Electronic and atomic impacts on large clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gspann, J.

1982-01-01

Describing first the generation and properties of molecular beams of large Van der Waals clusters such as speed distribution, cluster size distribution, and internal temperature of the clusters, the review then features the results of electronic impacts on large clusters: metastable electronic cluster excitations, ejection of positive cluster ions of less than 100 atoms from much larger parent clusters, and ionization of the large clusters. Atomic impacts at thermal energies are treated with respect to the scattering cross section of the clusters, their drag coefficient in free molecular flow, and the peculiarities of impacts on helium clusters of either isotope. (Auth.)

Geophysical survey of the proposed Tsenkher impact structure, Gobi Altai, Mongolia

Science.gov (United States)

Ormö, Jens; Gomez-Ortiz, David; Komatsu, Goro; Bayaraa, Togookhuu; Tserendug, Shoovdor

2010-03-01

We have performed forward magnetic and gravity modeling of data obtained during the 2007 expedition to the 3.7km in diameter, circular, Tsenkher structure, Mongolia, in order to evaluate the cause of its formation. Extensive occurrences of brecciated rocks, mainly in the form of an ejecta blanket outside the elevated rim of the structure, support an explosive origin (e.g., cosmic impact, explosive volcanism). The host rocks in the area are mainly weakly magnetic, silica-rich sandstones, and siltstones. A near absence of surface exposures of volcanic rocks makes any major volcanic structures (e.g., caldera) unlikely. Likewise, the magnetic models exclude any large, subsurface, intrusive body. This is supported by an 8mGal gravity low over the structure indicating a subsurface low density body. Instead, the best fit is achieved for a bowl-shaped structure with a slight central rise as expected for an impact crater of this size in mainly sedimentary target. The structure can be either root-less (i.e., impact crater) or rooted with a narrow feeder dyke with relatively higher magnetic susceptibility and density (i.e., volcanic maar crater). The geophysical signature, the solitary appearance, the predominantly sedimentary setting, and the comparably large size of the Tsenkher structure favor the impact crater alternative. However, until mineralogical/geochemical evidence for an impact is presented, the maar alternative remains plausible although exceptional as it would make the Tsenkher structure one of the largest in the world in an unusual setting for maar craters.

Governance Impact Assessment on Large Infrastructure Project (LIP Delivery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. A. Zarewa

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The linkage of failures of many projects, including Large Infrastructure Projects (LIPs, to governance problems by previous studies implies that governance impacts projects’ performance. Identification and understanding of the impacts have therefore become necessary in order to ensure that projects are governed in a way that will ensure their successful delivery. This study assessed impact of governance on delivery of Large Infrastructure Projects (LIPs through a three phase research approach. The first phase involved literature review followed by semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders/role players in the governance of eight LIPs in different locations in Nigeria in the second phase. A thematic data analysis of the study’s findings was finally conducted in the third phase to identify themes and sub-themes after which conclusions were drawn. The study established that governance impacts LIPs delivery both positively and negatively depending on how the governance is approached. Four LIPs were successful due to proper initiation, setting aside funds for the projects at the onset, proactive risk management, top management support, and simple governance policies and structures. Intuitive initiation on political exigencies, tying funding to erratic sources of funding without contingency arrangement, Procuring Authorities’ (PAs disregard for due process and consultants’ advice, failure of a Procuring Authority (PA to meet contractual obligations and change of government were identified by the study as major governance aspects that led to the abandonment of 4 LIPs. The study concluded that there was a need for significant improvement and standardisation of approaches to governance of LIPs particularly in developing countries like Nigeria and accordingly recommends the development of a governance framework containing guidelines, including sanctions for violators, to guide the governance of the projects in the country.

Breaking wave impact on offshore tripod structures. Comparison of large scale experiments, CFD simulations, and DIN recommended practice; Wellenbrechen an Offshore Tripod-Gruendungen. Versuche und Simulationen im Vergleich zu Richtlinien

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hildebrandt, Arndt; Schlurmann, Torsten [Hannover Univ. (Germany). Franzius-Institut fuer Wasserbau und Kuesteningenieurwesen

2012-05-15

Coastal and near shore areas offer a large potential for offshore wind energy production due to strong and steady wind conditions. Thousands of offshore wind energy converters are projected for mass production within the next years. Detailed understanding of the extreme, dynamic wave loads on offshore structures is essential for an efficient design. The impact on structures is a complex process and further studies are required for more detailed load assessments, which is why breaking wave loads were investigated by the research project ''GIGAWIND alpha ventus - Subproject 1'' within the network ''Research at Alpha VEntus'' (RAVE). Large scale laboratory tests (1:12) with breaking waves have been carried out at the Large Wave Flume of the ''Forschungszentrum Kueste'' (FZK, Hanover) to reveal more detailed insights on the impact area, duration and development of the wave induced momentum, and intensity of pressures. In addition, local pressures calculated by a three-dimensional numerical impact simulation are compared to the Large Wave Flume experiments. Slamming coefficients have been derived from the physical model tests and CFD simulations for the comparison to load calculations based on guidelines. (orig.)

Large Field Photogrammetry Techniques in Aircraft and Spacecraft Impact Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Littell, Justin D.

2010-01-01

The Landing and Impact Research Facility (LandIR) at NASA Langley Research Center is a 240 ft. high A-frame structure which is used for full-scale crash testing of aircraft and rotorcraft vehicles. Because the LandIR provides a unique capability to introduce impact velocities in the forward and vertical directions, it is also serving as the facility for landing tests on full-scale and sub-scale Orion spacecraft mass simulators. Recently, a three-dimensional photogrammetry system was acquired to assist with the gathering of vehicle flight data before, throughout and after the impact. This data provides the basis for the post-test analysis and data reduction. Experimental setups for pendulum swing tests on vehicles having both forward and vertical velocities can extend to 50 x 50 x 50 foot cubes, while weather, vehicle geometry, and other constraints make each experimental setup unique to each test. This paper will discuss the specific calibration techniques for large fields of views, camera and lens selection, data processing, as well as best practice techniques learned from using the large field of view photogrammetry on a multitude of crash and landing test scenarios unique to the LandIR.

The impact of large structural brain changes in chronic stroke patients on the electric field caused by transcranial brain stimulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Minjoli, Sena; Saturnino, Guilherme B.; Blicher, Jakob Udby

2017-01-01

aimed to characterize the impact of these changes on the spatial distribution of the electric field generated by both TBS methods. In addition to confirming the safety of TBS in the presence of large stroke-related structural changes, our aim was to clarify whether targeted stimulation is still possible....... Realistic head models containing large cortical and subcortical stroke lesions in the right parietal cortex were created using MR images of two patients. For TMS, the electric field of a double coil was simulated using the finite-element method. Systematic variations of the coil position relative...... to the lesion were tested. For TDCS, the finite-element method was used to simulate a standard approach with two electrode pads, and the position of one electrode was systematically varied. For both TMS and TDCS, the lesion caused electric field " hot spots" in the cortex. However, these maxima were...

Collinear factorization for deep inelastic scattering structure functions at large Bjorken xB

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Accardi, Alberto; Qiu, Jian-Wei

2008-01-01

http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1126-6708/2008/07/090 We examine the uncertainty of perturbative QCD factorization for hadron structure functions in deep inelastic scattering at a large value of the Bjorken variable xB. We analyze the target mass correction to the structure functions by using the collinear factorization approach in the momentum space. We express the long distance physics of structure functions and the leading target mass corrections in terms of parton distribution functions with the standard operator definition. We compare our result with existing work on the target mass correction. We also discuss the impact of a final-state jet function on the extraction of parton distributions at large fractional momentum x.

The Impact of Ownership Structure on Firm Performance : Evidence From a Large Emerging Market

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Douma, S.W.; George, R.; Kabir, M.R.

2002-01-01

We examine how ownership structure affects the performance of firms using firm level data from a large emerging market, India.We specifically focus on a previously unexplored phenomenon, namely the differential role played by foreign institutional and foreign corporate shareholders.An examination of

Sparse deconvolution for the large-scale ill-posed inverse problem of impact force reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Qiao, Baijie; Zhang, Xingwu; Gao, Jiawei; Liu, Ruonan; Chen, Xuefeng

2017-01-01

Most previous regularization methods for solving the inverse problem of force reconstruction are to minimize the l2-norm of the desired force. However, these traditional regularization methods such as Tikhonov regularization and truncated singular value decomposition, commonly fail to solve the large-scale ill-posed inverse problem in moderate computational cost. In this paper, taking into account the sparse characteristic of impact force, the idea of sparse deconvolution is first introduced to the field of impact force reconstruction and a general sparse deconvolution model of impact force is constructed. Second, a novel impact force reconstruction method based on the primal-dual interior point method (PDIPM) is proposed to solve such a large-scale sparse deconvolution model, where minimizing the l2-norm is replaced by minimizing the l1-norm. Meanwhile, the preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm is used to compute the search direction of PDIPM with high computational efficiency. Finally, two experiments including the small-scale or medium-scale single impact force reconstruction and the relatively large-scale consecutive impact force reconstruction are conducted on a composite wind turbine blade and a shell structure to illustrate the advantage of PDIPM. Compared with Tikhonov regularization, PDIPM is more efficient, accurate and robust whether in the single impact force reconstruction or in the consecutive impact force reconstruction.

Impact of small-scale structures on estuarine circulation

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhuo; Zhang, Yinglong J.; Wang, Harry V.; Huang, Hai; Wang, Zhengui; Ye, Fei; Sisson, Mac

2018-05-01

We present a novel and challenging application of a 3D estuary-shelf model to the study of the collective impact of many small-scale structures (bridge pilings of 1 m × 2 m in size) on larger-scale circulation in a tributary (James River) of Chesapeake Bay. We first demonstrate that the model is capable of effectively transitioning grid resolution from 400 m down to 1 m near the pilings without introducing undue numerical artifact. We then show that despite their small sizes and collectively small area as compared to the total channel cross-sectional area, the pilings exert a noticeable impact on the large-scale circulation, and also create a rich structure of vortices and wakes around the pilings. As a result, the water quality and local sedimentation patterns near the bridge piling area are likely to be affected as well. However, when evaluating over the entire waterbody of the project area, the near field effects are weighed with the areal percentage which is small compared to that for the larger unaffected area, and therefore the impact on the lower James River as a whole becomes relatively insignificant. The study highlights the importance of the use of high resolution in assessing the near-field impact of structures.

Analysis of impact of large commercial aircraft on a prestressed containment building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Kyoungsoo; Han, Sang Eul; Hong, Jung-Wuk

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Aircraft impact analyses are performed using the missile–target interaction method. • A large commercial B747 aircraft is considered with erosion effect. • The rigid wall impact test shows the validity of the developed aircraft model. • The parametric studies on the fictitious containment building are performed. • The plastic failure of the target is governed by the impulse of aircraft at the first momentum peak. - Abstract: In this paper, the results of nonlinear dynamic analyses of a concrete containment building under extreme loads are presented. The impact of a large commercial B747 airliner is investigated as the extreme load, and a rigid wall impact test is performed using commercial nonlinear finite element codes. The impact forces exerted by the aircraft are verified compared with the time-dependent impact force provided by OECD/NEA (2002), which was calculated based on the so-called Riera method. The rigid wall impact analysis shows that the finite element model of a B747 is appropriate for the purpose of the aircraft crash analysis exposed to the external hazard of “Beyond Design-Basis Events” defined by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Finally, the applicability of this methodology is further studied and verified by conducting parametric studies on the critical infrastructures of nuclear power plant containment structures

Analysis of impact of large commercial aircraft on a prestressed containment building

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Kyoungsoo, E-mail: kylee@pvamu.edu [Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Prairie View A and M University, Prairie view, TX, 77446 (United States); Han, Sang Eul, E-mail: hsang@inha.ac.kr [Department of Architectural Engineering, School of Architecture, Inha University, 253 Yonghyundong Nam-gu, Incheon, 402-751 (Korea, Republic of); Hong, Jung-Wuk, E-mail: j.hong@kaist.ac.kr [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST, 373-1 Guseon-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-701 (Korea, Republic of)

2013-12-15

Highlights: • Aircraft impact analyses are performed using the missile–target interaction method. • A large commercial B747 aircraft is considered with erosion effect. • The rigid wall impact test shows the validity of the developed aircraft model. • The parametric studies on the fictitious containment building are performed. • The plastic failure of the target is governed by the impulse of aircraft at the first momentum peak. - Abstract: In this paper, the results of nonlinear dynamic analyses of a concrete containment building under extreme loads are presented. The impact of a large commercial B747 airliner is investigated as the extreme load, and a rigid wall impact test is performed using commercial nonlinear finite element codes. The impact forces exerted by the aircraft are verified compared with the time-dependent impact force provided by OECD/NEA (2002), which was calculated based on the so-called Riera method. The rigid wall impact analysis shows that the finite element model of a B747 is appropriate for the purpose of the aircraft crash analysis exposed to the external hazard of “Beyond Design-Basis Events” defined by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Finally, the applicability of this methodology is further studied and verified by conducting parametric studies on the critical infrastructures of nuclear power plant containment structures.

Deep drilling in the Chesapeake Bay impact structure - An overview

Science.gov (United States)

Gohn, G.S.; Koeberl, C.; Miller, K.G.; Reimold, W.U.

2009-01-01

The late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure lies buried at moderate depths below Chesapeake Bay and surrounding landmasses in southeastern Virginia, USA. Numerous characteristics made this impact structure an inviting target for scientific drilling, including the location of the impact on the Eocene continental shelf, its threelayer target structure, its large size (??85 km diameter), its status as the source of the North American tektite strewn field, its temporal association with other late Eocene terrestrial impacts, its documented effects on the regional groundwater system, and its previously unstudied effects on the deep microbial biosphere. The Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure Deep Drilling Project was designed to drill a deep, continuously cored test hole into the central part of the structure. A project workshop, funding proposals, and the acceptance of those proposals occurred during 2003-2005. Initial drilling funds were provided by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Supplementary funds were provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate, ICDP, and USGS. Field operations were conducted at Eyreville Farm, Northampton County, Virginia, by Drilling, Observation, and Sampling of the Earth's Continental Crust (DOSECC) and the project staff during September-December 2005, resulting in two continuously cored, deep holes. The USGS and Rutgers University cored a shallow hole to 140 m in April-May 2006 to complete the recovered section from land surface to 1766 m depth. The recovered section consists of 1322 m of crater materials and 444 m of overlying postimpact Eocene to Pleistocene sediments. The crater section consists of, from base to top: basement-derived blocks of crystalline rocks (215 m); a section of suevite, impact melt rock, lithic impact breccia, and cataclasites (154 m); a thin interval of quartz sand and lithic blocks (26 m); a

Vortex-ring-induced large bubble entrainment during drop impact

KAUST Repository

Thoraval, Marie-Jean

2016-03-29

For a limited set of impact conditions, a drop impacting onto a pool can entrap an air bubble as large as its own size. The subsequent rise and rupture of this large bubble plays an important role in aerosol formation and gas transport at the air-sea interface. The large bubble is formed when the impact crater closes up near the pool surface and is known to occur only for drops that are prolate at impact. Herein we use experiments and numerical simulations to show that a concentrated vortex ring, produced in the neck between the drop and the pool, controls the crater deformations and pinchoff. However, it is not the strongest vortex rings that are responsible for the large bubbles, as they interact too strongly with the pool surface and self-destruct. Rather, it is somewhat weaker vortices that can deform the deeper craters, which manage to pinch off the large bubbles. These observations also explain why the strongest and most penetrating vortex rings emerging from drop impacts are not produced by oblate drops but by more prolate drop shapes, as had been observed in previous experiments.

The Beaverhead impact structure, SW Montana and Idaho: Implications for the regional geology of the western U.S.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fiske, P.S.; Hargaves, R.B.

1994-03-17

The Beaverhead impact structure in SW Montana and Idaho is an allochthonous fragment of a large impact structure ({approximately} 100 km diameter) that was transported some distance eastward during the Cretaceous Sevier orogeny. It is the first tectonic fragment of a large impact structure identified in the geologic record. The present evidence for impact consists of shatter cones, pseudotachylites, and planar deformation features in quartz. The age of the impact is not well constrained but is estimated to be Neoproterozoic to Cambrian (1000-500 Ma). The Beaverhead impact event must have created other features that may be preserved, elsewhere in western Montana and Idaho. These include proximal and distal ejecta (which may be misinterpreted as diamictites and/or tuff horizons) and other fragments of the crater floor containing shatter cones and pseudotachylite. A large circular gravity, magnetic and topographic anomaly, which could be the root of the impact structure, has been identified near Challis, Idaho. An enigmatic lithic tuff, identified in drill cores from the Challis area and an intraformational quartzite breccia in the Leaton Gulch area may be impact-related deposits, but no definitive evidence of shock metamorphism has been observed in these materials. The discovery of more pieces of the Beaverhead puzzle, as well as the recognition of other large impacts in the geologic record, are likely once the regional geologic community grows to accept the incidence of such events and becomes more familiar with the features of shock metamorphism in the field. To that end, the community of geologists in this area should integrate the Beaverhead structure into their research and teaching curriculum.

Large-scale sulfolane-impacted soil remediation at a gas plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lavoie, G.; Rockwell, K. [Biogenie Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2006-07-01

A large-scale sulfolane-impacted soil remediation project at a gas plant in central Alberta was discussed. The plant was operational from the 1960s to present and the former operation involved the Sulfinol process which resulted in groundwater contamination. In 2005, the client wanted to address the sources area. The Sulfinol process has been used since the 1960s to remove hydrogen sulfide and other corrosive gases from natural gas streams. Sulfinol uses sulfolane and diisopropanolamine. Sulfolane is toxic, non-volatile, and water soluble. The presentation also addressed the remediation objectives and an additional site assessment that was conducted to better delineate the sulfolane and sulphur plume, as well as metals. The findings of the ESA and site specific challenges were presented. These challenges included: plant operation concerns; numerous overhead, surface, and underground structures; large volume of impacted material, limited space available on site; several types of contaminants; and time required to perform the overall work. Next, the sulfolane remediation strategy was discussed including advantages and results of the investigation. Last, the results of the project were presented. It was found that there were no recordable safety incidents and that all remedial objectives were achieved. tabs., figs.

Impact of biology knowledge on the conservation and management of large pelagic sharks.

Science.gov (United States)

Yokoi, Hiroki; Ijima, Hirotaka; Ohshimo, Seiji; Yokawa, Kotaro

2017-09-06

Population growth rate, which depends on several biological parameters, is valuable information for the conservation and management of pelagic sharks, such as blue and shortfin mako sharks. However, reported biological parameters for estimating the population growth rates of these sharks differ by sex and display large variability. To estimate the appropriate population growth rate and clarify relationships between growth rate and relevant biological parameters, we developed a two-sex age-structured matrix population model and estimated the population growth rate using combinations of biological parameters. We addressed elasticity analysis and clarified the population growth rate sensitivity. For the blue shark, the estimated median population growth rate was 0.384 with a range of minimum and maximum values of 0.195-0.533, whereas those values of the shortfin mako shark were 0.102 and 0.007-0.318, respectively. The maturity age of male sharks had the largest impact for blue sharks, whereas that of female sharks had the largest impact for shortfin mako sharks. Hypotheses for the survival process of sharks also had a large impact on the population growth rate estimation. Both shark maturity age and survival rate were based on ageing validation data, indicating the importance of validating the quality of these data for the conservation and management of large pelagic sharks.

Large-Scale Structure and Hyperuniformity of Amorphous Ices

Science.gov (United States)

Martelli, Fausto; Torquato, Salvatore; Giovambattista, Nicolas; Car, Roberto

2017-09-01

We investigate the large-scale structure of amorphous ices and transitions between their different forms by quantifying their large-scale density fluctuations. Specifically, we simulate the isothermal compression of low-density amorphous ice (LDA) and hexagonal ice to produce high-density amorphous ice (HDA). Both HDA and LDA are nearly hyperuniform; i.e., they are characterized by an anomalous suppression of large-scale density fluctuations. By contrast, in correspondence with the nonequilibrium phase transitions to HDA, the presence of structural heterogeneities strongly suppresses the hyperuniformity and the system becomes hyposurficial (devoid of "surface-area fluctuations"). Our investigation challenges the largely accepted "frozen-liquid" picture, which views glasses as structurally arrested liquids. Beyond implications for water, our findings enrich our understanding of pressure-induced structural transformations in glasses.

Rapid impact testing for quantitative assessment of large populations of bridges

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yun; Prader, John; DeVitis, John; Deal, Adrienne; Zhang, Jian; Moon, Franklin; Aktan, A. Emin

2011-04-01

Although the widely acknowledged shortcomings of visual inspection have fueled significant advances in the areas of non-destructive evaluation and structural health monitoring (SHM) over the last several decades, the actual practice of bridge assessment has remained largely unchanged. The authors believe the lack of adoption, especially of SHM technologies, is related to the 'single structure' scenarios that drive most research. To overcome this, the authors have developed a concept for a rapid single-input, multiple-output (SIMO) impact testing device that will be capable of capturing modal parameters and estimating flexibility/deflection basins of common highway bridges during routine inspections. The device is composed of a trailer-mounted impact source (capable of delivering a 50 kip impact) and retractable sensor arms, and will be controlled by an automated data acquisition, processing and modal parameter estimation software. The research presented in this paper covers (a) the theoretical basis for SISO, SIMO and MIMO impact testing to estimate flexibility, (b) proof of concept numerical studies using a finite element model, and (c) a pilot implementation on an operating highway bridge. Results indicate that the proposed approach can estimate modal flexibility within a few percent of static flexibility; however, the estimated modal flexibility matrix is only reliable for the substructures associated with the various SIMO tests. To overcome this shortcoming, a modal 'stitching' approach for substructure integration to estimate the full Eigen vector matrix is developed, and preliminary results of these methods are also presented.

Fuel containment, lightning protection and damage tolerance in large composite primary aircraft structures

Science.gov (United States)

Griffin, Charles F.; James, Arthur M.

1985-01-01

The damage-tolerance characteristics of high strain-to-failure graphite fibers and toughened resins were evaluated. Test results show that conventional fuel tank sealing techniques are applicable to composite structures. Techniques were developed to prevent fuel leaks due to low-energy impact damage. For wing panels subjected to swept stroke lightning strikes, a surface protection of graphite/aluminum wire fabric and a fastener treatment proved effective in eliminating internal sparking and reducing structural damage. The technology features developed were incorporated and demonstrated in a test panel designed to meet the strength, stiffness, and damage tolerance requirements of a large commercial transport aircraft. The panel test results exceeded design requirements for all test conditions. Wing surfaces constructed with composites offer large weight savings if design allowable strains for compression can be increased from current levels.

The Impact of the Demand for Integration in the Large Multi-Business Unit Firm on the IT Organization Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, Eric Christopher

2012-01-01

Large, multi-business unit firms are decentralizing their overall corporate structures. At the same time, the structures of their IT organizations are becoming more centralized. This is contrary to current wisdom that the IT organization structure will mimic the structure of the corporation, all else being equal. Because the general business…

Cosmological parameters from large scale structure - geometric versus shape information

CERN Document Server

Hamann, Jan; Lesgourgues, Julien; Rampf, Cornelius; Wong, Yvonne Y Y

2010-01-01

The matter power spectrum as derived from large scale structure (LSS) surveys contains two important and distinct pieces of information: an overall smooth shape and the imprint of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). We investigate the separate impact of these two types of information on cosmological parameter estimation, and show that for the simplest cosmological models, the broad-band shape information currently contained in the SDSS DR7 halo power spectrum (HPS) is by far superseded by geometric information derived from the baryonic features. An immediate corollary is that contrary to popular beliefs, the upper limit on the neutrino mass m_\

Probes of large-scale structure in the Universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suto, Yasushi; Gorski, K.; Juszkiewicz, R.; Silk, J.

1988-01-01

Recent progress in observational techniques has made it possible to confront quantitatively various models for the large-scale structure of the Universe with detailed observational data. We develop a general formalism to show that the gravitational instability theory for the origin of large-scale structure is now capable of critically confronting observational results on cosmic microwave background radiation angular anisotropies, large-scale bulk motions and large-scale clumpiness in the galaxy counts. (author)

Local Impact Simulation of SC Wall Structures using Aircraft Engine Projectile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Chulhun; Lee, Jungwhee; Lee, Hanjoo; Jung, Raeyoung; Hyun, Changhun

2013-01-01

SC wall structure developed for nuclear power plant buildings consists of plain concrete and two steel plates on both surface of the concrete, while RC structure consists of re bar and concrete. SC structure has higher scabbing resistance than RC structure due to the action of steel plate on the rear side of impact. Therefore SC structure is known as more effective structure from the viewpoint of aircraft crash than RC structure. However, most of the recent researches and experiments about local impact damage deal with RC structures, and the effect of re bar and steel plate is not considered reasonably. Although Walter et al. and Make-work et al. suggested a formula for evaluating perforation depth of steel plate covered RC walls, most of the previous researches about SC structure are focused on perforation and scabbing due to the impact of hard projectile, rather than soft projectile such as an aircraft. In this research a soft projectile, i. e. aircraft engine, is utilized for impact simulation of RC and SC walls. To evaluate local damage of SC wall structures, parametric study with the variables of wall thickness and steel ratio of the cover plate is performed, and the results are compared with those of RC structures. Since scabbing was prevented by the steel plates, penetration mode of damage was observed in SC walls while scabbing damage was occurred in RC walls. It is confirmed that the rear steel plate not only contains concrete debris, but also reduces the internal damage of the concrete walls. Penetration depth of SC walls did not largely vary due to the increasing steel ratio, and similar results to RC walls were observed when the wall thickness is larger than a certain value since the impact resistance of SC wall is mainly governed by the thickness of concrete part. Therefore, it is expected that similar level of impact resistance to RC structure can be produced with the minimum thickness of steel plates of SC structure. According to these results, SC

Optimization of Large-Scale Structural Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, F. M.

solutions to small problems with one or two variables to the optimization of large structures such as bridges, ships and offshore structures. The methods used for salving these problems have evolved from being classical differential calculus and calculus of variation to very advanced numerical techniques...

Impact of large-scale tides on cosmological distortions via redshift-space power spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

Akitsu, Kazuyuki; Takada, Masahiro

2018-03-01

Although large-scale perturbations beyond a finite-volume survey region are not direct observables, these affect measurements of clustering statistics of small-scale (subsurvey) perturbations in large-scale structure, compared with the ensemble average, via the mode-coupling effect. In this paper we show that a large-scale tide induced by scalar perturbations causes apparent anisotropic distortions in the redshift-space power spectrum of galaxies in a way depending on an alignment between the tide, wave vector of small-scale modes and line-of-sight direction. Using the perturbation theory of structure formation, we derive a response function of the redshift-space power spectrum to large-scale tide. We then investigate the impact of large-scale tide on estimation of cosmological distances and the redshift-space distortion parameter via the measured redshift-space power spectrum for a hypothetical large-volume survey, based on the Fisher matrix formalism. To do this, we treat the large-scale tide as a signal, rather than an additional source of the statistical errors, and show that a degradation in the parameter is restored if we can employ the prior on the rms amplitude expected for the standard cold dark matter (CDM) model. We also discuss whether the large-scale tide can be constrained at an accuracy better than the CDM prediction, if the effects up to a larger wave number in the nonlinear regime can be included.

Large floating structures technological advances

CERN Document Server

Wang, BT

2015-01-01

This book surveys key projects that have seen the construction of large floating structures or have attained detailed conceptual designs. This compilation of key floating structures in a single volume captures the innovative features that mark the technological advances made in this field of engineering, and will provide a useful reference for ideas, analysis, design, and construction of these unique and emerging urban projects to offshore and marine engineers, urban planners, architects and students.

Impact structures in Africa: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Reimold, Wolf Uwe; Koeberl, Christian

2014-01-01

More than 50 years of space and planetary exploration and concomitant studies of terrestrial impact structures have demonstrated that impact cratering has been a fundamental process – an essential part of planetary evolution – ever since the beginning of accretion and has played a major role in planetary evolution throughout the solar system and beyond. This not only pertains to the development of the planets but to evolution of life as well. The terrestrial impact record represents only a small fraction of the bombardment history that Earth experienced throughout its evolution. While remote sensing investigations of planetary surfaces provide essential information about surface evolution and surface processes, they do not provide the information required for understanding the ultra-high strain rate, high-pressure, and high-temperature impact process. Thus, hands-on investigations of rocks from terrestrial impact craters, shock experimentation for pressure and temperature calibration of impact-related deformation of rocks and minerals, as well as parameter studies pertaining to the physics and chemistry of cratering and ejecta formation and emplacement, and laboratory studies of impact-generated lithologies are mandatory tools. These, together with numerical modeling analysis of impact physics, form the backbone of impact cratering studies. Here, we review the current status of knowledge about impact cratering – and provide a detailed account of the African impact record, which has been expanded vastly since a first overview was published in 1994. No less than 19 confirmed impact structures, and one shatter cone occurrence without related impact crater are now known from Africa. In addition, a number of impact glass, tektite and spherule layer occurrences are known. The 49 sites with proposed, but not yet confirmed, possible impact structures contain at least a considerable number of structures that, from available information, hold the promise to be able to

Impact basins on Ganymede and Callisto and implications for the large-projectile size distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, R.; Neukum, G.; Wolf, U.; Greeley, R.; Klemaszewski, J. E.

2003-04-01

It has been conjectured that the projectile family which impacted the Galilean Satellites of Jupiter was depleted in large projectiles, concluded from a ''dearth'' in large craters (> 60 km) (e.g. [1]). Geologic mapping, aided by spatial filtering of new Galileo as well as older Voyager data shows, however, that large projectiles have left an imprint of palimpsests and multi-ring structures on both Ganymede and Callisto (e. g. [2]). Most of these impact structures are heavily degraded and hence difficult to recognize. In this paper, we present (1) maps showing the outlines of these basins, and (2) derive updated crater size-frequency diagrams of the two satellites. The crater diameter from a palimpsest diameter was reconstructed using a formula derived by [3]. The calculation of the crater diameter Dc from the outer boundary Do of a multi-ring structure is much less constrained and on the order of Dc = k \\cdot Do , with k ≈ 0.25-0.3 [4]. Despite the uncertainties in locating the ''true'' crater rims, the resulting shape of the distribution in the range from kilometer-sized craters to sizes of ≈ 500 km is lunar-like and strongly suggests a collisionally evolved projectile family, very likely of asteroidal origin. An alternative explanation for this shape could be that comets are collisionally evolved bodies in a similar way as are asteroids, which as of yet is still uncertain and in discussion. Also, the crater size distributions on Ganymede and Callisto are shifted towards smaller crater sizes compared to the Moon, caused by a much lower impact velocity of impactors which preferentially were in planetocentric orbits [5]. References: [1] Strom et al., JGR 86, 8659-8674, 1981. [2] J. E. Klemaszewski et al., Ann. Geophys. 16, suppl. III, 1998. [3] Iaquinta-Ridolfi &Schenk, LPSC XXVI (abstr.), 651-652, 1995. [4] Schenk &Moore, LPSC XXX, abstr. No. 1786 [CD-Rom], 1999. [5] Horedt & Neukum, JGR 89, 10,405-10,410, 1984.

Use of large-scale multi-configuration EMI measurements to characterize heterogeneous subsurface structures and their impact on crop productivity

Science.gov (United States)

Brogi, Cosimo; Huisman, Johan Alexander; Kaufmann, Manuela Sarah; von Hebel, Christian; van der Kruk, Jan; Vereecken, Harry

2017-04-01

Soil subsurface structures can play a key role in crop performance, especially during water stress periods. Geophysical techniques like electromagnetic induction EMI have been shown to be able of providing information about dominant shallow subsurface features. However, previous work with EMI has typically not reached beyond the field scale. The objective of this study is to use large-scale multi-configuration EMI to characterize patterns of soil structural organization (layering and texture) and the associated impact on crop vegetation at the km2 scale. For this, we carried out an intensive measurement campaign and collected high spatial resolution multi-configuration EMI data on an agricultural area of approx. 1 km2 (102 ha) near Selhausen (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) with a maximum depth of investigation of around 2.5 m. We measured using two EMI instruments simultaneously with a total of nine coil configurations. The instruments were placed inside polyethylene sleds that were pulled by an all-terrain-vehicle along parallel lines with a spacing of 2 to 2.5 m. The driving speed was between 5 and 7 km h-1 and we used a 0.2 Hz sampling frequency to obtain an in-line resolution of approximately 0.3 m. The survey area consists of almost 50 different fields managed in different way. The EMI measurements were collected between April and December 2016 within a few days after the harvest of each field. After data acquisition, EMI data were automatically filtered, temperature corrected, and interpolated onto a common grid. The resulting EMI maps allowed us to identify three main areas with different subsurface heterogeneities. The differences between these areas are likely related to the late quaternary geological history (Pleistocene and Holocene) of the area that resulted in spatially variable soil texture and layering, which has a strong impact on spatio-temporal soil water content variability. The high resolution surveys also allowed us to identify small scale

The impact of large structural brain changes in chronic stroke patients on the electric field caused by transcranial brain stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Minjoli, Sena; Saturnino, Guilherme B; Blicher, Jakob Udby; Stagg, Charlotte J; Siebner, Hartwig R; Antunes, André; Thielscher, Axel

2017-01-01

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) are two types of non-invasive transcranial brain stimulation (TBS). They are useful tools for stroke research and may be potential adjunct therapies for functional recovery. However, stroke often causes large cerebral lesions, which are commonly accompanied by a secondary enlargement of the ventricles and atrophy. These structural alterations substantially change the conductivity distribution inside the head, which may have potentially important consequences for both brain stimulation methods. We therefore aimed to characterize the impact of these changes on the spatial distribution of the electric field generated by both TBS methods. In addition to confirming the safety of TBS in the presence of large stroke-related structural changes, our aim was to clarify whether targeted stimulation is still possible. Realistic head models containing large cortical and subcortical stroke lesions in the right parietal cortex were created using MR images of two patients. For TMS, the electric field of a double coil was simulated using the finite-element method. Systematic variations of the coil position relative to the lesion were tested. For TDCS, the finite-element method was used to simulate a standard approach with two electrode pads, and the position of one electrode was systematically varied. For both TMS and TDCS, the lesion caused electric field "hot spots" in the cortex. However, these maxima were not substantially stronger than those seen in a healthy control. The electric field pattern induced by TMS was not substantially changed by the lesions. However, the average field strength generated by TDCS was substantially decreased. This effect occurred for both head models and even when both electrodes were distant to the lesion, caused by increased current shunting through the lesion and enlarged ventricles. Judging from the similar peak field strengths compared to the healthy

Calculation of forces arising from impacting projectiles upon yielding structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drittler, K.; Gruner, P.; Krivy, J.

1977-01-01

Calculations concerning the impact of airplanes upon nuclear power plant buildings usually imply that the building 'acts' as a rigid target. This assumption is justified for considerations concerning the structural integrity of the building being hit. However, for investigating induced vibrations of components within the structure, this approach might -in general- be too conservative. It is expected, that yielding of the structure during impact reduces the peak values of the loads and changes the temporal behavior of the load function which is obtained for a rigid target. To calculate the changes of the load function which are due to deformations of the structure, Riera's method is extended for the case of a yielding target. In view of the applications of the calculations to the impact of airplanes upon buildings which are constructed to withstand loads of this kind without serious damage and without large deformations, it is possible to simplify the calculations to some extent. That is, the investigations need not take into account in detail the behavior of the target during impact. The calculations are performed with a one-dimensional model for the projectile. The direction of impact is perpendicular to the target surface; direction of impact and projectile axis coincide. The calculations were performed for several initial velocities of the projectiles simulating a fast flying military airplane. Variations of the peak values of the load functions as compared to corresponding values for a rigid target do not exceed about 10%. The overall temporal behavior of the load curves turns out to be not very sensitive to the yielding of the target, though, in some cases displacements in time of the peak positions within a single load curve do arise

The impact of sample size and marker selection on the study of haplotype structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sun Xiao

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Several studies of haplotype structures in the human genome in various populations have found that the human chromosomes are structured such that each chromosome can be divided into many blocks, within which there is limited haplotype diversity. In addition, only a few genetic markers in a putative block are needed to capture most of the diversity within a block. There has been no systematic empirical study of the effects of sample size and marker set on the identified block structures and representative marker sets, however. The purpose of this study was to conduct a detailed empirical study to examine such impacts. Towards this goal, we have analysed three representative autosomal regions from a large genome-wide study of haplotypes with samples consisting of African-Americans and samples consisting of Japanese and Chinese individuals. For both populations, we have found that the sample size and marker set have significant impact on the number of blocks and the total number of representative markers identified. The marker set in particular has very strong impacts, and our results indicate that the marker density in the original datasets may not be adequate to allow a meaningful characterisation of haplotype structures. In general, we conclude that we need a relatively large sample size and a very dense marker panel in the study of haplotype structures in human populations.

Structure and origin of Australian ring and dome features with reference to the search for asteroid impact events

Science.gov (United States)

Glikson, Andrew

2018-01-01

Ring, dome and crater features on the Australian continent and shelf include (A) 38 structures of confirmed or probable asteroid and meteorite impact origin and (B) numerous buried and exposed ring, dome and crater features of undefined origin. A large number of the latter include structural and geophysical elements consistent with impact structures, pending test by field investigations and/or drilling. This paper documents and briefly describes 43 ring and dome features with the aim of appraising their similarities and differences from those of impact structures. Discrimination between impact structures and igneous plugs, volcanic caldera and salt domes require field work and/or drilling. Where crater-like morphological patterns intersect pre-existing linear structural features and contain central morphological highs and unique thrust and fault patterns an impact connection needs to tested in the field. Hints of potential buried impact structures may be furnished by single or multi-ring TMI patterns, circular TMI quiet zones, corresponding gravity patterns, low velocity and non-reflective seismic zones.

Structural impact detection with vibro-haptic interfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Hwee-Kwon; Park, Gyuhae; Todd, Michael D.

2016-07-01

This paper presents a new sensing paradigm for structural impact detection using vibro-haptic interfaces. The goal of this study is to allow humans to ‘feel’ structural responses (impact, shape changes, and damage) and eventually determine health conditions of a structure. The target applications for this study are aerospace structures, in particular, airplane wings. Both hardware and software components are developed to realize the vibro-haptic-based impact detection system. First, L-shape piezoelectric sensor arrays are deployed to measure the acoustic emission data generated by impacts on a wing. Unique haptic signals are then generated by processing the measured acoustic emission data. These haptic signals are wirelessly transmitted to human arms, and with vibro-haptic interface, human pilots could identify impact location, intensity and possibility of subsequent damage initiation. With the haptic interface, the experimental results demonstrate that human could correctly identify such events, while reducing false indications on structural conditions by capitalizing on human’s classification capability. Several important aspects of this study, including development of haptic interfaces, design of optimal human training strategies, and extension of the haptic capability into structural impact detection are summarized in this paper.

Review of Large Spacecraft Deployable Membrane Antenna Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhi-Quan; Qiu, Hui; Li, Xiao; Yang, Shu-Li

2017-11-01

The demand for large antennas in future space missions has increasingly stimulated the development of deployable membrane antenna structures owing to their light weight and small stowage volume. However, there is little literature providing a comprehensive review and comparison of different membrane antenna structures. Space-borne membrane antenna structures are mainly classified as either parabolic or planar membrane antenna structures. For parabolic membrane antenna structures, there are five deploying and forming methods, including inflation, inflation-rigidization, elastic ribs driven, Shape Memory Polymer (SMP)-inflation, and electrostatic forming. The development and detailed comparison of these five methods are presented. Then, properties of membrane materials (including polyester film and polyimide film) for parabolic membrane antennas are compared. Additionally, for planar membrane antenna structures, frame shapes have changed from circular to rectangular, and different tensioning systems have emerged successively, including single Miura-Natori, double, and multi-layer tensioning systems. Recent advances in structural configurations, tensioning system design, and dynamic analysis for planar membrane antenna structures are investigated. Finally, future trends for large space membrane antenna structures are pointed out and technical problems are proposed, including design and analysis of membrane structures, materials and processes, membrane packing, surface accuracy stability, and test and verification technology. Through a review of large deployable membrane antenna structures, guidance for space membrane-antenna research and applications is provided.

Large-scale structure of the Universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doroshkevich, A.G.

1978-01-01

The problems, discussed at the ''Large-scale Structure of the Universe'' symposium are considered on a popular level. Described are the cell structure of galaxy distribution in the Universe, principles of mathematical galaxy distribution modelling. The images of cell structures, obtained after reprocessing with the computer are given. Discussed are three hypothesis - vortical, entropic, adiabatic, suggesting various processes of galaxy and galaxy clusters origin. A considerable advantage of the adiabatic hypothesis is recognized. The relict radiation, as a method of direct studying the processes taking place in the Universe is considered. The large-scale peculiarities and small-scale fluctuations of the relict radiation temperature enable one to estimate the turbance properties at the pre-galaxy stage. The discussion of problems, pertaining to studying the hot gas, contained in galaxy clusters, the interactions within galaxy clusters and with the inter-galaxy medium, is recognized to be a notable contribution into the development of theoretical and observational cosmology

Attention to impact pathways in EISs of large dam projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brismar, Anna

2004-01-01

The importance of addressing cumulative environmental impacts in Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) of large development projects is increasingly underlined. However, cumulative impacts are generated through complex impact pathways, involving multiple root causes and lower and higher order effects, interlinked by cause-effect relationships. Consideration to potential impact pathways may thus be difficult without appropriate analytical methods, expertise, and supportive Environmental Impact Assessment guidelines and terms-of-references (TOR). This paper presents the results of an analysis of six EISs prepared for large dam projects between 1994 and 2001. The objective was to analyze if, how, and to what extent potential impact pathways involved in the generation of dam-related cumulative impacts have been addressed in the analyzed material. For this purpose, a theoretical framework was developed, which identifies four key root causes, their potential effects, and associated cause-effect relationships. The analysis revealed various shortcomings. Important imbalances were found in the degree of attention given to effects of different categories. Lower order effects received greater attention than higher order, and the potential effects of reservoir filling were more extensively attended to than those of flow blockage, storage, and regulation. Most importantly, little effort was made to carefully explain the potential impact pathways involved; root causes were often referred to in general terms only, and potential pathways leading up to an anticipated higher order effect or following upon an expected lower order effect were often inadequately addressed or ignored. Probable reasons for the discovered shortcomings are discussed and recommendations are presented for improving the World Bank EIA guidelines for large dam projects

Impact damages modeling in laminated composite structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kreculj Dragan D.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Laminated composites have an important application in modern engineering structures. They are characterized by extraordinary properties, such as: high strength and stiffness and lightweight. Nevertheless, a serious obstacle to more widespread use of those materials is their sensitivity to the impact loads. Impacts cause initiation and development of certain types of damages. Failures that occur in laminated composite structures can be intralaminar and interlaminar. To date it was developed a lot of simulation models for impact damages analysis in laminates. Those models can replace real and expensive testing in laminated structures with a certain accuracy. By using specialized software the damage parameters and distributions can be determined (at certain conditions on laminate structures. With performing numerical simulation of impact on composite laminates there are corresponding results valid for the analysis of these structures.

Structural design for aircraft impact loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, R.; Heckhausen, H.; Chen, C.; Rieck, P.J.; Lemons, G.W.

1977-01-01

The Soft Shell-Hardcore approach to nuclear power plant auxiliary structure design was developed to attenuate the crash effects of impacting aircraft. This report is an initial investigation into defining the important structural features involved that would allow the Soft Shell-Hardcore design to successfully sustain the postulated aircraft impact. Also specified for purposes of this study are aircraft impact locations and the type and velocity of impacting aircraft. The purpose of this initial investigation is to determine the feasibility of the two 0.5 m thick walls of the Soft Shell with the simplest possible mathematical model

The environmental impact of large dams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Razvan, E.

1992-01-01

The campaigns of conservationist groups against dams are generally based on rather emotional issues. This paper puts the situation in a more rational perspective, by analysing the various claims which tend to be put forward concerning the impacts of large dams, examining the validity of the arguments, looking at ways in which any adverse effects can be mitigated, and presenting the complexity of the problems. (author)

Impact simulation in the gravity regime: Exploring the effects of parent body size and internal structure

Science.gov (United States)

Benavidez, P. G.; Durda, D. D.; Enke, B.; Bagatin, A. Campo; Richardson, D. C.; Asphaug, E.; Bottke, W. F.

2018-04-01

In this work we extend the systematic investigation of impact outcomes of 100-km-diameter targets started by Durda et al. (2007) and Benavidez et al. (2012) to targets of D = 400 km using the same range of impact conditions and two internal structures: monolithic and rubble-pile. We performed a new set of simulations in the gravity regime for targets of 400 km in diameter using these same internal structures. This provides a large set of 600 simulations performed in a systematic way that permits a thorough analysis of the impact outcomes and evaluation of the main features of the size frequency distribution due mostly to self-gravity. In addition, we use the impact outcomes to attempt to constrain the impact conditions of the asteroid belt where known asteroid families with a large expected parent body were formed. We have found fairly good matches for the Eunomia and Hygiea families. In addition, we identified a potential acceptable match to the Vesta family from a monolithic parent body of 468 km. The impact conditions of the best matches suggest that these families were formed in a dynamically excited belt. The results also suggest that the parent body of the Eunomia family could be a monolithic body of 382 km diameter, while the one for Hygiea could have a rubble-pile internal structure of 416 km diameter.

Impact of constrained rewiring on network structure and node dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Rattana, P.; Berthouze, L.; Kiss, I. Z.

2014-11-01

In this paper, we study an adaptive spatial network. We consider a susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) epidemic on the network, with a link or contact rewiring process constrained by spatial proximity. In particular, we assume that susceptible nodes break links with infected nodes independently of distance and reconnect at random to susceptible nodes available within a given radius. By systematically manipulating this radius we investigate the impact of rewiring on the structure of the network and characteristics of the epidemic. We adopt a step-by-step approach whereby we first study the impact of rewiring on the network structure in the absence of an epidemic, then with nodes assigned a disease status but without disease dynamics, and finally running network and epidemic dynamics simultaneously. In the case of no labeling and no epidemic dynamics, we provide both analytic and semianalytic formulas for the value of clustering achieved in the network. Our results also show that the rewiring radius and the network's initial structure have a pronounced effect on the endemic equilibrium, with increasingly large rewiring radiuses yielding smaller disease prevalence.

The impact of large structural brain changes in chronic stroke patients on the electric field caused by transcranial brain stimulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sena Minjoli

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS and transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS are two types of non-invasive transcranial brain stimulation (TBS. They are useful tools for stroke research and may be potential adjunct therapies for functional recovery. However, stroke often causes large cerebral lesions, which are commonly accompanied by a secondary enlargement of the ventricles and atrophy. These structural alterations substantially change the conductivity distribution inside the head, which may have potentially important consequences for both brain stimulation methods. We therefore aimed to characterize the impact of these changes on the spatial distribution of the electric field generated by both TBS methods. In addition to confirming the safety of TBS in the presence of large stroke-related structural changes, our aim was to clarify whether targeted stimulation is still possible. Realistic head models containing large cortical and subcortical stroke lesions in the right parietal cortex were created using MR images of two patients. For TMS, the electric field of a double coil was simulated using the finite-element method. Systematic variations of the coil position relative to the lesion were tested. For TDCS, the finite-element method was used to simulate a standard approach with two electrode pads, and the position of one electrode was systematically varied. For both TMS and TDCS, the lesion caused electric field “hot spots” in the cortex. However, these maxima were not substantially stronger than those seen in a healthy control. The electric field pattern induced by TMS was not substantially changed by the lesions. However, the average field strength generated by TDCS was substantially decreased. This effect occurred for both head models and even when both electrodes were distant to the lesion, caused by increased current shunting through the lesion and enlarged ventricles. Judging from the similar peak field strengths compared

Impact of a Cosmic Body into Earth's Ocean and the Generation of Large Tsunami Waves: Insight from Numerical Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Wünnemann, K.; Collins, G. S.; Weiss, R.

