A 40 GByte/s read-out system for GEM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowden, M.; Carrel, J.; Dorenbosch, J.; Kapoor, V.

1994-04-01

The preliminary design of the read-out system for the GEM (Gammas, Electrons, Muons) detector at the Superconducting Super Collider is presented. The system reads all digitized data from the detector data sources at a Level 1 trigger rate of up to 100 kHz. A total read-out bandwidth of 40 GBytes/s is available. Data are stored in buffers that are accessible for further event filtering by an on-line, processor farm. Data are transported to the farm only as they are needed by the higher-level trigger algorithms, leading to a reduced bandwidth requirement in the Data Acquisition System

The acoustic center of laboratory standard microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barrera Figueroa, Salvador; Rasmussen, Knud; Jacobsen, Finn

2006-01-01

An experimental procedure is described for obtaining the effective acoustic distance between pairs of microphones coupled by a free field, leading to the determination of the position of the acoustic center of the microphones. The procedure, which is based on measuring the modulus of the electrical...... transfer impedance, has been applied to a large number of microphones. In all cases effects due to reflections from the walls of the anechoic chamber and the interference between the microphones have been removed using a time-selective technique. The procedure of determining the position of the acoustic...... center from the inverse distance law is analyzed. Experimental values of the acoustic center of laboratory standard microphones are presented, and numerical results obtained using the boundary element method supplement the experimental data. Estimated uncertainties are also presented. The results...

Hybrid method for determining the parameters of condenser microphones from measured membrane velocities and numerical calculations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barrera Figueroa, Salvador; Rasmussen, Knud; Jacobsen, Finn

2009-01-01

to this problem is to measure the velocity distribution of the membrane by means of a non-contact method, such as laser vibrometry. The measured velocity distribution can be used together with a numerical formulation such as the boundary element method for estimating the microphone response and other parameters......, e.g., the acoustic center. In this work, such a hybrid method is presented and examined. The velocity distributions of a number of condenser microphones have been determined using a laser vibrometer, and these measured velocity distributions have been used for estimating microphone responses......Typically, numerical calculations of the pressure, free-field, and random-incidence response of a condenser microphone are carried out on the basis of an assumed displacement distribution of the diaphragm of the microphone; the conventional assumption is that the displacement follows a Bessel...

3 ns single-shot read-out in a quantum dot-based memory structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nowozin, T.; Bimberg, D.; Beckel, A.; Lorke, A.; Geller, M.

2014-01-01

Fast read-out of two to six charges per dot from the ground and first excited state in a quantum dot (QD)-based memory is demonstrated using a two-dimensional electron gas. Single-shot measurements on modulation-doped field-effect transistor structures with embedded InAs/GaAs QDs show read-out times as short as 3 ns. At low temperature (T = 4.2 K) this read-out time is still limited by the parasitics of the setup and the device structure. Faster read-out times and a larger read-out signal are expected for an improved setup and device structure

Technical report on micro-mechanical versus conventional modelling in non-linear fracture mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-07-01

While conventional fracture mechanics is capable of predicting crack growth behaviour if sufficient experimental observations are available, micro-mechanical modelling can both increase the accuracy of these predictions and model phenomena that are inaccessible by the conventional theory such as the ductile-cleavage temperature transition. A common argument against micro-mechanical modelling is that it is too complicated for use in routine engineering applications. This is both a computational and an educational problem. That micro-mechanical modelling is unnecessarily complicated is certainly true in many situations. The on-going development of micro-mechanical models, computational algorithms and computer speed will however most probably diminish the computational problem rather rapidly. Compare for instance the rate of development of computational methods for structural analysis. Meanwhile micro-mechanical modelling may serve as a tool by which more simplified engineering methods can be validated. The process of receiving a wide acceptance of the new methods is probably much slower. This involves many steps. First the research community must be in reasonable agreement on the methods and their use. Then the methods have to be implemented into computer software and into code procedures. The development and acceptance of conventional fracture mechanics may serve as an historical example of the time required before a new methodology has received a wide usage. The CSNI Working Group on Integrity and Ageing (IAGE) decided to carry out a report on micro-mechanical modeling to promote this promising and valuable technique. The report presents a comparison with non-linear fracture mechanics and highlights key aspects that could lead to a better knowledge and accurate predictions. Content: - 1. Introduction; - 2. Concepts of non-linear fracture mechanics with point crack tip modelling; - 3. Micro-mechanical models for cleavage fracture; - 4, Micro-mechanical modelling of

Superconducting microphone for photoacoustic spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ribeiro, P.C.; Labrunie, M.; Weid, J.P. von der; Symko, O.G.

1982-07-01

A superconducting microphone has been developed for photoacoustic spectroscopy at low temperatures. The microphone consists of a thin mylar membrane coated with a film of lead whose motion is detected by a SQUID magnetometer. For the simple set-up presented here, the limiting pressure sensitivity is 7.5x10 -14 atmospheres/√Hz. (Author) [pt

Speech Intelligibility in Noise Using Throat and Acoustic Microphones

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Acker-Mills, Barbara

2004-01-01

... speech intelligibility. Speech intelligibility for signals generated by an acoustic microphone, a throat microphone, and the two microphones together was assessed using the Modified Rhyme Test (MRT...

Silicon microphones - a Danish perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bouwstra, Siebe; Storgaard-Larsen, Torben; Scheeper, Patrick

1998-01-01

Two application areas of microphones are discussed, those for precision measurement and those for hearing instruments. Silicon microphones are under investigation for both areas, and Danish industry plays a key role in both. The opportunities of silicon, as well as the challenges and expectations......, are discussed. For precision measurement the challenge for silicon is large, while for hearing instruments silicon seems to be very promising....

The 160 TES bolometer read-out using FDM for SAFARI

Science.gov (United States)

Hijmering, R. A.; den Hartog, R. H.; van der Linden, A. J.; Ridder, M.; Bruijn, M. P.; van der Kuur, J.; van Leeuwen, B. J.; van Winden, P.; Jackson, B.

2014-07-01

For the read out of the Transition Edge Sensors (TES) bolometer arrays of the SAFARI instrument on the Japanese background-limited far-IR SPICA mission SRON is developing a Frequency Domain Multiplexing (FDM) read-out system. The next step after the successful demonstration of the read out of 38 TES bolometers using FDM was to demonstrate the FDM readout of the required 160 TES bolometers. Of the 160 LC filter and TES bolometer chains 151 have been connected and after cooldown 148 of the resonances could be identified. Although initial operation and locking of the pixels went smoothly the experiment revealed several complications. In this paper we describe the 160 pixel FDM set-up, show the results and discuss the issues faced during operation of the 160 pixel FDM experiment.

Improved Design of Microphone-Array Hearing Aids

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Greenberg, Julie

1994-01-01

...). Research on microphone array hearing aids is motivated by the lack of success of single-microphone systems, as well as the documented advantages of binaural hearing and multiple-element sensing systems...

Relations between a micro-mechanical model and a damage model for ductile failure in shear

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tvergaard, Viggo; Nielsen, Kim Lau

2010-01-01

Gurson type constitutive models that account for void growth to coalescence are not able to describe ductile fracture in simple shear, where there is no hydrostatic tension in the material. But recent micro-mechanical studies have shown that in shear the voids are flattened out to micro-cracks, w......Gurson type constitutive models that account for void growth to coalescence are not able to describe ductile fracture in simple shear, where there is no hydrostatic tension in the material. But recent micro-mechanical studies have shown that in shear the voids are flattened out to micro...

A Micromechanical RF Channelizer

Science.gov (United States)

Akgul, Mehmet

applications that must be stable against environmental perturbations, such as acceleration or power supply variations. Measurements on fabricated devices in fact confirm predictions by the new model of up to 4x improvement in frequency stability against DC-bias voltage variations for contour-mode disk resonators as the resistance loading their ports increases. By enhancing circuit visualization, this circuit model makes more obvious the circuit design procedures and topologies most beneficial for certain mechanical circuits, e.g., filters and oscillators. The second method enables simultaneous low motional resistance ( Rx 70,000) at 61 MHz using an improved ALD-partial electrode-to-resonator gap filling technique that reduces the Q-limiting surface losses of previous renditions by adding an alumina pre-coating before ALD of the gap-filling high-k dielectric. This effort increases the Q over the ˜10,000 of previous renditions by more than 6x towards demonstration of the first VHF micromechanical resonators in any material, piezoelectric or not, to meet the simultaneous high Q (>50,000) and low motional resistance Rx (gap spacing. Finally, the experimental results introduce a 39nm-gap capacitive transducer, voltage-controlled frequency tuning, and a stress relieving coupled array design that enable a 0.09% bandwidth 223.4 MHz channel-select filter with only 2.7dB of in-band insertion loss and 50dB rejection of out-of-band interferers. This amount of rejection is more than 23dB better than previous capacitive-gap transduced filter designs that did not benefit from sub-50nm gaps. It also comes in tandem with a 20dB shape factor of 2.7 realized by a hierarchical mechanical circuit design utilizing 206 micromechanical circuit elements, all contained in an area footprint of only 600mumx420mum. The key to such low insertion loss for this tiny percent bandwidth is Q's>8,800 supplied by polysilicon disk resonators employing for the first time capacitive transducer gaps small enough to

ALICE common read-out receiver card status and HLT implementation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Engel, Heiko; Kebschull, Udo [IRI, Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Collaboration: ALICE-Collaboration

2015-07-01

The ALICE Common Read-Out Receiver Card (C-RORC) is an FPGA based PCIe read out board with optical interfaces primarily developed to replace the previous ALICE High-Level Trigger (HLT) and Data Acquisition (DAQ) Read-Out Receiver Cards from Run1 with a state of the art hardware platform to cope with the increased link rates and event data volume of Run2. The large scale production of the C-RORCs for Run2 has been completed in cooperation with ATLAS and the boards are installed in the productive clusters of ALICE HLT, ALICE DAQ and ATLAS TDAQ ROS. This contribution describes the hardware and firmware of the C-RORC in the ALICE HLT application and its online processing capabilities. Additionally, a high level dataflow description approach to implement hardware processing steps more efficiently is presented.

The ribbon microphone - an educational aid: use of a ribbon microphone to teach multi-discipline computer simulation skills

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Wyk, Marius

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The ribbon microphone serves as an excellent aid to learn computer simulation and computational skills. Simulation of this seemingly simple device is all but trivial. The ribbon microphone is an all-in-one example for simulations in acoustics...

Optimised cantilever biosensor with piezoresistive read-out

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Peter; Thaysen, J.; Hansen, Ole

2003-01-01

We present a cantilever-based biochemical sensor with piezoresistive read-out which has been optimised for measuring surface stress. The resistors and the electrical wiring on the chip are encapsulated in low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) silicon nitride, so that the chip is well sui...

A Background Noise Reduction Technique Using Adaptive Noise Cancellation for Microphone Arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Spalt, Taylor B.; Fuller, Christopher R.; Brooks, Thomas F.; Humphreys, William M., Jr.; Brooks, Thomas F.

2011-01-01

Background noise in wind tunnel environments poses a challenge to acoustic measurements due to possible low or negative Signal to Noise Ratios (SNRs) present in the testing environment. This paper overviews the application of time domain Adaptive Noise Cancellation (ANC) to microphone array signals with an intended application of background noise reduction in wind tunnels. An experiment was conducted to simulate background noise from a wind tunnel circuit measured by an out-of-flow microphone array in the tunnel test section. A reference microphone was used to acquire a background noise signal which interfered with the desired primary noise source signal at the array. The technique s efficacy was investigated using frequency spectra from the array microphones, array beamforming of the point source region, and subsequent deconvolution using the Deconvolution Approach for the Mapping of Acoustic Sources (DAMAS) algorithm. Comparisons were made with the conventional techniques for improving SNR of spectral and Cross-Spectral Matrix subtraction. The method was seen to recover the primary signal level in SNRs as low as -29 dB and outperform the conventional methods. A second processing approach using the center array microphone as the noise reference was investigated for more general applicability of the ANC technique. It outperformed the conventional methods at the -29 dB SNR but yielded less accurate results when coherence over the array dropped. This approach could possibly improve conventional testing methodology but must be investigated further under more realistic testing conditions.

Sodium immersible high temperature microphone design description

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gavin, A.P.; Anderson, T.T.; Janicek, J.J.

1975-02-01

Argonne National Laboratory has developed a rugged high-temperature (HT) microphone for use as a sodium-immersed acoustic monitor in Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBRs). Microphones of this design have been extensively tested in room temperature water, in air up to 1200 0 F, and in sodium up to 1200 0 F. They have been successfully installed and employed as acoustic monitors in several operating liquid metal systems. The design, construction sequence, calibration, and testing of these microphones are described. 6 references. (U.S.)

Evaluation of silicon micro strip detectors with large read-out pitch

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Senyo, K.; Yamamura, K.; Tsuboyama, T.; Avrillon, S.; Asano, Y.; Bozek, A.; Natkaniec, Z.; Palka, H.; Rozanska, M.; Rybicki, K.

1996-01-01

For the development of the silicon micro-strip detector with the pitch of the readout strips as large as 250 μm on the ohmic side, we made samples with different structures. Charge collection was evaluated to optimize the width of implant strips, aluminum read-out strips, and/or the read-out scheme among strips. (orig.)

Method for preventing micromechanical structures from adhering to another object

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, J.H.; Ricco, A.J.

1998-06-16

A method for preventing micromechanical structures from adhering to another object includes the step of immersing a micromechanical structure and its associated substrate in a chemical species that does not stick to itself. The method can be employed during the manufacture of micromechanical structures to prevent micromechanical parts from sticking or adhering to one another and their associated substrate surface. 3 figs.

An Accurate Study on Capacitive Microphone with Circular Diaphragm Using a Higher Order Elasticity Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shakiba Dowlati

Full Text Available Abstract This study has been undertaken to investigate the mechanical behavior of the capacitive microphone with clamped circular diaphragm using modified couple stress theory in comparison to the classical one. Presence of the length scale parameter in modified couple stress theory provides the means to evaluate the size effect on the microphone mechanical behavior. Investigating Pull-in phenomenon and dynamic behavior of the microphone are the matters provided due to the application of a step DC voltage. Also the effects of different air damping coefficients on dynamic pull-in voltage and pull-in time have been studied. The output level or sensitivity of the microphone has been studied by investigating the frequency response in term of magnitude for different length scale parameters to figure out how the length scale parameter affects on the sensitivity of the capacitive microphone. To achieve these ends, the nonlinear differential equation of the circular diaphragm has been extracted using Kirchhoff thin plate theory. Then, a Step-by-Step Linearization Method (SSLM has been used to escape from the nonlinearity of the differential equation. Afterwards, Galerkin-based reduced-order model has been applied to solve the obtained equation.

3rd Conference on Microactuators and Micromechanisms

CERN Document Server

Ananthasuresh, Gondi; Corves, Burkhard; Petuya, Victor

2015-01-01

This book contains applications of micromechanisms and microactuators in several very modern technical fields such as mechatronics, biomechanics, machines, micromachines, robotics and apparatuses. In connection with its topic, the work combines the theoretical results with experimental tests on micromechanisms and microactuators. The book presents the most recent research advances in Machine and Mechanisms Science. It includes the accepted reviewed papers of researchers specialized in the topics of the conference: microactuators and micro-assembly, micro sensors involving movable solids, micro-opto-mechanical devices, mechanical tools for cell and tissue studies, micromanipulation and micro-stages, micro-scale flight and swimming, micro-robotics and surgical tools, micron-scale power generation, miniature manufacturing machines, micromechatronics and micro-mechanisms, biomechanics micro and nano scales and control issues in microsystems.  The presented applications of micromechanisms and microactuators i...

Motorcycle detection and counting using stereo camera, IR camera, and microphone array

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Bo; Gibson, David R. P.; Middleton, Dan

2013-03-01

Detection, classification, and characterization are the key to enhancing motorcycle safety, motorcycle operations and motorcycle travel estimation. Average motorcycle fatalities per Vehicle Mile Traveled (VMT) are currently estimated at 30 times those of auto fatalities. Although it has been an active research area for many years, motorcycle detection still remains a challenging task. Working with FHWA, we have developed a hybrid motorcycle detection and counting system using a suite of sensors including stereo camera, thermal IR camera and unidirectional microphone array. The IR thermal camera can capture the unique thermal signatures associated with the motorcycle's exhaust pipes that often show bright elongated blobs in IR images. The stereo camera in the system is used to detect the motorcyclist who can be easily windowed out in the stereo disparity map. If the motorcyclist is detected through his or her 3D body recognition, motorcycle is detected. Microphones are used to detect motorcycles that often produce low frequency acoustic signals. All three microphones in the microphone array are placed in strategic locations on the sensor platform to minimize the interferences of background noises from sources such as rain and wind. Field test results show that this hybrid motorcycle detection and counting system has an excellent performance.

