, MAST [EURATOM/CCFE Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Becoulet, M.; Orain, F. [Association Euratom/CEA, CEA Cadarache, IRFM, F-13108, St. Paul-lez-Durance (France); Cooper, W. A. [CRPP, Association EURATOM/Confédération Suisse, EPFL, 1015 Lausanne (Switzerland); Pamela, S. [IIFS-PIIM. Aix Marseille Université—CNRS, 13397 Marseille Cedex 20 (France)

2013-05-15

Type-I Edge Localised Modes (ELMs) have been mitigated in MAST through the application of n=3,4, and 6 resonant magnetic perturbations. For each toroidal mode number of the non-axisymmetric applied fields, the frequency of the ELMs has been increased significantly, and the peak heat flux on the divertor plates reduced commensurately. This increase in ELM frequency occurs despite a significant drop in the edge pressure gradient, which would be expected to stabilise the peeling-ballooning modes thought to be responsible for type-I ELMs. Various mechanisms which could cause a destabilisation of the peeling-ballooning modes are presented, including pedestal widening, plasma rotation braking, three dimensional corrugation of the plasma boundary, and the existence of radially extended lobe structures near to the X-point. This leads to a model aimed at resolving the apparent dichotomy of ELM control, which is to say ELM suppression occurring due to the pedestal pressure reduction below the peeling-ballooning stability boundary, whilst the reduction in pressure can also lead to ELM mitigation, which is ostensibly a destabilisation of peeling-ballooning modes. In the case of ELM mitigation, the pedestal broadening, 3d corrugation, or lobes near the X-point degrade ballooning stability so much that the pedestal recovers rapidly to cross the new stability boundary at lower pressure more frequently, whilst in the case of suppression, the plasma parameters are such that the particle transport reduces the edge pressure below the stability boundary, which is only mildly affected by negligible rotation braking, small edge corrugation or short, broad lobe structures.

Edge responses are different in edges under natural versus anthropogenic influence: a meta-analysis using ground beetles.

Science.gov (United States)

Magura, Tibor; Lövei, Gábor L; Tóthmérész, Béla

2017-02-01

Most edges are anthropogenic in origin, but are distinguishable by their maintaining processes (natural vs. continued anthropogenic interventions: forestry, agriculture, urbanization). We hypothesized that the dissimilar edge histories will be reflected in the diversity and assemblage composition of inhabitants. Testing this "history-based edge effect" hypothesis, we evaluated published information on a common insect group, ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in forest edges. A meta-analysis showed that the diversity-enhancing properties of edges significantly differed according to their history. Forest edges maintained by natural processes had significantly higher species richness than their interiors, while edges with continued anthropogenic influence did not. The filter function of edges was also essentially different depending on their history. For forest specialist species, edges maintained by natural processes were penetrable, allowing these species to move right through the edges, while edges still under anthropogenic interventions were impenetrable, preventing the dispersal of forest specialists out of the forest. For species inhabiting the surrounding matrix (open-habitat and generalist species), edges created by forestry activities were penetrable, and such species also invaded the forest interior. However, natural forest edges constituted a barrier and prevented the invasion of matrix species into the forest interior. Preserving and protecting all edges maintained by natural processes, and preventing anthropogenic changes to their structure, composition, and characteristics are key factors to sustain biodiversity in forests. Moreover, the increasing presence of anthropogenic edges in a landscape is to be avoided, as they contribute to the loss of biodiversity. Simultaneously, edges under continued anthropogenic disturbance should be restored by increasing habitat heterogeneity.

Nanoindentation near the edge

Science.gov (United States)

J.E. Jakes; C.R. Frihart; J.F. Beecher; R.J. Moon; P.J. Resto; Z.H. Melgarejo; O.M. Saurez; H. Baumgart; A.A. Elmustafa; D.S. Stone

2009-01-01

Whenever a nanoindent is placed near an edge, such as the free edge of the specimen or heterophase interface intersecting the surface, the elastic discontinuity associated with the edge produces artifacts in the load-depth data. Unless properly handled in the data analysis, the artifacts can produce spurious results that obscure any real trends in properties as...

Edge subdivision and edge multisubdivision versus some domination related parameters in generalized corona graphs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magda Dettlaff

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Given a graph \\(G=(V,E\\, the subdivision of an edge \\(e=uv\\in E(G\\ means the substitution of the edge \\(e\\ by a vertex \\(x\\ and the new edges \\(ux\\ and \\(xv\\. The domination subdivision number of a graph \\(G\\ is the minimum number of edges of \\(G\\ which must be subdivided (where each edge can be subdivided at most once in order to increase the domination number. Also, the domination multisubdivision number of \\(G\\ is the minimum number of subdivisions which must be done in one edge such that the domination number increases. Moreover, the concepts of paired domination and independent domination subdivision (respectively multisubdivision numbers are defined similarly. In this paper we study the domination, paired domination and independent domination (subdivision and multisubdivision numbers of the generalized corona graphs.

Assessing Anthropogenic Influence and Edge Effect Influence on Forested Riparian Buffer Spatial Configuration and Structure: An Example Using Lidar Remote Sensing Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Wasser, L. A.; Chasmer, L. E.

2012-12-01

Forested riparian buffers (FRB) perform numerous critical ecosystem services. However, globally, FRB spatial configuration and structure have been modified by anthropogenic development resulting in widespread ecological degradation as seen in the Gulf of Mexico and the Chesapeake Bay. Riparian corridors within developed areas are particularly vulnerable to disturbance given two edges - the naturally occurring stream edge and the matrix edge. Increased edge length predisposes riparian vegetation to "edge effects", characterized by modified physical and environmental conditions at the interface between the forested buffer and the adjacent landuse, or matrix and forest fragment degradation. The magnitude and distance of edge influence may be further influenced by adjacent landuse type and the width of the buffer corridor at any given location. There is a need to quantify riparian buffer spatial configuration and structure over broad geographic extents and within multiple riparian systems in support of ecologically sound management and landuse decisions. This study thus assesses the influence of varying landuse types (agriculture, suburban development and undeveloped) on forested riparian buffer 3-dimensional structure and spatial configuration using high resolution Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data collected within a headwater watershed. Few studies have assessed riparian buffer structure and width contiguously for an entire watershed, an integral component of watershed planning and restoration efforts such as those conducted throughout the Chesapeake Bay. The objectives of the study are to 1) quantify differences in vegetation structure at the stream and matrix influenced riparian buffer edges, compared to the forested interior and 2) assess continuous patterns of changes in vegetation structure throughout the buffer corridor beginning at the matrix edge and ending at the stream within buffers a) of varying width and b) that are adjacent to varying landuse

Analysis of the Precursors, Simulants and Degradation Products of Chemical Warfare Agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Witkiewicz, Zygfryd; Neffe, Slawomir; Sliwka, Ewa; Quagliano, Javier

2018-09-03

Recent advances in analysis of precursors, simulants and degradation products of chemical warfare agents (CWA) are reviewed. Fast and reliable analysis of precursors, simulants and CWA degradation products is extremely important at a time, when more and more terrorist groups and radical non-state organizations use or plan to use chemical weapons to achieve their own psychological, political and military goals. The review covers the open source literature analysis after the time, when the chemical weapons convention had come into force (1997). The authors stated that during last 15 years increased number of laboratories are focused not only on trace analysis of CWA (mostly nerve and blister agents) in environmental and biological samples, but the growing number of research are devoted to instrumental analysis of precursors and degradation products of these substances. The identification of low-level concentration of CWA degradation products is often more important and difficult than the original CWA, because of lower level of concentration and a very large number of compounds present in environmental and biological samples. Many of them are hydrolysis products and are present in samples in the ionic form. For this reason, two or three instrumental methods are used to perform a reliable analysis of these substances.

Degradation of ultra-thin gate oxide LDD NMOSFET under GIDL stress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Shigang; Hao Yue; Cao Yanrong; Ma Xiaohua; Wu Xiaofeng; Chen Chi; Zhou Qingjun

2009-01-01

The degradation of device under GIDL (gate-induced drain leakage current) stress has been studied using LDD NMOSFETs with 1.4 nm gate oxides. Experimental result shows that the degradation of device parameters depends more strongly on V d than on V g . The characteristics of the GIDL current are used to analyze the damage generated during the stress. It is clearly found that the change of GIDL current before and after stress can be divided into two stages. The trapping of holes in the oxide is dominant in the first stage, but that of electrons in the oxide is dominant in the second stage. It is due to the common effects of edge direct tunneling and band-to-band tunneling. SILC (stress induced leakage current) in the NMOSFET decreases with increasing stress time under GIDL stress. The degradation characteristic of SILC also shows saturating time dependence. SILC is strongly dependent on the measured gate voltage. The higher the measured gate voltage, the less serious the degradation of the gate current. A likely mechanism is presented to explain the origin of SILC during GIDL stress.

Mortality after percutaneous edge-to-edge mitral valve repair: a contemporary review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kortlandt, Friso A; de Beenhouwer, Thomas; Swaans, Martin J; Post, Marco C; van der Heyden, Jan A S; Eefting, Frank D; Rensing, Benno J W M

2016-04-01

Percutaneous edge-to-edge mitral valve (MV) repair is a relatively new treatment option for mitral regurgitation (MR). After the feasibility and safety having been proved in low-surgical-risk patients, the use of this procedure has shifted more to the treatment of high-risk patients. With the absence of randomized controlled trials (RCT) for this particular subgroup, observational studies try to add evidence to the safety aspect of this procedure. These also provide short- and mid-term mortality figures. Several mortality predictors have been identified, which may help the optimal selection of patients who will benefit most from this technique. In this article we provide an overview of the literature about mortality and its predictors in patients treated with the percutaneous edge-to-edge device.

Adobe Edge Preview 3

CERN Document Server

Grover, Chris

2011-01-01

Want to use an Adobe tool to design animated web graphics that work on iPhone and iPad? You've come to the right book. Adobe Edge Preview 3: The Missing Manual shows you how to build HTML5 graphics using simple visual tools. No programming experience? No problem. Adobe Edge writes the underlying code for you. With this eBook, you'll be designing great-looking web elements in no time. Get to know the workspace. Learn how Adobe Edge Preview 3 performs its magic.Create and import graphics. Make drawings with Edge's tools, or use art you designed in other programs.Work with text. Build menus, lab

Estimation of edge electron temperature profiles via forward modelling of the electron cyclotron radiation transport at ASDEX Upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rathgeber, S K; Barrera, L; Eich, T; Fischer, R; Suttrop, W; Wolfrum, E; Nold, B; Willensdorfer, M

2013-01-01

We present a method to obtain reliable edge profiles of the electron temperature by forward modelling of the electron cyclotron radiation transport. While for the core of ASDEX Upgrade plasmas, straightforward analysis of electron cyclotron intensity measurements based on the optically thick plasma approximation is usually justified, reasonable analysis of the steep and optically thin plasma edge needs to consider broadened emission and absorption profiles and radiation transport processes. This is carried out in the framework of integrated data analysis which applies Bayesian probability theory for joint analysis of the electron density and temperature with data of different interdependent and complementary diagnostics. By this means, electron cyclotron radiation intensity delivers highly spatially resolved electron temperature data for the plasma edge. In H-mode, the edge gradient of the electron temperature can be several times higher than the one of the radiation temperature. Furthermore, we are able to reproduce the ‘shine-through’ peak—the observation of increased radiation temperatures at frequencies resonant in the optically thin scrape-off layer. This phenomenon is caused by strongly down-shifted radiation of Maxwellian tail electrons located in the H-mode edge region and, therefore, contains valuable information about the electron temperature edge gradient. (paper)

Degradation Characterization of Thermal Interface Greases: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DeVoto, Douglas J [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Major, Joshua [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Paret, Paul P [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Blackman, G. S. [DuPont Experimental Station; Wong, A. [DuPont Experimental Station; Meth, J. S. [DuPont Experimental Station

2017-08-03

Thermal interface materials (TIMs) are used in power electronics packaging to minimize thermal resistance between the heat generating component and the heat sink. Thermal greases are one such class. The conformability and thin bond line thickness (BLT) of these TIMs can potentially provide low thermal resistance throughout the operation lifetime of a component. However, their performance degrades over time due to pump-out and dry-out during thermal and power cycling. The reliability performance of greases through operational cycling needs to be quantified to develop new materials with superior properties. NREL, in collaboration with DuPont, has performed thermal and reliability characterization of several commercially available thermal greases. Initial bulk and contact thermal resistance of grease samples were measured, and then the thermal degradation that occurred due to pump-out and dry-out during temperature cycling was monitored. The thermal resistances of five different grease materials were evaluated using NREL's steady-state thermal resistance tester based on the ASTM test method D5470. Greases were then applied, utilizing a 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm stencil, between invar and aluminum plates to compare the thermomechanical performance of the materials in a representative test fixture. Scanning Acoustic microscopy, thermal, and compositional analyses were performed periodically during thermal cycling from -40 degrees Celcius to 125 degrees Celcius. Completion of this characterization has allowed for a comprehensive evaluation of thermal greases both for their initial bulk and contact thermal performance, as well as their degradation mechanisms under accelerated thermal cycling conditions.

A reliability design method for a lithium-ion battery pack considering the thermal disequilibrium in electric vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Quan; Wang, Zili; Ren, Yi; Sun, Bo; Yang, Dezhen; Feng, Qiang

2018-05-01

With the rapid development of lithium-ion battery technology in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, the lifetime of the battery cell increases substantially; however, the reliability of the battery pack is still inadequate. Because of the complexity of the battery pack, a reliability design method for a lithium-ion battery pack considering the thermal disequilibrium is proposed in this paper based on cell redundancy. Based on this method, a three-dimensional electric-thermal-flow-coupled model, a stochastic degradation model of cells under field dynamic conditions and a multi-state system reliability model of a battery pack are established. The relationships between the multi-physics coupling model, the degradation model and the system reliability model are first constructed to analyze the reliability of the battery pack and followed by analysis examples with different redundancy strategies. By comparing the reliability of battery packs of different redundant cell numbers and configurations, several conclusions for the redundancy strategy are obtained. More notably, the reliability does not monotonically increase with the number of redundant cells for the thermal disequilibrium effects. In this work, the reliability of a 6 × 5 parallel-series configuration is the optimal system structure. In addition, the effect of the cell arrangement and cooling conditions are investigated.

Evaluating the reliability of multi-body mechanisms: A method considering the uncertainties of dynamic performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Jianing; Yan, Shaoze; Zuo, Ming J.

2016-01-01

Mechanism reliability is defined as the ability of a certain mechanism to maintain output accuracy under specified conditions. Mechanism reliability is generally assessed by the classical direct probability method (DPM) derived from the first order second moment (FOSM) method. The DPM relies strongly on the analytical form of the dynamic solution so it is not applicable to multi-body mechanisms that have only numerical solutions. In this paper, an indirect probability model (IPM) is proposed for mechanism reliability evaluation of multi-body mechanisms. IPM combines the dynamic equation, degradation function and Kaplan–Meier estimator to evaluate mechanism reliability comprehensively. Furthermore, to reduce the amount of computation in practical applications, the IPM is simplified into the indirect probability step model (IPSM). A case study of a crank–slider mechanism with clearance is investigated. Results show that relative errors between the theoretical and experimental results of mechanism reliability are less than 5%, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method. - Highlights: • An indirect probability model (IPM) is proposed for mechanism reliability evaluation. • The dynamic equation, degradation function and Kaplan–Meier estimator are used. • Then the simplified form of indirect probability model is proposed. • The experimental results agree well with the predicted results.

Impedance Spectroscopic Investigation of the Degraded Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell due to Ageing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parth Bhatt

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the effect of ageing on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs. The electrical characterization of fresh and degraded DSCs is done under AM1.5G spectrum and the current density-voltage (J-V characteristics are analyzed. Short circuit current density (JSC decreases significantly whereas a noticeable increase in open circuit voltage is observed. These results have been further investigated electroanalytically using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS. An increase in net resistance results in a lower JSC for the degraded DSC. This decrease in current is mainly due to degradation of TiO2-dye interface, which is observed from light and dark J-V characteristics and is further confirmed by EIS measurements. A reduction in the chemical capacitance of the degraded DSC is observed, which is responsible for the shifting of Fermi level with respect to conduction band edge that further results in an increase of open circuit voltage for the degraded DSC. It is also confirmed from EIS that the degradation leads to a better contact formation between the electrolyte and Pt electrode, which improves the fill factor of the DSC. But the recombination throughout the DSC is found to increase along with degradation. This study suggests that the DSC should be used under low illumination conditions and around room temperature for a longer life.

Distributed Information and Control system reliability enhancement by fog-computing concept application

Science.gov (United States)

Melnik, E. V.; Klimenko, A. B.; Ivanov, D. Ya

2018-03-01

The paper focuses on the information and control system reliability issue. Authors of the current paper propose a new complex approach of information and control system reliability enhancement by application of the computing concept elements. The approach proposed consists of a complex of optimization problems to be solved. These problems are: estimation of computational complexity, which can be shifted to the edge of the network and fog-layer, distribution of computations among the data processing elements and distribution of computations among the sensors. The problems as well as some simulated results and discussion are formulated and presented within this paper.

Reliability analysis and optimisation of subsea compression system facing operational covariate stresses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okaro, Ikenna Anthony; Tao, Longbin

2016-01-01

This paper proposes an enhanced Weibull-Corrosion Covariate model for reliability assessment of a system facing operational stresses. The newly developed model is applied to a Subsea Gas Compression System planned for offshore West Africa to predict its reliability index. System technical failure was modelled by developing a Weibull failure model incorporating a physically tested corrosion profile as stress in order to quantify the survival rate of the system under additional operational covariates including marine pH, temperature and pressure. Using Reliability Block Diagrams and enhanced Fusell-Vesely formulations, the whole system was systematically decomposed to sub-systems to analyse the criticality of each component and optimise them. Human reliability was addressed using an enhanced barrier weighting method. A rapid degradation curve is obtained on a subsea system relative to the base case subjected to a time-dependent corrosion stress factor. It reveals that subsea system components failed faster than their Mean time to failure specifications from Offshore Reliability Database as a result of cumulative marine stresses exertion. The case study demonstrated that the reliability of a subsea system can be systematically optimised by modelling the system under higher technical and organisational stresses, prioritising the critical sub-systems and making befitting provisions for redundancy and tolerances. - Highlights: • Novel Weibull Corrosion-Covariate model for reliability analysis of subsea assets. • Predict the accelerated degradation profile of a subsea gas compression. • An enhanced optimisation method based on Fusell-Vesely decomposition process. • New optimisation approach for smoothening of over- and under-designed components. • Demonstrated a significant improvement in producing more realistic failure rate.

Generalized Multi-Edge Analysis for K-Edge Densitometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collins, M.

1998-01-01

In K-edge densitometry (KED), a continuous-energy x-ray beam is transmitted through a liquid sample. The actinide content of the sample can be measured through analysis of the transmitted portion of the x-ray beam. Traditional methods for KED analysis allow the simultaneous calculation of, at most, two actinide concentrations. A generalized multi-edge KED analytical method is presented, allowing up to six actinide concentrations to be calculated simultaneously. Applications of this method for hybrid KED/x-ray fluorescence (HKED) systems are discussed. Current HKED systems require the operator to know the approximate actinide content of each sample, and manually select the proper analysis mode. The new multi-edge KED technique allows rapid identification of the major actinide components in a sample, independent of actinide content. The proper HKED analysis mode can be selected automatically, without requiring sample content information from the user. Automatic HKED analysis would be especially useful in an analytical laboratory setting, where samples with truly unknown characteristics are encountered. Because this technique requires no hardware modifications, several facilities that use HKED may eventually benefit from this approach

Phragmites australis root secreted phytotoxin undergoes photo-degradation to execute severe phytotoxicity.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudrappa, Thimmaraju; Choi, Yong Seok; Levia, Delphis F; Legates, David R; Lee, Kelvin H; Bais, Harsh P

2009-06-01

Our study organism, Phragmites australis (common reed), is a unique invader in that both native and introduced lineages are found coexisting in North America. This allows one to make direct assessments of physiological differences between these different subspecies and examine how this relates to invasiveness. Recent efforts to understand plant invasive behavior show that some invasive plants secrete a phytotoxin to ward-off encroachment by neighboring plants (allelopathy) and thus provide the invaders with a competitive edge in a given habitat. Here we show that a varying climatic factor like ultraviolet (UV) light leads to photo-degradation of secreted phytotoxin (gallic acid) in P. australis rhizosphere inducing higher mortality of susceptible seedlings. The photo-degraded product of gallic acid (hereafter GA), identified as mesoxalic acid (hereafter MOA), triggered a similar cell death cascade in susceptible seedlings as observed previously with GA. Further, we detected the biological concentrations of MOA in the natural stands of exotic and native P. australis. Our studies also show that the UV degradation of GA is facilitated at an alkaline pH, suggesting that the natural habitat of P. australis may facilitate the photo-degradation of GA. The study highlights the persistence of the photo-degraded phytotoxin in the P. australis's rhizosphere and its inhibitory effects against the native plants.

Canopy gap edge determination and the importance of gap edges for plant diversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Salvador-Van Eysenrode

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Canopy gaps, i.e. openings in the forest cover caused by the fall of structural elements, are considered to be important for the maintenance of diversity and for the forest cycle. A gap can be considered as a young forest patch in the forest matrix, composed of interior surrounded by an edge, both enclosed by a perimeter. Much of the attention has been focused on the gap interior. However, at gap edges the spectrum of regeneration opportunities for plants may be larger than in the interior. Although definitions of gap are still discussed, any definition can describe it in an acceptable way, if justified, but defining edges is complicated and appropriate descriptors should be used. A method to determine gap interior and edge, using light as a descriptor, is presented with an example of gaps from a beech forest (Fagus sylvatica in Belgium. Also, the relevance and implications of gap edges for plant diversity and calculation of forest turnover is discussed.

The Edge supersonic transport

Science.gov (United States)

Agosta, Roxana; Bilbija, Dushan; Deutsch, Marc; Gallant, David; Rose, Don; Shreve, Gene; Smario, David; Suffredini, Brian

1992-01-01

As intercontinental business and tourism volumes continue their rapid expansion, the need to reduce travel times becomes increasingly acute. The Edge Supersonic Transport Aircraft is designed to meet this demand by the year 2015. With a maximum range of 5750 nm, a payload of 294 passengers and a cruising speed of M = 2.4, The Edge will cut current international flight durations in half, while maintaining competitive first class, business class, and economy class comfort levels. Moreover, this transport will render a minimal impact upon the environment, and will meet all Federal Aviation Administration Part 36, Stage III noise requirements. The cornerstone of The Edge's superior flight performance is its aerodynamically efficient, dual-configuration design incorporating variable-geometry wingtips. This arrangement combines the benefits of a high aspect ratio wing at takeoff and low cruising speeds with the high performance of an arrow-wing in supersonic cruise. And while the structural weight concerns relating to swinging wingtips are substantial, The Edge looks to ever-advancing material technologies to further increase its viability. Heeding well the lessons of the past, The Edge design holds economic feasibility as its primary focus. Therefore, in addition to its inherently superior aerodynamic performance, The Edge uses a lightweight, largely windowless configuration, relying on a synthetic vision system for outside viewing by both pilot and passengers. Additionally, a fly-by-light flight control system is incorporated to address aircraft supersonic cruise instability. The Edge will be produced at an estimated volume of 400 aircraft and will be offered to airlines in 2015 at $167 million per transport (1992 dollars).

Enhancing Experiment Central Service Reliability: from delivery to security and virtualization

CERN Document Server

Donno, Flavia; Buzykaev, Alexey; Saiz Santos, Maria Dolores

2011-01-01

The four LHC experiments rely on experiment specific services running on machines mainly located at CERN. Some of these services have been rated by the experiments as very critical: any loss or degradation of performance has a major impact on the experiment's production and analysis activities. It is therefore important to provide a reliable and robust operational environment. In this work we describe the strategy based on service deployment, security and virtualization adopted to enhance the reliability of ATLAS and CMS central services.

Application of genetic algorithm for reliability allocation in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Joon-Eon; Hwang, Mee-Jung; Sung, Tae-Yong; Jin, Youngho

1999-01-01

Reliability allocation is an optimization process of minimizing the total plant costs subject to the overall plant safety goal constraints. Reliability allocation was applied to determine the reliability characteristics of reactor systems, subsystems, major components and plant procedures that are consistent with a set of top-level performance goals; the core melt frequency, acute fatalities and latent fatalities. Reliability allocation can be performed to improve the design, operation and safety of new and/or existing nuclear power plants. Reliability allocation is a kind of a difficult multi-objective optimization problem as well as a global optimization problem. The genetic algorithm, known as one of the most powerful tools for most optimization problems, is applied to the reliability allocation problem of a typical pressurized water reactor in this article. One of the main problems of reliability allocation is defining realistic objective functions. Hence, in order to optimize the reliability of the system, the cost for improving and/or degrading the reliability of the system should be included in the reliability allocation process. We used techniques derived from the value impact analysis to define the realistic objective function in this article

Improving Reliability and Durability of Efficient and Clean Energy Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singh, Prabhakar [Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (United States)

2010-08-01

Overall objective of the research program was to develop an in-depth understanding of the degradation processes in advanced electrochemical energy conversion systems. It was also the objective of the research program to transfer the technology to participating industries for implementation in manufacturing of cost effective and reliable integrated systems.

Theory of edge radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geloni, G.; Kocharyan, V.; Saldin, E.; Schneidmiller, E.; Yurkov, M.

2008-08-15

We formulate a complete theory of Edge Radiation based on a novel method relying on Fourier Optics techniques. Similar types of radiation like Transition UndulatorRadiation are addressed in the framework of the same formalism. Special attention is payed in discussing the validity of approximations upon which the theory is built. Our study makes consistent use of both similarity techniques and comparisons with numerical results from simulation. We discuss both near and far zone. Physical understanding of many asymptotes is discussed. Based on the solution of the field equation with a tensor Green's function technique, we also discuss an analytical model to describe the presence of a vacuum chamber. In particular, explicit calculations for a circular vacuum chamber are reported. Finally, we consider the use of Edge Radiation as a tool for electron beam diagnostics. We discuss Coherent Edge Radiation, Extraction of Edge Radiation by a mirror, and other issues becoming important at high electron energy and long radiation wavelength. Based on this work we also study the impact of Edge Radiation on XFEL setups and we discuss recent results. (orig.)

Edge effect on weevils and spiders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Horváth

2002-05-01

Full Text Available The edge effect on weevils and spiders was tested along oak forest – meadow transects using sweep-net samples at the Síkfökút Project in Hungary. For spiders the species richness was significantly higher in the forest edge than either in the meadow or the forest interior. For weevils the species richness of the forest edge was higher than that of the meadow, but the difference was not statistically significant whereas the species richness of the forest interior was significantly lower than that of the forest edge and the meadow. The composition of the spider assemblage of the edge was more similar to the forest, while the composition of weevils in the edge was more similar to the meadow. Our results based on two invertebrate groups operating on different trophic levels suggest that there is a significant edge effect for the studied taxa resulting in higher species richness in the edge.

Evaluation of piping reliability and failure data for use in risk-based inspections of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasconcelos, V. de; Soares, W.A.; Costa, A.C.L. da; Rabello, E.G.; Marques, R.O.