2010-12-01

The strike of a cosmic body into a marine environment differs in several respects from impact on land. Oceans cover approximately 70% of the Earth's surface, implying not only that oceanic impact is a very likely scenario for future impacts but also that most impacts in Earth's history must have happened in marine environments. Therefore, the study of oceanic impact is imperative in two respects: (1) to quantify the hazard posed by future oceanic impacts, including the potential threat of large impact-generated tsunami-like waves, and (2) to reconstruct Earth's impact record by accounting for the large number of potentially undiscovered crater structures in the ocean crust. Reconstruction of the impact record is of crucial importance both for assessing the frequency of collision events in the past and for better predicting the probability of future impact. We summarize the advances in the study of oceanic impact over the last decades and focus in particular on how numerical models have improved our understanding of cratering in the oceanic environment and the generation of waves by impact. We focus on insight gleaned from numerical modeling studies into the deceleration of the projectile by the water, cratering of the ocean floor, the late stage modification of the crater due to gravitational collapse, and water resurge. Furthermore, we discuss the generation and propagation of large tsunami-like waves as a result of a strike of a cosmic body in marine environments.

Assessment of Containment Structures Against Missile Impact Threats

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LI Q M

2006-01-01

In order to ensure the highest safety requirements,nuclear power plant structures (the containment structures,the fuel storages and transportation systems) should be assessed against all possible internal and external impact threats.The internal impact threats include kinetic missiles generated by the failure of high pressure vessels and pipes,the failure of high speed rotating machineries and accidental drops.The external impact threats may come from airborne missiles,aircraft impact,explosion blast and fragments.The impact effects of these threats on concrete and steel structures in a nuclear power plant are discussed.Methods and procedures for the impact assessment of nuclear power plants are introduced.Recent studies on penetration and perforation mechanics as well as progresses on dynamic properties of concrete-like materials are presented to increase the understanding of the impact effects on concrete containment structures.

Exploring the large-scale structure of Taylor–Couette turbulence through Large-Eddy Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Ostilla-Mónico, Rodolfo; Zhu, Xiaojue; Verzicco, Roberto

2018-04-01

Large eddy simulations (LES) of Taylor-Couette (TC) flow, the flow between two co-axial and independently rotating cylinders are performed in an attempt to explore the large-scale axially-pinned structures seen in experiments and simulations. Both static and dynamic LES models are used. The Reynolds number is kept fixed at Re = 3.4 · 104, and the radius ratio η = ri /ro is set to η = 0.909, limiting the effects of curvature and resulting in frictional Reynolds numbers of around Re τ ≈ 500. Four rotation ratios from Rot = ‑0.0909 to Rot = 0.3 are simulated. First, the LES of TC is benchmarked for different rotation ratios. Both the Smagorinsky model with a constant of cs = 0.1 and the dynamic model are found to produce reasonable results for no mean rotation and cyclonic rotation, but deviations increase for increasing rotation. This is attributed to the increasing anisotropic character of the fluctuations. Second, “over-damped” LES, i.e. LES with a large Smagorinsky constant is performed and is shown to reproduce some features of the large-scale structures, even when the near-wall region is not adequately modeled. This shows the potential for using over-damped LES for fast explorations of the parameter space where large-scale structures are found.

Modeling, Analysis, and Optimization Issues for Large Space Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Pinson, L. D. (Compiler); Amos, A. K. (Compiler); Venkayya, V. B. (Compiler)

1983-01-01

Topics concerning the modeling, analysis, and optimization of large space structures are discussed including structure-control interaction, structural and structural dynamics modeling, thermal analysis, testing, and design.

The photon structure function at large Q2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cordier, A.

1987-01-01

LEP II offers the unique opportunity to measure the photon structure function over a large Q 2 range up to ∼ 2000 GeV 2 . Two crucial predictions of QCD can be tested in this experiment: the linear rise in log Q 2 as a consequence of asymptotic freedom, and the large renormalization O(1) of the shape of the structure function due to gluon bremsstrahlung, unperturbed by higher-twist effects

Hybrid Laser Welding of Large Steel Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Farrokhi, Farhang

Manufacturing of large steel structures requires the processing of thick-section steels. Welding is one of the main processes during the manufacturing of such structures and includes a significant part of the production costs. One of the ways to reduce the production costs is to use the hybrid...... laser welding technology instead of the conventional arc welding methods. However, hybrid laser welding is a complicated process that involves several complex physical phenomena that are highly coupled. Understanding of the process is very important for obtaining quality welds in an efficient way....... This thesis investigates two different challenges related to the hybrid laser welding of thick-section steel plates. Employing empirical and analytical approaches, this thesis attempts to provide further knowledge towards obtaining quality welds in the manufacturing of large steel structures....

Meteorite impact craters and possibly impact-related structures in Estonia

Science.gov (United States)

Plado, Jüri

2012-10-01

Three structures (Neugrund, Kärdla, and Kaali) of proven impact origin make Estonia the most cratered country in the world by area. In addition, several candidate impact structures exist, waiting for future studies to determine their origin. This article is an overview of these proven and possible impact structures, including some breccia layers. It summarizes the information and descriptions of the morphology; geological characteristics; and mineralogical, chemical, and geophysical data available in the literature. The overview was prepared to make information in many earlier publications in local journals (many of which had been published in Estonian or Russian) accessible to the international community. This review summarizes the facts and observations in a historical fashion, summarizing the current state of knowledge with some additional comments, and providing the references.

A general theory of impacts and mass extinctions, and the consequences of large-body impact on the Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Rampino, M. R.

1994-01-01

The theory that large-body impacts are the primary cause of mass extinctions of life on the Earth now has a sound theoretical and observational foundation. A convergence of evidence suggests that the biosphere may be a sensitive detector of large impact events, which result in the recorded global mass extinction pulses. The astronomically observed flux of asteroids and comets in the neighborhood of the Earth, and the threshold impact size calculated to produce a global environment catastrophe, can be used to predict a time history of large impact events and related mass extinctions of life that agrees well with the record of approx. 24 extinction events in the last 540 m.y.

Low-Frequency Acoustic Noise Mitigation Characteristics of Metamaterials-Inspired Vibro-Impact Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Rekhy, Anuj

Acoustic absorbers like foams, fiberglass or liners have been used commonly in structures for infrastructural, industrial, automotive and aerospace applications to mitigate noise. However, these conventional materials have limited effectiveness to mitigate low-frequency (LF) acoustic waves with frequency less than 400 Hz owing to the need for impractically large mass or volume. LF acoustic waves contribute significantly towards environmental noise pollution as well as unwanted structural responses. Therefore, there is a need to develop lightweight, compact, structurally-integrated solutions to mitigate LF noise in several applications. Inspired by metamaterials, which are man-made structural materials that derive their unique dynamic behavior not just from material constituents but more so from engineered configurations, tuned mass-loaded membranes as vibro-impact attachments on a baseline structure are investigated to determine their performance as a LF acoustic barrier. The hypothesis is that the LF incident waves are up-converted via impact to higher modes in the baseline structure which are far more evanescent and may then be effectively mitigated using conventional means. Such Metamaterials-Inspired Vibro-Impact Structures (MIVIS) could be tuned to match the dominant frequency content of LF acoustic sources in specific applications. Prototype MIVIS unit cells were designed and tested to study the energy transfer mechanism via impact-induced frequency up-conversion, and the consequent sound transmission loss. Structural acoustic simulations were done to predict responses using models based on normal incidence transmission loss tests. Experimental proof-of-concept was achieved and further correlations to simulations were utilized to optimize the energy up-conversion mechanism using parametric studies. Up to 36 dB of sound transmission loss increase is obtained at the anti-resonance frequency (326 Hz) within a tunable LF bandwidth of about 200 Hz while impact

The Winfrith horizontal impact rig

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barr, P.

1985-12-01

The Horizontal Impact Rig has been designed to allow studies of the impact of radioactive material transport containers and their associated transport vehicles and impact limiters, using large scale models, and to allow physically large missiles to be projected for studying the impact behaviour of metal and concrete structures. It provides an adequately rigid support structure for impact experiments with targets of large dimensions. Details of its design, instrumentation, performance prediction and construction are given. (U.K.)

Simulation of High Velocity Impact on Composite Structures - Model Implementation and Validation

Science.gov (United States)

Schueler, Dominik; Toso-Pentecôte, Nathalie; Voggenreiter, Heinz

2016-08-01

High velocity impact on composite aircraft structures leads to the formation of flexural waves that can cause severe damage to the structure. Damage and failure can occur within the plies and/or in the resin rich interface layers between adjacent plies. In the present paper a modelling methodology is documented that captures intra- and inter-laminar damage and their interrelations by use of shell element layers representing sub-laminates that are connected with cohesive interface layers to simulate delamination. This approach allows the simulation of large structures while still capturing the governing damage mechanisms and their interactions. The paper describes numerical algorithms for the implementation of a Ladevèze continuum damage model for the ply and methods to derive input parameters for the cohesive zone model. By comparison with experimental results from gas gun impact tests the potential and limitations of the modelling approach are discussed.

The mechanics of large meteoroid impacts in the earth's oceans

Science.gov (United States)

Melosh, H. J.

1982-01-01

The sequence of events subsequent to the impact of a large meteoroid in an ocean differs in several respects from an impact on land. Even if the meteoroid is large enough to produce a crater on the sea floor (that is, larger than a few km in diameter), the presence of water affects the character of the early-time events. The principal difference between land and oceanic impacts is the expansion of shock-vaporized water following an oceanic impact. A steam explosion follows the meteoroid's deposition of energy in the target. Shocked water expands from an initial pressure of 3 to 6 Mbar for 20-30 km/second impacts, ejecting water vapor and dust from the vaporized meteoroid several hundred km into the atmosphere. The violent vapor plume thus formed may explain how dust with a dominantly meteoritic composition can be dispersed to form a world-wide dust layer, as required by the Alvarez hypothesis.

Geophysical characterization of the Chicxulub impact structure

Science.gov (United States)

Gulick, S. P.; Christeson, G. L.; Barton, P. J.; Grieve, R. A.; Morgan, J. V.; Fucugauchi, J. U.

2013-05-01

The Chicxulub impact structure, conclusively linked to the 65.5 Ma mass extinction, includes three sets of inward dipping, ring faults, between 70 and 130 km radially with a topographically elevated inner rim, at the inner edge of these faults except in the northeast where such a rim is absent. Slump blocks offset by large faults result in a terrace zone, that steps down from the inner rim into the annular trough. The inner blocks underlie the peak ring --an internal topographic ring of topography that exhibits variable relief due to target asymmetries and bounds the coherent melt sheet within the central basin. Impact breccias lie within the annular trough above the slump blocks and proximal ejecta and within the central basin above the melt sheet. Beneath the melt sheet is the top of the central uplift, displaced by >10 km vertically, and an upwarped Moho, displaced by 1-2 km. These interpretations and hydrocode models support the following working hypothesis for the formation of Chicxulub: a 50 km radius transient cavity, lined with melt and impact breccia, formed within 10s of seconds of the 65.5 Ma impact and within minutes, weakened rebounding crust rose above kilometers above the surface, the transient crater rim underwent localized, brittle deformation and collapsed into large slump blocks resulting in a inner rim being preserved 70-85 km from crater center, and ring faults forming farther outwards. The overheightened central uplift of weakened crust collapsed outwards forming the peak ring, and buried the inner slump blocks. Most impact melt that lined the transient cavity was transported on top of the central uplift, ultimately emplaced as a coherent <3-km thick melt sheet that shallows within the inner regions of the peak ring. Smaller pockets of melt flowed into the annular trough. During and likely for sometime after these events, slope collapse, proximal ejecta, ground surge, and tsunami waves infilled the annular trough with sediments up to 3 km

Impact of ultralight axion self-interactions on the large scale structure of the Universe

Science.gov (United States)

Desjacques, Vincent; Kehagias, Alex; Riotto, Antonio

2018-01-01

Ultralight axions have sparked attention because their tiny mass m ˜10-22 eV , which leads to a kiloparsec-scale de Broglie wavelength comparable to the size of a dwarf galaxy, could alleviate the so-called small-scale crisis of massive cold dark matter (CDM) candidates. However, recent analyses of the Lyman-α forest power spectrum set a tight lower bound on their mass of m ≳10-21 eV which makes them much less relevant from an astrophysical point of view. An important caveat to these numerical studies is that they do not take into account self-interactions among ultralight axions. Furthermore, for axions which acquired a mass through nonperturbative effects, this self-interaction is attractive and, therefore, could counteract the quantum "pressure" induced by the strong delocalization of the particles. In this work, we show that even a tiny attractive interaction among ultralight axions can have a significant impact on the stability of cosmic structures at low redshift. After a brief review of known results about solitons in the absence of gravity, we discuss the stability of filamentary and pancakelike solutions when quantum pressure, attractive interactions and gravity are present. The analysis based on 1 degree of freedom, namely the breathing mode, reveals that pancakes are stable, while filaments are unstable if the mass per unit length is larger than a critical value. However, we show that pancakes are unstable against transverse perturbations. We expect this to be true for halos and filaments as well. Instabilities driven by the breathing mode will not be seen in the low column density Lyman-α forest unless the axion decay constant is extremely small, f ≲1013 GeV . Notwithstanding, axion solitonic cores could leave a detectable signature in the Lyman-α forest if the normalization of the unknown axion core—filament mass relation is ˜100 larger than it is for spherical halos. We hope our work motivates future numerical studies of the impact of axion

Large-scale structure observables in general relativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Donghui; Schmidt, Fabian

2015-01-01

We review recent studies that rigorously define several key observables of the large-scale structure of the Universe in a general relativistic context. Specifically, we consider (i) redshift perturbation of cosmic clock events; (ii) distortion of cosmic rulers, including weak lensing shear and magnification; and (iii) observed number density of tracers of the large-scale structure. We provide covariant and gauge-invariant expressions of these observables. Our expressions are given for a linearly perturbed flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker metric including scalar, vector, and tensor metric perturbations. While we restrict ourselves to linear order in perturbation theory, the approach can be straightforwardly generalized to higher order. (paper)

Some Statistics for Measuring Large-Scale Structure

OpenAIRE

Brandenberger, Robert H.; Kaplan, David M.; A, Stephen; Ramsey

1993-01-01

Good statistics for measuring large-scale structure in the Universe must be able to distinguish between different models of structure formation. In this paper, two and three dimensional ``counts in cell" statistics and a new ``discrete genus statistic" are applied to toy versions of several popular theories of structure formation: random phase cold dark matter model, cosmic string models, and global texture scenario. All three statistics appear quite promising in terms of differentiating betw...

Cooling pipeline disposing structure for large-scaled cryogenic structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, Hiroyuki.

1996-01-01

The present invention concerns an electromagnetic force supporting structure for superconductive coils. As the size of a cryogenic structure is increased, since it takes much cooling time, temperature difference between cooling pipelines and the cryogenic structure is increased over a wide range, and difference of heat shrinkage is increased to increase thermal stresses. Then, in the cooling pipelines for a large scaled cryogenic structure, the cooling pipelines and the structure are connected by way of a thin metal plate made of a material having a heat conductivity higher than that of the material of the structure by one digit or more, and the thin metal plate is bent. The displacement between the cryogenic structure and the cooling pipelines caused by heat shrinkage is absorbed by the elongation/shrinkage of the bent structure of the thin metal plate, and the thermal stresses due to the displacement is reduced. In addition, the heat of the cryogenic structures is transferred by way of the thin metal plate. Then, the cooling pipelines can be secured to the cryogenic structure such that cooling by heat transfer is enabled by absorbing a great deviation or three dimensional displacement due to the difference of the temperature distribution between the cryogenic structure enlarged in the scale and put into the three dimensional shape, and the cooling pipelines. (N.H.)

Impact of New large Aircraft on Airport Design

Science.gov (United States)

1998-03-01

The object of this project is to assess the impact of the introduction of proposed new large aircraft (NLA) on current airport design standards and administered by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This report identifies several key design a...

Impact source localisation in aerospace composite structures

Science.gov (United States)

De Simone, Mario Emanuele; Ciampa, Francesco; Boccardi, Salvatore; Meo, Michele

2017-12-01

The most commonly encountered type of damage in aircraft composite structures is caused by low-velocity impacts due to foreign objects such as hail stones, tool drops and bird strikes. Often these events can cause severe internal material damage that is difficult to detect and may lead to a significant reduction of the structure’s strength and fatigue life. For this reason there is an urgent need to develop structural health monitoring systems able to localise low-velocity impacts in both metallic and composite components as they occur. This article proposes a novel monitoring system for impact localisation in aluminium and composite structures, which is able to determine the impact location in real-time without a-priori knowledge of the mechanical properties of the material. This method relies on an optimal configuration of receiving sensors, which allows linearization of well-known nonlinear systems of equations for the estimation of the impact location. The proposed algorithm is based on the time of arrival identification of the elastic waves generated by the impact source using the Akaike Information Criterion. The proposed approach was demonstrated successfully on both isotropic and orthotropic materials by using a network of closely spaced surface-bonded piezoelectric transducers. The results obtained show the validity of the proposed algorithm, since the impact sources were detected with a high level of accuracy. The proposed impact detection system overcomes current limitations of other methods and can be retrofitted easily on existing aerospace structures allowing timely detection of an impact event.

Approximating spectral impact of structural perturbations in large networks

CERN Document Server

Milanese, A; Nishikawa, Takashi; Sun, Jie

2010-01-01

Determining the effect of structural perturbations on the eigenvalue spectra of networks is an important problem because the spectra characterize not only their topological structures, but also their dynamical behavior, such as synchronization and cascading processes on networks. Here we develop a theory for estimating the change of the largest eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix or the extreme eigenvalues of the graph Laplacian when small but arbitrary set of links are added or removed from the network. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approximation schemes using both real and artificial networks, showing in particular that we can accurately obtain the spectral ranking of small subgraphs. We also propose a local iterative scheme which computes the relative ranking of a subgraph using only the connectivity information of its neighbors within a few links. Our results may not only contribute to our theoretical understanding of dynamical processes on networks, but also lead to practical applications in ran...

Modeling the impact of large-scale energy conversion systems on global climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, J.

There are three energy options which could satisfy a projected energy requirement of about 30 TW and these are the solar, nuclear and (to a lesser extent) coal options. Climate models can be used to assess the impact of large scale deployment of these options. The impact of waste heat has been assessed using energy balance models and general circulation models (GCMs). Results suggest that the impacts are significant when the heat imput is very high and studies of more realistic scenarios are required. Energy balance models, radiative-convective models and a GCM have been used to study the impact of doubling the atmospheric CO 2 concentration. State-of-the-art models estimate a surface temperature increase of 1.5-3.0 0 C with large amplification near the poles, but much uncertainty remains. Very few model studies have been made of the impact of particles on global climate, more information on the characteristics of particle input are required. The impact of large-scale deployment of solar energy conversion systems has received little attention but model studies suggest that large scale changes in surface characteristics associated with such systems (surface heat balance, roughness and hydrological characteristics and ocean surface temperature) could have significant global climatic effects. (Auth.)

Large scale structure and baryogenesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirilova, D.P.; Chizhov, M.V.

2001-08-01

We discuss a possible connection between the large scale structure formation and the baryogenesis in the universe. An update review of the observational indications for the presence of a very large scale 120h -1 Mpc in the distribution of the visible matter of the universe is provided. The possibility to generate a periodic distribution with the characteristic scale 120h -1 Mpc through a mechanism producing quasi-periodic baryon density perturbations during inflationary stage, is discussed. The evolution of the baryon charge density distribution is explored in the framework of a low temperature boson condensate baryogenesis scenario. Both the observed very large scale of a the visible matter distribution in the universe and the observed baryon asymmetry value could naturally appear as a result of the evolution of a complex scalar field condensate, formed at the inflationary stage. Moreover, for some model's parameters a natural separation of matter superclusters from antimatter ones can be achieved. (author)

Decoupling local mechanics from large-scale structure in modular metamaterials

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Nan; Silverberg, Jesse L.

2017-04-01

A defining feature of mechanical metamaterials is that their properties are determined by the organization of internal structure instead of the raw fabrication materials. This shift of attention to engineering internal degrees of freedom has coaxed relatively simple materials into exhibiting a wide range of remarkable mechanical properties. For practical applications to be realized, however, this nascent understanding of metamaterial design must be translated into a capacity for engineering large-scale structures with prescribed mechanical functionality. Thus, the challenge is to systematically map desired functionality of large-scale structures backward into a design scheme while using finite parameter domains. Such “inverse design” is often complicated by the deep coupling between large-scale structure and local mechanical function, which limits the available design space. Here, we introduce a design strategy for constructing 1D, 2D, and 3D mechanical metamaterials inspired by modular origami and kirigami. Our approach is to assemble a number of modules into a voxelized large-scale structure, where the module’s design has a greater number of mechanical design parameters than the number of constraints imposed by bulk assembly. This inequality allows each voxel in the bulk structure to be uniquely assigned mechanical properties independent from its ability to connect and deform with its neighbors. In studying specific examples of large-scale metamaterial structures we show that a decoupling of global structure from local mechanical function allows for a variety of mechanically and topologically complex designs.

[Impacts of large hydropower station on benthic algal communities].

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Xing-Huan; Jiang, Wan-Xiang; Li, Feng-Qing; Tang, Tao; Duan, Shu-Gui; Cai, Qing-Hua

2009-07-01

To investigate the impacts of large hydropower station in Gufu River on benthic algae, monthly samplings were conducted from September 2004 to June 2007 at the site GF04 which was impacted by the hydropower station, with the site GL03 in Gaolan River as reference. During sampling period, no significant differences were observed in the main physicochemical variables between GF04 and GL03, but the hydrodynamics differed significantly. GL03 was basically at a status of slow flow; while GF04, owing to the discharging from the reservoir, was at a riffle status during more than 60% of the sampling period. Such a difference in hydrodynamics induced significant differences in the community similarity of benthic algae and the relative abundance of unattached diatoms, erect diatoms, and stalked diatoms between GF04 and GL03, which could better reflect the impacts of irregular draw-off by large hydropower station on river eco-system.

Response of masonry structure under impact load

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makovicka, D.

1993-01-01

The paper deals with interaction of a short gaseous impact wave with a plate structure. Analyses of dynamic bending, depending on the parameters of the structure and the impact wave (i.e. the stress and displacement field produced by the resulting incident and reflected wave) have been made by FEM. The calculated data was based on the real material properties of this structure. Pressures greater than computed limit pressures result in the failure of the structure. The calculated and experimental data are compared. (author)

Economic and fiscal impacts of large-scale development projects: implications for nuclear waste repositories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leistritz, F.L.; Murdock, S.H.; Texas A and M Univ., College Station)

1982-01-01

This paper deals with the local economic and fiscal implications of siting high-level nuclear waste repositories in rural areas. The economic and fiscal effects of repository development fall into two categories: (1) standard impacts similar to those that would be associated with developing any large-scale industrial facility in an isolated area; (2) special impacts that result from the hazardous nature of the nuclear materials stored and from federal ownership of the facility. Standard economic and fiscal impacts include employment effects (direct and secondary), local income changes, alterations in community price structures, effects on community services, and changes in revenues and costs for local jurisdictions. Special impacts include the possibility of diminished activity in other basic economic sectors, negative effects on the area's long-term growth prospects and a consequent dampening of investment in the local trade an service sectors, additional costs for local jurisdictions (e.g., for preparing evacuation plans), and limited local tax revenues resulting from the tax-exempt status of the facility. These special effects are difficult to quantify and require additional analysis. 47 references, 1 figure, 4 tables

Low Velocity Impact Properties of Aluminum Foam Sandwich Structural Composite

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHAO Jin-hua

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Sandwich structural composites were prepared by aluminum foam as core materials with basalt fiber(BF and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene(UHMWPE fiber composite as faceplate. The effect of factors of different fiber type faceplates, fabric layer design and the thickness of the corematerials on the impact properties and damage mode of aluminum foam sandwich structure was studied. The impact properties were also analyzed to compare with aluminum honeycomb sandwich structure. The results show that BF/aluminum foam sandwich structural composites has bigger impact damage load than UHMWPE/aluminum foam sandwich structure, but less impact displacement and energy absorption. The inter-layer hybrid fabric design of BF and UHMWPE has higher impact load and energy absorption than the overlay hybrid fabric design faceplate sandwich structure. With the increase of the thickness of aluminum foam,the impact load of the sandwich structure decreases, but the energy absorption increases. Aluminum foam sandwich structure has higher impact load than the aluminum honeycomb sandwich structure, but smaller damage energy absorption; the damage mode of aluminum foam core material is mainly the fracture at the impact area, while aluminum honeycomb core has obvious overall compression failure.

Structural concepts for very large (400-meter-diameter) solar concentrators

Science.gov (United States)

Mikulas, Martin M., Jr.; Hedgepeth, John M.

1989-01-01

A general discussion of various types of large space structures is presented. A brief overview of the history of space structures is presented to provide insight into the current state-of-the art. Finally, the results of a structural study to assess the viability of very large solar concentrators are presented. These results include weight, stiffness, part count, and in-space construction time.

Electron impact ionization of large krypton clusters

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Li Shao-Hui; Li Ru-Xin; Ni Guo-Quan; Xu Zhi-Zhan

2004-01-01

We show that the detection of ionization of very large van der Waals clusters in a pulsed jet or a beam can be realized by using a fast ion gauge. Rapid positive feedback electron impact ionization and fragmentation processes,which are initially ignited by electron impact ionization of the krypton clusters with the electron current of the ion gauge, result in the appearance of a progressional oscillation-like ion spectrum, or just of a single fast event under critical conditions. Each line in the spectrum represents a correlated explosion or avalanche ionization of the clusters.The phenomena have been analysed qualitatively along with a Rayleigh scattering experiment of the corresponding cluster jet.

Research on the Impact of Ownership Structure to Operation Performance of the Chinese Listed Port Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bao Jiang

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The ownership structure which has a huge impact on company operation performance is the foundation of corporate governance structure choice. At present, the number of China's listed port companies is the largest in the world; however, they have a very complex ownership structure. This study discusses the impact of ownership structure on the operation performance of the Chinese ports. This empirical research applies factor analysis to evaluate the operation performance of listed port companies, and then adopts linear regression analysis based on the evaluation results to explore the impact of ownership structure to operation performance. Finally, it proposes recommendations for optimizing the ownership structure of listed port companies, in order to promote a better and faster development of China's port industry. The empirical results show that for most of the listed port companies, the largest shareholder is in the absolute controlling position, and the gap between the largest shareholder and the second largest shareholder is very large, which means the ownership concentration is relatively high. Meanwhile, the top five shareholders equity ratio squared is in negative correlation with operation performance.

Large coil program support structure conceptual design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Litherland, P.S.

1977-01-01

The purpose of the Large Coil Program (LCP) is to perform tests on both pool boiling and force cooled superconducting toroidal field coils. The tests will attempt to approximate conditions anticipated in an ignition tokamak. The test requirements resulted in a coil support design which accommodates up to six (6) test coils and is mounted to a structure capable of resisting coil interactions. The steps leading to the present LCP coil support structure design, details on selected structural components, and the basic assembly sequence are discussed

Impact localization on composite structures using time difference and MUSIC approach

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Yongteng; Xiang, Jiawei

2017-05-01

1-D uniform linear array (ULA) has the shortcoming of the half-plane mirror effect, which does not allow discriminating between a target placed above the array and a target placed below the array. This paper presents time difference (TD) and multiple signal classification (MUSIC) based omni-directional impact localization on a large stiffened composite structure using improved linear array, which is able to perform omni-directional 360° localization. This array contains 2M+3 PZT sensors, where 2M+1 PZT sensors are arranged as a uniform linear array, and the other two PZT sensors are placed above and below the array. Firstly, the arrival times of impact signals observed by the other two sensors are determined using the wavelet transform. Compared with each other, the direction range of impact source can be decided in general, 0°to 180° or 180°to 360°. And then, two dimensional multiple signal classification (2D-MUSIC) based spatial spectrum formula using the uniform linear array is applied for impact localization by the general direction range. When the arrival times of impact signals observed by upper PZT is equal to that of lower PZT, the direction can be located in x axis (0°or 180°). And time difference based MUSIC method is present to locate impact position. To verify the proposed approach, the proposed approach is applied to a composite structure. The localization results are in good agreement with the actual impact occurring positions.

Double inflation: A possible resolution of the large-scale structure problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, M.S.; Villumsen, J.V.; Vittorio, N.; Silk, J.; Juszkiewicz, R.

1986-11-01

A model is presented for the large-scale structure of the universe in which two successive inflationary phases resulted in large small-scale and small large-scale density fluctuations. This bimodal density fluctuation spectrum in an Ω = 1 universe dominated by hot dark matter leads to large-scale structure of the galaxy distribution that is consistent with recent observational results. In particular, large, nearly empty voids and significant large-scale peculiar velocity fields are produced over scales of ∼100 Mpc, while the small-scale structure over ≤ 10 Mpc resembles that in a low density universe, as observed. Detailed analytical calculations and numerical simulations are given of the spatial and velocity correlations. 38 refs., 6 figs

Review of the research on “structural bionic” method of large sculpture

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Jiang; Yang, Wenchang

2017-09-01

This paper presented the basic concept of bionic sculpture and summarized the application status of “structural bionic”theory in large bionic sculpture field. Introduced the development trend and challenges of large bionic sculpture and pointed out that the sculpture's “structural bionic” can bring higher mechanical performance of the new structure and system, The evaluation method and structure design for large bionic sculpture are urgently needed.Finally prospected the market of the large bionic sculpture.

Nuclear structure at high-spin and large-deformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimizu, Yoshifumi R.

2000-01-01

Atomic nucleus is a finite quantal system and shows various marvelous features. One of the purposes of the nuclear structure study is to understand such features from a microscopic viewpoint of nuclear many-body problem. Recently, it is becoming possible to explore nuclear states under 'extreme conditions', which are far different from the usual ground states of stable nuclei, and new aspects of such unstable nuclei attract our interests. In this lecture, I would like to discuss the nuclear structure in the limit of rapid rotation, or the extreme states with very large angular momenta, which became accessible by recent advent of large arrays of gamma-ray detecting system; these devices are extremely useful to measure coincident multiple γ-rays following heavy-ion fusion reactions. Including such experimental aspects as how to detect the nuclear rotational states, I review physics of high-spin states starting from the elementary subjects of nuclear structure study. In would like also to discuss the extreme states with very large nuclear deformation, which are easily realized in rapidly rotating nuclei. (author)

Hierarchical Cantor set in the large scale structure with torus geometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murdzek, R. [Physics Department, ' Al. I. Cuza' University, Blvd. Carol I, Nr. 11, Iassy 700506 (Romania)], E-mail: rmurdzek@yahoo.com

2008-12-15

The formation of large scale structures is considered within a model with string on toroidal space-time. Firstly, the space-time geometry is presented. In this geometry, the Universe is represented by a string describing a torus surface. Thereafter, the large scale structure of the Universe is derived from the string oscillations. The results are in agreement with the cellular structure of the large scale distribution and with the theory of a Cantorian space-time.

Impacts of Large Scale Wind Penetration on Energy Supply Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Kabouris

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Large penetration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES impacts Energy Supply Industry (ESI in many aspects leading to a fundamental change in electric power systems. It raises a number of technical challenges to the Transmission System Operators (TSOs, Distribution System Operators (DSOs and Wind Turbine Generators (WTG constructors. This paper aims to present in a thorough and coherent way the redrawn picture for Energy Systems under these conditions. Topics related to emergent technical challenges, technical solutions required and finally the impact on ESI due to large wind power penetration, are analyzed. Finally, general conclusions are extracted about the ESI current and future state and general directions are recommended.

Plate-impact loading of cellular structures formed by selective laser melting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winter, R E; Cotton, M; Harris, E J; Maw, J R; Chapman, D J; Eakins, D E; McShane, G

2014-01-01

Porous materials are of great interest because of improved energy absorption over their solid counterparts. Their properties, however, have been difficult to optimize. Additive manufacturing has emerged as a potential technique to closely define the structure and properties of porous components, i.e. density, strut width and pore size; however, the behaviour of these materials at very high impact energies remains largely unexplored. We describe an initial study of the dynamic compression response of lattice materials fabricated through additive manufacturing. Lattices consisting of an array of intersecting stainless steel rods were fabricated into discs using selective laser melting. The resulting discs were impacted against solid stainless steel targets at velocities ranging from 300 to 700 m s −1 using a gas gun. Continuum CTH simulations were performed to identify key features in the measured wave profiles, while 3D simulations, in which the individual cells were modelled, revealed details of microscale deformation during collapse of the lattice structure. The validated computer models have been used to provide an understanding of the deformation processes in the cellular samples. The study supports the optimization of cellular structures for application as energy absorbers. (paper)

Large eddy simulation of a buoyancy-aided flow in a non-uniform channel – Buoyancy effects on large flow structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duan, Y. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD (United Kingdom); School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom); He, S., E-mail: s.he@sheffield.ac.uk [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD (United Kingdom)

2017-02-15

Highlights: • Buoyancy may greatly redistribute the flow in a non-uniform channel. • Flow structures in the narrow gap are greatly changed when buoyancy is strong. • Large flow structures exist in wider gap, which is enhanced when heat is strong. • Buoyancy reduces mixing factor caused by large flow structures in narrow gap. - Abstract: It has been a long time since the ‘abnormal’ turbulent intensity distribution and high inter-sub-channel mixing rates were observed in the vicinity of the narrow gaps formed by the fuel rods in nuclear reactors. The extraordinary flow behaviour was first described as periodic flow structures by Hooper and Rehme (1984). Since then, the existences of large flow structures were demonstrated by many researchers in various non-uniform flow channels. It has been proved by many authors that the Strouhal number of the flow structure in the isothermal flow is dependent on the size of the narrow gap, not the Reynolds number once it is sufficiently large. This paper reports a numerical investigation on the effect of buoyancy on the large flow structures. A buoyancy-aided flow in a tightly-packed rod-bundle-like channel is modelled using large eddy simulation (LES) together with the Boussinesq approximation. The behaviour of the large flow structures in the gaps of the flow passage are studied using instantaneous flow fields, spectrum analysis and correlation analysis. It is found that the non-uniform buoyancy force in the cross section of the flow channel may greatly redistribute the velocity field once the overall buoyancy force is sufficiently strong, and consequently modify the large flow structures. The temporal and axial spatial scales of the large flow structures are influenced by buoyancy in a way similar to that turbulence is influenced. These scales reduce when the flow is laminarised, but start increasing in the turbulence regeneration region. The spanwise scale of the flow structures in the narrow gap remains more or

Displacement and deformation measurement for large structures by camera network

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Yang; Yu, Qifeng; Yang, Zhen; Xu, Zhiqiang; Zhang, Xiaohu

2014-03-01

A displacement and deformation measurement method for large structures by a series-parallel connection camera network is presented. By taking the dynamic monitoring of a large-scale crane in lifting operation as an example, a series-parallel connection camera network is designed, and the displacement and deformation measurement method by using this series-parallel connection camera network is studied. The movement range of the crane body is small, and that of the crane arm is large. The displacement of the crane body, the displacement of the crane arm relative to the body and the deformation of the arm are measured. Compared with a pure series or parallel connection camera network, the designed series-parallel connection camera network can be used to measure not only the movement and displacement of a large structure but also the relative movement and deformation of some interesting parts of the large structure by a relatively simple optical measurement system.

Chiral dynamics and partonic structure at large transverse distances

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strikman, M. [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Dept. of Physics; Weiss, C. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States). Theory Center

2009-12-30

In this paper, we study large-distance contributions to the nucleon’s parton densities in the transverse coordinate (impact parameter) representation based on generalized parton distributions (GPDs). Chiral dynamics generates a distinct component of the partonic structure, located at momentum fractions x≲M_π/M_N and transverse distances b~1/M_π. We calculate this component using phenomenological pion exchange with a physical lower limit in b (the transverse “core” radius estimated from the nucleon’s axial form factor, R_core=0.55 fm) and demonstrate its universal character. This formulation preserves the basic picture of the “pion cloud” model of the nucleon’s sea quark distributions, while restricting its application to the region actually governed by chiral dynamics. It is found that (a) the large-distance component accounts for only ~1/3 of the measured antiquark flavor asymmetry d¯-u¯ at x~0.1; (b) the strange sea quarks s and s¯ are significantly more localized than the light antiquark sea; (c) the nucleon’s singlet quark size for x<0.1 is larger than its gluonic size, (b²)_q+q¯>(b²)_g, as suggested by the t-slopes of deeply-virtual Compton scattering and exclusive J/ψ production measured at HERA and FNAL. We show that our approach reproduces the general N_c-scaling of parton densities in QCD, thanks to the degeneracy of N and Δ intermediate states in the large-N_c limit. Finally, we also comment on the role of pionic configurations at large longitudinal distances and the limits of their applicability at small x.

Efficient reanalysis of structures by a direct modification method. [local stiffness modifications of large structures

Science.gov (United States)

Raibstein, A. I.; Kalev, I.; Pipano, A.

1976-01-01

A procedure for the local stiffness modifications of large structures is described. It enables structural modifications without an a priori definition of the changes in the original structure and without loss of efficiency due to multiple loading conditions. The solution procedure, implemented in NASTRAN, involved the decomposed stiffness matrix and the displacement vectors of the original structure. It solves the modified structure exactly, irrespective of the magnitude of the stiffness changes. In order to investigate the efficiency of the present procedure and to test its applicability within a design environment, several real and large structures were solved. The results of the efficiency studies indicate that the break-even point of the procedure varies between 8% and 60% stiffness modifications, depending upon the structure's characteristics and the options employed.

The mutual impact of organizational culture and structure

OpenAIRE

Janićijević Nebojša

2013-01-01

This paper explores the relationship between the structure and culture of an organization. The starting assumption is that organizational structure and organizational culture impact each other, and that there is a causal relationship due to which the agreement of the two components of organization leads to better performance. First, the mechanism through which organizational culture impacts the design of organizational structures and the manner in which org...

The Space Station as a Construction Base for Large Space Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Gates, R. M.

1985-01-01

The feasibility of using the Space Station as a construction site for large space structures is examined. An overview is presented of the results of a program entitled Definition of Technology Development Missions (TDM's) for Early Space Stations - Large Space Structures. The definition of LSS technology development missions must be responsive to the needs of future space missions which require large space structures. Long range plans for space were assembled by reviewing Space System Technology Models (SSTM) and other published sources. Those missions which will use large space structures were reviewed to determine the objectives which must be demonstrated by technology development missions. The three TDM's defined during this study are: (1) a construction storage/hangar facility; (2) a passive microwave radiometer; and (3) a precision optical system.

Impact analysis of composite aircraft structures

Science.gov (United States)

Pifko, Allan B.; Kushner, Alan S.

1993-01-01

The impact analysis of composite aircraft structures is discussed. Topics discussed include: background remarks on aircraft crashworthiness; comments on modeling strategies for crashworthiness simulation; initial study of simulation of progressive failure of an aircraft component constructed of composite material; and research direction in composite characterization for impact analysis.

The Guarda structure (Portugal): Impact structure or not? Microstructural studies of Quartz, Zircon and Monazite

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zalinge, M.E. van; Hamers, M.F.; Drury, M.R.

2012-01-01

The Guarda Structure in north-eastern Portugal has been proposed as a potential impact structure. We have studied the structure in detail, but no field or microscopic evidence has been found to support the impact hypothesis

Half a century of progress in research on terrestrial impact structures: A review

Science.gov (United States)

McCall, G. J. H.

2009-02-01

The author, who investigated the Wolfe Creek, Australia, in 1962 and edited two Benchmark Sets of Readings on Meteorite Craters and possible Astroblemes in 1977 and 1979, reviews the state of knowledge at the present time. The text is concerned with terrestrial impact structures, geological features, without any consideration of extraterrestrial analogues. A handful of definitive publications are drawn on to present the story of terrestrial impact in a single article. The text covers historical aspects (briefly); the effect of target variations; the paucity of human observation of such large-scale events; distinction from volcanic (endogenous) structures; modification by geological processes; the transience of the crater initially formed on the target, and its subsequent modifications; the global geographic distribution of the 174 structures now listed (of which a number are dubious attributions); their distribution in geological time (many ages being known only known to wide limits, maximum or minimum values); their size distribution; calculations of impact frequencies; shock effects; processes on impact; the stages of formation; impact into shallow marine and deep sea targets; impacts on ice (about which little is known); and finally the input of impact into biotic extinctions. In this last lengthy section, the summaries of the conclusions of scientists researching impact on Earth and palaeontologists researching biotic impact are set side by side. It is concluded that, if the recent foraminiferal evidence obtained by Gerta Keller and associates is taken at its face value, the case of impact as a sole agent in extinction is non-existent: biotic extinction is clearly a complex process involving a number of causes, in some cases it was staggered in time, and different sets of organisms responded quite differently and surprisingly, even in the same extinction event. Extraterrestrial impact may have been one of the causes in some cases, but it may have been regional

Dynamical Origin and Terrestrial Impact Flux of Large Near-Earth Asteroids

Science.gov (United States)

Nesvorný, David; Roig, Fernando

2018-01-01

Dynamical models of the asteroid delivery from the main belt suggest that the current impact flux of diameter D> 10 km asteroids on the Earth is ≃0.5–1 Gyr‑1. Studies of the Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) population find a much higher flux, with ≃ 7 D> 10 km asteroid impacts per Gyr. Here we show that this problem is rooted in the application of impact probability of small NEAs (≃1.5 Gyr‑1 per object), whose population is well characterized, to large NEAs. In reality, large NEAs evolve from the main belt by different escape routes, have a different orbital distribution, and lower impact probabilities (0.8 ± 0.3 Gyr‑1 per object) than small NEAs. In addition, we find that the current population of two D> 10 km NEAs (Ganymed and Eros) is a slight fluctuation over the long-term average of 1.1+/- 0.5 D> 10 km NEAs in a steady state. These results have important implications for our understanding of the occurrence of the K/T-scale impacts on the terrestrial worlds.

The origin of large scale cosmic structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, B.J.T.; Palmer, P.L.

1985-01-01

The paper concerns the origin of large scale cosmic structure. The evolution of density perturbations, the nonlinear regime (Zel'dovich's solution and others), the Gott and Rees clustering hierarchy, the spectrum of condensations, and biassed galaxy formation, are all discussed. (UK)

Hydro-structural issues in the design of ultra large container ships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sime Malenica

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The structural design of the ships includes two main issues which should be checked carefully, namely the extreme structural response (yielding & buckling and the fatigue structural response. Even if the corresponding failure modes are fundamentally different, the overall methodologies for their evaluation have many common points. Both issues require application of two main steps: deterministic calculations of hydro-structure interactions for given operating conditions on one side and the statistical post-processing in order to take into account the lifetime operational profile, on the other side. In the case of ultra large ships such as the container ships and in addition to the classical quasi-static type of structural responses the hydroelastic structural response becomes important. This is due to several reasons among which the following are the most important: the increase of the flexibility due to their large dimensions (Lpp close to 400 m which leads to the lower structural natural frequencies, very large operational speed (20 knots and large bow flare (increased slamming loads. The correct modeling of the hydroelastic ship structural response, and its inclusion into the overall design procedure, is significantly more complex than the evaluation of the quasi static structural response. The present paper gives an overview of the different tools and methods which are used in nowadays practice.

Similitude and scaling of large structural elements: Case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Shehadeh

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Scaled down models are widely used for experimental investigations of large structures due to the limitation in the capacities of testing facilities along with the expenses of the experimentation. The modeling accuracy depends upon the model material properties, fabrication accuracy and loading techniques. In the present work the Buckingham π theorem is used to develop the relations (i.e. geometry, loading and properties between the model and a large structural element as that is present in the huge existing petroleum oil drilling rigs. The model is to be designed, loaded and treated according to a set of similitude requirements that relate the model to the large structural element. Three independent scale factors which represent three fundamental dimensions, namely mass, length and time need to be selected for designing the scaled down model. Numerical prediction of the stress distribution within the model and its elastic deformation under steady loading is to be made. The results are compared with those obtained from the full scale structure numerical computations. The effect of scaled down model size and material on the accuracy of the modeling technique is thoroughly examined.

Optimized reinforcement of nuclear power plant structures for aircraft impact forces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zerna, W.; Schnellenbach, G.; Stangenberg, F.

1976-01-01

Reactor buildings of nuclear power plants and, to some extent also other buildings of the plant, according to the present safety requirements, have to be able to withstand aircraft impact forces. The building has to withstand this loading only once since afterwards it will be out of use. Accordingly, other criteria for design and the necessary safety measures are valid than in the case of service loads. Large deformations and the development of large cracks due to such loadings are insignificant from a construction point of view for reinforced concrete structures i.e. the stresses can build up to the ultimate load carrying capacity. From the nuclear safety point of view, however, some restrictions are possible in this regard e.g. to obstruct the penetration of fuel through the cracks. Basically all mild steels, with large ducility and without brittle fracture under sudden load increase, are suitable for this purpose. High stresses in the structure would, however, require uneconomical concentrations of mild steel. It is for this reason that the use of high strength steels e.g. St 110/135, has been introduced in Germany for this kind of loading. Through the use of wire strands or cables of high strength steel it is possible to reach a condition of cracks and large deformations due to ultimate loads in zone of point loading. The reinforcement takes on a distinctly curved shape and is able to carry the normal loads and shears through a suspension-structure action. The deformability of the structure for the analysed limit load state can be further increased through a bond-free net. This measure allows a more uniform sketching of the cables or strands over a larger zone. (Auth.)

Coupled Finite Volume and Finite Element Method Analysis of a Complex Large-Span Roof Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Szafran, J.; Juszczyk, K.; Kamiński, M.

2017-12-01

The main goal of this paper is to present coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics and structural analysis for the precise determination of wind impact on internal forces and deformations of structural elements of a longspan roof structure. The Finite Volume Method (FVM) serves for a solution of the fluid flow problem to model the air flow around the structure, whose results are applied in turn as the boundary tractions in the Finite Element Method problem structural solution for the linear elastostatics with small deformations. The first part is carried out with the use of ANSYS 15.0 computer system, whereas the FEM system Robot supports stress analysis in particular roof members. A comparison of the wind pressure distribution throughout the roof surface shows some differences with respect to that available in the engineering designing codes like Eurocode, which deserves separate further numerical studies. Coupling of these two separate numerical techniques appears to be promising in view of future computational models of stochastic nature in large scale structural systems due to the stochastic perturbation method.

Neutrinos and large-scale structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eisenstein, Daniel J.

2015-01-01

I review the use of cosmological large-scale structure to measure properties of neutrinos and other relic populations of light relativistic particles. With experiments to measure the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave anisotropies and the clustering of matter at low redshift, we now have securely measured a relativistic background with density appropriate to the cosmic neutrino background. Our limits on the mass of the neutrino continue to shrink. Experiments coming in the next decade will greatly improve the available precision on searches for the energy density of novel relativistic backgrounds and the mass of neutrinos

Neutrinos and large-scale structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eisenstein, Daniel J. [Daniel J. Eisenstein, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., MS #20, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2015-07-15

I review the use of cosmological large-scale structure to measure properties of neutrinos and other relic populations of light relativistic particles. With experiments to measure the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave anisotropies and the clustering of matter at low redshift, we now have securely measured a relativistic background with density appropriate to the cosmic neutrino background. Our limits on the mass of the neutrino continue to shrink. Experiments coming in the next decade will greatly improve the available precision on searches for the energy density of novel relativistic backgrounds and the mass of neutrinos.

An algebraic sub-structuring method for large-scale eigenvalue calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, C.; Gao, W.; Bai, Z.; Li, X.; Lee, L.; Husbands, P.; Ng, E.