Active microphonic noise cancellation in radiation detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zimmermann, Sergio

2013-01-01

A new adaptive filtering technique to reduce microphonic noise in radiation detectors is presented. The technique is based on system identification that actively cancels the microphonic noise. A sensor is used to measures mechanical disturbances that cause vibration on the detector assembly, and the digital adaptive filtering estimates the impact of these disturbances on the microphonic noise. The noise then can be subtracted from the actual detector measurement. In this paper the technique is presented and simulations are used to support this approach. -- Highlights: •A sensor is used to measures mechanical disturbances that cause vibration on the detector assembly. •Digital adaptive filtering estimates the impact of these disturbances on the microphonic noise. •The noise is then subtracted from the actual detector measurement. •We use simulations to demonstrate the performance of this approach. •After cancellation, we recover most of the original energy resolution

Characterisation of the VMM3 Front-end read-out ASIC

CERN Document Server

Bartels, Lara Maria

2018-01-01

This research project was conducted in the RD51 collaboration at CERN, which is involved in the development of micropattern gaseous detector technologies and read-out systems. One example in the broad range of possible applications of such gaseous detectors is the NMX macromolecular diffractometer instrument planned for the European spallation source (ESS) which is currently under construction in Lund, Sweden. For the NMX instrument neutron detectors with high rate capabilities, high stability and excellent spatial resolution are required. A group working in the RD51 collaboration at CERN within the BrightnESS project aims to fulfil those requirements using gas electron multiplier (GEM) detectors with Gadolinium foils as neutron converters [PFE]. In order to match the high rate capability of the detectors, new front-end read-out systems need to be tested and implemented. This project aims to understand and test the capabilities of the VMM3 as the front-end read-out ASIC for GEM detectors.

Microphonic measurements on superconducting linac structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marzali, A.; Schwettman, H.A.

1992-01-01

Microphonics in multi-cell linac structures lead to energy and pointing modulation of the electron beam despite RF stabilization. Evaluation of the microphonic behaviour of a 500 MHz two cell structure is planned in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory. In this paper we describe a method of evaluation based on accelerometer measurements. (Author) fig., 2 tabs., 5 refs

Reliable and redundant FPGA based read-out design in the ATLAS TileCal Demonstrator

CERN Document Server

Åkerstedt, Henrik; The ATLAS collaboration; Drake, Gary; Anderson, Kelby; Bohm, Christian; Oreglia, Mark; Tang, Fukun

2015-01-01

The Tile Calorimeter at ATLAS is a hadron calorimeter based on steel plates and scintillating tiles read out by PMTs. The current read-out system uses standard ADCs and custom ASICs to digitize and temporarily store the data on the detector. However, only a subset of the data is actually read out to the counting room. The on-detector electronics will be replaced around 2023. To achieve the required reliability the upgraded system will be highly redundant. Here the ASICs will be replaced with Kintex-7 FPGAs from Xilinx. This, in addition to the use of multiple 10 Gbps optical read-out links, will allow a full read-out of all detector data. Due to the higher radiation levels expected when the beam luminosity is increased, opportunities for repairs will be less frequent. The circuitry and firmware must therefore be designed for sufficiently high reliability using redundancy and radiation tolerant components. Within a year, a hybrid demonstrator including the new read-out system will be installed in one slice of ...

The effects of asymmetric directional microphone fittings on acceptance of background noise.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jong S; Bryan, Melinda Freyaldenhoven

2011-05-01

The effects of asymmetric directional microphone fittings (i.e., an omnidirectional microphone on one ear and a directional microphone on the other) on speech understanding in noise and acceptance of background noise were investigated in 15 full-time hearing aid users. Subjects were fitted binaurally with four directional microphone conditions (i.e., binaural omnidirectional, right asymmetric directional, left asymmetric directional and binaural directional microphones) using Siemens Intuis Directional behind-the-ear hearing aids. Speech understanding in noise was assessed using the Hearing in Noise Test, and acceptance of background noise was assessed using the Acceptable Noise Level procedure. Speech was presented from 0° while noise was presented from 180° azimuth. The results revealed that speech understanding in noise improved when using asymmetric directional microphones compared to binaural omnidirectional microphone fittings and was not significantly hindered compared to binaural directional microphone fittings. The results also revealed that listeners accepted more background noise when fitted with asymmetric directional microphones as compared to binaural omnidirectional microphones. Lastly, the results revealed that the acceptance of noise was further increased for the binaural directional microphones when compared to the asymmetric directional microphones, maximizing listeners' willingness to accept background noise in the presence of noise. Clinical implications will be discussed.

Study and Design of Differential Microphone Arrays

CERN Document Server

Benesty, Jacob

2013-01-01

Microphone arrays have attracted a lot of interest over the last few decades since they have the potential to solve many important problems such as noise reduction/speech enhancement, source separation, dereverberation, spatial sound recording, and source localization/tracking, to name a few. However, the design and implementation of microphone arrays with beamforming algorithms is not a trivial task when it comes to processing broadband signals such as speech. Indeed, in most sensor arrangements, the beamformer tends to have a frequency-dependent response. One exception, perhaps, is the family of differential microphone arrays (DMAs) that have the promise to form frequency-independent responses. Moreover, they have the potential to attain high directional gains with small and compact apertures. As a result, this type of microphone arrays has drawn much research and development attention recently. This book is intended to provide a systematic study of DMAs from a signal processing perspective. The primary obj...

Irradiation of microphones in the EBR-II core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gavin, A.P.; Anderson, T.T.; Bobis, J.P.

1976-06-01

Six ANL developed high temperature microphone (acoustic detectors) have been exposed in flowing sodium in the In-Core Instrument Test Facility (INCOT) in the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) for seven months without any indications of serious degradation of signal output due to the exposure. The YY05 experiment (EBR-II INCOT experiment designation) was performed to obtain data which would be useful in evaluating the ability of the microphones whose active elements are lithium niobate to serve as sensors for acoustic surveillance of fast breeder reactors. The reactor was at full power for 136 days of the experiment exposure period. The microphone temperatures varied from 371 0 C (700 0 F) to 621 0 C (1150 0 F). Neutron exposure varied from 2.64 x 10 22 nvt for the microphone at the elevation of the bottom of the EBR-II core to 0.24 x 10 22 nvt for the microphone at the elevation of the top of an EBR-II fuel assembly. The maximum gamma dose was 5 x 10 12 rads

ATLAS TileCal Read Out Driver production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valero, A; Abdallah, J; Castillo, V; Cuenca, C; Ferrer, A; Fullana, E; Gonzalez, V; Higon, E; Poveda, J; Ruiz-MartInez, A; Saez, M A; Salvachua, B; SanchIs, E; Solans, C; Valls, J A

2007-01-01

The production tests of the 38 ATLAS TileCal Read Out Drivers (RODs) are presented in this paper. The hardware specifications and firmware functionality of the RODs modules, the test-bench and the test procedure to qualify the boards are described. Finally the performance results, the temperature studies and high rate tests are shown and discussed

Phase Calibration of Microphones by Measurement in the Free-field

Science.gov (United States)

Shams, Qamar A.; Bartram, Scott M.; Humphreys, William M.; Zuckewar, Allan J.

2006-01-01

Over the past several years, significant effort has been expended at NASA Langley developing new Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS)-based microphone directional array instrumentation for high-frequency aeroacoustic measurements in wind tunnels. This new type of array construction solves two challenges which have limited the widespread use of large channel-count arrays, namely by providing a lower cost-per-channel and a simpler method for mounting microphones in wind tunnels and in field-deployable arrays. The current generation of array instrumentation is capable of extracting accurate noise source location and directivity on a variety of airframe components using sophisticated data reduction algorithms [1-2]. Commercially-available MEMS microphones are condenser-type devices and have some desirable characteristics when compared with conventional condenser-type microphones. The most important advantages of MEMS microphones are their size, price, and power consumption. However, the commercially-available units suffer from certain important shortcomings. Based on experiments with array prototypes, it was found that both the bandwidth and the sound pressure limit of the microphones should be increased significantly to improve the performance and flexibility of the microphone array [3]. It was also desired to modify the packaging to eliminate unwanted Helmholtz resonance s exhibited by the commercial devices. Thus, new requirements were defined as follows: Frequency response: 100 Hz to 100 KHz (+/-3dB) Upper sound pressure limit: Design 1: 130 dB SPL (THD less than 5%) Design 2: 150-160 dB SPL (THD less than 5%) Packaging: 3.73 x 6.13 x 1.3 mm can with laser-etched lid. In collaboration with Novusonic Acoustic Innovation, NASA modified a Knowles SiSonic MEMS design to meet these new requirements. Coupled with the design of the enhanced MEMS microphones was the development of a new calibration method for simultaneously obtaining the sensitivity and phase response of

General considerations of noise in microphone preamplifiers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Donk, A.G.H.; van der Donk, A.G.H.; Voorthuyzen, J.A.; Voorthuyzen, J.A.; Bergveld, Piet

1991-01-01

In this paper a study of the noise performance of electret microphone systems as a part of hearing aids is presented. The signal-to-noise ratio of the microphone-preamplifier combination, containing a field-effect transistor (FET) and a high value resistive bias element in a hybrid configuration, is

Fabrication of a dual-planar-coil dynamic microphone by MEMS techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horng, Ray-Hua; Chen, Kuo-Feng; Tsai, Yao-Cheng; Suen, Cheng-You; Chang, Chao-Chih

2010-01-01

A dual-planar-coil miniature dynamic microphone, one of the electro-acoustic transducers working with the principle of the electromagnetic induction, has been realized by semiconductor micro-processing and micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) techniques. This MEMS microphone mainly consists of a 1 µm thick diaphragm sandwiched by two spiral coils and vibrating in the region with the highest magnetic flux density generated by a double magnetic system. In comparison with the traditional dynamic microphone, besides the miniaturized dimension, the MEMS microphone also provides 325 times the vibration velocity of the diaphragm faster than the traditional microphone. Measured by an audio analyzer, the frequency response of the MEMS microphone is only 4.5 dBV Pa −1 lower than that of the traditional microphone in the range between 50 Hz and 20 kHz. The responsivity of −54.8 dB Pa −1 (at 1 kHz) of the MEMS device is competitive to that of a traditional commercial dynamic microphone which typically ranges from −50 to −60 dBV Pa −1 (at 1 kHz).

Neural Networks and Micromechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Kussul, Ernst; Baidyk, Tatiana; Wunsch, Donald C.

The title of the book, "Neural Networks and Micromechanics," seems artificial. However, the scientific and technological developments in recent decades demonstrate a very close connection between the two different areas of neural networks and micromechanics. The purpose of this book is to demonstrate this connection. Some artificial intelligence (AI) methods, including neural networks, could be used to improve automation system performance in manufacturing processes. However, the implementation of these AI methods within industry is rather slow because of the high cost of conducting experiments using conventional manufacturing and AI systems. To lower the cost, we have developed special micromechanical equipment that is similar to conventional mechanical equipment but of much smaller size and therefore of lower cost. This equipment could be used to evaluate different AI methods in an easy and inexpensive way. The proved methods could be transferred to industry through appropriate scaling. In this book, we describe the prototypes of low cost microequipment for manufacturing processes and the implementation of some AI methods to increase precision, such as computer vision systems based on neural networks for microdevice assembly and genetic algorithms for microequipment characterization and the increase of microequipment precision.

Hodoscope read-out with space-time mapping through an optical pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bamberger, A.; Boehler, E.; Kroeger, W.; Soeldner-Rembold, S.

1993-09-01

This note describes a new read-out scheme for fine grained hodoscopes with possible applications for a Small Angle Rear Tracking Detector (SRTD) or a pre-sampler in front of the ZEUS Uranium Calorimeter. Several hodoscope strips are read out by one phototube using optical fibres of different lengths. Optical delays of equal increments ensure a linear mapping of the space coordinate onto the time coordinate. A first prototype has been built and first test measurements are being presented. In addition, Monte Carlo simulations were performed to study the effects of showering electrons on the position resolution of the detector. The results of the test measurements, especially those related to the properties of the light guides, and the results of the simulation are of general importance for the SRTD design beyond the optical delay read-out scheme presented here. (orig.)

DS read-out transcription in transgenic tomato plants

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rudenko, George N.; Nijkamp, H. John J.; Hille, Jacques

1994-01-01

To select for Ds transposition in transgenic tomato plants a phenotypic excision assay, based on restoration of hygromycin phosphotransferase (HPT II) gene expression, was employed. Some tomato plants, however, expressed the marker gene even though the Ds had not excised. Read-out transcriptional

On the interference between the two microphones in free-field reciprocity calibration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barrera Figueroa, Salvador; Rasmussen, Knud; Jacobsen, Finn

2004-01-01

One of the fundamental assumptions in free-field reciprocity calibration of microphones is that the microphones can be substituted by point sources at the positions where the acoustic centers are located. However, in practice the microphones have finite dimensions and, at the distance and in the ......One of the fundamental assumptions in free-field reciprocity calibration of microphones is that the microphones can be substituted by point sources at the positions where the acoustic centers are located. However, in practice the microphones have finite dimensions and, at the distance...

Environmental sensors based on micromachined cantilevers with integrated read-out

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boisen, Anja; Thaysen, Jacob; Jensenius, Henriette

2000-01-01

-out facilitates measurements in liquid. The probe has been successfully implemented in gaseous as well as in liquid experiments. For example, the probe has been used as an accurate and minute thermal sensor and as a humidity sensor. In liquid, the probe has been used to detect the presence of alcohol in water. (C......An AFM probe with integrated piezoresistive read-out has been developed and applied as a cantilever-based environmental sensor. The probe has a built-in reference cantilever, which makes it possible to subtract background drift directly in the measurement. Moreover, the integrated read...

High-fidelity projective read-out of a solid-state spin quantum register.

Science.gov (United States)

Robledo, Lucio; Childress, Lilian; Bernien, Hannes; Hensen, Bas; Alkemade, Paul F A; Hanson, Ronald

2011-09-21

Initialization and read-out of coupled quantum systems are essential ingredients for the implementation of quantum algorithms. Single-shot read-out of the state of a multi-quantum-bit (multi-qubit) register would allow direct investigation of quantum correlations (entanglement), and would give access to further key resources such as quantum error correction and deterministic quantum teleportation. Although spins in solids are attractive candidates for scalable quantum information processing, their single-shot detection has been achieved only for isolated qubits. Here we demonstrate the preparation and measurement of a multi-spin quantum register in a low-temperature solid-state system by implementing resonant optical excitation techniques originally developed in atomic physics. We achieve high-fidelity read-out of the electronic spin associated with a single nitrogen-vacancy centre in diamond, and use this read-out to project up to three nearby nuclear spin qubits onto a well-defined state. Conversely, we can distinguish the state of the nuclear spins in a single shot by mapping it onto, and subsequently measuring, the electronic spin. Finally, we show compatibility with qubit control: we demonstrate initialization, coherent manipulation and single-shot read-out in a single experiment on a two-qubit register, using techniques suitable for extension to larger registers. These results pave the way for a test of Bell's inequalities on solid-state spins and the implementation of measurement-based quantum information protocols. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

Flexible high-speed FASTBUS master for data read-out and preprocessing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wurz, A.; Manner, R.

1990-01-01

This paper describes a single slot FASTBUS master module. It can be used for read-out and preprocessing of data that are read out from FASTBUS modules, e.g., and ADC system. The module consists of a 25 MHz, 32-bit processor MC 68030 with cache memory and memory management, a floating point coprocessor MC68882, 4 MBytes of main memory, and FASTBUS master and slave interfaces. In addition, a DMA controller for read-out of FASTBUS data is provided. The processor allows I/O via serial ports, a 16-bit parallel port, and a transputer link. Additional interfaces are planned. The main memory is multi-ported and can be accessed directly by the CPU, the FASTBUS, and external masters via the high-speed local bus that is accessible by way of a connector. The FASTBUS interface supports most of the standard operations in master and slave mode

Microphone variability and degradation: implications for monitoring programs employing autonomous recording units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick J. Turgeon

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Autonomous recording units (ARUs are emerging as an effective tool for avian population monitoring and research. Although ARU technology is being rapidly adopted, there is a need to establish whether variation in ARU components and their degradation with use might introduce detection biases that would affect long-term monitoring and research projects. We assessed whether microphone sensitivity impacted the probability of detecting bird vocalizations by broadcasting a sequence of 12 calls toward an array of commercially available ARUs equipped with microphones of varying sensitivities under three levels (32 dBA, 42 dBA, and 50 dBA of experimentally induced noise conditions selected to reflect the range of noise levels commonly encountered during avian surveys. We used binomial regression to examine factors influencing probability of detection for each species and used these to examine the impact of microphone sensitivity on the effective detection area (ha for each species. Microphone sensitivity loss reduced detection probability for all species examined, but the magnitude of the effect varied between species and often interacted with distance. Microphone sensitivity loss reduced the effective detection area by an average of 25% for microphones just beyond manufacturer specifications (-5 dBV and by an average of 66% for severely compromised microphones (-20 dBV. Microphone sensitivity loss appeared to be more problematic for low frequency calls where reduction in the effective detection area occurred most rapidly. Microphone degradation poses a source of variation in avian surveys made with ARUs that will require regular measurement of microphone sensitivity and criteria for microphone replacement to ensure scientifically reproducible results. We recommend that research and monitoring projects employing ARUs test their microphones regularly, replace microphones with declining sensitivity, and record sensitivity as a potential covariate in

On experimental determination of the random-incidence response of microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barrera Figueroa, Salvador; Rasmussen, Knud; Jacobsen, Finn

2007-01-01

The random-incidence sensitivity of a microphone is defined as the ratio of the output voltage to the sound pressure that would exist at the position of the acoustic center of the microphone in the absence of the microphone in a sound field with incident plane waves coming from all directions. Th...