2016-01-01

During operation of industrial facilities, components and systems can deteriorate over time, thus increasing the possibility of accidents. Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) involves inspection planning based on information about risks, through assessing of probability and consequence of failures. In-service inspections are used in nuclear power plants, in order to ensure reliable and safe operation. Traditional deterministic inspection approaches investigate generic degradation mechanisms on all systems. However, operating experience indicates that degradation occurs where there are favorable conditions for developing a specific mechanism. Inspections should be prioritized at these places. Risk-Informed In-service Inspections (RI-ISI) are types of RBI that use Probabilistic Safety Assessment results, increasing reliability and plant safety, and reducing radiation exposure. These assessments use both available generic reliability and failure data, as well as plant specific information. This paper proposes a method for evaluating piping reliability and failure data important for RI-ISI programs, as well as the techniques involved. (author)

Evaluation of piping reliability and failure data for use in risk-based inspections of nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vasconcelos, V. de; Soares, W.A.; Costa, A.C.L. da; Rabello, E.G.; Marques, R.O., E-mail: vasconv@cdtn.br [Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN-MG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)

2016-07-01

During operation of industrial facilities, components and systems can deteriorate over time, thus increasing the possibility of accidents. Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) involves inspection planning based on information about risks, through assessing of probability and consequence of failures. In-service inspections are used in nuclear power plants, in order to ensure reliable and safe operation. Traditional deterministic inspection approaches investigate generic degradation mechanisms on all systems. However, operating experience indicates that degradation occurs where there are favorable conditions for developing a specific mechanism. Inspections should be prioritized at these places. Risk-Informed In-service Inspections (RI-ISI) are types of RBI that use Probabilistic Safety Assessment results, increasing reliability and plant safety, and reducing radiation exposure. These assessments use both available generic reliability and failure data, as well as plant specific information. This paper proposes a method for evaluating piping reliability and failure data important for RI-ISI programs, as well as the techniques involved. (author)

A reliable genetic technique for sex determination of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) from non-invasively collected hair samples

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Durnin, Matthew E.; Palsboll, Per J.; Ryder, Oliver A.; McCullough, Dale R.

Extractions from non-invasive hair samples usually yield low amounts of highly degraded DNA. Previously developed mammal molecular sexing methods were not designed with such sub-optimal conditions in mind. We developed a simple and reliable PCR-based sexing method aimed at degraded, low yield DNA

Canadian programs on understanding and managing aging degradation of nuclear power plant components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chadha, J.A.; Pachner, J.

1989-06-01

Maintaining adequate safety and reliability of nuclear power plants and nuclear power plant life assurance and life extension are growing in importance as nuclear plants get older. Age-related degradation of plant components is complex and not fully understood. This paper provides an overview of the Canadian approach and the main activities and their results towards understanding and managing age-related degradation of nuclear power plant components, structures and systems. A number of pro-active programs have been initiated to anticipate, detect and mitigate potential aging degradation at an early stage before any serious impact on plant safety and reliability. These programs include Operational Safety Management Program, Nuclear Plant Life Assurance Program, systematic plant condition assessment, refurbishment and upgrading, post-service examination and testing, equipment qualification, research and development, and participation in the IAEA programs on safety aspects of nuclear power plant aging and life extension. A regulatory policy on nuclear power plants is under development and will be based on the domestic as well as foreign and international studies and experience

Wild Pigs (Sus scrofa) Mediate Large-Scale Edge Effects in a Lowland Tropical Rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Fujinuma, Junichi; Harrison, Rhett D.

2012-01-01

Edge-effects greatly extend the area of tropical forests degraded through human activities. At Pasoh, Peninsular Malaysia, it has been suggested that soil disturbance by highly abundant wild pigs (Sus scrofa), which feed in adjacent Oil Palm plantations, may have mediated the invasion of Clidemia hirta (Melastomataceae) into the diverse tropical lowland rain forest. To investigate this hypothesis, we established three 1 km transects from the forest/Oil Palm plantation boundary into the forest...

Frequencies of the Edge-Magnetoplasmon Excitations in Gated Quantum Hall Edges

Science.gov (United States)

Endo, Akira; Koike, Keita; Katsumoto, Shingo; Iye, Yasuhiro

2018-06-01

We have investigated microwave transmission through the edge of quantum Hall systems by employing a coplanar waveguide (CPW) fabricated on the surface of a GaAs/AlGaAs two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) wafer. An edge is introduced to the slot region of the CPW by applying a negative bias Vg to the central electrode (CE) and depleting the 2DEG below the CE. We observe peaks attributable to the excitation of edge magnetoplasmons (EMP) at a fundamental frequency f0 and at its harmonics if0 (i = 2,3, \\ldots ). The frequency f0 increases with decreasing Vg, indicating that EMP propagates with higher velocity for more negative Vg. The dependence of f0 on Vg is interpreted in terms of the variation in the distance between the edge state and the CE, which alters the velocity by varying the capacitive coupling between them. The peaks are observed to continue, albeit with less clarity, up to the regions of Vg where 2DEG still remains below the CE.

Operation of transition-edge sensors with excess thermal noise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maasilta, I J; Kinnunen, K M; Nuottajaervi, A K; Leppaeniemi, J; Luukanen, A

2006-01-01

The superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) is currently one of the most attractive choices for ultra-high resolution calorimetry in the keV x-ray band, and is being considered for future ESA and NASA missions. We have performed a study on the noise characteristics of Au/Ti bilayer TESs, at operating temperatures around ∼100 mK, with the SQUID readout at 1.5 K. Experimental results indicate that without modifications the back-action noise from the SQUID chip degrades the noise characteristics significantly. We present a simple and effective solution to the problem: by installing an extra shunt resistor which absorbs the excess radiation from the SQUID input, we have reduced the excess thermal (photon) noise power down by approximately a factor of five, allowing high resolution operation of the sensors

Development of reliable diamond window for EC launcher on fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, K.; Illy, S.; Heidinger, R.; Kasugai, A.; Minami, R.; Sakamoto, K.; Thumm, M.; Imai, T.

2005-01-01

In order to avoid a possible accidental event of a diamond window, i.e. a leakage of cooling water into vacuum, a new diamond window with a copper (Cu)-coated edge was developed. The 0.5 mm thick Cu-coating completely covers the window disk edge and aluminum braze, between the diamond disk edge and the inconel cuffs cooled by water. Corrosion of the aluminum braze can also be prevented by the Cu-coating. A 170 GHz high power RF transmission experiment, which was indicative for a MW-level transmission, was carried out to investigate the cooling capability of the Cu-coated window. RF power/pulse length 55 kW/3.5 s and 120 kW/3 s, were transmitted through the window without any problem. Temperature increase of 50 and 100 o C were obtained, respectively. The results agree with thermal calculations with loss tangent 8.5 x 10 -4 and thermal conductivity 1.9 kW/(m K) of the diamond. Thermal and stress analysis show that no serious stress between the diamond disk and the Cu-coating is established. It concludes that a diamond window with Cu-coated edge water-cooling is capable of MW-level transmission and that the Cu-coating improves the reliability of the diamond window

An OCD perspective of line edge and line width roughness metrology

Science.gov (United States)

Bonam, Ravi; Muthinti, Raja; Breton, Mary; Liu, Chi-Chun; Sieg, Stuart; Seshadri, Indira; Saulnier, Nicole; Shearer, Jeffrey; Patlolla, Raghuveer; Huang, Huai

2017-03-01

Metrology of nanoscale patterns poses multiple challenges that range from measurement noise, metrology errors, probe size etc. Optical Metrology has gained a lot of significance in the semiconductor industry due to its fast turn around and reliable accuracy, particularly to monitor in-line process variations. Apart from monitoring critical dimension, thickness of films, there are multiple parameters that can be extracted from Optical Metrology models3. Sidewall angles, material compositions etc., can also be modeled to acceptable accuracy. Line edge and Line Width roughness are much sought of metrology following critical dimension and its uniformity, although there has not been much development in them with optical metrology. Scanning Electron Microscopy is still used as a standard metrology technique for assessment of Line Edge and Line Width roughness. In this work we present an assessment of Optical Metrology and its ability to model roughness from a set of structures with intentional jogs to simulate both Line edge and Line width roughness at multiple amplitudes and frequencies. We also present multiple models to represent roughness and extract relevant parameters from Optical metrology. Another critical aspect of optical metrology setup is correlation of measurement to a complementary technique to calibrate models. In this work, we also present comparison of roughness parameters extracted and measured with variation of image processing conditions on a commercially available CD-SEM tool.

Environment assisted degradation mechanisms in aluminum-lithium alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Gangloff, Richard P.; Stoner, Glenn E.; Swanson, Robert E.

1988-01-01

Section 1 of this report records the progress achieved on NASA-LaRC Grant NAG-1-745 (Environment Assisted Degradation Mechanisms in Al-Li Alloys), and is based on research conducted during the period April 1 to November 30, 1987. A discussion of work proposed for the project's second year is included. Section 2 provides an overview of the need for research on the mechanisms of environmental-mechanical degradation of advanced aerospace alloys based on aluminum and lithium. This research is to provide NASA with the basis necessary to permit metallurgical optimization of alloy performance and engineering design with respect to damage tolerance, long term durability and reliability. Section 3 reports on damage localization mechanisms in aqueous chloride corrosion fatigue of aluminum-lithium alloys. Section 4 reports on progress made on measurements and mechanisms of localized aqueous corrosion in aluminum-lithium alloys. Section 5 provides a detailed technical proposal for research on environmental degradation of Al-Li alloys, and the effect of hydrogen in this.

Investigating reliability attributes of silicon photovoltaic cells - An overview

Science.gov (United States)

Royal, E. L.

1982-01-01

Reliability attributes are being developed on a wide variety of advanced single-crystal silicon solar cells. Two separate investigations: cell-contact integrity (metal-to-silicon adherence), and cracked cells identified with fracture-strength-reducing flaws are discussed. In the cell-contact-integrity investigation, analysis of contact pull-strength data shows that cell types made with different metallization technologies, i.e., vacuum, plated, screen-printed and soldered, have appreciably different reliability attributes. In the second investigation, fracture strength was measured using Czochralski wafers and cells taken at various stages of processing and differences were noted. Fracture strength, which is believed to be governed by flaws introduced during wafer sawing, was observed to improve (increase) after chemical polishing and other process steps that tend to remove surface and edge flaws.

Photoelectrocatalytic degradation of oxalic acid by spray deposited nanocrystalline zinc oxide thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinde, S.S.; Shinde, P.S.; Sapkal, R.T.; Oh, Y.W.; Haranath, D.; Bhosale, C.H.; Rajpure, K.Y.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Influence of substrate temperature onto the physico-chemical properties. ► Photochemical, structural, luminescent, optoelectrical and thermal properties. ► The kinetics of oxalic acid degradation with reaction mechanism. ► Extent of mineralization by COD and TOC. - Abstract: The high quality nano-crystalline zinc oxide thin films are deposited onto corning glasses by spray pyrolysis technique. The influence of reaction temperature onto their photoelectrochemical, structural, morphological, optoelectronic, luminescence and thermal properties has been investigated. The structural characteristics studied by X-ray diffractometry has complemented by resistivity measurements and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The photoelectrochemical activity shows enhancement in short circuit current (I sc = 0.357 mA) and open circuit voltage (V oc = 0.48 V). Direct band gap calculated by considering R and T values of ZnO thin films increases from 3.14–3.21 eV exhibiting a slight blue shift in band edge. Three characteristic luminescence peaks having near band-edge, blue and green emission are observed in the photoluminescence spectra. The specific heat and thermal conductivity study shows the phonon conduction behavior is dominant in films. Photocatalytic degradation of oxalic acid followed with reaction mechanism by using zinc oxide photoelectrode under solar illumination has been investigated.

Degradation in organic light emitting devices

Science.gov (United States)

Dinh, Vincent Vinh

This thesis is about the fundamental causes of degradation in tris(8-Hydroxyquinoline) Aluminum (Alq3)-based organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Degradation typically occurs when a current is forced through an insulating material. Since the insulator does not support conduction waves (in its ground state), chemical restructuring must occur to accommodate the current. OLEDs have many technical advantages over the well known semiconductor-based light emitting diodes (LEDs). OLEDs have quantum efficiencies ˜1% (˜10 times higher than the LEDs), and operational power thresholds ˜.05mW (˜100 lower than the LEDs). OLEDs are preferred in power limited and portable devices; devices such as laptops and displays consume ˜1/4 of the supplied power---any power saving is significant. Other advantages, like better compliance to curved surfaces and ease of fabrication, give the OLEDs an even greater edge over the LEDs. OLEDs must have at least comparable or better lifetimes to remain attractive. Typical OLEDs last several 100hrs compared to the several 1000hrs for the LEDs. For reliable OLED application, it is necessary to understand the above breakdown mechanism. In this thesis, we attempt to understand the breakdown by looking at how OLEDs are made, how they work, and when they don't. In the opening sections, we give an overview of OLEDs and LEDs, especially how sustained luminescence is achieved through current circulation. Then in Chapter 2, we look at the basic components in the OLEDs. In Chapter 3 we look at how a hole material (like poly-vinyl carbazole or PVK) establishes an excitonic environment for the sustained luminescence in Alq3. We then approximate how potential is distributed when a simple luminescence system is in operation. In Chapter 4, we look at ways of measuring this distribution via the OLED impedance. Finally in Chapter 5, we look at the OLED stability under light emission conditions via PVK and Alq3 photoemission and photoabsorption spectra

Equipment reliability process improvement and preventive maintenance optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darragi, M.; Georges, A.; Vaillancourt, R.; Komljenovic, D.; Croteau, M.

2004-01-01

The Gentilly-2 Nuclear Power Plant wants to optimize its preventive maintenance program through an Integrated Equipment Reliability Process. All equipment reliability related activities should be reviewed and optimized in a systematic approach especially for aging plants such as G2. This new approach has to be founded on best practices methods with the purpose of the rationalization of the preventive maintenance program and the performance monitoring of on-site systems, structures and components (SSC). A rational preventive maintenance strategy is based on optimized task scopes and frequencies depending on their applicability, critical effects on system safety and plant availability as well as cost-effectiveness. Preventive maintenance strategy efficiency is systematically monitored through degradation indicators. (author)

Using the fluorescence red edge effect to assess the long-term stability of lyophilized protein formulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Qian, Ken K; Grobelny, Pawel J; Tyagi, Madhusudan; Cicerone, Marcus T

2015-04-06

Nanosecond relaxation processes in sugar matrices are causally linked through diffusional processes to protein stability in lyophilized formulations. Long-term protein degradation rates track mean-squared displacement (⟨u(2)⟩) of hydrogen atoms in sugar glasses, a parameter describing dynamics on a time scale of picoseconds to nanoseconds. However, measurements of ⟨u(2)⟩ are usually performed by neutron scattering, which is not conducive to rapid formulation screening in early development. Here, we present a benchtop technique to derive a ⟨u(2)⟩ surrogate based on the fluorescence red edge effect. Glycerol, lyophilized trehalose, and lyophilized sucrose were used as model systems. Samples containing 10(-6) mole fraction of rhodamine 6G, a fluorophore, were excited at either 532 nm (main peak) or 566 nm (red edge), and the ⟨u(2)⟩ surrogate was determined based the corresponding Stokes shifts. Results showed reasonable agreement between ⟨u(2)⟩ from neutron scattering and the surrogate from fluorescence, although deviations were observed at very low temperatures. We discuss the sources of the deviations and suggest technique improvements to ameliorate these. We expect that this method will be a valuable tool to evaluate lyophilized sugar matrices with respect to their ability to protect proteins from diffusion-limited degradation processes during long-term storage. Additionally, the method may have broader applications in amorphous pharmaceutical solids.

A Reliability Model for Ni-BaTiO3-Based (BME) Ceramic Capacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Donhang

2014-01-01

The evaluation of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) with base-metal electrodes (BMEs) for potential NASA space project applications requires an in-depth understanding of their reliability. The reliability of an MLCC is defined as the ability of the dielectric material to retain its insulating properties under stated environmental and operational conditions for a specified period of time t. In this presentation, a general mathematic expression of a reliability model for a BME MLCC is developed and discussed. The reliability model consists of three parts: (1) a statistical distribution that describes the individual variation of properties in a test group of samples (Weibull, log normal, normal, etc.), (2) an acceleration function that describes how a capacitors reliability responds to external stresses such as applied voltage and temperature (All units in the test group should follow the same acceleration function if they share the same failure mode, independent of individual units), and (3) the effect and contribution of the structural and constructional characteristics of a multilayer capacitor device, such as the number of dielectric layers N, dielectric thickness d, average grain size r, and capacitor chip size S. In general, a two-parameter Weibull statistical distribution model is used in the description of a BME capacitors reliability as a function of time. The acceleration function that relates a capacitors reliability to external stresses is dependent on the failure mode. Two failure modes have been identified in BME MLCCs: catastrophic and slow degradation. A catastrophic failure is characterized by a time-accelerating increase in leakage current that is mainly due to existing processing defects (voids, cracks, delamination, etc.), or the extrinsic defects. A slow degradation failure is characterized by a near-linear increase in leakage current against the stress time; this is caused by the electromigration of oxygen vacancies (intrinsic defects). The

The visibility of IQHE at sharp edges: experimental proposals based on interactions and edge electrostatics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erkarslan, U; Oylumluoglu, G; Grayson, M; Siddiki, A

2012-01-01

The influence of the incompressible strips on the integer quantized Hall effect (IQHE) is investigated, considering a cleaved-edge overgrown (CEO) sample as an experimentally realizable sharp edge system. We propose a set of experiments to clarify the distinction between the large-sample limit when bulk disorder defines the IQHE plateau width and the small-sample limit smaller than the disorder correlation length, when self-consistent edge electrostatics define the IQHE plateau width. The large-sample or bulk quantized Hall (QH) regime is described by the usual localization picture, whereas the small-sample or edge regime is discussed within the compressible/incompressible strips picture, known as the screening theory of QH edges. Utilizing the unusually sharp edge profiles of the CEO samples, a Hall bar design is proposed to manipulate the edge potential profile from smooth to extremely sharp. By making use of a side-gate perpendicular to the two-dimensional electron system, it is shown that the plateau widths can be changed or even eliminated altogether. Hence, the visibility of IQHE is strongly influenced when adjusting the edge potential profile and/or changing the dc current direction under high currents in the nonlinear transport regime. As a second investigation, we consider two different types of ohmic contacts, namely highly transmitting (ideal) and highly reflecting (non-ideal) contacts. We show that if the injection contacts are non-ideal, but still ohmic, it is possible to measure directly the non-quantized transport taking place at the bulk of the CEO samples. The results of the experiments we propose will clarify the influence of the edge potential profile and the quality of the contacts, under QH conditions. (paper)

Vibrationally resolved NEXAFS at C and N K-edges of pyridine, 2-fluoropyridine and 2,6-difluoropyridine: A combined experimental and theoretical assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baiardi, Alberto; Mendolicchio, Marco; Barone, Vincenzo, E-mail: vincenzo.barone@sns.it [Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56125 Pisa (Italy); Fronzoni, Giovanna; Cardenas Jimenez, Gustavo Adolfo; Stener, Mauro; Grazioli, Cesare [Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Universita’ di Trieste, Via Giorgieri 1, 34127 Trieste (Italy); Simone, Monica de [CNR-IOM, Laboratorio TASC, Area Science Park Basovizza, 34149 Trieste (Italy); Coreno, Marcello [CNR-ISM, UOS Trieste, Area Science Park Basovizza, 34149 Trieste (Italy)

2015-11-28

In the present work, the near edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (NEXAFS) spectra at both C and N K-edges of pyridine, 2-fluoropyridine, and 2,6-difluoropyridine have been studied both experimentally and theoretically. From an electronic point of view, both transition potential density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory approaches lead to reliable results provided that suitable basis sets and density functionals are employed. In this connection, the global hybrid B3LYP functional in conjunction with the EPR-III basis set appears particularly suitable after constant scaling of the band positions. For the N K-edge, vertical energies obtained at these levels and broadened by symmetric Gaussian distributions provide spectra in reasonable agreement with the experiment. Vibronic contributions further modulate the band-shapes leading to a better agreement with the experimental results, but are not strictly necessary for semi-quantitative investigations. On the other hand, vibronic contributions are responsible for strong intensity redistribution in the NEXAFS C K-edge spectra, and their inclusion is thus mandatory for a proper description of experiments. In this connection, the simple vertical gradient model is particularly appealing in view of its sufficient reliability and low computational cost. For more quantitative results, the more refined vertical Hessian approach can be employed, and its effectiveness has been improved thanks to a new least-squares fitting approach.

Effects of Leading Edge Defect on the Aerodynamic and Flow Characteristics of an S809 Airfoil.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yan; Zheng, Xiaojing; Hu, Ruifeng; Wang, Ping

Unexpected performance degradation occurs in wind turbine blades due to leading edge defect when suffering from continuous impacts with rain drops, hails, insects, or solid particles during its operation life. To assess this issue, this paper numerically investigates the steady and dynamic stall characteristics of an S809 airfoil with various leading edge defects. More leading edge defect sizes and much closer to practical parameters are investigated in the paper. Numerical computation is conducted using the SST k-ω turbulence model, and the method has been validated by comparison with existed published data. In order to ensure the calculation convergence, the residuals for the continuity equation are set to be less than 10-7 and 10-6 in steady state and dynamic stall cases. The simulations are conducted with the software ANSYS Fluent 13.0. It is found that the characteristics of aerodynamic coefficients and flow fields are sensitive to leading edge defect both in steady and dynamic conditions. For airfoils with the defect thickness of 6%tc, leading edge defect has a relative small influence on the aerodynamics of S809 airfoil. For other investigated defect thicknesses, leading edge defect has much greater influence on the flow field structures, pressure coefficients and aerodynamic characteristics of airfoil at relative small defect lengths. For example, the lift coefficients decrease and drag coefficients increase sharply after the appearance of leading edge defect. However, the aerodynamic characteristics could reach a constant value when the defect length is large enough. The flow field, pressure coefficient distribution and aerodynamic coefficients do not change a lot when the defect lengths reach to 0.5%c,1%c, 2%c and 3%c with defect thicknesses of 6%tc, 12%tc,18%tc and 25%tc, respectively. In addition, the results also show that the critical defect length/thickness ratio is 0.5, beyond which the aerodynamic characteristics nearly remain unchanged. In

In-operation inspection technology development 'development of degradation prediction technology for rotating machinery'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osaki, K.; Watanabe, Y.; Uhara, Y.; Hattori, H.; O'shima, E.; Matsumoto, K.

2001-01-01

In order to rationalize facility maintenance management and improve reliabilities of rotating machines, it is desirable to develop the technology for estimating bearing wear and predicting bearing wear growth. Therefore, we developed a bearing wear analysis method for evaluating bearing wear growth in the mixed lubrication, and developed a degradation prediction system which estimates the bearing wear and predicts bearing wear growth from external parameters, such as shaft vibration. In bearing wear analysis, the influence of bearing surface roughness and elastic deformation are considered. This analysis model was validated by the bearing wear test. The developed system can predict degradation respecting bearing wear, casing deformation, shaft curvature and bearing sleeve corrosion, using some physical models of degradation that take into account various degradation phenomena. Furthermore, this system can estimate bearing life, taking into consideration the distribution of the vibration characteristic caused by the differences in assembling processes and the distribution of the degradation characteristic. This system was validated by the degradation simulation test. (authors)

Material and design considerations of FBGA reliability performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Teck Kheng; Ng, T.C.; Chai, Y.M.

2004-01-01

FBGA package reliability is usually assessed through the conventional approaches of die attach and mold compound material optimization. However, with the rapid changes and fast-moving pace of electronic packaging and the introduction of new soldermask and core materials, substrate design has also become a critical factor in determining overall package reliability. The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact design and soldermask material of a rigid substrate on overall package reliability. Three different soldermask patterns with a matrix of different die attach, mold compound, and soldermask materials are assessed using the moisture sensitivity test (MST). Package reliability is also assessed through the use of temperature cycling (T/C) at conditions 'B' and 'C'. For material optimization, three different mold compounds and die attach materials are used. Material adhesion between different die attach materials and soldermask materials are obtained through die shear performed at various temperatures and preset moisture conditions. A study correlating the different packaging material properties and their relative adhesion strengths with overall package reliability in terms of both MST and T/C performance was performed. Soldermask design under the die pads was found to affect package reliability. For example, locating vias at the edge of the die is not desirable because the vias acts as initiation point for delamination and moisture-induced failure. Through die shear testing, soldermask B demonstrated higher adhesion properties compared to soldermask A across several packaging materials and enhanced the overall package reliability in terms of both MST and T/C performance. Both MST JEDEC level 1 and the T/C of 'B' and 'C' at 1000 cycles have been achieved through design and package material optimization

Edge control in CNC polishing, paper 2: simulation and validation of tool influence functions on edges.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hongyu; Walker, David; Yu, Guoyu; Sayle, Andrew; Messelink, Wilhelmus; Evans, Rob; Beaucamp, Anthony

2013-01-14

Edge mis-figure is regarded as one of the most difficult technical issues for manufacturing the segments of extremely large telescopes, which can dominate key aspects of performance. A novel edge-control technique has been developed, based on 'Precessions' polishing technique and for which accurate and stable edge tool influence functions (TIFs) are crucial. In the first paper in this series [D. Walker Opt. Express 20, 19787-19798 (2012)], multiple parameters were experimentally optimized using an extended set of experiments. The first purpose of this new work is to 'short circuit' this procedure through modeling. This also gives the prospect of optimizing local (as distinct from global) polishing for edge mis-figure, now under separate development. This paper presents a model that can predict edge TIFs based on surface-speed profiles and pressure distributions over the polishing spot at the edge of the part, the latter calculated by finite element analysis and verified by direct force measurement. This paper also presents a hybrid-measurement method for edge TIFs to verify the simulation results. Experimental and simulation results show good agreement.

Breast surgical specimen radiographs: How reliable are they?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Britton, P.D.; Sonoda, L.I.; Yamamoto, A.K.; Koo, B.; Soh, E.; Goud, A.

2011-01-01

Radiography of the excised surgical specimen following wire guided localisation of impalpable breast lesions is standard surgical practice. The aims of the study were to establish the reliability of the breast specimen radiograph (SR) in determining lesion excision and to determine whether the radiographic margin correlated with the histological margin. The clinical, imaging, SR and pathological details of 106 patients with a pre-operative diagnosis of breast cancer were retrospectively reviewed. The reliability of orientation was estimated and the appearance and distance from the mammographic abnormality to each radial margin were measured and correlated with surgical histological findings. The overall accuracy of the specimen radiograph in determining whether the mammographic lesion was present was 99%. The SR could be orientated 'very reliably' or 'reliably' in 80% of patients however in only 48% of patients did the closest margin on the SR correspond with the same nearest margin at final histology. A maximum measurement of 11 mm or more from the lesion to the specimen edge was associated with a 77% likelihood of having a clear final histological margin (taken as 5 mm or more) and if <11 mm a 58% chance of having involved final histological margins. There was however a wide overlap in the results with patients having an apparently wide SR margin but histologically involved margins and vice versa. The SR is reliable at determining whether the target lesion has been removed. The correlation of SR margin orientation and measurement with final histological measurement is however far less reliable.