2004-01-01

We examine sub-structuring methods for solving large-scale generalized eigenvalue problems from a purely algebraic point of view. We use the term 'algebraic sub-structuring' to refer to the process of applying matrix reordering and partitioning algorithms to divide a large sparse matrix into smaller submatrices from which a subset of spectral components are extracted and combined to provide approximate solutions to the original problem. We are interested in the question of which spectral components one should extract from each sub-structure in order to produce an approximate solution to the original problem with a desired level of accuracy. Error estimate for the approximation to the smallest eigenpair is developed. The estimate leads to a simple heuristic for choosing spectral components (modes) from each sub-structure. The effectiveness of such a heuristic is demonstrated with numerical examples. We show that algebraic sub-structuring can be effectively used to solve a generalized eigenvalue problem arising from the simulation of an accelerator structure. One interesting characteristic of this application is that the stiffness matrix produced by a hierarchical vector finite elements scheme contains a null space of large dimension. We present an efficient scheme to deflate this null space in the algebraic sub-structuring process

Basic concept on the responses of structural members and structures under impact or impulsive loadings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, J.I.; Tachikawa, H.; Fujimoto, K.

1982-01-01

The responses of structural members and structures subjected to impact or impulsive loadings are generated by the interaction between acting bodies and structures, and the interaction is affected by many factors, e.g. the relations of masses, sizes, rigidities, etc. between acting bodies and structures and especially by relative velocity. The development of the responses of structural members and structures are controlled by the constitutive equations and failure criteria of constituent materials, the relationships of cowork system between the constituent materials and existing stress waves. Furthermore, the first two are influenced by rate effects and they all widely change by the speeds of impact and impulsive loadings. This paper deals with the physical meaning of the responses of structures under impact and impulsive loadings. (orig.) [de

The Impact of Structural Genomics: Expectations and Outcomes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chandonia, John-Marc; Brenner, Steven E.

2005-12-21

Structural Genomics (SG) projects aim to expand our structural knowledge of biological macromolecules, while lowering the average costs of structure determination. We quantitatively analyzed the novelty, cost, and impact of structures solved by SG centers, and contrast these results with traditional structural biology. The first structure from a protein family is particularly important to reveal the fold and ancient relationships to other proteins. In the last year, approximately half of such structures were solved at a SG center rather than in a traditional laboratory. Furthermore, the cost of solving a structure at the most efficient U.S. center has now dropped to one-quarter the estimated cost of solving a structure by traditional methods. However, top structural biology laboratories are much more efficient than the average, and comparable to SG centers despite working on very challenging structures. Moreover, traditional structural biology papers are cited significantly more often, suggesting greater current impact.

Challenges for Large Scale Structure Theory

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2018-01-01

I will describe some of the outstanding questions in Cosmology where answers could be provided by observations of the Large Scale Structure of the Universe at late times.I will discuss some of the theoretical challenges which will have to be overcome to extract this information from the observations. I will describe some of the theoretical tools that might be useful to achieve this goal. 

Ejecting intact large molecular structures by C{sub 60} ion impact upon bio-organic solids; Ejection de tres grandes structures moleculaires intactes par impact de C{sub 60} sur des solides bioorganiques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brunelle, A.; Della Negra, S.; Deprun, C.; Depauw, J.; Jacquet, D.; Le Beyec, Y.; Pautrat, N. [Experimental Research Division, Inst. de Physique Nucleaire, Paris-11 Univ., 91 - Orsay (France); Haakansson, P. [Division of Ion Physics, Angstrom Laboratory, Uppsala Univ. Uppsala (Sweden)

1999-11-01

C{sub 60} molecules accelerated to MeV energies (20 MeV) have been used to induce the desorption-ionization of large bio-molecules from solid samples. In the case of the trypsin molecules, the secondary molecular ion emission yield is about two orders of magnitude larger than with MeV atomic ions. This is a consequence of the very high energy density deposited in solids by 20 MeV C{sub 60} projectiles that gives rise to a large amount of matter ejected after each impact. Although time-of-flight mass spectra can be recorded within a few seconds, it is more the mechanistic aspects in comparison with other particle induced desorption methods, which are the objective of these first results with energetic fullerenes. (authors) 1 fig.

A large 3D physical model: a tool to investigate the consequences of ground movements on the surface structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hor B.

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Soil subsidence of various extend and amplitude can result from the failure of underground cavities, whether natural (for example caused by the dissolution of rocks by underground water flow or man-made (such as mines. The impact of the ground movements on existing structures (houses, buildings, bridges, etc… is generally dramatic. A large small-scale physical model is developed in order to improve our understanding of the behaviour of the building subjected to ground subsidence or the collapse of cavities. We focus on the soil-structure interaction and on the mitigation techniques allowing reducing the vulnerability of the buildings (structures.

Impact parameter dynamics in quantum theory in large angle scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andriyanov, A.A.

1975-01-01

High energy behaviour of a free particle Green's function is studied for construction of the scattering amplitude. The main part of the Green's function is determined by eikonal scattering along the mean moment and by the total scattering along the transfered momentum. This ''impact'' approximation may be included as a first approximation in the iteration scheme for the scattering amplitude along the mean momentum, i.e. the ''impact'' perturbation theory. With the help of the ''impact'' approximation an expansion of the scattering amplitude in the impact parameter depending on interaction is obtained. These expansions are more correct than the eikonal expansions at large angle scattering. The results are illustrated grafically foe the exponential and the Yukawa potentials

Electromagnetic and structural coupled analysis with the effect of large deflection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horie, Tomoyoshi; Niho, Tomoya

1997-01-01

In the designs of future fusion reactors and magnetic levitated vehicles, thin shell conducting structures are located in a high electromagnetic field. The transient magnetic field induces the eddy current on the conductive structure. While the Lorentz force by the eddy current and the magnetic field is loaded to the thin shell structure, the electromotive force by the deflection velocity and magnetic field reduces the eddy current. Therefore, the electromagnetic and structural coupled analysis is required for the design of these components. This paper describes a coupled finite element analysis for the eddy current and the structure. A formulation is presented considering the effect of the large deflection of shell structures by the total Lagrangian formulation. Both matrix equations for the eddy current and the structure are solved simultaneously using coupling sub-matrices. A coupled problem of a cantilever bending plate is analyzed. Based on the analysis results, the influence of the large deflection on the coupling effect is discussed. The condition that the large deflection analysis is required is examined through some parametric analyses

Numerical modeling of the dynamic behavior of structures under impact with a discrete elements / finite elements coupling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rousseau, J.

2009-07-01

That study focuses on concrete structures submitted to impact loading and is aimed at predicting local damage in the vicinity of an impact zone as well as the global response of the structure. The Discrete Element Method (DEM) seems particularly well suited in this context for modeling fractures. An identification process of DEM material parameters from macroscopic data (Young's modulus, compressive and tensile strength, fracture energy, etc.) will first be presented for the purpose of enhancing reproducibility and reliability of the simulation results with DE samples of various sizes. Then, a particular interaction, between concrete and steel elements, was developed for the simulation of reinforced concrete. The discrete elements method was validated on quasi-static and dynamic tests carried out on small samples of concrete and reinforced concrete. Finally, discrete elements were used to simulate impacts on reinforced concrete slabs in order to confront the results with experimental tests. The modeling of a large structure by means of DEM may lead to prohibitive computation times. A refined discretization becomes required in the vicinity of the impact, while the structure may be modeled using a coarse FE mesh further from the impact area, where the material behaves elastically. A coupled discrete-finite element approach is thus proposed: the impact zone is modeled by means of DE and elastic FE are used on the rest of the structure. An existing method for 3D finite elements was extended to shells. This new method was then validated on many quasi-static and dynamic tests. The proposed approach is then applied to an impact on a concrete structure in order to validate the coupled method and compare computation times. (author)

Distribution, Statistics, and Resurfacing of Large Impact Basins on Mercury

Science.gov (United States)

Fassett, Caleb I.; Head, James W.; Baker, David M. H.; Chapman, Clark R.; Murchie, Scott L.; Neumann, Gregory A.; Oberst, Juergen; Prockter, Louise M.; Smith, David E.; Solomon, Sean C.;

Structural materials for large superconducting magnets for tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Long, C.J.

1976-12-01

The selection of structural materials for large superconducting magnets for tokamak-type fusion reactors is considered. The important criteria are working stress, radiation resistance, electromagnetic interaction, and general feasibility. The most advantageous materials appear to be face-centered-cubic alloys in the Fe-Ni-Cr system, but high-modulus composites may be necessary where severe pulsed magnetic fields are present. Special-purpose structural materials are considered briefly

Large herbivores affect forest ecosystem functions by altering the structure of dung beetle communities

Science.gov (United States)

Iida, Taichi; Soga, Masashi; Koike, Shinsuke

2018-04-01

Dramatic increases in populations of large mammalian herbivores have become a major ecological issue, particularly in the northern hemisphere, due to their substantial impacts on both animal and plant communities through processes such as grazing, browsing, and trampling. However, little is known about the consequences of these population explosions on ecosystem functions. Here, we experimentally investigated how the population density of sika deer (Cervus nippon) in temperate deciduous forest areas in Japan affected the decomposition of mammal dung by dung beetles, which is a key process in forest ecosystems. We measured a range of environmental variables (e.g., vegetation cover, soil hardness) and the dung decomposition rate, measured as the amount of deer dung decomposed during one week, and sampled dung beetles at 16 study sites with three different deer densities (high/intermediate/low). We then used structural equation modeling to investigate the relationships between deer density, environmental variables, the biomass of dung beetles (classified into small or large species), and the dung decomposition rate. We found that the biomass of small species increased with increasing deer density, whereas that of large species was not related to deer density. Furthermore, the dung decomposition rate was positively related to the biomass of small species but unrelated to that of large species. Overall, our results showed that an increase in deer density affects the decomposition rate of mammal dung by changing the structure of dung beetle communities (i.e., increasing the number of small dung beetles). Such an understanding of how increases in large herbivore populations affect ecosystem functions is important for accurately evaluating the ecological consequences of their overabundance and ultimately managing their populations appropriately.

Examining gray matter structure associated with academic performance in a large sample of Chinese high school students.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Song; Zhou, Ming; Chen, Taolin; Yang, Xun; Chen, Guangxiang; Wang, Meiyun; Gong, Qiyong

2017-04-18

Achievement in school is crucial for students to be able to pursue successful careers and lead happy lives in the future. Although many psychological attributes have been found to be associated with academic performance, the neural substrates of academic performance remain largely unknown. Here, we investigated the relationship between brain structure and academic performance in a large sample of high school students via structural magnetic resonance imaging (S-MRI) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) approach. The whole-brain regression analyses showed that higher academic performance was related to greater regional gray matter density (rGMD) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which is considered a neural center at the intersection of cognitive and non-cognitive functions. Furthermore, mediation analyses suggested that general intelligence partially mediated the impact of the left DLPFC density on academic performance. These results persisted even after adjusting for the effect of family socioeconomic status (SES). In short, our findings reveal a potential neuroanatomical marker for academic performance and highlight the role of general intelligence in explaining the relationship between brain structure and academic performance.

On the universal character of the large scale structure of the universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demianski, M.; International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics; Rome Univ.; Doroshkevich, A.G.

1991-01-01

We review different theories of formation of the large scale structure of the Universe. Special emphasis is put on the theory of inertial instability. We show that for a large class of initial spectra the resulting two point correlation functions are similar. We discuss also the adhesion theory which uses the Burgers equation, Navier-Stokes equation or coagulation process. We review the Zeldovich theory of gravitational instability and discuss the internal structure of pancakes. Finally we discuss the role of the velocity potential in determining the global characteristics of large scale structures (distribution of caustics, scale of voids, etc.). In the last chapter we list the main unsolved problems and main successes of the theory of formation of large scale structure. (orig.)

Modeling and analysis of a large deployable antenna structure

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Zhengrong; Deng, Zongquan; Qi, Xiaozhi; Li, Bing

2014-02-01

One kind of large deployable antenna (LDA) structure is proposed by combining a number of basic deployable units in this paper. In order to avoid vibration caused by fast deployment speed of the mechanism, a braking system is used to control the spring-actuated system. Comparisons between the LDA structure and a similar structure used by the large deployable reflector (LDR) indicate that the former has potential for use in antennas with up to 30 m aperture due to its lighter weight. The LDA structure is designed to form a spherical surface found by the least square fitting method so that it can be symmetrical. In this case, the positions of the terminal points in the structure are determined by two principles. A method to calculate the cable network stretched on the LDA structure is developed, which combines the original force density method and the parabolic surface constraint. Genetic algorithm is applied to ensure that each cable reaches a desired tension, which avoids the non-convergence issue effectively. We find that the pattern for the front and rear cable net must be the same when finding the shape of the rear cable net, otherwise anticlastic surface would generate.

Environmental Disturbance Modeling for Large Inflatable Space Structures

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Davis, Donald

2001-01-01

Tightening space budgets and stagnating spacelift capabilities are driving the Air Force and other space agencies to focus on inflatable technology as a reliable, inexpensive means of deploying large structures in orbit...

Imprints of the large-scale structure on AGN formation and evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Porqueres, Natàlia; Jasche, Jens; Enßlin, Torsten A.; Lavaux, Guilhem

2018-04-01

Black hole masses are found to correlate with several global properties of their host galaxies, suggesting that black holes and galaxies have an intertwined evolution and that active galactic nuclei (AGN) have a significant impact on galaxy evolution. Since the large-scale environment can also affect AGN, this work studies how their formation and properties depend on the environment. We have used a reconstructed three-dimensional high-resolution density field obtained from a Bayesian large-scale structure reconstruction method applied to the 2M++ galaxy sample. A web-type classification relying on the shear tensor is used to identify different structures on the cosmic web, defining voids, sheets, filaments, and clusters. We confirm that the environmental density affects the AGN formation and their properties. We found that the AGN abundance is equivalent to the galaxy abundance, indicating that active and inactive galaxies reside in similar dark matter halos. However, occurrence rates are different for each spectral type and accretion rate. These differences are consistent with the AGN evolutionary sequence suggested by previous authors, Seyferts and Transition objects transforming into low-ionization nuclear emission line regions (LINERs), the weaker counterpart of Seyferts. We conclude that AGN properties depend on the environmental density more than on the web-type. More powerful starbursts and younger stellar populations are found in high densities, where interactions and mergers are more likely. AGN hosts show smaller masses in clusters for Seyferts and Transition objects, which might be due to gas stripping. In voids, the AGN population is dominated by the most massive galaxy hosts.

Large impact events and atmospheric evolution on the terrestrial planets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grinspoon, D.H.

1989-01-01

The first task undertaken is the characterization of the impact rates in the inner solar system during the present time, and during the first billion years of Solar System history when the flux was changing rapidly. Once defined, these fluxes are used to model the long term cumulative effect of multiple impacts on planetary atmospheres. The implications of cometary impacts on evolution of the water and deuterium abundances on Venus are examined. The short lifetime of water on Venus suggests that the water abundance is in quasi-steady-state balance between loss by escape and replenishment by infall. In addition, the observed deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio on Venus is consistent with a steady state and does not necessarily imply a past water excess. Results are presented of a model incorporating a stochastic cometary source and nonthermal escape of hydrogen that produces the observed water abundance and D/H ratio. The stochastic variability of each of these quantities is shown to be large. Water on Venus is likely to be in a near steady state mediated by large comet impacts. The early history of water on the planet has been obscured by a history of random impacts. A study of the effects of impact-generated dust clouds on the primitive Earth leads to the conclusion that such clouds were significant perturbers of the early climate. The Earth was shrouded by an optically-thick dust cloud for ∼150-250 m.y.. During this time the surface temperature was equal to the planetary equilibrium temperature unless significant heating by impacts or surface heat flow existed beneath the dust cloud. The epoch of continuous dust shrouding was followed by a period of stochastically intermittent dust clouds occurring at greater intervals as the early intense bombardment subsided towards the present day flux

A New Approach for Structural Monitoring of Large Dams with a Three-Dimensional Laser Scanner

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Sánchez

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Driven by progress in sensor technology, computer methods and data processing capabilities, 3D laser scanning has found a wide range of new application fields in recent years. Particularly, monitoring the static and dynamic behaviour of large dams has always been a topic of great importance, due to the impact these structures have on the whole landscape where they are built. The main goal of this paper is to show the relevance and novelty of the laserscanning methodology developed, which incorporates different statistical and modelling approaches not considered until now. As a result, the methods proposed in this paper have provided the measurement and monitoring of the large “Las Cogotas” dam (Avila, Spain.

Mass Estinctions Caused by Large Bolide Impacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lavarez, Luis W.

1987-01-01

In this talk, I will describe the wealth of evidence that has forced my colleagues and me to conclude that the great mass extinctions, 65 million years ago, were caused by a large bolide impact on the earth. Bolide is a new word to most people, and it means any piece of solar system debris, such as a meteorite, asteroid, or comet nucleus. As I will show, the bolide responsible for the extinction of most of the then existing species, including the dinosaurs, was about 10 kilometers in diameter.

The mutual impact of organizational culture and structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janićijević Nebojša

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the relationship between the structure and culture of an organization. The starting assumption is that organizational structure and organizational culture impact each other, and that there is a causal relationship due to which the agreement of the two components of organization leads to better performance. First, the mechanism through which organizational culture impacts the design of organizational structures and the manner in which organizational structure affects the maintenance, strengthening, or changing of organizational culture is explained at the conceptual level. Then, based on the known classifications of organizational structure and culture, they are put into a relationship of direct mutual interdependence. This is done by generating hypotheses about the agreement of particular types of organizational culture and particular types of organizational structure.

Lagrangian space consistency relation for large scale structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horn, Bart; Hui, Lam; Xiao, Xiao

2015-01-01

Consistency relations, which relate the squeezed limit of an (N+1)-point correlation function to an N-point function, are non-perturbative symmetry statements that hold even if the associated high momentum modes are deep in the nonlinear regime and astrophysically complex. Recently, Kehagias and Riotto and Peloso and Pietroni discovered a consistency relation applicable to large scale structure. We show that this can be recast into a simple physical statement in Lagrangian space: that the squeezed correlation function (suitably normalized) vanishes. This holds regardless of whether the correlation observables are at the same time or not, and regardless of whether multiple-streaming is present. The simplicity of this statement suggests that an analytic understanding of large scale structure in the nonlinear regime may be particularly promising in Lagrangian space

The Large-Scale Structure of Scientific Method

Science.gov (United States)

Kosso, Peter

2009-01-01

The standard textbook description of the nature of science describes the proposal, testing, and acceptance of a theoretical idea almost entirely in isolation from other theories. The resulting model of science is a kind of piecemeal empiricism that misses the important network structure of scientific knowledge. Only the large-scale description of…

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Hull Girder Vibrations and Bow Impact of a Large Ship Sailing in Waves

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jialong Jiao

2015-01-01

Full Text Available It is of great importance to evaluate the hull structural vibrations response of large ships in extreme seas. Studies of hydroelastic response of an ultra large ship have been conducted with comparative verification between experimental and numerical methods in order to estimate the wave loads response considering hull vibration and water impact. A segmented self-propelling model with steel backbone system was elaborately designed and the experiments were performed in a tank. Time domain numerical simulations of the ship were carried out by using three-dimensional nonlinear hydroelasticity theory. The results from the computational analyses have been correlated with those from model tests.

Structural design of superconducting magnets for the large coil program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, W.H.; Long, C.J.; Stoddart, W.C.T.

1979-09-01

The Large Coil Program (LCP) is a research, development, and demonstration effort specifically for the advancement of the technologies involved in the production of large superconducting magnets. This paper presents a review of the status of the structural designs, analysis methods, and verification tests being performed by the participating LCP design teams in the USA, Switzerland, Japan, and the Federal Republic of Germany. The significant structural mechanics concerns that are being investigated with the LCP are presented

Critical joints in large composite aircraft structure

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, W. D.; Bunin, B. L.; Hart-Smith, L. J.

1983-01-01

A program was conducted at Douglas Aircraft Company to develop the technology for critical structural joints of composite wing structure that meets design requirements for a 1990 commercial transport aircraft. The prime objective of the program was to demonstrate the ability to reliably predict the strength of large bolted composite joints. Ancillary testing of 180 specimens generated data on strength and load-deflection characteristics which provided input to the joint analysis. Load-sharing between fasteners in multirow bolted joints was computed by the nonlinear analysis program A4EJ. This program was used to predict strengths of 20 additional large subcomponents representing strips from a wing root chordwise splice. In most cases, the predictions were accurate to within a few percent of the test results. In some cases, the observed mode of failure was different than anticipated. The highlight of the subcomponent testing was the consistent ability to achieve gross-section failure strains close to 0.005. That represents a considerable improvement over the state of the art.

Structure of exotic nuclei by large-scale shell model calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Utsuno, Yutaka; Otsuka, Takaharu; Mizusaki, Takahiro; Honma, Michio

2006-01-01

An extensive large-scale shell-model study is conducted for unstable nuclei around N = 20 and N = 28, aiming to investigate how the shell structure evolves from stable to unstable nuclei and affects the nuclear structure. The structure around N = 20 including the disappearance of the magic number is reproduced systematically, exemplified in the systematics of the electromagnetic moments in the Na isotope chain. As a key ingredient dominating the structure/shell evolution in the exotic nuclei from a general viewpoint, we pay attention to the tensor force. Including a proper strength of the tensor force in the effective interaction, we successfully reproduce the proton shell evolution ranging from N = 20 to 28 without any arbitrary modifications in the interaction and predict the ground state of 42Si to contain a large deformed component

Challenges in parameter identification of large structural dynamic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koh, C.G.

2001-01-01

In theory, it is possible to determine the parameters of a structural or mechanical system by subjecting it to some dynamic excitation and measuring the response. Considerable research has been carried out in this subject area known as the system identification over the past two decades. Nevertheless, the challenges associated with numerical convergence are still formidable when the system is large in terms of the number of degrees of freedom and number of unknowns. While many methods work for small systems, the convergence becomes difficult, if not impossible, for large systems. In this keynote lecture, both classical and non-classical system identification methods for dynamic testing and vibration-based inspection are discussed. For classical methods, the extended Kalman filter (EKF) approach is used. On this basis, a substructural identification method has been developed as a strategy to deal with large structural systems. This is achieved by reducing the problem size, thereby significantly improving the numerical convergence and efficiency. Two versions of this method are presented each with its own merits. A numerical example of frame structure with 20 unknown parameters is illustrated. For non-classical methods, the Genetic Algorithm (GA) is shown to be applicable with relative ease due to its 'forward analysis' nature. The computational time is, however, still enormous for large structural systems due to the combinatorial explosion problem. A model GA method has been developed to address this problem and tested with considerable success on a relatively large system of 50 degrees of freedom, accounting for input and output noise effects. An advantages of this GA-based identification method is that the objective function can be defined in response measured. Numerical studies show that the method is relatively robust, as it does in response measured. Numerical studies show that the method is relatively robust, as it dos not require good initial guess and the

Large Impact Basins on Mercury: Global Distribution, Characteristics, and Modification History from MESSENGER Orbital Data

Science.gov (United States)

Fassett, Caleb I.; Head, James W.; Baker, David M. H.; Zuber, Maria T.; Neumann, Gregory A.; Solomon, Sean C.; Klimczak, Christian; Strom, Robert G.; Chapman, Clark R.; Prockter, Louise M.;

The Impact of Sound Structure on Morphology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laaha, Sabine; Kjærbæk, Laila; Basbøll, Hans

2011-01-01

This study examines the impact of sound structure on children’s acquisition of noun plural morphology, focussing on stem change. For this purpose, a threelevel classification of stem change properties according to sound structure is presented, with increasing opacity of the plural stem: no change...

Influence of Thermal Homogenization Treatment on Structure and Impact Toughness of H13 ESR Steel

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

MA Dang-shen; ZHOU Jian; CHEN Zai-zhi; ZHANG Zhong-kan; CHEN Qi-an; LI De-hui

2009-01-01

The as-cast microstrueture of H13 ESR ingot and the influence of high temperature diffusion treatment on the structure and impact toughness have been investigated. The results show that the dendrite arm spacing gradually becomes wide from the surface to the center of ingot, and the large primary carbide particles always exist in interdendritic segregation areas; by means of high temperature diffusion treatment of ingot prior to hot forging, the banded segregation is nearly eliminated, the annealed structure is more uniform and the isotropic properties have been improved remarkably.

The Surface of Venus is Saturated With Ancient Impact Structures, and its Plains are Marine Sediments

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, W. B.

2009-05-01

Conventional interpretations of Venus are forced to fit dubious pre-Magellan conjectures that the planet is as active internally as Earth and preserves no ancient surface features. Plate tectonics obviously does not operate, so it is commonly assumed that the surface must record other endogenic processes, mostly unique to Venus. Imaginative systems of hundreds of tiny to huge rising and sinking plumes and diapirs are invoked. That much of the surface in fact is saturated with overlapping large circular depressions with the morphology of impact structures is obscured by postulating plume origins for selected structures and disregarding the rest. Typical structures are rimmed circular depressions, often multiring, with lobate debris aprons; central peaks are common. Marine-sedimentation features are overlooked because dogma deems the plains to be basalt flows despite their lack of source volcanoes and fissures. The unearthly close correlation between geoid and topography at long to moderate wavelengths requires, in conventional terms, dynamic maintenance of topography by up and down plumes of long-sustained precise shapes and buoyancy. A venusian upper mantle much stronger than that of Earth, because it is cooler or poorer in volatiles, is not considered. (The unearthly large so-called volcanoes and tessera plateaus often are related to rimmed circular depressions and likely are products of impact fluidization and melting.) Plains-saturating impact structures (mostly more obvious in altimetry than backscatter) with diameters of hundreds of km are superimposed as cookie-cutter bites, are variably smoothed and smeared by apparent submarine impact and erosion, and are differentially buried by sediments compacted into them. Marine- sedimentation evidence includes this compaction; long sinuous channels and distributaries with turbidite- channel characteristics and turbidite-like lobate flows (Jones and Pickering, JGSL 2003); radar-smooth surfaces and laminated aspect in

Accelerating large-scale protein structure alignments with graphics processing units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pang Bin

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Large-scale protein structure alignment, an indispensable tool to structural bioinformatics, poses a tremendous challenge on computational resources. To ensure structure alignment accuracy and efficiency, efforts have been made to parallelize traditional alignment algorithms in grid environments. However, these solutions are costly and of limited accessibility. Others trade alignment quality for speedup by using high-level characteristics of structure fragments for structure comparisons. Findings We present ppsAlign, a parallel protein structure Alignment framework designed and optimized to exploit the parallelism of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs. As a general-purpose GPU platform, ppsAlign could take many concurrent methods, such as TM-align and Fr-TM-align, into the parallelized algorithm design. We evaluated ppsAlign on an NVIDIA Tesla C2050 GPU card, and compared it with existing software solutions running on an AMD dual-core CPU. We observed a 36-fold speedup over TM-align, a 65-fold speedup over Fr-TM-align, and a 40-fold speedup over MAMMOTH. Conclusions ppsAlign is a high-performance protein structure alignment tool designed to tackle the computational complexity issues from protein structural data. The solution presented in this paper allows large-scale structure comparisons to be performed using massive parallel computing power of GPU.

Magnetic Properties of Three Impact Structures in Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, R. G.; Pilkington, M.; Tanczyk, E. I.; Grieve, R. A. F.

1995-09-01

Magnetic anomaly lows associated with the West Hawk Lake (Manitoba), Deep Bay (Saskatchewan) and Clearwater Lakes (Quebec) impact structures, are variable in lateral extent and intensity, a characteristic shared with most impact structures [1]. Drill core from the centres of these structures provides a unique opportunity to ground truth the causes of the reduction in magnetic field intensity in impact structures. Magnetic susceptibility and remanent magnetization levels have been found to be well below regional levels in melt rocks, impact breccias, fractured/shocked basement rocks in the central uplifts, and post-impact sediments. Deep Bay, formed in Pre-Cambrian paragneisses, is a complex crater with a submerged central uplift. It has been extensively infilled with non-magnetic black shales of Cretaceous age [2]. An airborne magnetic low of about 100 nT is associated with the Deep Bay structure. Below the shales and along the rim of the structure are highly brecciated country rocks with variable amounts of very fine rock flour. Susceptibility and remanent magnetization are both weak due to extensive alteration in the brecciated rocks. Alteration of the brecciated rocks, and the effect of several hundred meters of non-magnetic sedimentary infill, both contribute to the magnetic low. West Hawk Lake, a simple crater, was excavated in metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of the Superior Province [3], and has a ground magnetic low of about 250 nT. As with Deep Bay, West Hawk Lake has been infilled with dominantly non-magnetic sediments. Brecciation and alteration are extensive, with breccia derived from greenschist-facies meta-andesite displaying slightly higher susceptibilities and remanent magnetizations than breccia derived from the more felsic metasediments. Brecciation has effectively randomized magnetization vectors, and subsequent alteration resulted in the destruction of magnetic phases. These two factors contribute to the magnetic low over this structure

Impact damage reduction by structured surface geometry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kusano, Yukihiro; Fedorov, Vladimir; McGugan, Malcolm

2018-01-01

performance was observed for polyurethane-coated fibre composites with structured geometries at the back surfaces. Repeated impacts by rubber balls on the coated side caused damage and delamination of the coating. The laminates with structured back surfaces showed longer durability than those with a flat back...

Cryogenic expansion joint for large superconducting magnet structures

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Robert L.

1978-01-01

An expansion joint is provided that accommodates dimensional changes occurring during the cooldown and warm-up of large cryogenic devices such as superconducting magnet coils. Flattened tubes containing a refrigerant such as gaseous nitrogen (N.sub.2) are inserted into expansion spaces in the structure. The gaseous N.sub.2 is circulated under pressure and aids in the cooldown process while providing its primary function of accommodating differential thermal contraction and expansion in the structure. After lower temperatures are reached and the greater part of the contraction has occured, the N.sub.2 liquefies then solidifies to provide a completely rigid structure at the cryogenic operating temperatures of the device.

Impact loads on nuclear power plant structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riera, J.D.

1993-01-01

The first step in evaluation of a NPP design for protection against impact loading, is to identify those events that may be credible for a particular site. In connection with external, man-made events IAEA Safety Series No.50-SG-S5 provides a methodology for selecting the events that need to be considered. This presentation deals with modelling of interface forces in projectile impact against unyielding structures, vibrations induced by impact, penetration, scabbing and perforation effects

Large, dynamic, multi-protein complexes: a challenge for structural biology

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Rozycki, B.; Bouřa, Evžen

2014-01-01

Roč. 26, č. 46 (2014), 463103/1-463103/11 ISSN 0953-8984 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LO1302 EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 333916 - STARPI4K Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : protein structure * multi-protein complexes * hybrid methods of structural biology Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 2.346, year: 2014

Assessing the performance of reinforced concrete structures under impact loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Akanshu; Reddy, G.R.; Vaze, K.K.; Ozbolt, Josko; Hofmann, J.

2011-01-01

Reinforced concrete (RC) structures housing nuclear facilities must qualify against much stringent requirements of operating and accidental loads than conventional structures. One such accidental load that must be considered while assessing the performance of safety related RC structures is impact load. It is known that the behavior of concrete/reinforced concrete structures is strongly influenced by the loading rate. The RC structural members subjected to impact loads behave quite differently as compared to the same subjected to quasi-static loading due to the strain-rate influence on strength, stiffness, and ductility as well as to the activation of inertia forces. Moreover, for concrete structures, which exhibit damage and fracture phenomena, the failure mode and cracking pattern depend significantly on loading rate. In general, there is a tendency that with the increase of loading rate the failure mode changes from mode-I to mixed mode. In order to assess the performance of existing structures against impact loads that may be generated mainly due to man-made accidental conditions, it is important to have models that can realistically predict the impact behavior of concrete structures. The present paper focuses on a relatively new approach for 3D finite element analysis of RC structures under impact loads. The approach uses rate sensitive micro-plane model as constitutive law for concrete, while the strain-rate influence is captured by the activation energy. Inertia forces are implicitly accounted for through dynamic finite element analysis. It is shown with the help of different examples that the approach can very well simulate the behavior of RC structural elements under high rate loading. (author)

A comparison of the aquatic impacts of large hydro and small hydro projects

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Lara A.

The expansion of small hydro development in British Columbia has raised concerns surrounding the effects of these projects, and the provincial government's decision to proceed with Site C has brought attention to the impacts of large hydro. Together, these decisions highlight that there are impacts associated with all energy development. My study examines the aquatic effects of large and small hydro projects using two case study sites: Site C and the Upper Harrison Water Power Project. I first determine the aquatic effects of each of the case study sites. Next, I use existing literature and benefits transfer to determine the monetary value of these effects. My results suggest that, with mitigation, small hydro projects have less of an effect on the environment than a large hydro project per unit of electricity. I also describe the implications of my study in the context of current British Columbia energy policy. Keywords: hydropower; aquatic effects. Subject Terms: environmental impact assessment; benefits transfer.

The impact of land reform on the status of large carnivores in Zimbabwe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samual T. Williams

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Large carnivores are decreasing in number due to growing pressure from an expanding human population. It is increasingly recognised that state-protected conservation areas are unlikely to be sufficient to protect viable populations of large carnivores, and that private land will be central to conservation efforts. In 2000, a fast-track land reform programme (FTLRP was initiated in Zimbabwe, ostensibly to redress the racial imbalance in land ownership, but which also had the potential to break up large areas of carnivore habitat on private land. To date, research has focused on the impact of the FTLRP process on the different human communities, while impacts on wildlife have been overlooked. Here we provide the first systematic assessment of the impact of the FTLRP on the status of large carnivores. Spoor counts were conducted across private, resettled and communal land use types in order to estimate the abundance of large carnivores, and to determine how this had been affected by land reform. The density of carnivore spoor differed significantly between land use types, and was lower on resettlement land than on private land, suggesting that the resettlement process has resulted in a substantial decline in carnivore abundance. Habitat loss and high levels of poaching in and around resettlement areas are the most likely causes. The FTLRP resulted in the large-scale conversion of land that was used sustainably and productively for wildlife into unsustainable, unproductive agricultural land uses. We recommended that models of land reform should consider the type of land available, that existing expertise in land management should be retained where possible, and that resettlement programmes should be carefully planned in order to minimise the impacts on wildlife and on people.

Large eddy simulation study of the kinetic energy entrainment by energetic turbulent flow structures in large wind farms

Science.gov (United States)

VerHulst, Claire; Meneveau, Charles

2014-02-01

In this study, we address the question of how kinetic energy is entrained into large wind turbine arrays and, in particular, how large-scale flow structures contribute to such entrainment. Previous research has shown this entrainment to be an important limiting factor in the performance of very large arrays where the flow becomes fully developed and there is a balance between the forcing of the atmospheric boundary layer and the resistance of the wind turbines. Given the high Reynolds numbers and domain sizes on the order of kilometers, we rely on wall-modeled large eddy simulation (LES) to simulate turbulent flow within the wind farm. Three-dimensional proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis is then used to identify the most energetic flow structures present in the LES data. We quantify the contribution of each POD mode to the kinetic energy entrainment and its dependence on the layout of the wind turbine array. The primary large-scale structures are found to be streamwise, counter-rotating vortices located above the height of the wind turbines. While the flow is periodic, the geometry is not invariant to all horizontal translations due to the presence of the wind turbines and thus POD modes need not be Fourier modes. Differences of the obtained modes with Fourier modes are documented. Some of the modes are responsible for a large fraction of the kinetic energy flux to the wind turbine region. Surprisingly, more flow structures (POD modes) are needed to capture at least 40% of the turbulent kinetic energy, for which the POD analysis is optimal, than are needed to capture at least 40% of the kinetic energy flux to the turbines. For comparison, we consider the cases of aligned and staggered wind turbine arrays in a neutral atmospheric boundary layer as well as a reference case without wind turbines. While the general characteristics of the flow structures are robust, the net kinetic energy entrainment to the turbines depends on the presence and relative

Graphene ultracapacitors: structural impacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Weixin; Ji, Xiaobo; Deng, Wentao; Chen, Qiyuan; Shen, Chen; Banks, Craig E

2013-04-07

The structural effects of graphene on the electrochemical properties of graphene-based ultracapacitors are investigated for the first time, where the competitive impacts resulting from the edge content, specific surface area, edge/basal defects, oxygen-containing groups and metal oxides/surfactant impurities are taken into consideration, demonstrating that not one element, but all are responsible for the final behavior of graphene-based ultracapacitors. This work will be of wide importance to research producing graphene-based energy storage/generation devices.

Breaking wave impact forces on truss support structures for offshore wind turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Cieślikiewicz, Witold; Gudmestad, Ove T.; Podrażka, Olga

2014-05-01

Due to depletion of the conventional energy sources, wind energy is becoming more popular these days. Wind energy is being produced mostly from onshore farms, but there is a clear tendency to transfer wind farms to the sea. The foundations of offshore wind turbines may be truss structures and might be located in shallow water, where are subjected to highly varying hydrodynamic loads, particularly from plunging breaking waves. There are models for impact forces prediction on monopiles. Typically the total wave force on slender pile from breaking waves is a superposition of slowly varying quasi-static force, calculated from the Morison equation and additional dynamical, short duration force due to the impact of the breaker front or breaker tongue. There is not much research done on the truss structures of wind turbines and there are still uncertainties on slamming wave forces, due to plunging breaking waves on those structures. Within the WaveSlam (Wave slamming forces on truss structures in shallow water) project the large scale tests were carried out in 2013 at the Large Wave Flume in Forschungszentrum Küste (FZK) in Hannover, Germany. The following institutions participated in this initiative: the University of Stavanger and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (project management), University of Gdańsk, Poland, Hamburg University of Technology and the University of Rostock, Germany and Reinertsen AS, Norway. This work was supported by the EU 7th Framework Programme through the grant to the budget of the Integrating Activity HYDRALAB IV. The main aim of the experiment was to investigate the wave slamming forces on truss structures, development of new and improvement of existing methods to calculate forces from the plunging breakers. The majority of the measurements were carried out for regular waves with specified frequencies and wave heights as well as for the irregular waves based on JONSWAP spectrum. The truss structure was equipped with both

Aircraft impact on nuclear power plants concrete structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coombs, R.F.; Barbosa, L.C.B.; Santos, S.H.C.

1980-01-01

A summary about the procedures for the analysis of aircraft on concrete structures, aiming to emphasize the aspects related to the nuclear power plants safety, is presented. The impact force is determined by the Riera model. The effect of this impact force on the concrete structures is presented, showing the advantages to use nonlinear behaviour in the concrete submitted to short loads. The simplifications used are shown through a verification example of the nuclear reactor concrete shielding. (E.G.) [pt

Analysis of environmental impact assessment for large-scale X-ray medical equipments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fu Jin; Pei Chengkai

2011-01-01

Based on an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) project, this paper elaborates the basic analysis essentials of EIA for the sales project of large-scale X-ray medical equipment, and provides the analysis procedure of environmental impact and dose estimation method under normal and accident conditions. The key points of EIA for the sales project of large-scale X-ray medical equipment include the determination of pollution factor and management limit value according to the project's actual situation, the utilization of various methods of assessment and prediction such as analogy, actual measurement and calculation to analyze, monitor, calculate and predict the pollution during normal and accident condition. (authors)

Complex modular structure of large-scale brain networks

Science.gov (United States)

Valencia, M.; Pastor, M. A.; Fernández-Seara, M. A.; Artieda, J.; Martinerie, J.; Chavez, M.

2009-06-01

Modular structure is ubiquitous among real-world networks from related proteins to social groups. Here we analyze the modular organization of brain networks at a large scale (voxel level) extracted from functional magnetic resonance imaging signals. By using a random-walk-based method, we unveil the modularity of brain webs and show modules with a spatial distribution that matches anatomical structures with functional significance. The functional role of each node in the network is studied by analyzing its patterns of inter- and intramodular connections. Results suggest that the modular architecture constitutes the structural basis for the coexistence of functional integration of distant and specialized brain areas during normal brain activities at rest.

Large-scale melting and impact mixing on early-formed asteroids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Greenwood, Richard; Barrat, J.-A.; Scott, Edward Robert Dalton

Large-scale melting of asteroids and planetesimals is now known to have taken place ex-tremely early in solar system history [1]. The first-generation bodies produced by this process would have been subject to rapid collisional reprocessing, leading in most cases to fragmentation and/or accretion...... the relationship between the different groups of achondrites [3, 4]. Here we present new oxygen isotope evidence con-cerning the role of large-scale melting and subsequent impact mixing in the evolution of three important achondrite groups: the main-group pallasites, meso-siderites and HEDs....

Structuring and assessing large and complex decision problems using MCDA

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barfod, Michael Bruhn

This paper presents an approach for the structuring and assessing of large and complex decision problems using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). The MCDA problem is structured in a decision tree and assessed using the REMBRANDT technique featuring a procedure for limiting the number of pair...

Effects of Large-Scale Releases on the Genetic Structure of Red Sea Bream (Pagrus major, Temminck et Schlegel) Populations in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanco Gonzalez, Enrique; Aritaki, Masato; Knutsen, Halvor; Taniguchi, Nobuhiko

2015-01-01

Large-scale hatchery releases are carried out for many marine fish species worldwide; nevertheless, the long-term effects of this practice on the genetic structure of natural populations remains unclear. The lack of knowledge is especially evident when independent stock enhancement programs are conducted simultaneously on the same species at different geographical locations, as occurs with red sea bream (Pagrus major, Temminck et Schlegel) in Japan. In this study, we examined the putative effects of intensive offspring releases on the genetic structure of red sea bream populations along the Japanese archipelago by genotyping 848 fish at fifteen microsatellite loci. Our results suggests weak but consistent patterns of genetic divergence (F(ST) = 0.002, p Red sea bream in Japan appeared spatially structured with several patches of distinct allelic composition, which corresponded to areas receiving an important influx of fish of hatchery origin, either released intentionally or from unintentional escapees from aquaculture operations. In addition to impacts upon local populations inhabiting semi-enclosed embayments, large-scale releases (either intentionally or from unintentional escapes) appeared also to have perturbed genetic structure in open areas. Hence, results of the present study suggest that independent large-scale marine stock enhancement programs conducted simultaneously on one species at different geographical locations may compromise native genetic structure and lead to patchy patterns in population genetic structure.

Geophysical mapping of complex glaciogenic large-scale structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høyer, Anne-Sophie

2013-01-01

This thesis presents the main results of a four year PhD study concerning the use of geophysical data in geological mapping. The study is related to the Geocenter project, “KOMPLEKS”, which focuses on the mapping of complex, large-scale geological structures. The study area is approximately 100 km2...... data types and co-interpret them in order to improve our geological understanding. However, in order to perform this successfully, methodological considerations are necessary. For instance, a structure indicated by a reflection in the seismic data is not always apparent in the resistivity data...... information) can be collected. The geophysical data are used together with geological analyses from boreholes and pits to interpret the geological history of the hill-island. The geophysical data reveal that the glaciotectonic structures truncate at the surface. The directions of the structures were mapped...

The Gardnos Impact Structure, Norway

Science.gov (United States)

Dons, J. A.; Naterstad, J.

1992-07-01

The Gardnos area is situated 9 km north of the village Nesbyen in the county of Buskerud, south-central Norway. The peculiar "Gardnos breccia" was first described in 1945 and ascribed to explosive volcanic activity in Permian time. This conclusion has lately been questioned, and preliminary field and microscopic investigations by the authors in 1990-91 substantiated a theory of impact origin for the breccia and the structure. The Gardnos Impact Structure is the first of its kind to be described from Norway. Its geographical position is lat. 60 degrees 39'N, long. 9 degrees 00'E. The topography surrounding the structure ranges from 200 m.a.s.l. in the main Hallingdalen valley to more than 1000 m.a.s.l. in the high mountains nearby. At heights of 900-1000 m erosion has cut through the important, more or less horizontal boundary between a complex Precambrian crystalline basement and a deformed Caledonian cover sequence of Cambro-Ordovician sediments and overthrust nappes. Rocks of the latter sequence are however, still preserved in outliers no more than 3 km from the Gardnos structure. Erosional remnants of the Gardnos structure rocks are found within a semicircular area of 4-5 km diameter. Topographically the eroded structure now appears as a bowl-shaped, hanging side valley to Hallingdal. Wooded, late-Quaternary moraines and fluvioglacial deposits cover to a great extent the solid rocks, but the beds of many branching creeks provide good exposures. Thus a great variety of rocks formed within the Gardnos structure can be studied from approximately 350 m.a.s.l. up to more than 800 m.a.s.l. A variety of rocks from the Precambrian basement complex have been affected by the impact. This gives a unique opportunity to study shock-metamorphic effects on varying lithologies. Among the impact-produced structures and rock types that can easily be identified is an outer zone of breccia veining in the varied Precambrian lithologies, a lowermost lens of autochthonous breccia, the

Large-scale structures in turbulent Couette flow

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jung Hoon; Lee, Jae Hwa

2016-11-01

Direct numerical simulation of fully developed turbulent Couette flow is performed with a large computational domain in the streamwise and spanwise directions (40 πh and 6 πh) to investigate streamwise-scale growth mechanism of the streamwise velocity fluctuating structures in the core region, where h is the channel half height. It is shown that long streamwise-scale structures (> 3 h) are highly energetic and they contribute to more than 80% of the turbulent kinetic energy and Reynolds shear stress, compared to previous studies in canonical Poiseuille flows. Instantaneous and statistical analysis show that negative-u' structures on the bottom wall in the Couette flow continuously grow in the streamwise direction due to mean shear, and they penetrate to the opposite moving wall. The geometric center of the log layer is observed in the centerline with a dominant outer peak in streamwise spectrum, and the maximum streamwise extent for structure is found in the centerline, similar to previous observation in turbulent Poiseuille flows at high Reynolds number. Further inspection of time-evolving instantaneous fields clearly exhibits that adjacent long structures combine to form a longer structure in the centerline. This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2014R1A1A2057031).

Tying Extinction Events to Comet Impacts Large Enough to Cause an Extinction in Themselves.

Science.gov (United States)

Burgener, J. A.

2017-12-01

Comets over 35 km in size impacting Earth will create vast fireballs, and will boil large parts of the oceans, causing extinction events in themselves. They will likely provide enough energy to shatter the crust and eject large masses of molten rock from the mantle, forming traps. Traps are clearly associated with extinction events, but are not expected to cause extinctions. While Chicxulub is recognized to have occurred at the time of the K/Pg boundary layer, it is recognized as being too small in itself to cause an extinction. Are large comet impacts likely? The Kuiper belt has more than 100,000 objects over 100 km in diameter and millions over 10 km. Typically their orbits are less stable than asteroid orbits due to large bodies such as Pluto moving through the belt. The asteroid belt has only 10,000 objects over 10 km diameter. Comet impacts should be more common than asteroid impacts, yet none of the recognized craters are expected to be due to comets. There are many features on Earth that are poorly explained by Plate Tectonics that would be well explained if they were considered to be comet impact craters. A consideration of the Black Sea and the Tarim Basin will show that impact interpretations are a better fit than the present Plate Tectonics' explanations. Both basins are in the midst of mountain building from plate collisions, but are themselves not being disturbed by the plate collisions. Both are ellipses angled at 23.4 degrees to the equator, matching the angle expected for a low angle impact from a comet traveling in the ecliptic. Both are too deep at 15 km depths to be standard oceans (typically 5 km deep). Both are filled with horizontal layers of sediments, undisturbed by the mountain building occurring at the edges. Both have thin crusts and high Moho boundaries. Both have thin lithosphere. Yet both show GPS movement of the land around them moving away from them, as though they were much thicker and stronger than the surrounding land. The Tarim

Potential Impact of Large Scale Abstraction on the Quality of Shallow ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

PRO

Significant increase in crop production would not, however, be ... sounding) using Geonics EM34-3 and Abem SAS300C Terrameter to determine the aquifer (fresh water lens) ..... Final report on environmental impact assessment of large scale.