Factors influencing individual variation in perceptual directional microphone benefit.

Science.gov (United States)

Keidser, Gitte; Dillon, Harvey; Convery, Elizabeth; Mejia, Jorge

2013-01-01

Large variations in perceptual directional microphone benefit, which far exceed the variation expected from physical performance measures of directional microphones, have been reported in the literature. The cause for the individual variation has not been systematically investigated. To determine the factors that are responsible for the individual variation in reported perceptual directional benefit. A correlational study. Physical performance measures of the directional microphones obtained after they had been fitted to individuals, cognitive abilities of individuals, and measurement errors were related to perceptual directional benefit scores. Fifty-nine hearing-impaired adults with varied degrees of hearing loss participated in the study. All participants were bilaterally fitted with a Motion behind-the-ear device (500 M, 501 SX, or 501 P) from Siemens according to the National Acoustic Laboratories' non-linear prescription, version two (NAL-NL2). Using the Bamford-Kowal-Bench (BKB) sentences, the perceptual directional benefit was obtained as the difference in speech reception threshold measured in babble noise (SRTn) with the devices in directional (fixed hypercardioid) and in omnidirectional mode. The SRTn measurements were repeated three times with each microphone mode. Physical performance measures of the directional microphone included the angle of the microphone ports to loudspeaker axis, the frequency range dominated by amplified sound, the in situ signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and the in situ three-dimensional, articulation-index weighted directivity index (3D AI-DI). The cognitive tests included auditory selective attention, speed of processing, and working memory. Intraparticipant variation on the repeated SRTn's and the interparticipant variation on the average SRTn were used to determine the effect of measurement error. A multiple regression analysis was used to determine the effect of other factors. Measurement errors explained 52% of the variation

Practical considerations for a second-order directional hearing aid microphone system

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Stephen C.

2003-04-01

First-order directional microphone systems for hearing aids have been available for several years. Such a system uses two microphones and has a theoretical maximum free-field directivity index (DI) of 6.0 dB. A second-order microphone system using three microphones could provide a theoretical increase in free-field DI to 9.5 dB. These theoretical maximum DI values assume that the microphones have exactly matched sensitivities at all frequencies of interest. In practice, the individual microphones in the hearing aid always have slightly different sensitivities. For the small microphone separation necessary to fit in a hearing aid, these sensitivity matching errors degrade the directivity from the theoretical values, especially at low frequencies. This paper shows that, for first-order systems the directivity degradation due to sensitivity errors is relatively small. However, for second-order systems with practical microphone sensitivity matching specifications, the directivity degradation below 1 kHz is not tolerable. A hybrid order directive system is proposed that uses first-order processing at low frequencies and second-order directive processing at higher frequencies. This hybrid system is suggested as an alternative that could provide improved directivity index in the frequency regions that are important to speech intelligibility.

Apparatus for sensing radiation and providing electrical read out

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michon, G.J.; Burke, H.K.

1975-01-01

In an array of radiation sensing devices each including a pair of closely coupled conductor-insulator-semiconductor cells on a common substrate, each of the devices is addressed in sequence for read out. Read out of a device is accomplished by reducing the amplitudes of the voltages on the cells of the device in sequence to inject charge stored in the cells into the substrate and by sensing such injected charge. The device is reset for the next cycle of operation by reestablishing voltages in sequence on the cells. Means are provided in the bulk of the substrate to collect injected charge to avoid recollection by the cells of the device of such charge which has not had sufficient time to recombine or diffuse in the substrate away from the vicinity of the cells. (auth)

Comparison of binaural microphones for externalization of sounds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cubick, Jens; Sánchez Rodríguez, C.; Song, Wookeun

2015-01-01

or with microphones placed inside the ear canals of a person. In this study, binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) were measured with several commercially available binaural microphones, both placed inside the listeners’ ears (individual BRIR) and on a head and torso simulator (generic BRIR). The degree...

Locating noise sources with a microphone array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bale, A.; Johnson, D.

2010-01-01

Noise pollution is one of the contributors to the public opposition of wind farms. Most of the noise produced by turbines is caused by the aerodynamic interactions between the turbine blades and the surrounding air. This poster presentation discussed a series of aeroacoustic tests conducted to account for the different in vortical structures caused by the rotation of the blades. Microphone arrays were used measure and locate the source of noise. A beam forming technique was used to measure the noise using an algorithm that identified a scanning grid on a plane where the source was thought to be located. It delayed each microphone's signal by the length of time required for the sound to travel from the scan position to each microphone, and accounted for the amplitudes according to the distance from the scan position to each microphone. Demonstration test cases were conducted using piezo buzzers attached to aluminum bars and mounted to the shaft of a DC motor that produced a rotational diameter of 0.95 meter. The buzzers were placed 1 meter from the array. Multiple sound sources at the same frequency were identified, and the moving sources were accurately measured and located. tabs., figs.

Feedback characteristics between implantable microphone and transducer in middle ear cavity.

Science.gov (United States)

Arman Woo, S H; Woo, Seong Tak; Song, Byung Seop; Cho, Jin-Ho

2013-10-01

With the advent of implantable hearing aids, implementation and acoustic sensing strategy of the implantable microphone becomes an important issue; among the many types of implantable microphone, placing the microphone in middle ear cavity (MEC) has advantages including simple operation and insensitive to skin touching or chewing motion. In this paper, an implantable microphone was implemented and researched feedback characteristic when both the implantable microphone and the transducer were placed in the MEC. Analytical and finite element analysis were conducted to design the microphone to have a natural frequency of 7 kHz and showed good characteristics of SNR and sensitivity. For the feedback test, simple analytical and finite element analysis were calculated and compared with in vitro experiments (n = 4). From the experiments, the open-loop gain and feedback factor were measured and the minimum gain margin measured as 14.3 dB.

Design optimization of condenser microphone: a design of experiment perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Chee Wee; Miao, Jianmin

2009-06-01

A well-designed condenser microphone backplate is very important in the attainment of good frequency response characteristics--high sensitivity and wide bandwidth with flat response--and low mechanical-thermal noise. To study the design optimization of the backplate, a 2(6) factorial design with a single replicate, which consists of six backplate parameters and four responses, has been undertaken on a comprehensive condenser microphone model developed by Zuckerwar. Through the elimination of insignificant parameters via normal probability plots of the effect estimates, the projection of an unreplicated factorial design into a replicated one can be performed to carry out an analysis of variance on the factorial design. The air gap and slot have significant effects on the sensitivity, mechanical-thermal noise, and bandwidth while the slot/hole location interaction has major influence over the latter two responses. An organized and systematic approach of designing the backplate is summarized.

Design of circular differential microphone arrays

CERN Document Server

Benesty, Jacob; Cohen, Israel

2015-01-01

Recently, we proposed a completely novel and efficient way to design differential beamforming algorithms for linear microphone arrays. Thanks to this very flexible approach, any order of differential arrays can be designed. Moreover, they can be made robust against white noise amplification, which is the main inconvenience in these types of arrays. The other well-known problem with linear arrays is that electronic steering is not really feasible.  In this book, we extend all these fundamental ideas to circular microphone arrays and show that we can design small and compact differential arrays of any order that can be electronically steered in many different directions and offer a good degree of control of the white noise amplification problem, high directional gain, and frequency-independent response. We also present a number of practical examples, demonstrating that differential beamforming with circular microphone arrays is likely one of the best candidates for applications involving speech enhancement (i....

Mechanics of composite materials: Unified micromechanical approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aboundi, J.

1991-01-01

Although many books have been written on the mechanics of composite materials, only a vew few have been devoted almost exclusively to the micromechanics aspects. The present monograph is devoted primarily to the micromechanics of fiber and particle reinforced composites with some additional treatment of laminates as well. Thus, this book would probably be more suitable as a reference book than a textbook

An investigation of methods for free-field comparison calibration of measurement microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barrera-Figueroa, Salvador; Moreno Pescador, Guillermo; Jacobsen, Finn

2010-01-01

Free-field comparison calibration of measurement microphones requires that a calibrated reference microphone and a test microphone are exposed to the same sound pressure in a free field. The output voltages of the microphones can be measured either sequentially or simultaneously. The sequential...... method requires the sound field to have good temporal stability. The simultaneous method requires instead that the sound pressure is the same in the positions where the microphones are placed. In this paper the results of the application of the two methods are compared. A third combined method...

Source Coding for Wireless Distributed Microphones in Reverberant Environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zahedi, Adel

2016-01-01

. However, it comes with the price of several challenges, including the limited power and bandwidth resources for wireless transmission of audio recordings. In such a setup, we study the problem of source coding for the compression of the audio recordings before the transmission in order to reduce the power...... consumption and/or transmission bandwidth by reduction in the transmission rates. Source coding for wireless microphones in reverberant environments has several special characteristics which make it more challenging in comparison with regular audio coding. The signals which are acquired by the microphones......Modern multimedia systems are more and more shifting toward distributed and networked structures. This includes audio systems, where networks of wireless distributed microphones are replacing the traditional microphone arrays. This allows for flexibility of placement and high spatial diversity...

The universal read-out controller for CBM at FAIR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Manz, Sebastian; Abel, Norbert; Gebelein, Jano [Kirchhoff-Institut fuer Physik, Heidelberg (Germany); Collaboration: CBM-Collaboration

2011-07-01

Since 2007 we design and develop the firmware for the read-out controller (ROC) for data acquisition of the CBM detector at FAIR. While our first implementation solely focused on the nXYTER chip, today we are also designing and implementing readout logic for the GET4 chip which is supposed to be part of the time of flight (TOF) detector. Furthermore, we fully support both Ethernet and Optical transport as two transparent solutions. This addresses the different requirements of a laboratory setup and the final detector setup respectively. The usage of a strict modularization of the Read Out Controller firmware enables us to provide an Universal ROC where front-end specific logic and transport logic can be combined in a very flexible way. Fault tolerance techniques are only required for some of those modules and hence are only implemented there.

Micromechanisms with floating pivot

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, Ernest J.

2001-03-06

A new class of tilting micromechanical mechanisms have been developed. These new mechanisms use floating pivot structures to relieve some of the problems encountered in the use of solid flexible pivots.

The static pressure and temperature coefficients of laboratory standard microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Knud

1999-01-01

, for a given type of microphone, can be described by a single function when the coefficients are normalized by their low-frequency value and the frequency is normalized with respect to the individual resonance frequency of the microphone. The theoretical results are supported by experimentally determined...... on an extended lumped parameter representation of the mechanical and acoustic elements of the microphone. The extension involves the frequency dependency of the dynamic diaphragm mass and stiffness as well as a first-order approximation of resonances in the back cavity. It was found that each coefficient...... coefficients for about twenty samples of microphone types B&K 4160 and B&K 4180....

A new read-out architecture for the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter Phase-II Upgrade

CERN Document Server

Valero, Alberto; The ATLAS collaboration

2015-01-01

TileCal is the Tile hadronic calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The LHC has planned a series of upgrades culminating in the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) which will increase of order five times the LHC nominal instantaneous luminosity. TileCal will undergo an upgrade to accommodate to the HL-LHC parameters. The TileCal read-out electronics will be redesigned introducing a new read-out strategy. The data generated in the detector will be transferred to the new Read-Out Drivers (sRODs) located in off-detector for every bunch crossing before any event selection is applied. Furthermore, the sROD will be responsible of providing preprocessed trigger information to the ATLAS first level of trigger. It will implement pipeline memories to cope with the latencies and rates specified in the new trigger schema and in overall it will represent the interface between the data acquisition, trigger and control systems and the on-detector electronics. The new TileCal read-out architecture will be presented includi...

New Technology-Driven Approaches in the Design of Preamplifiers for Condenser Microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haas-Christensen, Jelena

The topic of this thesis is the design of CMOS preamplifiers for condenser microphones. Increasingly popular type of condenser microphones are MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical) microphones which pose a stringent requirements to the design of interface electronics among other due to their increased...... noise. Besides that, as MEMS microphones are easy to integrate with CMOS circuitry, CMOS circuit design gains importance because it can contribute to the overall improved performance of the system by introducing extra functionalities. Possible methods of sensing a signal from the microphone...... of a CMOS interface for a capacitive sensor. Finally, in the fourth part, a novel preamplifier designed demonstrating a concept of differential operation of two microphones biased with voltages of opposite polarities has been described. The amplifier shows how accompanying electronic circuitry can be used...

A time projection chamber with microstrip read-out

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bootsma, T.M.V.; Van den Brink, A.; De Haas, A.P.; Kamermans, R.; Kuijer, P.G.; De Laat, C.T.A.M.; Van Nieuwenhuizen, G.J.; Ostendorf, R.; Snellings, R.J.M.; Twenhoefel, C.J.W.; Peghaire, A.

1994-01-01

The design and testing of a novel detector for heavy-ion physics in the intermediate-energy regime is described. This detector consists of a large drift chamber with microstrip read-out in combination with thick plastic scintillators. With this system particle identification and energy determination with high spatial resolution and multiple hit capacity is achieved. ((orig.))

Fiber Optic Microphone

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Y. C.; George, Thomas; Norvig, Peter (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

Research into advanced pressure sensors using fiber-optic technology is aimed at developing compact size microphones. Fiber optic sensors are inherently immune to electromagnetic noise, and are very sensitive, light weight, and highly flexible. In FY 98, NASA researchers successfully designed and assembled a prototype fiber-optic microphone. The sensing technique employed was fiber optic Fabry-Perot interferometry. The sensing head is composed of an optical fiber terminated in a miniature ferrule with a thin, silicon-microfabricated diaphragm mounted on it. The optical fiber is a single mode fiber with a core diameter of 8 micron, with the cleaved end positioned 50 micron from the diaphragm surface. The diaphragm is made up of a 0.2 micron thick silicon nitride membrane whose inner surface is metallized with layers of 30 nm titanium, 30 nm platinum, and 0.2 micron gold for efficient reflection. The active sensing area is approximately 1.5 mm in diameter. The measured differential pressure tolerance of this diaphragm is more than 1 bar, yielding a dynamic range of more than 100 dB.

Modelling measurement microphones using BEM with visco-thermal losses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cutanda Henriquez, Vicente; Juhl, Peter Møller

2012-01-01

For many decades, models that can explain the behaviour of measurement condenser microphones have been proposed in the literature. These devices have an apparently simple working principle, a charged capacitor whose charge varies when one of its electrodes, the diaphragm, moves as a result of sound...... waves. However, measurement microphones must be manufactured very carefully due to their sensitivity to small changes of their physical parameters. There are different elements in a microphone, the diaphragm, the gap behind it, a back cavity, a vent for pressure equalization and an external medium. All...... visco-thermal losses is used to model measurement condenser microphones. The models presented are fully coupled and include a FEM model of the diaphragm. The behaviour of the acoustic variables in the gap and the effect of the pressure equalization vent are discussed, as well as the practical difficulty...

Radiation tolerance of oxygenated n-strip read-out detectors

CERN Document Server

Allport, P P; Greenall, A

2003-01-01

Following earlier work on 'oxygenated' detectors in terms of charge collection efficiencies after proton irradiation, full-size detectors for the LHC have been processed with n-side read-out on oxygen enhanced n-type silicon substrates. Two hundred-micron-thick detectors have been inhomogeneously irradiated up to doses of 7 multiplied by 10**1**4p/cm**2 using 24 GeV protons from the CERN PS. Results are presented on the charge collection efficiencies as a function of operating voltage for regions of the detectors irradiated to different doses, using LHC speed analogue read-out electronics. The measurements confirm the expectations which led to our original proposal of such detectors which are now being envisaged for the silicon-based detector systems at the LHC designed to withstand the greatest doses. The possibilities for survival at an upgraded luminosity LHC (Super-LHC) are also briefly discussed.

Micromechanics of hierarchical materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mishnaevsky, Leon, Jr.