Acyclicity in edge-colored graphs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gutin, Gregory; Jones, Mark; Sheng, Bin

2017-01-01

A walk W in edge-colored graphs is called properly colored (PC) if every pair of consecutive edges in W is of different color. We introduce and study five types of PC acyclicity in edge-colored graphs such that graphs of PC acyclicity of type i is a proper superset of graphs of acyclicity of type...

Balancing the edge effects budget: bay scallop settlement and loss along a seagrass edge.

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, John M; Furman, Bradley T; Tettelbach, Stephen T; Peterson, Bradley J

2012-07-01

Edge effects are a dominant subject in landscape ecology literature, yet they are highly variable and poorly understood. Often, the literature suggests simple models for edge effects-positive (enhancement at the edge), negative (enhancement at the interior), or no effect (neutral)--on a variety of metrics, including abundance, diversity, and mortality. In the marine realm, much of this work has focused on fragmented seagrass habitats due to their importance for a variety of commercially important species. In this study, the settlement, recruitment, and survival of bay scallops was investigated across a variety of seagrass patch treatments. By simultaneously collecting settlers (those viable larvae available to settle and metamorphose) and recruits (those settlers that survive some period of time, in this case, 6 weeks) on the same collectors, we were able to demonstrate a "balance" between positive and negative edge effects, resulting in a net neutral effect. Scallop settlement was significantly enhanced along seagrass edges, regardless of patch type while survival was elevated within patch interiors. However, recruitment (the net result of settlement and post-settlement loss) did not vary significantly from edge to center, representing a neutral effect. Further, results suggest that post-settlement loss, most likely due to predation, appears to be the dominant mechanism structuring scallop abundance, not patterns in settlement. These data illustrate the complexity of edge effects, and suggest that the metric used to investigate the effect (be it abundance, survival, or other metrics) can often influence the magnitude and direction of the perceived effect. Traditionally, high predation along a habitat edge would have indicated an "ecological trap" for the species in question; however, this study demonstrates that, at the population level, an ecological trap may not exist.

Accuracy and Reliability in the Prediction of End-of-Life Performance of Solar Generators

Science.gov (United States)

Rapp, Etienne

2008-09-01

The end-of-life power analysis of solar arrays is calculated using a combination of arithmetic and root square sums of loss factors. These loss factors are sometimes linked to degradations, sometimes linked to uncertainties. The uncertainties of the degradations are taken into account considering contractual "worst cases". This paper will put the first stones for a move "metrological" evaluation of the probable performance associated with a standard uncertainty. The turn from silicon to triple junction solar cells induces some changes in the degradation parameters of solar arrays: * The triple junction cells are more sensitive to UV darkening than silicon ones. * The cell voltage is higher and the current is lower. Then the cell strings are shorter, and there are more strings in parallel. This induces some changes in the reliability analyses and risk management. * The failure modes and failure rates of these cells have to be compared and discussed. We try to define improved rules to design solar arrays for end of life performance, for a better knowledge of the margins and a better reliability.

Edge localized modes and edge pedestal in NBI and ICRF heated H, D and T-plasmas in JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhatnagar, V.; Lingertat, J.; Barnsley, R.

1998-12-01

Based on experiments carried out in JET in D:T mixtures varying from 100:0 to 5:95 and those carried out in hydrogen plasmas, the isotopic mass dependence of ELM parameters and the edge pedestal pressure in neutral beam (NBI) and ion cyclotron resonance (ICRF) heated H-mode plasmas is presented. The ELM frequency is found to decrease with the atomic mass number both in ICRH and NBI discharges. However, the frequency in the case of ICRH is about 8 - 10 times higher than in the NBI case. Assuming that ELMs occur at a critical edge pressure gradient, limited by the ballooning instability, the scaling of the maximum edge pressure is most consistent with the assumption that the width of the transport barrier scales as the ion poloidal Larmor radius governed by the average energy of fast ions at the edge. The critical edge pressure in NBI heated discharges increases with the isotopic mass which. is consistent with the higher deduced width of the edge transport, barrier in tritium than in deuterium and hydrogen. The critical edge pressure in ICRH discharges is smaller, presumably, due to the smaller fast-ion contribution to the edge region. As a consequence of the edge pressure scaling with isotopic mass, the edge operational space in the n e - T e diagram increases with operation in tritium. If the evidence that the edge pedestal width is governed by the average energy of fast ions in the edge prevails, the pedestal in ITER would be controlled by the slowing down energy spectrum of α-particles in the edge. (author)

Plasma edge physics in an actively cooled tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gunn, J.P.; Adamek, A.; Boucher, C.

2005-01-01

Tore Supra is a large tokamak with a plasma of circular cross section (major radius 2.4 m and minor radius 0.72 m) lying on a toroidal limiter. Tore Supra's main mission is the development of technology to inject up to 25 MW of microwave heating power and extract it continuously for up to 1000 s in steady state without uncontrolled overheating of, or outgassing from, plasma-facing components. The entire first wall of the tokamak is actively cooled by a high pressure water loop and special carbon fiber composite materials have been designed to handle power fluxes up to 10 MW/m 2 . The edge plasma on open magnetic flux surfaces that intersect solid objects plays an important role in the overall behaviour of the plasma. The transport of sputtered impurity ions and the fueling of the core plasma are largely governed by edge plasma density, temperature, and flow profiles. Measurements of these quantities are becoming more reliable and frequent in many tokamaks, and it has become clear that we do not understand them very well. Classical two-dimensional fluid modelling fails to reproduce many aspects of the experimental observations such as the significant thickness of the edge plasma, and the near-sonic flows that occur where none should be expected. It is suspected that plasma turbulence is responsible for these anomalies. In the Tore Supra tokamak, various kinds of Langmuir probes are used to characterize the edge plasma. We will present original measurements that demonstrate the universality of many phenomena that have been observed in X-point divertor tokamaks, especially concerning the ion flows. As in the JET tokamak, surprisingly large values of parallel Mach number are measured midway between the two strike zones, where one would expect to find nearly stagnant plasma if the particle source were poloidally uniform. We will present results of a novel experiment that provides evidence for a poloidally localized particle and energy source on the outboard midplane of

Edge density profile measurements by X-mode reflectometry on Tore Supra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clairet, F.; Bottereau, C.; Chareau, J.M.; Paume, M.; Sabot, R.

2000-10-01

A broadband reflectometer operating in the frequency range 50-75 GHz has been developed on Tore Supra to measure electron density profiles at the edge. The system uses extraordinary mode polarization and performs routine measurements in 20 μs with a heterodyne detection to ensure a high dynamic range sensitivity. It allows separate phase and amplitude information of the signal. The density profiles are fully automatically calculated from the raw phase. The initialization is done with an automatic detection of the first cut-off from the amplitude of the reflected signal with accuracy up to ±0.5 cm. The profiles are now part of the public database of Tore Supra (TS) and can provide details of density structures better than the centimeter range. High reliability of the measurements for various plasma conditions make this diagnostic an ideal tool to study specific edge plasma physics with given examples on detached plasma behaviour and RF antenna-plasma coupling processes. It also is shown how the presence of suprathermal electrons may perturb the measurements. (authors)

Sinogram restoration in computed tomography with an edge-preserving penalty

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Little, Kevin J., E-mail: little@uchicago.edu; La Rivière, Patrick J. [Department of Radiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637 (United States)

2015-03-15

Purpose: With the goal of producing a less computationally intensive alternative to fully iterative penalized-likelihood image reconstruction, our group has explored the use of penalized-likelihood sinogram restoration for transmission tomography. Previously, we have exclusively used a quadratic penalty in our restoration objective function. However, a quadratic penalty does not excel at preserving edges while reducing noise. Here, we derive a restoration update equation for nonquadratic penalties. Additionally, we perform a feasibility study to extend our sinogram restoration method to a helical cone-beam geometry and clinical data. Methods: A restoration update equation for nonquadratic penalties is derived using separable parabolic surrogates (SPS). A method for calculating sinogram degradation coefficients for a helical cone-beam geometry is proposed. Using simulated data, sinogram restorations are performed using both a quadratic penalty and the edge-preserving Huber penalty. After sinogram restoration, Fourier-based analytical methods are used to obtain reconstructions, and resolution-noise trade-offs are investigated. For the fan-beam geometry, a comparison is made to image-domain SPS reconstruction using the Huber penalty. The effects of varying object size and contrast are also investigated. For the helical cone-beam geometry, we investigate the effect of helical pitch (axial movement/rotation). Huber-penalty sinogram restoration is performed on 3D clinical data, and the reconstructed images are compared to those generated with no restoration. Results: We find that by applying the edge-preserving Huber penalty to our sinogram restoration methods, the reconstructed image has a better resolution-noise relationship than an image produced using a quadratic penalty in the sinogram restoration. However, we find that this relatively straightforward approach to edge preservation in the sinogram domain is affected by the physical size of imaged objects in addition

Degradation mode analysis: An approach to establish effective predictive maintenance tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sonnett, D.E.; Douglass, P.T.; Barnard, D.D.

1991-01-01

A significant number of nuclear generating stations have been employing Reliability Centered Maintenance methodology to arrive at applicable and effective maintenance tasks for their plant equipment. The resultant endpoint of most programs has been an increased emphasis on predictive maintenance as the task of choice for monitoring and trending plant equipment condition to address failure mechanisms of the analyses. Many of these plants have spent several years conducting reliability centered analysis before they seriously begin implementing predictive program improvements. In this paper we present another methodology, entitled Degradation Mode Analysis, which provides a more direct method to quickly and economically achieve the major benefit of reliability centered analysis, namely predictive maintenance. (author)

Magnetohydrodynamic stability of tokamak edge plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Connor, J.W.; Hastie, R.J.; Wilson, H.R.; Miller, R.L.

1998-01-01

A new formalism for analyzing the magnetohydrodynamic stability of a limiter tokamak edge plasma is developed. Two radially localized, high toroidal mode number n instabilities are studied in detail: a peeling mode and an edge ballooning mode. The peeling mode, driven by edge current density and stabilized by edge pressure gradient, has features which are consistent with several properties of tokamak behavior in the high confinement open-quotes Hclose quotes-mode of operation, and edge localized modes (or ELMs) in particular. The edge ballooning mode, driven by the pressure gradient, is identified; this penetrates ∼n 1/3 rational surfaces into the plasma (rather than ∼n 1/2 , expected from conventional ballooning mode theory). Furthermore, there exists a coupling between these two modes and this coupling provides a picture of the ELM cycle

Edge instabilities of topological superconductors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hofmann, Johannes S. [Institut fuer Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universitaet Wuerzburg (Germany); Max-Planck-Institut fuer Festkoerperforschung, Stuttgart (Germany); Assaad, Fakher F. [Institut fuer Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universitaet Wuerzburg (Germany); Schnyder, Andreas P. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Festkoerperforschung, Stuttgart (Germany)

2016-07-01

Nodal topological superconductors display zero-energy Majorana flat bands at generic edges. The flatness of these edge bands, which is protected by time-reversal and translation symmetry, gives rise to an extensive ground state degeneracy and a diverging density of states. Therefore, even arbitrarily weak interactions lead to an instability of the flat-band edge states towards time-reversal and translation-symmetry broken phases, which lift the ground-state degeneracy. Here, we employ Monte Carlo simulations combined with mean-field considerations to examine the instabilities of the flat-band edge states of d{sub xy}-wave superconductors. We find that attractive interactions induce a complex s-wave pairing instability together with a density wave instability. Repulsive interactions, on the other hand, lead to ferromagnetism mixed with spin-triplet pairing at the edge. We discuss the implications of our findings for experiments on cuprate high-temperature superconductors.

Reliable Decentralized Control of Fuzzy Discrete-Event Systems and a Test Algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Fuchun; Dziong, Zbigniew

2013-02-01

A framework for decentralized control of fuzzy discrete-event systems (FDESs) has been recently presented to guarantee the achievement of a given specification under the joint control of all local fuzzy supervisors. As a continuation, this paper addresses the reliable decentralized control of FDESs in face of possible failures of some local fuzzy supervisors. Roughly speaking, for an FDES equipped with n local fuzzy supervisors, a decentralized supervisor is called k-reliable (1 ≤ k ≤ n) provided that the control performance will not be degraded even when n - k local fuzzy supervisors fail. A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of k-reliable decentralized supervisors of FDESs is proposed by introducing the notions of M̃uc-controllability and k-reliable coobservability of fuzzy language. In particular, a polynomial-time algorithm to test the k-reliable coobservability is developed by a constructive methodology, which indicates that the existence of k-reliable decentralized supervisors of FDESs can be checked with a polynomial complexity.

Reliability analysis of structures under periodic proof tests in service

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, J.-N.

1976-01-01

A reliability analysis of structures subjected to random service loads and periodic proof tests treats gust loads and maneuver loads as random processes. Crack initiation, crack propagation, and strength degradation are treated as the fatigue process. The time to fatigue crack initiation and ultimate strength are random variables. Residual strength decreases during crack propagation, so that failure rate increases with time. When a structure fails under periodic proof testing, a new structure is built and proof-tested. The probability of structural failure in service is derived from treatment of all the random variables, strength degradations, service loads, proof tests, and the renewal of failed structures. Some numerical examples are worked out.

Adobe Edge Quickstart Guide

CERN Document Server

Labrecque, Joseph

2012-01-01

Adobe Edge Quickstart Guide is a practical guide on creating engaging content for the Web with Adobe's newest HTML5 tool. By taking a chapter-by-chapter look at each major aspect of Adobe Edge, the book lets you digest the available features in small, easily understandable chunks, allowing you to start using Adobe Edge for your web design needs immediately. If you are interested in creating engaging motion and interactive compositions using web standards with professional tooling, then this book is for you. Those with a background in Flash Professional wanting to get started quickly with Adobe

Cultural Distance-Aware Service Recommendation Approach in Mobile Edge Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Li

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In the era of big data, traditional computing systems and paradigms are not efficient and even difficult to use. For high performance big data processing, mobile edge computing is emerging as a complement framework of cloud computing. In this new computing architecture, services are provided within a close proximity of mobile users by servers at the edge of network. Traditional collaborative filtering recommendation approach only focuses on the similarity extracted from the rating data, which may lead to an inaccuracy expression of user preference. In this paper, we propose a cultural distance-aware service recommendation approach which focuses on not only the similarity but also the local characteristics and preference of users. Our approach employs the cultural distance to express the user preference and combines it with similarity to predict the user ratings and recommend the services with higher rating. In addition, considering the extreme sparsity of the rating data, missing rating prediction based on collaboration filtering is introduced in our approach. The experimental results based on real-world datasets show that our approach outperforms the traditional recommendation approaches in terms of the reliability of recommendation.

Spatial reliability analysis of a wind turbine blade cross section subjected to multi-axial extreme loading

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dimitrov, Nikolay Krasimirov; Bitsche, Robert; Blasques, José Pedro Albergaria Amaral

2017-01-01

This paper presents a methodology for structural reliability analysis of wind turbine blades. The study introduces several novel elements by taking into account loading direction using a multiaxial probabilistic load model, considering random material strength, spatial correlation between material...... properties, progressive material failure, and system reliability effects. An example analysis of reliability against material failure is demonstrated for a blade cross section. Based on the study we discuss the implications of using a system reliability approach, the effect of spatial correlation length......, type of material degradation algorithm, and reliability methods on the system failure probability, as well as the main factors that have an influence on the reliability. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved....

The End-to-end Demonstrator for improved decision making in the water sector in Europe (EDgE)

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Eric; Wanders, Niko; Pan, Ming; Sheffield, Justin; Samaniego, Luis; Thober, Stephan; Kumar, Rohinni; Prudhomme, Christel; Houghton-Carr, Helen

2017-04-01

High-resolution simulations of water resources from hydrological models are vital to supporting important climate services. Apart from a high level of detail, both spatially and temporally, it is important to provide simulations that consistently cover a range of timescales, from historical reanalysis to seasonal forecast and future projections. In the new EDgE project commissioned by the ECMWF (C3S) we try to fulfill these requirements. EDgE is a proof-of-concept project which combines climate data and state-of-the-art hydrological modelling to demonstrate a water-oriented information system implemented through a web application. EDgE is working with key European stakeholders representative of private and public sectors to jointly develop and tailor approaches and techniques. With these tools, stakeholders are assisted in using improved climate information in decision-making, and supported in the development of climate change adaptation and mitigation policies. Here, we present the first results of the EDgE modelling chain, which is divided into three main processes: 1) pre-processing and downscaling; 2) hydrological modelling; 3) post-processing. Consistent downscaling and bias corrections for historical simulations, seasonal forecasts and climate projections ensure that the results across scales are robust. The daily temporal resolution and 5km spatial resolution ensure locally relevant simulations. With the use of four hydrological models (PCR-GLOBWB, VIC, mHM, Noah-MP), uncertainty between models is properly addressed, while consistency is guaranteed by using identical input data for static land surface parameterizations. The forecast results are communicated to stakeholders via Sectoral Climate Impact Indicators (SCIIs) that have been created in collaboration with the end-user community of the EDgE project. The final product of this project is composed of 15 years of seasonal forecast and 10 climate change projections, all combined with four hydrological

Ex vivo hydrodynamics after central and paracommissural edge-to-edge technique: A further step toward transcatheter tricuspid repair?

Science.gov (United States)

Stock, Sina; Bohm, Heidemarie; Scharfschwerdt, Michael; Richardt, Doreen; Meyer-Saraei, Roza; Tsvelodub, Stanislav; Sievers, Hans-Hinrich

2018-03-01

Transcatheter approaches in heart valve disease became tremendously important and are currently established in the aortic position, but transcatheter tricuspid repair is still in its beginning and remains challenging. Replicating the surgical edge-to-edge technique, for example, with the MitraClip System (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, Calif), represents a promising option and has been reported successfully in small numbers of cases. However, up to now, few data considering the edge-to-edge technique as a transcatheter approach are available. This study aims to determine the ex vivo hydrodynamics after the central and paracommissural edge-to-edge technique in different pathologies. Because of basal or apical dislocation of papillary muscles, leaflet prolapse or tethering was simulated in porcine tricuspid valves mounted on a flexible holding device. Central and paracommissural edge-to-edge techniques were evaluated successively in these pathologies. Regurgitant volume and mean transvalvular gradient were determined in a pulse duplicator. In this ex vivo model, the isolated edge-to-edge technique reduced tricuspid regurgitation. In the prolapse model, regurgitant volume decreased significantly after central edge-to-edge technique (from 49.4 ± 13.6 mL/stroke to 39.3 ± 14.1 mL/stroke). In the tethering model, both the central and the paracommissural edge-to-edge techniques led to a significant decrease (from 48.7 ± 13.9 to 43.6 ± 15.6 and to 41.1 ± 13.8 mL/stroke). In all cases, the reduction of regurgitant volume was achieved at the cost of significantly increased mean transvalvular gradient. This study provides a reduction of tricuspid regurgitation after the edge-to-edge technique in the specific experimental setup. Whether this reduction is sufficient to treat tricuspid regurgitation successfully in clinical practice remains to be established. Transcatheter approaches need to be evaluated further, probably with regard to concomitant annuloplasty

Edge Simulation Laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krasheninnikov, Sergei I. [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Angus, Justin [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Lee, Wonjae [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)

2018-01-05

The goal of the Edge Simulation Laboratory (ESL) multi-institutional project is to advance scientific understanding of the edge plasma region of magnetic fusion devices via a coordinated effort utilizing modern computing resources, advanced algorithms, and ongoing theoretical development. The UCSD team was involved in the development of the COGENT code for kinetic studies across a magnetic separatrix. This work included a kinetic treatment of electrons and multiple ion species (impurities) and accurate collision operators.

AliEn - EDG Interoperability in ALICE

CERN Document Server

Bagnasco, S; Buncic, P; Carminati, F; Cerello, P G; Saiz, P

2003-01-01

AliEn (ALICE Environment) is a GRID-like system for large scale job submission and distributed data management developed and used in the context of ALICE, the CERN LHC heavy-ion experiment. With the aim of exploiting upcoming Grid resources to run AliEn-managed jobs and store the produced data, the problem of AliEn-EDG interoperability was addressed and an in-terface was designed. One or more EDG (European Data Grid) User Interface machines run the AliEn software suite (Cluster Monitor, Storage Element and Computing Element), and act as interface nodes between the systems. An EDG Resource Broker is seen by the AliEn server as a single Computing Element, while the EDG storage is seen by AliEn as a single, large Storage Element; files produced in EDG sites are registered in both the EDG Replica Catalogue and in the AliEn Data Catalogue, thus ensuring accessibility from both worlds. In fact, both registrations are required: the AliEn one is used for the data management, the EDG one to guarantee the integrity and...

Energetics of edge oxidization of graphene nanoribbons

Science.gov (United States)

Yasuma, Airi; Yamanaka, Ayaka; Okada, Susumu

2018-06-01

On the basis of the density functional theory, we studied the geometries and energetics of O atoms adsorbed on graphene edges for simulating the initial stage of the edge oxidization of graphene. Our calculations showed that oxygen atoms are preferentially adsorbed onto the graphene edges with the zigzag portion, resulting in a large adsorption energy of about 5 eV. On the other hand, the edges with armchair shape are rarely oxidized, or the oxidization causes substantial structural reconstructions, because of the stable covalent bond at the armchair edge with the triple bond nature. Furthermore, the energetics sensitively depends on the edge angles owing to the inhomogeneity of the charge density at the edge atomic sites.

Optimal number of tests to achieve and validate product reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmed, Hussam; Chateauneuf, Alaa

2014-01-01

The reliability validation of engineering products and systems is mandatory for choosing the best cost-effective design among a series of alternatives. Decisions at early design stages have a large effect on the overall life cycle performance and cost of products. In this paper, an optimization-based formulation is proposed by coupling the costs of product design and validation testing, in order to ensure the product reliability with the minimum number of tests. This formulation addresses the question about the number of tests to be specified through reliability demonstration necessary to validate the product under appropriate confidence level. The proposed formulation takes into account the product cost, the failure cost and the testing cost. The optimization problem can be considered as a decision making system according to the hierarchy of structural reliability measures. The numerical examples show the interest of coupling design and testing parameters. - Highlights: • Coupled formulation for design and testing costs, with lifetime degradation. • Cost-effective testing optimization to achieve reliability target. • Solution procedure for nested aleatoric and epistemic variable spaces

On modeling human reliability in space flights - Redundancy and recovery operations

Science.gov (United States)

Aarset, M.; Wright, J. F.

The reliability of humans is of paramount importance to the safety of space flight systems. This paper describes why 'back-up' operators might not be the best solution, and in some cases, might even degrade system reliability. The problem associated with human redundancy calls for special treatment in reliability analyses. The concept of Standby Redundancy is adopted, and psychological and mathematical models are introduced to improve the way such problems can be estimated and handled. In the past, human reliability has practically been neglected in most reliability analyses, and, when included, the humans have been modeled as a component and treated numerically the way technical components are. This approach is not wrong in itself, but it may lead to systematic errors if too simple analogies from the technical domain are used in the modeling of human behavior. In this paper redundancy in a man-machine system will be addressed. It will be shown how simplification from the technical domain, when applied to human components of a system, may give non-conservative estimates of system reliability.

Turbine Airfoil With CMC Leading-Edge Concept Tested Under Simulated Gas Turbine Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, R. Craig; Hatton, Kenneth S.

2000-01-01

Silicon-based ceramics have been proposed as component materials for gas turbine engine hot-sections. When the Navy s Harrier fighter experienced engine (Pegasus F402) failure because of leading-edge durability problems on the second-stage high-pressure turbine vane, the Office of Naval Research came to the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field for test support in evaluating a concept for eliminating the vane-edge degradation. The High Pressure Burner Rig (HPBR) was selected for testing since it could provide temperature, pressure, velocity, and combustion gas compositions that closely simulate the engine environment. The study focused on equipping the stationary metal airfoil (Pegasus F402) with a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) leading-edge insert and evaluating the feasibility and benefits of such a configuration. The test exposed the component, with and without the CMC insert, to the harsh engine environment in an unloaded condition, with cooling to provide temperature relief to the metal blade underneath. The insert was made using an AlliedSignal Composites, Inc., enhanced HiNicalon (Nippon Carbon Co. LTD., Yokohama, Japan) fiber-reinforced silicon carbide composite (SiC/SiC CMC) material fabricated via chemical vapor infiltration. This insert was 45-mils thick and occupied a recessed area in the leading edge and shroud of the vane. It was designed to be free floating with an end cap design. The HPBR tests provided a comparative evaluation of the temperature response and leading-edge durability and included cycling the airfoils between simulated idle, lift, and cruise flight conditions. In addition, the airfoils were aircooled, uniquely instrumented, and exposed to the exact set of internal and external conditions, which included gas temperatures in excess of 1370 C (2500 F). In addition to documenting the temperature response of the metal vane for comparison with the CMC, a demonstration of improved leading-edge durability was a primary goal. First, the

Acyclicity in edge-colored graphs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gutin, Gregory; Jones, Mark; Sheng, Bin

2017-01-01

A walk W in edge-colored graphs is called properly colored (PC) if every pair of consecutive edges in W is of different color. We introduce and study five types of PC acyclicity in edge-colored graphs such that graphs of PC acyclicity of type i is a proper superset of graphs of acyclicity of type i......+1, i=1,2,3,4. The first three types are equivalent to the absence of PC cycles, PC closed trails, and PC closed walks, respectively. While graphs of types 1, 2 and 3 can be recognized in polynomial time, the problem of recognizing graphs of type 4 is, somewhat surprisingly, NP-hard even for 2-edge-colored...... graphs (i.e., when only two colors are used). The same problem with respect to type 5 is polynomial-time solvable for all edge-colored graphs. Using the five types, we investigate the border between intractability and tractability for the problems of finding the maximum number of internally vertex...

High-power UV-LED degradation: Continuous and cycled working condition influence

Science.gov (United States)

Arques-Orobon, F. J.; Nuñez, N.; Vazquez, M.; Segura-Antunez, C.; González-Posadas, V.

2015-09-01

High-power (HP) UV-LEDs can replace UV lamps for real-time fluoro-sensing applications by allowing portable and autonomous systems. However, HP UV-LEDs are not a mature technology, and there are still open issues regarding their performance evolution over time. This paper presents a reliability study of 3 W UV-LEDs, with special focus on LED degradation for two working conditions: continuous and cycled (30 s ON and 30 s OFF). Accelerated life tests are developed to evaluate the influence of temperature and electrical working conditions in high-power LEDs degradation, being the predominant failure mechanism the degradation of the package. An analysis that includes dynamic thermal and optical HP UV-LED measurements has been performed. Static thermal and stress simulation analysis with the finite element method (FEM) identifies the causes of package degradation. Accelerated life test results prove that HP UV-LEDs working in cycled condition have a better performance than those working in continuous condition.