Analysis of aircraft impact to concrete structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arros, Jorma; Doumbalski, Nikolay

2007-01-01

Analysis of aircraft impact to nuclear power plant structures is discussed utilizing a simplified model of a 'fictitious nuclear building' to perform analyses using LS-DYNA software, representing the loading: (i) by the Riera force history method and (ii) by modeling the crash by impacting a model of a plane similar to Boeing 747-400 to the structure (i.e., 'missile-target interaction method'). Points discussed include: (1) comparison of shock loading within the building as obtained from the Riera force history analysis versus from the missile-target interaction analysis, (2) sensitivity of the results on the assumed Riera force loading area, (3) linear versus nonlinear modeling and (4) on failure criteria

BigSUR: large-scale structured urban reconstruction

KAUST Repository

Kelly, Tom

2017-11-22

The creation of high-quality semantically parsed 3D models for dense metropolitan areas is a fundamental urban modeling problem. Although recent advances in acquisition techniques and processing algorithms have resulted in large-scale imagery or 3D polygonal reconstructions, such data-sources are typically noisy, and incomplete, with no semantic structure. In this paper, we present an automatic data fusion technique that produces high-quality structured models of city blocks. From coarse polygonal meshes, street-level imagery, and GIS footprints, we formulate a binary integer program that globally balances sources of error to produce semantically parsed mass models with associated facade elements. We demonstrate our system on four city regions of varying complexity; our examples typically contain densely built urban blocks spanning hundreds of buildings. In our largest example, we produce a structured model of 37 city blocks spanning a total of 1,011 buildings at a scale and quality previously impossible to achieve automatically.

BigSUR: large-scale structured urban reconstruction

KAUST Repository

Kelly, Tom; Femiani, John; Wonka, Peter; Mitra, Niloy J.

2017-01-01

The creation of high-quality semantically parsed 3D models for dense metropolitan areas is a fundamental urban modeling problem. Although recent advances in acquisition techniques and processing algorithms have resulted in large-scale imagery or 3D polygonal reconstructions, such data-sources are typically noisy, and incomplete, with no semantic structure. In this paper, we present an automatic data fusion technique that produces high-quality structured models of city blocks. From coarse polygonal meshes, street-level imagery, and GIS footprints, we formulate a binary integer program that globally balances sources of error to produce semantically parsed mass models with associated facade elements. We demonstrate our system on four city regions of varying complexity; our examples typically contain densely built urban blocks spanning hundreds of buildings. In our largest example, we produce a structured model of 37 city blocks spanning a total of 1,011 buildings at a scale and quality previously impossible to achieve automatically.

Structure Transformation and Coherent Interface in Large Lattice-Mismatched Nanoscale Multilayers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Y. Xie

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Nanoscale Al/W multilayers were fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering and characterized by transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution electron microscopy. Despite the large lattice mismatch and significantly different lattice structures between Al and W, a structural transition from face-centered cubic to body-centered cubic in Al layers was observed when the individual layer thickness was reduced from 5 nm to 1 nm, forming coherent Al/W interfaces. For potential mechanisms underlying the observed structure transition and forming of coherent interfaces, it was suggested that the reduction of interfacial energy and high stresses induced by large lattice-mismatch play a crucial role.

Structural Composite Supercapacitors: Electrical and Mechanical Impact of Separators and Processing Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-01

Structural Composite Supercapacitors : Electrical and Mechanical Impact of Separators and Processing Conditions by Edwin B. Gienger, James F...Proving Ground, MD 21005-5066 ARL-TR-6624 September 2013 Structural Composite Supercapacitors : Electrical and Mechanical Impact of...2012 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Structural Composite Supercapacitors : Electrical and Mechanical Impact of Separators and Processing Conditions 5a

Characterization of Large Structural Genetic Mosaicism in Human Autosomes

Science.gov (United States)

Machiela, Mitchell J.; Zhou, Weiyin; Sampson, Joshua N.; Dean, Michael C.; Jacobs, Kevin B.; Black, Amanda; Brinton, Louise A.; Chang, I-Shou; Chen, Chu; Chen, Constance; Chen, Kexin; Cook, Linda S.; Crous Bou, Marta; De Vivo, Immaculata; Doherty, Jennifer; Friedenreich, Christine M.; Gaudet, Mia M.; Haiman, Christopher A.; Hankinson, Susan E.; Hartge, Patricia; Henderson, Brian E.; Hong, Yun-Chul; Hosgood, H. Dean; Hsiung, Chao A.; Hu, Wei; Hunter, David J.; Jessop, Lea; Kim, Hee Nam; Kim, Yeul Hong; Kim, Young Tae; Klein, Robert; Kraft, Peter; Lan, Qing; Lin, Dongxin; Liu, Jianjun; Le Marchand, Loic; Liang, Xiaolin; Lissowska, Jolanta; Lu, Lingeng; Magliocco, Anthony M.; Matsuo, Keitaro; Olson, Sara H.; Orlow, Irene; Park, Jae Yong; Pooler, Loreall; Prescott, Jennifer; Rastogi, Radhai; Risch, Harvey A.; Schumacher, Fredrick; Seow, Adeline; Setiawan, Veronica Wendy; Shen, Hongbing; Sheng, Xin; Shin, Min-Ho; Shu, Xiao-Ou; VanDen Berg, David; Wang, Jiu-Cun; Wentzensen, Nicolas; Wong, Maria Pik; Wu, Chen; Wu, Tangchun; Wu, Yi-Long; Xia, Lucy; Yang, Hannah P.; Yang, Pan-Chyr; Zheng, Wei; Zhou, Baosen; Abnet, Christian C.; Albanes, Demetrius; Aldrich, Melinda C.; Amos, Christopher; Amundadottir, Laufey T.; Berndt, Sonja I.; Blot, William J.; Bock, Cathryn H.; Bracci, Paige M.; Burdett, Laurie; Buring, Julie E.; Butler, Mary A.; Carreón, Tania; Chatterjee, Nilanjan; Chung, Charles C.; Cook, Michael B.; Cullen, Michael; Davis, Faith G.; Ding, Ti; Duell, Eric J.; Epstein, Caroline G.; Fan, Jin-Hu; Figueroa, Jonine D.; Fraumeni, Joseph F.; Freedman, Neal D.; Fuchs, Charles S.; Gao, Yu-Tang; Gapstur, Susan M.; Patiño-Garcia, Ana; Garcia-Closas, Montserrat; Gaziano, J. Michael; Giles, Graham G.; Gillanders, Elizabeth M.; Giovannucci, Edward L.; Goldin, Lynn; Goldstein, Alisa M.; Greene, Mark H.; Hallmans, Goran; Harris, Curtis C.; Henriksson, Roger; Holly, Elizabeth A.; Hoover, Robert N.; Hu, Nan; Hutchinson, Amy; Jenab, Mazda; Johansen, Christoffer; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Koh, Woon-Puay; Kolonel, Laurence N.; Kooperberg, Charles; Krogh, Vittorio; Kurtz, Robert C.; LaCroix, Andrea; Landgren, Annelie; Landi, Maria Teresa; Li, Donghui; Liao, Linda M.; Malats, Nuria; McGlynn, Katherine A.; McNeill, Lorna H.; McWilliams, Robert R.; Melin, Beatrice S.; Mirabello, Lisa; Peplonska, Beata; Peters, Ulrike; Petersen, Gloria M.; Prokunina-Olsson, Ludmila; Purdue, Mark; Qiao, You-Lin; Rabe, Kari G.; Rajaraman, Preetha; Real, Francisco X.; Riboli, Elio; Rodríguez-Santiago, Benjamín; Rothman, Nathaniel; Ruder, Avima M.; Savage, Sharon A.; Schwartz, Ann G.; Schwartz, Kendra L.; Sesso, Howard D.; Severi, Gianluca; Silverman, Debra T.; Spitz, Margaret R.; Stevens, Victoria L.; Stolzenberg-Solomon, Rachael; Stram, Daniel; Tang, Ze-Zhong; Taylor, Philip R.; Teras, Lauren R.; Tobias, Geoffrey S.; Viswanathan, Kala; Wacholder, Sholom; Wang, Zhaoming; Weinstein, Stephanie J.; Wheeler, William; White, Emily; Wiencke, John K.; Wolpin, Brian M.; Wu, Xifeng; Wunder, Jay S.; Yu, Kai; Zanetti, Krista A.; Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Anne; Ziegler, Regina G.; de Andrade, Mariza; Barnes, Kathleen C.; Beaty, Terri H.; Bierut, Laura J.; Desch, Karl C.; Doheny, Kimberly F.; Feenstra, Bjarke; Ginsburg, David; Heit, John A.; Kang, Jae H.; Laurie, Cecilia A.; Li, Jun Z.; Lowe, William L.; Marazita, Mary L.; Melbye, Mads; Mirel, Daniel B.; Murray, Jeffrey C.; Nelson, Sarah C.; Pasquale, Louis R.; Rice, Kenneth; Wiggs, Janey L.; Wise, Anastasia; Tucker, Margaret; Pérez-Jurado, Luis A.; Laurie, Cathy C.; Caporaso, Neil E.; Yeager, Meredith; Chanock, Stephen J.

2015-01-01

Analyses of genome-wide association study (GWAS) data have revealed that detectable genetic mosaicism involving large (>2 Mb) structural autosomal alterations occurs in a fraction of individuals. We present results for a set of 24,849 genotyped individuals (total GWAS set II [TGSII]) in whom 341 large autosomal abnormalities were observed in 168 (0.68%) individuals. Merging data from the new TGSII set with data from two prior reports (the Gene-Environment Association Studies and the total GWAS set I) generated a large dataset of 127,179 individuals; we then conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the patterns of detectable autosomal mosaicism (n = 1,315 events in 925 [0.73%] individuals). Restricting to events >2 Mb in size, we observed an increase in event frequency as event size decreased. The combined results underscore that the rate of detectable mosaicism increases with age (p value = 5.5 × 10−31) and is higher in men (p value = 0.002) but lower in participants of African ancestry (p value = 0.003). In a subset of 47 individuals from whom serial samples were collected up to 6 years apart, complex changes were noted over time and showed an overall increase in the proportion of mosaic cells as age increased. Our large combined sample allowed for a unique ability to characterize detectable genetic mosaicism involving large structural events and strengthens the emerging evidence of non-random erosion of the genome in the aging population. PMID:25748358

Cryogenic structural material and design of support structures for the Large Helical Device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishimura, Arata; Imagawa, Shinsaku; Tamura, Hitoshi

1997-01-01

This paper describes a short history of material selection for the cryogenic support structures for the Large Helical Device (LHD) which has superconducting coils. Since the support structures are cooled down to 4.4 K together with the coils, SUS 316 was chosen because of its stable austenitic phase, sufficient mechanical properties at cryogenic temperature and good weldability. Also, outlines of the design and fabrication processes of the support structures are summarized. On the design of the support structures, a deformation analysis was carried out to maintain the proper magnetic field during operation. Afterwards, a stress analysis was performed. During machining and assembling, tolerance was noticed to keep coil positions accurate. Special welding grooves and fabrication processes were considered and achieved successfully. Finally, a cryogenic supporting post which sustains the cryogenic structures and superconducting coils is presented. CFRP was used in this specially developed supporting post to reduce the heat conduction from ambient 300 K structures. (author)

Initial condition effects on large scale structure in numerical simulations of plane mixing layers

Science.gov (United States)

McMullan, W. A.; Garrett, S. J.

2016-01-01

In this paper, Large Eddy Simulations are performed on the spatially developing plane turbulent mixing layer. The simulated mixing layers originate from initially laminar conditions. The focus of this research is on the effect of the nature of the imposed fluctuations on the large-scale spanwise and streamwise structures in the flow. Two simulations are performed; one with low-level three-dimensional inflow fluctuations obtained from pseudo-random numbers, the other with physically correlated fluctuations of the same magnitude obtained from an inflow generation technique. Where white-noise fluctuations provide the inflow disturbances, no spatially stationary streamwise vortex structure is observed, and the large-scale spanwise turbulent vortical structures grow continuously and linearly. These structures are observed to have a three-dimensional internal geometry with branches and dislocations. Where physically correlated provide the inflow disturbances a "streaky" streamwise structure that is spatially stationary is observed, with the large-scale turbulent vortical structures growing with the square-root of time. These large-scale structures are quasi-two-dimensional, on top of which the secondary structure rides. The simulation results are discussed in the context of the varying interpretations of mixing layer growth that have been postulated. Recommendations are made concerning the data required from experiments in order to produce accurate numerical simulation recreations of real flows.

Hypersingular integral equations, waveguiding effects in Cantorian Universe and genesis of large scale structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iovane, G.; Giordano, P.

2005-01-01

In this work we introduce the hypersingular integral equations and analyze a realistic model of gravitational waveguides on a cantorian space-time. A waveguiding effect is considered with respect to the large scale structure of the Universe, where the structure formation appears as if it were a classically self-similar random process at all astrophysical scales. The result is that it seems we live in an El Naschie's o (∞) Cantorian space-time, where gravitational lensing and waveguiding effects can explain the appearing Universe. In particular, we consider filamentary and planar large scale structures as possible refraction channels for electromagnetic radiation coming from cosmological structures. From this vision the Universe appears like a large self-similar adaptive mirrors set, thanks to three numerical simulations. Consequently, an infinite Universe is just an optical illusion that is produced by mirroring effects connected with the large scale structure of a finite and not a large Universe

Environmental effects and large space systems

Science.gov (United States)

Garrett, H. B.

1981-01-01

When planning large scale operations in space, environmental impact must be considered in addition to radiation, spacecraft charging, contamination, high power and size. Pollution of the atmosphere and space is caused by rocket effluents and by photoelectrons generated by sunlight falling on satellite surfaces even light pollution may result (the SPS may reflect so much light as to be a nuisance to astronomers). Large (100 Km 2) structures also will absorb the high energy particles that impinge on them. Altogether, these effects may drastically alter the Earth's magnetosphere. It is not clear if these alterations will in any way affect the Earth's surface climate. Large structures will also generate large plasma wakes and waves which may cause interference with communications to the vehicle. A high energy, microwave beam from the SPS will cause ionospheric turbulence, affecting UHF and VHF communications. Although none of these effects may ultimately prove critical, they must be considered in the design of large structures.

Structural analysis of aircraft impact on a nuclear powered ship

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dietrich, R.

1976-01-01

As part of a general safety analysis, the reliability against structural damage due to an aircraft crash on a nuclear powered ship is evaluated. This structural analysis is an aid in safety design. It is assumed that a Phantom military jet-fighter hits a nuclear powered ship. The total reaction force due to such an aircraft impact on a rigid barrier is specified in the guidelines of the Reaktor-Sicherheitskommission (German Safety Advisory Committee) for pressurized water reactors. This paper investigates the aircraft impact on the collision barrier at the side of the ship. The aircraft impact on top of the reactor hatchway is investigated by another analysis. It appears that the most unfavorable angle of impact is always normal to the surface of the collision barrier. Consequently, only normal impact will be considered here. For the specific case of an aircraft striking a nuclear powered ship, the following two effects are considered: Local penetration and dynamic response of the structure. (Auth.)

Impact- and earthquake- proof roof structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shohara, Ryoichi.

1990-01-01

Building roofs are constituted with roof slabs, an earthquake proof layer at the upper surface thereof and an impact proof layer made of iron-reinforced concrete disposed further thereover. Since the roofs constitute an earthquake proof structure loading building dampers on the upper surface of the slabs by the concrete layer, seismic inputs of earthquakes to the buildings can be moderated and the impact-proof layer is formed, to ensure the safety to external conditions such as earthquakes or falling accidents of airplane in important facilities such as reactor buildings. (T.M.)

Traveling wave accelerating structures with a large phase advance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paramonov, V.V.

2012-01-01

The cells RF parameters for the well known Disk Loaded Waveguide (DLW) are considered in higher pass bands of TM01 wave, providing operating phase advance between 180 o - 1230 o per cell. With an appropriate shape optimization and some additional elements proposed traveling wave structures with such large phase advance overlap the classical first band DLW in RF efficiency. Examples of proposed structures together with RF and dispersion properties are presented.

Large Yukawa-coupling impact on H+ decay in the MSSM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartl, A.; Hidaka, K.; Kizukuri, Y.; Kon, T.; Majerotto, W.

1994-01-01

The decay of the charged Higgs boson H + is comprehensively studied in the minimal supersymmetric model. We find that the supersymmetric mode (t tilde)(b tilde and bar) can overwhelmingly dominate the H + decay in a substantially wide (and still allowed) range of the model parameters due to the large t- and b- quark Yukawa couplings and the large t tilde- and b tilde- mixings and that this mode has very distinctive signatures compared to the 'conventional' dominant modes τ + ν τ and tb-bar. This could shed a crucial impact on the H + search at future colliders. (author)

Short Large-Amplitude Magnetic Structures (SLAMS) at Venus

Science.gov (United States)

Collinson, G. A.; Wilson, L. B.; Sibeck, D. G.; Shane, N.; Zhang, T. L.; Moore, T. E.; Coates, A. J.; Barabash, S.

2012-01-01

We present the first observation of magnetic fluctuations consistent with Short Large-Amplitude Magnetic Structures (SLAMS) in the foreshock of the planet Venus. Three monolithic magnetic field spikes were observed by the Venus Express on the 11th of April 2009. The structures were approx.1.5->11s in duration, had magnetic compression ratios between approx.3->6, and exhibited elliptical polarization. These characteristics are consistent with the SLAMS observed at Earth, Jupiter, and Comet Giacobini-Zinner, and thus we hypothesize that it is possible SLAMS may be found at any celestial body with a foreshock.

Effects of baryons on the statistical properties of large scale structure of the Universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guillet, T.

2010-01-01

Observations of weak gravitational lensing will provide strong constraints on the cosmic expansion history and the growth rate of large scale structure, yielding clues to the properties and nature of dark energy. Their interpretation is impacted by baryonic physics, which are expected to modify the total matter distribution at small scales. My work has focused on determining and modeling the impact of baryons on the statistics of the large scale matter distribution in the Universe. Using numerical simulations, I have extracted the effect of baryons on the power spectrum, variance and skewness of the total density field as predicted by these simulations. I have shown that a model based on the halo model construction, featuring a concentrated central component to account for cool condensed baryons, is able to reproduce accurately, and down to very small scales, the measured amplifications of both the variance and skewness of the density field. Because of well-known issues with baryons in current cosmological simulations, I have extended the central component model to rely on as many observation-based ingredients as possible. As an application, I have studied the effect of baryons on the predictions of the upcoming Euclid weak lensing survey. During the course of this work, I have also worked at developing and extending the RAMSES code, in particular by developing a parallel self-gravity solver, which offers significant performance gains, in particular for the simulation of some astrophysical setups such as isolated galaxy or cluster simulations. (author) [fr

Auxetic hexachiral structures with wavy ligaments for large elasto-plastic deformation

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yilin; Wang, Zhen-Pei; Hien Poh, Leong

2018-05-01

The hexachiral structure is in-plane isotropic in small deformation. When subjected to large elasto-plastic deformation, however, the hexachiral structure tends to lose its auxeticity and/or isotropy—properties which are desirable in many potential applications. The objective of this study is to improve these two mechanical properties, without significantly compromising the effective yield stress, in the regime with significant material and geometrical nonlinearity effects. It is found that the deformation mechanisms underlying the auxeticity and isotropy properties of a hexachiral structure are largely influenced by the extent of rotation of the central ring in a unit cell. To facilitate the development of this deformation mechanism, an improved design with wavy ligaments is proposed. The improved performance of the proposed hexachiral structure is demonstrated. An initial study on possible applications as a protective material is next carried out, where the improved hexachiral design is shown to exhibit higher specific energy absorption capacity compared to the original design, as well as standard honeycomb structures.

Signatures of non-universal large scales in conditional structure functions from various turbulent flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blum, Daniel B; Voth, Greg A; Bewley, Gregory P; Bodenschatz, Eberhard; Gibert, Mathieu; Xu Haitao; Gylfason, Ármann; Mydlarski, Laurent; Yeung, P K

2011-01-01

We present a systematic comparison of conditional structure functions in nine turbulent flows. The flows studied include forced isotropic turbulence simulated on a periodic domain, passive grid wind tunnel turbulence in air and in pressurized SF 6 , active grid wind tunnel turbulence (in both synchronous and random driving modes), the flow between counter-rotating discs, oscillating grid turbulence and the flow in the Lagrangian exploration module (in both constant and random driving modes). We compare longitudinal Eulerian second-order structure functions conditioned on the instantaneous large-scale velocity in each flow to assess the ways in which the large scales affect the small scales in a variety of turbulent flows. Structure functions are shown to have larger values when the large-scale velocity significantly deviates from the mean in most flows, suggesting that dependence on the large scales is typical in many turbulent flows. The effects of the large-scale velocity on the structure functions can be quite strong, with the structure function varying by up to a factor of 2 when the large-scale velocity deviates from the mean by ±2 standard deviations. In several flows, the effects of the large-scale velocity are similar at all the length scales we measured, indicating that the large-scale effects are scale independent. In a few flows, the effects of the large-scale velocity are larger on the smallest length scales. (paper)

The impact of large structural brain changes in chronic stroke patients on the electric field caused by transcranial brain stimulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Minjoli, Sena; Saturnino, Guilherme B.; Blicher, Jakob Udby

2017-01-01

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) are two types of non-invasive transcranial brain stimulation (TBS). They are useful tools for stroke research and may be potential adjunct therapies for functional recovery. However, stroke often causes large...... cerebral lesions, which are commonly accompanied by a secondary enlargement of the ventricles and atrophy. These structural alterations substantially change the conductivity distribution inside the head, which may have potentially important consequences for both brain stimulation methods. We therefore....... Realistic head models containing large cortical and subcortical stroke lesions in the right parietal cortex were created using MR images of two patients. For TMS, the electric field of a double coil was simulated using the finite-element method. Systematic variations of the coil position relative...

Impact testing and analysis for structural code benchmarking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glass, R.E.

1989-01-01

Sandia National Laboratories, in cooperation with industry and other national laboratories, has been benchmarking computer codes (''Structural Code Benchmarking for the Analysis of Impact Response of Nuclear Material Shipping Cask,'' R.E. Glass, Sandia National Laboratories, 1985; ''Sample Problem Manual for Benchmarking of Cask Analysis Codes,'' R.E. Glass, Sandia National Laboratories, 1988; ''Standard Thermal Problem Set for the Evaluation of Heat Transfer Codes Used in the Assessment of Transportation Packages, R.E. Glass, et al., Sandia National Laboratories, 1988) used to predict the structural, thermal, criticality, and shielding behavior of radioactive materials packages. The first step in the benchmarking of the codes was to develop standard problem sets and to compare the results from several codes and users. This step for structural analysis codes has been completed as described in ''Structural Code Benchmarking for the Analysis of Impact Response of Nuclear Material Shipping Casks,'' R.E. Glass, Sandia National Laboratories, 1985. The problem set is shown in Fig. 1. This problem set exercised the ability of the codes to predict the response to end (axisymmetric) and side (plane strain) impacts with both elastic and elastic/plastic materials. The results from these problems showed that there is good agreement in predicting elastic response. Significant differences occurred in predicting strains for the elastic/plastic models. An example of the variation in predicting plastic behavior is given, which shows the hoop strain as a function of time at the impacting end of Model B. These differences in predicting plastic strains demonstrated a need for benchmark data for a cask-like problem. 6 refs., 5 figs

Structural Quality of Service in Large-Scale Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Jens Myrup

, telephony and data. To meet the requirements of the different applications, and to handle the increased vulnerability to failures, the ability to design robust networks providing good Quality of Service is crucial. However, most planning of large-scale networks today is ad-hoc based, leading to highly...... complex networks lacking predictability and global structural properties. The thesis applies the concept of Structural Quality of Service to formulate desirable global properties, and it shows how regular graph structures can be used to obtain such properties.......Digitalization has created the base for co-existence and convergence in communications, leading to an increasing use of multi service networks. This is for example seen in the Fiber To The Home implementations, where a single fiber is used for virtually all means of communication, including TV...

The impact of financial crisis on portuguese firms' capital structure

OpenAIRE

Lemos, Jéssica Andreia Rocha

2017-01-01

G01, G32 This study aims to verify the impacts of financial crises in the capital structure for Portuguese companies. The purpose is to study different firm-specific determinants of a sample of general PSI Portuguese listed firms at the Euronext Lisbon stock exchange, during the recent crises that endured from 2011 until 2013 and test the impacts on short and long-term debt. In order to test the changes/impacts on Portuguese firms’ capital structure, the most important theor...

Real-Time Impact Visualization Inspection of Aerospace Composite Structures with Distributed Sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Si, Liang; Baier, Horst

2015-07-08

For the future design of smart aerospace structures, the development and application of a reliable, real-time and automatic monitoring and diagnostic technique is essential. Thus, with distributed sensor networks, a real-time automatic structural health monitoring (SHM) technique is designed and investigated to monitor and predict the locations and force magnitudes of unforeseen foreign impacts on composite structures and to estimate in real time mode the structural state when impacts occur. The proposed smart impact visualization inspection (IVI) technique mainly consists of five functional modules, which are the signal data preprocessing (SDP), the forward model generator (FMG), the impact positioning calculator (IPC), the inverse model operator (IMO) and structural state estimator (SSE). With regard to the verification of the practicality of the proposed IVI technique, various structure configurations are considered, which are a normal CFRP panel and another CFRP panel with "orange peel" surfaces and a cutout hole. Additionally, since robustness against several background disturbances is also an essential criterion for practical engineering demands, investigations and experimental tests are carried out under random vibration interfering noise (RVIN) conditions. The accuracy of the predictions for unknown impact events on composite structures using the IVI technique is validated under various structure configurations and under changing environmental conditions. The evaluated errors all fall well within a satisfactory limit range. Furthermore, it is concluded that the IVI technique is applicable for impact monitoring, diagnosis and assessment of aerospace composite structures in complex practical engineering environments.

Origin of the large scale structures of the universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oaknin, David H.

2004-01-01

We revise the statistical properties of the primordial cosmological density anisotropies that, at the time of matter-radiation equality, seeded the gravitational development of large scale structures in the otherwise homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Robertson-Walker flat universe. Our analysis shows that random fluctuations of the density field at the same instant of equality and with comoving wavelength shorter than the causal horizon at that time can naturally account, when globally constrained to conserve the total mass (energy) of the system, for the observed scale invariance of the anisotropies over cosmologically large comoving volumes. Statistical systems with similar features are generically known as glasslike or latticelike. Obviously, these conclusions conflict with the widely accepted understanding of the primordial structures reported in the literature, which requires an epoch of inflationary cosmology to precede the standard expansion of the universe. The origin of the conflict must be found in the widespread, but unjustified, claim that scale invariant mass (energy) anisotropies at the instant of equality over comoving volumes of cosmological size, larger than the causal horizon at the time, must be generated by fluctuations in the density field with comparably large comoving wavelength

On soft limits of large-scale structure correlation functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sagunski, Laura

2016-08-01

background method to the case of a directional soft mode, being absorbed into a locally curved anisotropic background cosmology. The resulting non-perturbative power spectrum equation encodes the coupling to ultraviolet (UV) modes in two time-dependent coefficients. These can most generally be inferred from response functions to geometrical parameters, such as spatial curvature, in the locally curved anisotropic background cosmology. However, we can determine one coefficient by use of the angular-averaged bispectrum consistency condition together with the generalized VKPR proposal, and we show that the impact of the other one is subleading. Neglecting the latter in consequence, we confront the non-perturbative power spectrum equation against numerical simulations and find indeed a very good agreement within the expected error bars. Moreover, we argue that both coefficients and thus the non-perturbative power spectrum in the soft limit depend only weakly on UV modes deep in the non-linear regime. This non-perturbative finding allows us in turn to derive important implications for perturbative approaches to large-scale structure formation. First, it leads to the conclusion that the UV dependence of the power spectrum found in explicit computations within standard perturbation theory is an artifact. Second, it implies that in the Eulerian (Lagrangian) effective field theory (EFT) approach, where UV divergences are canceled by counter-terms, the renormalized leading-order coefficient(s) receive most contributions from modes close to the non-linear scale. The non-perturbative approach we developed can in principle be used to precisely infer the size of these renormalized leading-order EFT coefficient(s) by performing small-volume numerical simulations within an anisotropic 'separate universe' framework. Our results suggest that the importance of these coefficient(s) is a ∝10% effect at most.

On soft limits of large-scale structure correlation functions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sagunski, Laura

2016-08-15

background method to the case of a directional soft mode, being absorbed into a locally curved anisotropic background cosmology. The resulting non-perturbative power spectrum equation encodes the coupling to ultraviolet (UV) modes in two time-dependent coefficients. These can most generally be inferred from response functions to geometrical parameters, such as spatial curvature, in the locally curved anisotropic background cosmology. However, we can determine one coefficient by use of the angular-averaged bispectrum consistency condition together with the generalized VKPR proposal, and we show that the impact of the other one is subleading. Neglecting the latter in consequence, we confront the non-perturbative power spectrum equation against numerical simulations and find indeed a very good agreement within the expected error bars. Moreover, we argue that both coefficients and thus the non-perturbative power spectrum in the soft limit depend only weakly on UV modes deep in the non-linear regime. This non-perturbative finding allows us in turn to derive important implications for perturbative approaches to large-scale structure formation. First, it leads to the conclusion that the UV dependence of the power spectrum found in explicit computations within standard perturbation theory is an artifact. Second, it implies that in the Eulerian (Lagrangian) effective field theory (EFT) approach, where UV divergences are canceled by counter-terms, the renormalized leading-order coefficient(s) receive most contributions from modes close to the non-linear scale. The non-perturbative approach we developed can in principle be used to precisely infer the size of these renormalized leading-order EFT coefficient(s) by performing small-volume numerical simulations within an anisotropic 'separate universe' framework. Our results suggest that the importance of these coefficient(s) is a ∝10% effect at most.

Thermal interaction in crusted melt jets with large-scale structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sugiyama, Ken-ichiro; Sotome, Fuminori; Ishikawa, Michio [Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

1998-01-01

The objective of the present study is to experimentally observe thermal interaction which would be capable of triggering due to entrainment, or entrapment in crusted melt jets with `large-scale structure`. The present experiment was carried out by dropping molten zinc and molten tin of 100 grams, of which mass was sufficient to generate large-scale structures of melt jets. The experimental results show that the thermal interaction of entrapment type occurs in molten-zinc jets with rare probability, and the thermal interaction of entrainment type occurs in molten tin jets with high probability. The difference of thermal interaction between molten zinc and molten tin may attribute to differences of kinematic viscosity and melting point between them. (author)

Use of controlled dynamic impacts on hierarchically structured seismically hazardous faults for seismically safe relaxation of shear stresses

Science.gov (United States)

Ruzhich, Valery V.; Psakhie, Sergey G.; Levina, Elena A.; Shilko, Evgeny V.; Grigoriev, Alexandr S.

2017-12-01

In the paper we briefly outline the experience in forecasting catastrophic earthquakes and the general problems in ensuring seismic safety. The purpose of our long-term research is the development and improvement of the methods of man-caused impacts on large-scale fault segments to safely reduce the negative effect of seismodynamic failure. Various laboratory and large-scale field experiments were carried out in the segments of tectonic faults in Baikal rift zone and in main cracks in block-structured ice cove of Lake Baikal using the developed measuring systems and special software for identification and treatment of deformation response of faulty segments to man-caused impacts. The results of the study let us to ground the necessity of development of servo-controlled technologies, which are able to provide changing the shear resistance and deformation regime of fault zone segments by applying vibrational and pulse triggering impacts. We suppose that the use of triggering impacts in highly stressed segments of active faults will promote transferring the geodynamic state of these segments from a metastable to a more stable and safe state.

Energetic ion driven Alfven eigenmodes in Large Helical Device plasmas with three-dimensional magnetic structure and their impact on energetic ion transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toi, K; Yamamoto, S; Nakajima, N; Ohdachi, S; Sakakibara, S; Osakabe, M; Murakami, S; Watanabe, K Y; Goto, M; Kawahata, K; Kolesnichenko, Ya I; Masuzaki, S; Morita, S; Narihara, K; Narushima, Y; Takeiri, Y; Tanaka, K; Tokuzawa, T; Yamada, H; Yamada, I; Yamazaki, K

2004-01-01

In the Large Helical Device (LHD), energetic ion driven Alfven eigenmodes (AEs) and their impact on energetic ion transport have been studied. The magnetic configuration of the LHD is three-dimensional and has negative magnetic shear over a whole plasma radius in the low beta regime. These features introduce the characteristic structures of the shear Alfven spectrum. In particular, a core-localized type of toroidicity-induced AE (TAE) is most likely because the TAE gap frequency rapidly increases towards the plasma edge. Moreover, helicity-induced AEs (HAEs) can be generated through a toroidal mode coupling as well as poloidal one in the three-dimensional configuration. The following experimental results have been obtained in LHD plasmas heated by tangential neutral beam injection: (1) observation of core-localized TAEs having odd as well as even parity, (2) eigenmode transition of the core-localized TAE to global AEs (GAEs), which phenomenon is very similar to that in a reversed shear tokamak, (3) observation of HAEs of which the frequency is about eight times higher than the TAE gap frequency, (4) enhanced radial transport/loss of energetic ions caused by bursting TAEs in a relatively high beta regime, and (5) seed formation of internal transport barriers induced by TAE-induced energetic ion transport. These results will be important and interesting information for AE physics in toroidal plasmas

Impact of spatial kinetics in severe accident analysis for a large HWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morris, E.E.

1994-01-01

The impact on spatial kinetics on the analysis of severe accidents initiated by the unprotected withdrawal of one or more control rods is investigated for a large heavy water reactor. Large inter- and intra-assembly power shifts are observed, and the importance of detailed geometrical modeling of fuel assemblies is demonstrated. Neglect of space-time effects is shown to lead to erroneous estimates of safety margins, and of accident consequences in the event safety margins are exceeded. The results and conclusions are typical of what would be expected for any large, loosely coupled core

Non-superconducting magnet structures for near-term, large fusion experimental devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

File, J.; Knutson, D.S.; Marino, R.E.; Rappe, G.H.

1980-10-01

This paper describes the magnet and structural design in the following American tokamak devices: the Princeton Large Torus (PLT), the Princeton Divertor Experiment (PDX), and the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). The Joint European Torus (JET), also presented herein, has a magnet structure evolved from several European programs and, like TFTR, represents state of the art magnet and structure design

The impact of voxel size-based inaccuracies on the mechanical behavior of thin bone structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Maloul, Asmaa; Fialkov, Jeffrey; Whyne, Cari

2011-03-01

Computed tomography (CT)-based measures of skeletal geometry and material properties have been widely used to develop finite element (FE) models of bony structures. However, in the case of thin bone structures, the ability to develop FE models with accurate geometry derived from clinical CT data presents a challenge due to the thinness of the bone and the limited resolution of the imaging devices. The purpose of this study was to quantify the impact of voxel size on the thickness and intensity values of thin bone structure measurements and to assess the effect of voxel size on strains through FE modeling. Cortical bone thickness and material properties in five thin bone specimens were quantified at voxel sizes ranging from 16.4 to 488 μm. The measurements derived from large voxel size scans showed large increases in cortical thickness (61.9-252.2%) and large decreases in scan intensity (12.9-49.5%). Maximum principal strains from FE models generated using scans at 488 μm were decreased as compared to strains generated at 16.4 μm voxel size (8.6-64.2%). A higher level of significance was found in comparing intensity (p = 0.0001) vs. thickness (p = 0.005) to strain measurements. These findings have implications in developing methods to generate accurate FE models to predict the biomechanical behavior of thin bone structures.

Dipolar modulation of Large-Scale Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Mijin

For the last two decades, we have seen a drastic development of modern cosmology based on various observations such as the cosmic microwave background (CMB), type Ia supernovae, and baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO). These observational evidences have led us to a great deal of consensus on the cosmological model so-called LambdaCDM and tight constraints on cosmological parameters consisting the model. On the other hand, the advancement in cosmology relies on the cosmological principle: the universe is isotropic and homogeneous on large scales. Testing these fundamental assumptions is crucial and will soon become possible given the planned observations ahead. Dipolar modulation is the largest angular anisotropy of the sky, which is quantified by its direction and amplitude. We measured a huge dipolar modulation in CMB, which mainly originated from our solar system's motion relative to CMB rest frame. However, we have not yet acquired consistent measurements of dipolar modulations in large-scale structure (LSS), as they require large sky coverage and a number of well-identified objects. In this thesis, we explore measurement of dipolar modulation in number counts of LSS objects as a test of statistical isotropy. This thesis is based on two papers that were published in peer-reviewed journals. In Chapter 2 [Yoon et al., 2014], we measured a dipolar modulation in number counts of WISE matched with 2MASS sources. In Chapter 3 [Yoon & Huterer, 2015], we investigated requirements for detection of kinematic dipole in future surveys.

Interactive effects of warming, eutrophication and size structure: impacts on biodiversity and food-web structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Binzer, Amrei; Guill, Christian; Rall, Björn C; Brose, Ulrich

2016-01-01

Warming and eutrophication are two of the most important global change stressors for natural ecosystems, but their interaction is poorly understood. We used a dynamic model of complex, size-structured food webs to assess interactive effects on diversity and network structure. We found antagonistic impacts: Warming increases diversity in eutrophic systems and decreases it in oligotrophic systems. These effects interact with the community size structure: Communities of similarly sized species such as parasitoid-host systems are stabilized by warming and destabilized by eutrophication, whereas the diversity of size-structured predator-prey networks decreases strongly with warming, but decreases only weakly with eutrophication. Nonrandom extinction risks for generalists and specialists lead to higher connectance in networks without size structure and lower connectance in size-structured communities. Overall, our results unravel interactive impacts of warming and eutrophication and suggest that size structure may serve as an important proxy for predicting the community sensitivity to these global change stressors. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Electromagnetic scattering of large structures in layered earths using integral equations

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Zonghou; Tripp, Alan C.

1995-07-01

An electromagnetic scattering algorithm for large conductivity structures in stratified media has been developed and is based on the method of system iteration and spatial symmetry reduction using volume electric integral equations. The method of system iteration divides a structure into many substructures and solves the resulting matrix equation using a block iterative method. The block submatrices usually need to be stored on disk in order to save computer core memory. However, this requires a large disk for large structures. If the body is discretized into equal-size cells it is possible to use the spatial symmetry relations of the Green's functions to regenerate the scattering impedance matrix in each iteration, thus avoiding expensive disk storage. Numerical tests show that the system iteration converges much faster than the conventional point-wise Gauss-Seidel iterative method. The numbers of cells do not significantly affect the rate of convergency. Thus the algorithm effectively reduces the solution of the scattering problem to an order of O(N2), instead of O(N3) as with direct solvers.

Co-Cure-Ply Resins for High Performance, Large-Scale Structures

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Large-scale composite structures are commonly joined by secondary bonding of molded-and-cured thermoset components. This approach may result in unpredictable joint...

A Possible Buried Impact Structure Near Bow City, Alberta

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, W.; Glombick, P.; Schmitt, D. R.; Bown, T. D.

2012-12-01

In recent years, improved exploration techniques have resulted in the serendipitous discoveries of increasing numbers of extraterrestrial impact structures in sedimentary basins around the world. Following in this tradition, a new potential impact structure centered near 50.4°N, 112.35°N in SE Alberta has been identified. The first indications of this structure appeared in careful systematic mapping of Cretaceous age sediments using public domain well log information that showed overturned and missing components in what regionally is a simple layered stratigraphy. This motivated the examination of legacy 2D seismic profiles over the area that confirmed the stratigraphic anomalies and provided new details that further supported interpretation of a potential impact structure. Further, the existence of unexpected faults through the Cretaceous Bearpaw formation had been noted as early as the 1940's in the limited outcrop available in coulees, and these as well as other complex fault structures along the Bow River outcrops were confirmed in recent field visits to the site. The 2D seismic data displays a number of listric and rose-petal faulting consistent with late stage collapse of the impact crater. Further, a seismically transparent central uplift peak is visible. Based on the results, the structure is recognized as a complex crater with a diameter of approximately 8 kilometers and, today, bottoming at a depth of 900 meters from the current surface. Currently, the age of the feature is grossly estimated to be less than 70 my on the basis of underlying undisturbed seismic reflectors. The structure may be somewhat unique in that weak coals surrounding the feature are clearly thickened indicating outward lateral sliding along shear planes through weaker layers. Work in progress includes acquisition of a high resolution seismic profile and detailed mapping of the magnetic and gravity potential fields. More detailed mapping will include searches for shock metamorphism

Shifts in microbial community structure and function in surface waters impacted by unconventional oil and gas wastewater revealed by metagenomics

Science.gov (United States)

Fahrenfeld, N.L.; Reyes, Hannah Delos; Eramo, Alessia; Akob, Denise M.; Mumford, Adam; Cozzarelli, Isabelle M.

2017-01-01

Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) production produces large quantities of wastewater with complex geochemistry and largely uncharacterized impacts on surface waters. In this study, we assessed shifts in microbial community structure and function in sediments and waters upstream and downstream from a UOG wastewater disposal facility. To do this, quantitative PCR for 16S rRNA and antibiotic resistance genes along with metagenomic sequencing were performed. Elevated conductivity and markers of UOG wastewater characterized sites sampled downstream from the disposal facility compared to background sites. Shifts in overall high level functions and microbial community structure were observed between background sites and downstream sediments. Increases in Deltaproteobacteria and Methanomicrobia and decreases in Thaumarchaeota were observed at downstream sites. Genes related to dormancy and sporulation and methanogenic respiration were 18–86 times higher at downstream, impacted sites. The potential for these sediments to serve as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance was investigated given frequent reports of the use of biocides to control the growth of nuisance bacteria in UOG operations. A shift in resistance profiles downstream of the UOG facility was observed including increases in acrB and mexB genes encoding for multidrug efflux pumps, but not overall abundance of resistance genes. The observed shifts in microbial community structure and potential function indicate changes in respiration, nutrient cycling, and markers of stress in a stream impacted by UOG waste disposal operations.

Impact testing and analysis for structural code benchmarking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glass, R.E.

1989-01-01

Sandia National Laboratories, in cooperation with industry and other national laboratories, has been benchmarking computer codes used to predict the structural, thermal, criticality, and shielding behavior of radioactive materials packages. The first step in the benchmarking of the codes was to develop standard problem sets and to compare the results from several codes and users. This step for structural analysis codes has been completed as described in Structural Code Benchmarking for the Analysis of Impact Response of Nuclear Material Shipping Casks, R.E. Glass, Sandia National Laboratories, 1985. The problem set is shown in Fig. 1. This problem set exercised the ability of the codes to predict the response to end (axisymmetric) and side (plane strain) impacts with both elastic and elastic/plastic materials. The results from these problems showed that there is good agreement in predicting elastic response. Significant differences occurred in predicting strains for the elastic/plastic models. An example of the variation in predicting plastic behavior is given, which shows the hoop strain as a function of time at the impacting end of Model B. These differences in predicting plastic strains demonstrated a need for benchmark data for a cask-like problem

Fractals and the Large-Scale Structure in the Universe

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 7; Issue 4. Fractals and the Large-Scale Structure in the Universe - Is the Cosmological Principle Valid? A K Mittal T R Seshadri. General Article Volume 7 Issue 4 April 2002 pp 39-47 ...

Impacts of large dams on the complexity of suspended sediment dynamics in the Yangtze River

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuankun; Rhoads, Bruce L.; Wang, Dong; Wu, Jichun; Zhang, Xiao

2018-03-01

The Yangtze River is one of the largest and most important rivers in the world. Over the past several decades, the natural sediment regime of the Yangtze River has been altered by the construction of dams. This paper uses multi-scale entropy analysis to ascertain the impacts of large dams on the complexity of high-frequency suspended sediment dynamics in the Yangtze River system, especially after impoundment of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD). In this study, the complexity of sediment dynamics is quantified by framing it within the context of entropy analysis of time series. Data on daily sediment loads for four stations located in the mainstem are analyzed for the past 60 years. The results indicate that dam construction has reduced the complexity of short-term (1-30 days) variation in sediment dynamics near the structures, but that complexity has actually increased farther downstream. This spatial pattern seems to reflect a filtering effect of the dams on the on the temporal pattern of sediment loads as well as decreased longitudinal connectivity of sediment transfer through the river system, resulting in downstream enhancement of the influence of local sediment inputs by tributaries on sediment dynamics. The TGD has had a substantial impact on the complexity of sediment series in the mainstem of the Yangtze River, especially after it became fully operational. This enhanced impact is attributed to the high trapping efficiency of this dam and its associated large reservoir. The sediment dynamics "signal" becomes more spatially variable after dam construction. This study demonstrates the spatial influence of dams on the high-frequency temporal complexity of sediment regimes and provides valuable information that can be used to guide environmental conservation of the Yangtze River.

Don't Believe the Gripe! Increasing Course Structure in a Large Non-majors Neuroscience Course.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagel, Anastasia; Nicholas, Andrea

2017-01-01

Active teaching is increasingly accepted as a better option for higher education STEM courses than traditional lecture-based instruction. However, concerns remain regarding student preferences and the impact of increased course structure on teaching evaluations. Undergraduates in a non-majors neuropharmacology course were enrolled in an enriched blended course format, providing online case-based learning opportunities in a large lecture hall setting. Students working in small assigned groups solved weekly case studies developed to teach basic neuropharmacology concepts. All case study assignments were peer reviewed and content was further reinforced with a weekly online quiz. A comparison of scores on equivalent midterm and final exam questions revealed that students enrolled in the High-Structure course scored better than students from the previous year that took a more traditional Low-Structure lecture-based course. Student performance increased significantly for exam questions that required Bloom's level understanding. When surveyed, students in the High-Structure course reported some regret for the lack of traditional lecture and revealed some disapproval towards the extra work required for active teaching and peer review. Yet, we saw no change in quantitative instructor evaluation between sections, challenging the idea that student resistance towards increased work lowers course evaluation scores. Future instructors using active learning strategies may benefit from revealing to students the value of increased course structure on performance outcomes compared with traditional lecture courses.

The environmental impact of the use of large wind turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Manning, P. T.

The existing data base on the environmental impact of large wind energy conversion systems (WECS) is explored. The maximum blade throw distance has been calculated at 850 m, with a 5% probability of more than 300 m. Good design and inspection procedures reduce the risk. Ice throw can be prevented by aircraft deicing techniques, but detectors are still necessary. TV interference is ameliorated by the use of composite blades and directional antennas, by relocating the nearst transmission or relay station, or by introduction of cable TV. Microwave transmission effects can be avoided by careful siting of WECS in a favorable line of sight whenever within 1 km of a transmitter. Visual impact studies have produced few adverse opinions. Noise has not proved an intractable problem, although 30 dB levels have been exceeded 2100 m downwind of the Mod 2 WECS. Further studies are necessary on the effects of heightened ground turbulence produced by large WECS. It is expected that few birds will be harmed by slowly rotating blades in the birds' natural domain, a projection confirmed by sporadic studies. Finally, aircraft collisions are regarded as unlikely and actual land use, mostly confined to rural areas, is minimal.

BAND STRUCTURE OF NON-STEIOCHIOMETRIC LARGE-SIZED NANOCRYSTALLITES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.V.Kityk

2004-01-01

Full Text Available A band structure of large-sized (from 20 to 35nm non-steichiometric nanocrystallites (NC of the Si2-xCx (1.04 < x < 1.10 has been investigated using different band energy approaches and a modified Car-Parinello molecular dynamics structure optimization of the NC interfaces. The non-steichiometric excess of carbon favors the appearance of a thin prevailingly carbon-contained layer (with thickness of about 1 nm covering the crystallites. As a consequence, one can observe a substantial structure reconstruction of boundary SiC crystalline layers. The numerical modeling has shown that these NC can be considered as SiC reconstructed crystalline films with thickness of about 2 nm covering the SiC crystallites. The observed data are considered within the different one-electron band structure methods. It was shown that the nano-sized carbon sheet plays a key role in a modified band structure. Independent manifestation of the important role played by the reconstructed confined layers is due to the experimentally discovered excitonic-like resonances. Low-temperature absorption measurements confirm the existence of sharp-like absorption resonances originating from the reconstructed layers.