2012-01-01

A short overview of micromechanical models of hierarchical materials (hybrid composites, biomaterials, fractal materials, etc.) is given. Several examples of the modeling of strength and damage in hierarchical materials are summarized, among them, 3D FE model of hybrid composites...... with nanoengineered matrix, fiber bundle model of UD composites with hierarchically clustered fibers and 3D multilevel model of wood considered as a gradient, cellular material with layered composite cell walls. The main areas of research in micromechanics of hierarchical materials are identified, among them......, the investigations of the effects of load redistribution between reinforcing elements at different scale levels, of the possibilities to control different material properties and to ensure synergy of strengthening effects at different scale levels and using the nanoreinforcement effects. The main future directions...

Reading and writing in order not to drop out of university

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giohanny Olave Arias

2013-12-01

Full Text Available DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17227/01234870.38folios45.59 This text investigates the relationships between dropping out of university and difficulties in reading and writing, in accordance with the recent overview of both phenomena. After a general review of the studies on dropping out of university, in which their importance for the continued development of Colombia’s professionalization is gauged, the practices of reading comprehension and producing texts are problematized specifically in the field of higher education and are then causally related to the phenomenon of dropping out of university. Finally, the current processes of literacy at university, based on recognition of its relevance in the educational mission of higher education, are discussed.

Contact microphone using optical fibre Bragg grating technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bezombes, F A; Lalor, M J; Burton, D R

2007-01-01

A contact microphone using optical fibre Bragg grating has been developed. It enables one to listen and record a human voice and/or breathing by monitoring the vibration generated by the outer wall of the throat during speech. This system can have many applications such as detecting defects in vocal folds, measuring and monitoring the vibration and defection generated by intubations of a patient throat and other voice related problem, low level speaking recording and transmitting is also possible, the microphone can be also used to monitor breathing and the system can be used as a microphone in very harsh environments for example it would allow one to hear the patient during a cat scan

Microphone Handling Noise: Measurements of Perceptual Threshold and Effects on Audio Quality.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Kendrick

Full Text Available A psychoacoustic experiment was carried out to test the effects of microphone handling noise on perceived audio quality. Handling noise is a problem affecting both amateurs using their smartphones and cameras, as well as professionals using separate microphones and digital recorders. The noises used for the tests were measured from a variety of devices, including smartphones, laptops and handheld microphones. The signal features that characterise these noises are analysed and presented. The sounds include various types of transient, impact noises created by tapping or knocking devices, as well as more sustained sounds caused by rubbing. During the perceptual tests, listeners auditioned speech podcasts and were asked to rate the degradation of any unwanted sounds they heard. A representative design test methodology was developed that tried to encourage everyday rather than analytical listening. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR of the handling noise events was shown to be the best predictor of quality degradation. Other factors such as noise type or background noise in the listening environment did not significantly affect quality ratings. Podcast, microphone type and reproduction equipment were found to be significant but only to a small extent. A model allowing the prediction of degradation from the SNR is presented. The SNR threshold at which 50% of subjects noticed handling noise was found to be 4.2 ± 0.6 dBA. The results from this work are important for the understanding of our perception of impact sound and resonant noises in recordings, and will inform the future development of an automated predictor of quality for handling noise.

Flexible geometry hodoscope using proportional chamber cathode read-out

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aubret, C.; Bellefon, A. de; Benoit, P.; Brunet, J.M.; Tristram, G.

1978-01-01

The construction of a cathode read-out proportional chamber, used as a low mass hodoscope is described. Results on efficiency, time resolution and space resolution are shown. The associative logic, which permits the use of the chamber as a coplanarity chamber is briefly presented

49 CFR 325.73 - Microphone distance correction factors. 1

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Microphone distance correction factors. 1 325.73 Section 325.73 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL MOTOR... MOTOR CARRIER NOISE EMISSION STANDARDS Correction Factors § 325.73 Microphone distance correction...

Investigation of noise radiation from a swirl stabilized diffusion flame with an array of microphones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, A.V.; Yu, M.; Gupta, A.K.; Bryden, K.M.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Acoustic spectral characteristics independent of equivalence ratio and flow velocity. • Combustion noise dependent on global equivalence ratio and flow velocity. • Increased global equivalence ratio decreased the frequency of peak. • Decay and growth coefficients largely independent of different flow conditions. • Acoustic radiation coherent up to 1.5 kHz for spatially separated microphones. - Abstract: Next generation of combustors are expected to provide significant improvement on efficiency and reduced pollutants emission. In such combustors, the challenges of local flow, pressure, chemical composition and thermal signatures as well as their interactions will require detailed investigation for seeking optimum performance. Sensor networks with a large number of sensors will be employed in future smart combustors, which will allow one to obtain fast and comprehensive information on the various ongoing processes within the system. In this paper sensor networks with specific focus on an array of homogeneous microphones are used examine the spectral characteristics of combustion noise from a non-premixed combustor. A non-premixed double concentric swirl-flame burner was used. Noise spectra were determined experimentally for the non-premixed swirl flame at various fuel–air ratios using an array of homogeneous condenser microphones. Multiple microphones positioned at discrete locations around the turbulent diffusion flame, provided an understanding of the total sound power and their spectral characteristics. The growth and decay coefficients of total sound power were investigated at different test conditions. The signal coherence between different microphone pairs was also carried out to determine the acoustic behavior of a swirl stabilized turbulent diffusion flame. The localization of acoustic sources from the multiple microphones was examined using the noise spectra. The results revealed that integration of multiple sensors in combustors

Micromechanical modelling of mechanical behaviour and strength of wood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mishnaevsky, Leon; Qing, Hai

2008-01-01

An overview of the micromechanical theoretical and numerical models of wood is presented. Different methods of analysis of the effects of wood microstructures at different scale levels on the mechanical behaviour, deformation and strength of wood are discussed and compared. Micromechanical models...

Micromechanical validation of a mesomodel for plasticity in composites

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Meer, F.P.

2016-01-01

In this paper, the performance of a recent homogenized orthotropic plasticity model for fiber reinforced composites (Vogler et al. (2013)) is investigated by comparing the model response against a micromechanical model. It is assumed that the micromechanical model which contains a recent

Non-driven micromechanical gyroscopes and their applications

CERN Document Server

Zhang, Fuxue; Wang, Guosheng

2018-01-01

This book comprehensively and systematically introduces readers to the theories, structures, performance and applications of non-driven mechanical and non-driven micromechanical gyroscopes. The book is divided into three parts, the first of which mainly addresses mathematic models, precision, performance and operating error in non-driven mechanical gyroscopes. The second part focuses on the operating theory, error, phase shift and performance experiments involving non-driven micromechanical gyroscopes in rotating flight carriers, while the third part shares insights into the application of non-driven micromechanical gyroscopes in control systems for rotating flight carriers. The book offers a unique resource for all researchers and engineers who are interested in the use of inertial devices and automatic control systems for rotating flight carriers.  It can also serve as a reference book for undergraduates, graduates and instructors in related fields at colleges and universities.

Effect of the primary particle morphology on the micromechanical properties of nanostructured alumina agglomerates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schilde, Carsten; Westphal, Bastian; Kwade, Arno

2012-01-01

Depending on the application of nanoparticles, certain characteristics of the product quality such as size, morphology, abrasion resistance, specific surface, dispersibility and tendency to agglomeration are important. These characteristics are a function of the physicochemical properties, i.e. the micromechanical properties of the nanostructured material. The micromechanical properties of these nanostructured agglomerates such as the maximum indentation force, the plastic and elastic deformation energy and the strength give information on the product properties, e.g. the efficiency of a dispersion process of the agglomerates, and can be measured by nanoindentation. In this study a Berkovich indenter tip was used for the characterisation of model aggregates out of sol–gel produced silica and precipitated alumina agglomerates with different primary particle morphologies (dimension of 15–40 nm). In general, the effect of the primary particle morphology and the presence or absence of solid bonds can be characterised by the measurement of the micromechanical properties via nanoindentation. The micromechanical behaviour of aggregates containing solid bonds is strongly affected by the elastic–plastic deformation behaviour of the solid bonds and the breakage of solid bonds. Moreover, varying the primary particle morphology for similar particle material and approximately isotropic agglomerate behaviour the particle–particle interactions within the agglomerates can be described by the elementar breaking stress according to the formula of Rumpf.

Microphone directionality, pre-emphasis filter, and wind noise in cochlear implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, King; McKibben, Nicholas

2011-10-01

Wind noise can be a nuisance or a debilitating masker for cochlear implant users in outdoor environments. Previous studies indicated that wind noise at the microphone/hearing aid output had high levels of low-frequency energy and the amount of noise generated is related to the microphone directionality. Currently, cochlear implants only offer either directional microphones or omnidirectional microphones for users at-large. As all cochlear implants utilize pre-emphasis filters to reduce low-frequency energy before the signal is encoded, effective wind noise reduction algorithms for hearing aids might not be applicable for cochlear implants. The purposes of this study were to investigate the effect of microphone directionality on speech recognition and perceived sound quality of cochlear implant users in wind noise and to derive effective wind noise reduction strategies for cochlear implants. A repeated-measure design was used to examine the effects of spectral and temporal masking created by wind noise recorded through directional and omnidirectional microphones and the effects of pre-emphasis filters on cochlear implant performance. A digital hearing aid was programmed to have linear amplification and relatively flat in-situ frequency responses for the directional and omnidirectional modes. The hearing aid output was then recorded from 0 to 360° at flow velocities of 4.5 and 13.5 m/sec in a quiet wind tunnel. Sixteen postlingually deafened adult cochlear implant listeners who reported to be able to communicate on the phone with friends and family without text messages participated in the study. Cochlear implant users listened to speech in wind noise recorded at locations that the directional and omnidirectional microphones yielded the lowest noise levels. Cochlear implant listeners repeated the sentences and rated the sound quality of the testing materials. Spectral and temporal characteristics of flow noise, as well as speech and/or noise characteristics before

Static pressure and temperature coefficients of laboratory standard microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Knud

1996-01-01

of the microphone. The static pressure and temperature coefficients were determined experimentally for about twenty samples of type BK 4160 and BK 4180 microphones. The results agree almost perfectly with the predictions for BK 4160, while some modifications of the lumped parameter values are called for to make......-order approximation of resonances in the back cavity. It was found that each of the coefficients, for a given type of microphone, can be expressed by a single function when the coefficients are normalized by their low-frequency value and the frequency axis normalized by the individual resonance frequency...

Micro-Mechanical Temperature Sensors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Tom

Temperature is the most frequently measured physical quantity in the world. The field of thermometry is therefore constantly evolving towards better temperature sensors and better temperature measurements. The aim of this Ph.D. project was to improve an existing type of micro-mechanical temperature...... sensor or to develop a new one. Two types of micro-mechanical temperature sensors have been studied: Bilayer cantilevers and string-like beam resonators. Both sensor types utilize thermally generated stress. Bilayer cantilevers are frequently used as temperature sensors at the micro-scale, and the goal....... The reduced sensitivity was due to initial bending of the cantilevers and poor adhesion between the two cantilever materials. No further attempts were made to improve the sensitivity of bilayer cantilevers. The concept of using string-like resonators as temperature sensors has, for the first time, been...

A continuous read-out TPC for the ALICE upgrade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lippmann, C., E-mail: C.Lippmann@gsi.de

2016-07-11

The largest gaseous Time Projection Chamber (TPC) in the world, the ALICE TPC, will be upgraded based on Micro Pattern Gas Detector technology during the second long shutdown of the CERN Large Hadron Collider in 2018/19. The upgraded detector will operate continuously without the use of a triggered gating grid. It will thus be able to read all minimum bias Pb–Pb events that the LHC will deliver at the anticipated peak interaction rate of 50 kHz for the high luminosity heavy-ion era. New read-out electronics will send the continuous data stream to a new online farm at rates up to 1 TByte/s. A fractional ion feedback of below 1% is required to keep distortions due to space charge in the TPC drift volume at a tolerable level. The new read-out chambers will consist of quadruple stacks of Gas Electron Multipliers (GEM), combining GEM foils with a different hole pitch. Other key requirements such as energy resolution and operational stability have to be met as well. A careful optimisation of the performance in terms of all these parameters was achieved during an extensive R&D program. A working point well within the design specifications was identified with an ion backflow of 0.63%, a local energy resolution of 11.3% (sigma) and a discharge probability comparable to that of standard triple GEM detectors.

Development of leak detection system using high temperature-resistant microphones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morishita, Yoshitsugu; Mochizuki, Hiroyasu; Watanabe, Kenshiu; Nakamura, Takahisa; Nakazima, Yoshiaki; Yamauchi, Tatsuya

1995-01-01

This report describes the development and testing of a coolant leak detection system for an inlet feeder pipe of an advanced thermal reactor (ATR) using high temperature-resistant microphones. Such microphones must be resistant to both high temperatures and high radiation doses. Leakage sound characteristics, attenuation of the sound level in a heat insulating box for the inlet feeder pipes, and background noise were investigated using the experimental facility and the prototype ATR 'FUGEN'. The optimum frequency ranges for the microphone were then determined based on the observed leakage sound and background noise. The ability of the microphone to discriminate between leaks and other burst-type noises was also investigated by statistical analyses. Finally, it was confirmed that the present method could detect a leak within a couple of seconds. (author)

Cantilever-based sensor with integrated optical read-out using single mode waveguides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordström, Maria; Zauner, Dan; Calleja, Montserrat

2007-01-01

This work presents the design, fabrication and mechanical characterisation of an integrated optical read-out scheme for cantilever-based biosensors. A cantilever can be used as a biosensor by monitoring its bending caused by the surface stress generated due to chemical reactions occurring on its...... surface. Here, we present a novel integrated optical read-out scheme based on single-mode waveguides that enables the fabrication of a compact system. The complete system is fabricated in the polymer SU-8. This manuscript shows the principle of operation and the design well as the fabrication...

Fabrication of silicon condenser microphones using single wafer technology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scheeper, P.R.; van der Donk, A.G.H.; Olthuis, Wouter; Bergveld, Piet

1992-01-01

A condenser microphone design that can be fabricated using the sacrificial layer technique is proposed and tested. The microphone backplate is a 1-¿m plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor-deposited (PECVD) silicon nitride film with a high density of acoustic holes (120-525 holes/mm2), covered with a thin

Lumped-parameters equivalent circuit for condenser microphones modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Esteves, Josué; Rufer, Libor; Ekeom, Didace; Basrour, Skandar

2017-10-01

This work presents a lumped parameters equivalent model of condenser microphone based on analogies between acoustic, mechanical, fluidic, and electrical domains. Parameters of the model were determined mainly through analytical relations and/or finite element method (FEM) simulations. Special attention was paid to the air gap modeling and to the use of proper boundary condition. Corresponding lumped-parameters were obtained as results of FEM simulations. Because of its simplicity, the model allows a fast simulation and is readily usable for microphone design. This work shows the validation of the equivalent circuit on three real cases of capacitive microphones, including both traditional and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems structures. In all cases, it has been demonstrated that the sensitivity and other related data obtained from the equivalent circuit are in very good agreement with available measurement data.

Evaluation of an Integrated Read-Out Layer Prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abu-Ajamieh, Fayez

2011-01-01

This thesis presents evaluation results of an Integrated Read-out Layer (IRL), a proposed concept in scintillator-based calorimetry intended to meet the exceptional calorimetric requirements of the envisaged International Linear Collider (ILC). This study presents a full characterization of the prototype IRL, including exploration of relevant parameters, calibration performance, and the uniformity of response. The study represents proof of the IRL concept. Finally, proposed design enhancements are presented.

Response identification in the extremely low frequency region of an electret condenser microphone.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeng, Yih-Nen; Yang, Tzung-Ming; Lee, Shang-Yin

2011-01-01

This study shows that a small electret condenser microphone connected to a notebook or a personal computer (PC) has a prominent response in the extremely low frequency region in a specific environment. It confines most acoustic waves within a tiny air cell as follows. The air cell is constructed by drilling a small hole in a digital versatile disk (DVD) plate. A small speaker and an electret condenser microphone are attached to the two sides of the hole. Thus, the acoustic energy emitted by the speaker and reaching the microphone is strong enough to actuate the diaphragm of the latter. The experiments showed that, once small air leakages are allowed on the margin of the speaker, the microphone captured the signal in the range of 0.5 to 20 Hz. Moreover, by removing the plastic cover of the microphone and attaching the microphone head to the vibration surface, the low frequency signal can be effectively captured too. Two examples are included to show the convenience of applying the microphone to pick up the low frequency vibration information of practical systems.

Response Identification in the Extremely Low Frequency Region of an Electret Condenser Microphone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shang-Yin Lee

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This study shows that a small electret condenser microphone connected to a notebook or a personal computer (PC has a prominent response in the extremely low frequency region in a specific environment. It confines most acoustic waves within a tiny air cell as follows. The air cell is constructed by drilling a small hole in a digital versatile disk (DVD plate. A small speaker and an electret condenser microphone are attached to the two sides of the hole. Thus, the acoustic energy emitted by the speaker and reaching the microphone is strong enough to actuate the diaphragm of the latter. The experiments showed that, once small air leakages are allowed on the margin of the speaker, the microphone captured the signal in the range of 0.5 to 20 Hz. Moreover, by removing the plastic cover of the microphone and attaching the microphone head to the vibration surface, the low frequency signal can be effectively captured too. Two examples are included to show the convenience of applying the microphone to pick up the low frequency vibration information of practical systems.