Edge-effect interactions in fragmented and patchy landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Porensky, Lauren M; Young, Truman P

2013-06-01

Ecological edges are increasingly recognized as drivers of landscape patterns and ecosystem processes. In fragmented and patchy landscapes (e.g., a fragmented forest or a savanna with scattered termite mounds), edges can become so numerous that their effects pervade the entire landscape. Results of recent studies in such landscapes show that edge effects can be altered by the presence or proximity of other nearby edges. We considered the theoretical significance of edge-effect interactions, illustrated various landscape configurations that support them and reviewed existing research on this topic. Results of studies from a variety of locations and ecosystem types show that edge-effect interactions can have significant consequences for ecosystems and conservation, including higher tree mortality rates in tropical rainforest fragments, reduced bird densities in grassland fragments, and bush encroachment and reduced wildlife densities in a tropical savanna. To clarify this underappreciated concept and synthesize existing work, we devised a conceptual framework for edge-effect interactions. We first worked to reduce terminological confusion by clarifying differences among terms such as edge intersection and edge interaction. For cases in which nearby edge effects interact, we proposed three possible forms of interaction: strengthening (presence of a second edge causes stronger edge effects), weakening (presence of a second edge causes weaker edge effects), and emergent (edge effects change completely in the presence of a second edge). By clarifying terms and concepts, this framework enables more precise descriptions of edge-effect interactions and facilitates comparisons of results among disparate study systems and response variables. A better understanding of edge-effect interactions will pave the way for more appropriate modeling, conservation, and management in complex landscapes. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Accelerated life testing and reliability of high K multilayer ceramic capacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Minford, W. J.

1981-01-01

The reliability of one lot of high K multilayer ceramic capacitors was evaluated using accelerated life testing. The degradation in insulation resistance was characterized as a function of voltage and temperature. The times to failure at a voltage-temperature stress conformed to a lognormal distribution with a standard deviation approximately 0.5.

High Reliability R-10 Windows Using Vacuum Insulating Glass Units

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stark, David

2012-08-16

The objective of this effort was for EverSealed Windows (“EverSealed” or “ESW”) to design, assemble, thermally and environmentally test and demonstrate a Vacuum Insulating Glass Unit (“VIGU” or “VIG”) that would enable a whole window to meet or exceed the an R-10 insulating value (U-factor ≤ 0.1). To produce a VIGU that could withstand any North American environment, ESW believed it needed to design, produce and use a flexible edge seal system. This is because a rigid edge seal, used by all other know VIG producers and developers, limits the size and/or thermal environment of the VIG to where the unit is not practical for typical IG sizes and cannot withstand severe outdoor environments. The rigid-sealed VIG’s use would be limited to mild climates where it would not have a reasonable economic payback when compared to traditional double-pane or triple-pane IGs. ESW’s goals, in addition to achieving a sufficiently high R-value to enable a whole window to achieve R-10, included creating a VIG design that could be produced for a cost equal to or lower than a traditional triple-pane IG (low-e, argon filled). ESW achieved these goals. EverSealed produced, tested and demonstrated a flexible edge-seal VIG that had an R-13 insulating value and the edge-seal system durability to operate reliably for at least 40 years in the harshest climates of North America.

Material and design considerations of FBGA reliability performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Teck Kheng; Ng, T.C.; Chai, Y.M

2004-09-01

FBGA package reliability is usually assessed through the conventional approaches of die attach and mold compound material optimization. However, with the rapid changes and fast-moving pace of electronic packaging and the introduction of new soldermask and core materials, substrate design has also become a critical factor in determining overall package reliability. The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact design and soldermask material of a rigid substrate on overall package reliability. Three different soldermask patterns with a matrix of different die attach, mold compound, and soldermask materials are assessed using the moisture sensitivity test (MST). Package reliability is also assessed through the use of temperature cycling (T/C) at conditions 'B' and 'C'. For material optimization, three different mold compounds and die attach materials are used. Material adhesion between different die attach materials and soldermask materials are obtained through die shear performed at various temperatures and preset moisture conditions. A study correlating the different packaging material properties and their relative adhesion strengths with overall package reliability in terms of both MST and T/C performance was performed. Soldermask design under the die pads was found to affect package reliability. For example, locating vias at the edge of the die is not desirable because the vias acts as initiation point for delamination and moisture-induced failure. Through die shear testing, soldermask B demonstrated higher adhesion properties compared to soldermask A across several packaging materials and enhanced the overall package reliability in terms of both MST and T/C performance. Both MST JEDEC level 1 and the T/C of 'B' and 'C' at 1000 cycles have been achieved through design and package material optimization.

Compatibility of detached divertor operation with robust edge pedestal performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leonard, A.W., E-mail: leonard@fusion.gat.com [General Atomics, PO Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States); Makowski, M.A.; McLean, A.G. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA (United States); Osborne, T.H.; Snyder, P.B. [General Atomics, PO Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States)

2015-08-15

The compatibility of detached radiative divertor operation with a robust H-mode pedestal is examined in DIII-D. A density scan produced low temperature plasmas at the divertor target, T{sub e} ⩽ 2 eV, with high radiation leading to a factor of ⩾4 drop in peak divertor heat flux. The cold radiative plasma was confined to the divertor and did not extend across the separatrix in X-point region. A robust H-mode pedestal was maintained with a small degradation in pedestal pressure at the highest densities. The response of the pedestal pressure to increasing density is reproduced by the EPED pedestal model. However, agreement of the EPED model with experiment at high density requires an assumption of reduced diamagnetic stabilization of edge Peeling–Ballooning modes.

Are quantum spin Hall edge modes more resilient to disorder, sample geometry and inelastic scattering than quantum Hall edge modes?

Science.gov (United States)

Mani, Arjun; Benjamin, Colin

2016-04-13

On the surface of 2D topological insulators, 1D quantum spin Hall (QSH) edge modes occur with Dirac-like dispersion. Unlike quantum Hall (QH) edge modes, which occur at high magnetic fields in 2D electron gases, the occurrence of QSH edge modes is due to spin-orbit scattering in the bulk of the material. These QSH edge modes are spin-dependent, and chiral-opposite spins move in opposing directions. Electronic spin has a larger decoherence and relaxation time than charge. In view of this, it is expected that QSH edge modes will be more robust to disorder and inelastic scattering than QH edge modes, which are charge-dependent and spin-unpolarized. However, we notice no such advantage accrues in QSH edge modes when subjected to the same degree of contact disorder and/or inelastic scattering in similar setups as QH edge modes. In fact we observe that QSH edge modes are more susceptible to inelastic scattering and contact disorder than QH edge modes. Furthermore, while a single disordered contact has no effect on QH edge modes, it leads to a finite charge Hall current in the case of QSH edge modes, and thus a vanishing of the pure QSH effect. For more than a single disordered contact while QH states continue to remain immune to disorder, QSH edge modes become more susceptible--the Hall resistance for the QSH effect changes sign with increasing disorder. In the case of many disordered contacts with inelastic scattering included, while quantization of Hall edge modes holds, for QSH edge modes a finite charge Hall current still flows. For QSH edge modes in the inelastic scattering regime we distinguish between two cases: with spin-flip and without spin-flip scattering. Finally, while asymmetry in sample geometry can have a deleterious effect in the QSH case, it has no impact in the QH case.

Are quantum spin Hall edge modes more resilient to disorder, sample geometry and inelastic scattering than quantum Hall edge modes?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mani, Arjun; Benjamin, Colin

2016-01-01

On the surface of 2D topological insulators, 1D quantum spin Hall (QSH) edge modes occur with Dirac-like dispersion. Unlike quantum Hall (QH) edge modes, which occur at high magnetic fields in 2D electron gases, the occurrence of QSH edge modes is due to spin–orbit scattering in the bulk of the material. These QSH edge modes are spin-dependent, and chiral-opposite spins move in opposing directions. Electronic spin has a larger decoherence and relaxation time than charge. In view of this, it is expected that QSH edge modes will be more robust to disorder and inelastic scattering than QH edge modes, which are charge-dependent and spin-unpolarized. However, we notice no such advantage accrues in QSH edge modes when subjected to the same degree of contact disorder and/or inelastic scattering in similar setups as QH edge modes. In fact we observe that QSH edge modes are more susceptible to inelastic scattering and contact disorder than QH edge modes. Furthermore, while a single disordered contact has no effect on QH edge modes, it leads to a finite charge Hall current in the case of QSH edge modes, and thus a vanishing of the pure QSH effect. For more than a single disordered contact while QH states continue to remain immune to disorder, QSH edge modes become more susceptible—the Hall resistance for the QSH effect changes sign with increasing disorder. In the case of many disordered contacts with inelastic scattering included, while quantization of Hall edge modes holds, for QSH edge modes a finite charge Hall current still flows. For QSH edge modes in the inelastic scattering regime we distinguish between two cases: with spin-flip and without spin-flip scattering. Finally, while asymmetry in sample geometry can have a deleterious effect in the QSH case, it has no impact in the QH case. (paper)

Magnetism of Nanographene-Based Microporous Carbon and Its Applications: Interplay of Edge Geometry and Chemistry Details in the Edge State

Science.gov (United States)

Enoki, Toshiaki; Kiguchi, Manabu

2018-03-01

This paper is a contribution to the Physical Review Applied collection in memory of Mildred S. Dresselhaus. Nanographenes have important edge geometry dependence in their electronic structures. In armchair edges, electron wave interference works to contribute to energetic stability. Meanwhile, zigzag edges possess an edge-localized and spin-polarized nonbonding edge state, which causes electronic, magnetic, and chemical activities. In addition to the geometry dependence, the electronic structures are seriously affected by edge chemistry details. The edge chemistry dependence together with edge geometries on the electronic structures are discussed with samples of randomly networked nanographenes (microporous activated carbon fibers) in pristine state and under high-temperature annealing. In the pristine sample with the edges oxidized in ambient atmospheric conditions, the edge state, which is otherwise unstable, can be stabilized because of the charge transfer from nanographene to terminating oxygen. Nanographene, whose edges consist of a combination of magnetic zigzag edges and nonmagnetic armchair edges, is found to be ferrimagnetic with a nonzero net magnetic moment created under the interplay between a strong intrazigzag-edge ferromagnetic interaction and intermediate-strength interzigzag-edge antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic interaction. At heat-treatment temperatures just below the fusion start (approximately 1500 K), the edge-terminating structure is changed from oxygen-containing groups to hydrogen in the nanographene network. Additionally, hydrogen-terminated zigzag edges, which are present as the majority and chemically unstable, play a triggering role in fusion above 1500 K. The fusion start brings about an insulator-to-metal transition at TI -M˜1500 K . Local fusions taking place percolatively between nanographenes work to expand the π -bond network, eventually resulting in the development of antiferromagnetic short-range order toward spin glass in the

Improving color constancy by photometric edge weighting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gijsenij, A.; Gevers, T.; van de Weijer, J.

2012-01-01

Edge-based color constancy methods make use of image derivatives to estimate the illuminant. However, different edge types exist in real-world images, such as material, shadow, and highlight edges. These different edge types may have a distinctive influence on the performance of the illuminant

Unconventional quantized edge transport in the presence of inter-edge coupling in intercalated graphene

OpenAIRE

Li, Yuanchang

2016-01-01

It is generally believed that the inter-edge coupling destroys the quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect along with the gap opening at the Dirac points. Using first-principles calculations, we find that the quantized edge transport persists in the presence of inter-edge coupling in Ta intercalated epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001), being a QSH insulator with the non-trivial gap of 81 meV. In this case, the band is characterized by two perfect Dirac cones with different Fermi velocities, yet only one m...

Reliability Oriented Design Tool For the New Generation of Grid Connected PV-Inverters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sintamarean, Nicolae Cristian; Blaabjerg, Frede; Wang, Huai

2015-01-01

is achieved and is further used as an input to the lifetime model. The proposed reliability-oriented design tool is used to study the impact of mission profile (MP) variation and device degradation (aging) in the PV inverter lifetime. The obtained results indicate that the MP of the field where the PV...... inverter is operating has an important impact (up to 70%) on the converter lifetime expectation, and it should be considered in the design stage to better optimize the converter design margin. In order to have correct lifetime estimation, it is crucial to consider also the device degradation feedback (in......This paper introduces a reliability-oriented design tool for a new generation of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) inverters. The proposed design tool consists of a real field mission profile (RFMP) model (for two operating regions: USA and Denmark), a PV panel model, a grid-connected PV inverter...

Effects of Leading Edge Defect on the Aerodynamic and Flow Characteristics of an S809 Airfoil.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Wang

Full Text Available Unexpected performance degradation occurs in wind turbine blades due to leading edge defect when suffering from continuous impacts with rain drops, hails, insects, or solid particles during its operation life. To assess this issue, this paper numerically investigates the steady and dynamic stall characteristics of an S809 airfoil with various leading edge defects. More leading edge defect sizes and much closer to practical parameters are investigated in the paper.Numerical computation is conducted using the SST k-ω turbulence model, and the method has been validated by comparison with existed published data. In order to ensure the calculation convergence, the residuals for the continuity equation are set to be less than 10-7 and 10-6 in steady state and dynamic stall cases. The simulations are conducted with the software ANSYS Fluent 13.0.It is found that the characteristics of aerodynamic coefficients and flow fields are sensitive to leading edge defect both in steady and dynamic conditions. For airfoils with the defect thickness of 6%tc, leading edge defect has a relative small influence on the aerodynamics of S809 airfoil. For other investigated defect thicknesses, leading edge defect has much greater influence on the flow field structures, pressure coefficients and aerodynamic characteristics of airfoil at relative small defect lengths. For example, the lift coefficients decrease and drag coefficients increase sharply after the appearance of leading edge defect. However, the aerodynamic characteristics could reach a constant value when the defect length is large enough. The flow field, pressure coefficient distribution and aerodynamic coefficients do not change a lot when the defect lengths reach to 0.5%c,1%c, 2%c and 3%c with defect thicknesses of 6%tc, 12%tc,18%tc and 25%tc, respectively. In addition, the results also show that the critical defect length/thickness ratio is 0.5, beyond which the aerodynamic characteristics nearly remain

Lifetime Evaluation of Grid-Connected PV Inverters Considering Panel Degradation Rates and Installation Sites

OpenAIRE

Sangwongwanich, Ariya; Yang, Yongheng; Sera, Dezso; Blaabjerg, Frede

2018-01-01

Lifetime of PV inverters is affected by the installation sites related to different solar irradiance and ambient temperature profiles (also referred to as mission profiles). In fact, the installation site also affects the degradation rate of the PV panels, and thus long-term energy production and reliability. Prior-art lifetime analysis in PV inverters has not yet investigated the impact of PV panel degradations. This paper thus evaluates the lifetime of PV inverters considering panel degrada...

Optimal Constant-Stress Accelerated Degradation Test Plans Using Nonlinear Generalized Wiener Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhen Chen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Accelerated degradation test (ADT has been widely used to assess highly reliable products’ lifetime. To conduct an ADT, an appropriate degradation model and test plan should be determined in advance. Although many historical studies have proposed quite a few models, there is still room for improvement. Hence we propose a Nonlinear Generalized Wiener Process (NGWP model with consideration of the effects of stress level, product-to-product variability, and measurement errors for a higher estimation accuracy and a wider range of use. Then under the constraints of sample size, test duration, and test cost, the plans of constant-stress ADT (CSADT with multiple stress levels based on the NGWP are designed by minimizing the asymptotic variance of the reliability estimation of the products under normal operation conditions. An optimization algorithm is developed to determine the optimal stress levels, the number of units allocated to each level, inspection frequency, and measurement times simultaneously. In addition, a comparison based on degradation data of LEDs is made to show better goodness-of-fit of the NGWP than that of other models. Finally, optimal two-level and three-level CSADT plans under various constraints and a detailed sensitivity analysis are demonstrated through examples in this paper.

Ti/TaN Bilayer for Efficient Injection and Reliable AlGaN Nanowires LEDs

KAUST Repository

Priante, Davide; Janjua, Bilal; Prabaswara, Aditya; Subedi, Ram Chandra; Elafandy, Rami T.; Lopatin, Sergei; Anjum, Dalaver H.; Zhao, Chao; Ng, Tien Khee; Ooi, Boon S.

2018-01-01

Reliable operation of UV AlGaN-based nanowires-LED at high injection current was realized by incorporating a Ti-pre-orienting/TaN-diffusion-barrier bilayer, thus enhancing external quantum efficiency, and resolving the existing device degradation

Availability and mean life time prediction of multistage degraded system with partial repairs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pham, Hoang; Suprasad, A.; Misra, R.B.

1997-01-01

In some environments, components might not always fail fully, but can degrade, and there can be multiple stages of degradation. In such cases, the efficiency of the system may decrease. After a certain stage of degradation the efficiency of the system may decrease to an unacceptable limit and can be considered as a total failure. However, the system can fail randomly from any stage. and can be repaired. Further, the repair action cannot bring the system to the good stage, but can make it operational and the failure rate of the system will, therefore, remain the same as before the failure. In this study, we present a model for predicting the reliability, availability, mean life time, and mean time to first failure of multistage degraded systems with partial repairs. In the analysis, state dependent transition rates for the degradation process, as well as repair processes, are considered. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the results

A Bayesian optimal design for degradation tests based on the inverse Gaussian process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peng, Weiwen; Liu, Yu; Li, Yan Feng; Zhu, Shun Peng; Huang, Hong Zhong [University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu (China)

2014-10-15

The inverse Gaussian process is recently introduced as an attractive and flexible stochastic process for degradation modeling. This process has been demonstrated as a valuable complement for models that are developed on the basis of the Wiener and gamma processes. We investigate the optimal design of the degradation tests on the basis of the inverse Gaussian process. In addition to an optimal design with pre-estimated planning values of model parameters, we also address the issue of uncertainty in the planning values by using the Bayesian method. An average pre-posterior variance of reliability is used as the optimization criterion. A trade-off between sample size and number of degradation observations is investigated in the degradation test planning. The effects of priors on the optimal designs and on the value of prior information are also investigated and quantified. The degradation test planning of a GaAs Laser device is performed to demonstrate the proposed method.

How Forest Inhomogeneities Affect the Edge Flow

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boudreault, Louis-Étienne; Dupont, Sylvain; Bechmann, Andreas

2016-01-01

Most of our knowledge on forest-edge flows comes from numerical and wind-tunnel experiments where canopies are horizontally homogeneous. To investigate the impact of tree-scale heterogeneities (>1 m) on the edge-flow dynamics, the flow in an inhomogeneous forest edge on Falster island in Denmark...... is investigated using large-eddy simulation. The three-dimensional forest structure is prescribed in the model using high resolution helicopter-based lidar scans. After evaluating the simulation against wind measurements upwind and downwind of the forest leading edge, the flow dynamics are compared between...... the scanned forest and an equivalent homogeneous forest. The simulations reveal that forest inhomogeneities facilitate flow penetration into the canopy from the edge, inducing important dispersive fluxes in the edge region as a consequence of the flow spatial variability. Further downstream from the edge...

Crystallographic study of grain refinement in aluminum alloys using the edge-to-edge matching model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, M.-X.; Kelly, P.M.; Easton, M.A.; Taylor, J.A.

2005-01-01

The edge-to-edge matching model for describing the interfacial crystallographic characteristics between two phases that are related by reproducible orientation relationships has been applied to the typical grain refiners in aluminum alloys. Excellent atomic matching between Al 3 Ti nucleating substrates, known to be effective nucleation sites for primary Al, and the Al matrix in both close packed directions and close packed planes containing these directions have been identified. The crystallographic features of the grain refiner and the Al matrix are very consistent with the edge-to-edge matching model. For three other typical grain refiners for Al alloys, TiC (when a = 0.4328 nm), TiB 2 and AlB 2 , the matching only occurs between the close packed directions in both phases and between the second close packed plane of the Al matrix and the second close packed plane of the refiners. According to the model, it is predicted that Al 3 Ti is a more powerful nucleating substrate for Al alloy than TiC, TiB 2 and AlB 2 . This agrees with the previous experimental results. The present work shows that the edge-to-edge matching model has the potential to be a powerful tool in discovering new and more powerful grain refiners for Al alloys

Edge Cut Domination, Irredundance, and Independence in Graphs

OpenAIRE

Fenstermacher, Todd; Hedetniemi, Stephen; Laskar, Renu

2016-01-01

An edge dominating set $F$ of a graph $G=(V,E)$ is an \\textit{edge cut dominating set} if the subgraph $\\langle V,G-F \\rangle$ is disconnected. The \\textit{edge cut domination number} $\\gamma_{ct}(G)$ of $G$ is the minimum cardinality of an edge cut dominating set of $G.$ In this paper we study the edge cut domination number and investigate its relationships with other parameters of graphs. We also introduce the properties edge cut irredundance and edge cut independence.

DAVs: Red Edge and Outbursts

Science.gov (United States)

Luan, Jing

2018-04-01

As established by ground based surveys, white dwarfs with hydrogen atmospheres pulsate as they cool across the temperature range, 12500Kred edge is a two-decade old puzzle. Recently, Kepler discovered a number of cool DAVs exhibiting sporadic outbursts separated by days, each lasting several hours, and releasing \\sim 10^{33}-10^{34} {erg}. We provide quantitative explanations for both the red edge and the outbursts. The minimal frequency for overstable modes rises abruptly near the red edge. Although high frequency overstable modes exist below the red edge, their photometric amplitudes are generally too small to be detected by ground based observations. Nevertheless, these overstable parent modes can manifest themselves through nonlinear mode couplings to damped daughter modes which generate limit cycles giving rise to photometric outbursts.

Role of recent research in improving check valve reliability at nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalsi, M.S.; Horst, C.L.; Wang, J.K.; Sharma, V.

1990-01-01

Check valve failures at nuclear power plants in recent years have led to serious safety concerns, and caused extensive damage to other plant components which had a significant impact on plant availability. In order to understand the failure mechanism and improve the reliability of check valves, a systematic research effort was proposed by Kalsi Engineering, Inc. to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The overall goal of the research was to develop models for predicting the performance and degradation of swing check valves in nuclear power plant systems so that appropriate preventive maintenance or design modifications can be performed to improve the reliability of check valves. Under Phase I of this research, a large matrix of tests was run with instrumented swing check valves to determine the stability of the disc under a variety of upstream flow disturbances, covering a wide range of disc stop positions and flow velocities in two different valve sizes. The goals of Phase II research were to develop predictive models which quantify the anticipated degradation of swing check valves that have flow disturbances closely upstream of the valve and are operating under flow velocities that do not result in full disc opening. This research allows the inspection/maintenance activities to be focussed on those check valves that are more likely to suffer premature degradation. The quantitative wear and fatigue prediction methodology can be used to develop a sound preventive maintenance program. The results of the research also show the improvements in check valve performance/reliability that can be achieved by certain modifications in the valve design

Long-Term Reliability of SiGe/Si HBTs From Accelerated Lifetime Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharya, Pallab

2001-01-01

Accelerated lifetime tests were performed on double-mesa structure Si(0.7)Ge(0.3)/Si npn heterojunction bipolar transistors, grown by molecular beam epitaxy, in the temperature range of 175 C-275 C. The transistors (with 5x20 sq micron emitter area) have DC current gains approx. 40-50 and f(sub T) and f(sub max) of up to 22 GHz and 25 GHz, respectively. It is found that a gradual degradation in these devices is caused by the recombination enhanced impurity diffusion (REID) of boron atoms from the p-type base region and the associated formation of parasitic energy barriers to electron transport from the emitter to collector layers. This REED has been quantitatively modeled and explained, to the first order of approximation, and the agreement with the measured data is good. The mean time to failure (MTTF) of these devices at room temperature under 1.35 x 10(exp 4) A/sq cm current density operation is estimated from the extrapolation of the Arrhenius plots of device lifetime versus reciprocal temperature. The results of the reliability tests offer valuable feedback for SiGe heterostructure design in order to improve the long-term reliability of the devices and circuits made with them. Hot electron induced degradation of the base-emitter junction was also observed during the accelerated lifetime testing. In order to improve the HBT reliability endangered by the hot electrons, deuterium sintered techniques have been proposed. The preliminary results from this study show that a deuterium-sintered HBT is, indeed, more resistant to hot-electron induced base-emitter junction degradation.

Transcatheter Treatment of Tricuspid Regurgitation Using Edge-to-Edge Repair: Procedural Results, Clinical Implications and Predictors for Success.

Science.gov (United States)

Lurz, Philipp; Besler, Christian; Noack, Thilo; Forner, Anna Flo; Bevilacqua, Carmine; Seeburger, Joerg; Rommel, Karl-Philipp; Blazek, Stephan; Hartung, Philipp; Zimmer, Marion; Mohr, Friedrich; Schuler, Gerhard; Linke, Axel; Ender, Joerg; Thiele, Holger

2018-04-10

To analyze the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of Tricuspid valve (TV) repair using the MitraClip system in patients at high surgical risk. Forty-two elderly high-risk patients (76.8±7.3 years, EuroScore II 8.1±5.7) with isolated TR or combined TR and mitral regurgitation (MR) underwent edge-to-edge repair of the TV (n=11) or combined edge-to-edge repair of the TV and mitral valve (n=31). Procedural details, success rate, impact on TR severity and predictors for success at 30 day follow-up were analyzed. Successful edge-to-edge repair of TR was achieved in 35/42 patients (83%, 68 clips in total, 94% in the anteroseptal commissure, 6% in the posteroseptal commissure). In 5 patients, grasping of the leaflets was impossible and two patients had no decrease in TR after clipping. In those with procedural success, clipping of the TV led to a reduction in effective regurgitant orifice area by -62,5 % (from 0.8±0.4 to 0.3±0.2 cm2; pEdge-to-edge repair of the TV is feasible with promising reduction in TR, which could result in clinical improvement.

Monitor Soil Degradation or Triage for Soil Security? An Australian Challenge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Koch

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The Australian National Soil Research, Development and Extension Strategy identifies soil security as a foundation for the current and future productivity and profitability of Australian agriculture. Current agricultural production is attenuated by soil degradation. Future production is highly dependent on the condition of Australian soils. Soil degradation in Australia is dominated in its areal extent by soil erosion. We reiterate the use of soil erosion as a reliable indicator of soil condition/quality and a practical measure of soil degradation. We describe three key phases of soil degradation since European settlement, and show a clear link between inappropriate agricultural practices and the resultant soil degradation. We demonstrate that modern agricultural practices have had a marked effect on reducing erosion. Current advances in agricultural soil management could lead to further stabilization and slowing of soil degradation in addition to improving productivity. However, policy complacency towards soil degradation, combined with future climate projections of increased rainfall intensity but decreased volumes, warmer temperatures and increased time in drought may once again accelerate soil degradation and susceptibility to erosion and thus limit the ability of agriculture to advance without further improving soil management practices. Monitoring soil degradation may indicate land degradation, but we contend that monitoring will not lead to soil security. We propose the adoption of a triaging approach to soil degradation using the soil security framework, to prioritise treatment plans that engage science and agriculture to develop practices that simultaneously increase productivity and improve soil condition. This will provide a public policy platform for efficient allocation of public and private resources to secure Australia’s soil resource.