Nonlinear system identification of smart structures under high impact loads

Science.gov (United States)

Sarp Arsava, Kemal; Kim, Yeesock; El-Korchi, Tahar; Park, Hyo Seon

2013-05-01

The main purpose of this paper is to develop numerical models for the prediction and analysis of the highly nonlinear behavior of integrated structure control systems subjected to high impact loading. A time-delayed adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (TANFIS) is proposed for modeling of the complex nonlinear behavior of smart structures equipped with magnetorheological (MR) dampers under high impact forces. Experimental studies are performed to generate sets of input and output data for training and validation of the TANFIS models. The high impact load and current signals are used as the input disturbance and control signals while the displacement and acceleration responses from the structure-MR damper system are used as the output signals. The benchmark adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is used as a baseline. Comparisons of the trained TANFIS models with experimental results demonstrate that the TANFIS modeling framework is an effective way to capture nonlinear behavior of integrated structure-MR damper systems under high impact loading. In addition, the performance of the TANFIS model is much better than that of ANFIS in both the training and the validation processes.

Calculation of forces arising from impacting projectiles upon yielding structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drittler, K.; Gruner, P.; Krivy, J.

1977-01-01

Calculations concerning the impact of airplanes upon nuclear power plant buildings usually imply that the building [QUOTE]acts' as a rigid target. This assumption is justified for considerations concerning the structural integrity of the building being hit. However, for investigating induced vibrations of components within the structure, this approach might-in general-be too conservative. It is expected, that yielding of the structure during impact reduces the peak values of the loads and changes the temporal behaviour of the load function which is obtained for a rigid target. To calculate the changes of the load function which are due to deformations of the structure, Riera's method is extended for the case of a yielding target. The calculations are performed with a one-dimensional model for the projectile. The presented model calculations seem to verify that the motion of the target does not have much influence on the impact force for projectiles similar to the model projectile, provided the displacement of the yielding target is small in comparison with the path covered by the free-flying projectile during a time which is equivalent to the total time of impact. (Auth.)

Large-scale structure in the universe: Theory vs observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kashlinsky, A.; Jones, B.J.T.

1990-01-01

A variety of observations constrain models of the origin of large scale cosmic structures. We review here the elements of current theories and comment in detail on which of the current observational data provide the principal constraints. We point out that enough observational data have accumulated to constrain (and perhaps determine) the power spectrum of primordial density fluctuations over a very large range of scales. We discuss the theories in the light of observational data and focus on the potential of future observations in providing even (and ever) tighter constraints. (orig.)

Large scale nuclear structure studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faessler, A.

1985-01-01

Results of large scale nuclear structure studies are reported. The starting point is the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov solution with angular momentum and proton and neutron number projection after variation. This model for number and spin projected two-quasiparticle excitations with realistic forces yields in sd-shell nuclei similar good results as the 'exact' shell-model calculations. Here the authors present results for a pf-shell nucleus 46 Ti and results for the A=130 mass region where they studied 58 different nuclei with the same single-particle energies and the same effective force derived from a meson exchange potential. They carried out a Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov variation after mean field projection in realistic model spaces. In this way, they determine for each yrast state the optimal mean Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov field. They apply this method to 130 Ce and 128 Ba using the same effective nucleon-nucleon interaction. (Auth.)

Primordial Non-Gaussianity in the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vincent Desjacques

2010-01-01

generated the cosmological fluctuations observed today. Any detection of significant non-Gaussianity would thus have profound implications for our understanding of cosmic structure formation. The large-scale mass distribution in the Universe is a sensitive probe of the nature of initial conditions. Recent theoretical progress together with rapid developments in observational techniques will enable us to critically confront predictions of inflationary scenarios and set constraints as competitive as those from the Cosmic Microwave Background. In this paper, we review past and current efforts in the search for primordial non-Gaussianity in the large-scale structure of the Universe.

Soft impact testing of a wall-floor-wall reinforced concrete structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vepsä, Ari, E-mail: ari.vepsa@vtt.fi; Calonius, Kim; Saarenheimo, Arja; Aatola, Seppo; Halonen, Matti

2017-01-15

Highlights: • A wall-floor-wall reinforced concrete structure was built. • The structure was subjected to three almost identical soft impact tests. • Response was measured with accelerometers, displacement sensors and strain gauges. • Modal tests was also carried out with the same structure in different conditions. • The results are meant to be used for validation of computational methods and models. - Abstract: Assessing the safety of the reactor building of a nuclear power plant against the crash of an airplane calls for valid computational tools such as finite element models and material constitutive models. Validation of such tools and models in turn calls for reliable and relevant experimental data. The problem is that such data is scarcely available. One of the aspects of such a crash is vibrations that are generated by the impact. These vibrations tend to propagate from the impact point to the internal parts of the building. If strong enough, these vibrations may cause malfunction of the safety-critical equipment inside the building. To enable validation of computational models for this type of behaviour, we have conducted a series of three tests with a wall-floor-wall reinforced concrete structure under soft impact loading. The response of the structure was measured with accelerometers, displacement sensors and strain gauges. In addition to impact tests, the structure was subjected to modal tests under different conditions. The tests yielded a wealth of useful data for validation of computational models and better understanding about shock induced vibration physics especially in reinforced concrete structures.

The Impact of a Large Object with Jupiter in July 2009

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Lavega, Agustin; Wesley, A.; Orton, G.; Chodas, P.; Hueso, R.; Perez-Hoyos, S.; Fletcher, L.; Yanamandra-Fisher, P.; Legarreta, J.; Gomez-Forrellad, J. M.

2010-05-01

The only major impact ever observed directly in the Solar System was that of a large fragmented comet with Jupiter in July (1994) (Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9; SL9). We report here the observation of a second, single, large impact on Jupiter that occurred on 19 July 2009 at a latitude of -55° with an orthogonal entry trajectory and a lower incidence angle compared to those of SL9. The size of the initial aerosol cloud debris was 4,800 km East-West and 2,500 km North-South. Comparison its properties with those produced by the SL9 fragments, coupled with dynamical calculations of possible pre-impact orbits, indicates that the impactor was most probably an icy body with a size of 0.5-1 km. We calculate that the rate of collisions of this magnitude may be five to ten times more frequent than previously thought. The search for unpredicted impacts, such as the current one, could be best performed in the near-infrared methane absorption bands at 890 nm and in the 2.12 to 2.3 μm K methane-hydrogen absorption band, where the high-altitude aerosols detach by their brightness relative to Jupiter's primary clouds. We present measurements of the debris dispersion by Jovian winds from a long-term imaging campaign with ground-based telescopes. Ackowledgements: Work was supported by the Spanish MICIIN AYA2009-10701 with FEDER and Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT-464-07, by NASA funds to JPL, Caltech, by the NASA Postdoctoral Program at JPL, and by the Glasstone Fellowship program at Oxford.

Control and large deformations of marginal disordered structures

Science.gov (United States)

Murugan, Arvind; Pinson, Matthew; Chen, Elizabeth

Designed deformations, such as origami patterns, provide a way to make easily controlled mechanical metamaterials with tailored responses to external forces. We focus on an often overlooked regime of origami - non-linear deformations of large disordered origami patterns with no symmetries. We find that practical questions of control in origami have counterintuitive answers, because of intimate connections to spin glasses and neural networks. For example, 1 degree of freedom origami structures are actually difficult to control about the flat state with a single actuator; the actuator is thrown off by an exponential number of `red herring' zero modes for small deformations, all but one of which disappear at larger deformations. Conversely, structures with multiple programmed motions are much easier to control than expected - in fact, they are as easy to control as a dedicated single-motion structure if the number of programmed motions is below a threshold (`memory capacity').

Impact of methionine oxidation on calmodulin structural dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCarthy, Megan R.; Thompson, Andrew R.; Nitu, Florentin [Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics Department, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Moen, Rebecca J. [Chemistry and Geology Department, Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN 56001 (United States); Olenek, Michael J. [Biology Department, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, WI 54601 (United States); Klein, Jennifer C., E-mail: jklein@uwlax.edu [Biology Department, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, WI 54601 (United States); Thomas, David D., E-mail: ddt@umn.edu [Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics Department, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States)

2015-01-09

Highlights: • We measured the distance distribution between two spin labels on calmodulin by DEER. • Two structural states, open and closed, were resolved at both low and high Ca. • Ca shifted the equilibrium toward the open state by a factor of 13. • Methionine oxidation, simulated by glutamine substitution, decreased the Ca effect. • These results have important implications for aging in muscle and other tissues. - Abstract: We have used electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to examine the structural impact of oxidizing specific methionine (M) side chains in calmodulin (CaM). It has been shown that oxidation of either M109 or M124 in CaM diminishes CaM regulation of the muscle calcium release channel, the ryanodine receptor (RyR), and that mutation of M to Q (glutamine) in either case produces functional effects identical to those of oxidation. Here we have used site-directed spin labeling and double electron–electron resonance (DEER), a pulsed EPR technique that measures distances between spin labels, to characterize the structural changes resulting from these mutations. Spin labels were attached to a pair of introduced cysteine residues, one in the C-lobe (T117C) and one in the N-lobe (T34C) of CaM, and DEER was used to determine the distribution of interspin distances. Ca binding induced a large increase in the mean distance, in concert with previous X-ray crystallography and NMR data, showing a closed structure in the absence of Ca and an open structure in the presence of Ca. DEER revealed additional information about CaM’s structural heterogeneity in solution: in both the presence and absence of Ca, CaM populates both structural states, one with probes separated by ∼4 nm (closed) and another at ∼6 nm (open). Ca shifts the structural equilibrium constant toward the open state by a factor of 13. DEER reveals the distribution of interprobe distances, showing that each of these states is itself partially disordered, with the width of each

Reliability analysis of large scaled structures by optimization technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishikawa, N.; Mihara, T.; Iizuka, M.

1987-01-01

This paper presents a reliability analysis based on the optimization technique using PNET (Probabilistic Network Evaluation Technique) method for the highly redundant structures having a large number of collapse modes. This approach makes the best use of the merit of the optimization technique in which the idea of PNET method is used. The analytical process involves the minimization of safety index of the representative mode, subjected to satisfaction of the mechanism condition and of the positive external work. The procedure entails the sequential performance of a series of the NLP (Nonlinear Programming) problems, where the correlation condition as the idea of PNET method pertaining to the representative mode is taken as an additional constraint to the next analysis. Upon succeeding iterations, the final analysis is achieved when a collapse probability at the subsequent mode is extremely less than the value at the 1st mode. The approximate collapse probability of the structure is defined as the sum of the collapse probabilities of the representative modes classified by the extent of correlation. Then, in order to confirm the validity of the proposed method, the conventional Monte Carlo simulation is also revised by using the collapse load analysis. Finally, two fairly large structures were analyzed to illustrate the scope and application of the approach. (orig./HP)

Structural modeling of the Vichada impact structure from interpreted ground gravity and magnetic anomalies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hernandez, Orlando; Khurama, Sait; Alexander, Gretta C

2011-01-01

A prominent positive free-air gravity anomaly mapped over a roughly 50-km diameter basin is consistent with a mascon centered on (4 degrades 30 minutes N, 69 degrades 15 minutes W) in the Vichada Department, Colombia, South America. Ground follow up gravity and magnetic anomalies were modeled confirming the regional free air gravity anomalies. These potential field anomalies infer a hidden complex impact basin structure filled with tertiary sedimentary rocks and recent quaternary deposits. Negative Bouguer anomalies of 8 mgals to 15 mgals amplitude are associated with a concentric sedimentary basin with a varying thickness from 100 m to 500 m in the outer rings to 700 m to 1000 m at the center of the impact crater basin. Strong positive magnetic anomalies of 100 nt to 300 nt amplitude infer the presence of a local Precambrian crystalline basement that was affected by intensive faulting producing tectonic blocks dipping to the center of the structure, showing a typical domino structure of impact craters such as that of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Basic to intermediate mineralized veins and dikes with contrasting density and magnetic susceptibility properties could be emplaced along these faulting zones, as inferred from local gravity and magnetic highs. The geologic mapping of the area is limited by the flat topography and absence of outcrops/ geomorphologic units. Nevertheless, local normal faults along the inner ring together with radially sparse irregular blocks over flat terrains can be associated with terraced rims or collapse of the inner crater structure and eject blanket, respectively. A detailed airborne electromagnetic survey is recommended to confirm the gravity and magnetic anomalies together with a seismic program to evaluate the economic implications for energy and mineral exploration of the Vichada impact structure.

Analysis of the Potential Impacts on China’s Industrial Structure in Energy Consumption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yushen Tian

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Industrial structure is one of the main factors that determine energy consumption. Based on China’s energy consumption in 2015 and the goals in 13th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China (The 13th Five-Year Plan, this paper established an input–output fuzzy multi-objective optimization model to estimate the potential impacts of China’s industrial structure on energy consumption in 2015. Results showed that adjustments to industrial structure could save energy by 19% (1129.17 million ton standard coal equivalent (Mtce. Second, China’s equipment manufacturing industry has a large potential to save energy. Third, the development of several high energy intensive and high carbon intensive sectors needs to be strictly controlled, including Sector 25 (electricity, heat production, and supply industry, Sector 11 (manufacture of paper and stationery, printing, and Sector 14 (non-metallic mineral products industry. Fourth, the territory industry in China has a great potential for energy saving, while its internal structure still needs to be upgraded. Finally, we provide policy suggestions that may be adopted to reduce energy consumption by adjusting China’s industrial structure.

Infrared structure and large Psub(T) behavior of quantum chromodynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rafael, Eduardo de.

1977-09-01

The study of the infrared structure of QCD in perturbation theory is an interesting problem per se regardless of its relationship to the confinement problem. The ultimate motivation for the study of the large transverse momentum behavior of QCD is to provide a field theoretic framework to the large Psub(T)-phenomena in hadronic interactions. As a first step towards that aim it is of interest to explore the possibility that the QCD Green's functions in 'some' regions of exceptional momenta, like the large-Psub(T) regime, may still obey some kind of renormalization group type equations

Nonlinear evolution of large-scale structure in the universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frenk, C.S.; White, S.D.M.; Davis, M.

1983-01-01

Using N-body simulations we study the nonlinear development of primordial density perturbation in an Einstein--de Sitter universe. We compare the evolution of an initial distribution without small-scale density fluctuations to evolution from a random Poisson distribution. These initial conditions mimic the assumptions of the adiabatic and isothermal theories of galaxy formation. The large-scale structures which form in the two cases are markedly dissimilar. In particular, the correlation function xi(r) and the visual appearance of our adiabatic (or ''pancake'') models match better the observed distribution of galaxies. This distribution is characterized by large-scale filamentary structure. Because the pancake models do not evolve in a self-similar fashion, the slope of xi(r) steepens with time; as a result there is a unique epoch at which these models fit the galaxy observations. We find the ratio of cutoff length to correlation length at this time to be lambda/sub min//r 0 = 5.1; its expected value in a neutrino dominated universe is 4(Ωh) -1 (H 0 = 100h km s -1 Mpc -1 ). At early epochs these models predict a negligible amplitude for xi(r) and could explain the lack of measurable clustering in the Lyα absorption lines of high-redshift quasars. However, large-scale structure in our models collapses after z = 2. If this collapse precedes galaxy formation as in the usual pancake theory, galaxies formed uncomfortably recently. The extent of this problem may depend on the cosmological model used; the present series of experiments should be extended in the future to include models with Ω<1

Reliability-Based Optimal Design for Very Large Floating Structure

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHANG Shu-hua(张淑华); FUJIKUBO Masahiko

2003-01-01

Costs and losses induced by possible future extreme environmental conditions and difficulties in repairing post-yielding damage strongly suggest the need for proper consideration in design rather than just life loss prevention. This can be addressed through the development of design methodology that balances the initial cost of the very large floating structure (VLFS) against the expected potential losses resulting from future extreme wave-induced structural damage. Here, the development of a methodology for determining optimal, cost-effective design will be presented and applied to a VLFS located in the Tokyo bay. Optimal design criteria are determined based on the total expected life-cycle cost and acceptable damage probability and curvature of the structure, and a set of sizes of the structure are obtained. The methodology and applications require expressions of the initial cost and the expected life-cycle damage cost as functions of the optimal design variables. This study includes the methodology, total life-cycle cost function, structural damage modeling, and reliability analysis.

Significance of Operating Environment in Condition Monitoring of Large Civil Structures

OpenAIRE

Alampalli, Sreenivas

1999-01-01

Success of remote long-term condition monitoring of large civil structures and developing calibrated analytical models for damage detection, depend significantly on establishing accurate baseline signatures and their sensitivity. Most studies reported in the literature concentrated on the effect of structural damage on modal parameters without emphasis on reliability of modal parameters. Thus, a field bridge structure was studied for the significance of operating conditions in relation to bas...

Numerical analysis of pipe impact on reinforced concrete structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prinja, N.K.

1990-01-01

This paper presents the methodology and the results of numerical analyses carried out by using the computer code DYNA3D to analyse pipe impacts on a reinforced concrete slab, a floor beam and a column. Modelling techniques employed to represent various features of typical reinforced concrete (RC) structures and the details of a soil and crushable foam type of material model used to represent concrete material behaviour are described. The results show that a reasonable prediction of global behaviour of reinforced concrete structures under impact loading can be obtained by this numerical method. (author)

Root causes and impacts of severe accidents at large nuclear power plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Högberg, Lars

2013-04-01

The root causes and impacts of three severe accidents at large civilian nuclear power plants are reviewed: the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, the Chernobyl accident in 1986, and the Fukushima Daiichi accident in 2011. Impacts include health effects, evacuation of contaminated areas as well as cost estimates and impacts on energy policies and nuclear safety work in various countries. It is concluded that essential objectives for reactor safety work must be: (1) to prevent accidents from developing into severe core damage, even if they are initiated by very unlikely natural or man-made events, and, recognizing that accidents with severe core damage may nevertheless occur; (2) to prevent large-scale and long-lived ground contamination by limiting releases of radioactive nuclides such as cesium to less than about 100 TBq. To achieve these objectives the importance of maintaining high global standards of safety management and safety culture cannot be emphasized enough. All three severe accidents discussed in this paper had their root causes in system deficiencies indicative of poor safety management and poor safety culture in both the nuclear industry and government authorities.

Root Causes and Impacts of Severe Accidents at Large Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoegberg, Lars

2013-01-01

The root causes and impacts of three severe accidents at large civilian nuclear power plants are reviewed: the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, the Chernobyl accident in 1986, and the Fukushima Daiichi accident in 2011. Impacts include health effects, evacuation of contaminated areas as well as cost estimates and impacts on energy policies and nuclear safety work in various countries. It is concluded that essential objectives for reactor safety work must be: (1) to prevent accidents from developing into severe core damage, even if they are initiated by very unlikely natural or man-made events, and, recognizing that accidents with severe core damage may nevertheless occur; (2) to prevent large-scale and long lived ground contamination by limiting releases of radioactive nuclides such as cesium to less than about 100 TBq. To achieve these objectives the importance of maintaining high global standards of safety management and safety culture cannot be emphasized enough. All three severe accidents discussed in this paper had their root causes in system deficiencies indicative of poor safety management and poor safety culture in both the nuclear industry and government authorities

Root Causes and Impacts of Severe Accidents at Large Nuclear Power Plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoegberg, Lars

2013-04-15

The root causes and impacts of three severe accidents at large civilian nuclear power plants are reviewed: the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, the Chernobyl accident in 1986, and the Fukushima Daiichi accident in 2011. Impacts include health effects, evacuation of contaminated areas as well as cost estimates and impacts on energy policies and nuclear safety work in various countries. It is concluded that essential objectives for reactor safety work must be: (1) to prevent accidents from developing into severe core damage, even if they are initiated by very unlikely natural or man-made events, and, recognizing that accidents with severe core damage may nevertheless occur; (2) to prevent large-scale and long lived ground contamination by limiting releases of radioactive nuclides such as cesium to less than about 100 TBq. To achieve these objectives the importance of maintaining high global standards of safety management and safety culture cannot be emphasized enough. All three severe accidents discussed in this paper had their root causes in system deficiencies indicative of poor safety management and poor safety culture in both the nuclear industry and government authorities.

Sensitivity of Microstructural Factors Influencing the Impact Toughness of Hypoeutectoid Steels with Ferrite-Pearlite Structure using Multiple Regression Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seung-Yong; Lee, Sang-In; Hwang, Byoung-chul

2016-01-01

In this study, the effect of microstructural factors on the impact toughness of hypoeutectoid steels with ferrite-pearlite structure was quantitatively investigated using multiple regression analysis. Microstructural analysis results showed that the pearlite fraction increased with increasing austenitizing temperature and decreasing transformation temperature which substantially decreased the pearlite interlamellar spacing and cementite thickness depending on carbon content. The impact toughness of hypoeutectoid steels usually increased as interlamellar spacing or cementite thickness decreased, although the impact toughness was largely associated with pearlite fraction. Based on these results, multiple regression analysis was performed to understand the individual effect of pearlite fraction, interlamellar spacing, and cementite thickness on the impact toughness. The regression analysis results revealed that pearlite fraction significantly affected impact toughness at room temperature, while cementite thickness did at low temperature.

On elevated fluoride and boron concentrations in groundwaters associated with the Lake Saint-Martin impact structure, Manitoba

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Desbarats, Alexandre J.

2009-01-01

Hydrogeological investigations conducted by the Geological Survey of Canada in the Lake Saint-Martin region of Manitoba have confirmed earlier reports of naturally elevated F - and B concentrations in local groundwaters. Fluoride and B concentrations are highly correlated (r 2 = 0.905) and reach 15.1 mg/L and 8.5 mg/L, respectively. Virtually all groundwaters with F - concentrations greater than the drinking water limit of 1.5 mg/L are from wells within the Lake Saint-Martin impact structure, a 208 Ma complex crater 23 km in diameter underlying a large part of the study area. The high-F - groundwaters can be classified into two groups according to their anionic and isotopic compositions. Group I samples consist of Na-mixed anion groundwaters, with Cl greater than 100 mg/L and highly depleted 18 O compositions indicative of recharge under much cooler climatic conditions than at present. Samples belonging to this group exhibit a striking relationship to crater morphology, and are found in an arcuate belt within the southern rim of the impact structure. Group II high-F - samples consist of Na-HCO 3 -SO 4 groundwaters, with little Cl, and less depleted 18 O compositions. Samples belonging to this group are associated with groundwaters recharged locally, on a low ridge within the impact structure. This paper traces the probable source of high-F - groundwaters to phosphatic pellets in shales of the Winnipeg Formation, a regional basal clastic unit which sub-crops at shallow depth beneath the crater rim as a result of more than 200 m of structural uplift associated with the impact event. This extensive aquifer is known elsewhere in southern Manitoba for its naturally-softened groundwaters and locally elevated F - concentrations. Group I groundwaters are interpreted as discharge from the Winnipeg Formation where it abuts against crater-fill deposits. Group II high-F - groundwaters are interpreted as modern recharge from within the impact structure, displacing Group I

The seam visual tracking method for large structures

Science.gov (United States)

Bi, Qilin; Jiang, Xiaomin; Liu, Xiaoguang; Cheng, Taobo; Zhu, Yulong

2017-10-01

In this paper, a compact and flexible weld visual tracking method is proposed. Firstly, there was the interference between the visual device and the work-piece to be welded when visual tracking height cannot change. a kind of weld vision system with compact structure and tracking height is researched. Secondly, according to analyze the relative spatial pose between the camera, the laser and the work-piece to be welded and study with the theory of relative geometric imaging, The mathematical model between image feature parameters and three-dimensional trajectory of the assembly gap to be welded is established. Thirdly, the visual imaging parameters of line structured light are optimized by experiment of the weld structure of the weld. Fourth, the interference that line structure light will be scatters at the bright area of metal and the area of surface scratches will be bright is exited in the imaging. These disturbances seriously affect the computational efficiency. The algorithm based on the human eye visual attention mechanism is used to extract the weld characteristics efficiently and stably. Finally, in the experiment, It is verified that the compact and flexible weld tracking method has the tracking accuracy of 0.5mm in the tracking of large structural parts. It is a wide range of industrial application prospects.

Origin of large-scale cell structure in the universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zel'dovich, Y.B.

1982-01-01

A qualitative explanation is offered for the characteristic global structure of the universe, wherein ''black'' regions devoid of galaxies are surrounded on all sides by closed, comparatively thin, ''bright'' layers populated by galaxies. The interpretation rests on some very general arguments regarding the growth of large-scale perturbations in a cold gas

Seismic analysis of a large LMFBR with fluid-structure interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, D.C.

1985-01-01

The seismic analysis of a large LMFBR with many internal components and structures is presented. Both vertical and horizontal seismic excitations are considered. The important hydrodynamic phenomena such as fluid-structure interaction, sloshing, fluid coupling and fluid inertia effects are included in the analysis. The results of this study are discussed in detail. Information which is useful to the design of future reactions under seismic conditions is also given. 4 refs., 12 figs

Geo - hydrological investigations and impact of water harvesting structures on groundwater potential in Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Suryanarayana, K V; Krishnaiah, S; Khokalay, Murthy Rao V

2010-10-01

In this paper, the data pertaining to the rainfall, its departure from normal, moving mean rainfall, depth of water levels in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, groundwater availability, groundwater utilization and impact of storage of water in large water bodies are analyzed graphically. The results indicate that the groundwater is over exploited in many places in Anantapur District (India). The groundwater levels found fluctuating, when compared the observations in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. Hence, it is concluded that the construction of water harvesting structures at suitable locations will have a definite impact on the groundwater potential in Anantapur District.

Inverse Analysis of Cavitation Impact Phenomena on Structures

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Lambrakos, S. G; Tran, N. E

2007-01-01

A general methodology is presented for in situ detection of cavitation impact phenomena on structures based on inverse analysis of luminescent emissions resulting from the collapsing of bubbles onto surfaces...

TOPOLOGY OF A LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE AS A TEST OF MODIFIED GRAVITY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Xin; Chen Xuelei; Park, Changbom

2012-01-01

The genus of the isodensity contours is a robust measure of the topology of a large-scale structure, and it is relatively insensitive to nonlinear gravitational evolution, galaxy bias, and redshift-space distortion. We show that the growth of density fluctuations is scale dependent even in the linear regime in some modified gravity theories, which opens a new possibility of testing the theories observationally. We propose to use the genus of the isodensity contours, an intrinsic measure of the topology of the large-scale structure, as a statistic to be used in such tests. In Einstein's general theory of relativity, density fluctuations grow at the same rate on all scales in the linear regime, and the genus per comoving volume is almost conserved as structures grow homologously, so we expect that the genus-smoothing-scale relation is basically time independent. However, in some modified gravity models where structures grow with different rates on different scales, the genus-smoothing-scale relation should change over time. This can be used to test the gravity models with large-scale structure observations. We study the cases of the f(R) theory, DGP braneworld theory as well as the parameterized post-Friedmann models. We also forecast how the modified gravity models can be constrained with optical/IR or redshifted 21 cm radio surveys in the near future.

Impacts of large-scale offshore wind farm integration on power systems through VSC-HVDC

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Hongzhi; Chen, Zhe

2013-01-01

The potential of offshore wind energy has been commonly recognized and explored globally. Many countries have implemented and planned offshore wind farms to meet their increasing electricity demands and public environmental appeals, especially in Europe. With relatively less space limitation......, an offshore wind farm could have a capacity rating to hundreds of MWs or even GWs that is large enough to compete with conventional power plants. Thus the impacts of a large offshore wind farm on power system operation and security should be thoroughly studied and understood. This paper investigates...... the impacts of integrating a large-scale offshore wind farm into the transmission system of a power grid through VSC-HVDC connection. The concerns are focused on steady-state voltage stability, dynamic voltage stability and transient angle stability. Simulation results based on an exemplary power system...

Asset Structure Impact on Capital Structure of Capital Market-Listed Firms in Indonesia and Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zainal Abidin Sahabuddin

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Debt was able to be used by firm as source of funds for investment-related activities,especially when the amount of retained earnings was not sufficient to cover the amount of investment needed. Naturally, the use of debt definitely caused the agency conflict between firm shareholders and debt holders. To reduce this conflict, the existence of fixed assets as collateral was needed when firm decided to borrow money from debt holders.The purpose of this study was to prove the agency theory perspective by testing an impact of asset structure on capital structure of firms. The population of this study was the firms listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange and Malaysian Stock Exchange. The firms as sample were taken from the population by conducting stratified random sampling method. The pooled data regression model was used as the data analysis method. This result of this study showed that asset structure had the positive impact on capital structure. It meant the causal relationship between asset structure and capital structure happened and was supported by the agency theory perspective.

Research on resistance characteristics of YBCO tape under short-time DC large current impact

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhifeng; Yang, Jiabin; Qiu, Qingquan; Zhang, Guomin; Lin, Liangzhen

2017-06-01

Research of the resistance characteristics of YBCO tape under short-time DC large current impact is the foundation of the developing DC superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) for voltage source converter-based high voltage direct current system (VSC-HVDC), which is one of the valid approaches to solve the problems of renewable energy integration. SFCL can limit DC short-circuit and enhance the interrupting capabilities of DC circuit breakers. In this paper, under short-time DC large current impacts, the resistance features of naked tape of YBCO tape are studied to find the resistance - temperature change rule and the maximum impact current. The influence of insulation for the resistance - temperature characteristics of YBCO tape is studied by comparison tests with naked tape and insulating tape in 77 K. The influence of operating temperature on the tape is also studied under subcooled liquid nitrogen condition. For the current impact security of YBCO tape, the critical current degradation and top temperature are analyzed and worked as judgment standards. The testing results is helpful for in developing SFCL in VSC-HVDC.

Puzzles of large scale structure and gravitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sidharth, B.G.

2006-01-01

We consider the puzzle of cosmic voids bounded by two-dimensional structures of galactic clusters as also a puzzle pointed out by Weinberg: How can the mass of a typical elementary particle depend on a cosmic parameter like the Hubble constant? An answer to the first puzzle is proposed in terms of 'Scaled' Quantum Mechanical like behaviour which appears at large scales. The second puzzle can be answered by showing that the gravitational mass of an elementary particle has a Machian character (see Ahmed N. Cantorian small worked, Mach's principle and the universal mass network. Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 2004;21(4))

Impact effects in thin-walled structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zukas, J.A.; Gaskill, B.

1996-01-01

A key parameter in the design of protective structures is the critical impact velocity, also known as the ballistic limit. This is the velocity below which a striker will fail to penetrate a barrier or some protective device. For strikers with regular shapes, such as cylinders (long and short), spheres and cones, analytical and empirical formulations for the determination of a ballistic limit exist at impact velocities ranging from 250 m/s to 6 km/s or higher. For non-standard shapes, two- and three-dimensional wave propagation codes (hydrocodes) can be valuable adjuncts to experiments in ballistic limit determinations. This is illustrated with the help of the ZeuS code in determining the ballistic limit of a short, tubular projectile striking a thin aluminum barrier and contrasting it to the value of the ballistic limit of a spherical projectile of equal mass against the same target. Several interesting features of the debris cloud generated by a tubular projectile striking a Whipple shield at hypervelocity are also pointed out. The paper concludes with a consideration of hydrodynamic ram effects in fluid-filled thin-walled structures. Where possible, comparisons are made of computed results with experimental data

Environmental Impacts From the Installation and Operation of Large-scale Solar Power Plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fthenakis, V.; Turney, Damon

2011-04-23

Large-scale solar power plants are being developed at a rapid rate, and are setting up to use thousands or millions of acres of land globally. The environmental issues related to the installation and operation phases of such facilities have not, so far, been addressed comprehensively in the literature. Here we identify and appraise 32 impacts from these phases, under the themes of land use intensity, human health and well-being, plant and animal life, geohydrological resources, and climate change. Our appraisals assume that electricity generated by new solar power facilities will displace electricity from traditional U.S. generation technologies. Altogether we find 22 of the considered 32 impacts to be beneficial. Of the remaining 10 impacts, 4 are neutral, and 6 require further research before they can be appraised. None of the impacts are negative relative to traditional power generation. We rank the impacts in terms of priority, and find all the high-priority impacts to be beneficial. In quantitative terms, large-scale solar power plants occupy the same or less land per kW h than coal power plant life cycles. Removal of forests to make space for solar power causes CO{sub 2} emissions as high as 36 g CO{sub 2} kW h{sup -1}, which is a significant contribution to the life cycle CO{sub 2} emissions of solar power, but is still low compared to CO{sub 2} emissions from coal-based electricity that are about 1100 g CO{sub 2} kW h{sup -1}.

Analysis of Dynamic Properties of Piezoelectric Structure under Impact Load

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taotao Zhang

2015-10-01

Full Text Available An analytical model of the dynamic properties is established for a piezoelectric structure under impact load, without considering noise and perturbations in this paper. Based on the general theory of piezo-elasticity and impact mechanics, the theoretical solutions of the mechanical and electrical fields of the smart structure are obtained with the standing and traveling wave methods, respectively. The comparisons between the two methods have shown that the standing wave method is better for studying long-time response after an impact load. In addition, good agreements are found between the theoretical and the numerical results. To simulate the impact load, both triangle and step pulse loads are used and comparisons are given. Furthermore, the influence of several parameters is discussed so as to provide some advices for practical use. It can be seen that the proposed analytical model would benefit, to some extent, the design and application (especially the airport runway of the related smart devices by taking into account their impact load performance.

Food-web structure of seagrass communities across different spatial scales and human impacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Coll, Marta; Schmidt, Allison; Romanuk, Tamara; Lotze, Heike K

2011-01-01

Seagrass beds provide important habitat for a wide range of marine species but are threatened by multiple human impacts in coastal waters. Although seagrass communities have been well-studied in the field, a quantification of their food-web structure and functioning, and how these change across space and human impacts has been lacking. Motivated by extensive field surveys and literature information, we analyzed the structural features of food webs associated with Zostera marina across 16 study sites in 3 provinces in Atlantic Canada. Our goals were to (i) quantify differences in food-web structure across local and regional scales and human impacts, (ii) assess the robustness of seagrass webs to simulated species loss, and (iii) compare food-web structure in temperate Atlantic seagrass beds with those of other aquatic ecosystems. We constructed individual food webs for each study site and cumulative webs for each province and the entire region based on presence/absence of species, and calculated 16 structural properties for each web. Our results indicate that food-web structure was similar among low impact sites across regions. With increasing human impacts associated with eutrophication, however, food-web structure show evidence of degradation as indicated by fewer trophic groups, lower maximum trophic level of the highest top predator, fewer trophic links connecting top to basal species, higher fractions of herbivores and intermediate consumers, and higher number of prey per species. These structural changes translate into functional changes with impacted sites being less robust to simulated species loss. Temperate Atlantic seagrass webs are similar to a tropical seagrass web, yet differed from other aquatic webs, suggesting consistent food-web characteristics across seagrass ecosystems in different regions. Our study illustrates that food-web structure and functioning of seagrass habitats change with human impacts and that the spatial scale of food-web analysis

Food-web structure of seagrass communities across different spatial scales and human impacts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Coll

Full Text Available Seagrass beds provide important habitat for a wide range of marine species but are threatened by multiple human impacts in coastal waters. Although seagrass communities have been well-studied in the field, a quantification of their food-web structure and functioning, and how these change across space and human impacts has been lacking. Motivated by extensive field surveys and literature information, we analyzed the structural features of food webs associated with Zostera marina across 16 study sites in 3 provinces in Atlantic Canada. Our goals were to (i quantify differences in food-web structure across local and regional scales and human impacts, (ii assess the robustness of seagrass webs to simulated species loss, and (iii compare food-web structure in temperate Atlantic seagrass beds with those of other aquatic ecosystems. We constructed individual food webs for each study site and cumulative webs for each province and the entire region based on presence/absence of species, and calculated 16 structural properties for each web. Our results indicate that food-web structure was similar among low impact sites across regions. With increasing human impacts associated with eutrophication, however, food-web structure show evidence of degradation as indicated by fewer trophic groups, lower maximum trophic level of the highest top predator, fewer trophic links connecting top to basal species, higher fractions of herbivores and intermediate consumers, and higher number of prey per species. These structural changes translate into functional changes with impacted sites being less robust to simulated species loss. Temperate Atlantic seagrass webs are similar to a tropical seagrass web, yet differed from other aquatic webs, suggesting consistent food-web characteristics across seagrass ecosystems in different regions. Our study illustrates that food-web structure and functioning of seagrass habitats change with human impacts and that the spatial scale of

Impact induced solitary wave propagation through a woodpile structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kore, R; Waychal, A; Yadav, P; Shelke, A; Agarwal, S; Sahoo, N; Uddin, Ahsan

2016-01-01

In this paper, we investigate solitary wave propagation through a one-dimensional woodpile structure excited by low and high velocity impact. Woodpile structures are a sub-class of granular metamaterial, which supports propagation of nonlinear waves. Hertz contact law governs the behavior of the solitary wave propagation through the granular media. Towards an experimental study, a woodpile structure was fabricated by orthogonally stacking cylindrical rods. A shock tube facility has been developed to launch an impactor on the woodpile structure at a velocity of 30 m s −1 . Embedded granular chain sensors were fabricated to study the behavior of the solitary wave. The impact induced stress wave is studied to investigate solitary wave parameters, i.e. contact force, contact time, and solitary wave velocity. With the aid of the experimental setup, numerical simulations, and a theoretical solution based on the long wavelength approximation, formation of the solitary wave in the woodpile structure is validated to a reasonable degree of accuracy. The nondispersive and compact supported solitary waves traveling at sonic wave velocity offer unique properties that could be leveraged for application in nondestructive testing and structural health monitoring. (paper)

Structural identification of short/middle span bridges by rapid impact testing: theory and verification

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jian; Zhang, Q. Q.; Guo, S. L.; Xu, D. W.; Wu, Z. S.

2015-06-01

A structural strain flexibility identification method by processing the multiple-reference impact testing data is proposed. First, a kind of novel long-gauge fiber optic sensor is developed for structural macro-strain monitoring. Second, the multiple-reference impact testing technology is employed, during which both the impacting force and structural strain responses are measured. The impact testing technology has unique merit because it is able to extract exact structural frequency response functions (FRFs), while other test methods, for instance ambient tests, can only output the FRFs with scaled magnitudes. Most importantly, the originality of the article is that a method of identifying the structural strain flexibility characteristic from the impact test data has been proposed, which is useful for structural static strain prediction and capacity evaluation. Examples of a six meter simple supported beam and a multiple-span continuous beam bridge have successfully verified the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Structural identification of short/middle span bridges by rapid impact testing: theory and verification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Jian; Wu, Z S; Zhang, Q Q; Guo, S L; Xu, D W

2015-01-01

A structural strain flexibility identification method by processing the multiple-reference impact testing data is proposed. First, a kind of novel long-gauge fiber optic sensor is developed for structural macro-strain monitoring. Second, the multiple-reference impact testing technology is employed, during which both the impacting force and structural strain responses are measured. The impact testing technology has unique merit because it is able to extract exact structural frequency response functions (FRFs), while other test methods, for instance ambient tests, can only output the FRFs with scaled magnitudes. Most importantly, the originality of the article is that a method of identifying the structural strain flexibility characteristic from the impact test data has been proposed, which is useful for structural static strain prediction and capacity evaluation. Examples of a six meter simple supported beam and a multiple-span continuous beam bridge have successfully verified the effectiveness of the proposed method. (paper)

Environmental impact assessment of a WtE plant after structural upgrade measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Passarini, Fabrizio; Nicoletti, Monica; Ciacci, Luca; Vassura, Ivano; Morselli, Luciano

2014-04-01

The study focuses on analysing the evolution of environmental impacts caused by a medium-large Italian WtE plant before and after revamping and maintenance operations, with the aim of providing an evaluation of how much these structural upgrade measures may affect the total environmental performance. LCA methodology was applied for the modelling and comparison of six WtE scenarios, each describing the main structural upgrades carried out in the plant over the years 1996-2011. The comparison was conducted by adopting 1ton of MSW as the functional unit, and the net contribution from energy recovery to power generation was distinguished by defining consistent national grid electricity mixes for every year considered. The Ecoindicator99 2.09 impact assessment method was used to evaluate the contribution to midpoint and endpoint categories (e.g. carcinogens, respiratory inorganics and organics, climate change, damage to human health). Lastly, the "Pedigree quality matrix" was applied to verify the reliability and robustness of the model created. As expected, the results showed better environmental scores after both the implementation of new procedures and the integration of operations. However, while a net reduction of air emissions seems to be achievable through dedicated flue gas treatment technologies, outcomes underscored potentials for improving the management of bottom ash through the adoption of alternative options aimed to use that solid residue mainly as filler, and to decrease risks from its current disposal in landfill. If the same effort that is put into flue gas treatment were devoted to energy recovery, the targets for the WtE plant could be easily met, achieving a higher sustainability. This aspect is even more complex: national policies for implementing greener and renewable energy sources would result in a lower impact of the national energy mix and, hence, in a lower net avoided burden from energy recovery. The study confirmed the expected improvements

Simplified DFT methods for consistent structures and energies of large systems

Science.gov (United States)

Caldeweyher, Eike; Gerit Brandenburg, Jan

2018-05-01

Kohn–Sham density functional theory (DFT) is routinely used for the fast electronic structure computation of large systems and will most likely continue to be the method of choice for the generation of reliable geometries in the foreseeable future. Here, we present a hierarchy of simplified DFT methods designed for consistent structures and non-covalent interactions of large systems with particular focus on molecular crystals. The covered methods are a minimal basis set Hartree–Fock (HF-3c), a small basis set screened exchange hybrid functional (HSE-3c), and a generalized gradient approximated functional evaluated in a medium-sized basis set (B97-3c), all augmented with semi-classical correction potentials. We give an overview on the methods design, a comprehensive evaluation on established benchmark sets for geometries and lattice energies of molecular crystals, and highlight some realistic applications on large organic crystals with several hundreds of atoms in the primitive unit cell.

Impact of radioactive waste management operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paine, D.; Rogers, L.E.; Uresk, D.W.

1977-01-01

Impact assessment of radioactive waste management operations is considered separately for nonradiological impact on biota, impact on ecosystem structure and function and radiological impact on biota. Localized effects related to facility construction and maintenance activities probably occur but the large expanse of relatively undisturbed surrounding landscape minimizes any overall effects

A Study on External Fire Damage of Structures subjected to Aircraft Impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Sang Shup; Hahm, Daegi; Kim, Min Kyu

2015-01-01

A large commercial aircraft consists of various components as fuselage, wings, fuel tank, engine etc. During a collision of the aircraft, the fuel tank with a large amount of jet fuel have a significant effect on the total load of the aircraft as well as causing explosive fire and smoke which affect the safety of the structure and equipment. US Sandia National Laboratories and Finland VTT etc. performed the test and simulation studies to evaluate the dispersion range of the fluid after the crash of liquid filled cylinder missiles. The test condition and results have been referred in this paper. The fluid modeling approach using SPH is applied to evaluate the dispersing range of the fluid, and is compared with the Brown's results. The jet fuel is idealized as particles contained in an aluminum cylinder missile, where those particles can be dispersed to the surrounding area after the missile crashes into a rigid target. The fluid model using the SPH method is briefly verified through comparison with test results, and then the modelling method is applied to a jet fuel model in an aircraft model. The dispersion analysis of jet fuel caused by aircraft impact is performed using an aircraft model for the determination of fire duration and fire affected zone in a nuclear power plant. Finally, the structural integrity of the roof of the structure during a jet fuel fire is evaluated. In this study, the filled jet fuel was modeled by using smooth particle hydrodynamics technique; jet fuel spread area following an aircraft crash was analyzed

A Study on External Fire Damage of Structures subjected to Aircraft Impact

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shin, Sang Shup [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Hahm, Daegi; Kim, Min Kyu [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

A large commercial aircraft consists of various components as fuselage, wings, fuel tank, engine etc. During a collision of the aircraft, the fuel tank with a large amount of jet fuel have a significant effect on the total load of the aircraft as well as causing explosive fire and smoke which affect the safety of the structure and equipment. US Sandia National Laboratories and Finland VTT etc. performed the test and simulation studies to evaluate the dispersion range of the fluid after the crash of liquid filled cylinder missiles. The test condition and results have been referred in this paper. The fluid modeling approach using SPH is applied to evaluate the dispersing range of the fluid, and is compared with the Brown's results. The jet fuel is idealized as particles contained in an aluminum cylinder missile, where those particles can be dispersed to the surrounding area after the missile crashes into a rigid target. The fluid model using the SPH method is briefly verified through comparison with test results, and then the modelling method is applied to a jet fuel model in an aircraft model. The dispersion analysis of jet fuel caused by aircraft impact is performed using an aircraft model for the determination of fire duration and fire affected zone in a nuclear power plant. Finally, the structural integrity of the roof of the structure during a jet fuel fire is evaluated. In this study, the filled jet fuel was modeled by using smooth particle hydrodynamics technique; jet fuel spread area following an aircraft crash was analyzed.

Culture, Structure and Leadership Impacts on Gender Inclusion in the Security Sector

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-01

Culture, structure and leadership impacts on gender inclusion in the security sector 1 DANIEL K. INOUYE ASIA PACIFIC CENTER FOR SECURITY...STUDIES OCCASIONAL PAPER, SEPTEMBER 2017 Culture, structure and leadership impacts on gender inclusion in the security sector Canyon DV Abstract...Depending on your perspective, the primary challenge to gender inclusion is either culture, structure or leadership . The good news is that they are all

Evaluation of underground pipe-structure interface for surface impact load

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Shen, E-mail: swang@terrapower.com

2017-06-15

Highlights: • A simple method is proposed for the evaluation of underground pipelines for surface impact load considering the effect of a nearby pipe-structure interface. • The proposed simple method can be used to evaluate the magnitude of damage within a short period of time after accidental drop occurs. • The proposed method is applied in a practical example and compared by using finite element analysis. - Abstract: Nuclear safety related buried pipelines need to be assessed for the effects of postulated surface impact loads. In published solutions, the buried pipe is often considered within an elastic half space without interference with other underground structures. In the case that a surface impact occurs in short distance from an underground pipe-structure interface, this boundary condition will further complicate the buried pipe evaluation. Neglecting such boundary effect in the assessment may lead to underestimating potential damage of buried pipeline, and jeopardizing safety of the nuclear power plant. Comprehensive analysis of such structure-pipe-soil system is often subjected to availability of state-of-art finite element tools, as well as costly and time consuming. Simple, but practical conservative techniques have not been established. In this study, a mechanics based solution is proposed in order to assess the magnitude of damage to a buried pipeline beneath a heavy surface impact considering the effect of a nearby pipe-structure interface. The proposed approach provides an easy to use tool in the early stage of evaluation before the decision of applying more costly technique can be made by owner of the nuclear facility.

Evaluation of underground pipe-structure interface for surface impact load

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Shen

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A simple method is proposed for the evaluation of underground pipelines for surface impact load considering the effect of a nearby pipe-structure interface. • The proposed simple method can be used to evaluate the magnitude of damage within a short period of time after accidental drop occurs. • The proposed method is applied in a practical example and compared by using finite element analysis. - Abstract: Nuclear safety related buried pipelines need to be assessed for the effects of postulated surface impact loads. In published solutions, the buried pipe is often considered within an elastic half space without interference with other underground structures. In the case that a surface impact occurs in short distance from an underground pipe-structure interface, this boundary condition will further complicate the buried pipe evaluation. Neglecting such boundary effect in the assessment may lead to underestimating potential damage of buried pipeline, and jeopardizing safety of the nuclear power plant. Comprehensive analysis of such structure-pipe-soil system is often subjected to availability of state-of-art finite element tools, as well as costly and time consuming. Simple, but practical conservative techniques have not been established. In this study, a mechanics based solution is proposed in order to assess the magnitude of damage to a buried pipeline beneath a heavy surface impact considering the effect of a nearby pipe-structure interface. The proposed approach provides an easy to use tool in the early stage of evaluation before the decision of applying more costly technique can be made by owner of the nuclear facility.