Design and Commissioning of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer RPC Read Out Driver

CERN Document Server

Aloisio, A; Cevenini, F; Della Pietra; Della Volpe; Izzo, V

2008-01-01

The RPC subsystem of the ATLAS muon spectrometer provides the Level-1 trigger in the barrel and it is read out by a specific DAQ system. On-detector electronics pack the RPC data in frames, tagged with an event number assigned by the trigger logic, and transmit them to the counting room on optical fibre. Data from each sector are then routed together to a Read-Out Driver (ROD) board. This is a custom processor that parses the frames, checks their coherence and builds a data structure for all the RPCs of one of the 32 sectors of the spectrometer. Each ROD sends the event fragments to a Read-Out subsystem for further event building and analysis. The ROD is a VME64x board, designed around two Xilinx Virtex-II FPGAs and an ARM7 microcontroller. In this paper we describe the board architecture and the event binding algorithm. The boards have been installed in the ATLAS USA15 control room and have been successfully used in the ATLAS commissioning runs.

Preamplifier with ultra low frequency cutoff for infrasonic condenser microphone

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kinnerup, Rasmus Trock; Marbjerg, Kresten; Rasmussen, Per

2012-01-01

low frequencies becomes a challenge. The electric preamplifier presented in this paper together with a prepolarized condenser microphone form a measurement system. The developed preamplifier connects the microphone signal directly to the input of an operational amplifier with ultra high input...

Micromechanical thermogravimetry

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, R.; Lang, H. P.; Gerber, Ch.; Gimzewski, J. K.; Fabian, J. H.; Scandella, L.; Meyer, E.; Güntherodt, H.-J.

1998-09-01

We demonstrate a new method for thermal analysis of nanogram quantities of material using a micromechanical thermogravimetric technique. The cantilever-type device uses an integrated piezoresistor to sense bending and simultaneously to ramp the temperature and control temperature cycles. It has a mass resolution in the picogram range. A quantitative analysis of the dehydration of copper-sulfate-pentahydrate (CuSO 4·5H 2O) is presented. The technique outperforms current thermogravimetric approaches by five orders of magnitude.

Optical microphone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Veligdan, J.T.

2000-01-11

An optical microphone includes a laser and beam splitter cooperating therewith for splitting a laser beam into a reference beam and a signal beam. A reflecting sensor receives the signal beam and reflects it in a plurality of reflections through sound pressure waves. A photodetector receives both the reference beam and reflected signal beam for heterodyning thereof to produce an acoustic signal for the sound waves. The sound waves vary the local refractive index in the path of the signal beam which experiences a Doppler frequency shift directly analogous with the sound waves.

Design and analysis of diaphragms in dynamic microphones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zi-Gui Huang

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Most contemporary high-end microphones are dynamic microphones, adopting the most basic electromagnetic transduction principles. This study investigated the diaphragm structures of dynamic microphones. The diaphragms were composed of polyimide material, and the boundary settings required for actual operation were provided using finite element model analysis software. The characteristic frequencies caused by grooving variations on the three-dimensional diaphragm were analyzed for the various groove shapes and number. The groove angles and width variations were examined based on the optimal groove shape selected in the aforementioned analysis, and the effects of these shapes were determined based on the analytical results. Acoustic waves cause thin films to vibrate, forming the working principle behind dynamic microphones. The thin film drives a coil to vibrate in a magnetic field and cuts the line of magnetic force, subsequently producing a voltage on both ends of the coil. This audio-frequency-inducted voltage represents an acoustic wave message. The finite element model analysis software was used to conduct electromagnetic induction simulations; the sound source was fed to the diaphragm to drive the coil. The coil vibrations caused the line of magnetic force to be cut, and the final voltages produced were examined and compared.

Static pressure and temperature coefficients of working standard microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barrera Figueroa, Salvador; Cutanda Henriquez, Vicente; Torras Rosell, Antoni

2016-01-01

be a significant contribution to the uncertainty of the measurement. Determining the environmental coefficients of individual specimens of measurement microphones can be a straightforward though time-consuming procedure provided the appropriate facilities are available. An alternative is to determine them using...... coefficients. For this purpose, the environmental coefficients of some commercially available microphones have been determined experimentally, and whenever possible, compared with the coefficients determined numerically using the Boundary Element Method....... for these coefficients which are used for calibration purposes. Working standard microphones are not exempt of these influences. However, manufacturers usually provide a low frequency value of the environmental coefficient. While in some applications the influence of this coefficient may be negligible, in others it may...

Dynamic Pressure Microphones

Science.gov (United States)

Werner, E.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell described his first telephone with a microphone using magnetic induction to convert the voice input into an electric output signal. The basic principle led to a variety of designs optimized for different needs, from hearing impaired users to singers or broadcast announcers. From the various sound pressure versions, only the moving coil design is still in mass production for speech and music application.

The impact of the microphone position on the frequency analysis of snoring sounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Herzog, Michael; Kühnel, Thomas; Bremert, Thomas; Herzog, Beatrice; Hosemann, Werner; Kaftan, Holger

2009-08-01

Frequency analysis of snoring sounds has been reported as a diagnostic tool to differentiate between different sources of snoring. Several studies have been published presenting diverging results of the frequency analyses of snoring sounds. Depending on the position of the used microphones, the results of the frequency analysis of snoring sounds vary. The present study investigated the influence of different microphone positions on the outcome of the frequency analysis of snoring sounds. Nocturnal snoring was recorded simultaneously at six positions (air-coupled: 30 cm middle, 100 cm middle, 30 cm lateral to both sides of the patients' head; body contact: neck and parasternal) in five patients. The used microphones had a flat frequency response and a similar frequency range (10/40 Hz-18 kHz). Frequency analysis was performed by fast Fourier transformation and frequency bands as well as peak intensities (Peaks 1-5) were detected. Air-coupled microphones presented a wider frequency range (60 Hz-10 kHz) compared to contact microphones. The contact microphone at cervical position presented a cut off at frequencies above 300 Hz, whereas the contact microphone at parasternal position revealed a cut off above 100 Hz. On an exemplary base, the study demonstrates that frequencies above 1,000 Hz do appear in complex snoring patterns, and it is emphasised that high frequencies are imported for the interpretation of snoring sounds with respect to the identification of the source of snoring. Contact microphones might be used in screening devices, but for a natural analysis of snoring sounds the use of air-coupled microphones is indispensable.

Wake Vortex Detection: Phased Microphone vs. Linear Infrasonic Array

Science.gov (United States)

Shams, Qamar A.; Zuckerwar, Allan J.; Sullivan, Nicholas T.; Knight, Howard K.

2014-01-01

Sensor technologies can make a significant impact on the detection of aircraft-generated vortices in an air space of interest, typically in the approach or departure corridor. Current state-of-the art sensor technologies do not provide three-dimensional measurements needed for an operational system or even for wake vortex modeling to advance the understanding of vortex behavior. Most wake vortex sensor systems used today have been developed only for research applications and lack the reliability needed for continuous operation. The main challenges for the development of an operational sensor system are reliability, all-weather operation, and spatial coverage. Such a sensor has been sought for a period of last forty years. Acoustic sensors were first proposed and tested by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) early in 1970s for tracking wake vortices but these acoustic sensors suffered from high levels of ambient noise. Over a period of the last fifteen years, there has been renewed interest in studying noise generated by aircraft wake vortices, both numerically and experimentally. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) was the first to propose the application of a phased microphone array for the investigation of the noise sources of wake vortices. The concept was first demonstrated at Berlins Airport Schoenefeld in 2000. A second test was conducted in Tarbes, France, in 2002, where phased microphone arrays were applied to study the wake vortex noise of an Airbus 340. Similarly, microphone phased arrays and other opto-acoustic microphones were evaluated in a field test at the Denver International Airport in 2003. For the Tarbes and Denver tests, the wake trajectories of phased microphone arrays and lidar were compared as these were installed side by side. Due to a built-in pressure equalization vent these microphones were not suitable for capturing acoustic noise below 20 Hz. Our group at NASA Langley Research Center developed and installed an

Controlling and Monitoring the Data Flow of the LHCb Read-out and DAQ Network

CERN Document Server

Schwemmer, Rainer; Neufeld, N; Svantesson, D

2011-01-01

The LHCb read-out uses a set of 320 FPGA based boards as interface between the on-detector hardware and the GBE DAQ network. The boards are the logical Level 1 (L1) read-out electronics and aggregate the experiment’s raw data into event fragments that are sent to the DAQ network. To control the many parameters of the read-out boards, an embedded PC is included on each board, connecting to the boards ICs and FPGAs. The data from the L1 boards is sent through an aggregation network into the High Level Trigger farm. The farm comprises approximately 1500 PCs which at first assemble the fragments from the L1 boards and then do a partial reconstruction and selection of the events. In total there are approximately 3500 network connections. Data is pushed through the network and there is no mechanism for resending packets. Loss of data on a small scale is acceptable but care has to be taken to avoid data loss if possible. To monitor and debug losses, different probes are inserted throughout the entire read-out cha...

Innovative multi-cantilever array sensor system with MOEMS read-out

Science.gov (United States)

Ivaldi, F.; Bieniek, T.; Janus, P.; Grabiec, P.; Majstrzyk, W.; Kopiec, D.; Gotszalk, T.

2016-11-01

Cantilever based sensor system are a well-established sensor family exploited in several every-day life applications as well as in high-end research areas. The very high sensitivity of such systems and the possibility to design and functionalize the cantilevers to create purpose built and highly selective sensors have increased the interest of the scientific community and the industry in further exploiting this promising sensors type. Optical deflection detection systems for cantilever sensors provide a reliable, flexible method for reading information from cantilevers with the highest sensitivity. However the need of using multi-cantilever arrays in several fields of application such as medicine, biology or safety related areas, make the optical method less suitable due to its structural complexity. Working in the frame of a the Joint Undertaking project Lab4MEMS II our group proposes a novel and innovative approach to solve this issue, by integrating a Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical-System (MOEMS) with dedicated optics, electronics and software with a MOEMS micro-mirror, ultimately developed in the frame of Lab4MEMSII. In this way we are able to present a closely packed, lightweight solution combining the advantages of standard optical read-out systems with the possibility of recording multiple read-outs from large cantilever arrays quasi simultaneously.

PREFACE: 14th Micromechanics Europe Workshop (MME'03)

Science.gov (United States)

Wolffenbuttel, R. F.

2004-09-01

This special issue of the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering is devoted to the 14th Micromechanics Europe Workshop (MME'03), which was held at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands on 2-4 November 2003. Papers have been selected from this workshop for presentation in this special issue. After a careful review by the MME'03 programme committee, 53 submissions were selected for poster presentation at the workshop in addition to 6 invited presentations. These covered the many aspects of our exciting field: technology, simulation, system design, fabrication and characterization in a wide range of applications. These contributions confirm a trend from technology-driven towards application-driven technological research. This trend has become possible because of the availability of mature fabrication technologies for micromechanical structures and is reflected by the presentations of some of the invited speakers. There were invited lectures about applications in the medical field, automotive and copiers, which provide evidence of the relevance of our work in society. Nevertheless, development of technologies rightfully remains a core activity of this workshop. This applies to both the introduction of new technologies, as was reflected by invited presentations on new trends in RIE and nanotechnology, and the addressing of manufacturing issues using available techniques, which will be demonstrated to be crucial in automotive applications. Out of these 59 papers 21 have been selected for presentation in this special issue. Since the scope of the workshop is somewhat wider than that of the journal, selection was based not only on the quality of the work, but also on suitability for presentation in the journal. Moreover, at the workshop, student presentation of research at an early stage was strongly encouraged, whereas publication of work in this journal requires a more advanced level. I would like to express my appreciation for the outstanding efforts

Methods for Room Acoustic Analysis and Synthesis using a Monopole-Dipole Microphone Array

Science.gov (United States)

Abel, J. S.; Begault, Durand R.; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

In recent work, a microphone array consisting of an omnidirectional microphone and colocated dipole microphones having orthogonally aligned dipole axes was used to examine the directional nature of a room impulse response. The arrival of significant reflections was indicated by peaks in the power of the omnidirectional microphone response; reflection direction of arrival was revealed by comparing zero-lag crosscorrelations between the omnidirectional response and the dipole responses to the omnidirectional response power to estimate arrival direction cosines with respect to the dipole axes.

Advantages of directional hearing aid microphones related to room acoustics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leeuw, A. R.; Dreschler, W. A.

1991-01-01

In this study, two types of hearing aids were used. Both aids had the same frequency characteristics for frontal sound, but one employed an omnidirectional microphone and the other a directional microphone. The frequency characteristics of both hearing aids were measured for five azimuths on KEMAR

Electromagnetic Investigation of a CMOS MEMS Inductive Microphone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farès TOUNSI

2009-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a detailed electromagnetic modeling for a new structure of a monolithic CMOS micromachined inductive microphone. We have shown, that the use of an alternative current (AC in the primary fixed inductor results in a substantially higher induced voltage in the secondary inductor comparing to the case when a direct current (DC is used. The expected increase of the induced voltage can be expressed by a voltage ratio of AC and DC solutions that is in the range of 3 to 6. A prototype fabrication of this microphone has been realized using a combination of standard CMOS 0.6 µm process with a CMOS-compatible post-process consisting in a bulk micromachining technology. The output voltage of the electrodynamic microphone that achieves the µV range can be increased by the use of the symmetric dual-layer spiral inductor structure.

Experimental studies on using silicon photodiode as read-out component of CsI(Tl) crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He Jingtang; Chen Duanbao; Li Zuhao; Mao Yufang; Dong Xiaoli

1996-01-01

Experimental studies on using silicon photodiode as the read-out component of CsI(Tl) crystal are reported. The read-out properties of two different types of silicon photodiode produced by Hamamatsu were measured, including relations between energy resolution and bias, shaping time, sensitive area of photodiode and the dimension of the crystal

Influence of a remote microphone on localization with hearing aids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Selby, Johan G.; Weisser, Adam; MacDonald, Ewen

2017-01-01

When used with hearing aids (HA), the addition of a remote microphone (RM) may alter the spatial perception of the listener. First, the RM signal is presented diotically from the HAs. Second, the processing in the HA often delays the RM signal relative to the HA microphone signals. Finally...

EDITORIAL: 15th European Workshop on Micromechanics (MME)

Science.gov (United States)

Puers, Bob

2005-07-01

so, without doubt, such a selection was not an easy task to perform. A careful choice was made by the Programme Committee of the MME Workshop at first, followed by the regular reviewing procedure at the heart of IOP Publishing. I am proud to be able to present to you this collection of 23 papers. We decided also to include papers dealing with non-lithography based manufacturing techniques in this special issue, in an attempt to widen the scope. With this special issue we hope to give you a good overview of the topics dealt with in this workshop. It goes without saying that all the above was not possible without the individual contributions of all the authors. I owe them much gratitude. Gathered here are contributions of an excellent scientific quality, reflecting a clear up-to-date image of what is going on in Europe in this field. I also wish to extend my thanks to the editorial staff of Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. Collaboration with them turns work into pleasure. I wish you a pleasant reading.

Measurements of noise immission from wind turbines at receptor locations: Use of a vertical microphone board to improve the signal-to-noise ratio

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fegeant, Olivier

1999-01-01

The growing interest in wind energy has increased the need of accuracy in wind turbine noise immission measurements and thus, the need of new measurement techniques. This paper shows that mounting the microphone on a vertical board improves the signal-to-noise ratio over the whole frequency range compared to the free microphone technique. Indeed, the wind turbine is perceived two times noisier by the microphone due to the signal reflection by the board while, in addition, the wind noise is reduced. Furthermore, the board shielding effect allows the measurements to be carried out in the presence of reflecting surfaces such as building facades

MEMS microphone innovations towards high signal to noise ratios (Conference Presentation) (Plenary Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Dehé, Alfons

2017-06-01

After decades of research and more than ten years of successful production in very high volumes Silicon MEMS microphones are mature and unbeatable in form factor and robustness. Audio applications such as video, noise cancellation and speech recognition are key differentiators in smart phones. Microphones with low self-noise enable those functions. Backplate-free microphones enter the signal to noise ratios above 70dB(A). This talk will describe state of the art MEMS technology of Infineon Technologies. An outlook on future technologies such as the comb sensor microphone will be given.