Selection, design, qualification, testing, and reliability of emergency diesel generator units used as Class 1E onsite electric power systems at nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-04-01

This guide has been prepared for the resolution of Generic Safety Issue B-56, ''Diesel Generator Reliability,'' and is related to Unresolved Safety Issue (USI) A-44, ''Station Blackout.'' The resolution of USI A-44 established a need for an emergency diesel generator (EDG) reliability program that has the capability to achieve and maintain the emergency diesel generator reliability levels in the range of 0.95 per demand or better to cope with station blackout

Lifetime Evaluation of Grid-Connected PV Inverters Considering Panel Degradation Rates and Installation Sites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sangwongwanich, Ariya; Yang, Yongheng; Sera, Dezso

2018-01-01

Lifetime of PV inverters is affected by the installation sites related to different solar irradiance and ambient temperature profiles (also referred to as mission profiles). In fact, the installation site also affects the degradation rate of the PV panels, and thus long-term energy production...... and reliability. Prior-art lifetime analysis in PV inverters has not yet investigated the impact of PV panel degradations. This paper thus evaluates the lifetime of PV inverters considering panel degradation rates and mission profiles. Evaluations have been carried out on PV systems installed in Denmark...... and Arizona. The results reveal that the PV panel degradation rate has a considerable impact on the PV inverter lifetime, especially in the hot climate (e.g., Arizona), where the panel degrades at a faster rate. In that case, the PV inverter lifetime prediction can be deviated by 54%, if the impact of PV...

Computing confidence and prediction intervals of industrial equipment degradation by bootstrapped support vector regression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lins, Isis Didier; Droguett, Enrique López; Moura, Márcio das Chagas; Zio, Enrico; Jacinto, Carlos Magno

2015-01-01

Data-driven learning methods for predicting the evolution of the degradation processes affecting equipment are becoming increasingly attractive in reliability and prognostics applications. Among these, we consider here Support Vector Regression (SVR), which has provided promising results in various applications. Nevertheless, the predictions provided by SVR are point estimates whereas in order to take better informed decisions, an uncertainty assessment should be also carried out. For this, we apply bootstrap to SVR so as to obtain confidence and prediction intervals, without having to make any assumption about probability distributions and with good performance even when only a small data set is available. The bootstrapped SVR is first verified on Monte Carlo experiments and then is applied to a real case study concerning the prediction of degradation of a component from the offshore oil industry. The results obtained indicate that the bootstrapped SVR is a promising tool for providing reliable point and interval estimates, which can inform maintenance-related decisions on degrading components. - Highlights: • Bootstrap (pairs/residuals) and SVR are used as an uncertainty analysis framework. • Numerical experiments are performed to assess accuracy and coverage properties. • More bootstrap replications does not significantly improve performance. • Degradation of equipment of offshore oil wells is estimated by bootstrapped SVR. • Estimates about the scale growth rate can support maintenance-related decisions

Energetics of highly kinked step edges

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zandvliet, Henricus J.W.

2010-01-01

We have determined the step edge free energy, the step edge stiffness and dimensionless inverse step edge stiffness of the highly kinked < 010> oriented step on a (001) surface of a simple square lattice within the framework of a solid-on-solid model. We have found an exact expression for the step

Edge Fracture in Complex Fluids.

Science.gov (United States)

Hemingway, Ewan J; Kusumaatmaja, Halim; Fielding, Suzanne M

2017-07-14

We study theoretically the edge fracture instability in sheared complex fluids, by means of linear stability analysis and direct nonlinear simulations. We derive an exact analytical expression for the onset of edge fracture in terms of the shear-rate derivative of the fluid's second normal stress difference, the shear-rate derivative of the shear stress, the jump in shear stress across the interface between the fluid and the outside medium (usually air), the surface tension of that interface, and the rheometer gap size. We provide a full mechanistic understanding of the edge fracture instability, carefully validated against our simulations. These findings, which are robust with respect to choice of rheological constitutive model, also suggest a possible route to mitigating edge fracture, potentially allowing experimentalists to achieve and accurately measure flows stronger than hitherto possible.

Edge Modeling by Two Blur Parameters in Varying Contrasts.

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Suyoung

2018-06-01

This paper presents a method of modeling edge profiles with two blur parameters, and estimating and predicting those edge parameters with varying brightness combinations and camera-to-object distances (COD). First, the validity of the edge model is proven mathematically. Then, it is proven experimentally with edges from a set of images captured for specifically designed target sheets and with edges from natural images. Estimation of the two blur parameters for each observed edge profile is performed with a brute-force method to find parameters that produce global minimum errors. Then, using the estimated blur parameters, actual blur parameters of edges with arbitrary brightness combinations are predicted using a surface interpolation method (i.e., kriging). The predicted surfaces show that the two blur parameters of the proposed edge model depend on both dark-side edge brightness and light-side edge brightness following a certain global trend. This is similar across varying CODs. The proposed edge model is compared with a one-blur parameter edge model using experiments of the root mean squared error for fitting the edge models to each observed edge profile. The comparison results suggest that the proposed edge model has superiority over the one-blur parameter edge model in most cases where edges have varying brightness combinations.

Reliability analysis of maintenance operations for railway tracks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rhayma, N.; Bressolette, Ph.; Breul, P.; Fogli, M.; Saussine, G.

2013-01-01

Railway engineering is confronted with problems due to degradation of the railway network that requires important and costly maintenance work. However, because of the lack of knowledge on the geometrical and mechanical parameters of the track, it is difficult to optimize the maintenance management. In this context, this paper presents a new methodology to analyze the behavior of railway tracks. It combines new diagnostic devices which permit to obtain an important amount of data and thus to make statistics on the geometric and mechanical parameters and a non-intrusive stochastic approach which can be coupled with any mechanical model. Numerical results show the possibilities of this methodology for reliability analysis of different maintenance operations. In the future this approach will give important informations to railway managers to optimize maintenance operations using a reliability analysis

Six-month outcome after transcatheter edge-to-edge repair of severe tricuspid regurgitation in patients with heart failure.

Science.gov (United States)

Orban, Mathias; Besler, Christian; Braun, Daniel; Nabauer, Michael; Zimmer, Marion; Orban, Martin; Noack, Thilo; Mehilli, Julinda; Hagl, Christian; Seeburger, Joerg; Borger, Michael; Linke, Axel; Thiele, Holger; Massberg, Steffen; Ender, Joerg; Lurz, Philipp; Hausleiter, Jörg

2018-06-01

Severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is common in patients with right-sided heart failure (HF) and causes substantial morbidity and mortality. Treatment options beyond medical therapy are limited for high-risk patients. Transcatheter edge-to-edge tricuspid valve (TV) repair showed procedural safety and short-term efficacy. Impact on mid-term outcome is unclear. This dual-centre observational study evaluates the mid-term safety, efficacy and clinical outcome after edge-to-edge TV repair for severe TR in patients with HF. Overall, 50 patients with right-sided HF and severe TR were treated with the transcatheter edge-to-edge repair technique; 14 patients were treated for isolated TR and 36 patients for combined mitral regurgitation (MR) and TR. At 6-month follow-up (available for 98% of patients), a persistent reduction of at least one echocardiographic TR grade was achieved in 90% of patients and New York Heart Association class improved in 79% of patients. The 6-minute walk distance increased by 44% (+84 m, P edge-to-edge TV repair for severe TR is safe and effective in reducing TR. It appears to be associated with improved clinical outcome in the majority of patients. © 2018 The Authors. European Journal of Heart Failure © 2018 European Society of Cardiology.

Reliability of soldered joints for automotive electronic devices; Denso buhin ni okeru handa setsugo no shinraisei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kita, T; Mukaibo, N; Ando, K; Moriyama, M [Honda R and D Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

1997-10-01

Concerning the tin and lead eutectic solder, we have evaluated the reliability of three factors of intermetallic compound layer, creep and vibration which cause solder degradation. First, the stress factor was extracted from investigating the mechanism of degradation, and the best acceleration test method was fixed. Next, the acceleration test was executed to find the stress dependency and the tendency of solder degradation was modeled numerically. While the environmental stress frequency was obtained and they were put together by using a minor method, which enabled us to predict the life span of solder on the market with precision. 5 refs., 13 figs.

Coupling model of aerobic waste degradation considering temperature, initial moisture content and air injection volume.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Jun; Liu, Lei; Ge, Sai; Xue, Qiang; Li, Jiangshan; Wan, Yong; Hui, Xinminnan

2018-03-01

A quantitative description of aerobic waste degradation is important in evaluating landfill waste stability and economic management. This research aimed to develop a coupling model to predict the degree of aerobic waste degradation. On the basis of the first-order kinetic equation and the law of conservation of mass, we first developed the coupling model of aerobic waste degradation that considered temperature, initial moisture content and air injection volume to simulate and predict the chemical oxygen demand in the leachate. Three different laboratory experiments on aerobic waste degradation were simulated to test the model applicability. Parameter sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate the reliability of parameters. The coupling model can simulate aerobic waste degradation, and the obtained simulation agreed with the corresponding results of the experiment. Comparison of the experiment and simulation demonstrated that the coupling model is a new approach to predict aerobic waste degradation and can be considered as the basis for selecting the economic air injection volume and appropriate management in the future.

In-operation inspection technology development 'development of degradation prediction technology for rotating machinery'

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Osaki, K.; Watanabe, Y.; Uhara, Y.; Hattori, H. [Toshiba Ceramics Co. Ltd., Ykohama (Japan); O' shima, E. [Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan); Matsumoto, K. [Japan Power Engineering and Inspection Corporation, Chiba (Japan)

2001-07-01

In order to rationalize facility maintenance management and improve reliabilities of rotating machines, it is desirable to develop the technology for estimating bearing wear and predicting bearing wear growth. Therefore, we developed a bearing wear analysis method for evaluating bearing wear growth in the mixed lubrication, and developed a degradation prediction system which estimates the bearing wear and predicts bearing wear growth from external parameters, such as shaft vibration. In bearing wear analysis, the influence of bearing surface roughness and elastic deformation are considered. This analysis model was validated by the bearing wear test. The developed system can predict degradation respecting bearing wear, casing deformation, shaft curvature and bearing sleeve corrosion, using some physical models of degradation that take into account various degradation phenomena. Furthermore, this system can estimate bearing life, taking into consideration the distribution of the vibration characteristic caused by the differences in assembling processes and the distribution of the degradation characteristic. This system was validated by the degradation simulation test. (authors)

In-operation inspection technology development-4 ''development of degradation prediction technology for motor-operated valves''

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kikuo, Takeshima; Yuichi, Higashikawa; Masahiro, Koike; Kenji, Matsumoto; Eiji, O'shima

2001-01-01

A method for degradation predicting technology has been proposed for motor operated valves in nuclear power plants which is based on the concept of condition monitoring for maintenance. This method (degradation prediction technology) eliminates the unnecessary overhaul of valves and realizes high reliability and economy. The degradation mechanism was clarified by long time heating experiments of gasket and gland packing and the wear test for them and stem nut to research valve parts degradation by stress (pressure, temperature, etc) during plant operation. Effective electric power measurements for motor operated valves were confirmed to be useful discovering valve part failures. The motor operated valve degradation prediction system was developed on the basis of the experiment results and mechanism. The system is able to predict the degradation of valve parts (gasket/gland packing, stem, stem nut, etc) utilizing plant data (pressure, temperature, etc) and effective power of the motor. The life of valve parts can be estimated from the experimental results. (authors)

Improvements in DC Current-Ioltage (I-V) Characteristics of n-GaN Schottky Diode using Metal Overlap Edge Termination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munir, T.; Aziz, A. A.; Abdullah, M. J.; Ain, M. F.

2010-01-01

Practical design of GaN Schottky diodes incorporating a field plate necessitates an understanding of how the addition of such plate affects the diode performance. In this paper, we investigated the effects on DC current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of n-GaN schottky diode by incorporating metal overlap edge termination. The thickness of the oxide film varies from 0.001 to 1 micron. Two-dimensional Atlas/Blaze simulations revealed that severe electric field crowding across the metal semiconductor contact will cause reliability concern and limit device breakdown voltage. DC current-voltage (I-V) measurements indicate that the forward currents are higher for thinner oxide film schottky diodes with metal overlap edge termination than those of unterminated schottky diodes. The forward current increased due to formation of an accumulation layer underneath the oxide layer. Extending the field plate to beyond periphery regions of schottky contact does not result in any significant increase in forward current. The new techniques of ramp oxide metal overlap edge termination have been implemented to increase the forward current of n-GaN schottky diode. In reverse bias, breakdown voltage increased with edge termination oxide up to a certain limit of oxide thickness.

All-graphene edge contacts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Kåre Wedel; Falkenberg, Jesper Toft; Papior, Nick Rübner

2016-01-01

Using ab-initio methods we investigate the possibility of three-terminalgraphene "T-junction" devices and show that these all-graphene edge contactsare energetically feasible when the 1D interface itself is free from foreignatoms. We examine the energetics of various junction structures as a func......Using ab-initio methods we investigate the possibility of three-terminalgraphene "T-junction" devices and show that these all-graphene edge contactsare energetically feasible when the 1D interface itself is free from foreignatoms. We examine the energetics of various junction structures...... to be in therange of 1-10 kΩμm which is comparable to the best contact resistance reportedfor edge-contacted graphene-metal contacts. We conclude that conductingall-carbon T-junctions should be feasible....

Edge of polar cap patches

Science.gov (United States)

Hosokawa, K.; Taguchi, S.; Ogawa, Y.

2016-04-01

On the night of 4 December 2013, a sequence of polar cap patches was captured by an all-sky airglow imager (ASI) in Longyearbyen, Norway (78.1°N, 15.5°E). The 630.0 nm airglow images from the ASI of 4 second exposure time, oversampled the emission of natural lifetime (with quenching) of at least ˜30 sec, introduce no observational blurring effects. By using such high-quality ASI images, we succeeded in visualizing an asymmetry in the gradients between the leading/trailing edges of the patches in a 2-D fashion. The gradient in the leading edge was found to be 2-3 times steeper than that in the trailing edge. We also identified fingerlike structures, appearing only along the trailing edge of the patches, whose horizontal scale size ranged from 55 to 210 km. These fingers are considered to be manifestations of plasma structuring through the gradient-drift instability (GDI), which is known to occur only along the trailing edge of patches. That is, the current 2-D observations visualized, for the first time, how GDI stirs the patch plasma and such a mixing process makes the trailing edge more gradual. This result strongly implies a close connection between the GDI-driven plasma stirring and the asymmetry in the large-scale shape of patches and then suggests that the fingerlike structures can be used as markers to estimate the fine-scale structure in the plasma flow within patches.

Coupling ant colony and the degraded ceiling algorithm for the redundancy allocation problem of series-parallel systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nahas, Nabil; Nourelfath, Mustapha; Ait-Kadi, Daoud

2007-01-01

The redundancy allocation problem (RAP) is a well known NP-hard problem which involves the selection of elements and redundancy levels to maximize system reliability given various system-level constraints. As telecommunications and internet protocol networks, manufacturing and power systems are becoming more and more complex, while requiring short developments schedules and very high reliability, it is becoming increasingly important to develop efficient solutions to the RAP. This paper presents an efficient algorithm to solve this reliability optimization problem. The idea of a heuristic approach design is inspired from the ant colony meta-heuristic optimization method and the degraded ceiling local search technique. Our hybridization of the ant colony meta-heuristic with the degraded ceiling performs well and is competitive with the best-known heuristics for redundancy allocation. Numerical results for the 33 test problems from previous research are reported and compared. The solutions found by our approach are all better than or are in par with the well-known best solutions

A study on the real-time reliability of on-board equipment of train control system

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yong; Li, Shiwei

2018-05-01

Real-time reliability evaluation is conducive to establishing a condition based maintenance system for the purpose of guaranteeing continuous train operation. According to the inherent characteristics of the on-board equipment, the connotation of reliability evaluation of on-board equipment is defined and the evaluation index of real-time reliability is provided in this paper. From the perspective of methodology and practical application, the real-time reliability of the on-board equipment is discussed in detail, and the method of evaluating the realtime reliability of on-board equipment at component level based on Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is proposed. In this method the performance degradation data is used directly to realize the accurate perception of the hidden state transition process of on-board equipment, which can achieve a better description of the real-time reliability of the equipment.

Chapter 3: Photovoltaic Module Stability and Reliability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jordan, Dirk; Kurtz, Sarah

2017-01-01

Profits realized from investment in photovoltaic will benefit from decades of reliable operation. Service life prediction through accelerated tests is only possible if indoor tests duplicate power loss and failure modes observed in fielded systems. Therefore, detailing and quantifying power loss and failure modes is imperative. In the first section, we examine recent trends in degradation rates, the gradual power loss observed for different technologies, climates and other significant factors. In the second section, we provide a summary of the most commonly observed failure modes in fielded systems.

Photovoltaic Reliability Performance Model v 2.0

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2016-12-16

PV-RPM is intended to address more “real world” situations by coupling a photovoltaic system performance model with a reliability model so that inverters, modules, combiner boxes, etc. can experience failures and be repaired (or left unrepaired). The model can also include other effects, such as module output degradation over time or disruptions such as electrical grid outages. In addition, PV-RPM is a dynamic probabilistic model that can be used to run many realizations (i.e., possible future outcomes) of a system’s performance using probability distributions to represent uncertain parameter inputs.

Magnetism of zigzag edge phosphorene nanoribbons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu, Zhili, E-mail: zlzhu@zzu.edu.cn, E-mail: jiayu@zzu.edu.cn; Li, Chong; Yu, Weiyang; Chang, Dahu; Sun, Qiang; Jia, Yu, E-mail: zlzhu@zzu.edu.cn, E-mail: jiayu@zzu.edu.cn [International Joint Research Laboratory for Quantum Functional Materials of Henan, and School of Physics and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001 (China)

2014-09-15

We have investigated, by means of ab initio calculations, the electronic and magnetic structures of zigzag edge phosphorene nanoribbons (ZPNRs) with various widths. The stable magnetic state was found in pristine ZPNRs by allowing the systems to be spin-polarized. The ground state of pristine ZPNRs prefers ferromagnetic order in the same edge but antiferromagnetic order between two opposite edges. The magnetism arises from the dangling bond states as well as edge localized π-orbital states. The presence of a dangling bond is crucial to the formation of the magnetism of ZPNRs. The hydrogenated ZPNRs get nonmagnetic semiconductors with a direct band gap. While, the O-saturated ZPNRs show magnetic ground states due to the weak P-O bond in the ribbon plane between the p{sub z}-orbitals of the edge O and P atoms.

Magnetotransport Properties of Graphene Nanoribbons with Zigzag Edges

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Shuang; Liu, Bing; Shen, Cheng; Li, Si; Huang, Xiaochun; Lu, Xiaobo; Chen, Peng; Wang, Guole; Wang, Duoming; Liao, Mengzhou; Zhang, Jing; Zhang, Tingting; Wang, Shuopei; Yang, Wei; Yang, Rong; Shi, Dongxia; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; Yao, Yugui; Wang, Weihua; Zhang, Guangyu

2018-05-01

The determination of the electronic structure by edge geometry is unique to graphene. In theory, an evanescent nonchiral edge state is predicted at the zigzag edges of graphene. Up to now, the approach used to study zigzag-edged graphene has mostly been limited to scanning tunneling microscopy. The transport properties have not been revealed. Recent advances in hydrogen plasma-assisted "top-down" fabrication of zigzag-edged graphene nanoribbons (Z-GNRs) have allowed us to investigate edge-related transport properties. In this Letter, we report the magnetotransport properties of Z-GNRs down to ˜70 nm wide on an h -BN substrate. In the quantum Hall effect regime, a prominent conductance peak is observed at Landau ν =0 , which is absent in GNRs with nonzigzag edges. The conductance peak persists under perpendicular magnetic fields and low temperatures. At a zero magnetic field, a nonlocal voltage signal, evidenced by edge conduction, is detected. These prominent transport features are closely related to the observable density of states at the hydrogen-etched zigzag edge of graphene probed by scanning tunneling spectroscopy, which qualitatively matches the theoretically predicted electronic structure for zigzag-edged graphene. Our study gives important insights for the design of new edge-related electronic devices.

Designs for degraded Trbovlje

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naja Marot

2005-01-01

Full Text Available As an introduction, two degraded urban areas are presented. The first, planning unit seven, is situated in the southeastern part of Trbovlje town. The other, called Speke, lies to the south of Liverpool. The basis for the concept and context of urban renewal model are given by comparison between the newest Slovene and British spatial planning legislation, analyses of the Design management plan Nasipi and Supplementary Planning Document Edge Lane West, and review of different approaches to local communities’ involvement. Based on all the thus far collected data, a questionnaire about quality of living, knowledge of planning system and area perception was produced. Initially, it was used in a pilot residential area Žabjek, and afterwards, a shortened version was carried out in units lying in other parts of the town. Other stakeholders also expressed their ideas about how to develop planning unit seven. Speke Garston as another example of successful urban renewal is given. In conclusion guidelines for method and context development of urban renewal are given for planning unit seven, with emphasis on the Žabjek estate.

Maximally reliable Markov chains under energy constraints.

Science.gov (United States)

Escola, Sean; Eisele, Michael; Miller, Kenneth; Paninski, Liam

2009-07-01

Signal-to-noise ratios in physical systems can be significantly degraded if the outputs of the systems are highly variable. Biological processes for which highly stereotyped signal generations are necessary features appear to have reduced their signal variabilities by employing multiple processing steps. To better understand why this multistep cascade structure might be desirable, we prove that the reliability of a signal generated by a multistate system with no memory (i.e., a Markov chain) is maximal if and only if the system topology is such that the process steps irreversibly through each state, with transition rates chosen such that an equal fraction of the total signal is generated in each state. Furthermore, our result indicates that by increasing the number of states, it is possible to arbitrarily increase the reliability of the system. In a physical system, however, an energy cost is associated with maintaining irreversible transitions, and this cost increases with the number of such transitions (i.e., the number of states). Thus, an infinite-length chain, which would be perfectly reliable, is infeasible. To model the effects of energy demands on the maximally reliable solution, we numerically optimize the topology under two distinct energy functions that penalize either irreversible transitions or incommunicability between states, respectively. In both cases, the solutions are essentially irreversible linear chains, but with upper bounds on the number of states set by the amount of available energy. We therefore conclude that a physical system for which signal reliability is important should employ a linear architecture, with the number of states (and thus the reliability) determined by the intrinsic energy constraints of the system.

The analysis of failure data in the presence of critical and degraded failures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haugen, Knut; Hokstad, Per; Sandtorv, Helge

1997-01-01

Reported failures are often classified into severityclasses, e.g., as critical or degraded. The critical failures correspond to loss of function(s) and are those of main concern. The rate of critical failures is usually estimated by the number of observed critical failures divided by the exposure time, thus ignoring the observed degraded failures. In the present paper failure data are analyzed, applying an alternative estimate for the critical failure rate, also taking the number of observed degraded failures into account. The model includes two alternative failure mechanisms, one being of the shock type, immediately leading to a critical failure, another resulting in a gradual deterioration, leading to a degraded failure before the critical failure occurs. Failure data on safety valves from the OREDA (Offshore REliability DAta) data base are analyzed using this model. The estimate for the critical failure rate is obtained and compared with the standard estimate

Further results for crack-edge mappings by ray methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norris, A.N.; Achenbach, J.D.; Ahlberg, L.; Tittman, B.R.

1984-01-01

This chapter discusses further extensions of the local edge mapping method to the pulse-echo case and to configurations of water-immersed specimens and transducers. Crack edges are mapped by the use of arrival times of edge-diffracted signals. Topics considered include local edge mapping in a homogeneous medium, local edge mapping algorithms, local edge mapping through an interface, and edge mapping through an interface using synthetic data. Local edge mapping is iterative, with two or three iterations required for convergence

Urbanization impacts on mammals across urban-forest edges and a predictive model of edge effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Villaseñor, Nélida R; Driscoll, Don A; Escobar, Martín A H; Gibbons, Philip; Lindenmayer, David B

2014-01-01

With accelerating rates of urbanization worldwide, a better understanding of ecological processes at the wildland-urban interface is critical to conserve biodiversity. We explored the effects of high and low-density housing developments on forest-dwelling mammals. Based on habitat characteristics, we expected a gradual decline in species abundance across forest-urban edges and an increased decline rate in higher contrast edges. We surveyed arboreal mammals in sites of high and low housing density along 600 m transects that spanned urban areas and areas turn on adjacent native forest. We also surveyed forest controls to test whether edge effects extended beyond our edge transects. We fitted models describing richness, total abundance and individual species abundance. Low-density housing developments provided suitable habitat for most arboreal mammals. In contrast, high-density housing developments had lower species richness, total abundance and individual species abundance, but supported the highest abundances of an urban adapter (Trichosurus vulpecula). We did not find the predicted gradual decline in species abundance. Of four species analysed, three exhibited no response to the proximity of urban boundaries, but spilled over into adjacent urban habitat to differing extents. One species (Petaurus australis) had an extended negative response to urban boundaries, suggesting that urban development has impacts beyond 300 m into adjacent forest. Our empirical work demonstrates that high-density housing developments have negative effects on both community and species level responses, except for one urban adapter. We developed a new predictive model of edge effects based on our results and the literature. To predict animal responses across edges, our framework integrates for first time: (1) habitat quality/preference, (2) species response with the proximity to the adjacent habitat, and (3) spillover extent/sensitivity to adjacent habitat boundaries. This framework will

Minimize corrosion degradation of steam generator tube materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Y.

2006-01-01

As part of a coordinated program, AECL is developing a set of tools to aid with the prediction and management of steam generator performance. Although stress corrosion cracking (of Alloy 800) has not been detected in any operating steam generator, for life management it is necessary to develop mechanistic models to predict the conditions under which stress corrosion cracking is plausible. Experimental data suggest that all steam generator tube materials are susceptible to corrosion degradation under some specific off-specification conditions. The tolerance to the chemistry upset for each steam generator tube alloy is different. Electrochemical corrosion behaviors of major steam generator tube alloys were studied under the plausible aggressive crevice chemistry conditions. The potential hazardous conditions leading to steam generator tube degradation and the conditions, which can minimize steam generator tube degradation have been determined. Recommended electrochemical corrosion potential/pH zones were defined for all major steam generator tube materials, including Alloys 600, 800, 690 and 400, under CANDU steam generator operating and startup conditions. Stress corrosion cracking tests and accelerated corrosion tests were carried out to verify and revise the recommended electrochemical corrosion potential/pH zones. Based on this information, utilities can prevent steam generator material degradation surprises by appropriate steam generator water chemistry management and increase the reliability of nuclear power generating stations. (author)

Edge-detect interpolation for direct digital periapical images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Nam Kyu; Koh, Kwang Joon

1998-01-01

The purpose of this study was to aid in the use of the digital images by edge-detect interpolation for direct digital periapical images using edge-deted interpolation. This study was performed by image processing of 20 digital periapical images; pixel replication, linear non-interpolation, linear interpolation, and edge-sensitive interpolation. The obtained results were as follows ; 1. Pixel replication showed blocking artifact and serious image distortion. 2. Linear interpolation showed smoothing effect on the edge. 3. Edge-sensitive interpolation overcame the smoothing effect on the edge and showed better image.

Degradation of polyimide under irradiation with swift heavy ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Severin, D.; Ensinger, W.; Neumann, R.; Trautmann, C.; Walter, G.; Alig, I.; Dudkin, S.