Responses in large-scale structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barreira, Alexandre; Schmidt, Fabian, E-mail: barreira@MPA-Garching.MPG.DE, E-mail: fabians@MPA-Garching.MPG.DE [Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, 85741 Garching (Germany)

2017-06-01

We introduce a rigorous definition of general power-spectrum responses as resummed vertices with two hard and n soft momenta in cosmological perturbation theory. These responses measure the impact of long-wavelength perturbations on the local small-scale power spectrum. The kinematic structure of the responses (i.e., their angular dependence) can be decomposed unambiguously through a ''bias'' expansion of the local power spectrum, with a fixed number of physical response coefficients , which are only a function of the hard wavenumber k . Further, the responses up to n -th order completely describe the ( n +2)-point function in the squeezed limit, i.e. with two hard and n soft modes, which one can use to derive the response coefficients. This generalizes previous results, which relate the angle-averaged squeezed limit to isotropic response coefficients. We derive the complete expression of first- and second-order responses at leading order in perturbation theory, and present extrapolations to nonlinear scales based on simulation measurements of the isotropic response coefficients. As an application, we use these results to predict the non-Gaussian part of the angle-averaged matter power spectrum covariance Cov{sup NG}{sub ℓ=0}( k {sub 1}, k {sub 2}), in the limit where one of the modes, say k {sub 2}, is much smaller than the other. Without any free parameters, our model results are in very good agreement with simulations for k {sub 2} ∼< 0.06 h Mpc{sup −1}, and for any k {sub 1} ∼> 2 k {sub 2}. The well-defined kinematic structure of the power spectrum response also permits a quick evaluation of the angular dependence of the covariance matrix. While we focus on the matter density field, the formalism presented here can be generalized to generic tracers such as galaxies.

Responses in large-scale structure

Science.gov (United States)

Barreira, Alexandre; Schmidt, Fabian

2017-06-01

We introduce a rigorous definition of general power-spectrum responses as resummed vertices with two hard and n soft momenta in cosmological perturbation theory. These responses measure the impact of long-wavelength perturbations on the local small-scale power spectrum. The kinematic structure of the responses (i.e., their angular dependence) can be decomposed unambiguously through a ``bias'' expansion of the local power spectrum, with a fixed number of physical response coefficients, which are only a function of the hard wavenumber k. Further, the responses up to n-th order completely describe the (n+2)-point function in the squeezed limit, i.e. with two hard and n soft modes, which one can use to derive the response coefficients. This generalizes previous results, which relate the angle-averaged squeezed limit to isotropic response coefficients. We derive the complete expression of first- and second-order responses at leading order in perturbation theory, and present extrapolations to nonlinear scales based on simulation measurements of the isotropic response coefficients. As an application, we use these results to predict the non-Gaussian part of the angle-averaged matter power spectrum covariance CovNGl=0(k1,k2), in the limit where one of the modes, say k2, is much smaller than the other. Without any free parameters, our model results are in very good agreement with simulations for k2 lesssim 0.06 h Mpc-1, and for any k1 gtrsim 2k2. The well-defined kinematic structure of the power spectrum response also permits a quick evaluation of the angular dependence of the covariance matrix. While we focus on the matter density field, the formalism presented here can be generalized to generic tracers such as galaxies.

Large-scale renewable energy project barriers: Environmental impact assessment streamlining efforts in Japan and the EU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schumacher, Kim

2017-01-01

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures have been identified as a major barrier to renewable energy (RE) development with regards to large-scale projects (LS-RE). However EIA laws have also been neglected by many decision-makers who have been underestimating its impact on RE development and the stifling potential they possess. As a consequence, apart from acknowledging the shortcomings of the systems currently in place, few governments momentarily have concrete plans to reform their EIA laws. By looking at recent EIA streamlining efforts in two industrialized regions that underwent major transformations in their energy sectors, this paper attempts to assess how such reform efforts can act as a means to support the balancing of environmental protection and climate change mitigation with socio-economic challenges. Thereby this paper fills this intellectual void by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the Japanese EIA law by contrasting it with the recently revised EIA Directive of the European Union (EU). This enables the identification of the regulatory provisions that impact RE development the most and the determination of how structured EIA law reforms would affect domestic RE project development. The main focus lies on the evaluation of regulatory streamlining efforts in the Japanese and EU contexts through the application of a mixed-methods approach, consisting of in-depth literary and legal reviews, followed by a comparative analysis and a series of semi-structured interviews. Highlighting several legal inconsistencies in combination with the views of EIA professionals, academics and law- and policymakers, allowed for a more comprehensive assessment of what streamlining elements of the reformed EU EIA Directive and the proposed Japanese EIA framework modifications could either promote or stifle further RE deployment. - Highlights: •Performs an in-depth review of EIA reforms in OECD territories •First paper to compare Japan and the European

Rare earth impact on glass structure and alteration kinetics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molieres, E.

2012-01-01

This work is related to the question of the geological deep repository of high-level waste glass. These wastes include fission products and minor actinides, elements which can be simulated by rare earths. As new glass compositions could enable increased rare earth concentrations, it is crucial to know and understand rare earth impact on glass structure on the one hand, and on glass alteration kinetics or their incorporation into an altered layer. This work studied simplified borosilicate glasses in order to limit synergetic effects between rare earths and other elements. Various complementary techniques were used to characterize pristine and altered glasses (solid-high resolution NMR, Raman spectroscopy, fluorescence, SIMS, SAXS). Firstly, the structural role of a rare earth is discussed and is compared to a calcium cation. The local environment of rare earths is also probed. Secondly, rare earth (nature and concentration) impact on several alteration regimes was studied (initial rate, rate drop). Then, after alteration, rare earth elements being retained within the altered layer, the structural impact of rare earth elements (and their local environment) in this alteration layer was also investigated. (author) [fr

Materials and structures under shock and impact

CERN Document Server

Bailly, Patrice

2013-01-01

In risk studies, engineers often have to consider the consequences of an accident leading to a shock on a construction. This can concern the impact of a ground vehicle or aircraft, or the effects of an explosion on an industrial site.This book presents a didactic approach starting with the theoretical elements of the mechanics of materials and structures, in order to develop their applications in the cases of shocks and impacts. The latter are studied on a local scale at first. They lead to stresses and strains in the form of waves propagating through the material, this movement then extending

A Comparative Analysis of the Magnetic Field Signals over Impact Structures on the Earth, Mars and the Moon

Science.gov (United States)

Isac, Anca; Mandea, Mioara; Purucker, Michael; Langlais, Benoit

2015-01-01

An improved description of magnetic fields of terrestrial bodies has been obtained from recent space missions, leading to a better characterization of the internal fields including those of crustal origin. One of the striking differences in their crustal magnetic field is the signature of large impact craters. A comparative analysis of the magnetic characteristics of these structures can shed light on the history of their respective planetary-scale magnetic dynamos. This has motivated us to identify impact craters and basins, first by their quasi-circular features from the most recent and detailed topographic maps and then from available global magnetic field maps. We have examined the magnetic field observed above 27 complex craters on the Earth, 34 impact basins on Mars and 37 impact basins on the Moon. For the first time, systematic trends in the amplitude and frequency of the magnetic patterns, inside and outside of these structures are observed for all three bodies. The demagnetization effects due to the impact shock wave and excavation processes have been evaluated applying the Equivalent Source Dipole forward modeling approach. The main characteristics of the selected impact craters are shown. The trends in their magnetic signatures are indicated, which are related to the presence or absence of a planetary-scale dynamo at the time of their formation and to impact processes. The low magnetic field intensity at center can be accepted as the prime characteristic of a hypervelocity impact and strongly associated with the mechanics of impact crater formation. In the presence of an active internal field, the process of demagnetization due to the shock impact is associated with post-impact remagnetization processes, generating a more complex magnetic signature.

Discussion on the impact of large commercial airplane to nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Bo

2010-01-01

Briefly introducing the 10CFR50.150, draft guide and technical document of United States which is issued recently by NRC and NEI on impact of large commercial airplane to nuclear power plant, introducing comments from society and public and responses from NRC, and briefly discussing relevant issues. (author)

Windpower project ownership and financing: The cost impacts of alternative development structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiser, R.H. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., CA (United States)

1997-12-31

This paper uses traditional financial cash-flow techniques to examine the impact of different ownership and financing structures on the cost of wind energy. While most large-scale wind projects are constructed, operated, and financed by non-utility generators (NUGs) via project financing, investor- and publicly-owned utilities have expressed interest in owning and financing their own facilities rather than purchasing wind energy from independent generators. A primary justification for utility ownership is that, because of financing and tax benefits, windpower may be cheaper when developed in this fashion. The results presented in this paper support that justification, though some of the estimated cost savings associated with utility ownership are found to be a result of shortcomings in utility analysis procedures and implicit risk shifting. This paper also discusses the comparative value of the federal production tax credit and renewable energy production incentive; estimates the financing premium paid by NUG wind owners compared to traditional gas-fired generation facilities; and explores the impact of electricity restructuring on financing.

Preliminary discussion on possible genesis of crustal rotation, its impact on geotectonic evolution and its relation to large-scale metallogeny in Hunan province and adjacent regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shu Xiaojing

2005-01-01

Hunan province and adjacent regions show ring-form distribution features both on surface geologic structure and geophysical field. Such features might result from the rotation movement of the earth crust and exert serious impact on the geotectonic evolution and large-scale metallogeny in Hunan province and adjacent regions. This paper makes a preliminary discussion on the possible genesis of such rotation movement, as well as the associated series of geologic processes and its relation to large-scale metallogeny in Hunan province and adjacent regions. (authors)

Knottin cyclization: impact on structure and dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gracy Jérôme

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Present in various species, the knottins (also referred to as inhibitor cystine knots constitute a group of extremely stable miniproteins with a plethora of biological activities. Owing to their small size and their high stability, knottins are considered as excellent leads or scaffolds in drug design. Two knottin families contain macrocyclic compounds, namely the cyclotides and the squash inhibitors. The cyclotide family nearly exclusively contains head-to-tail cyclized members. On the other hand, the squash family predominantly contains linear members. Head-to-tail cyclization is intuitively expected to improve bioactivities by increasing stability and lowering flexibility as well as sensitivity to proteolytic attack. Results In this paper, we report data on solution structure, thermal stability, and flexibility as inferred from NMR experiments and molecular dynamics simulations of a linear squash inhibitor EETI-II, a circular squash inhibitor MCoTI-II, and a linear analog lin-MCoTI. Strikingly, the head-to-tail linker in cyclic MCoTI-II is by far the most flexible region of all three compounds. Moreover, we show that cyclic and linear squash inhibitors do not display large differences in structure or flexibility in standard conditions, raising the question as to why few squash inhibitors have evolved into cyclic compounds. The simulations revealed however that the cyclization increases resistance to high temperatures by limiting structure unfolding. Conclusion In this work, we show that, in contrast to what could have been intuitively expected, cyclization of squash inhibitors does not provide clear stability or flexibility modification. Overall, our results suggest that, for squash inhibitors in standard conditions, the circularization impact might come from incorporation of an additional loop sequence, that can contribute to the miniprotein specificity and affinity, rather than from an increase in conformational rigidity

Characterisation of fluid-structure interaction for water impact of composite panels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Battley

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Hydrodynamic loads can be very significant for high performance marine vessels. Water impact of panels, known as "slamming", typically generates high magnitude short duration pressure pulses that move across the structure. In the case of compliant panels there can be significant coupling between the pressures and the structural responses. While there has been significant development of numerical methods to simulate this type of fluid-structure interaction there is only very limited experimental data available for validation of the simulation approaches. This paper describes an experimental study of sandwich composite panels subjected to water slamming impacts. The results demonstrate that compliant panels subjected to water slamming impacts experience different pressures than rigid panels, and have different structural responses than predicted by traditional uniform pressure based analysis approaches. The study also characterizes the significant effects that the dimensions of pressure transducers and data acquisition sampling rates have on the measured pressures.

Alignment between galaxies and large-scale structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faltenbacher, A.; Li Cheng; White, Simon D. M.; Jing, Yi-Peng; Mao Shude; Wang Jie

2009-01-01

Based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR6 (SDSS) and the Millennium Simulation (MS), we investigate the alignment between galaxies and large-scale structure. For this purpose, we develop two new statistical tools, namely the alignment correlation function and the cos(2θ)-statistic. The former is a two-dimensional extension of the traditional two-point correlation function and the latter is related to the ellipticity correlation function used for cosmic shear measurements. Both are based on the cross correlation between a sample of galaxies with orientations and a reference sample which represents the large-scale structure. We apply the new statistics to the SDSS galaxy catalog. The alignment correlation function reveals an overabundance of reference galaxies along the major axes of red, luminous (L ∼ * ) galaxies out to projected separations of 60 h- 1 Mpc. The signal increases with central galaxy luminosity. No alignment signal is detected for blue galaxies. The cos(2θ)-statistic yields very similar results. Starting from a MS semi-analytic galaxy catalog, we assign an orientation to each red, luminous and central galaxy, based on that of the central region of the host halo (with size similar to that of the stellar galaxy). As an alternative, we use the orientation of the host halo itself. We find a mean projected misalignment between a halo and its central region of ∼ 25 deg. The misalignment decreases slightly with increasing luminosity of the central galaxy. Using the orientations and luminosities of the semi-analytic galaxies, we repeat our alignment analysis on mock surveys of the MS. Agreement with the SDSS results is good if the central orientations are used. Predictions using the halo orientations as proxies for central galaxy orientations overestimate the observed alignment by more than a factor of 2. Finally, the large volume of the MS allows us to generate a two-dimensional map of the alignment correlation function, which shows the reference

Fuel containment and damage tolerance in large composite primary aircraft structures. Phase 2: Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Sandifer, J. P.; Denny, A.; Wood, M. A.

1985-01-01

Technical issues associated with fuel containment and damage tolerance of composite wing structures for transport aircraft were investigated. Material evaluation tests were conducted on two toughened resin composites: Celion/HX1504 and Celion/5245. These consisted of impact, tension, compression, edge delamination, and double cantilever beam tests. Another test series was conducted on graphite/epoxy box beams simulating a wing cover to spar cap joint configuration of a pressurized fuel tank. These tests evaluated the effectiveness of sealing methods with various fastener types and spacings under fatigue loading and with pressurized fuel. Another test series evaluated the ability of the selected coatings, film, and materials to prevent fuel leakage through 32-ply AS4/2220-1 laminates at various impact energy levels. To verify the structural integrity of the technology demonstration article structural details, tests were conducted on blade stiffened panels and sections. Compression tests were performed on undamaged and impacted stiffened AS4/2220-1 panels and smaller element tests to evaluate stiffener pull-off, side load and failsafe properties. Compression tests were also performed on panels subjected to Zone 2 lightning strikes. All of these data were integrated into a demonstration article representing a moderately loaded area of a transport wing. This test combined lightning strike, pressurized fuel, impact, impact repair, fatigue and residual strength.

Large scale electronic structure calculations in the study of the condensed phase

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dam, H.J.J.; Guest, M.F.; Sherwood, P.; Thomas, J.M.H.; van Lenthe, J.H.; van Lingen, J.N.J.; Bailey, C.L.; Bush, I.J.

2006-01-01

We consider the role that large-scale electronic structure computations can now play in the modelling of the condensed phase. To structure our analysis, we consider four distict ways in which today's scientific targets can be re-scoped to take advantage of advances in computing resources: 1. time to

Impacts of spatial resolution and representation of flow connectivity on large-scale simulation of floods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. M. R. Mateo

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Global-scale river models (GRMs are core tools for providing consistent estimates of global flood hazard, especially in data-scarce regions. Due to former limitations in computational power and input datasets, most GRMs have been developed to use simplified representations of flow physics and run at coarse spatial resolutions. With increasing computational power and improved datasets, the application of GRMs to finer resolutions is becoming a reality. To support development in this direction, the suitability of GRMs for application to finer resolutions needs to be assessed. This study investigates the impacts of spatial resolution and flow connectivity representation on the predictive capability of a GRM, CaMa-Flood, in simulating the 2011 extreme flood in Thailand. Analyses show that when single downstream connectivity (SDC is assumed, simulation results deteriorate with finer spatial resolution; Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficients decreased by more than 50 % between simulation results at 10 km resolution and 1 km resolution. When multiple downstream connectivity (MDC is represented, simulation results slightly improve with finer spatial resolution. The SDC simulations result in excessive backflows on very flat floodplains due to the restrictive flow directions at finer resolutions. MDC channels attenuated these effects by maintaining flow connectivity and flow capacity between floodplains in varying spatial resolutions. While a regional-scale flood was chosen as a test case, these findings should be universal and may have significant impacts on large- to global-scale simulations, especially in regions where mega deltas exist.These results demonstrate that a GRM can be used for higher resolution simulations of large-scale floods, provided that MDC in rivers and floodplains is adequately represented in the model structure.

Impacts of spatial resolution and representation of flow connectivity on large-scale simulation of floods

Science.gov (United States)

Mateo, Cherry May R.; Yamazaki, Dai; Kim, Hyungjun; Champathong, Adisorn; Vaze, Jai; Oki, Taikan

2017-10-01

Global-scale river models (GRMs) are core tools for providing consistent estimates of global flood hazard, especially in data-scarce regions. Due to former limitations in computational power and input datasets, most GRMs have been developed to use simplified representations of flow physics and run at coarse spatial resolutions. With increasing computational power and improved datasets, the application of GRMs to finer resolutions is becoming a reality. To support development in this direction, the suitability of GRMs for application to finer resolutions needs to be assessed. This study investigates the impacts of spatial resolution and flow connectivity representation on the predictive capability of a GRM, CaMa-Flood, in simulating the 2011 extreme flood in Thailand. Analyses show that when single downstream connectivity (SDC) is assumed, simulation results deteriorate with finer spatial resolution; Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficients decreased by more than 50 % between simulation results at 10 km resolution and 1 km resolution. When multiple downstream connectivity (MDC) is represented, simulation results slightly improve with finer spatial resolution. The SDC simulations result in excessive backflows on very flat floodplains due to the restrictive flow directions at finer resolutions. MDC channels attenuated these effects by maintaining flow connectivity and flow capacity between floodplains in varying spatial resolutions. While a regional-scale flood was chosen as a test case, these findings should be universal and may have significant impacts on large- to global-scale simulations, especially in regions where mega deltas exist.These results demonstrate that a GRM can be used for higher resolution simulations of large-scale floods, provided that MDC in rivers and floodplains is adequately represented in the model structure.

Analysis of flexible structures under lateral impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez, D. F.; Razavi, H.

2012-01-01

Three methods for analysis of flexible structures under lateral impact are presented. The first proposed method (Method A) consists of: (1) modifying an available deceleration on a rigid target with conservation principles to account for structural flexibility; and (2) transient nonlinear analysis of the structure with the corrected forcing function. The second proposed method (Method B) is similar to Method A in obtaining the forcing function but it solves the equations of motion of an idealized two-degree-of-freedom system instead of directly using conservation principles. The last method simply provides the maximum force in the structure using the conservation of energy and linear momentum. A coupled simulation is also performed in LS-DYNA and compared against the proposed methods. A case study is presented to illustrate the applicability of all three methods and the LS-DYNA simulation. (authors)

Significance of Operating Environment in Condition Monitoring of Large Civil Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sreenivas Alampalli

1999-01-01

Full Text Available Success of remote long-term condition monitoring of large civil structures and developing calibrated analytical models for damage detection, depend significantly on establishing accurate baseline signatures and their sensitivity. Most studies reported in the literature concentrated on the effect of structural damage on modal parameters without emphasis on reliability of modal parameters. Thus, a field bridge structure was studied for the significance of operating conditions in relation to baseline signatures. Results indicate that in practice, civil structures should be monitored for at least one full cycle of in-service environmental changes before establishing baselines for condition monitoring or calibrating finite-element models. Boundary conditions deserve special attention.

The spectra of type IIB flux compactifications at large complex structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brodie, Callum; Marsh, M.C. David

2016-01-01

We compute the spectra of the Hessian matrix, H, and the matrix M that governs the critical point equation of the low-energy effective supergravity, as a function of the complex structure and axio-dilaton moduli space in type IIB flux compactifications at large complex structure. We find both spectra analytically in an h − 1,2 +3 real-dimensional subspace of the moduli space, and show that they exhibit a universal structure with highly degenerate eigenvalues, independently of the choice of flux, the details of the compactification geometry, and the number of complex structure moduli. In this subspace, the spectrum of the Hessian matrix contains no tachyons, but there are also no critical points. We show numerically that the spectra of H and M remain highly peaked over a large fraction of the sampled moduli space of explicit Calabi-Yau compactifications with 2 to 5 complex structure moduli. In these models, the scale of the supersymmetric contribution to the scalar masses is strongly linearly correlated with the value of the superpotential over almost the entire moduli space, with particularly strong correlations arising for g s <1. We contrast these results with the expectations from the much-used continuous flux approximation, and comment on the applicability of Random Matrix Theory to the statistical modelling of the string theory landscape.

Differences in the impacts of formal and informal recreational trails on urban forest loss and tree structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Ballantyne, Mark; Pickering, Catherine Marina

2015-08-15

Recreational trails are one of the most common types of infrastructure used for nature-based activities such as hiking and mountain biking worldwide. Depending on their design, location, construction, maintenance and use, these trails differ in their environmental impacts. There are few studies, however, comparing the impacts of different trail types including between formal management-created trails and informal visitor-created trails. Although both types of trails can be found in remote natural areas, dense networks of them often occur in forests close to cities where they experience intense visitor use. To assess the relative impacts of different recreational trails in urban forests, we compared the condition of the trail surface, loss of forest strata and changes in tree structure caused by seven types of trails (total network 46.1 km) traversing 17 remnants of an endangered urban forest in Australia. After mapping and classifying all trails, we assessed their impact on the forest condition at 125 sites (15 sites per trail type, plus 15 control sites within undisturbed forest). On the trail sites, the condition of the trail surface, distance from the trail edge to four forest strata (litter, understory, midstorey and tree cover) and structure of the tree-line were assessed. Informal trails generally had poorer surface conditions and were poorly-designed and located. Per site, formal and informal trails resulted in similar loss of forest strata, with wider trails resulting in greater loss of forest. Because there were more informal trails, however, they accounted for the greatest cumulative forest loss. Structural impacts varied, with the widest informal trails and all formal hardened trails resulting in similar reductions in canopy cover and tree density but an increase in saplings. These structural impacts are likely a function of the unregulated and intense use of large informal trails, and disturbance from the construction and maintenance of formal trails

Use of Large-Scale Multi-Configuration EMI Measurements to Characterize Subsurface Structures of the Vadose Zone.

Science.gov (United States)

Huisman, J. A.; Brogi, C.; Pätzold, S.; Weihermueller, L.; von Hebel, C.; Van Der Kruk, J.; Vereecken, H.

2017-12-01

Subsurface structures of the vadose zone can play a key role in crop yield potential, especially during water stress periods. Geophysical techniques like electromagnetic induction EMI can provide information about dominant shallow subsurface features. However, previous studies with EMI have typically not reached beyond the field scale. We used high-resolution large-scale multi-configuration EMI measurements to characterize patterns of soil structural organization (layering and texture) and their impact on crop productivity at the km2 scale. We collected EMI data on an agricultural area of 1 km2 (102 ha) near Selhausen (NRW, Germany). The area consists of 51 agricultural fields cropped in rotation. Therefore, measurements were collected between April and December 2016, preferably within few days after the harvest. EMI data were automatically filtered, temperature corrected, and interpolated onto a common grid of 1 m resolution. Inspecting the ECa maps, we identified three main sub-areas with different subsurface heterogeneity. We also identified small-scale geomorphological structures as well as anthropogenic activities such as soil management and buried drainage networks. To identify areas with similar subsurface structures, we applied image classification techniques. We fused ECa maps obtained with different coil distances in a multiband image and applied supervised and unsupervised classification methodologies. Both showed good results in reconstructing observed patterns in plant productivity and the subsurface structures associated with them. However, the supervised methodology proved more efficient in classifying the whole study area. In a second step, we selected hundred locations within the study area and obtained a soil profile description with type, depth, and thickness of the soil horizons. Using this ground truth data it was possible to assign a typical soil profile to each of the main classes obtained from the classification. The proposed methodology was

Durability and damage tolerance of Large Composite Primary Aircraft Structure (LCPAS)

Science.gov (United States)

Mccarty, John E.; Roeseler, William G.

1984-01-01

Analysis and testing addressing the key technology areas of durability and damage tolerance were completed for wing surface panels. The wing of a fuel-efficient, 200-passenger commercial transport airplane for 1990 delivery was sized using graphite-epoxy materials. Coupons of various layups used in the wing sizing were tested in tension, compression, and spectrum fatigue with typical fastener penetrations. The compression strength after barely visible impact damage was determined from coupon and structural element tests. One current material system and one toughened system were evaluated by coupon testing. The results of the coupon and element tests were used to design three distinctly different compression panels meeting the strength, stiffness, and damage-tolerance requirements of the upper wing panels. These three concepts were tested with various amounts of damage ranging from barely visible impact to through-penetration. The results of this program provide the key technology data required to assess the durability and damage-tolerance capability or advanced composites for use in commercial aircraft wing panel structure.

Economic Impacts of the Generic Drug User Fee Act Fee Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Ke; Boehm, Garth; Zheng, Qiang

2017-06-01

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Generic Drug User system, Generic Drug User Fee Amendment of 2012 (GDUFA), started October 1, 2012, and has been in place for over 3 years. There is controversy about the GDUFA fee structure but no analysis of GDUFA data that we could find. To look at the economic impact of the GDUFA fee structure. We compared the structure of GDUFA with that of other FDA Human Drug User fees. We then, using FDA-published information, analyzed where GDUFA facility and Drug Master File fees are coming from. We used the Orange Book to identify the sponsors of all approved Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) and the S&P Capital IQ database to find the ultimate parent companies of sponsors of approved ANDAs. The key differences between the previous structure for Human Drug User fees and the GDUFA are as follows: GDUFA has no approved product fee and no first-time or small business fee exemptions and GDUFA charges facility fees from the time of filing and charges a foreign facility levy. Most GDUFA fees are paid by or on behalf of foreign entities. The top 10 companies hold nearly 50% of all approved ANDAs but pay about 14% of GDUFA facility fees. We conclude that the regressive nature of the GDUFA fee structure penalizes small, new, and foreign firms while benefiting the large established firms. A progressive fee structure in line with other human drug user fees is needed to ensure a healthy generic drug industry. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acoustic Emission of Large PRSEUS Structures (Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure)

Science.gov (United States)

Horne, Michael R.; Juarez, Peter D.

2016-01-01

In the role of structural health monitoring (SHM), Acoustic Emission (AE) analysis is being investigated as an effective method for tracking damage development in large composite structures under load. Structures made using Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure (PRSEUS) for damage tolerant, light, and economical airframe construction are being pursued by The Boeing Company and NASA under the Environmentally Responsible Aircraft initiative (ERA). The failure tests of two PRSEUS substructures based on the Boeing Hybrid Wing Body fuselage concept were conducted during third quarter 2011 and second quarter 2015. One fundamental concern of these tests was determining the effectiveness of the stitched integral stiffeners to inhibit damage progression. By design, severe degradation of load carrying capability should not occur prior to Design Ultimate Load (DUL). While minor damage prior to DUL was anticipated, the integral stitching should not fail since this would allow a stiffener-skin delamination to progress rapidly and alter the transfer of load into the stiffeners. In addition, the stiffeners should not fracture because they are fundamental to structural integrity. Getting the best information from each AE sensor is a primary consideration because a sparse network of sensors is implemented. Sensitivity to stiffener-contiguous degradation is supported by sensors near the stiffeners, which increases the coverage per sensor via AE waveguide actions. Some sensors are located near potentially critical areas or "critical zones" as identified by numerical analyses. The approach is compared with the damage progression monitored by other techniques (e.g. ultrasonic C-scan).

Speckle photography applied to measure deformations of very large structures

Science.gov (United States)

Conley, Edgar; Morgan, Chris K.

1995-04-01

Fundamental principles of mechanics have recently been brought to bear on problems concerning very large structures. Fields of study include tectonic plate motion, nuclear waste repository vault closure mechanisms, the flow of glacier and sea ice, and highway bridge damage assessment and residual life prediction. Quantitative observations, appropriate for formulating and verifying models, are still scarce however, so the need to adapt new methods of experimental mechanics is clear. Large dynamic systems often exist in environments subject to rapid change. Therefore, a simple field technique that incorporates short time scales and short gage lengths is required. Further, the measuring methods must yield displacements reliably, and under oft-times adverse field conditions. Fortunately, the advantages conferred by an experimental mechanics technique known as speckle photography nicely fulfill this rather stringent set of performance requirements. Speckle seemed to lend itself nicely to the application since it is robust and relatively inexpensive. Experiment requirements are minimal -- a camera, high resolution film, illumination, and an optically rough surface. Perhaps most important is speckle's distinct advantage over point-by-point methods: It maps the two dimensional displacement vectors of the whole field of interest. And finally, given the method's high spatial resolution, relatively short observation times are necessary. In this paper we discuss speckle, two variations of which were used to gage the deformation of a reinforced concrete bridge structure subjected to bending loads. The measurement technique proved to be easily applied, and yielded the location of the neutral axis self consistently. The research demonstrates the feasibility of using whole field techniques to detect and quantify surface strains of large structures under load.

Large-scale seismic test for soil-structure interaction research in Hualien, Taiwan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueshima, T.; Kokusho, T.; Okamoto, T.

1995-01-01

It is important to evaluate dynamic soil-structure interaction more accurately in the aseismic design of important facilities such as nuclear power plants. A large-scale model structure with about 1/4th of commercial nuclear power plants was constructed on the gravelly layers in seismically active Hualien, Taiwan. This international joint project is called 'the Hualien LSST Project', where 'LSST' is short for Large-Scale Seismic Test. In this paper, research tasks and responsibilities, the process of the construction work and research tasks along the time-line, main results obtained up to now, and so on in this Project are described. (J.P.N.)

A wireless sensor network design and evaluation for large structural strain field monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiu, Zixue; Wu, Jian; Yuan, Shenfang

2011-01-01

Structural strain changes under external environmental or mechanical loads are the main monitoring parameters in structural health monitoring or mechanical property tests. This paper presents a wireless sensor network designed for monitoring large structural strain field variation. First of all, a precision strain sensor node is designed for multi-channel strain gauge signal conditioning and wireless monitoring. In order to establish a synchronous strain data acquisition network, the cluster-star network synchronization method is designed in detail. To verify the functionality of the designed wireless network for strain field monitoring capability, a multi-point network evaluation system is developed for an experimental aluminum plate structure for load variation monitoring. Based on the precision wireless strain nodes, the wireless data acquisition network is deployed to synchronously gather, process and transmit strain gauge signals and monitor results under concentrated loads. This paper shows the efficiency of the wireless sensor network for large structural strain field monitoring

Intercomparison of hydrological model structures and calibration approaches in climate scenario impact projections

Science.gov (United States)

Vansteenkiste, Thomas; Tavakoli, Mohsen; Ntegeka, Victor; De Smedt, Florimond; Batelaan, Okke; Pereira, Fernando; Willems, Patrick

2014-11-01

The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of hydrological model structure and calibration on climate change impact results in hydrology. The uncertainty in the hydrological impact results is assessed by the relative change in runoff volumes and peak and low flow extremes from historical and future climate conditions. The effect of the hydrological model structure is examined through the use of five hydrological models with different spatial resolutions and process descriptions. These were applied to a medium sized catchment in Belgium. The models vary from the lumped conceptual NAM, PDM and VHM models over the intermediate detailed and distributed WetSpa model to the fully distributed MIKE SHE model. The latter model accounts for the 3D groundwater processes and interacts bi-directionally with a full hydrodynamic MIKE 11 river model. After careful and manual calibration of these models, accounting for the accuracy of the peak and low flow extremes and runoff subflows, and the changes in these extremes for changing rainfall conditions, the five models respond in a similar way to the climate scenarios over Belgium. Future projections on peak flows are highly uncertain with expected increases as well as decreases depending on the climate scenario. The projections on future low flows are more uniform; low flows decrease (up to 60%) for all models and for all climate scenarios. However, the uncertainties in the impact projections are high, mainly in the dry season. With respect to the model structural uncertainty, the PDM model simulates significantly higher runoff peak flows under future wet scenarios, which is explained by its specific model structure. For the low flow extremes, the MIKE SHE model projects significantly lower low flows in dry scenario conditions in comparison to the other models, probably due to its large difference in process descriptions for the groundwater component, the groundwater-river interactions. The effect of the model

Grid sensitivity capability for large scale structures

Science.gov (United States)

Nagendra, Gopal K.; Wallerstein, David V.

1989-01-01

The considerations and the resultant approach used to implement design sensitivity capability for grids into a large scale, general purpose finite element system (MSC/NASTRAN) are presented. The design variables are grid perturbations with a rather general linking capability. Moreover, shape and sizing variables may be linked together. The design is general enough to facilitate geometric modeling techniques for generating design variable linking schemes in an easy and straightforward manner. Test cases have been run and validated by comparison with the overall finite difference method. The linking of a design sensitivity capability for shape variables in MSC/NASTRAN with an optimizer would give designers a powerful, automated tool to carry out practical optimization design of real life, complicated structures.

Mechanical properties and impact behavior of a microcellular structural foam

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Avalle

Full Text Available Structural foams are a relatively new class of materials with peculiar characteristics that make them very attractive in some energy absorption applications. They are currently used for packaging to protect goods from damage during transportation in the case of accidental impacts. Structural foams, in fact, have sufficient mechanical strength even with reduced weight: the balance between the two antagonist requirements demonstrates that these materials are profitable. Structural foams are generally made of microcellular materials, obtained by polymers where voids at the microscopic level are created. Although the processing technologies and some of the material properties, including mechanical, are well known, very little is established for what concerns dynamic impact properties, for the design of energy absorbing components made of microcellular foams. The paper reports a number of experimental results, in different loading conditions and loading speed, which will be a basis for the structural modeling.

Exotic minerals in 3500 million year old rocks: evidence for large meteorite impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byerly, G.R.; Lowe, D.R.; Asaro, F.

1988-01-01

A relatively small area of mountainous terrain in southern Africa provides scientists from all over the world a look at what the surface of the earth was like three and a half billion years ago. The Barberton Mountains lie astride the borders of the Republic of South Africa, Mozambique, and the Kingdom of Swaziland. The discovery of several widely distributed deposits that were likely formed by major terrestrial impacts of large extraterrestrial bodies during this early period of earth's history is reported. The Barberton impact deposits are being studied by electron microscopy. The impact deposits were examined for minerals that show the effects of shock metamorphism or compositions unusual in terrestrial rocks

Developing eThread Pipeline Using SAGA-Pilot Abstraction for Large-Scale Structural Bioinformatics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anjani Ragothaman

2014-01-01

Full Text Available While most of computational annotation approaches are sequence-based, threading methods are becoming increasingly attractive because of predicted structural information that could uncover the underlying function. However, threading tools are generally compute-intensive and the number of protein sequences from even small genomes such as prokaryotes is large typically containing many thousands, prohibiting their application as a genome-wide structural systems biology tool. To leverage its utility, we have developed a pipeline for eThread—a meta-threading protein structure modeling tool, that can use computational resources efficiently and effectively. We employ a pilot-based approach that supports seamless data and task-level parallelism and manages large variation in workload and computational requirements. Our scalable pipeline is deployed on Amazon EC2 and can efficiently select resources based upon task requirements. We present runtime analysis to characterize computational complexity of eThread and EC2 infrastructure. Based on results, we suggest a pathway to an optimized solution with respect to metrics such as time-to-solution or cost-to-solution. Our eThread pipeline can scale to support a large number of sequences and is expected to be a viable solution for genome-scale structural bioinformatics and structure-based annotation, particularly, amenable for small genomes such as prokaryotes. The developed pipeline is easily extensible to other types of distributed cyberinfrastructure.

Vibration Control of Structures using Vibro-Impact Nonlinear Energy Sinks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Ahmadi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Using Vibro-Impact Nonlinear Energy Sinks (VI NESs is one of the novel strategies to control structural vibrations and mitigate their seismic response. In this system, a mass is tuned on the structure floor, so that it has a specific distance from an inelastic constraint connected to the floor mass. In case of structure stimulation, the displaced VI NES mass collides with the  inelastic constraint and upon impacts, energy is dissipated. In the present work, VI NES is studied when its parameters, including clearance and stiffness ratio, are simultaneously optimized. Harmony search as a recent meta-heuristic algorithm is efficiently specialized and utilized for the aforementioned continuous optimization problem. The optimized attached VI NES is thus shown to be capable of interacting with the primary structure over a wide range of frequencies. The resulting controlled response is then investigated, in a variety of low and medium rise steel moment frames, via nonlinear dynamic time history analyses. Capability of the VI NES to dissipate siesmic input energy of earthquakes and their capabilitiy in reducing response of srtructures effectively, through vibro-impacts between the energy sink’s mass and the floor mass, is discussed by extracting several performance indices and the corresponding Fourier spectra. Results of the numerical simulations done on some structural model examples reveal that the optimized VI NES has caused successive redistribution of energy from low-frequency high-amplitude vibration modes to high-frequency low-amplitude modes, bringing about the desired attenuation of the structural responses.

Structural habitat predicts functional dispersal habitat of a large carnivore: how leopards change spots.

Science.gov (United States)

Fattebert, Julien; Robinson, Hugh S; Balme, Guy; Slotow, Rob; Hunter, Luke

2015-10-01

Natal dispersal promotes inter-population linkage, and is key to spatial distribution of populations. Degradation of suitable landscape structures beyond the specific threshold of an individual's ability to disperse can therefore lead to disruption of functional landscape connectivity and impact metapopulation function. Because it ignores behavioral responses of individuals, structural connectivity is easier to assess than functional connectivity and is often used as a surrogate for landscape connectivity modeling. However using structural resource selection models as surrogate for modeling functional connectivity through dispersal could be erroneous. We tested how well a second-order resource selection function (RSF) models (structural connectivity), based on GPS telemetry data from resident adult leopard (Panthera pardus L.), could predict subadult habitat use during dispersal (functional connectivity). We created eight non-exclusive subsets of the subadult data based on differing definitions of dispersal to assess the predictive ability of our adult-based RSF model extrapolated over a broader landscape. Dispersing leopards used habitats in accordance with adult selection patterns, regardless of the definition of dispersal considered. We demonstrate that, for a wide-ranging apex carnivore, functional connectivity through natal dispersal corresponds to structural connectivity as modeled by a second-order RSF. Mapping of the adult-based habitat classes provides direct visualization of the potential linkages between populations, without the need to model paths between a priori starting and destination points. The use of such landscape scale RSFs may provide insight into predicting suitable dispersal habitat peninsulas in human-dominated landscapes where mitigation of human-wildlife conflict should be focused. We recommend the use of second-order RSFs for landscape conservation planning and propose a similar approach to the conservation of other wide-ranging large

Divergence of perturbation theory in large scale structures

Science.gov (United States)

Pajer, Enrico; van der Woude, Drian

2018-05-01

We make progress towards an analytical understanding of the regime of validity of perturbation theory for large scale structures and the nature of some non-perturbative corrections. We restrict ourselves to 1D gravitational collapse, for which exact solutions before shell crossing are known. We review the convergence of perturbation theory for the power spectrum, recently proven by McQuinn and White [1], and extend it to non-Gaussian initial conditions and the bispectrum. In contrast, we prove that perturbation theory diverges for the real space two-point correlation function and for the probability density function (PDF) of the density averaged in cells and all the cumulants derived from it. We attribute these divergences to the statistical averaging intrinsic to cosmological observables, which, even on very large and "perturbative" scales, gives non-vanishing weight to all extreme fluctuations. Finally, we discuss some general properties of non-perturbative effects in real space and Fourier space.

Quantum probability, choice in large worlds, and the statistical structure of reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Don; Ladyman, James

2013-06-01

Classical probability models of incentive response are inadequate in "large worlds," where the dimensions of relative risk and the dimensions of similarity in outcome comparisons typically differ. Quantum probability models for choice in large worlds may be motivated pragmatically - there is no third theory - or metaphysically: statistical processing in the brain adapts to the true scale-relative structure of the universe.

A lost generation of impact structures: Imaging the Arctic and Antarctic in magnetics and gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Purucker, M. E.

2017-12-01

The process of convection that drives plate tectonics has fragmented the early record on the continents, and subducted it in the oceans. Erosion blurs the upper surfaces of impact structures exposed to the atmosphere beyond recognition after a few million years. The largest confirmed impact structures on the Earth are Vredefort, Chicxulub, and Sudbury, with crater diameters averaging 150 km, and maximum ages of about 2 Ga. Contrast this with the situation at Mars or the Moon, where the largest confirmed impact structures have diameters of 2000 km, and ages of 4 Ga. The giant impact basins that form the most ancient, and most prominent, visible structures on the other terrestrial planets and moons have vanished on the Earth. Only with the use of techniques like magnetics and gravity is it possible to see deeper within the crust. We identify possible impact structure(s) in the Arctic and Antarctic in this way, and discuss techniques that can be used to confirm or refute these identifications.

Argentine Population Genetic Structure: Large Variance in Amerindian Contribution

Science.gov (United States)

Seldin, Michael F.; Tian, Chao; Shigeta, Russell; Scherbarth, Hugo R.; Silva, Gabriel; Belmont, John W.; Kittles, Rick; Gamron, Susana; Allevi, Alberto; Palatnik, Simon A.; Alvarellos, Alejandro; Paira, Sergio; Caprarulo, Cesar; Guillerón, Carolina; Catoggio, Luis J.; Prigione, Cristina; Berbotto, Guillermo A.; García, Mercedes A.; Perandones, Carlos E.; Pons-Estel, Bernardo A.; Alarcon-Riquelme, Marta E.

2011-01-01

Argentine population genetic structure was examined using a set of 78 ancestry informative markers (AIMs) to assess the contributions of European, Amerindian, and African ancestry in 94 individuals members of this population. Using the Bayesian clustering algorithm STRUCTURE, the mean European contribution was 78%, the Amerindian contribution was 19.4%, and the African contribution was 2.5%. Similar results were found using weighted least mean square method: European, 80.2%; Amerindian, 18.1%; and African, 1.7%. Consistent with previous studies the current results showed very few individuals (four of 94) with greater than 10% African admixture. Notably, when individual admixture was examined, the Amerindian and European admixture showed a very large variance and individual Amerindian contribution ranged from 1.5 to 84.5% in the 94 individual Argentine subjects. These results indicate that admixture must be considered when clinical epidemiology or case control genetic analyses are studied in this population. Moreover, the current study provides a set of informative SNPs that can be used to ascertain or control for this potentially hidden stratification. In addition, the large variance in admixture proportions in individual Argentine subjects shown by this study suggests that this population is appropriate for future admixture mapping studies. PMID:17177183

Concrete structures under impact loading: general aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cornelia Baeră

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Dynamic loading conditions distress the structural integrity of a structure differently than the static ones. Such actions transfer high rate strains and instant energy waves to the structure, inducing the possibility of imminent collapse and casualties as a direct consequence. In the latest years, considering the dramatic increase of terrorist threats and global warming, the structural safety criteria imply more than ever the need to withstand this kind of loading (e.g., missiles and blast, projectiles, strong winds, tornados and earthquakes in addition to the static ones. The aim of this paper is to provide a general overview with regard to impact loading in terms of defining the phenomenon from physical and mechanical perspective, its complex local or global effect on the targeted structure, relevant material characteristics, main research approaches, namely theoretical studies and experimental procedures developed for improving the predictability of the dynamic loads and their effects. New directions in developing superior cementitious composites, with better characteristics in terms of dynamic loading performance are also emphasized.

Local damage to Ultra High Performance Concrete structures caused by an impact of aircraft engine missiles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riedel, Werner; Noeldgen, Markus; Strassburger, Elmar; Thoma, Klaus; Fehling, Ekkehard

2010-01-01

Research highlights: → Experimental series on UHPC panels subjected to aircraft engine impact. → Improved ballistic limit of fiber reinforced UHPC in comparison to conventional R/C. → Detailed investigation of failure mechanisms of fiber reinforced UHPC panel. - Abstract: The impact of an aircraft engine missile causes high stresses, deformations and a severe local damage to conventional reinforced concrete. As a consequence the design of R/C protective structural elements results in components with rather large dimensions. Fiber reinforced Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) is a concrete based material which combines ultra high strength, high packing density and an improved ductility with a significantly increased energy dissipation capacity due to the addition of fiber reinforcement. With those attributes the material is potentially suitable for improved protective structural elements with a reduced need for material resources. The presented paper reports on an experimental series of scaled aircraft engine impact tests with reinforced UHPC panels. The investigations are focused on the material behavior and the damage intensity in comparison to conventional concrete. The fundamental work of is taken as reference for the evaluation of the results. The impactor model of a Phantom F4 GE-J79 engine developed and validated by Sugano et al. is used as defined in the original work. In order to achieve best comparability, the experimental configuration and method are adapted for the UHPC experiments. With 'penetration', 'scabbing' and 'perforation' all relevant damage modes defined in are investigated so that a full set of results are provided for a representative UHPC structural configuration.

The impacts of triclosan on anaerobic community structures, function, and antimicrobial resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

McNamara, Patrick J; LaPara, Timothy M; Novak, Paige J

2014-07-01

Triclosan is a widespread antimicrobial agent that accumulates in anaerobic digesters used to treat the residual solids generated at municipal wastewater treatment plants; there is very little information, however, about how triclosan impacts microbial communities in anaerobic digesters. We investigated how triclosan impacts the community structure, function and antimicrobial resistance genes in lab-scale anaerobic digesters. Previously exposed (to triclosan) communities were amended with 5, 50, and 500 mg/kg of triclosan, corresponding to the median, 95th percentile, and 4-fold higher than maximum triclosan concentration that has been detected in U.S. biosolids. Triclosan amendment caused all of the Bacteria and Archaea communities to structurally diverge from that of the control cultures (based on ARISA). At the end of the experiment, all triclosan-amended Archaea communities had diverged from the control communities, regardless of the triclosan concentration added. In contrast, over time the Bacteria communities that were amended with lower concentrations of triclosan (5 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg) initially diverged and then reconverged with the control community structure. Methane production at 500 mg/kg was nearly half the methane production in control cultures. At 50 mg/kg, a large variability in methane production was observed, suggesting that 50 mg/kg may be a tipping point where function begins to fail in some communities. When previously unexposed communities were exposed to 500 mg triclosan/kg, function was maintained, but the abundance of a gene encoding for triclosan resistance (mexB) increased. This research suggests that triclosan could inhibit methane production in anaerobic digesters if concentrations were to increase and may also select for resistant Bacteria. In both cases, microbial community composition and exposure history alter the influence of triclosan.

Structural-electromagnetic bidirectional coupling analysis of space large film reflector antennas

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xinghua; Zhang, Shuxin; Cheng, ZhengAi; Duan, Baoyan; Yang, Chen; Li, Meng; Hou, Xinbin; Li, Xun

2017-10-01

As used for energy transmission, a space large film reflector antenna (SLFRA) is characterized by large size and enduring high power density. The structural flexibility and the microwave radiation pressure (MRP) will lead to the phenomenon of structural-electromagnetic bidirectional coupling (SEBC). In this paper, the SEBC model of SLFRA is presented, then the deformation induced by the MRP and the corresponding far field pattern deterioration are simulated. Results show that, the direction of the MRP is identical to the normal of the reflector surface, and the magnitude is proportional to the power density and the square of cosine incident angle. For a typical cosine function distributed electric field, the MRP is a square of cosine distributed across the diameter. The maximum deflections of SLFRA linearly increase with the increasing microwave power densities and the square of the reflector diameters, and vary inversely with the film thicknesses. When the reflector diameter becomes 100 m large and the microwave power density exceeds 102 W/cm2, the gain loss of the 6.3 μm-thick reflector goes beyond 0.75 dB. When the MRP-induced deflection degrades the reflector performance, the SEBC should be taken into account.