Effects of directional microphone and adaptive multichannel noise reduction algorithm on cochlear implant performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, King; Zeng, Fan-Gang; Acker, Kyle N

2006-10-01

Although cochlear implant (CI) users have enjoyed good speech recognition in quiet, they still have difficulties understanding speech in noise. We conducted three experiments to determine whether a directional microphone and an adaptive multichannel noise reduction algorithm could enhance CI performance in noise and whether Speech Transmission Index (STI) can be used to predict CI performance in various acoustic and signal processing conditions. In Experiment I, CI users listened to speech in noise processed by 4 hearing aid settings: omni-directional microphone, omni-directional microphone plus noise reduction, directional microphone, and directional microphone plus noise reduction. The directional microphone significantly improved speech recognition in noise. Both directional microphone and noise reduction algorithm improved overall preference. In Experiment II, normal hearing individuals listened to the recorded speech produced by 4- or 8-channel CI simulations. The 8-channel simulation yielded similar speech recognition results as in Experiment I, whereas the 4-channel simulation produced no significant difference among the 4 settings. In Experiment III, we examined the relationship between STIs and speech recognition. The results suggested that STI could predict actual and simulated CI speech intelligibility with acoustic degradation and the directional microphone, but not the noise reduction algorithm. Implications for intelligibility enhancement are discussed.

Designing H-shaped micromechanical filters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arhaug, O P; Soeraasen, O

2006-01-01

This paper investigates the design constraints and possibilities given when designing a micromechanical band pass filter for intermediate frequencies (e.g. 10 MHz). The class of filters are based on coupled clamped-clamped beams constituting an H-shaped structure. A primary beam can electrostatically be activated in one of its different harmonic modes, setting the filter center frequency. The motion is transferred to an accompanying beam of equal dimensions by a mechanical coupling beam. The placement or coupling points of the quarterwavelength coupling beam which connects the vertically resonating beams is critical with respect to the bandwidth of the filters. Of special concern has been to investigate realistic dimensions allowing the filters to be processed by an actual foundry process and to find out how the choice of materials and actual dimensions would affect the performance

Micromachined diffraction based optical microphones and intensity probes with electrostatic force feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Bicen, Baris

Measuring acoustic pressure gradients is critical in many applications such as directional microphones for hearing aids and sound intensity probes. This measurement is especially challenging with decreasing microphone size, which reduces the sensitivity due to small spacing between the pressure ports. Novel, micromachined biomimetic microphone diaphragms are shown to provide high sensitivity to pressure gradients on one side of the diaphragm with low thermal mechanical noise. These structures have a dominant mode shape with see-saw like motion in the audio band, responding to pressure gradients as well as spurious higher order modes sensitive to pressure. In this dissertation, integration of a diffraction based optical detection method with these novel diaphragm structures to implement a low noise optical pressure gradient microphone is described and experimental characterization results are presented, showing 36 dBA noise level with 1mm port spacing, nearly an order of magnitude better than the current gradient microphones. The optical detection scheme also provides electrostatic actuation capability from both sides of the diaphragm separately which can be used for active force feedback. A 4-port electromechanical equivalent circuit model of this microphone with optical readout is developed to predict the overall response of the device to different acoustic and electrostatic excitations. The model includes the damping due to complex motion of air around the microphone diaphragm, and it calculates the detected optical signal on each side of the diaphragm as a combination of two separate dominant vibration modes. This equivalent circuit model is verified by experiments and used to predict the microphone response with different force feedback schemes. Single sided force feedback is used for active damping to improve the linearity and the frequency response of the microphone. Furthermore, it is shown that using two sided force feedback one can significantly suppress

The TOTEM T1 read out card motherboard

OpenAIRE

Minutoli, S; Lo Vetere, M; Robutti, E

2010-01-01

This article describes the Read Out Card (ROC) motherboard, which is the main component of the T1 forward telescope front-end electronic system. The ROC main objectives are to acquire tracking data and trigger information from the detector. It performs data conversion from electrical to optical format and transfers the data streams to the next level of the system and it implements Slow Control modules which are able to receive, decode and distribute the LHC machine low jitter clock and fast c...

Microphone triggering circuit for elimination of mechanically induced frequency-jitter in diode laser spectrometers: implications for quantitative analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sams, R L; Fried, A

1987-09-01

An electronic timing circuit using a microphone triggering device has been developed for elimination of mechanically induced frequency-jitter in diode laser spectrometers employing closed-cycle refrigerators. Mechanical compressor piston shocks are detected by the microphone and actuate an electronic circuit which ultimately interrupts data acquisition until the mechanical vibrations are completely quenched. In this way, laser sweeps contaminated by compressor frequency-jitter are not co-averaged. Employing this circuit, measured linewidths were in better agreement with that calculated. The importance of eliminating this mechanically induced frequency-jitter when carrying out quantitative diode laser measurements is further discussed.

Micromechanics modelling of ductile fracture

CERN Document Server

Chen, Zengtao

2013-01-01

This book summarizes research advances in micromechanics modelling of ductile fractures made in the past two decades. The ultimate goal of this book is to reach manufacturing frontline designers and materials engineers by providing a user-oriented, theoretical background of micromechanics modeling. Accordingly, the book is organized in a unique way and presents a vigorous damage percolation model developed by the authors over the last ten years. This model overcomes almost all difficulties of the existing models and can be used to completely accommodate ductile damage development within a single, measured microstructure frame. Related void damage criteria including nucleation, growth and coalescence are then discussed in detail: how they are improved, when and where they are used in the model, and how the model performs in comparison with the existing models. Sample forming simulations are provided to illustrate the model’s performance.

Radiation imaging with optically read out GEM-based detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Brunbauer, F. M.; Lupberger, M.; Oliveri, E.; Resnati, F.; Ropelewski, L.; Streli, C.; Thuiner, P.; van Stenis, M.

2018-02-01

Modern imaging sensors allow for high granularity optical readout of radiation detectors such as MicroPattern Gaseous Detectors (MPGDs). Taking advantage of the high signal amplification factors achievable by MPGD technologies such as Gaseous Electron Multipliers (GEMs), highly sensitive detectors can be realised and employing gas mixtures with strong scintillation yield in the visible wavelength regime, optical readout of such detectors can provide high-resolution event representations. Applications from X-ray imaging to fluoroscopy and tomography profit from the good spatial resolution of optical readout and the possibility to obtain images without the need for extensive reconstruction. Sensitivity to low-energy X-rays and energy resolution permit energy resolved imaging and material distinction in X-ray fluorescence measurements. Additionally, the low material budget of gaseous detectors and the possibility to couple scintillation light to imaging sensors via fibres or mirrors makes optically read out GEMs an ideal candidate for beam monitoring detectors in high energy physics as well as radiotherapy. We present applications and achievements of optically read out GEM-based detectors including high spatial resolution imaging and X-ray fluorescence measurements as an alternative readout approach for MPGDs. A detector concept for low intensity applications such as X-ray crystallography, which maximises detection efficiency with a thick conversion region but mitigates parallax-induced broadening is presented and beam monitoring capabilities of optical readout are explored. Augmenting high resolution 2D projections of particle tracks obtained with optical readout with timing information from fast photon detectors or transparent anodes for charge readout, 3D reconstruction of particle trajectories can be performed and permits the realisation of optically read out time projection chambers. Combining readily available high performance imaging sensors with compatible

A Piezoelectric MEMS Microphone Based on Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) Thim Films

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Polcawich, Ronald

2004-01-01

.... A piezoelectric-based microphone can provide a solution to these requirements, since it offers the ability to passively sense without the power requirements of condenser or piezoresistive microphone counterparts...

The ribbon microphone: A teaching aid for low frequency electromagnetic education

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Wyk, Marius S

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The ribbon microphone lends itself as a good example to use for education of multi-physics computer modeling and simulation. The value of the ribbon microphone as teaching aid can be extended by adding a transformer and electronic amplifier...

Review of results for the NA62 gigatracker read-out prototype

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, E.; Aglieri Rinella, G.; Carassiti, V.; Ceccucci, A.; Cortina Gil, E.; Cotta Ramusino, A.; Dellacasa, G.; Fiorini, M.; Garbolino, S.; Jarron, P.; Kaplon, J.; Kluge, A.; Marchetto, F.; Mapelli, A.; Mazza, G.; Morel, M.; Noy, M.; Nuessle, G.; Petagna, P.; Petrucci, F.; Perktold, L.; Riedler, P.; Rivetti, A.; Statera, M.; Velghe, B.

2012-03-01

The Gigatracker (GTK) is a hybrid silicon pixel detector developed for NA62, an experiment studying ultra-rare kaon decays at the CERN SPS. The main characteristics are a time-tagging resoluion of 150ps, with low material budget per station (0.5% X0) and a fluence comparable to the one expected for the inner trackers of LHC detectors in 10 years of operation. To compensate the time-walk, two read-out architectures have been designed and produced. The first architecture is based on a Constant Fraction Discriminator (CFD) followed by an on-pixel Time-to-Digital-Converter (TDC). The second architecture is based on a on-pixel group shared TDC. The GTK system developments are described: the integration steps (assembly and cooling) and the results obtained from the prototypes fabricated for the two read-out architectures.

The Read-Out Driver for the ATLAS MDT Muon Precision Chambers

CERN Document Server

Boterenbrood, H; Kieft, G; König, A; Vermeulen, J C; Wijnen, T A M; 14th IEEE - NPSS Real Time Conference 2005 Nuclear Plasma Sciences Society

2006-01-01

Some 200 MDT Read Out Drivers (MRODs) will be built to read out the 1200 MDT precision chambers of the muon spectrometer of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The MRODs receive event data via optical links (one per chamber, up to 8 per MROD), build event fragments at a maximum rate of 100 kHz, output these to the ATLAS data-acquisition system and take care of monitoring and error checking, handling and flagging. The design of the MROD-1 prototype (a 9U VME64 module in which this functionality is implemented using FPGAs and ADSP-21160 Digital Signal Processors programmed in C++) is described, followed by a presentation of results of performance measurements. Then the implications for the production version (called MROD-X) and the experience with pre-production modules of the MROD-X are discussed.

Mini-Symposium on Micromechanics at the CSME Mechanical Engineering Forum

CERN Document Server

Muschik, W

1991-01-01

This volume contains the lectures presented at the mini-symposium on "Micromechanics" held in conjunction with the CSME Mechanical Engineer­ ing Forum 1990 between the 3rd and 8th June, 1990 at the University of Toronto, Canada. The expressed purpose of this symposium was to discuss some recent developments in the Micromechanics of Materials and how ad­ vances in this field now relate to the solution of practical engineer­ ing problems. Due to the time limit set for this section of the Engineer­ ing Forum as well as the restriction on the number of papers to be pre­ sented, it was not possible to cover a much wider range of topics. How­ ever, an attempt was made to include the most important advances asso­ ciated with the progress made in micromechanics in its application to material science and engineering over the past decade. Thus, the topics are concerned with: the fundamental aspects of the thermodynamics of structured solids (part I), - the micromechanical behaviour of alloys (part II), - the mod...

Investigation of excimer laser ablation threshold of polymers using a microphone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krueger, Joerg; Niino, Hiroyuki; Yabe, Akira

2002-09-30

KrF excimer laser ablation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyimide (PI) and polycarbonate (PC) in air was studied by an in situ monitoring technique using a microphone. The microphone signal generated by a short acoustic pulse represented the etch rate of laser ablation depending on the laser fluence, i.e., the ablation 'strength'. From a linear relationship between the microphone output voltage and the laser fluence, the single-pulse ablation thresholds were found to be 30 mJ cm{sup -2} for PET, 37 mJ cm{sup -2} for PI and 51 mJ cm{sup -2} for PC (20-pulses threshold). The ablation thresholds of PET and PI were not influenced by the number of pulses per spot, while PC showed an incubation phenomenon. A microphone technique provides a simple method to determine the excimer laser ablation threshold of polymer films.

Micromechanical sensors for the measurement of biopolymer degradation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Keller, Stephan Sylvest; Gammelgaard, Lene; Jensen, M P

2011-01-01

We present microcantilever-based sensors for the characterization of biopolymer degradation by enzymes. Thin films of Poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) were spray-coated onto SU-8 cantilevers with well-known material properties and dimensions. The micromechanical sensors were immersed in solutions of protei......We present microcantilever-based sensors for the characterization of biopolymer degradation by enzymes. Thin films of Poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) were spray-coated onto SU-8 cantilevers with well-known material properties and dimensions. The micromechanical sensors were immersed in solutions...

Use of a Parabolic Microphone to Detect Hidden Subjects in Search and Rescue.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowditch, Nathaniel L; Searing, Stanley K; Thomas, Jeffrey A; Thompson, Peggy K; Tubis, Jacqueline N; Bowditch, Sylvia P

2018-03-01

This study compares a parabolic microphone to unaided hearing in detecting and comprehending hidden callers at ranges of 322 to 2510 m. Eight subjects were placed 322 to 2510 m away from a central listening point. The subjects were concealed, and their calling volume was calibrated. In random order, subjects were asked to call the name of a state for 5 minutes. Listeners with parabolic microphones and others with unaided hearing recorded the direction of the call (detection) and name of the state (comprehension). The parabolic microphone was superior to unaided hearing in both detecting subjects and comprehending their calls, with an effect size (Cohen's d) of 1.58 for detection and 1.55 for comprehension. For each of the 8 hidden subjects, there were 24 detection attempts with the parabolic microphone and 54 to 60 attempts by unaided listeners. At the longer distances (1529-2510 m), the parabolic microphone was better at detecting callers (83% vs 51%; P<0.00001 by χ 2 ) and comprehension (57% vs 12%; P<0.00001). At the shorter distances (322-1190 m), the parabolic microphone offered advantages in detection (100% vs 83%; P=0.000023) and comprehension (86% vs 51%; P<0.00001), although not as pronounced as at the longer distances. Use of a 66-cm (26-inch) parabolic microphone significantly improved detection and comprehension of hidden calling subjects at distances between 322 and 2510 m when compared with unaided hearing. This study supports the use of a parabolic microphone in search and rescue to locate responsive subjects in favorable weather and terrain. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Micromechanical failure in fiber-reinforced composites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ashouri Vajari, Danial

Micromechanical failure mechanisms occurring in unidirectional fiber-reinforced composites are studied by means of the finite element method as well as experimental testing. This study highlights the effect of micro-scale features such as fiber/matrix interfacial debonding, matrix cracking...... and microvoids on the microscopic and macroscopic mechanical response of composite materials. To this end, first a numerical study is carried out to explore ways to stabilize interfacial crack growth under dominant Mode-I fracture using the cohesive zone model. Consequently, this study suggests a method...... composites. In the first approach, the J2 plasticity model is implemented to model the elasto-plastic behavior of the matrix while in the second strategy the modified Drucker-Prager plasticity model is utilized to account for brittle-like and pressure dependent behavior of an epoxy matrix. In addition...

Theory and design of compact hybrid microphone arrays on two-dimensional planes for three-dimensional soundfield analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hanchi; Abhayapala, Thushara D; Zhang, Wen

2015-11-01

Soundfield analysis based on spherical harmonic decomposition has been widely used in various applications; however, a drawback is the three-dimensional geometry of the microphone arrays. In this paper, a method to design two-dimensional planar microphone arrays that are capable of capturing three-dimensional (3D) spatial soundfields is proposed. Through the utilization of both omni-directional and first order microphones, the proposed microphone array is capable of measuring soundfield components that are undetectable to conventional planar omni-directional microphone arrays, thus providing the same functionality as 3D arrays designed for the same purpose. Simulations show that the accuracy of the planar microphone array is comparable to traditional spherical microphone arrays. Due to its compact shape, the proposed microphone array greatly increases the feasibility of 3D soundfield analysis techniques in real-world applications.

Micromechanics and Piezo Enhancements of HyperSizer

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Steven M.; Bednarcyk, Brett A.; Yarrington, Phillip; Collier, Craig S.

2006-01-01

The commercial HyperSizer aerospace-composite-material-structure-sizing software has been enhanced by incorporating capabilities for representing coupled thermal, piezoelectric, and piezomagnetic effects on the levels of plies, laminates, and stiffened panels. This enhancement is based on a formulation similar to that of the pre-existing HyperSizer capability for representing thermal effects. As a result of this enhancement, the electric and/or magnetic response of a material or structure to a mechanical or thermal load, or its mechanical response to an applied electric or magnetic field can be predicted. In another major enhancement, a capability for representing micromechanical effects has been added by establishment of a linkage between HyperSizer and Glenn Research Center s Micromechanics Analysis Code With Generalized Method of Cells (MAC/GMC) computer program, which was described in several prior NASA Tech Briefs articles. The linkage enables Hyper- Sizer to localize to the fiber and matrix level rather than only to the ply level, making it possible to predict local failures and to predict properties of plies from those of the component fiber and matrix materials. Advanced graphical user interfaces and database structures have been developed to support the new HyperSizer micromechanics capabilities.

A self-adjusting delay circuit for pixel read-out chips

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raith, B.