2005-01-01

Stacks of polyimide foils were irradiated with different swift heavy ions (Ti, Mo, Au) of 11.1 MeV/nucleon energy and fluences between 1 x 10 10 and 2 x 10 12 ions/cm 2 . Beam-induced degradation of the imide group was analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy studying the absorption band at 725 cm -1 as a function of dose. In the UV-Vis spectral range, the absorption edge is shifted to larger wavelengths indicating carbonization. Such modifications are linked to the deposition of a critical dose of 2.7 MGy (Ti) and 1 MGy (Mo, Au). In addition, irradiation-induced changes of the electrical conductivity were studied by means of dielectric spectroscopy

Economic-based design of engineering systems with degrading components using probabilistic loss of quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Son, Young Kap; Savage, Gordon J.; Chang, Seog Weon

2007-01-01

The allocation of means and tolerances to provide quality, functional reliability and performance reliability in engineering systems is a challenging problem. Traditional measures to help select the best means and tolerances include mean time to failure and its variance: however, they have some shortcomings. In this paper, a monetary measure based on present worth is invoked as a more inclusive metric. We consider the sum of the production cost and the expected loss of quality cost over a planned horizon at the customer's discount rates. Key to the approach is a probabilistic loss of quality cost that incorporates the cumulative distribution function that arises from time-variant distributions of system performance measures due to degrading components. The proposed design approach investigates both degradation and uncertainty in component. Moreover, it tries to obviate problems of current Taguchi's loss function-based design approaches. Case studies show the practicality and promise of the approach

Robust and fast license plate detection based on the fusion of color and edge feature

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, De; Shi, Zhonghan; Liu, Jin; Hu, Chuanping; Mei, Lin; Qi, Li

2014-11-01

Extracting a license plate is an important stage in automatic vehicle identification. The degradation of images and the computation intense make this task difficult. In this paper, a robust and fast license plate detection based on the fusion of color and edge feature is proposed. Based on the dichromatic reflection model, two new color ratios computed from the RGB color model are introduced and proved to be two color invariants. The global color feature extracted by the new color invariants improves the method's robustness. The local Sobel edge feature guarantees the method's accuracy. In the experiment, the detection performance is good. The detection results show that this paper's method is robust to the illumination, object geometry and the disturbance around the license plates. The method can also detect license plates when the color of the car body is the same as the color of the plates. The processing time for image size of 1000x1000 by pixels is nearly 0.2s. Based on the comparison, the performance of the new ratios is comparable to the common used HSI color model.

IMAGE ANALYSIS BASED ON EDGE DETECTION TECHNIQUES

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

纳瑟; 刘重庆

2002-01-01

A method that incorporates edge detection technique, Markov Random field (MRF), watershed segmentation and merging techniques was presented for performing image segmentation and edge detection tasks. It first applies edge detection technique to obtain a Difference In Strength (DIS) map. An initial segmented result is obtained based on K-means clustering technique and the minimum distance. Then the region process is modeled by MRF to obtain an image that contains different intensity regions. The gradient values are calculated and then the watershed technique is used. DIS calculation is used for each pixel to define all the edges (weak or strong) in the image. The DIS map is obtained. This help as priority knowledge to know the possibility of the region segmentation by the next step (MRF), which gives an image that has all the edges and regions information. In MRF model,gray level l, at pixel location i, in an image X, depends on the gray levels of neighboring pixels. The segmentation results are improved by using watershed algorithm. After all pixels of the segmented regions are processed, a map of primitive region with edges is generated. The edge map is obtained using a merge process based on averaged intensity mean values. A common edge detectors that work on (MRF) segmented image are used and the results are compared. The segmentation and edge detection result is one closed boundary per actual region in the image.

Increasing Security for Cloud Computing By Steganography in Image Edges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hassan Hadi Saleh

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The security of data storage in “cloud” is big challenge because the data keep within resources that may be accessed by particular machines. The managing of these data and services may not be high reliable. Therefore, the security of data is highly challenging. To increase the security of data in data center of cloud, we have introduced good method to ensure data security in “cloud computing” by methods of data hiding using color images which is called steganography. The fundamental objective of this paper is to prevent "Data Access” by unauthorized or opponent users. This scheme stores data at data centers within edges of color images and retrieves data from it when it is wanted.

Assessment of Equipment Capability to Perform Reliably under Severe Accident Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-07-01

The experience from the last 40 years has shown that severe accidents can subject electrical and instrumentation and control (I&C) equipment to environmental conditions exceeding the equipment’s original design basis assumptions. Severe accident conditions can then cause rapid degradation or damage to various degrees up to complete failure of such equipment. This publication provides the technical basis to consider when assessing the capability of electrical and I&C equipment to perform reliably during a severe accident. It provides examples of calculation tools to determine the environmental parameters as well as examples and methods that Member States can apply to assess equipment reliability.

Image Edge Tracking via Ant Colony Optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ruowei; Wu, Hongkun; Liu, Shilong; Rahman, M. A.; Liu, Sanchi; Kwok, Ngai Ming

2018-04-01

A good edge plot should use continuous thin lines to describe the complete contour of the captured object. However, the detection of weak edges is a challenging task because of the associated low pixel intensities. Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) has been employed by many researchers to address this problem. The algorithm is a meta-heuristic method developed by mimicking the natural behaviour of ants. It uses iterative searches to find the optimal solution that cannot be found via traditional optimization approaches. In this work, ACO is employed to track and repair broken edges obtained via conventional Sobel edge detector to produced a result with more connected edges.

Designing optimal degradation tests via multi-objective genetic algorithms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marseguerra, Marzio; Zio, Enrico; Cipollone, Maurizio

2003-01-01

The experimental determination of the failure time probability distribution of highly reliable components, such as those used in nuclear and aerospace applications, is intrinsically difficult due to the lack, or scarce significance, of failure data which can be collected during the relatively short test periods. A possibility to overcome this difficulty is to resort to the so-called degradation tests, in which measurements of components' degradation are used to infer the failure time distribution. To design such tests, parameters like the number of tests to be run, their frequency and duration, must be set so as to obtain an accurate estimate of the distribution statistics, under the existing limitations of budget. The optimisation problem which results is a non-linear one. In this work, we propose a method, based on multi-objective genetic algorithms for determining the values of the test parameters which optimise both the accuracy in the estimate of the failure time distribution percentiles and the testing costs. The method has been validated on a degradation model of literature

Validation of the kinetic-turbulent-neoclassical theory for edge intrinsic rotation in DIII-D

Science.gov (United States)

Ashourvan, Arash; Grierson, B. A.; Battaglia, D. J.; Haskey, S. R.; Stoltzfus-Dueck, T.

2018-05-01

In a recent kinetic model of edge main-ion (deuterium) toroidal velocity, intrinsic rotation results from neoclassical orbits in an inhomogeneous turbulent field [T. Stoltzfus-Dueck, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 065002 (2012)]. This model predicts a value for the toroidal velocity that is co-current for a typical inboard X-point plasma at the core-edge boundary (ρ ˜ 0.9). Using this model, the velocity prediction is tested on the DIII-D tokamak for a database of L-mode and H-mode plasmas with nominally low neutral beam torque, including both signs of plasma current. Values for the flux-surface-averaged main-ion rotation velocity in the database are obtained from the impurity carbon rotation by analytically calculating the main-ion—impurity neoclassical offset. The deuterium rotation obtained in this manner has been validated by direct main-ion measurements for a limited number of cases. Key theoretical parameters of ion temperature and turbulent scale length are varied across a wide range in an experimental database of discharges. Using a characteristic electron temperature scale length as a proxy for a turbulent scale length, the predicted main-ion rotation velocity has a general agreement with the experimental measurements for neutral beam injection (NBI) powers in the range PNBI balanced—but high powered—NBI, the net injected torque through the edge can exceed 1 Nm in the counter-current direction. The theory model has been extended to compute the rotation degradation from this counter-current NBI torque by solving a reduced momentum evolution equation for the edge and found the revised velocity prediction to be in agreement with experiment. Using the theory modeled—and now tested—velocity to predict the bulk plasma rotation opens up a path to more confidently projecting the confinement and stability in ITER.

Challenges in Modeling the Degradation of Ceramic Waste Forms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Devanathan, Ramaswami; Gao, Fei; Sun, Xin

2011-09-01

We identify the state of the art, gaps in current understanding, and key research needs in the area of modeling the long-term degradation of ceramic waste forms for nuclear waste disposition. The directed purpose of this report is to define a roadmap for Waste IPSC needs to extend capabilities of waste degradation to ceramic waste forms, which overlaps with the needs of the subconsinuum scale of FMM interests. The key knowledge gaps are in the areas of (i) methodology for developing reliable interatomic potentials to model the complex atomic-level interactions in waste forms; (ii) characterization of water interactions at ceramic surfaces and interfaces; and (iii) extension of atomic-level insights to the long time and distance scales relevant to the problem of actinide and fission product immobilization.

Challenges in Modeling the Degradation of Ceramic Waste Forms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Devanathan, Ramaswami; Gao, Fei; Sun, Xin

2011-01-01

We identify the state of the art, gaps in current understanding, and key research needs in the area of modeling the long-term degradation of ceramic waste forms for nuclear waste disposition. The directed purpose of this report is to define a roadmap for Waste IPSC needs to extend capabilities of waste degradation to ceramic waste forms, which overlaps with the needs of the subconsinuum scale of FMM interests. The key knowledge gaps are in the areas of (i) methodology for developing reliable interatomic potentials to model the complex atomic-level interactions in waste forms; (ii) characterization of water interactions at ceramic surfaces and interfaces; and (iii) extension of atomic-level insights to the long time and distance scales relevant to the problem of actinide and fission product immobilization.

X-ray absorption spectroscopy and high-energy XRD study of the local environment of copper in antibacterial copper-releasing degradable phosphate glasses

OpenAIRE

Pickup, David M.; Ahmed, Ifty; Fitzgerald, Victoria; Moss, Rob M.; Wetherall, Karen; Knowles, Jonathan C.; Smith, Mark E.; Newport, Robert J.

2006-01-01

Phosphate-based glasses of the general formula Na2O-CaO-P2O5 are degradable in an aqueous environment, and therefore can act as antibacterial materials through the inclusion of ions such as copper. In this study, CuO and Cu2O were added to Na2O-CaO-P2O5 glasses (1-20 mol% Cu) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and high-energy X-ray diffraction (HEXRD) used to probe the local environment of the copper ions. Copper K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra confirm the oxi...

Edge and line detection of complicated and blurred objects

OpenAIRE

Haugsdal, Kari

2010-01-01

This report deals with edge and line detection in pictures with complicated and/or blurred objects. It explores the alternatives available, in edge detection, edge linking and object recognition. Choice of methods are the Canny edge detection and Local edge search processing combined with regional edge search processing in the form of polygon approximation.

The edge of space time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawking, S.

1993-01-01

What happened at the beginning of the expansion of the universe. Did space time have an edge at the Big Bang. The answer is that, if the boundary conditions of the universe are that it has no boundary, time ceases to be well-defined in the very early universe as the direction ''north'' ceases to be well defined at the North Pole of the Earth. The quantity that we measure as time has a beginning but that does not mean spacetime has an edge, just as the surface of the Earth does not have an edge at the North Pole. 8 figs

Edge-Matching Problems with Rotations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ebbesen, Martin; Fischer, Paul; Witt, Carsten

2011-01-01

Edge-matching problems, also called puzzles, are abstractions of placement problems with neighborhood conditions. Pieces with colored edges have to be placed on a board such that adjacent edges have the same color. The problem has gained interest recently with the (now terminated) Eternity II...... puzzle, and new complexity results. In this paper we consider a number of settings which differ in size of the puzzles and the manipulations allowed on the pieces. We investigate the effect of allowing rotations of the pieces on the complexity of the problem, an aspect that is only marginally treated so...

Unit-based functional IDDT testing for aging degradation monitoring in a VLIW processor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhao, Yong; Kerkhoff, Hans G.

2015-01-01

In this paper, functional unit-based IDDT testing has been applied for a 90nm VLIW processor to monitor its aging degradation. This technique can provide health data for reliability evaluation as used in e.g. prognostic software for lifetime prediction. The test-program development based on the

Protected Edge Modes without Symmetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Levin

2013-05-01

Full Text Available We discuss the question of when a gapped two-dimensional electron system without any symmetry has a protected gapless edge mode. While it is well known that systems with a nonzero thermal Hall conductance, K_{H}≠0, support such modes, here we show that robust modes can also occur when K_{H}=0—if the system has quasiparticles with fractional statistics. We show that some types of fractional statistics are compatible with a gapped edge, while others are fundamentally incompatible. More generally, we give a criterion for when an electron system with Abelian statistics and K_{H}=0 can support a gapped edge: We show that a gapped edge is possible if and only if there exists a subset of quasiparticle types M such that (1 all the quasiparticles in M have trivial mutual statistics, and (2 every quasiparticle that is not in M has nontrivial mutual statistics with at least one quasiparticle in M. We derive this criterion using three different approaches: a microscopic analysis of the edge, a general argument based on braiding statistics, and finally a conformal field theory approach that uses constraints from modular invariance. We also discuss the analogous result for two-dimensional boson systems.

Edge states in quantum Hall effect in graphene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gusynin, V.P.; Miransky, V.A.; Sharapov, S.G.; Shovkovy, I.A.

2008-01-01

We review recent results concerning the spectrum of edge states in the quantum Hall effect in graphene. In particular, special attention is paid to the derivation of the conditions under which gapless edge states exist in the spectrum of graphene with 'zigzag' and 'armchair' edges. It is found that in the case of a half-plane or a ribbon with zigzag edges, there are gapless edge states only when a spin gap dominates over a Dirac mass gap. In the case of a half-plane with an armchair edge, the existence of the gapless edge states depends on the specific type of Dirac mass gaps. The implications of these results for the dynamics in the quantum Hall effect in graphene are discussed

Reliability of vibration energy harvesters of metal-based PZT thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Tsujiura, Y.; Suwa, E.; Kurokawa, F.; Hida, H.; Kanno, I.

2014-11-01

This paper describes the reliability of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters (PVEHs) of Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) thin films on metal foil cantilevers. The PZT thin films were directly deposited onto the Pt-coated stainless-steel (SS430) cantilevers by rf-magnetron sputtering, and we observed their aging behavior of power generation characteristics under the resonance vibration condition for three days. During the aging measurement, there was neither fatigue failure nor degradation of dielectric properties in our PVEHs (length: 13 mm, width: 5.0 mm, thickness: 104 μm) even under a large excitation acceleration of 25 m/s2. However, we observed clear degradation of the generated electric voltage depending on excitation acceleration. The decay rate of the output voltage was 5% from the start of the measurement at 25 m/s2. The transverse piezoelectric coefficient (e31,f) also degraded with almost the same decay rate as that of the output voltage; this indicates that the degradation of output voltage was mainly caused by that of piezoelectric properties. From the decay curves, the output powers are estimated to degrade 7% at 15 m/s2 and 36% at 25 m/s2 if we continue to excite the PVEHs for 30 years.

Reliability of vibration energy harvesters of metal-based PZT thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsujiura, Y; Suwa, E; Kurokawa, F; Hida, H; Kanno, I

2014-01-01

This paper describes the reliability of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters (PVEHs) of Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 (PZT) thin films on metal foil cantilevers. The PZT thin films were directly deposited onto the Pt-coated stainless-steel (SS430) cantilevers by rf-magnetron sputtering, and we observed their aging behavior of power generation characteristics under the resonance vibration condition for three days. During the aging measurement, there was neither fatigue failure nor degradation of dielectric properties in our PVEHs (length: 13 mm, width: 5.0 mm, thickness: 104 μm) even under a large excitation acceleration of 25 m/s 2 . However, we observed clear degradation of the generated electric voltage depending on excitation acceleration. The decay rate of the output voltage was 5% from the start of the measurement at 25 m/s 2 . The transverse piezoelectric coefficient (e 31,f ) also degraded with almost the same decay rate as that of the output voltage; this indicates that the degradation of output voltage was mainly caused by that of piezoelectric properties. From the decay curves, the output powers are estimated to degrade 7% at 15 m/s 2 and 36% at 25 m/s 2 if we continue to excite the PVEHs for 30 years

Physics-based edge evaluation for improved color constancy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gijsenij, A.; Gevers, T.; van de Weijer, J.

2009-01-01

Edge-based color constancy makes use of image derivatives to estimate the illuminant. However, different edge types exist in real-world images such as shadow, geometry, material and highlight edges. These different edge types may have a distinctive influence on the performance of the illuminant

Evaluation of a new methodology to simulate damage and wear of polyethylene hip replacements subjected to edge loading in hip simulator testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Partridge, Susan; Tipper, Joanne L; Al-Hajjar, Mazen; Isaac, Graham H; Fisher, John; Williams, Sophie

2018-05-01

Wear and fatigue of polyethylene acetabular cups have been reported to play a role in the failure of total hip replacements. Hip simulator testing under a wide range of clinically relevant loading conditions is important. Edge loading of hip replacements can occur following impingement under extreme activities and can also occur during normal gait, where there is an offset deficiency and/or joint laxity. This study evaluated a hip simulator method that assessed wear and damage in polyethylene acetabular liners that were subjected to edge loading. The liners tested to evaluate the method were a currently manufactured crosslinked polyethylene acetabular liner and an aged conventional polyethylene acetabular liner. The acetabular liners were tested for 5 million standard walking cycles and following this 5 million walking cycles with edge loading. Edge loading conditions represented a separation of the centers of rotation of the femoral head and the acetabular liner during the swing phase, leading to loading of the liner rim on heel strike. Rim damage and cracking was observed in the aged conventional polyethylene liner. Steady-state wear rates assessed gravimetrically were lower under edge loading compared to standard loading. This study supports previous clinical findings that edge loading may cause rim cracking in liners, where component positioning is suboptimal or where material degradation is present. The simulation method developed has the potential to be used in the future to test the effect of aging and different levels of severity of edge loading on a range of cross-linked polyethylene materials. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 1456-1462, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Edge and core dynamics in harness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ball, R.

2007-01-01

Resistive kink oscillations in tokamak plasmas are usually treated as core localized events, yet there there are several mechanisms by which they may interact with the edge dynamics. This suggests that we may regulate edge oscillatory behaviour, or ELMs, by harnessing the natural or contrived sawtooth period and amplitude. In this work I investigate core-edge oscillatory entrainment through direct propagation of heat pulses, inductive coupling, and global higher order resonance effects. In the core of auxiliary heated tokamak plasmas the ineluctable rhythm of slow buildup and rapid conversion of potential energy governs electron and heat radial transport. The growth phase of the sawtooth is accompanied by significant reconnection, then during the collapse the temperature and density in the core fall dramatically. There is evidence from experiments in reversed field pinch devices that ensuing energy fluxes can affect flow shear and confinement at the edge. The basis for this study is the dynamical (BDS) model for edge plasma behavior that was derived from electrostatic resistive MHD equations. The BDS model reflects the major qualitative features of edge dynamics that have been observed, such as L-H transitions and associated ELMs, hysteresis, and spontaneous reversal of poloidal shear flow. Under poorly dissipative conditions the transient behavior of the model can exhibit period-doubling, blue-sky, homoclinic, and other exotic bifurcations. Thus we might ask questions such as: Is it possible to mode-lock the edge dynamics to the core sawteeth? Can we induce, or prevent, a change in direction of shear flow? What about MHD effects? Is core-edge communication one way or is there some feedback? In the simplest prototype for coupled core-edge dynamics I model the sawtooth crash as a periodic power input to the edge potential energy reservoir. This is effected by coupling the BDS model to the dynamical system u = u(1 - u 2 - x 2 ) - ω s x, x = x(1-u 2 -x 2 ) + ω s u

Application of functional IDDQ testing in a VLIW processor towards detection of aging degradation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kerkhoff, Hans G.; Zhao, Yong

2015-01-01

In this paper, functional IDDQ testing has been applied for a 90nm VLIW processor to effectively detect aging degradation. This technique can provide health data for reliability evaluation as used in e.g. prognostic software for lifetime prediction. The test environment for validation, implementing

Edge states of a three-dimensional topological insulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deb, Oindrila; Sen, Diptiman; Soori, Abhiram

2014-01-01

We use the bulk Hamiltonian for a three-dimensional topological insulator such as Bi 2 Se 3 to study the states which appear on its various surfaces and along the edge between two surfaces. We use both analytical methods based on the surface Hamiltonians (which are derived from the bulk Hamiltonian) and numerical methods based on a lattice discretization of the bulk Hamiltonian. We find that the application of a potential barrier along an edge can give rise to states localized at that edge. These states have an unusual energy-momentum dispersion which can be controlled by applying a potential along the edge; in particular, the velocity of these states can be tuned to zero. The scattering and conductance across the edge is studied as a function of the edge potential. We show that a magnetic field in a particular direction can also give rise to zero energy states on certain edges. We point out possible experimental ways of looking for the various edge states. (paper)

Parameters Influencing Sulfur Speciation in Environmental Samples Using Sulfur K-Edge X-Ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siwatt Pongpiachan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to enhance the credibility of applying the sulfur K-edge XANES spectroscopy as an innovative “fingerprint” for characterizing environmental samples. The sensitivities of sulfur K-edge XANES spectra of ten sulfur compound standards detected by two different detectors, namely, Lytle detector (LyD and Germanium detector (GeD, were studied and compared. Further investigation on “self-absorption” effect revealed that the maximum sensitivities of sulfur K-edge XANES spectra were achieved when diluting sulfur compound standards with boron nitride (BN at the mixing ratio of 0.1%. The “particle-size” effect on sulfur K-edge XANES spectrum sensitivities was examined by comparing signal-to-noise ratios of total suspended particles (TSP and particulate matter of less than 10 millionths of a meter (PM10 collected at three major cities of Thailand. The analytical results have demonstrated that the signal-to-noise ratios of sulfur K-edge XANES spectra were positively correlated with sulfate content in aerosols and negatively connected with particle sizes. The combination of hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA and principal component analysis (PCA has proved that sulfur K-edge XANES spectrum can be used to characterize German terrestrial soils and Andaman coastal sediments. In addition, this study highlighted the capability of sulfur K-edge XANES spectra as an innovative “fingerprint” to distinguish tsunami backwash deposits (TBD from typical marine sediments (TMS.

Ti/TaN Bilayer for Efficient Injection and Reliable AlGaN Nanowires LEDs

KAUST Repository

Priante, Davide

2018-05-07

Reliable operation of UV AlGaN-based nanowires-LED at high injection current was realized by incorporating a Ti-pre-orienting/TaN-diffusion-barrier bilayer, thus enhancing external quantum efficiency, and resolving the existing device degradation issue in group-III-nanowires-on-silicon devices.

Soft-type trap-induced degradation of MoS2 field effect transistors

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Young-Hoon; Ryu, Min-Yeul; Lee, Kook Jin; Park, So Jeong; Choi, Jun Hee; Lee, Byung-Chul; Kim, Wungyeon; Kim, Gyu-Tae

2018-06-01

The practical applicability of electronic devices is largely determined by the reliability of field effect transistors (FETs), necessitating constant searches for new and better-performing semiconductors. We investigated the stress-induced degradation of MoS2 multilayer FETs, revealing a steady decrease of drain current by 56% from the initial value after 30 min. The drain current recovers to the initial state when the transistor is completely turned off, indicating the roles of soft-traps in the apparent degradation. The noise current power spectrum follows the model of carrier number fluctuation–correlated mobility fluctuation (CNF–CMF) regardless of stress time. However, the reduction of the drain current was well fitted to the increase of the trap density based on the CNF–CMF model, attributing the presence of the soft-type traps of dielectric oxides to the degradation of the MoS2 FETs.

How edge-reinforced random walk arises naturally

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rolles, S.W.W.

2003-01-01

We give a characterization of a modified edge-reinforced random walk in terms of certain partially exchangeable sequences. In particular, we obtain a characterization of an edge-reinforced random walk (introduced by Coppersmith and Diaconis) on a 2-edge-connected graph. Modifying the notion of

Degradation mechanisms of the blue-emitting phosphor BaMgAl{sub 10}O{sub 17}:Eu{sup 2+} under baking and VUV-irradiating treatments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang Shuxiu E-mail: shuxiu_zhang@dyden.co.jp; Kono, Toshihiko; Ito, Akira; Yasaka, Taketo; Uchiike, Heiju

2004-01-01

The luminescent properties of an Eu{sup 2+}-activated hexagonal aluminate, BaMgAl{sub 10}O{sub 17} (BAM), were studied under 147- and 254-nm excitations. The BAM samples were thermally treated by baking and then irradiated in vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) rays. The results show that the emission efficiency of Eu{sup 2+} in BAM under 147-nm excitation degraded seriously after baking or VUV-irradiating treatments, while no significant degradation was observed under 254-nm excitation. The degree of degradation depended on the excitation wavelength, and the absorption edge of the BAM host was suggested to be close to 175 nm (7.2 eV). The differences between the thermal-induced and the VUV-irradiation-induced degradations, and their mechanisms are discussed for the color plasma display applications.

Impact of process variations and long term degradation on 6T-SRAM cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Th. Fischer

2007-06-01

Full Text Available In modern deep-submicron CMOS technologies voltage scaling can not keep up with the scaling of the dimensions of transistors. Therefore the electrical fields inside the transistors are not constant anymore, while scaling down the device area. The rising electrical fields bring up reliability problems, such as hot carrier injection. Also other long term degradation mechanisms like Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI come into the focus of circuit design.

Along with process device parameter variations (threshold voltage, mobility, variations due to the degradation of devices form a big challenge for designers to build circuits that both yield high under the influence of process variations and remain functional with respect to long term device drift.

In this work we present the influence of long term degradation and process variations on the performance of SRAM core-cells and parametric yield of SRAM arrays. For different use cases we show the performance degradation depending on temperature and supply voltage.

Visible imaging of edge turbulence in NSTX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zweben, S.; Maqueda, R.; Hill, K.; Johnson, D.

2000-01-01

Edge plasma turbulence in tokamaks and stellarators is believed to cause the radical heat and particle flux across the separatrix and into the scrape-off-layers of these devices. This paper describes initial measurements of 2-D space-time structure of the edge density turbulence made using a visible imaging diagnostic in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). The structure of the edge turbulence is most clearly visible using a method of gas puff imaging to locally illuminate the edge density turbulence

Visible imaging of edge turbulence in NSTX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

S. Zweben; R. Maqueda; K. Hill; D. Johnson; S. Kaye; H. Kugel; F. Levinton; R. Maingi; L. Roquemore; S. Sabbagh; G. Wurden

2000-01-01

Edge plasma turbulence in tokamaks and stellarators is believed to cause the radial heat and particle flux across the separatrix and into the scrape-off-layers of these devices. This paper describes initial measurements of 2-D space-time structure of the edge density turbulence made using a visible imaging diagnostic in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). The structure of the edge turbulence is most clearly visible using a method of ''gas puff imaging'' to locally illuminate the edge density turbulence

Swarm of bees and particles algorithms in the problem of gradual failure reliability assurance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. F. Anop

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Probability-statistical framework of reliability theory uses models based on the chance failures analysis. These models are not functional and do not reflect relation of reliability characteristics to the object performance. At the same time, a significant part of the technical systems failures are gradual failures caused by degradation of the internal parameters of the system under the influence of various external factors.The paper shows how to provide the required level of reliability at the design stage using a functional model of a technical object. Paper describes the method for solving this problem under incomplete initial information, when there is no information about the patterns of technological deviations and degradation parameters, and the considered system model is a \\black box" one.To this end, we formulate the problem of optimal parametric synthesis. It lies in the choice of the nominal values of the system parameters to satisfy the requirements for its operation and take into account the unavoidable deviations of the parameters from their design values during operation. As an optimization criterion in this case we propose to use a deterministic geometric criterion \\reliability reserve", which is the minimum distance measured along the coordinate directions from the nominal parameter value to the acceptability region boundary rather than statistical values.The paper presents the results of the application of heuristic swarm intelligence methods to solve the formulated optimization problem. Efficiency of particle swarm algorithms and swarm of bees one compared with undirected random search algorithm in solving a number of test optimal parametric synthesis problems in three areas: reliability, convergence rate and operating time. The study suggests that the use of a swarm of bees method for solving the problem of the technical systems gradual failure reliability ensuring is preferred because of the greater flexibility of the

CFAR Edge Detector for Polarimetric SAR Images

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schou, Jesper; Skriver, Henning; Nielsen, Allan Aasbjerg

2003-01-01

Finding the edges between different regions in an image is one of the fundamental steps of image analysis, and several edge detectors suitable for the special statistics of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) intensity images have previously been developed. In this paper, a new edge detector for polar...