Reinforced concrete structures under impact and impulsive loading: recent development, problems and trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plauk, G.; Herter, J.

1984-01-01

Nuclear plant facilities and other reinforced concrete structures have to be regarded as to their safety in design and construction with respect to impact and impulsive loading in order to avoid serious damage to mankind and environment. The paper gives a survey on theoretical and experimental developments currently in progress, in particular regarding airplane crash. Some new results arising out of several research programs relevant to particular problems of impact loading have been reviewed and are presented. Experimental investigation for determination of material properties of plain concrete, reinforcing steel as well as steel-concrete bond under high strain-rates are treated in this paper including theoretical approaches for the respective material laws. An outline of soft missile impact tests performed on structural members, e.g. beams and plates, to determine the load deformation or fracture behaviour is given. Furthermore, numerical models and calculations to analyse structural components and structures under impact loading were discussed. (Author) [pt

Vulnerability Assessment for a Complex Structure Using Vibration Response Induced by Impact Load

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jeongwon; Park, Junhong; Koo, Man Hoi

2014-01-01

This work presents a vulnerability assessment procedure for a complex structure using vibration characteristics. The structural behavior of a three-dimensional framed structure subjected to impact forces was predicted using the spectral element method. The Timoshenko beam function was applied to simulate the impact wave propagations induced by a high-velocity projectile at relatively high frequencies. The interactions at the joints were analyzed for both flexural and longitudinal wave propagations. Simulations of the impact energy transfer through the entire structure were performed using the transient displacement and acceleration responses obtained from the frequency analysis. The kill probabilities of the crucial components for an operating system were calculated as a function of the predicted acceleration amplitudes according to the acceptable vibration levels. Following the proposed vulnerability assessment procedure, the vulnerable positions of a three-dimensional combat vehicle with high possibilities of damage generation of components by impact loading were identified from the estimated vibration responses

Structural analysis of aircraft impact on a nuclear powered ship

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dietrich, R.

1976-01-01

The paper investigates the aircraft impact on the collision barrier at the side of the ship. The aircraft impact on top of the reactor hatchway is investigated by another analysis. It appears that the most unfavorable angle of impact is always normal to the surface of the collision barrier. Consequently, only normal impact will be considered here. For the specific case of an aircraft striking a nuclear powered ship, the following two effects are considered: Local penetration and dynamic response of the structuure. The local penetration occurs at points where the engines or other rigid objects hit the structure. It is assumed that the aircraft engine is a rigid body projectile and the side wall of the ship is the target. The applied steel penetration formulae for projectiles were empirically derived for military applications, where both the projectile and the target are unlike those of an impact of an aircraft engine. For this reason it is expedient to calculate the upper and the lower limit values of the penetration depths. The results show that the highest penetration depth is less than the sum of all wall thicknesses of the collision barrier. The solution of the dynamic analysis is obtained by using the finite element method. The results are the eigenmodes, the eigenfrequencies, the displacements of the nodes, and the stresses in the applied plane stress elements. It is shown that the maximum stress which only appears in one element is on the same level as the yield stress of the St. 42 steel. The structural analysis shows that the collision barrier is a sufficient safeguard against the perforation of the engine and against the cracking of the structure as a result of the dynamic response to an aircraft impact. (orig./HP) [de

Spin-flavor structure of large Nc baryons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dashen, R.F.; Jenkins, E.; Manohar, A.V.

1995-01-01

The spin-flavor structure of large N c baryons is described in the 1/N c expansion of QCD using quark operators. The complete set of quark operator identities is obtained, and used to derive an operator reduction rule which simplifies the 1/N c expansion. The operator reduction rule is applied to the axial vector currents, masses, magnetic moments, and hyperon nonleptonic decay amplitudes in the SU(3) limit, to first order in SU(3) breaking, and without assuming SU(3) symmetry. The connection between the Skyrme and quark operator representations is discussed. An explicit formula is given for the quark model operators in terms of the Skyrme model operators to all orders in 1/N c for the two flavor case

Impact of the Financial Structure on the Efficiency of Entrepreneurs in Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatjana Stevanovic

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The development of entrepreneurship has been very important for the economic growth of most countries in the world, in the recent years. However, starting up new business and its development to a successful stable organization is faced with a number of problems and limitations. Financing is a very serious problem for the countries in transitions. Surveys, conducted in Serbia by the National Agency for Regional Development, have shown that Serbian entrepreneurs have been faced with a number of financial problems which have directly affected their efficiency. This paper investigated whether the problems in financial management (especially problems that depend on the changes to financial structure had a major impact on the efficiency of entrepreneurs in Serbia. The aim of this paper was to identify the key financial problems that entrepreneurs in Serbia were facing with in the previous period and propose actions whose implementation may lead to their reduction or elimination in the future. Using a sample of more than 13000 entrepreneurs in Serbia (based on the data from the Serbian Business Registers Agency in the period from 2004 to 2014, we found that extremely large impact on the efficiency of entrepreneurs in Serbia had big financial expenses and a high level of financial risk. Applying the correlation analysis we showed that the growth of long-term debt and related financial expenses caused the reduction of efficiency of entrepreneurs in Serbia. Regression analysis showed that the increase in indebtedness significantly contributed to the increase in inefficiency and bankruptcy of large number of entrepreneurs in Serbia.

Determinants of capital structure and financial crisis impact: evidence

OpenAIRE

Proença, Pedro Miguel Correia

2012-01-01

Mestrado em contabilidade The objectives of this empirical work are to investigate the determinants of Portuguese SMEs capital structure, evaluate whether and how the impacts of those determinants affect the debt ratios and examine the effects of financial crisis and industry on Portuguese SMEs capital structure. The sample used considers the period 2007-2010, resulting in 12.857 Portugues e SMEs per year observations. R...

Isolating relativistic effects in large-scale structure

Science.gov (United States)

Bonvin, Camille

2014-12-01

We present a fully relativistic calculation of the observed galaxy number counts in the linear regime. We show that besides the density fluctuations and redshift-space distortions, various relativistic effects contribute to observations at large scales. These effects all have the same physical origin: they result from the fact that our coordinate system, namely the galaxy redshift and the incoming photons’ direction, is distorted by inhomogeneities in our Universe. We then discuss the impact of the relativistic effects on the angular power spectrum and on the two-point correlation function in configuration space. We show that the latter is very well adapted to isolate the relativistic effects since it naturally makes use of the symmetries of the different contributions. In particular, we discuss how the Doppler effect and the gravitational redshift distortions can be isolated by looking for a dipole in the cross-correlation function between a bright and a faint population of galaxies.

Impact of structured education on glucose control and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: To assess the impact of structured education on glucose control and hypoglycaemia in the management of Type-2 diabetes. Methods: A systematic review was done using Medline via Ovid and EMBASE databases of published English literature between 1980 and 2014. Included studies were randomized control ...

Hydraulic modeling of flow impact on bridge structures: a case study on Citarum bridge

Science.gov (United States)

Siregar, R. I.

2018-02-01

Flood waves because of the rapid catchment response to high intense rainfall, breaches of flood defenses may induce huge impact forces on structures, causing structural damage or even failures. Overflowing stream that passes over the bridge, it means to discharge flood water level is smaller than the capacity of the river flow. In this study, the researches present the methodological approach of flood modeling on bridge structures. The amount of force that obtained because of the hydrostatic pressure received by the bridge at the time of the flood caused the bridge structure disrupted. This paper presents simulation of flow impact on bridge structures with some event flood conditions. Estimating the hydrostatic pressure developed new model components, to quantify the flow impact on structures. Flow parameters applied the model for analyzing, such as discharge, velocity, and water level or head that effect of bridge structures. The simulation will illustrate the capability of bridge structures with some event flood river and observe the behavior of the flow that occurred during the flood. Hydraulic flood modeling use HEC-RAS for simulation. This modeling will describe the impact on bridge structures. Based on the above modelling resulted, in 2008 has flood effect more than other years on the Citarum Bridge, because its flow overflow on the bridge.

A large-scale soil-structure interaction experiment: Design and construction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, H.T.; Tang, Y.K.; Stepp, J.C.; Wall, I.B.; Lin, E.; Cheng, S.C.; Lee, S.K.

1989-01-01

This paper describes the design and construction phase of the Large-Scale Soil-Structure Interaction Experiment project jointly sponsored by EPRI and Taipower. The project has two objectives: 1. to obtain an earthquake database which can be used to substantiate soil-structure interaction (SSI) models and analysis methods; and 2. to quantify nuclear power plant reactor containment and internal components seismic margin based on earthquake experience data. These objectives were accomplished by recording and analyzing data from two instrumented, scaled down, reinforced concrete containment structures during seismic events. The two model structures are sited in a high seismic region in Taiwan (SMART-1). A strong-motion seismic array network is located at the site. The containment models (1/4- and 1/12-scale) were constructed and instrumented specially for this experiment. Construction was completed and data recording began in September 1985. By November 1986, 18 strong motion earthquakes ranging from Richter magnitude 4.5 to 7.0 were recorded. (orig./HP)

OPTICON: Pro-Matlab software for large order controlled structure design

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Lee D.

1989-01-01

A software package for large order controlled structure design is described and demonstrated. The primary program, called OPTICAN, uses both Pro-Matlab M-file routines and selected compiled FORTRAN routines linked into the Pro-Matlab structure. The program accepts structural model information in the form of state-space matrices and performs three basic design functions on the model: (1) open loop analyses; (2) closed loop reduced order controller synthesis; and (3) closed loop stability and performance assessment. The current controller synthesis methods which were implemented in this software are based on the Generalized Linear Quadratic Gaussian theory of Bernstein. In particular, a reduced order Optimal Projection synthesis algorithm based on a homotopy solution method was successfully applied to an experimental truss structure using a 58-state dynamic model. These results are presented and discussed. Current plans to expand the practical size of the design model to several hundred states and the intention to interface Pro-Matlab to a supercomputing environment are discussed.

Development of the simulation package 'ELSES' for extra-large-scale electronic structure calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoshi, T; Fujiwara, T

2009-01-01

An early-stage version of the simulation package 'ELSES' (extra-large-scale electronic structure calculation) is developed for simulating the electronic structure and dynamics of large systems, particularly nanometer-scale and ten-nanometer-scale systems (see www.elses.jp). Input and output files are written in the extensible markup language (XML) style for general users. Related pre-/post-simulation tools are also available. A practical workflow and an example are described. A test calculation for the GaAs bulk system is shown, to demonstrate that the present code can handle systems with more than one atom species. Several future aspects are also discussed.

Robust stability analysis of large power systems using the structured singular value theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castellanos, R.; Sarmiento, H. [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca, Morelos (Mexico); Messina, A.R. [Cinvestav, Graduate Program in Electrical Engineering, Guadalajara, Jalisco (Mexico)

2005-07-01

This paper examines the application of structured singular value (SSV) theory to analyse robust stability of complex power systems with respect to a set of structured uncertainties. Based on SSV theory and the frequency sweep method, techniques for robust analysis of large-scale power systems are developed. The main interest is focused on determining robust stability for varying operating conditions and uncertainties in the structure of the power system. The applicability of the proposed techniques is verified through simulation studies on a large-scale power system. In particular, results for the system are considered for a wide range of uncertainties of operating conditions. Specifically, the developed technique is used to estimate the effect of variations in the parameters of a major system inter-tie on the nominal stability of a critical inter-area mode. (Author)

The impact of 850,000 years of climate changes on the structure and dynamics of mammal food webs.

Science.gov (United States)

Nenzén, Hedvig K; Montoya, Daniel; Varela, Sara

2014-01-01

Most evidence of climate change impacts on food webs comes from modern studies and little is known about how ancient food webs have responded to climate changes in the past. Here, we integrate fossil evidence from 71 fossil sites, body-size relationships and actualism to reconstruct food webs for six large mammal communities that inhabited the Iberian Peninsula at different times during the Quaternary. We quantify the long-term dynamics of these food webs and study how their structure changed across the Quaternary, a period for which fossil data and climate changes are well known. Extinction, immigration and turnover rates were correlated with climate changes in the last 850 kyr. Yet, we find differences in the dynamics and structural properties of Pleistocene versus Holocene mammal communities that are not associated with glacial-interglacial cycles. Although all Quaternary mammal food webs were highly nested and robust to secondary extinctions, general food web properties changed in the Holocene. These results highlight the ability of communities to re-organize with the arrival of phylogenetically similar species without major structural changes, and the impact of climate change and super-generalist species (humans) on Iberian Holocene mammal communities.

The impact of 850,000 years of climate changes on the structure and dynamics of mammal food webs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hedvig K Nenzén

Full Text Available Most evidence of climate change impacts on food webs comes from modern studies and little is known about how ancient food webs have responded to climate changes in the past. Here, we integrate fossil evidence from 71 fossil sites, body-size relationships and actualism to reconstruct food webs for six large mammal communities that inhabited the Iberian Peninsula at different times during the Quaternary. We quantify the long-term dynamics of these food webs and study how their structure changed across the Quaternary, a period for which fossil data and climate changes are well known. Extinction, immigration and turnover rates were correlated with climate changes in the last 850 kyr. Yet, we find differences in the dynamics and structural properties of Pleistocene versus Holocene mammal communities that are not associated with glacial-interglacial cycles. Although all Quaternary mammal food webs were highly nested and robust to secondary extinctions, general food web properties changed in the Holocene. These results highlight the ability of communities to re-organize with the arrival of phylogenetically similar species without major structural changes, and the impact of climate change and super-generalist species (humans on Iberian Holocene mammal communities.

Impact of the structural changes on the nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ziakova, M.

2005-01-01

In this presentation author deals with impact of the structural changes (privatization of the Slovenske Elektrarne, a.s.) and new Atomic law (541/2004 Coll. Laws) on the nuclear safety in the Slovak Republic.

Hypervelocity Impact Performance of Open Cell Foam Core Sandwich Panel Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, S.; Ordonez, E.; Christiansen, E. L.; Lear, D. M.

2010-01-01

Open cell metallic foam core sandwich panel structures are of interest for application in spacecraft micrometeoroid and orbital debris shields due to their novel form and advantageous structural and thermal performance. Repeated shocking as a result of secondary impacts upon individual foam ligaments during the penetration process acts to raise the thermal state of impacting projectiles ; resulting in fragmentation, melting, and vaporization at lower velocities than with traditional shielding configurations (e.g. Whipple shield). In order to characterize the protective capability of these structures, an extensive experimental campaign was performed by the Johnson Space Center Hypervelocity Impact Technology Facility, the results of which are reported in this paper. Although not capable of competing against the protection levels achievable with leading heavy shields in use on modern high-risk vehicles (i.e. International Space Station modules), metallic foam core sandwich panels are shown to provide a substantial improvement over comparable structural panels and traditional low weight shielding alternatives such as honeycomb sandwich panels and metallic Whipple shields. A ballistic limit equation, generalized in terms of panel geometry, is derived and presented in a form suitable for application in risk assessment codes.

Effects of a large wildfire on vegetation structure in a variable fire mosaic.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, C N; Barton, P S; Robinson, N M; MacGregor, C I; Lindenmayer, D B

2017-12-01

Management guidelines for many fire-prone ecosystems highlight the importance of maintaining a variable mosaic of fire histories for biodiversity conservation. Managers are encouraged to aim for fire mosaics that are temporally and spatially dynamic, include all successional states of vegetation, and also include variation in the underlying "invisible mosaic" of past fire frequencies, severities, and fire return intervals. However, establishing and maintaining variable mosaics in contemporary landscapes is subject to many challenges, one of which is deciding how the fire mosaic should be managed following the occurrence of large, unplanned wildfires. A key consideration for this decision is the extent to which the effects of previous fire history on vegetation and habitats persist after major wildfires, but this topic has rarely been investigated empirically. In this study, we tested to what extent a large wildfire interacted with previous fire history to affect the structure of forest, woodland, and heath vegetation in Booderee National Park in southeastern Australia. In 2003, a summer wildfire burned 49.5% of the park, increasing the extent of recently burned vegetation (post-fire) to more than 72% of the park area. We tracked the recovery of vegetation structure for nine years following the wildfire and found that the strength and persistence of fire effects differed substantially between vegetation types. Vegetation structure was modified by wildfire in forest, woodland, and heath vegetation, but among-site variability in vegetation structure was reduced only by severe fire in woodland vegetation. There also were persistent legacy effects of the previous fire regime on some attributes of vegetation structure including forest ground and understorey cover, and woodland midstorey and overstorey cover. For example, woodland midstorey cover was greater on sites with higher fire frequency, irrespective of the severity of the 2003 wildfire. Our results show that even

Two-phase flow structure in large diameter pipes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, T.R.; Schlegel, J.P.; Hibiki, T.; Ishii, M.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Local profiles of various quantities measured in large diameter pipe. ► Database for interfacial area in large pipes extended to churn-turbulent flow. ► Flow regime map confirms previous models for flow regime transitions. ► Data will be useful in developing interfacial area transport models for large pipes. - Abstract: Flow in large pipes is important in a wide variety of applications. In the nuclear industry in particular, understanding of flow in large diameter pipes is essential in predicting the behavior of reactor systems. This is especially true of natural circulation Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) designs, where a large-diameter chimney above the core provides the gravity head to drive circulation of the coolant through the reactor. The behavior of such reactors during transients and during normal operation will be predicted using advanced thermal–hydraulics analysis codes utilizing the two-fluid model. Essential to accurate two-fluid model calculations is reliable and accurate computation of the interfacial transfer terms. These interfacial transfer terms can be expressed as the product of one term describing the potential driving the transfer and a second term describing the available surface area for transfer, or interfacial area concentration. Currently, the interfacial area is predicted using flow regime dependent empirical correlations; however the interfacial area concentration is best computed through the use of the one-dimensional interfacial area transport equation (IATE). To facilitate the development of IATE source and sink term models in large-diameter pipes a fundamental understanding of the structure of the two-phase flow is essential. This understanding is improved through measurement of the local void fraction, interfacial area concentration and gas velocity profiles in pipes with diameters of 0.102 m and 0.152 m under a wide variety of flow conditions. Additionally, flow regime identification has been performed to

Impact factors for Reggeon-gluon transition in N=4 SYM with large number of colours

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fadin, V.S., E-mail: fadin@inp.nsk.su [Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of SD RAS, 630090 Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Novosibirsk State University, 630090 Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Fiore, R., E-mail: roberto.fiore@cs.infn.it [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università della Calabria, and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Gruppo collegato di Cosenza, Arcavacata di Rende, I-87036 Cosenza (Italy)

2014-06-27

We calculate impact factors for Reggeon-gluon transition in supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory with four supercharges at large number of colours N{sub c}. In the next-to-leading order impact factors are not uniquely defined and must accord with BFKL kernels and energy scales. We obtain the impact factor corresponding to the kernel and the energy evolution parameter, which is invariant under Möbius transformation in momentum space, and show that it is also Möbius invariant up to terms taken into account in the BDS ansatz.

Economic Impact of Large-Scale Deployment of Offshore Marine and Hydrokinetic Technology in Oregon Coastal Counties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jimenez, T. [Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Washington, DC (United States); Tegen, S. [Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Washington, DC (United States); Beiter, P. [Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Washington, DC (United States)

2015-03-01

To begin understanding the potential economic impacts of large-scale WEC technology, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) commissioned the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to conduct an economic impact analysis of largescale WEC deployment for Oregon coastal counties. This report follows a previously published report by BOEM and NREL on the jobs and economic impacts of WEC technology for the entire state (Jimenez and Tegen 2015). As in Jimenez and Tegen (2015), this analysis examined two deployment scenarios in the 2026-2045 timeframe: the first scenario assumed 13,000 megawatts (MW) of WEC technology deployed during the analysis period, and the second assumed 18,000 MW of WEC technology deployed by 2045. Both scenarios require major technology and cost improvements in the WEC devices. The study is on very large-scale deployment so readers can examine and discuss the potential of a successful and very large WEC industry. The 13,000-MW is used as the basis for the county analysis as it is the smaller of the two scenarios. Sensitivity studies examined the effects of a robust in-state WEC supply chain. The region of analysis is comprised of the seven coastal counties in Oregon—Clatsop, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Lane, Lincoln, and Tillamook—so estimates of jobs and other economic impacts are specific to this coastal county area.

Ecosystem size structure response to 21st century climate projection: large fish abundance decreases in the central North Pacific and increases in the California Current.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodworth-Jefcoats, Phoebe A; Polovina, Jeffrey J; Dunne, John P; Blanchard, Julia L

2013-03-01

Output from an earth system model is paired with a size-based food web model to investigate the effects of climate change on the abundance of large fish over the 21st century. The earth system model, forced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special report on emission scenario A2, combines a coupled climate model with a biogeochemical model including major nutrients, three phytoplankton functional groups, and zooplankton grazing. The size-based food web model includes linkages between two size-structured pelagic communities: primary producers and consumers. Our investigation focuses on seven sites in the North Pacific, each highlighting a specific aspect of projected climate change, and includes top-down ecosystem depletion through fishing. We project declines in large fish abundance ranging from 0 to 75.8% in the central North Pacific and increases of up to 43.0% in the California Current (CC) region over the 21st century in response to change in phytoplankton size structure and direct physiological effects. We find that fish abundance is especially sensitive to projected changes in large phytoplankton density and our model projects changes in the abundance of large fish being of the same order of magnitude as changes in the abundance of large phytoplankton. Thus, studies that address only climate-induced impacts to primary production without including changes to phytoplankton size structure may not adequately project ecosystem responses. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Socioeconomic impacts of large-scale developments: implications for high-level nuclear waste repositories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murdock, S.H.; Leistritz, F.L.; Hamm, R.R.

1983-01-01

High-level nuclear waste repositories will likely be located in sparsely settled rural areas in the US. These projects will significantly affect the economic, demographic, public service, fiscal, and social (the socioeconomic) dimensions of those rural areas. The impacts and means of mitigating them thus require careful analysis. This paper examines some of the potential socioeconomic impacts likely to occur in rural areas as a result of repository siting and development, and it describes some of the characteristics of mitigation programs that are likely to be necessary, if the impacts are to be addressed. Both (1) standard impacts, those resulting from the fact that, like many other large-scale developments, repositories will involve a substantial number of new workers and residents (relative to the size of existing communities), and (2) special impacts, those resulting from the fact that repositories store radioactive materials, are examined. The discussion indicates that economic, demographic, public service, fiscal, and social impacts (standard and special) of these repositories will be substantial and problematic in many cases. Unless the impacts are effectively addressed with carefully planned and well financed mitigation efforts that insure that high-quality planning information is provided to local residents, and that local residents are involved in impact planning and management throughout the siting and development process, repository siting is unlikely to be effectively and equitably achieved. 44 references

Measuring the topology of large-scale structure in the universe

Science.gov (United States)

Gott, J. Richard, III

1988-11-01

An algorithm for quantitatively measuring the topology of large-scale structure has now been applied to a large number of observational data sets. The present paper summarizes and provides an overview of some of these observational results. On scales significantly larger than the correlation length, larger than about 1200 km/s, the cluster and galaxy data are fully consistent with a sponge-like random phase topology. At a smoothing length of about 600 km/s, however, the observed genus curves show a small shift in the direction of a meatball topology. Cold dark matter (CDM) models show similar shifts at these scales but not generally as large as those seen in the data. Bubble models, with voids completely surrounded on all sides by wall of galaxies, show shifts in the opposite direction. The CDM model is overall the most successful in explaining the data.

Measuring the topology of large-scale structure in the universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gott, J.R. III

1988-01-01

An algorithm for quantitatively measuring the topology of large-scale structure has now been applied to a large number of observational data sets. The present paper summarizes and provides an overview of some of these observational results. On scales significantly larger than the correlation length, larger than about 1200 km/s, the cluster and galaxy data are fully consistent with a sponge-like random phase topology. At a smoothing length of about 600 km/s, however, the observed genus curves show a small shift in the direction of a meatball topology. Cold dark matter (CDM) models show similar shifts at these scales but not generally as large as those seen in the data. Bubble models, with voids completely surrounded on all sides by wall of galaxies, show shifts in the opposite direction. The CDM model is overall the most successful in explaining the data. 45 references

Reference Management Methodologies for Large Structural Models at Kennedy Space Center

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Corey; Bingham, Ryan; Schmidt, Rick

2011-01-01

There have been many challenges associated with modeling some of NASA KSC's largest structures. Given the size of the welded structures here at KSC, it was critically important to properly organize model struc.ture and carefully manage references. Additionally, because of the amount of hardware to be installed on these structures, it was very important to have a means to coordinate between different design teams and organizations, check for interferences, produce consistent drawings, and allow for simple release processes. Facing these challenges, the modeling team developed a unique reference management methodology and model fidelity methodology. This presentation will describe the techniques and methodologies that were developed for these projects. The attendees will learn about KSC's reference management and model fidelity methodologies for large structures. The attendees will understand the goals of these methodologies. The attendees will appreciate the advantages of developing a reference management methodology.

Novel large deployable antenna backing structure concepts for foldable reflectors

Science.gov (United States)

Fraux, V.; Lawton, M.; Reveles, J. R.; You, Z.

2013-12-01

This paper describes a number of large deployable antenna (LDA) reflector structure concepts developed at EnerSys-ABSL. Furthermore, EnerSys-ABSL has confirmed the desire to build a breadboard demonstrator of a backing deployable structure for a foldable reflector in the diameter range of 4-9 m. As part of this project EnerSys-ABSL has explored five novel deployable structure concepts. This paper presents the top level definition of these concepts together with the requirements considered in the design and selection of the preferred candidate. These new concepts are described and then compared through a trade-off analysis to identify the most suitable concept that EnerSys-ABSL would like to consider for the breadboard demonstrator. Finally, the kinematics of the chosen concept is described in more detail and future steps in the development process are highlighted.

How large are the impacts of carbon-motivated border tax adjustments on China and how to mitigate them?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Aijun; Zhang, Aizhen; Cai, Hongbo; Li, Xingfeng; Peng, Shishen

2013-01-01

There have been growing clamours for carbon-motivated border tax adjustments (CBTAs) targeted at countries that do not accept the carbon emission reduction targets. Currently, China is the largest carbon emitter with large annual incremental carbon emissions and might have to face the challenge of CBTA. Therefore, it is a pressing policy challenge for the government to get prepared for mitigating the negative impacts of CBTAs on China. In this article, we compare the impacts of CBTAs across large developing economies and compare the performances of different policy options to mitigate the negative impacts. The main findings are as follows. First, CBTA would affect different economies and different sectors differently. CBTA would result in a shift of production across sectors and relocation of output from the target countries to CBTA users. Second, CBTA would contribute to world's emissions reduction, but less than expected due to carbon leakage. Finally, policy options, which could reduce the present distorting effects, would be preferred to other policy options that would add additional distorting effects to the economy. Looking ahead, the Chinese government should get prepared for mitigating the negative impacts of CBTAs because its economy could be adversely affected. - Highlights: • We compare impacts of carbon-motivated border tax adjustments (CBTAs) across large emerging countries. • We test effectiveness of different policy options to mitigate the negative impacts. • We investigate how to design policy mix to mitigate negative impacts of CBTAs

Paradigms and nursing management, analysis of the current organizational structure in a large hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, D

1992-01-01

Hospitals developed over the period of time when positivism become a predominant world view. Positivism was founded by four Western trends: preponderance of hierarchy and autocracy, popularization of bureaucracy, extensive application of a machine orientation to work and predominance of "scientific" inquiry. Organizational theory developed largely from quantitative research findings arising from a positivistic world view. A case study, analyzing a current nursing organizational structure at one large hospital, is presented. Nursing management was found to be based upon the positivistic paradigm. The predominance of a machine orientation, and an autocratic and bureaucratic structure are evidence of this. A change to shared governance had been attempted, indicating a shift to a more modern organizational structure based on a different paradigm. The article concludes by emphasizing that managers are largely responsible for facilitating change; change that will meet internal human resource needs and the cost-effectiveness crises of hospitals today through more effective use of human resources.

Maturation of Structural Health Management Systems for Solid Rocket Motors

Science.gov (United States)

Quing, Xinlin; Beard, Shawn; Zhang, Chang

2011-01-01

Concepts of an autonomous and automated space-compliant diagnostic system were developed for conditioned-based maintenance (CBM) of rocket motors for space exploration vehicles. The diagnostic system will provide real-time information on the integrity of critical structures on launch vehicles, improve their performance, and greatly increase crew safety while decreasing inspection costs. Using the SMART Layer technology as a basis, detailed procedures and calibration techniques for implementation of the diagnostic system were developed. The diagnostic system is a distributed system, which consists of a sensor network, local data loggers, and a host central processor. The system detects external impact to the structure. The major functions of the system include an estimate of impact location, estimate of impact force at impacted location, and estimate of the structure damage at impacted location. This system consists of a large-area sensor network, dedicated multiple local data loggers with signal processing and data analysis software to allow for real-time, in situ monitoring, and longterm tracking of structural integrity of solid rocket motors. Specifically, the system could provide easy installation of large sensor networks, onboard operation under harsh environments and loading, inspection of inaccessible areas without disassembly, detection of impact events and impact damage in real-time, and monitoring of a large area with local data processing to reduce wiring.

Structural analyses of very large semi-submersibles in waves; Choogata hansensuishiki futai no harochu kozo oto kaiseki

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iijima, K.; Yoshida, K.; Suzuki, H. [The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan)

1997-08-01

An analysis method in which the technique of a vehicle obtained when a three-dimensional singular point distribution method and Kagemoto`s mutual interaction theory are combined was expanded for the fluid area was proposed as the structural analysis of very large semi-submersibles in waves. A partial structure method is used for the structure. In a fluid area, the number of unknown quantities appearing in a final expression could be largely reduced by introducing the new concept of a group body. In this process, both hydro-elasticity and hydrodynamic mutual interaction are considered. As a result, floating bodies that could not be previously calculated can be modeled as a three-dimensional frame structure and the response analysis in waves can be carried out without damaging the accuracy. The calculation result is used as the input data required for analyzing the structural fatigue locally during structural design of very large semi-submersibles in the 3,000 (m) class. This study can present a series of procedures between the response analysis of very large floating bodies in waves and the structural design. 11 refs., 14 figs., 1 tab.

The economics and environmental impacts of large-scale wind power in a carbon constrained world

Science.gov (United States)

Decarolis, Joseph Frank

Serious climate change mitigation aimed at stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of CO2 will require a radical shift to a decarbonized energy supply. The electric power sector will be a primary target for deep reductions in CO2 emissions because electric power plants are among the largest and most manageable point sources of emissions. With respect to new capacity, wind power is currently one of the most inexpensive ways to produce electricity without CO2 emissions and it may have a significant role to play in a carbon constrained world. Yet most research in the wind industry remains focused on near term issues, while energy system models that focus on century-long time horizons undervalue wind by imposing exogenous limits on growth. This thesis fills a critical gap in the literature by taking a closer look at the cost and environmental impacts of large-scale wind. Estimates of the average cost of wind generation---now roughly 4¢/kWh---do not address the cons arising from the spatial distribution and intermittency of wind. This thesis develops a theoretical framework for assessing the intermittency cost of wind. In addition, an economic characterization of a wind system is provided in which long-distance electricity transmission, storage, and gas turbines are used to supplement variable wind power output to meet a time-varying load. With somewhat optimistic assumptions about the cost of wind turbines, the use of wind to serve 50% of demand adds ˜1--2¢/kWh to the cost of electricity, a cost comparable to that of other large-scale low carbon technologies. This thesis also explores the environmental impacts posed by large-scale wind. Though avian mortality and noise caused controversy in the early years of wind development, improved technology and exhaustive siting assessments have minimized their impact. The aesthetic valuation of wind farms can be improved significantly with better design, siting, construction, and maintenance procedures, but opposition may

Structure design of the Westinghouse superconducting magnet for the Large Coil Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Domeisen, F.N.; Hackworth, D.T.; Stuebinger, L.R.

1978-01-01

In the on-going development of superconducting toroidal field coils for tokamak reactors, the Large Coil Program (LCP) managed by Union Carbide Corporation will include the design, fabrication, and testing of large superconducting coils to determine their feasibility for use in the magnetic fusion energy effort. Structural analysis of the large coil is essential to ensure adequate safety in the test coil design and confidence in the scalability of the design. This paper will discuss the action of tensile and shear loads on the various materials used in the coil. These loads are of magnetic and thermal origin

Large scale structures in a turbulent boundary layer and their imprint on wall shear stress

Science.gov (United States)

Pabon, Rommel; Barnard, Casey; Ukeiley, Lawrence; Sheplak, Mark

2015-11-01

Experiments were performed on a turbulent boundary layer developing on a flat plate model under zero pressure gradient flow. A MEMS differential capacitive shear stress sensor with a 1 mm × 1 mm floating element was used to capture the fluctuating wall shear stress simultaneously with streamwise velocity measurements from a hot-wire anemometer traversed in the wall normal direction. Near the wall, the peak in the cross correlation corresponds to an organized motion inclined 45° from the wall. In the outer region, the peak diminishes in value, but is still significant at a distance greater than half the boundary layer thickness, and corresponds to a structure inclined 14° from the wall. High coherence between the two signals was found for the low-frequency content, reinforcing the belief that large scale structures have a vital impact on wall shear stress. Thus, estimation of the wall shear stress from the low-frequency velocity signal will be performed, and is expected to be statistically significant in the outer boundary layer. Additionally, conditionally averaged mean velocity profiles will be presented to assess the effects of high and low shear stress. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1315138.

Colorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Jacques Frenette

Full Text Available Large rivers represent a significant component of inland waters and are considered sentinels and integrators of terrestrial and atmospheric processes. They represent hotspots for the transport and processing of organic and inorganic material from the surrounding landscape, which ultimately impacts the bio-optical properties and food webs of the rivers. In large rivers, hydraulic connectivity operates as a major forcing variable to structure the functioning of the riverscape, and--despite increasing interest in large-river studies--riverscape structural properties, such as the underwater spectral regime, and their impact on autotrophic ecological processes remain poorly studied. Here we used the St. Lawrence River to identify the mechanisms structuring the underwater spectral environment and their consequences on pico- and nanophytoplankton communities, which are good biological tracers of environmental changes. Our results, obtained from a 450 km sampling transect, demonstrate that tributaries exert a profound impact on the receiving river's photosynthetic potential. This occurs mainly through injection of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM and non-algal material (tripton. CDOM and tripton in the water column selectively absorbed wavelengths in a gradient from blue to red, and the resulting underwater light climate was in turn a strong driver of the phytoplankton community structure (prokaryote/eukaryote relative and absolute abundances at scales of many kilometers from the tributary confluence. Our results conclusively demonstrate the proximal impact of watershed properties on underwater spectral composition in a highly dynamic river environment characterized by unique structuring properties such as high directional connectivity, numerous sources and forms of carbon, and a rapidly varying hydrodynamic regime. We surmise that the underwater spectral composition represents a key integrating and structural property of large, heterogeneous

Grid faults' impact on wind turbine structural loads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Anca Daniela; Cutululis, Nicolaos Antonio; Iov, F.

2007-01-01

The objective of this work is to illustrate the impact of the grid faults on the wind turbine structural loads. Grid faults are typically simulated in detailed power system simulation tools, which by applying simplified mechanical models, are not able to provide a throughout insight...... on the structural loads caused by sudden disturbances on the grid. On the other hand, structural loads of the wind turbine are typically assessed in advanced aerolastic computer codes, which by applying simplified electrical models do not provide detailed electrical insight. This paper presents a simulation...... strategy, where the focus is on how to access a proper combination of two complimentary simulations tools, such as the advanced aeroelastic computer code HAWC2 and the detailed power system simulation tool DIgSILENT, in order to provide a whole overview of both the structural and the electrical behaviour...

Measurement of deforming mode of lattice truss structures under impact loading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao H.

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Lattice truss structures, which are used as a core material in sandwich panels, were widely investigated experimentally and theoretically. However, explanation of the deforming mechanism using reliable experimental results is almost rarely reported, particularly for the dynamic deforming mechanism. The present work aimed at the measurement of the deforming mode of lattice truss structures. Indeed, quasi-static and Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB tests have been performed on the tetrahedral truss cores structures made of Aluminum 3003-O. Global values such as crushing forces and displacements between the loading platens are obtained. However, in order to understand the deforming mechanism and to explain the observed impact strength enhancement observed in the experiments, images of the truss core element during the tests are recorded. A method based on the edge detection algorithm is developed and applied to these images. The deforming profiles of one beam are extracted and it allows for calculating the length of beam. It is found that these lengths diminish to a critical value (due to compression and remain constant afterwards (because of significant bending. The comparison between quasi-static and impact tests shows that the beam were much more compressed under impact loading, which could be understood as the lateral inertia effect in dynamic bucking. Therefore, the impact strength enhancement of tetrahedral truss core sandwich panel can be explained by the delayed buckling of beam under impact (more compression reached, together with the strain hardening of base material.

Hierarchical, decentralized control system for large-scale smart-structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Algermissen, Stephan; Fröhlich, Tim; Monner, Hans Peter

2014-01-01

Active control of sound and vibration has gained much attention in all kinds of industries in the past decade. Future prospects for maximizing airline passenger comfort are especially promising. The objectives of recent research projects in this area are the reduction of noise transmission through thin walled structures such as fuselages, linings or interior elements. Besides different external noise sources, such as the turbulent boundary layer, rotor or jet noise, the actuator and sensor placement as well as different control concepts are addressed. Mostly, the work is focused on a single panel or section of the fuselage, neglecting the fact that for effective noise reduction the entire fuselage has to be taken into account. Nevertheless, extending the scope of an active system from a single panel to the entire fuselage increases the effort for control hardware dramatically. This paper presents a control concept for large structures using distributed control nodes. Each node has the capability to execute a vibration or noise controller for a specific part or section of the fuselage. For maintenance, controller tuning or performance measurement, all nodes are connected to a host computer via Universal Serial Bus (USB). This topology allows a partitioning and distributing of tasks. The nodes execute the low-level control functions. High-level tasks like maintenance, system identification and control synthesis are operated by the host using streamed data from the nodes. By choosing low-price nodes, a very cost effective way of implementing an active system for large structures is realized. Besides the system identification and controller synthesis on the host computer, a detailed view on the hardware and software concept for the nodes is given. Finally, the results of an experimental test of a system running a robust vibration controller at an active panel demonstrator are shown. (paper)

Environmental impact evaluation from large energy projects; Avaliacao de impacto ambiental de grandes projetos energeticos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Uribe, Alberto [Bahia Univ., Salvador, BA (Brazil)

1985-12-31

This paper builds up theoretical framework and methodological approaches to assess environmental impacts from large energy projects. It aims towards the definition of concrete tools, and technical proceedings to allow identification and quantification (or weighing) of effects on the natural and social environment. The environmental impacts assessment, (EIA), studies are described as important instruments in planning and in the choice of alternative energy policies. (author). 15 refs., 2 figs

A finite element based substructuring procedure for design analysis of large smart structural systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ashwin, U; Raja, S; Dwarakanathan, D

2009-01-01

A substructuring based design analysis procedure is presented for large smart structural system using the Craig–Bampton method. The smart structural system is distinctively characterized as an active substructure, modelled as a design problem, and a passive substructure, idealized as an analysis problem. Furthermore, a novel thought has been applied by introducing the electro–elastic coupling into the reduction scheme to solve the global structural control problem in a local domain. As an illustration, a smart composite box beam with surface bonded actuators/sensors is considered, and results of the local to global control analysis are presented to show the potential use of the developed procedure. The present numerical scheme is useful for optimally designing the active substructures to study their locations, coupled structure–actuator interaction and provide a solution to the global design of large smart structural systems

Towards large-scale mapping of urban three-dimensional structure using Landsat imagery and global elevation datasets

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, P.; Huang, C.

2017-12-01

The three-dimensional (3D) structure of buildings and infrastructures is fundamental to understanding and modelling of the impacts and challenges of urbanization in terms of energy use, carbon emissions, and earthquake vulnerabilities. However, spatially detailed maps of urban 3D structure have been scarce, particularly in fast-changing developing countries. We present here a novel methodology to map the volume of buildings and infrastructures at 30 meter resolution using a synergy of Landsat imagery and openly available global digital surface models (DSMs), including the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), ASTER Global Digital Elevation Map (GDEM), ALOS World 3D - 30m (AW3D30), and the recently released global DSM from the TanDEM-X mission. Our method builds on the concept of object-based height profile to extract height metrics from the DSMs and use a machine learning algorithm to predict height and volume from the height metrics. We have tested this algorithm in the entire England and assessed our result using Lidar measurements in 25 England cities. Our initial assessments achieved a RMSE of 1.4 m (R2 = 0.72) for building height and a RMSE of 1208.7 m3 (R2 = 0.69) for building volume, demonstrating the potential of large-scale applications and fully automated mapping of urban structure.

Habitat structure and diversity influence the nesting success of an endangered large cavity-nesting bird, the Southern Ground-hornbill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leigh Combrink

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Habitat features can have a profound effect on the nesting success of birds. Savannas are often managed with predators and large herbivores as priority species, with little thought to the many bird species that management decisions could affect. Using a data set spanning seven breeding seasons, we examined how nesting success of Southern Ground-hornbills (SGHs Bucorvus leadbeateri in the Kruger National Park varied as a result of various environmental and habitat factors within a radius of 3 km surrounding the nest site. Identifying which factors affect nesting success will allow for targeted management efforts to ensure the long-term survival of SGHs both within and outside of protected areas. Habitat structure and diversity of the vegetation surrounding the nest were the most influential factors on SGH nesting success. SGHs require open grassy areas for foraging and areas with large trees for nesting. Savanna habitat drivers such as elephants and fire should be managed to ensure that sufficient large trees are able to establish in the landscape and to control for bush encroachment. This is especially important in areas earmarked for SGH reintroductions. Nest sites of SGHs should be monitored to mitigate any structural changes in the habitat surrounding the nests. Nests should be modified or artificial nest sites provided, where nests have been damaged or lost, to ensure the continued presence of these birds in African savannas. Conservation implications: Habitat structure and diversity surrounding Southern Groundhornbill nests has a significant impact on their nesting success. This highlights the importance of monitoring vegetation change in savanna habitats where they occur. Management of savanna areas should take factors that influence bush encroachment, such as fire and elephants, into account to ensure the long-term persistence of these birds.

Analysis of reinforced concrete structures subjected to aircraft impact loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bauer, J.; Scharpf, F.; Schwarz, R.

1983-01-01

Concerning the evaluation of the effects of aircraft impact loading on the reactor building and the contained equipment special interest belongs to both the characteristic of loading conditions and the consideration of the nonlinear behaviour of the local impacted area as well as the overall behaviour of the structure. To cover this extensive scope of problems the fully 3-dimensional code DYSMAS/L was prepared for the analysis of highly dynamic continuum mechanics problems. For this totally Lagrangian description, derived and tested in the field of the simulation of impact phenomena and penetration of armoured structures, an extension was made for the reasonable modelling of the material behaviour of reinforced concrete. Conforming the available experimental data a nonlinear stress-strain curve is given and a continuous triaxial failure-surface is composed which allows cracking of concrete in the tensile region and its crushing in the compressive mode. For the separately modeled reinforcement an elastic-plastic stress-strain relationship with kinematic hardening is used. (orig./RW)

Nonlinear system identification of smart structures under high impact loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarp Arsava, Kemal; Kim, Yeesock; El-Korchi, Tahar; Park, Hyo Seon

2013-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to develop numerical models for the prediction and analysis of the highly nonlinear behavior of integrated structure control systems subjected to high impact loading. A time-delayed adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (TANFIS) is proposed for modeling of the complex nonlinear behavior of smart structures equipped with magnetorheological (MR) dampers under high impact forces. Experimental studies are performed to generate sets of input and output data for training and validation of the TANFIS models. The high impact load and current signals are used as the input disturbance and control signals while the displacement and acceleration responses from the structure–MR damper system are used as the output signals. The benchmark adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is used as a baseline. Comparisons of the trained TANFIS models with experimental results demonstrate that the TANFIS modeling framework is an effective way to capture nonlinear behavior of integrated structure–MR damper systems under high impact loading. In addition, the performance of the TANFIS model is much better than that of ANFIS in both the training and the validation processes. (paper)

IMPACT_S: integrated multiprogram platform to analyze and combine tests of selection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emanuel Maldonado

Full Text Available Among the major goals of research in evolutionary biology are the identification of genes targeted by natural selection and understanding how various regimes of evolution affect the fitness of an organism. In particular, adaptive evolution enables organisms to adapt to changing ecological factors such as diet, temperature, habitat, predatory pressures and prey abundance. An integrative approach is crucial for the identification of non-synonymous mutations that introduce radical changes in protein biochemistry and thus in turn influence the structure and function of proteins. Performing such analyses manually is often a time-consuming process, due to the large number of statistical files generated from multiple approaches, especially when assessing numerous taxa and/or large datasets. We present IMPACT_S, an easy-to-use Graphical User Interface (GUI software, which rapidly and effectively integrates, filters and combines results from three widely used programs for assessing the influence of selection: Codeml (PAML package, Datamonkey and TreeSAAP. It enables the identification and tabulation of sites detected by these programs as evolving under the influence of positive, neutral and/or negative selection in protein-coding genes. IMPACT_S further facilitates the automatic mapping of these sites onto the three-dimensional structures of proteins. Other useful tools incorporated in IMPACT_S include Jmol, Archaeopteryx, Gnuplot, PhyML, a built-in Swiss-Model interface and a PDB downloader. The relevance and functionality of IMPACT_S is shown through a case study on the toxicoferan-reptilian Cysteine-rich Secretory Proteins (CRiSPs. IMPACT_S is a platform-independent software released under GPLv3 license, freely available online from http://impact-s.sourceforge.net.

IMPACT_S: integrated multiprogram platform to analyze and combine tests of selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Maldonado, Emanuel; Sunagar, Kartik; Almeida, Daniela; Vasconcelos, Vitor; Antunes, Agostinho

2014-01-01

Among the major goals of research in evolutionary biology are the identification of genes targeted by natural selection and understanding how various regimes of evolution affect the fitness of an organism. In particular, adaptive evolution enables organisms to adapt to changing ecological factors such as diet, temperature, habitat, predatory pressures and prey abundance. An integrative approach is crucial for the identification of non-synonymous mutations that introduce radical changes in protein biochemistry and thus in turn influence the structure and function of proteins. Performing such analyses manually is often a time-consuming process, due to the large number of statistical files generated from multiple approaches, especially when assessing numerous taxa and/or large datasets. We present IMPACT_S, an easy-to-use Graphical User Interface (GUI) software, which rapidly and effectively integrates, filters and combines results from three widely used programs for assessing the influence of selection: Codeml (PAML package), Datamonkey and TreeSAAP. It enables the identification and tabulation of sites detected by these programs as evolving under the influence of positive, neutral and/or negative selection in protein-coding genes. IMPACT_S further facilitates the automatic mapping of these sites onto the three-dimensional structures of proteins. Other useful tools incorporated in IMPACT_S include Jmol, Archaeopteryx, Gnuplot, PhyML, a built-in Swiss-Model interface and a PDB downloader. The relevance and functionality of IMPACT_S is shown through a case study on the toxicoferan-reptilian Cysteine-rich Secretory Proteins (CRiSPs). IMPACT_S is a platform-independent software released under GPLv3 license, freely available online from http://impact-s.sourceforge.net.

Large scale structures in liquid crystal/clay colloids

Science.gov (United States)

van Duijneveldt, Jeroen S.; Klein, Susanne; Leach, Edward; Pizzey, Claire; Richardson, Robert M.