1997-01-01

A simple concept for automatic adjustment of important VLSI-circuit properties was proposed in (Fischer and Joens, Nucl. Instr. and. Meth.). As an application, a self-adjusting monoflop is reviewed, and detailed measurements are discussed regarding a possible implementation in the LHC 1 read-out chip for the ATLAS experiment (ATLAS Internal Note, 1995). (orig.)

The selective read-out processor for the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter

CERN Document Server

Girão de Almeida, Nuño Miguel; Faure, Jean Louis; Gachelin, Olivier; Gras, Philippe; Mandjavidze, Irakli; Mur, Michel; Varela, João

2005-01-01

This paper describes the selective read-out processor (SRP) proposed for the electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at LHC (CERN). The aim is to reduce raw ECAL data to a level acceptable by the CMS data acquisition (DAQ) system. For each positive level 1 trigger, the SRP is guided by trigger primitive generation electronics to identify ECAL regions with energy deposition satisfying certain programmable criteria. It then directs the ECAL read-out electronics to apply predefined zero suppression levels to the crystal data, depending whether the crystals fall within these regions or not. The main challenges for the SRP are some 200 high speed (1.6 Gbit/s) I/O channels, asynchronous operation at up to 100 kHz level 1 trigger rate, a 5- mu s real-time latency requirement and a need to retain flexibility in choice of selection algorithms. The architecture adopted for the SRP is based on modern parallel optic pluggable modules and high density field programmable gate array ...

Leak detection in the primary reactor coolant piping of nuclear power plant by applying beam-microphone technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasai, Yoshimitsu; Shimanskiy, Sergey; Naoi, Yosuke; Kanazawa, Junichi

2004-01-01

A microphone leak detection method was applied to the inlet piping of the ATR-prototype reactor, Fugen. Statistical analysis results showed that the cross-correlation method provided the effective results for detection of a small leakage. However, such a technique has limited application due to significant distortion of the signals on the reactor site. As one of the alternative methods, the beam-microphone provides necessary spatial selectivity and its performance is less affected by signal distortion. A prototype of the beam-microphone was developed and then tested at the O-arai Engineering Center of the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC). On-site testing of the beam-microphone was carried out in the inlet piping room of an RBMK reactor of the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant (LNPP) in Russia. A leak sound imitator was used to simulate the leakage sound under the leakage flow condition of 1-3 gpm (0.23-0.7 m 3 /h). Analysis showed that signal distortion does not seriously affect the performance of this method, and that sound reflection may result in the appearance of ghost sound sources. The test results showed that the influences of sound reflection and background noise were smaller at the high frequencies where the leakage location could be estimated with an angular accuracy of 5deg which is the range of localization accuracy required for the leak detection system. (author)

Fracture mechanics. With an introduction to micromechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gross, D.

2006-01-01

Concerned with the fundamental concepts and methods of fracture mechanics and micromechanics, Fracture Mechanics primarily focuses on the mechanical description of the fracture process; however, material specific aspects are also discussed. The presentation of continuum mechanical and phenomenological foundations is followed by an introduction into classical failure hypotheses. A major part of the book is devoted to linear elastic and elastic-plastic fracture mechanics. Further subjects are creep fracture, dynamic fracture mechanics, damage mechanics, probabilistic fracture mechanics, failure of thin films and fracture of piezoelectric materials. The book also contains an extensive introduction into micromechanics. Self-contained and well-illustrated, this text serves as a graduate-level text and reference

Effects of read-out light sources and ambient light on radiochromic film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butson, Martin J.; Yu, Peter K.N.; Metcalfe, Peter E.

1998-01-01

Both read-out light sources and ambient light sources can produce a marked effect on coloration of radiochromic film. Fluorescent, helium neon laser, light emitting diode (LED) and incandescent read-out light sources produce an equivalent dose coloration of 660 cGy h -1 , 4.3 cGy h -1 , 1.7 cGy h -1 and 2.6 cGy h -1 respectively. Direct sunlight, fluorescent light and incandescent ambient light produce an equivalent dose coloration of 30 cGy h -1 , 18 cGy h -1 and 0 cGy h -1 respectively. Continuously on, fluorescent light sources should not be used for film optical density evaluation and minimal exposure to any light source will increase the accuracy of results. (author)

An Extension of Holographic Moiré to Micromechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Sciammarella, C. A.; Sciammarella, F. M.

The electronic Holographic Moiré is an ideal tool for micromechanics studies. It does not require a modification of the surface by the introduction of a reference grating. This is of particular advantage when dealing with materials such as solid propellant grains whose chemical nature and surface finish makes the application of a reference grating very difficult. Traditional electronic Holographic Moiré presents some difficult problems when large magnifications are needed and large rigid body motion takes place. This paper presents developments that solves these problems and extends the application of the technique to micromechanics.

Micromechanical model of lung parenchyma hyperelasticity

Science.gov (United States)

Concha, Felipe; Sarabia-Vallejos, Mauricio; Hurtado, Daniel E.

2018-03-01

Mechanics plays a key role in respiratory physiology, as lung tissue cyclically deforms to bring air in and out the lung, a life-long process necessary for respiration. The study of regional mechanisms of deformation in lung parenchyma has received great attention to date due to its clinical relevance, as local overstretching and stress concentration in lung tissue is currently associated to pathological conditions such as lung injury during mechanical ventilation therapy. This mechanical approach to lung physiology has motivated the development of constitutive models to better understand the relation between stress and deformation in the lung. While material models proposed to date have been key in the development of whole-lung simulations, either they do not directly relate microstructural properties of alveolar tissue with coarse-scale behavior, or they require a high computational effort when based on real alveolar geometries. Furthermore, most models proposed to date have not been thoroughly validated for anisotropic deformation states, which are commonly found in normal lungs in-vivo. In this work, we develop a novel micromechanical model of lung parenchyma hyperelasticity using the framework of finite-deformation homogenization. To this end, we consider a tetrakaidecahedron unit cell with incompressible Neo-Hookean structural elements that account for the alveolar wall tissue responsible for the elastic response, and derive expressions for its effective coarse-scale behavior that directly depend on the alveolar wall elasticity, reference porosity, and two other geometrical coefficients. To validate the proposed model, we simulate the non-linear elastic response of twelve representative volume elements (RVEs) of lung parenchyma with micrometric dimensions, whose geometry is obtained from micrometric computed-tomography reconstructions of murine lungs. We show that the proposed micromechanical model accurately captures the RVEs response not only for isotropic

Relating hearing loss and executive functions to hearing aid users’ preference for, and speech recognition with, different combinations of binaural noise reduction and microphone directionality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tobias eNeher

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Knowledge of how executive functions relate to preferred hearing aid (HA processing is sparse and seemingly inconsistent with related knowledge for speech recognition outcomes. This study thus aimed to find out if (1 performance on a measure of reading span (RS is related to preferred binaural noise reduction (NR strength, (2 similar relations exist for two different, nonverbal measures of executive function, (3 pure-tone average hearing loss (PTA, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, and microphone directionality (DIR also influence preferred NR strength, and (4 preference and speech recognition outcomes are similar. Sixty elderly HA users took part. Six HA conditions consisting of omnidirectional or cardioid microphones followed by inactive, moderate, or strong binaural NR as well as linear amplification were tested. Outcome was assessed at fixed SNRs using headphone simulations of a frontal target talker in a busy cafeteria. Analyses showed positive effects of active NR and DIR on preference, and negative and positive effects of, respectively, strong NR and DIR on speech recognition. Also, while moderate NR was the most preferred NR setting overall, preference for strong NR increased with SNR. No relation between RS and preference was found. However, larger PTA was related to weaker preference for inactive NR and stronger preference for strong NR for both microphone modes. Equivalent (but weaker relations between worse performance on one nonverbal measure of executive function and the HA conditions without DIR were found. For speech recognition, there were relations between HA condition, PTA, and RS, but their pattern differed from that for preference. Altogether, these results indicate that, while moderate NR works well in general, a notable proportion of HA users prefer stronger NR. Furthermore, PTA and executive functions can account for some of the variability in preference for, and speech recognition with, different binaural NR and DIR settings.

Photomultiplier pulse Read Out system for the preshower detector of the LHCb experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ajaltouni, Z.; Bohner, G.; Cornat, R.; Deschamps, O.; Lecoq, J.; Monteil, S.; Perret, P.

2003-01-01

The second generation experiment for CP violation studies in B decays, LHCb, is a 20-m-long single-arm spectrometer to be installed on the future Large Hadron Collider at CERN. For its precision measurement purpose, it combines precise vertex location and particle identification, in addition to a performance trigger system able to cope with high flux. The first level of trigger is mainly based on the fast response of the calorimetric subsystem. Of major importance is the 6000 channels preshower detector that aims to validate the electromagnetic nature of calorimetric showers. It consists of two-radiation-length lead sheet in front of a scintillator plane. Scintillator signals are extracted from plastic cells using wavelength-shifting fibres coupled to multi-anode photomultiplier tubes. The preshower Read Out system has to cope with fluctuating photomultiplier pulses caused by small amounts of photoelectrons, in addition to strong constraints imposed by the 40 MHz LHC bunch-crossing frequency. A special Read Out electronics including perfect 40 MHz integrators able to shape fluctuating photomultiplier pulses has been designed, and successfully realized. The temporal shape of photomultiplier pulse and the upstream Read Out system for preshower are described in this document

A novel micromechanical flow regulator

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Toor, M.W.; van Toor, M.W.; Lammerink, Theodorus S.J.; Gardeniers, Johannes G.E.; Elwenspoek, Michael Curt; Monsma, D.J.

1996-01-01

A new concept for a micromechanical flow regulator is presented. Regulation of the flow is achieved using variation of channel length instead of channel diameter. Several design concepts together with their application in fluidic systems are presented. A regulator for biomedical use, as a part of a

A novel micromechanical flow controller

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Toor, M.W.; van Toor, M.W.; Lammerink, Theodorus S.J.; Gardeniers, Johannes G.E.; Elwenspoek, Michael Curt; Monsma, D.J.

A new concept for a micromechanical flow regulator is presented. Regulation of the flow is achieved using variation of channel length instead of channel diameter. Several design concepts together with their application in fluidic systems are presented. A regulator for biomedical use, as a part of a

Simulation Study of Electronic Damping of Microphonic Vibrations in Superconducting Cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alicia Hofler; Jean Delayen

2005-01-01

Electronic damping of microphonic vibrations in superconducting rf cavities involves an active modulation of the cavity field amplitude in order to induce ponderomotive forces that counteract the effect of ambient vibrations on the cavity frequency. In lightly beam loaded cavities, a reduction of the microphonics-induced frequency excursions leads directly to a reduction of the rf power required for phase and amplitude stabilization. Jefferson Lab is investigating such an electronic damping scheme that could be applied to the JLab 12 GeV upgrade, the RIA driver, and possibly to energy-recovering superconducting linacs. This paper discusses a model and presents simulation results for electronic damping of microphonic vibrations

Towards new analog read-out electronics for the HADES drift chamber system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiebusch, Michael [Goethe-Universitaet, Frankfurt (Germany); Collaboration: HADES-Collaboration

2016-07-01

Track reconstruction in HADES is realized with 24 planar, low-mass drift chambers (MDC). About 27000 drift cells provide precise spatial information of track hit points together with energy loss information, serving for particle ID. In order to handle high rates and track densities required at the future SIS100 accelerator at FAIR, an upgrade of the MDC system is necessary, i.e. by receiving additional redundant layers of drift cells in front of the magnet. This involves new front-end electronics, as the original analog read-out ASIC (ASD8) is no longer in stock and cannot be produced due to its legacy silicon process. Employing new FEE would allow to further increase the sensitivity, e.g. providing additional valuable information for the analysis. This contribution presents a market analysis of alternative state-of-the-art technologies for the analog read-out of drift chambers. Test procedures to evaluate the suitability for the HADES MDCs are discussed and preliminary results are shown. Emphasis is put on the benefits and possible implementations of using two separate analog channels for reading out a sense wire, i.e. a fast amplifier with a discriminator for recording the arrival time of the signal pulse and a slow integrating amplifier with a time-over-threshold discriminator to measure the total charge of the pulse.

A three-microphone acoustic reflection technique using transmitted acoustic waves in the airway.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujimoto, Yuki; Huang, Jyongsu; Fukunaga, Toshiharu; Kato, Ryo; Higashino, Mari; Shinomiya, Shohei; Kitadate, Shoko; Takahara, Yutaka; Yamaya, Atsuyo; Saito, Masatoshi; Kobayashi, Makoto; Kojima, Koji; Oikawa, Taku; Nakagawa, Ken; Tsuchihara, Katsuma; Iguchi, Masaharu; Takahashi, Masakatsu; Mizuno, Shiro; Osanai, Kazuhiro; Toga, Hirohisa

2013-10-15

The acoustic reflection technique noninvasively measures airway cross-sectional area vs. distance functions and uses a wave tube with a constant cross-sectional area to separate incidental and reflected waves introduced into the mouth or nostril. The accuracy of estimated cross-sectional areas gets worse in the deeper distances due to the nature of marching algorithms, i.e., errors of the estimated areas in the closer distances accumulate to those in the further distances. Here we present a new technique of acoustic reflection from measuring transmitted acoustic waves in the airway with three microphones and without employing a wave tube. Using miniaturized microphones mounted on a catheter, we estimated reflection coefficients among the microphones and separated incidental and reflected waves. A model study showed that the estimated cross-sectional area vs. distance function was coincident with the conventional two-microphone method, and it did not change with altered cross-sectional areas at the microphone position, although the estimated cross-sectional areas are relative values to that at the microphone position. The pharyngeal cross-sectional areas including retropalatal and retroglossal regions and the closing site during sleep was visualized in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. The method can be applicable to larger or smaller bronchi to evaluate the airspace and function in these localized airways.

Versatile Micromechanics Model for Multiscale Analysis of Composite Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Y. W.; Park, M. S.

2013-08-01

A general-purpose micromechanics model was developed so that the model could be applied to various composite materials such as reinforced by particles, long fibers and short fibers as well as those containing micro voids. Additionally, the model can be used with hierarchical composite materials. The micromechanics model can be used to compute effective material properties like elastic moduli, shear moduli, Poisson's ratios, and coefficients of thermal expansion for the various composite materials. The model can also calculate the strains and stresses at the constituent material level such as fibers, particles, and whiskers from the composite level stresses and strains. The model was implemented into ABAQUS using the UMAT option for multiscale analysis. An extensive set of examples are presented to demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of the developed micromechanics model for different kinds of composite materials. Another set of examples is provided to study the multiscale analysis of composite structures.

Micromechanical Time-Lapse X-ray CT Study of Fatigue Damage in Uni-Directional Fibre Composites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jespersen, Kristine Munk; Lowe, Tristan; Withers, Philip J.

2015-01-01

. The geometry of the cut-out is similar to that which will be used in the time-lapse study. As the micro-mechanical damage mechanisms are small features, it is necessary to obtain a high scan resolution which sets a limit to how large the field of view can be. Therefore, it is necessary to perform several scans...

Outlier Detection for Sensor Systems (ODSS): A MATLAB Macro for Evaluating Microphone Sensor Data Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasta, Robert; Crandell, Ian; Millican, Anthony; House, Leanna; Smith, Eric

2017-10-13

Microphone sensor systems provide information that may be used for a variety of applications. Such systems generate large amounts of data. One concern is with microphone failure and unusual values that may be generated as part of the information collection process. This paper describes methods and a MATLAB graphical interface that provides rapid evaluation of microphone performance and identifies irregularities. The approach and interface are described. An application to a microphone array used in a wind tunnel is used to illustrate the methodology.

Micromachined microphone array on a chip for turbulent boundary layer measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Krause, Joshua Steven

A surface micromachined microphone array on a single chip has been successfully designed, fabricated, characterized, and tested for aeroacoustic purposes. The microphone was designed to have venting through the diaphragm, 64 elements (8x8) on the chip, and used a capacitive transduction scheme. The microphone was fabricated using the MEMSCAP PolyMUMPs process (a foundry polysilicon surface micromachining process) along with facilities at Tufts Micro and Nano Fabrication Facility (TMNF) where a Parylene-C passivation layer deposition and release of the microstructures were performed. The devices are packaged with low profile interconnects, presenting a maximum of 100 mum of surface topology. The design of an individual microphone was completed through the use of a lumped element model (LEM) to determine the theoretical performance of the microphone. Off-chip electronics were created to allow the microphone array outputs to be redirected to one of two channels, allowing dynamic reconfiguration of the effective transducer shape in software and provide 80 dB off isolation. The characterization was completed through the use of laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV), acoustic plane wave tube and free-field calibration, and electrical noise floor testing in a Faraday cage. Measured microphone sensitivity is 0.15 mV/Pa for an individual microphone and 8.7 mV/Pa for the entire array, in close agreement with model predictions. The microphones and electronics operate over the 200--40 000 Hz band. The dynamic range extends from 60 dB SPL in a 1 Hz band to greater than 150 dB SPL. Element variability was +/-0.05 mV/Pa in sensitivity with an array yield of 95%. Wind tunnel testing at flow rates of up to 205.8 m/s indicates that the devices continue to operate in flow without damage, and can be successfully reconfigured on the fly. Care has been taken to systematically remove contaminating signals (acoustic, vibration, and noise floor) from the wind tunnel data to determine actual

Environmental coefficients of the free-field sensitivity of measurement microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barrera Figueroa, Salvador; Cutanda Henriquez, Vicente; Torras-Rosell, Antoni

2017-01-01

The sensitivity of measurement microphones, both pressure and free field, is affected by changes in the environmental conditions, mainly temperature and static pressure. Static pressure and temperature coefficients for the pressure sensitivity have been the object of previous studies focused...... on Laboratory Standard microphones and few working standard microphones. The literature describes frequency dependent values for these coefficients which are used for calibration purposes. However, there is no description of the environmental coefficients of the free-field sensitivity though there have been...... some implementations that attempt to take care of the differences between the coefficients for the two types of sensitivities. Measuring the coefficients in a free field poses some challeng; it is not so easy to change neither the static pressure nor the temperature inside anechoic room within...