The effect of edge and impurities sites properties on their localized states in semi-infinite zigzag edged 2D honeycomb graphene sheet

OpenAIRE

Ahmed, Maher

2011-01-01

In this work, the tridiagonal method is used to distinguish between edges modes and area modes to study the edge sites properties effect on edge localized states of semi-infinite zigzag 2D honeycomb graphene sheet. The results show a realistic behavior for the dependance of edge localized states of zigzag graphene on the edge sites properties which explaining the experimental results of measured local density of states at the edge of graphene, while at the same time removing the inconsistence...

Effect of ion temperature gradient driven turbulence on the edge-core connection for transient edge temperature sink

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyato, Naoaki

2014-01-01

Ion temperature gradient (ITG) driven turbulence simulation for a transient edge temperature sink localized in the poloidal plane is performed using a global Landau-fluid code in the electrostatic limit. Pressure perturbations with (m, n) = (±1, 0) are induced by the edge sink, where m and n are poloidal and toroidal mode numbers, respectively. It was found in the previous simulation that the nonlinear dynamics of these perturbations are responsible for the nonlocal plasma response/transport connecting edge and core in a toroidal plasma. Present simulation shows, however, that the ITG turbulence in the core region dissipates the large-scale (m, n) = (±1, 0) perturbations and weakens the edge-core connection observed in the previous simulation. (author)

What's happening at the edge of tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crandall, D.H.

1987-01-01

Handling the power deposition at the walls of a plasma fusion device and controlling the particle fueling of the plasma originated the interest in the edge of the plasma by magnetic fusion scientists. Recently this interest has intensified because of clear evidence that the quality of the central plasma confinement depends in unexpected ways on details of how the edge plasma is managed. Significant efforts are being pursued to understand and exploit the improved plasma confinement observed in the 'H-mode' obtained with divertors and in the 'super-shots' obtained with low neutral particle flux from the edge of TFTR limiter plasmas. The controls, that determine whether or not these well-confined plasmas are obtained, are applied in the edge plasma where a wealth of atomic and molecular processes occur. A qualitative overview of current research related to plasma edge and desirable features is presented to guide thoughts about atomic processes to be included in modeling and interpreting the plasma edge of tokamaks. (orig.)

Degradable polyphosphazene/poly(alpha-hydroxyester) blends: degradation studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ambrosio, Archel M A; Allcock, Harry R; Katti, Dhirendra S; Laurencin, Cato T

2002-04-01

Biomaterials based on the polymers of lactic acid and glycolic acid and their copolymers are used or studied extensively as implantable devices for drug delivery, tissue engineering and other biomedical applications. Although these polymers have shown good biocompatibility, concerns have been raised regarding their acidic degradation products, which have important implications for long-term implantable systems. Therefore, we have designed a novel biodegradable polyphosphazene/poly(alpha-hydroxyester) blend whose degradation products are less acidic than those of the poly(alpha-hydroxyester) alone. In this study, the degradation characteristics of a blend of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (50:50 PLAGA) and poly[(50% ethyl glycinato)(50% p-methylphenoxy) phosphazene] (PPHOS-EG50) were qualitatively and quantitatively determined with comparisons made to the parent polymers. Circular matrices (14mm diameter) of the PLAGA, PPHOS-EG50 and PLAGA-PPHOS-EG50 blend were degraded in non-buffered solutions (pH 7.4). The degraded polymers were characterized for percentage mass loss and molecular weight and the degradation medium was characterized for acid released in non-buffered solutions. The amounts of neutralizing base necessary to bring about neutral pH were measured for each polymer or polymer blend during degradation. The poly(phosphazene)/poly(lactide-co-glycolide) blend required significantly less neutralizing base in order to bring about neutral solution pH during the degradation period studied. The results indicated that the blend degraded at a rate intermediate to that of the parent polymers and that the degradation products of the polyphosphazene neutralized the acidic degradation products of PLAGA. Thus, results from these in vitro degradation studies suggest that the PLAGA-PPHOS-EG50 blend may provide a viable improvement to biomaterials based on acid-releasing organic polymers.

First-principles study of graphene edge properties and flake shapes

OpenAIRE

Gan, Chee Kwan; Srolovitz, David J.

2009-01-01

We use density functional theory to determine the equilibrium shape of graphene flakes, through the calculation of the edge orientation dependence of the edge energy and edge stress of graphene nanoribbons. The edge energy is a nearly linear function of edge orientation angle; increasing from the armchair orientation to the zigzag orientation. Reconstruction of the zigzag edge lowers its energy to less than that of the armchair edge. The edge stress for all edge orientations is compressive, h...

Influence of Wafer Edge Geometry on Removal Rate Profile in Chemical Mechanical Polishing: Wafer Edge Roll-Off and Notch

Science.gov (United States)

Fukuda, Akira; Fukuda, Tetsuo; Fukunaga, Akira; Tsujimura, Manabu

2012-05-01

In the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, uniform polishing up to near the wafer edge is essential to reduce edge exclusion and improve yield. In this study, we examine the influences of inherent wafer edge geometries, i.e., wafer edge roll-off and notch, on the CMP removal rate profile. We clarify the areas in which the removal rate profile is affected by the wafer edge roll-off and the notch, as well as the intensity of their effects on the removal rate profile. In addition, we propose the use of a small notch to reduce the influence of the wafer notch and present the results of an examination by finite element method (FEM) analysis.

Urbanization impacts on mammals across urban-forest edges and a predictive model of edge effects.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nélida R Villaseñor

Full Text Available With accelerating rates of urbanization worldwide, a better understanding of ecological processes at the wildland-urban interface is critical to conserve biodiversity. We explored the effects of high and low-density housing developments on forest-dwelling mammals. Based on habitat characteristics, we expected a gradual decline in species abundance across forest-urban edges and an increased decline rate in higher contrast edges. We surveyed arboreal mammals in sites of high and low housing density along 600 m transects that spanned urban areas and areas turn on adjacent native forest. We also surveyed forest controls to test whether edge effects extended beyond our edge transects. We fitted models describing richness, total abundance and individual species abundance. Low-density housing developments provided suitable habitat for most arboreal mammals. In contrast, high-density housing developments had lower species richness, total abundance and individual species abundance, but supported the highest abundances of an urban adapter (Trichosurus vulpecula. We did not find the predicted gradual decline in species abundance. Of four species analysed, three exhibited no response to the proximity of urban boundaries, but spilled over into adjacent urban habitat to differing extents. One species (Petaurus australis had an extended negative response to urban boundaries, suggesting that urban development has impacts beyond 300 m into adjacent forest. Our empirical work demonstrates that high-density housing developments have negative effects on both community and species level responses, except for one urban adapter. We developed a new predictive model of edge effects based on our results and the literature. To predict animal responses across edges, our framework integrates for first time: (1 habitat quality/preference, (2 species response with the proximity to the adjacent habitat, and (3 spillover extent/sensitivity to adjacent habitat boundaries. This

Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG) REST Interface

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Use the Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG) to find and access EPA's environmental resources. Many options are available for easily reusing EDG content in other...

Edge-injective and edge-surjective vertex labellings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Stephan; Rautenbach, D.; Regen, F.

2010-01-01

For a graph G = (V, E) we consider vertex-k-labellings f : V → {1,2, ,k} for which the induced edge weighting w : E → {2, 3,., 2k} with w(uv) = f(u) + f(v) is injective or surjective or both. We study the relation between these labellings and the number theoretic notions of an additive basis and ...

X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy at the Mn K-edge in highly homogeneous GaMnN diluted magnetic semiconductors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sancho-Juan, O.; Cantarero, A.; Garro, N.; Cros, A. [Materials Science Institute, University of Valencia, PO Box 22085, 46071 Valencia (Spain); Martinez-Criado, G.; Salome, M.; Susini, J. [ESRF, Polygone Scientifique Louis Neel, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, 38000 Grenoble (France); Olguin, D. [Dept. de Fisica, CINVESTAV-IPN, 07300 Mexico D.F. (Mexico); Dhar, S.; Ploog, K. [Paul Drude Institute, Hausvogteiplatz 5-7, 10117 Berlin (Germany)

2006-06-15

We have studied by X-ray absorption spectroscopy the local environment of Mn in highly homogeneous Ga{sub 1-x}Mn{sub x}N (0.06edges. In this report, we focus our attention to the X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) results. The comparison of the XANES spectra corresponding to the Ga and Mn edges indicates that Mn is substitutional to Ga in all samples studied. The XANES spectra measured at the Mn absorption edge shows in the near-edge region a double peak and a shoulder below the absorption edge and the main absorption peak after the edge, separated around 15 eV above the pre-edge structure. We have compared the position of the edge with that of MnO (Mn{sup 2+}) and Mn{sub 2}O{sub 3} (Mn{sup 3+}). All samples studied present the same Mn oxidation state, 2{sup +}. In order to interprete the near-edge structure, we have performed ab initio calculations with a 2 x 2 x 1supercell ({proportional_to}6% Mn) using the full potential linear augmented plane wave method as implemented in the Wien2k code. The calculations show the appearance of Mn anti-bonding t{sub 2g} bands, which are responsible for the pre-edge absorption. The shoulder and main absorption peaks are due to transitions from the valence band 1s-states of Mn to the p-contributions of the conduction bands. (copyright 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Edge separation using diffraction anomalous fine structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ravel, B.; Bouldin, C.E.; Renevier, H.; Hodeau, J.L.; Berar, J.F.

1999-01-01

We exploit the crystallographic sensitivity of the Diffraction Anomalous Fine-Structure (DAFS) measurement to separate the fine structure contributions of different atomic species with closely spaced resonant energies. In BaTiO 3 the Ti K edge and Ba Lm edges are separated by 281 eV, or about 8.2 Angstrom -1 ), thus severely limiting the information content of the Ti K edge signal. Using the site selectivity of DAFS we can separate the two fine structure spectra using an iterative Kramers-Kronig method, thus extending the range of the Ti K edge spectrum. This technique has application to many rare earth/transition metal compounds, including many magnetic materials of technological significance for which K and L edges overlap in energy. (au)

Edge strength of CAD/CAM materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeilschifter, Maria; Preis, Verena; Behr, Michael; Rosentritt, Martin

2018-05-16

To investigate the edge force of CAD/CAM materials as a function of (a) material, (b) thickness, and (c) distance from the margin. Materials intended for processing with CAD/CAM were investigated: eight resin composites, one resin-infiltrated ceramic, and a clinically proven lithiumdisilicate ceramic (reference). To measure edge force (that is, load to failure/crack), plates (d = 1 mm) were fixed and loaded with a Vickers diamond indenter (1 mm/min, Zwick 1446) at a distance of 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, and 1.0 mm from the edge. Edge force was defined as a loading force at a distance of 0.5 mm. The type of failure was determined. To investigate the influence of the thickness, all data were determined on 1-mm and 2-mm plates. To test the influence of bonding and an underlying dentin, individual 1-mm plates were bonded to a 1-mm-thick dentin-like (concerning modulus of elasticity) resin composite. For the 1-mm plates, edge force varied between 64.4 ± 24.2 N (Shofu Block HC) and 183.2 ± 63.3 N (ceramic reference), with significant (p ≤ 0.001) differences between the materials. For the 2-mm plates, values between 129.2 ± 32.5 N (Lava Ultimate) and 230.3 ± 67.5 N (Cerasmart) were found. Statistical comparison revealed no significant differences (p > 0.109) between the materials. Brilliant Crios (p = 0.023), Enamic (p = 0.000), Shofu Blocks HC (p = 0.009), and Grandio Bloc (p = 0.002) showed significantly different edge force between the 1-mm- and 2-mm-thick plates. The failure pattern was either cracking, (severe) chipping, or fracture. Material, material thickness, and distance from the edge impact the edge force of CAD/CAM materials. CAD/CAM materials should be carefully selected on the basis of their individual edge force and performance during milling. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High-resolution Al L2,3-edge x-ray absorption near edge structure spectra of Al-containing crystals and glasses: coordination number and bonding information from edge components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weigel, C; Calas, G; Cormier, L; Galoisy, L; Henderson, G S

2008-01-01

High-resolution Al L 2,3 -edge x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra have been measured in selected materials containing aluminium in 4-, 5- and 6-coordination. A shift of 1.5 eV is observed between the onset of [4] Al and [6] Al L 2,3 -edge XANES, in agreement with the magnitude of the shift observed at the Al K-edge. The differences in the position and shape of low-energy components of Al L 2,3 -edge XANES spectra provide a unique fingerprint of the geometry of the Al site and of the nature of Al-O chemical bond. The high resolution allows the calculation of electronic parameters such as the spin-orbit coupling and exchange energy using intermediate coupling theory. The electron-hole exchange energy decreases in tetrahedral as compared to octahedral symmetry, in relation with the increased screening of the core hole in the former. Al L 2,3 -edge XANES spectra confirm a major structural difference between glassy and crystalline NaAlSi 2 O 6 , with Al in 4- and 6-coordination, respectively, Al coordination remaining unchanged in NaAl 1-x Fe x Si 2 O 6 glasses, as Fe is substituted for Al

Real Time Grid Reliability Management 2005

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eto, Joe; Eto, Joe; Lesieutre, Bernard; Lewis, Nancy Jo; Parashar, Manu

2008-07-07

The increased need to manage California?s electricity grid in real time is a result of the ongoing transition from a system operated by vertically-integrated utilities serving native loads to one operated by an independent system operator supporting competitive energy markets. During this transition period, the traditional approach to reliability management -- construction of new transmission lines -- has not been pursued due to unresolved issues related to the financing and recovery of transmission project costs. In the absence of investments in new transmission infrastructure, the best strategy for managing reliability is to equip system operators with better real-time information about actual operating margins so that they can better understand and manage the risk of operating closer to the edge. A companion strategy is to address known deficiencies in offline modeling tools that are needed to ground the use of improved real-time tools. This project: (1) developed and conducted first-ever demonstrations of two prototype real-time software tools for voltage security assessment and phasor monitoring; and (2) prepared a scoping study on improving load and generator response models. Additional funding through two separate subsequent work authorizations has already been provided to build upon the work initiated in this project.

Marine Oil-Degrading Microorganisms and Biodegradation Process of Petroleum Hydrocarbon in Marine Environments: A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Jianliang; Yu, Yang; Bai, Yu; Wang, Liping; Wu, Yanan

2015-08-01

Due to the toxicity of petroleum compounds, the increasing accidents of marine oil spills/leakages have had a significant impact on our environment. Recently, different remedial techniques for the treatment of marine petroleum pollution have been proposed, such as bioremediation, controlled burning, skimming, and solidifying. (Hedlund and Staley in Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 51:61-66, 2001). This review introduces an important remedial method for marine oil pollution treatment-bioremediation technique-which is considered as a reliable, efficient, cost-effective, and eco-friendly method. First, the necessity of bioremediation for marine oil pollution was discussed. Second, this paper discussed the species of oil-degrading microorganisms, degradation pathways and mechanisms, the degradation rate and reaction model, and the factors affecting the degradation. Last, several suggestions for the further research in the field of marine oil spill bioremediation were proposed.

Size effect model for the edge strength of glass with cut and ground edge finishing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vandebroek, M.; Louter, C.; Caspeele, R.; Ensslen, F.; Belis, J.L.I.F.

2014-01-01

The edge strength of glass is influenced by the size of the surface (near the edge) which is subjected to tensile stresses. To quantify this size effect, 8 series of single layer annealed glass beam specimens (as-received glass) were subjected to in-plane four-point bending with linearly increased

[Isolation, identification and characterization of a diethylstilbestrol-degrading bacterial strain Serratia sp].

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Ran-Fang; Sun, Min-Xia; Liu, Juan; Wang, Hong; Li, Xin; Zhu, Xue-Zhu; Ling, Wan-Ting

2014-08-01

Utilizing the diethylstilbestrol (DES)-degrading bacteria to biodegrade DES is a most reliable technique for cleanup of DES pollutants from the environment. However, little information is available heretofore on the isolation of DES-degrading bacteria and their DES removal performance in the environment. A novel bacterium capable of degrading DES was isolated from the activated sludge of a wastewater treatment plant. According to its morphology, physiochemical characteristics, and 16S rDNA sequence analysis, this strain was identified as Serratia sp.. The strain was an aerobic bacterium, and it could degrade 68.3% of DES (50 mg x L(-1)) after culturing for 7 days at 30 degrees C, 150 r x min(-1) in shaking flasks. The optimal conditions for DES biodegradation by the obtained strain were 30 degrees C, 40-60 mg x L(-1) DES, pH 7.0, 5% of inoculation volume, 0 g x L(-1) of added NaCl, and 10 mL of liquid medium volume in 100 mL flask.

Moveable Leading Edge Device for a Wing

Science.gov (United States)

Pitt, Dale M. (Inventor); Eckstein, Nicholas Stephen (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A method and apparatus for managing a flight control surface system. A leading edge section on a wing of an aircraft is extended into a deployed position. A deformable section connects the leading edge section to a trailing section. The deformable section changes from a deformed shape to an original shape when the leading edge section is moved into the deployed position. The leading edge section on the wing is moved from the deployed position to an undeployed position. The deformable section changes to the deformed shape inside of the wing.

The Network Completion Problem: Inferring Missing Nodes and Edges in Networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, M; Leskovec, J

2011-11-14

Network structures, such as social networks, web graphs and networks from systems biology, play important roles in many areas of science and our everyday lives. In order to study the networks one needs to first collect reliable large scale network data. While the social and information networks have become ubiquitous, the challenge of collecting complete network data still persists. Many times the collected network data is incomplete with nodes and edges missing. Commonly, only a part of the network can be observed and we would like to infer the unobserved part of the network. We address this issue by studying the Network Completion Problem: Given a network with missing nodes and edges, can we complete the missing part? We cast the problem in the Expectation Maximization (EM) framework where we use the observed part of the network to fit a model of network structure, and then we estimate the missing part of the network using the model, re-estimate the parameters and so on. We combine the EM with the Kronecker graphs model and design a scalable Metropolized Gibbs sampling approach that allows for the estimation of the model parameters as well as the inference about missing nodes and edges of the network. Experiments on synthetic and several real-world networks show that our approach can effectively recover the network even when about half of the nodes in the network are missing. Our algorithm outperforms not only classical link-prediction approaches but also the state of the art Stochastic block modeling approach. Furthermore, our algorithm easily scales to networks with tens of thousands of nodes.

Strength on cut edge and ground edge glass beams with the failure analysis method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefano Agnetti

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work is the study of the effect of the finishing of the edge of glass when it has a structural function. Experimental investigations carried out for glass specimens are presented. Various series of annealed glass beam were tested, with cut edge and with ground edge. The glass specimens are tested in four-point bending performing flaw detection on the tested specimens after failure, in order to determine glass strength. As a result, bending strength values are obtained for each specimen. Determining some physical parameter as the depth of the flaw and the mirror radius of the fracture, after the failure of a glass element, it could be possible to calculate the failure strength of that.The experimental results were analyzed with the LEFM theory and the glass strength was analyzed with a statistical study using two-parameter Weibull distribution fitting quite well the failure stress data. The results obtained constitute a validation of the theoretical models and show the influence of the edge processing on the failure strength of the glass. Furthermore, series with different sizes were tested in order to evaluate the size effect.

Power deposition on misaligned edges in COMPASS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Dejarnac

2017-08-01

Full Text Available If the decision is made not to apply a toroidal chamfer to tungsten monoblocks at ITER divertor vertical targets, exposed leading edges will arise as a result of assembly tolerances between adjacent plasma-facing components. Then, the advantage of glancing magnetic field angles for spreading plasma heat flux on top surfaces is lost at the misaligned edges with an interaction occurring at near normal incidence, which can drive melting for the expected inter-ELM heat fluxes. A dedicated experiment has been performed on the COMPASS tokamak to thoroughly study power deposition on misaligned edges using inner-wall limited discharges on a special graphite tile presenting gaps and leading edges directly viewed by a high resolution infra-red camera. The parallel power flux deducted from the unperturbed measurement far from the gap is fully consistent with the observed temperature increase at the leading edge, respecting the power balance. All the power flowing into the gap is deposited at the leading edge and no mitigation factor is required to explain the thermal response. Particle-in-cell simulations show that the ion Larmor smoothing effect is weak and that the power deposition on misaligned edges is well described by the optical approximation because of an electron dominated regime associated with non-ambipolar parallel current flow.

Orientations of infinite graphs with prescribed edge-connectivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomassen, Carsten

2016-01-01

We prove a decomposition result for locally finite graphs which can be used to extend results on edge-connectivity from finite to infinite graphs. It implies that every 4k-edge-connected graph G contains an immersion of some finite 2k-edge-connected Eulerian graph containing any prescribed vertex...... set (while planar graphs show that G need not containa subdivision of a simple finite graph of large edge-connectivity). Also, every 8k-edge connected infinite graph has a k-arc-connected orientation, as conjectured in 1989....

Influence of ITO patterning on reliability of organic light emitting devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Zhaokui; Naka, Shigeki; Okada, Hiroyuki

2009-01-01

Indium tin oxide (ITO) films are widely used for a transparent electrode of organic light emitting devices (OLEDs) because of its excellent conductivity and transparency. Two types of ITO substrates with different surface roughness were selected to use as anode of OLEDs. In addition, two types of etching process of ITO substrate, particularly the etching time, were also carried out. It was found that the surface roughness and/or the etching process of ITO substrate strongly influenced on an edge of ITO surface, further affected the operating characteristics and reliability of devices.

Edge effect on weevils and spiders

OpenAIRE

Horváth, R.; Magura, T.; Péter, G.; Tóthmérész, B.

2002-01-01

The edge effect on weevils and spiders was tested along oak forest – meadow transects using sweep-net samples at the Síkfökút Project in Hungary. For spiders the species richness was significantly higher in the forest edge than either in the meadow or the forest interior. For weevils the species richness of the forest edge was higher than that of the meadow, but the difference was not statistically significant whereas the species richness of the forest...

Strain-activated edge reconstruction of graphene nanoribbons

KAUST Repository

Cheng, Yingchun

2012-02-17

The edge structure and width of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are crucial factors for the electronic properties. A combination of experiment and first-principles calculations allows us to determine the mechanism of the hexagon-hexagon to pentagon-heptagon transformation. GNRs thinner than 2 nm have been fabricated by bombardment of graphene with high-energetic Au clusters. The edges of the GNRs are modified in situ by electron irradiation. Tensile strain along the edge decreases the transformation energy barrier. Antiferromagnetism and a direct band gap are found for a zigzag GNR, while a fully reconstructed GNR shows an indirect band gap. A GNR reconstructed on only one edge exhibits ferromagnetism. We propose that strain is an effective method to tune the edge and, therefore, the electronic structure of thin GNRs for graphene-based electronics.

Strain-activated edge reconstruction of graphene nanoribbons

KAUST Repository

Cheng, Yingchun; Han, Yu; Schwingenschlö gl, Udo; Wang, H. T.; Zhang, Xixiang; Zhu, Y. H.; Zhu, Zhiyong

2012-01-01

The edge structure and width of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are crucial factors for the electronic properties. A combination of experiment and first-principles calculations allows us to determine the mechanism of the hexagon-hexagon to pentagon-heptagon transformation. GNRs thinner than 2 nm have been fabricated by bombardment of graphene with high-energetic Au clusters. The edges of the GNRs are modified in situ by electron irradiation. Tensile strain along the edge decreases the transformation energy barrier. Antiferromagnetism and a direct band gap are found for a zigzag GNR, while a fully reconstructed GNR shows an indirect band gap. A GNR reconstructed on only one edge exhibits ferromagnetism. We propose that strain is an effective method to tune the edge and, therefore, the electronic structure of thin GNRs for graphene-based electronics.

Gait alterations can reduce the risk of edge loading.

Science.gov (United States)

Wesseling, Mariska; Meyer, Christophe; De Groote, Friedl; Corten, Kristoff; Simon, Jean-Pierre; Desloovere, Kaat; Jonkers, Ilse

2016-06-01

Following metal-on-metal hip arthroplasty, edge loading (i.e., loading near the edge of a prosthesis cup) can increase wear and lead to early revision. The position and coverage angle of the prosthesis cup influence the risk of edge loading. This study investigates the effect of altered gait patterns, more specific hip, and pelvis kinematics, on the orientation of hip contact force and the consequent risk of antero-superior edge loading using muscle driven simulations of gait. With a cup orientation of 25° anteversion and 50° inclination and a coverage angle of 168°, many gait patterns presented risk of edge loading. Specifically at terminal double support, 189 out of 405 gait patterns indicated a risk of edge loading. At this time instant, the high hip contact forces and the proximity of the hip contact force to the edge of the cup indicated the likelihood of the occurrence of edge loading. Although the cup position contributed most to edge loading, altering kinematics considerably influenced the risk of edge loading. Increased hip abduction, resulting in decreasing hip contact force magnitude, and decreased hip extension, resulting in decreased risk on edge loading, are gait strategies that could prevent edge loading. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 34:1069-1076, 2016. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Total edge irregularity strength of (n,t)-kite graph

Science.gov (United States)

Winarsih, Tri; Indriati, Diari

2018-04-01

Let G(V, E) be a simple, connected, and undirected graph with vertex set V and edge set E. A total k-labeling is a map that carries vertices and edges of a graph G into a set of positive integer labels {1, 2, …, k}. An edge irregular total k-labeling λ :V(G)\\cup E(G)\\to \\{1,2,\\ldots,k\\} of a graph G is a labeling of vertices and edges of G in such a way that for any different edges e and f, weights wt(e) and wt(f) are distinct. The weight wt(e) of an edge e = xy is the sum of the labels of vertices x and y and the label of the edge e. The total edge irregularity strength of G, tes(G), is defined as the minimum k for which a graph G has an edge irregular total k-labeling. An (n, t)-kite graph consist of a cycle of length n with a t-edge path (the tail) attached to one vertex of a cycle. In this paper, we investigate the total edge irregularity strength of the (n, t)-kite graph, with n > 3 and t > 1. We obtain the total edge irregularity strength of the (n, t)-kite graph is tes((n, t)-kite) = \\lceil \\frac{n+t+2}{3}\\rceil .