2005-04-01

Suspensions of three different clays in K15, a thermotropic liquid crystal, have been studied by optical microscopy and small angle x-ray scattering. The three clays were claytone AF, a surface treated natural montmorillonite, laponite RD, a synthetic hectorite, and mined sepiolite. The claytone and laponite were sterically stabilized whereas sepiolite formed a relatively stable suspension in K15 without any surface treatment. Micrographs of the different suspensions revealed that all three suspensions contained large scale structures. The nature of these aggregates was investigated using small angle x-ray scattering. For the clays with sheet-like particles, claytone and laponite, the flocs contain a mixture of stacked and single platelets. The basal spacing in the stacks was independent of particle concentration in the suspension and the phase of the solvent. The number of platelets in the stack and their percentage in the suspension varied with concentration and the aspect ratio of the platelets. The lath shaped sepiolite did not show any tendency to organize into ordered structures. Here the aggregates are networks of randomly oriented single rods.

Large scale structures in liquid crystal/clay colloids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duijneveldt, Jeroen S van; Klein, Susanne; Leach, Edward; Pizzey, Claire; Richardson, Robert M

2005-01-01

Suspensions of three different clays in K15, a thermotropic liquid crystal, have been studied by optical microscopy and small angle x-ray scattering. The three clays were claytone AF, a surface treated natural montmorillonite, laponite RD, a synthetic hectorite, and mined sepiolite. The claytone and laponite were sterically stabilized whereas sepiolite formed a relatively stable suspension in K15 without any surface treatment. Micrographs of the different suspensions revealed that all three suspensions contained large scale structures. The nature of these aggregates was investigated using small angle x-ray scattering. For the clays with sheet-like particles, claytone and laponite, the flocs contain a mixture of stacked and single platelets. The basal spacing in the stacks was independent of particle concentration in the suspension and the phase of the solvent. The number of platelets in the stack and their percentage in the suspension varied with concentration and the aspect ratio of the platelets. The lath shaped sepiolite did not show any tendency to organize into ordered structures. Here the aggregates are networks of randomly oriented single rods

The Ecological Impacts of Large-Scale Agrofuel Monoculture Production Systems in the Americas

Science.gov (United States)

Altieri, Miguel A.

2009-01-01

This article examines the expansion of agrofuels in the Americas and the ecological impacts associated with the technologies used in the production of large-scale monocultures of corn and soybeans. In addition to deforestation and displacement of lands devoted to food crops due to expansion of agrofuels, the massive use of transgenic crops and…

Impact of ATLAS measurements on the knowledge of proton structure

CERN Document Server

Gwenlan, Claire; The ATLAS collaboration

2016-01-01

Several measurements performed by the ATLAS collaboration can be used to constrain the proton structure. Measurements of the W+c production and the inclusive W and Z differential cross sections are found to constrain the poorly known strange-quark density at low x. Similarly, the ratio of W+/W- production is found to constrain the valence quarks at low x. New results will be presented using W,Z production at 13 TeV. New precise measurements of Drell-Yan cross section measurements performed above the Z peak region have a different sensitivity to parton flavour, parton momentum fraction x and scale Q compared to measurements on the Z peak. A large impact is found on the photon content of the proton as well as high x quarks. Measurements of the inclusive jet and photon cross sections are standard candles and constrain the medium and high x gluon densities. New precise measurements of inclusive photon and jet cross sections at 8 TeV are presented and compared to various PDF predictions.

Structured approaches to large-scale systems: Variational integrators for interconnected Lagrange-Dirac systems and structured model reduction on Lie groups

Science.gov (United States)

Parks, Helen Frances

This dissertation presents two projects related to the structured integration of large-scale mechanical systems. Structured integration uses the considerable differential geometric structure inherent in mechanical motion to inform the design of numerical integration schemes. This process improves the qualitative properties of simulations and becomes especially valuable as a measure of accuracy over long time simulations in which traditional Gronwall accuracy estimates lose their meaning. Often, structured integration schemes replicate continuous symmetries and their associated conservation laws at the discrete level. Such is the case for variational integrators, which discretely replicate the process of deriving equations of motion from variational principles. This results in the conservation of momenta associated to symmetries in the discrete system and conservation of a symplectic form when applicable. In the case of Lagrange-Dirac systems, variational integrators preserve a discrete analogue of the Dirac structure preserved in the continuous flow. In the first project of this thesis, we extend Dirac variational integrators to accommodate interconnected systems. We hope this work will find use in the fields of control, where a controlled system can be thought of as a "plant" system joined to its controller, and in the approach of very large systems, where modular modeling may prove easier than monolithically modeling the entire system. The second project of the thesis considers a different approach to large systems. Given a detailed model of the full system, can we reduce it to a more computationally efficient model without losing essential geometric structures in the system? Asked without the reference to structure, this is the essential question of the field of model reduction. The answer there has been a resounding yes, with Principal Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) with snapshots rising as one of the most successful methods. Our project builds on previous work

Large Meteoroid Impact on the Moon on 17 March 2013

Science.gov (United States)

Moser, Danielle E.; Suggs, Robert M.; Suggs, Ronnie J.

2014-01-01

Since early 2006, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has observed over 300 impact flashes on the Moon, produced by meteoroids striking the lunar surface. On 17 March 2013 at 03:50:54.312 UTC, the brightest flash of an 8-year routine observing campaign was observed in two 0.35 m telescopes outfitted with Watec 902H2 Ultimate monochrome CCD cameras recording interleaved 30 fps video. Standard CCD photometric techniques, described in [1], were applied to the video after saturation correction, yielding a peak R magnitude of 3.0 +/- 0.4 in a 1/30 second video exposure. This corresponds to a luminous energy of 7.1 × 10(exp 6) J. Geographic Information System (GIS) tools were used to georeference the lunar impact imagery and yielded a crater location at 20.60 +/- 0.17deg N, 23.92 +/- 0.30deg W. The camera onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a NASA spacecraft mapping the Moon from lunar orbit, discovered the fresh crater associated with this impact by comparing post-impact images from 28 July 2013 to pre-impact images on 12 Feb 2012. The images show fresh, bright ejecta around an 18 m diameter circular crater, with a 15 m inner diameter measured from the level of pre-existing terrain, at 20.7135deg N, 24.3302deg W. An asymmetrical ray pattern with both high and low reflectance ejecta zones extends 1-2 km beyond the crater, and a series of mostly low reflectance splotches can be seen within 30 km of the crater - likely due to secondary impacts [2]. The meteoroid impactor responsible for this event may have been part of a stream of large particles encountered by the Earth/Moon associated with the Virginid Meteor Complex, as evidenced by a cluster of 5 fireballs seen in Earth's atmosphere on the same night by the NASA All Sky Fireball Network [3] and the Southern Ontario Meteor Network [4]. Assuming a velocity-dependent luminous efficiency (ratio of luminous energy to kinetic energy) from [5] and an impact velocity of 25.6 km/s derived from fireball measurements

The impacts of household retrofit and domestic energy efficiency schemes: A large scale, ex post evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webber, Phil; Gouldson, Andy; Kerr, Niall

2015-01-01

There is widespread interest in the ability of retrofit schemes to shape domestic energy use in order to tackle fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions. Although much has been written on the topic, there have been few large-scale ex post evaluations of the actual impacts of such schemes. We address this by assessing domestic energy use before and after the Kirklees Warm Zone (KWZ) scheme, which by fitting insulation in 51,000 homes in the 2007–2010 period is one of the largest retrofit schemes completed in the UK to date. To do this, we develop and apply a new methodology that isolates the impacts of retrofit activity from broader background trends in energy use. The results suggest that the actual impacts of the KWZ scheme have been higher than predicted, and that the scale of any performance gaps or rebound effects have been lower than has often been assumed. They also suggest that impacts on energy use in lower income areas are consistent with predictions, but that impacts in middle and higher income areas are higher than predicted. These findings support the case for the wider and/or accelerated adoption of domestic retrofit schemes in other contexts. -- Highlights: •A large scale, ex post evaluation of the impacts of a household retrofit scheme. •A new methodology to separate retrofit impacts from background trends. •Shows impacts of retrofit have been 1.2–1.7 times higher than predicted. •Impacts as predicted in lower income areas, higher in middle and upper income areas. •Findings support the case for the wider and faster adoption of domestic retrofit

The existence of very large-scale structures in the universe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goicoechea, L J; Martin-Mirones, J M [Universidad de Cantabria Santander, (ES)

1989-09-01

Assuming that the dipole moment observed in the cosmic background radiation (microwaves and X-rays) can be interpreted as a consequence of the motion of the observer toward a non-local and very large-scale structure in our universe, we study the perturbation of the m-z relation by this inhomogeneity, the dynamical contribution of sources to the dipole anisotropy in the X-ray background and the imprint that several structures with such characteristics would have had on the microwave background at the decoupling. We conclude that in this model the observed anisotropy in the microwave background on intermediate angular scales ({approx}10{sup 0}) may be in conflict with the existence of superstructures.

Impact of the Dominant Large-scale Teleconnections on Winter Temperature Variability over East Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Young-Kwon; Kim, Hae-Dong

2013-01-01

Monthly mean geopotential height for the past 33 DJF seasons archived in Modern Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications reanalysis is decomposed into the large-scale teleconnection patterns to explain their impacts on winter temperature variability over East Asia. Following Arctic Oscillation (AO) that explains the largest variance, East Atlantic/West Russia (EA/WR), West Pacific (WP) and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are identified as the first four leading modes that significantly explain East Asian winter temperature variation. While the northern part of East Asia north of 50N is prevailed by AO and EA/WR impacts, temperature in the midlatitudes (30N-50N), which include Mongolia, northeastern China, Shandong area, Korea, and Japan, is influenced by combined effect of the four leading teleconnections. ENSO impact on average over 33 winters is relatively weaker than the impact of the other three teleconnections. WP impact, which has received less attention than ENSO in earlier studies, characterizes winter temperatures over Korea, Japan, and central to southern China region south of 30N mainly by advective process from the Pacific. Upper level wave activity fluxes reveal that, for the AO case, the height and circulation anomalies affecting midlatitude East Asian winter temperature is mainly located at higher latitudes north of East Asia. Distribution of the fluxes also explains that the stationary wave train associated with EA/WR propagates southeastward from the western Russia, affecting the East Asian winter temperature. Investigation on the impact of each teleconnection for the selected years reveals that the most dominant teleconnection over East Asia is not the same at all years, indicating a great deal of interannual variability. Comparison in temperature anomaly distributions between observation and temperature anomaly constructed using the combined effect of four leading teleconnections clearly show a reasonable consistency between

Modelling of risk events with uncertain likelihoods and impacts in large infrastructure projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schjær-Jacobsen, Hans

2010-01-01

to prevent future budget overruns. One of the central ideas is to introduce improved risk management processes and the present paper addresses this particular issue. A relevant cost function in terms of unit prices and quantities is developed and an event impact matrix with uncertain impacts from independent......This paper presents contributions to the mathematical core of risk and uncertainty management in compliance with the principles of New Budgeting laid out in 2008 by the Danish Ministry of Transport to be used in large infrastructure projects. Basically, the new principles are proposed in order...... uncertain risk events is used to calculate the total uncertain risk budget. Cost impacts from the individual risk events on the individual project activities are kept precisely track of in order to comply with the requirements of New Budgeting. Additionally, uncertain likelihoods for the occurrence of risk...

A METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE RADIALLY-AVERAGED EFFECTIVE IMPACT AREA FOR AN AIRCRAFT CRASH INTO A STRUCTURE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walker, William C. [ORNL

2018-02-01

This report presents a methodology for deriving the equations which can be used for calculating the radially-averaged effective impact area for a theoretical aircraft crash into a structure. Conventionally, a maximum effective impact area has been used in calculating the probability of an aircraft crash into a structure. Whereas the maximum effective impact area is specific to a single direction of flight, the radially-averaged effective impact area takes into consideration the real life random nature of the direction of flight with respect to a structure. Since the radially-averaged effective impact area is less than the maximum effective impact area, the resulting calculated probability of an aircraft crash into a structure is reduced.

Nonlinear wave forces on large ocean structures

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Erick T.

1993-04-01

This study explores the significance of second-order wave excitations on a large pontoon and tests the feasibility of reducing a nonlinear free surface problem by perturbation expansions. A simulation model has been developed based on the perturbation expansion technique to estimate the wave forces. The model uses a versatile finite element procedure for the solution of the reduced linear boundary value problems. This procedure achieves a fair compromise between computation costs and physical details by using a combination of 2D and 3D elements. A simple hydraulic model test was conducted to observe the wave forces imposed on a rectangle box by Cnoidal waves in shallow water. The test measurements are consistent with the numerical predictions by the simulation model. This result shows favorable support to the perturbation approach for estimating the nonlinear wave forces on shallow draft vessels. However, more sophisticated model tests are required for a full justification. Both theoretical and experimental results show profound second-order forces that could substantially impact the design of ocean facilities.

The prospect of modern thermomechanics in structural integrity calculations of large-scale pressure vessels

Science.gov (United States)

Fekete, Tamás

2018-05-01

Structural integrity calculations play a crucial role in designing large-scale pressure vessels. Used in the electric power generation industry, these kinds of vessels undergo extensive safety analyses and certification procedures before deemed feasible for future long-term operation. The calculations are nowadays directed and supported by international standards and guides based on state-of-the-art results of applied research and technical development. However, their ability to predict a vessel's behavior under accidental circumstances after long-term operation is largely limited by the strong dependence of the analysis methodology on empirical models that are correlated to the behavior of structural materials and their changes during material aging. Recently a new scientific engineering paradigm, structural integrity has been developing that is essentially a synergistic collaboration between a number of scientific and engineering disciplines, modeling, experiments and numerics. Although the application of the structural integrity paradigm highly contributed to improving the accuracy of safety evaluations of large-scale pressure vessels, the predictive power of the analysis methodology has not yet improved significantly. This is due to the fact that already existing structural integrity calculation methodologies are based on the widespread and commonly accepted 'traditional' engineering thermal stress approach, which is essentially based on the weakly coupled model of thermomechanics and fracture mechanics. Recently, a research has been initiated in MTA EK with the aim to review and evaluate current methodologies and models applied in structural integrity calculations, including their scope of validity. The research intends to come to a better understanding of the physical problems that are inherently present in the pool of structural integrity problems of reactor pressure vessels, and to ultimately find a theoretical framework that could serve as a well

Performance of Arch-Style Road Crossing Structures from Relative Movement Rates of Large Mammals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Z. Andis

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In recent decades, an increasing number of highway construction and reconstruction projects have included mitigation measures aimed at reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions and maintaining habitat connectivity for wildlife. The most effective and robust measures include wildlife fences combined with wildlife underpasses and overpasses. The 39 wildlife crossing structures included along a 90 km stretch of US Highway 93 on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana represent one of the most extensive of such projects. We measured movements of large mammal species at 15 elliptical arch-style wildlife underpasses and adjacent habitat between April and November 2015. We investigated if the movements of large mammals through the underpasses were similar to large mammal movements in the adjacent habitat. Across all structures, large mammals (all species combined were more likely to move through the structures than pass at a random location in the surrounding habitat. At the species level, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus and mule deer (O. hemionus used the underpasses significantly more than could be expected based on their movement through the surrounding habitat. However, carnivorous species such as, black bear (Ursus americanus and coyote (Canis latrans moved through the underpasses in similar numbers compared to the surrounding habitat.

Replication fidelity assessment of large area sub-μm structured polymer surfaces using scatterometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calaon, M; Hansen, H N; Tosello, G; Madsen, M H; Weirich, J; Hansen, P E; Garnaes, J; Tang, P T

2015-01-01

The present study addresses one of the key challenges in the product quality control of transparent structured polymer substrates, the replication fidelity of sub-μm structures over a large area. Additionally the work contributes to the development of new techniques focused on in-line characterization of large nanostructured surfaces using scatterometry. In particular an approach to quantify the replication fidelity of high volume manufacturing processes such as polymer injection moulding is presented. Both periodic channels and semi-spherical structures were fabricated on nickel shims used for later injection moulding of Cyclic-olefin-copolymer (COC) substrate were the sub-μm features where ultimately transferred. The scatterometry system was validated using calibrated atomic force microscopy measurements and a model based on scalar diffraction theory employed to calculate the expected angular distribution of the reflected and the transmitted intensity for the nickel surfaces and structured COC and, respectively. (paper)

Statistics and Dynamics in the Large-scale Structure of the Universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsubara, Takahiko

2006-01-01

In cosmology, observations and theories are related to each other by statistics in most cases. Especially, statistical methods play central roles in analyzing fluctuations in the universe, which are seeds of the present structure of the universe. The confrontation of the statistics and dynamics is one of the key methods to unveil the structure and evolution of the universe. I will review some of the major statistical methods in cosmology, in connection with linear and nonlinear dynamics of the large-scale structure of the universe. The present status of analyses of the observational data such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and the future prospects to constrain the nature of exotic components of the universe such as the dark energy will be presented

Low-Cost Impact Detection and Location for Automated Inspections of 3D Metallic Based Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Morón

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a new low-cost means to detect and locate mechanical impacts (collisions on a 3D metal-based structure. We employ the simple and reasonably hypothesis that the use of a homogeneous material will allow certain details of the impact to be automatically determined by measuring the time delays of acoustic wave propagation throughout the 3D structure. The location of strategic piezoelectric sensors on the structure and an electronic-computerized system has allowed us to determine the instant and position at which the impact is produced. The proposed automatic system allows us to fully integrate impact point detection and the task of inspecting the point or zone at which this impact occurs. What is more, the proposed method can be easily integrated into a robot-based inspection system capable of moving over 3D metallic structures, thus avoiding (or minimizing the need for direct human intervention. Experimental results are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

A Structural Evaluation of a Large-Scale Quasi-Experimental Microfinance Initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaboski, Joseph P; Townsend, Robert M

2011-09-01

This paper uses a structural model to understand, predict, and evaluate the impact of an exogenous microcredit intervention program, the Thai Million Baht Village Fund program. We model household decisions in the face of borrowing constraints, income uncertainty, and high-yield indivisible investment opportunities. After estimation of parameters using pre-program data, we evaluate the model's ability to predict and interpret the impact of the village fund intervention. Simulations from the model mirror the data in yielding a greater increase in consumption than credit, which is interpreted as evidence of credit constraints. A cost-benefit analysis using the model indicates that some households value the program much more than its per household cost, but overall the program costs 20 percent more than the sum of these benefits.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) application to the structural health assessment of large civil engineering structures

Science.gov (United States)

Castiglioni, Carlo A.; Rabuffetti, Angelo S.; Chiarelli, Gian P.; Brambilla, Giovanni; Georgi, Julia

2017-09-01

This paper summarizes the experience gained in the structural assessment of an existing Thermal Power Plant (TPP) located near Pristina, focusing on the cooling tower and the flue gas stack, which are the main structures of the TPP. Scope of the work was the evaluation of the actual conditions of the structures and to identify the eventual repair measures in order to guarantee a safe and reliable operation of the TPP in view of the extension of its operational lifetime for the next 30 years. With this aim, a sequence of different activities was performed, like: a topographic survey to compare the actual geometrical configuration with the design one, an investigation of the material properties, an in depth visual inspection in order to detect any visible existing damage. Due to the very high elevations of the constructions and to the lack of appropriate structures aimed to their inspections and maintenance, this activity could not be performed without using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). This resulted the safest, most economical and less time-consuming solution identified to map the surface damage in the reinforced concrete elements of these large structures including zones that could not be inspected because out of reach by other means.

Experiencing the Impact of Organizational Structure on Planning and Visioning Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Pennisi, Lisa

2012-01-01

The various ways natural resource agencies and programs are structured and how that impacts leadership style and products is an important concept for students to understand. Leadership style and organizational structure determine visions, missions, goals and objectives that set the tone for organizations. This exercise demonstrates organizational…

Non-linear finite element analyses applicable for the design of large reinforced concrete structures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Engen, M; Hendriks, M.A.N.; Øverli, Jan Arve; Åldstedt, Erik

2017-01-01

In order to make non-linear finite element analyses applicable during assessments of the ultimate load capacity or the structural reliability of large reinforced concrete structures, there is need for an efficient solution strategy with a low modelling uncertainty. A solution strategy comprises

Socio-Cognitive Phenotypes Differentially Modulate Large-Scale Structural Covariance Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Valk, Sofie L; Bernhardt, Boris C; Böckler, Anne; Trautwein, Fynn-Mathis; Kanske, Philipp; Singer, Tania

2017-02-01

Functional neuroimaging studies have suggested the existence of 2 largely distinct social cognition networks, one for theory of mind (taking others' cognitive perspective) and another for empathy (sharing others' affective states). To address whether these networks can also be dissociated at the level of brain structure, we combined behavioral phenotyping across multiple socio-cognitive tasks with 3-Tesla MRI cortical thickness and structural covariance analysis in 270 healthy adults, recruited across 2 sites. Regional thickness mapping only provided partial support for divergent substrates, highlighting that individual differences in empathy relate to left insular-opercular thickness while no correlation between thickness and mentalizing scores was found. Conversely, structural covariance analysis showed clearly divergent network modulations by socio-cognitive and -affective phenotypes. Specifically, individual differences in theory of mind related to structural integration between temporo-parietal and dorsomedial prefrontal regions while empathy modulated the strength of dorsal anterior insula networks. Findings were robust across both recruitment sites, suggesting generalizability. At the level of structural network embedding, our study provides a double dissociation between empathy and mentalizing. Moreover, our findings suggest that structural substrates of higher-order social cognition are reflected rather in interregional networks than in the the local anatomical markup of specific regions per se. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Extremely large magnetoresistance and electronic structure of TmSb

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yi-Yan; Zhang, Hongyun; Lu, Xiao-Qin; Sun, Lin-Lin; Xu, Sheng; Lu, Zhong-Yi; Liu, Kai; Zhou, Shuyun; Xia, Tian-Long

2018-02-01

We report the magnetotransport properties and the electronic structure of TmSb. TmSb exhibits extremely large transverse magnetoresistance and Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillation at low temperature and high magnetic field. Interestingly, the split of Fermi surfaces induced by the nonsymmetric spin-orbit interaction has been observed from SdH oscillation. The analysis of the angle-dependent SdH oscillation illustrates the contribution of each Fermi surface to the conductivity. The electronic structure revealed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and first-principles calculations demonstrates a gap at the X point and the absence of band inversion. Combined with the trivial Berry phase extracted from SdH oscillation and the nearly equal concentrations of electron and hole from Hall measurements, it is suggested that TmSb is a topologically trivial semimetal and the observed XMR originates from the electron-hole compensation and high mobility.

Quantifying the Impacts of Outlet Control Structures on Lake Hydrology and Ecology

Science.gov (United States)

Budd, B. M.; Kendall, A. D.; Martin, S. L.; Hyndman, D. W.

2012-12-01

There have been limited studies of the impacts of lake level control structures on stream ecology and lake property erosion. We examine the influence of historical lake level management strategies on Higgins Lake in Michigan, which is regionally known for recreation, fisheries, and scenery. Lake control structures have potentially increased shoreline erosion and seasonally-reduced flow through the outlets, likely impacting fish habitat. Concerns over these issues spurred local land owners to seek a study on the possible hydrologic and ecological impacts of the removal or modification of the control structure. Bathymetry maps are fundamental to understanding and managing lake ecosystems. From the 1930's through the 1950's, these maps were developed for thousands of Michigan inland lakes using soundings lowered through holes cut in winter lake ice. Increased land use change and alterations of lake outlets have likely modified erosion and sedimentation rates of these lake systems. Our research includes bathymetry surveys of Higgins Lake using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and side-scan sonar. The new higher-resolution bathymetry serves as the basis for simulating impacts of potential changes in lake management, on a verity of inpoint including shoreline position and fish habitat.

LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE AS A COSMIC STANDARD RULER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Changbom; Kim, Young-Rae

2010-01-01

We propose to use the large-scale structure (LSS) of the universe as a cosmic standard ruler. This is possible because the pattern of large-scale distribution of matter is scale-dependent and does not change in comoving space during the linear-regime evolution of structure. By examining the pattern of LSS in several redshift intervals it is possible to reconstruct the expansion history of the universe, and thus to measure the cosmological parameters governing the expansion of the universe. The features of the large-scale matter distribution that can be used as standard rulers include the topology of LSS and the overall shapes of the power spectrum and correlation function. The genus, being an intrinsic topology measure, is insensitive to systematic effects such as the nonlinear gravitational evolution, galaxy biasing, and redshift-space distortion, and thus is an ideal cosmic ruler when galaxies in redshift space are used to trace the initial matter distribution. The genus remains unchanged as far as the rank order of density is conserved, which is true for linear and weakly nonlinear gravitational evolution, monotonic galaxy biasing, and mild redshift-space distortions. The expansion history of the universe can be constrained by comparing the theoretically predicted genus corresponding to an adopted set of cosmological parameters with the observed genus measured by using the redshift-comoving distance relation of the same cosmological model.

Structure of large spin expansion of anomalous dimensions at strong coupling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beccaria, M.; Forini, V.; Tirziu, A.; Tseytlin, A.A.

2009-01-01

The anomalous dimensions of planar N=4 SYM theory operators like tr(ΦD + S Φ) expanded in large spin S have the asymptotics γ=flnS+f c +1/S (f 11 lnS+f 10 )+..., where f (the universal scaling function or cusp anomaly), f c and f mn are given by power series in the 't Hooft coupling λ. The subleading coefficients appear to be related by the so-called functional relation and parity (reciprocity) property of the function expressing γ in terms of the conformal spin of the collinear group. Here we study the structure of such large spin expansion at strong coupling via AdS/CFT, i.e. by using the dual description in terms of folded spinning string in AdS 5 . The large spin expansion of the classical string energy happens to have exactly the same structure as that of γ in the perturbative gauge theory. Moreover, the functional relation and the reciprocity constraints on the coefficients are also satisfied. We compute the leading string 1-loop corrections to the coefficients f c , f 11 , f 10 and verify the functional/reciprocity relations at subleading 1/(√(λ)) order. This provides a strong indication that these relations hold not only in weak coupling (gauge-theory) but also in strong coupling (string-theory) perturbative expansions

Impact of environmental inputs on reverse-engineering approach to network structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jianhua; Sinfield, James L; Buchanan-Wollaston, Vicky; Feng, Jianfeng

2009-12-04

Uncovering complex network structures from a biological system is one of the main topic in system biology. The network structures can be inferred by the dynamical Bayesian network or Granger causality, but neither techniques have seriously taken into account the impact of environmental inputs. With considerations of natural rhythmic dynamics of biological data, we propose a system biology approach to reveal the impact of environmental inputs on network structures. We first represent the environmental inputs by a harmonic oscillator and combine them with Granger causality to identify environmental inputs and then uncover the causal network structures. We also generalize it to multiple harmonic oscillators to represent various exogenous influences. This system approach is extensively tested with toy models and successfully applied to a real biological network of microarray data of the flowering genes of the model plant Arabidopsis Thaliana. The aim is to identify those genes that are directly affected by the presence of the sunlight and uncover the interactive network structures associating with flowering metabolism. We demonstrate that environmental inputs are crucial for correctly inferring network structures. Harmonic causal method is proved to be a powerful technique to detect environment inputs and uncover network structures, especially when the biological data exhibit periodic oscillations.

Definition of technology development missions for early space stations. Large space structures, phase 2, midterm review

Science.gov (United States)

1984-01-01

The large space structures technology development missions to be performed on an early manned space station was studied and defined and the resources needed and the design implications to an early space station to carry out these large space structures technology development missions were determined. Emphasis is being placed on more detail in mission designs and space station resource requirements.

Evaluation of linear DC motor actuators for control of large space structures

OpenAIRE

Ide, Eric Nelson

1988-01-01

This thesis examines the use of a linear DC motor as a proof mass actuator for the control of large space structures. A model for the actuator, including the current and force compensation used, is derived. Because of the force compensation, the actuator is unstable when placed on a structure. Relative position feedback is used for actuator stabilization. This method of compensation couples the actuator to the mast in a feedback configuration. Three compensator designs are prop...

Galaxies distribution in the universe: large-scale statistics and structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maurogordato, Sophie

1988-01-01

This research thesis addresses the distribution of galaxies in the Universe, and more particularly large scale statistics and structures. Based on an assessment of the main used statistical techniques, the author outlines the need to develop additional tools to correlation functions in order to characterise the distribution. She introduces a new indicator: the probability of a volume randomly tested in the distribution to be void. This allows a characterisation of void properties at the work scales (until 10h"-"1 Mpc) in the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Redshift Survey, or CfA catalog. A systematic analysis of statistical properties of different sub-samples has then been performed with respect to the size and location, luminosity class, and morphological type. This analysis is then extended to different scenarios of structure formation. A program of radial speed measurements based on observations allows the determination of possible relationships between apparent structures. The author also presents results of the search for south extensions of Perseus supernova [fr

Preliminary results on the dynamics of large and flexible space structures in Halo orbits

Science.gov (United States)

Colagrossi, Andrea; Lavagna, Michèle

2017-05-01

The global exploration roadmap suggests, among other ambitious future space programmes, a possible manned outpost in lunar vicinity, to support surface operations and further astronaut training for longer and deeper space missions and transfers. In particular, a Lagrangian point orbit location - in the Earth- Moon system - is suggested for a manned cis-lunar infrastructure; proposal which opens an interesting field of study from the astrodynamics perspective. Literature offers a wide set of scientific research done on orbital dynamics under the Three-Body Problem modelling approach, while less of it includes the attitude dynamics modelling as well. However, whenever a large space structure (ISS-like) is considered, not only the coupled orbit-attitude dynamics should be modelled to run more accurate analyses, but the structural flexibility should be included too. The paper, starting from the well-known Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem formulation, presents some preliminary results obtained by adding a coupled orbit-attitude dynamical model and the effects due to the large structure flexibility. In addition, the most relevant perturbing phenomena, such as the Solar Radiation Pressure (SRP) and the fourth-body (Sun) gravity, are included in the model as well. A multi-body approach has been preferred to represent possible configurations of the large cis-lunar infrastructure: interconnected simple structural elements - such as beams, rods or lumped masses linked by springs - build up the space segment. To better investigate the relevance of the flexibility effects, the lumped parameters approach is compared with a distributed parameters semi-analytical technique. A sensitivity analysis of system dynamics, with respect to different configurations and mechanical properties of the extended structure, is also presented, in order to highlight drivers for the lunar outpost design. Furthermore, a case study for a large and flexible space structure in Halo orbits around

ShakeNet: a portable wireless sensor network for instrumenting large civil structures

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Monica D.; Hao, Shuai; Mishra, Nilesh; Govindan, Ramesh; Nigbor, Robert

2015-08-03

We report our findings from a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program-funded project to develop and test a wireless, portable, strong-motion network of up to 40 triaxial accelerometers for structural health monitoring. The overall goal of the project was to record ambient vibrations for several days from USGS-instrumented structures. Structural health monitoring has important applications in fields like civil engineering and the study of earthquakes. The emergence of wireless sensor networks provides a promising means to such applications. However, while most wireless sensor networks are still in the experimentation stage, very few take into consideration the realistic earthquake engineering application requirements. To collect comprehensive data for structural health monitoring for civil engineers, high-resolution vibration sensors and sufficient sampling rates should be adopted, which makes it challenging for current wireless sensor network technology in the following ways: processing capabilities, storage limit, and communication bandwidth. The wireless sensor network has to meet expectations set by wired sensor devices prevalent in the structural health monitoring community. For this project, we built and tested an application-realistic, commercially based, portable, wireless sensor network called ShakeNet for instrumentation of large civil structures, especially for buildings, bridges, or dams after earthquakes. Two to three people can deploy ShakeNet sensors within hours after an earthquake to measure the structural response of the building or bridge during aftershocks. ShakeNet involved the development of a new sensing platform (ShakeBox) running a software suite for networking, data collection, and monitoring. Deployments reported here on a tall building and a large dam were real-world tests of ShakeNet operation, and helped to refine both hardware and software. 

Large-scale coherent structures of suspended dust concentration in the neutral atmospheric surface layer: A large-eddy simulation study

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yangyue; Hu, Ruifeng; Zheng, Xiaojing

2018-04-01

Dust particles can remain suspended in the atmospheric boundary layer, motions of which are primarily determined by turbulent diffusion and gravitational settling. Little is known about the spatial organizations of suspended dust concentration and how turbulent coherent motions contribute to the vertical transport of dust particles. Numerous studies in recent years have revealed that large- and very-large-scale motions in the logarithmic region of laboratory-scale turbulent boundary layers also exist in the high Reynolds number atmospheric boundary layer, but their influence on dust transport is still unclear. In this study, numerical simulations of dust transport in a neutral atmospheric boundary layer based on an Eulerian modeling approach and large-eddy simulation technique are performed to investigate the coherent structures of dust concentration. The instantaneous fields confirm the existence of very long meandering streaks of dust concentration, with alternating high- and low-concentration regions. A strong negative correlation between the streamwise velocity and concentration and a mild positive correlation between the vertical velocity and concentration are observed. The spatial length scales and inclination angles of concentration structures are determined, compared with their flow counterparts. The conditionally averaged fields vividly depict that high- and low-concentration events are accompanied by a pair of counter-rotating quasi-streamwise vortices, with a downwash inside the low-concentration region and an upwash inside the high-concentration region. Through the quadrant analysis, it is indicated that the vertical dust transport is closely related to the large-scale roll modes, and ejections in high-concentration regions are the major mechanisms for the upward motions of dust particles.

Support Vector Machines Trained with Evolutionary Algorithms Employing Kernel Adatron for Large Scale Classification of Protein Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Arana-Daniel, Nancy; Gallegos, Alberto A; López-Franco, Carlos; Alanís, Alma Y; Morales, Jacob; López-Franco, Adriana

2016-01-01

With the increasing power of computers, the amount of data that can be processed in small periods of time has grown exponentially, as has the importance of classifying large-scale data efficiently. Support vector machines have shown good results classifying large amounts of high-dimensional data, such as data generated by protein structure prediction, spam recognition, medical diagnosis, optical character recognition and text classification, etc. Most state of the art approaches for large-scale learning use traditional optimization methods, such as quadratic programming or gradient descent, which makes the use of evolutionary algorithms for training support vector machines an area to be explored. The present paper proposes an approach that is simple to implement based on evolutionary algorithms and Kernel-Adatron for solving large-scale classification problems, focusing on protein structure prediction. The functional properties of proteins depend upon their three-dimensional structures. Knowing the structures of proteins is crucial for biology and can lead to improvements in areas such as medicine, agriculture and biofuels.

Impact craters in South America

CERN Document Server

Acevedo, Rogelio Daniel; Ponce, Juan Federico; Stinco, Sergio G

2015-01-01

A complete and updated catalogue of impact craters and structures in South America from 2014 is presented here. Approximately eighty proven, suspected and disproven structures have been identified by several sources in this continent. All the impact sites of this large continent have been exhaustively reviewed: the proved ones, the possible ones and some very doubtful. Many sites remain without a clear geological ""in situ"" confirmation and some of them could be even rejected. Argentina and Brazil are leading the list containing almost everything detected. In Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Guyana,

Evaluation of the Impact of the EU Structural Support on the Competitiveness of Lithuanian Economics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rita Remeikiene

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Increasing amounts of the EU structural support in Lithuania require theoretical and practical research to disclose the determinants that have a significant impact on the competitiveness of Lithuanian economics. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of the EU structural support on the competitiveness of Lithuanian economics. The methods of the research include systematic and comparative analysis of the scientific literature, expert evaluation and linear regression. The research disclosed the main determinants of country’s competitiveness. The results have revealed that EU structural support has the most significant impact on Lithuanian engineering and technological infrastructure. The impact of the support on country’s macroeconomic, scientific and social environment can also be considered as significant. The EU structural support has medium strong impact on education and business environment conditions in Lithuania. It has been established that, in the field of business advancement, Lithuanian should be rated as medium competitive. Hence, the increase in country’s competitiveness by employing EU structural funds should be treated as one of priority aims. In addition, responsible authorities should perform with higher efficiency seeking for higher competitiveness of the country.

Interactive computer graphics and its role in control system design of large space structures

Science.gov (United States)

Reddy, A. S. S. R.

1985-01-01

This paper attempts to show the relevance of interactive computer graphics in the design of control systems to maintain attitude and shape of large space structures to accomplish the required mission objectives. The typical phases of control system design, starting from the physical model such as modeling the dynamics, modal analysis, and control system design methodology are reviewed and the need of the interactive computer graphics is demonstrated. Typical constituent parts of large space structures such as free-free beams and free-free plates are used to demonstrate the complexity of the control system design and the effectiveness of the interactive computer graphics.

Large meteorite impacts: The K/T model

Science.gov (United States)

Bohor, B. F.

1992-01-01

The Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary event represents probably the largest meteorite impact known on Earth. It is the only impact event conclusively linked to a worldwide mass extinction, a reflection of its gigantic scale and global influence. Until recently, the impact crater was not definitively located and only the distal ejecta of this impact was available for study. However, detailed investigations of this ejecta's mineralogy, geochemistry, microstratigraphy, and textures have allowed its modes of ejection and dispersal to be modeled without benefit of a source crater of known size and location.

Universal properties of type IIB and F-theory flux compactifications at large complex structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marsh, M.C. David; Sousa, Kepa

2016-01-01

We consider flux compactifications of type IIB string theory and F-theory in which the respective superpotentials at large complex structure are dominated by cubic or quartic terms in the complex structure moduli. In this limit, the low-energy effective theory exhibits universal properties that are insensitive to the details of the compactification manifold or the flux configuration. Focussing on the complex structure and axio-dilaton sector, we show that there are no vacua in this region and the spectrum of the Hessian matrix is highly peaked and consists only of three distinct eigenvalues (0, 2m 3/2 2 and 8m 3/2 2 ), independently of the number of moduli. We briefly comment on how the inclusion of Kähler moduli affect these findings. Our results generalise those of Brodie & Marsh http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/JHEP01(2016)037, in which these universal properties were found in a subspace of the large complex structure limit of type IIB compactifications.

Local damage to reinforced concrete structures caused by impact of aircraft engine missiles. Pt. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugano, T.; Tsubota, H.; Kasai, Y.; Koshika, N.; Ohnuma, H.; Von Riesemann, W.A.; Bickel, D.C.; Parks, M.B.

1993-01-01

Structural damage induced by an aircraft crashing into a reinforced concrete structure includes local damage caused by the deformable engines, and global damage caused by the entire aircraft. Local damage to the target may consist of spalling of concrete from its front face together with missile penetration into it, scabbing of concrete from its rear face, and perforation of missile through it. Until now, local damage to concrete structures has been mainly evaluated by rigid missile impact tests. Past research work regarding local damage caused by impact of deformable missiles has been limited. This paper presents the results of a series of impact tests of small-, intermediate-, and full-scale engine models into reinforced concrete panels. The purpose of the tests was to determine the local damage to a reinforced concrete structure caused by the impact of a deformable aircraft engine. (orig.)

The Wibbly-Wobbly Moon: Rotational Dynamics of the Moon After Large Impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Keane, J. T.; Johnson, B. C.; Matsuyama, I.; Siegler, M.

2017-12-01

The spins of planets are not constant with time; they continuously evolve in response to both external and internal forces. One of the most dramatic ways a planet's spin can change is via impacts. Impacts change the planet's angular momentum, energy, and moments of inertia. These changes can have important consequences for the geology of the planet. For the well-studied case of the Moon, these repercussions include everything from changing the orientation of the magnetic field, controlling the geometry of fault networks, and altering the stability of volatiles (e.g. water ice) in permanently shadowed regions. While previous studies have investigated the dynamical effects of impacts on the Moon, most use simplistic models for the impact basin formation process—often only considering the impulsive change in the Moon's angular momentum, and occasionally the change in the Moon's moments of inertia from a simplified basin geometry (e.g. a cylindrical hole surrounded by a cylindrical ejecta blanket). These simplifications obscure some of the subtler and more complicated dynamics that occur in the aftermath of an impact. In this work, we present new model results for the rotational dynamics of the Moon after large, basin-forming impacts. We couple iSALE hydrocode simulations with the analytical and numerical formalisms of rotational dynamics. These simulations allow us to quantitatively track how different impact processes alter the Moon's moments of inertia, including basin formation, mantle uplift, impact heating, and ejecta-blanket emplacement. This unique combination of techniques enables us to more accurately track the spin of the Moon in the aftermath of these impacts, including periods of non-synchronous and non-principal-axis rotation, libration, and long-term reorientation (true polar wander). We find that the perturbation of the Moon's moments of inertia immediately after impact is several times larger than what is expected based on the present-day gravity

Impact analysis of automotive structures with distributed smart material systems

Science.gov (United States)

Peelamedu, Saravanan M.; Naganathan, Ganapathy; Buckley, Stephen J.

1999-06-01

New class of automobiles has structural skins that are quite different from their current designs. Particularly, new families of composite skins are developed with new injection molding processes. These skins while support the concept of lighter vehicles of the future, are also susceptible to damage upon impact. It is important that their design should be based on a better understanding on the type of impact loads and the resulting strains and damage. It is possible that these skins can be integrally designed with active materials to counter damages. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of a new class of automotive skins, using piezoceramic as a smart material. The main objective is to consider the complex system with, the skin to be modeled as a layered plate structure involving a lightweight material with foam and active materials imbedded on them. To begin with a cantilever beam structure is subjected to a load through piezoceramic and the resulting strain at the active material site is predicted accounting for the material properties, piezoceramic thickness, adhesive thickness including the effect of adhesives. A finite element analysis is carried out to compare experimental work. Further work in this direction would provide an analytical tool that will provide the basis for algorithms to predict and counter impacts on the future class of automobiles.

Assessment of current state of the art in modeling techniques and analysis methods for large space structures

Science.gov (United States)

Noor, A. K.

1983-01-01

Advances in continuum modeling, progress in reduction methods, and analysis and modeling needs for large space structures are covered with specific attention given to repetitive lattice trusses. As far as continuum modeling is concerned, an effective and verified analysis capability exists for linear thermoelastic stress, birfurcation buckling, and free vibration problems of repetitive lattices. However, application of continuum modeling to nonlinear analysis needs more development. Reduction methods are very effective for bifurcation buckling and static (steady-state) nonlinear analysis. However, more work is needed to realize their full potential for nonlinear dynamic and time-dependent problems. As far as analysis and modeling needs are concerned, three areas are identified: loads determination, modeling and nonclassical behavior characteristics, and computational algorithms. The impact of new advances in computer hardware, software, integrated analysis, CAD/CAM stems, and materials technology is also discussed.

Segmentation and fragmentation of melt jets due to generation of large-scale structures. Observation in low subcooling conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugiyama, Ken-ichiro; Yamada, Tsuyoshi

1999-01-01

In order to clarify a mechanism of melt-jet breakup and fragmentation entirely different from the mechanism of stripping, a series of experiments were carried out by using molten tin jets of 100 grams with initial temperatures from 250degC to 900degC. Molten tin jets with a small kinematic viscosity and a large thermal diffusivity were used to observe breakup and fragmentation of melt jets enhanced thermally and hydrodynamically. We observed jet columns with second-stage large-scale structures generated by the coalescence of large-scale structures recognized in the field of fluid mechanics. At a greater depth, the segmentation of jet columns between second-stage large-scale structures and the fragmentation of the segmented jet columns were observed. It is reasonable to consider that the segmentation and the fragmentation of jet columns are caused by the boiling of water hydrodynamically entrained within second-stage large-scale structures. (author)

Measures of large-scale structure in the CfA redshift survey slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Lapparent, V.; Geller, M.J.; Huchra, J.P.

1991-01-01

Variations of the counts-in-cells with cell size are used here to define two statistical measures of large-scale clustering in three 6 deg slices of the CfA redshift survey. A percolation criterion is used to estimate the filling factor which measures the fraction of the total volume in the survey occupied by the large-scale structures. For the full 18 deg slice of the CfA redshift survey, f is about 0.25 + or - 0.05. After removing groups with more than five members from two of the slices, variations of the counts in occupied cells with cell size have a power-law behavior with a slope beta about 2.2 on scales from 1-10/h Mpc. Application of both this statistic and the percolation analysis to simulations suggests that a network of two-dimensional structures is a better description of the geometry of the clustering in the CfA slices than a network of one-dimensional structures. Counts-in-cells are also used to estimate at 0.3 galaxy h-squared/Mpc the average galaxy surface density in sheets like the Great Wall. 46 refs

Evidence for non-Abelian dark matter from large scale structure?

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2015-01-01

If dark matter multiplicity arises from a weakly coupled non-Abelian dark gauge group the corresponding "dark gluons" can have interesting signatures in cosmology which I will review: 1. the "dark gluons" contribute to the radiation content of the universe and 2. gluon interactions with the dark matter may explain the >3 sigma discrepancy between precision fits to the CMB from Planck and direct measurements of large scale structure in the universe.

Development of pressure containment and damage tolerance technology for composite fuselage structures in large transport aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, P. J.; Thomson, L. W.; Wilson, R. D.

1986-01-01

NASA sponsored composites research and development programs were set in place to develop the critical engineering technologies in large transport aircraft structures. This NASA-Boeing program focused on the critical issues of damage tolerance and pressure containment generic to the fuselage structure of large pressurized aircraft. Skin-stringer and honeycomb sandwich composite fuselage shell designs were evaluated to resolve these issues. Analyses were developed to model the structural response of the fuselage shell designs, and a development test program evaluated the selected design configurations to appropriate load conditions.

Impact damage response of natural stitched single lap-joint in composite structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghasemnejad, H.; Argentiero, Y.; Tez, T.A.; Barrington, P.E.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • To study the impact resistance of single lap-joints in composite structures. • To improve the impact resistance of stitched single lap joints using natural Flax yarn. • To investigate the effect of stitching on the damage process of composite materials. • To develop FE techniques to model the impact process of composite structures using LSDYNA. - Abstract: In this paper the damage behaviour of natural stitched composite single lap-joints are investigated under low velocity impact loading conditions. For this study, the laminated hybrid composite beams were pinned using Flax yarns before curing process. The Charpy impact test was chosen to study the energy absorbing capability of single lap composite joints. Composite beams were fabricated from combination of glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy composites. It was shown that composite beams which are stitched through the thickness are able to absorb more energy in comparison with adhesive bonded composite joints in the hybrid composite beams. The Charpy impact test of stitched composite single lap joint was also simulated by finite element analysis using software LS-DYNA and the results verified with relevant experimental data

Behavior of auxetic structures under compression and impact forces

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Chulho; Vora, Hitesh D.; Chang, Young

2018-02-01

In recent years, various auxetic material structures have been designed and fabricated for diverse applications that utilize normal materials that follow Hooke’s law but still show the properties of negative Poisson’s ratios (NPR). One potential application is body protection pads that are comfortable to wear and effective in protecting body parts by reducing impact force and preventing injuries in high-risk individuals such as elderly people, industrial workers, law enforcement and military personnel, and athletes. This paper reports an integrated theoretical, computational, and experimental investigation conducted for typical auxetic materials that exhibit NPR properties. Parametric 3D CAD models of auxetic structures such as re-entrant hexagonal cells and arrowheads were developed. Then, key structural characteristics of protection pads were evaluated through static analyses of FEA models. Finally, impact analyses were conducted through dynamic simulations of FEA models to validate the results obtained from the static analyses. Efforts were also made to relate the individual and/or combined effect of auxetic structures and materials to the overall stiffness and shock-absorption performance of the protection pads. An advanced additive manufacturing (3D printing) technique was used to build prototypes of the auxetic structures. Three different materials typically used for fused deposition modeling technology, namely polylactic acid (PLA) and thermoplastic polyurethane material (NinjaFlex® and SemiFlex®), were used for different stiffness and shock-absorption properties. The 3D printed prototypes were then tested and the results were compared to the computational predictions. The results showed that the auxetic material could be effective in reducing the shock forces. Each structure and material combination demonstrated unique structural properties such as stiffness, Poisson’s ratio, and efficiency in shock absorption. Auxetic structures showed better shock

Low temperature impact testing of welded structural wrought iron