Human reliability analysis of control room operators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, Isaac J.A.L.; Carvalho, Paulo Victor R.; Grecco, Claudio H.S. [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2005-07-01

Human reliability is the probability that a person correctly performs some system required action in a required time period and performs no extraneous action that can degrade the system Human reliability analysis (HRA) is the analysis, prediction and evaluation of work-oriented human performance using some indices as human error likelihood and probability of task accomplishment. Significant progress has been made in the HRA field during the last years, mainly in nuclear area. Some first-generation HRA methods were developed, as THERP (Technique for human error rate prediction). Now, an array of called second-generation methods are emerging as alternatives, for instance ATHEANA (A Technique for human event analysis). The ergonomics approach has as tool the ergonomic work analysis. It focus on the study of operator's activities in physical and mental form, considering at the same time the observed characteristics of operator and the elements of the work environment as they are presented to and perceived by the operators. The aim of this paper is to propose a methodology to analyze the human reliability of the operators of industrial plant control room, using a framework that includes the approach used by ATHEANA, THERP and the work ergonomics analysis. (author)

Edge Minority Heating Experiment in Alcator C-Mod

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zweben, S.J.; Terry, J.L.; Bonoli, P.; Budny, R.; Chang, C.S.; Fiore, C.; Schilling, G.; Wukitch, S.; Hughes, J.; Lin, Y.; Perkins, R.; Porkolab, M.; Alcator C-Mod Team

2005-01-01

An attempt was made to control global plasma confinement in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak by applying ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) power to the plasma edge in order to deliberately create a minority ion tail loss. In theory, an edge fast ion loss could modify the edge electric field and so stabilize the edge turbulence, which might then reduce the H-mode power threshold or improve the H-mode barrier. However, the experimental result was that edge minority heating resulted in no improvement in the edge plasma parameters or global stored energy, at least at power levels of P RF (le) 5.5 MW. A preliminary analysis of these results is presented and some ideas for improvement are discussed

Thermostructural applications of heat pipes for cooling leading edges of high-speed aerospace vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Camarda, Charles J.; Glass, David E.

1992-01-01

Heat pipes have been considered for use on wing leading edge for over 20 years. Early concepts envisioned metal heat pipes cooling a metallic leading edge. Several superalloy/sodium heat pipes were fabricated and successfully tested for wing leading edge cooling. Results of radiant heat and aerothermal testing indicate the feasibility of using heat pipes to cool the stagnation region of shuttle-type space transportation systems. The test model withstood a total seven radiant heating tests, eight aerothermal tests, and twenty-seven supplemental radiant heating tests. Cold-wall heating rates ranged from 21 to 57 Btu/sq ft-s and maximum operating temperatures ranged from 1090 to 1520 F. Follow-on studies investigated the application of heat pipes to cool the stagnation regions of single-stage-to-orbit and advanced shuttle vehicles. Results of those studies indicate that a 'D-shaped' structural design can reduce the mass of the heat-pipe concept by over 44 percent compared to a circular heat-pipe geometry. Simple analytical models for heat-pipe startup from the frozen state (working fluid initially frozen) were adequate to approximate transient, startup, and steady-state heat-pipe performance. Improvement in analysis methods has resulted in the development of a finite-element analysis technique to predict heat-pipe startup from the frozen state. However, current requirements of light-weight design and reliability suggest that metallic heat pipes embedded in a refractory composite material should be used. This concept is the concept presently being evaluated for NASP. A refractory-composite/heat-pipe-cooled wing leading edge is currently being considered for the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP). This concept uses high-temperature refractory-metal/lithium heat pipes embedded within a refractory-composite structure and is significantly lighter than an actively cooled wing leading edge because it eliminates the need for active cooling during ascent and descent. Since the

Reliability improvement in GaN HEMT power device using a field plate approach

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Wen-Hao; Lin, Yueh-Chin; Chin, Ping-Chieh; Hsu, Chia-Chieh; Lee, Jin-Hwa; Liu, Shih-Chien; Maa, Jer-shen; Iwai, Hiroshi; Chang, Edward Yi; Hsu, Heng-Tung

2017-07-01

This study investigates the effect of implementing a field plate on a GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) to improve power device reliability. The results indicate that the field plate structure reduces the peak electrical field and interface traps in the device, resulting in higher breakdown voltage, lower leakage current, smaller current collapse, and better threshold voltage control. Furthermore, after high voltage stress, steady dynamic on-resistance and gate capacitance degradation improvement were observed for the device with the field plate. This demonstrates that GaN device reliability can be improved by using the field plate approach.

Edge effect correction using ion beam figuring.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Bing; Xie, Xuhui; Li, Furen; Zhou, Lin

2017-11-10

The edge effect is regarded as one of the most difficult technical issues for fabricating large primary mirrors, as it can greatly reduce the key performance of the optical system. Ion beam figuring (IBF) has the advantage of no edge effect, so we can use it to remove high points on the edge and improve surface accuracy. The edge local correction method (ELCM) of IBF processes only the surface edge zone, and is very different from the current full caliber figuring method (FCFM). Therefore, it is necessary to study the ELCM of IBF. In this paper, the key factors of ELCM are analyzed, such as dwell time algorithm, edge data extension methods, and the outward dimension of the starting figuring point. At the same time, the distinctions between ELCM and FCFM are compared. Finally, a 142 mm diameter fused silica mirror is fabricated to verify the validity of the theoretical of ELCM. The experimental results indicate that the figuring precision and efficiency can be obviously improved by ELCM.

Impact of scaling on the performance and reliability degradation of metal-contacts in NEMS devices

KAUST Repository

Dadgour, Hamed F.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa; Cassell, Alan M.; Singh, Navab R.; Banerjee, Kaustav

2011-01-01

thoroughly investigated in the literature. Such a study is essential because metal contacts play a critical role in determining the overall performance and reliability of NEMS. Therefore, the comprehensive analytical study presented in this paper highlights

Insulation Resistance Degradation in Ni-BaTiO3 Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Donhang (David)

2015-01-01

Insulation resistance (IR) degradation in Ni-BaTiO3 multilayer ceramic capacitors has been characterized by the measurement of both time to failure and direct-current (DC) leakage current as a function of stress time under highly accelerated life test conditions. The measured leakage current-time dependence data fit well to an exponential form, and a characteristic growth time ?SD can be determined. A greater value of tau(sub SD) represents a slower IR degradation process. Oxygen vacancy migration and localization at the grain boundary region results in the reduction of the Schottky barrier height and has been found to be the main reason for IR degradation in Ni-BaTiO3 capacitors. The reduction of barrier height as a function of time follows an exponential relation of phi (??)=phi (0)e(exp -2?t), where the degradation rate constant ??=??o??(????/????) is inversely proportional to the mean time to failure (MTTF) and can be determined using an Arrhenius plot. For oxygen vacancy electromigration, a lower barrier height phi(0) will favor a slow IR degradation process, but a lower phi(0) will also promote electronic carrier conduction across the barrier and decrease the insulation resistance. As a result, a moderate barrier height phi(0) (and therefore a moderate IR value) with a longer MTTF (smaller degradation rate constant ??) will result in a minimized IR degradation process and the most improved reliability in Ni-BaTiO3 multilayer ceramic capacitors.

Measuring the Edge Recombination Velocity of Monolayer Semiconductors.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Peida; Amani, Matin; Lien, Der-Hsien; Ahn, Geun Ho; Kiriya, Daisuke; Mastandrea, James P; Ager, Joel W; Yablonovitch, Eli; Chrzan, Daryl C; Javey, Ali

2017-09-13

Understanding edge effects and quantifying their impact on the carrier properties of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors is an essential step toward utilizing this material for high performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. WS 2 monolayers patterned into disks of varying diameters are used to experimentally explore the influence of edges on the material's optical properties. Carrier lifetime measurements show a decrease in the effective lifetime, τ effective , as a function of decreasing diameter, suggesting that the edges are active sites for carrier recombination. Accordingly, we introduce a metric called edge recombination velocity (ERV) to characterize the impact of 2D material edges on nonradiative carrier recombination. The unpassivated WS 2 monolayer disks yield an ERV ∼ 4 × 10 4 cm/s. This work quantifies the nonradiative recombination edge effects in monolayer semiconductors, while simultaneously establishing a practical characterization approach that can be used to experimentally explore edge passivation methods for 2D materials.

Inelastic response spectra of simple degrading systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreaus, U.; Ceradini, G.; D'Asdia, P.; Gaudenzi, P.

1985-01-01

Ductility was first stated, for single-degree-of-freedom elastic-perfectly plastic systems as the ratio of maximum to yield displacements. An alternative approach, aimed to reduce design forces for ductile structures and based on the energy dissipated during earthquake allows to obtain more reliable ductility factors even when system restoring characteristics are affected by deterioration during loading history. Inelastic response of SDOF systems has been investigated under seimic excitation, assuming stable and degrading constitutive laws to model their structural behaviour. Energy spectra and ductility requirent diagrams are generated and compared with those of the corresponding elastic-perfectly plastic systems. (orig.)

ICRF edge modeling studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lehrman, I.S. (Grumman Corp. Research Center, Princeton, NJ (USA)); Colestock, P.L. (Princeton Univ., NJ (USA). Plasma Physics Lab.)

1990-04-01

Theoretical models have been developed, and are currently being refined, to explain the edge plasma-antenna interaction that occurs during ICRF heating. The periodic structure of a Faraday shielded antenna is found to result in strong ponderomotive force in the vicinity of the antenna. A fluid model, which incorporates the ponderomotive force, shows an increase in transport to the Faraday shield. A kinetic model shows that the strong antenna near fields act to increase the energy of deuterons which strike the shield, thereby increasing the sputtering of shield material. Estimates of edge impurity harmonic heating show no significant heating for either in or out-of-phase antenna operation. Additionally, a particle model for electrons near the shield shows that heating results from the parallel electric field associated with the fast wave. A quasilinear model for edge electron heating is presented and compared to the particle calculations. The models' predictions are shown to be consistent with measurements of enhanced transport. (orig.).

Toward the Synthesis of Sub-15 nm Ag Nanocubes with Sharp Corners and Edges: The Roles of Heterogeneous Nucleation and Surface Capping.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruditskiy, Aleksey; Xia, Younan

2016-03-09

We report a polyol method for the facile synthesis of Ag nanocubes having sharp corners and edges, together with edge lengths below 15 nm. The rapid nucleation of Ag atoms was facilitated through the addition of a trace amount of SH(-) to generate Ag2S clusters while the corners and edges of the nanocubes were sharpened through the introduction of Br(-) as a regulator of the growth kinetics and a capping agent for the Ag(100) surface. Because of their much smaller size relative to the more commonly used capping agent based on poly(vinylpyrrolidone), Br(-) ions are more effective in passivating the {100} facets on very small Ag nanocubes. The mechanistic roles of these additives, along with the effects of their interactions with other species present in the reaction solution, were all systematically investigated. The concentration of SH(-) was found to be a particularly effective parameter for tuning the edge length of the nanocubes. As a result of the understanding gained during the course of this study, Ag nanocubes with uniform edge lengths controllable in the range of 13-23 nm could be reliably produced. The nanocubes of 13.4 ± 0.4 nm in edge length constitute the smallest nanocrystals of this kind reported to date; they also possess sharper corners and edges relative to the limited examples of sub-20 nm Ag nanocubes reported in the literature. The availability of such small and sharp Ag nanocubes will open the door to an array of applications in plasmonics, catalysis, and biomedicine.

AlMn Transition Edge Sensors for Advanced ACTPol

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Dale; Austermann, Jason E.; Beall, James A.; Becker, Daniel T.; Duff, Shannon M.; Gallardo, Patricio A.; Henderson, Shawn W.; Hilton, Gene C.; Ho, Shuay-Pwu; Hubmayr, Johannes; Koopman, Brian J.; McMahon, Jeffrey J.; Nati, Federico; Niemack, Michael D.; Pappas, Christine G.; Salatino, Maria; Schmitt, Benjamin L.; Simon, Sara M.; Staggs, Suzanne T.; Van Lanen, Jeff; Ward, Jonathan T.; Wollack, Edward J.

2016-07-01

Advanced ACTPol (AdvACT) will use an array of multichroic polarization-sensitive AlMn transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers read out through time-division multiplexing. Aluminum doped with a low concentration of manganese can be deposited to a bulk film thickness for a more reliable superconducting critical temperature uniformity compared to thin bilayers. To build the TES, the AlMn alloy is deposited, over Nb wiring, to a specific thickness to set the TES normal resistance. The doping concentration of manganese coarsely defines the TES critical temperature, while a fine tuning is achieved by heating the deposited film to a specific temperature. The TES island is connected to the thermal bath via four silicon-nitride membranes, where their geometry defines the thermal conductance to the temperature of the bath. Lastly, the TES heat capacity is increased by addition of PdAu electrically connected to the AlMn film. Designs and performance characteristics of these AlMn TESs are presented for use in AdvACT.

AlMn Transition Edge Sensors for Advanced ACTPol

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Dale; Austermann, Jason E.; Beall, James A.; Tucker, Daniel T.; Duff, Shannon M.; Gallardo, Patricio A.; Henderson, Shawn W.; Hilton, Gene C.; Ho, Shuay-Pwu; Hubmayr, Johannes;

Independent component analysis of edge information for face recognition

CERN Document Server

Karande, Kailash Jagannath

2013-01-01

The book presents research work on face recognition using edge information as features for face recognition with ICA algorithms. The independent components are extracted from edge information. These independent components are used with classifiers to match the facial images for recognition purpose. In their study, authors have explored Canny and LOG edge detectors as standard edge detection methods. Oriented Laplacian of Gaussian (OLOG) method is explored to extract the edge information with different orientations of Laplacian pyramid. Multiscale wavelet model for edge detection is also propos

Modeling of system reliability Petri nets with aging tokens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volovoi, V.

2004-01-01

The paper addresses the dynamic modeling of degrading and repairable complex systems. Emphasis is placed on the convenience of modeling for the end user, with special attention being paid to the modeling part of a problem, which is considered to be decoupled from the choice of solution algorithms. Depending on the nature of the problem, these solution algorithms can include discrete event simulation or numerical solution of the differential equations that govern underlying stochastic processes. Such modularity allows a focus on the needs of system reliability modeling and tailoring of the modeling formalism accordingly. To this end, several salient features are chosen from the multitude of existing extensions of Petri nets, and a new concept of aging tokens (tokens with memory) is introduced. The resulting framework provides for flexible and transparent graphical modeling with excellent representational power that is particularly suited for system reliability modeling with non-exponentially distributed firing times. The new framework is compared with existing Petri-net approaches and other system reliability modeling techniques such as reliability block diagrams and fault trees. The relative differences are emphasized and illustrated with several examples, including modeling of load sharing, imperfect repair of pooled items, multiphase missions, and damage-tolerant maintenance. Finally, a simple implementation of the framework using discrete event simulation is described

Object detection using categorised 3D edges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kiforenko, Lilita; Buch, Anders Glent; Bodenhagen, Leon

2015-01-01

is made possible by the explicit use of edge categories in the feature descriptor. We quantitatively compare our approach with the state-of-the-art template based Linemod method, which also provides an effective way of dealing with texture-less objects, tests were performed on our own object dataset. Our...... categorisation algorithm for describing objects in terms of its different edge types. Relying on edge information allow our system to deal with objects with little or no texture or surface variation. We show that edge categorisation improves matching performance due to the higher level of discrimination, which...

Investigation of Reliabilities of Bolt Distances for Bolted Structural Steel Connections by Monte Carlo Simulation Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ertekin Öztekin Öztekin

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Design of the distance of bolts to each other and design of the distance of bolts to the edge of connection plates are made based on minimum and maximum boundary values proposed by structural codes. In this study, reliabilities of those distances were investigated. For this purpose, loading types, bolt types and plate thicknesses were taken as variable parameters. Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS method was used in the reliability computations performed for all combination of those parameters. At the end of study, all reliability index values for all those distances were presented in graphics and tables. Results obtained from this study compared with the values proposed by some structural codes and finally some evaluations were made about those comparisons. Finally, It was emphasized in the end of study that, it would be incorrect of the usage of the same bolt distances in the both traditional designs and the higher reliability level designs.

Fuzzy Logic Approach to Diagnosis of Feedwater Heater Performance Degradation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Yeon Kwan; Kim, Hyeon Min; Heo, Gyun Young; Sang, Seok Yoon

2014-01-01

Since failure in, damage to, and performance degradation of power generation components in operation under harsh environment of high pressure and high temperature may cause both economic and human loss at power plants, highly reliable operation and control of these components are necessary. Therefore, a systematic method of diagnosing the condition of these components in its early stages is required. There have been many researches related to the diagnosis of these components, but our group developed an approach using a regression model and diagnosis table, specializing in diagnosis relating to thermal efficiency degradation of power plant. However, there was a difficulty in applying the method using the regression model to power plants with different operating conditions because the model was sensitive to value. In case of the method that uses diagnosis table, it was difficult to find the level at which each performance degradation factor had an effect on the components. Therefore, fuzzy logic was introduced in order to diagnose performance degradation using both qualitative and quantitative results obtained from the components' operation data. The model makes performance degradation assessment using various performance degradation variables according to the input rule constructed based on fuzzy logic. The purpose of the model is to help the operator diagnose performance degradation of components of power plants. This paper makes an analysis of power plant feedwater heater by using fuzzy logic. Feedwater heater is one of the core components that regulate life-cycle of a power plant. Performance degradation has a direct effect on power generation efficiency. It is not easy to observe performance degradation of feedwater heater. However, on the other hand, troubles such as tube leakage may bring simultaneous damage to the tube bundle and therefore it is the object of concern in economic aspect. This study explains the process of diagnosing and verifying typical

Fuzzy Logic Approach to Diagnosis of Feedwater Heater Performance Degradation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Yeon Kwan; Kim, Hyeon Min; Heo, Gyun Young [Kyung Hee University, Yongin (Korea, Republic of); Sang, Seok Yoon [Engineering and Technical Center, Korea Hydro, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-08-15

Since failure in, damage to, and performance degradation of power generation components in operation under harsh environment of high pressure and high temperature may cause both economic and human loss at power plants, highly reliable operation and control of these components are necessary. Therefore, a systematic method of diagnosing the condition of these components in its early stages is required. There have been many researches related to the diagnosis of these components, but our group developed an approach using a regression model and diagnosis table, specializing in diagnosis relating to thermal efficiency degradation of power plant. However, there was a difficulty in applying the method using the regression model to power plants with different operating conditions because the model was sensitive to value. In case of the method that uses diagnosis table, it was difficult to find the level at which each performance degradation factor had an effect on the components. Therefore, fuzzy logic was introduced in order to diagnose performance degradation using both qualitative and quantitative results obtained from the components' operation data. The model makes performance degradation assessment using various performance degradation variables according to the input rule constructed based on fuzzy logic. The purpose of the model is to help the operator diagnose performance degradation of components of power plants. This paper makes an analysis of power plant feedwater heater by using fuzzy logic. Feedwater heater is one of the core components that regulate life-cycle of a power plant. Performance degradation has a direct effect on power generation efficiency. It is not easy to observe performance degradation of feedwater heater. However, on the other hand, troubles such as tube leakage may bring simultaneous damage to the tube bundle and therefore it is the object of concern in economic aspect. This study explains the process of diagnosing and verifying typical

Electroluminescence and electrical degradation of insulating polymers at electrode interfaces under divergent fields

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shuai; Li, Qi; Hu, Jun; Zhang, Bo; He, Jinliang

2018-04-01

Electrical degradation of insulating polymers at electrode interfaces is an essential factor in determining long-term reliability. A critical challenge is that the exact mechanism of degradation is not fully understood, either experimentally or theoretically, due to the inherent complex processes. Consequently, in this study, we investigate electroluminescence (EL) at the interface of an electrode and insulator, and determine the relationship between EL and electrical degradation. Using a tip-plate electrode structure, the unique features of EL under a highly divergent field are investigated. The voltage type (alternating or direct current), the polymer matrix, and the time of pressing are also investigated separately. A study of EL from insulators under a divergent field is provided, and the relationship between EL spectra and degradation is discussed. It is shown that EL spectra under a divergent field have unique characteristics compared with EL spectra from polymer films under a uniform field and the most obvious one is the UV emission. The results obtained in the current investigation bring us a step closer to understanding the process of electrical degradation and provide a potential way to diagnose insulator defects.

Solar cell degradation under open circuit condition in out-doors-in desert region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Boussaid

Full Text Available The reliability of solar cells is an important parameter in the design of photovoltaic systems and particularly for cost estimation. Solar cell degradation is the result of various operating conditions; temperature is one of most important factors. Installed PV modules in desert regions are subjected to various temperature changes with significant gradient leading to accelerated degradation. In the present work, we demonstrate the influence of open-circuit condition on the degradation of PV modules. The experiment is carried out in the desert region of ADRAR (southern Algeria using two modules IJISEL of single-crystal silicon. A continuous monitoring allows analysis of both performances of modules for duration of 330 days. The module in open-circuit condition reaches higher temperature means than the module in charging condition; therefore, it undergoes a higher degradation. By simulation, we found that the life of a PV module (whose power output is close to 50% in a condition of an open-circuit in the desert region could be reduced to 4 years, and that has a significant impact on economy. Keywords: WEIBULL, Photovoltaic, Degradation, Open-circuit, Single-crystal, Silicon

Research on reducing the edge effect in magnetorheological finishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Hao; Dai, Yifan; Peng, Xiaoqiang; Wang, Jianmin

2011-03-20

The edge effect could not be avoided in most optical manufacturing methods based on the theory of computer controlled optical surfacing. The difference between the removal function at the workpiece edge and that inside it is also the primary cause for edge effect in magnetorheological finishing (MRF). The change of physical dimension and removal ratio of the removal function is investigated through experiments. The results demonstrate that the situation is different when MRF "spot" is at the leading edge or at the trailing edge. Two methods for reducing the edge effect are put into practice after analysis of the processing results. One is adopting a small removal function for dealing with the workpiece edge, and the other is utilizing the removal function compensation. The actual processing results show that these two ways are both effective on reducing the edge effect in MRF.

Knife-edge seal for vacuum bagging

Science.gov (United States)

Rauschl, J. A.

1980-01-01

Cam actuated clamps pinch bagging material between long knife edge (mounted to clamps) and high temperature rubber cushion bonded to baseplate. No adhesive, tape, or sealing groove is needed to seal edge of bagging sheet against base plate.

Edge-Disjoint Fibonacci Trees in Hypercube

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Indhumathi Raman

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The Fibonacci tree is a rooted binary tree whose number of vertices admit a recursive definition similar to the Fibonacci numbers. In this paper, we prove that a hypercube of dimension h admits two edge-disjoint Fibonacci trees of height h, two edge-disjoint Fibonacci trees of height h-2, two edge-disjoint Fibonacci trees of height h-4 and so on, as subgraphs. The result shows that an algorithm with Fibonacci trees as underlying data structure can be implemented concurrently on a hypercube network with no communication latency.

Silicon K-edge XANES spectra of silicate minerals

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Dien; Bancroft, G. M.; Fleet, M. E.; Feng, X. H.

1995-03-01

Silicon K-edge x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra of a selection of silicate and aluminosilicate minerals have been measured using synchrotron radiation (SR). The spectra are qualitatively interpreted based on MO calculation of the tetrahedral SiO{4/4-}cluster. The Si K-edge generally shifts to higher energy with increased polymerization of silicates by about 1.3 eV, but with considerable overlap for silicates of different polymerization types. The substitution of Al for Si shifts the Si K-edge to lower energy. The chemical shift of Si K-edge is also sensitive to cations in more distant atom shells; for example, the Si K-edge shifts to lower energy with the substitution of Al for Mg in octahedral sites. The shifts of the Si K-edge show weak correlation with average Si-O bond distance (dSi-O), Si-O bond valence (sSi-O) and distortion of SiO4 tetrahedra, due to the crystal structure complexity of silicate minerals and multiple factors effecting the x-ray absorption processes.

Antichiral Edge States in a Modified Haldane Nanoribbon

Science.gov (United States)

Colomés, E.; Franz, M.

2018-02-01

Topological phases of fermions in two dimensions are often characterized by chiral edge states. By definition, these propagate in opposite directions at the two parallel edges when the sample geometry is that of a rectangular strip. We introduce here a model which exhibits what we call "antichiral" edge modes. These propagate in the same direction at both parallel edges of the strip and are compensated by counterpropagating modes that reside in the bulk. General arguments and numerical simulations show that backscattering is suppressed even when strong disorder is present in the system. We propose a feasible experimental realization of a system showing such antichiral edge modes in transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers.

Evaluation of reliability of EC inspection of VVER SG tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stanic, D.

2001-01-01

Evaluation of eddy current data collected during inspection of VVER steam generators is very complex task because of numerous parameters which have affect on eddy current signals. That was the reason that recently ago INETEC has started related scientific project in order to evaluate the reliability of eddy current (EC) inspection of VVER steam generator (SG) tubing. In the scope of project the following objectives will be investigated: 1. Determination of POD (Probability of detection) of various types degradation cracks, where their basic parameters are variables (basic parameters are depth, length, width, orientation, number) on three different sets of tubes (clean ideal tubes, tubes with pilgering, tubes electroplated with copper) 2. Sizing quality (accuracy, repeatability) (same data sets as defined in 1.) 3. Effect of fill factor on POD and sizing quality. 4. Effect of tube bends on POD and sizing quality. 5. Effect of other tube geometry variations on POD and sizing quality (tube ovality, transition zone region, expanded (rolled) part of tube, dents, dings). Investigation will start with bobbin probe technique which is the most used technique for general purpose VVER tube examination. Since INETEC is the only world company which successfully developed and applied rotating probe technique for VVER SG tubes, scope of the project will be extended on rotating probe technique utilizing 'pancake' and 'point' coil. Method reliability will be investigated first on the huge set of EDM notches representing various defect morphologies and simulating different factors, and the second part will be investigated on sets of degradation defects obtained by artificial corrosion. In the scope of the project the measures for enhancing the method reliability have to be determined. This considers the proper definition of parameters of examination system, as well as establishment of the suitable analysis procedures. This article presents the temporary results of the first part of

The knife-edge chamber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barasch, E.F.; Bowcock, T.J.V.; Drew, M.M.; Elliott, S.M.; Lee, B.; McIntyre, P.M.; Pang, Y.; Popovic, M.; Smith, D.D.

1990-01-01

In this paper the design for a new technology for particle track detectors is described. Using standard IC fabrication techniques, a pattern of microscopic knife edges and field-shaping electrodes can be fabricated on a silicon substrate. The knife-edge chamber uniquely offers attractive performance for the track chambers required for SSC detectors, for which no present technology is yet satisfactory. Its features include: excellent radiation hardness (10 Mrad), excellent spatial resolution (∼20 μm), short drift time (20 ns), and large pulse height (1 mV)

Plasma edge and plasma-wall interaction modelling: Lessons learned from metallic devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Wiesen

2017-08-01