Analysis of read-out heating rate effects on the glow peaks of TLD-100 using WinGCF software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bauk, Sabar, E-mail: sabar@usm.my [Physics Section, School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang (Malaysia); Hussin, Siti Fatimah [School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang (Malaysia); Alam, Md. Shah [Physics Section, School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang (Malaysia); Physics Department, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet (Bangladesh)

2016-01-22

This study was done to analyze the effects of the read-out heating rate on the LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD) glow peaks using WinGCF computer software. The TLDs were exposed to X-ray photons with a potential difference of 72 kVp and 200 mAs in air and were read-out using a Harshaw 3500 TLD reader. The TLDs were read-out using four read-out heating rates at 10, 7, 4 and 1 °C s{sup −1}. It was observed that lowering the heating rate could separate more glow peaks. The activation energy for peak 5 was found to be lower than that for peak 4. The peak maximum temperature and the integral value of the main peak decreased as the heating rate decreases.

The NA62 Gigatracker: Detector properties and pixel read-out architectures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fiorini, M.; Carassiti, V.; Ceccucci, A.; Cortina, E.; Cotta Ramusino, A.; Dellacasa, G.; Jarron, P.; Kaplon, J.; Kluge, A.; Marchetto, F.; Martin, E.; Martoiu, S.; Mazza, G.; Noy, M.; Petrucci, F.; Riedler, P.; Rivetti, A.; Tiuraniemi, S.

2010-01-01

The beam spectrometer of the NA62 experiment, named Gigatracker, has to perform single track reconstruction with unprecedented time resolution (150 ps rms) in a harsh radiation environment. To meet these requirements, and in order to reduce material budget to a minimum, three hybrid silicon pixel detector stations will be installed in vacuum. An adequate strategy to compensate for the discriminator time-walk must be implemented and R and D investigating two different options is ongoing. Two read-out chip prototypes have been designed in order to compare their performance: one approach is based on the use of a constant-fraction discriminator followed by an on-pixel TDC, while the other one is based on the use of a time-over-threshold circuit followed by a TDC shared by a group of pixels. This paper describes the Gigatracker system, presents the global architectures of both read-out ASICs and reviews the current status of the R and D project.

Live event reconstruction in an optically read out GEM-based TPC

Science.gov (United States)

Brunbauer, F. M.; Galgóczi, G.; Gonzalez Diaz, D.; Oliveri, E.; Resnati, F.; Ropelewski, L.; Streli, C.; Thuiner, P.; van Stenis, M.

2018-04-01

Combining strong signal amplification made possible by Gaseous Electron Multipliers (GEMs) with the high spatial resolution provided by optical readout, highly performing radiation detectors can be realized. An optically read out GEM-based Time Projection Chamber (TPC) is presented. The device permits 3D track reconstruction by combining the 2D projections obtained with a CCD camera with timing information from a photomultiplier tube. Owing to the intuitive 2D representation of the tracks in the images and to automated control, data acquisition and event reconstruction algorithms, the optically read out TPC permits live display of reconstructed tracks in three dimensions. An Ar/CF4 (80/20%) gas mixture was used to maximize scintillation yield in the visible wavelength region matching the quantum efficiency of the camera. The device is integrated in a UHV-grade vessel allowing for precise control of the gas composition and purity. Long term studies in sealed mode operation revealed a minor decrease in the scintillation light intensity.

Robustness of a Mixed-Order Ambisonics Microphone Array for Sound Field Reproduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marschall, Marton; Favrot, Sylvain Emmanuel; Buchholz, Jörg

2012-01-01

Spherical microphone arrays can be used to capture and reproduce the spatial characteristics of acoustic scenes. A mixed-order Ambisonics (MOA) approach was recently proposed to improve the horizontal spatial resolution of microphone arrays with a given number of transducers. In this paper...

Controlling and Monitoring the Data Flow of the LHCb Read-out and DAQ Network

CERN Multimedia

Schwemmer, R; Neufeld, N; Svantesson, D

2011-01-01

The LHCb readout uses a set of 320 FPGA based boards as interface between the on-detector hardware and the GBE DAQ network. The boards are the logical Level 1 (L1) read-out electronics and aggregate the experiment's raw data into event fragments that are sent to the DAQ network. To control the many parameters of the read-out boards, an embedded PC is included on each board, connecting to the boards ICs and FPGAs. The data from the L1 boards is sent through an aggregation network into the High Level Trigger farm. The farm comprises approximately 1500 PCs which at first assemble the fragments from the L1 boards and then do a partial reconstruction and selection of the events. In total there are approximately 3500 network connections. Data is pushed through the network and there is no mechanism for resending packets. Loss of data on a small scale is acceptable but care has to be taken to avoid data loss if possible. To monitor and debug losses, different probes are inserted throughout the entire read-out chain t...

A Read-out and Data Acquisition System for the Outputs of Multi-channel Spectroscopy Amplifiers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kong Jie; Qian Yi; Su Hong; Dong Chengfu

2009-01-01

A read-out and data acquisition system for the outputs of multi-channel spectroscopy amplifiers is introduced briefly in this paper. The 16-channel gating integrator/multiplexer developed by us and PXI-DAQ card are used to construct this system. A virtual instrument system for displaying, indicating,measuring and recording of output waveform is accomplished by integrating the PC, hardware, software together flexibly based on the Lab Windows/CVI platform in our read-out and data acquisition system. In this system, an ADC can face the 16 outputs of 16-channel spectroscopy amplifiers, which can improve the system integration and reduce the cost of data acquisition system. The design provided a new way for building the read-out and data acquisition system using the normal modules and spectroscopy amplifiers. This system has been tested and demonstrated that it is intelligent, reliable, real-time and low cost. (authors)

Acoustic isolation vessel for measurement of the background noise in microphones

Science.gov (United States)

Ngo, Kim C. T.; Zuckerwar, Allan J.

1993-01-01

An acoustic isolation vessel has been developed to measure the background noise in microphones. The test microphone is installed in an inner vessel, which is suspended within an outer vessel, and the intervening air space is evacuated to a high vacuum. An analytical expression for the transmission coefficient is derived, based on a five-media model, and compared to experiment. At an isolation vacuum of 5 x 10 exp -6 Torr the experimental transmission coefficient was found to be lower than -155 dB at frequencies ranging from 40 to 1200 Hz. Measurements of the A-weighted noise levels of commercial condenser microphones of four different sizes show good agreement with published values.

Controlling and monitoring the data flow of the LHCb read-out and DAQ network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwemmer, R.; Gaspar, C.; Neufeld, N.; Svantesson, D.

2012-01-01

The LHCb read-out uses a set of 320 FPGA based boards as interface between the on-detector hardware and the GBE DAQ network. The boards are the logical Level 1 (L1) read-out electronics and aggregate the experiment's raw data into event fragments that are sent to the DAQ network. To control the many parameters of the read-out boards, an embedded PC is included on each board, connecting to the boards ICs and FPGAs. The data from the L1 boards is sent through an aggregation network into the High Level Trigger farm. The farm comprises approximately 1500 PCs which at first assemble the fragments from the L1 boards and then do a partial reconstruction and selection of the events. In total there are approximately 3500 network connections. Data is pushed through the network and there is no mechanism for resending packets. Loss of data on a small scale is acceptable but care has to be taken to avoid data loss if possible. To monitor and debug losses, different probes are inserted throughout the entire read-out chain to count fragments, packets and their rates at different positions. To keep uniformity throughout the experiment, all control software was developed using the common SCADA software, PVSS, with the JCOP framework as base. The presentation will focus on the low level controls interface developed for the L1 boards and the networking probes, as well as the integration of the high level user interfaces into PVSS. (authors)

Micromechanical photothermal analyser of microfluidic samples

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2014-01-01

The present invention relates to a micromechanical photothermal analyser of microfluidic samples comprising an oblong micro-channel extending longitudinally from a support element, the micro-channel is made from at least two materials with different thermal expansion coefficients, wherein...

A time-selective technique for free-field reciprocity calibration of condenser microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barrera Figueroa, Salvador; Rasmussen, Knud; Jacobsen, Finn

2003-01-01

In normal practice, microphones are calibrated in a closed coupler where the sound pressure is uniformly distributed over the diaphragm. Alternatively, microphones can be placed in a free field, although in that case the distribution of sound pressure over the diaphragm will change as a result of...

Precision Measurements of Wind Turbine Noise using a Large Aperture Microphone Array

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bradley, Stuart; Mikkelsen, Torben Krogh; Hünerbein, Sabine Von

2016-01-01

Experiments are described with a large microphone array (40 m scale) recording wind turbine noise. The array comprised 42 purpose-designed low-noise microphones simultaneously sampled at 20 kHz. Very high quality, fast, meteorological profile data was available from nearby 80 m masts and from the...

Characteristics of Relocated Quiet Zones Using Virtual Microphone Algorithm in an Active Headrest System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seokhoon Ryu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This study displays theoretical and experimental investigation on the characteristics of the relocated zone of quiet by a virtual microphone (VM based filtered-x LMS (FxLMS algorithm which can be embedded in a real-time digital controller for an active headrest system. The attenuation changes at the relocated zones of quiet by the variation of the distance between the ear and the error microphone are mainly examined. An active headrest system was implemented for the control experiment at a chair and consists of two (left and right secondary loudspeakers, two error microphones, two observer microphones at ear positions in a HATS, and other electronics including a dSPACE 1401 controller. The VM based FxLMS algorithm achieved an attenuation of about 22 dB in the control experiment against a narrowband primary noise by the variation of the distance between the ear and the error microphone. The important factors for the algorithm are discussed as well.

Micromechanics of heterogeneous materials

CERN Document Server

Buryachenko, Valeriy

2007-01-01

Here is an accurate and timely account of micromechanics, which spans materials science, mechanical engineering, applied mathematics, technical physics, geophysics, and biology. The book features rigorous and unified theoretical methods of applied mathematics and statistical physics in the material science of microheterogeneous media. Uniquely, it offers a useful demonstration of the systematic and fundamental research of the microstructure of the wide class of heterogeneous materials of natural and synthetic nature.

Beamforming with a circular microphone array for localization of environmental noise sources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tiana Roig, Elisabet; Jacobsen, Finn; Fernandez Grande, Efren

2010-01-01

It is often enough to localize environmental sources of noise from different directions in a plane. This can be accomplished with a circular microphone array, which can be designed to have practically the same resolution over 360. The microphones can be suspended in free space or they can...

PADI ASIC for straw tube read-out

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pietraszko, Jerzy; Traeger, Michael; Fruehauf, Jochen; Schmidt, Christian [GSI, Darmstadt (Germany); Ciobanu, Mircea [ISS, Bucharest (Romania); Collaboration: CBM-Collaboration

2016-07-01

A prototype of the CBM MUCH straw tube detector consisting of six individual straws of 6mm inner diameter and 220 mm length filled with Ar/CO{sub 2} gas mixture has been tested at the COSY accelerator in Juelich. The straw tubes were connected to the FEET-PADI6-HDa PCB equipped with PADI-6 fast amplifier/discriminator ASIC. As a reference counter in this measurement the scCVD diamond detector has been used delivering excellent timing, time resolution below 100 ps (sigma), and very precise position information, below 50 μm. The demonstrated position resolution of about 160 μm of the straw tube read out with PADI-6 ASIC confirms the capability of the PADI chip and puts this development as a very attractive readout option for straw tubes and wire chambers.

Feasible pickup from intact ossicular chain with floating piezoelectric microphone.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Hou-Yong; Na, Gao; Chi, Fang-Lu; Jin, Kai; Pan, Tie-Zheng; Gao, Zhen

2012-02-22

Many microphones have been developed to meet with the implantable requirement of totally implantable cochlear implant (TICI). However, a biocompatible one without destroying the intactness of the ossicular chain still remains under investigation. Such an implantable floating piezoelectric microphone (FPM) has been manufactured and shows an efficient electroacoustic performance in vitro test at our lab. We examined whether it pick up sensitively from the intact ossicular chain and postulated whether it be an optimal implantable one. Animal controlled experiment: five adult cats (eight ears) were sacrificed as the model to test the electroacoustic performance of the FPM. Three groups were studied: (1) the experiment group (on malleus): the FPM glued onto the handle of the malleus of the intact ossicular chains; (2) negative control group (in vivo): the FPM only hung into the tympanic cavity; (3) positive control group (Hy-M30): a HiFi commercial microphone placed close to the site of the experiment ear. The testing speaker played pure tones orderly ranged from 0.25 to 8.0 kHz. The FPM inside the ear and the HiFi microphone simultaneously picked up acoustic vibration which recorded as .wav files to analyze. The FPM transformed acoustic vibration sensitively and flatly as did the in vitro test across the frequencies above 2.0 kHz, whereas inefficiently below 1.0 kHz for its overloading mass. Although the HiFi microphone presented more efficiently than the FPM did, there was no significant difference at 3.0 kHz and 8.0 kHz. It is feasible to develop such an implantable FPM for future TICIs and TIHAs system on condition that the improvement of Micro Electromechanical System and piezoelectric ceramic material technology would be applied to reduce its weight and minimize its size.

Feasible pickup from intact ossicular chain with floating piezoelectric microphone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kang Hou-Yong

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objectives Many microphones have been developed to meet with the implantable requirement of totally implantable cochlear implant (TICI. However, a biocompatible one without destroying the intactness of the ossicular chain still remains under investigation. Such an implantable floating piezoelectric microphone (FPM has been manufactured and shows an efficient electroacoustic performance in vitro test at our lab. We examined whether it pick up sensitively from the intact ossicular chain and postulated whether it be an optimal implantable one. Methods Animal controlled experiment: five adult cats (eight ears were sacrificed as the model to test the electroacoustic performance of the FPM. Three groups were studied: (1 the experiment group (on malleus: the FPM glued onto the handle of the malleus of the intact ossicular chains; (2 negative control group (in vivo: the FPM only hung into the tympanic cavity; (3 positive control group (Hy-M30: a HiFi commercial microphone placed close to the site of the experiment ear. The testing speaker played pure tones orderly ranged from 0.25 to 8.0 kHz. The FPM inside the ear and the HiFi microphone simultaneously picked up acoustic vibration which recorded as .wav files to analyze. Results The FPM transformed acoustic vibration sensitively and flatly as did the in vitro test across the frequencies above 2.0 kHz, whereas inefficiently below 1.0 kHz for its overloading mass. Although the HiFi microphone presented more efficiently than the FPM did, there was no significant difference at 3.0 kHz and 8.0 kHz. Conclusions It is feasible to develop such an implantable FPM for future TICIs and TIHAs system on condition that the improvement of Micro Electromechanical System and piezoelectric ceramic material technology would be applied to reduce its weight and minimize its size.

Characterization of Bitumen Micro-Mechanical Behaviors Using AFM, Phase Dynamics Theory and MD Simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yue Hou

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Fundamental understanding of micro-mechanical behaviors in bitumen, including phase separation, micro-friction, micro-abrasion, etc., can help the pavement engineers better understand the bitumen mechanical performances at macroscale. Recent researches show that the microstructure evolution in bitumen will directly affect its surface structure and micro-mechanical performance. In this study, the bitumen microstructure and micro-mechanical behaviors are studied using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM experiments, Phase Dynamics Theory and Molecular Dynamics (MD Simulation. The AFM experiment results show that different phase-structure will occur at the surface of the bitumen samples under certain thermodynamic conditions at microscale. The phenomenon can be explained using the phase dynamics theory, where the effects of stability parameter and temperature on bitumen microstructure and micro-mechanical behavior are studied combined with MD Simulation. Simulation results show that the saturates phase, in contrast to the naphthene aromatics phase, plays a major role in bitumen micro-mechanical behavior. A high stress zone occurs at the interface between the saturates phase and the naphthene aromatics phase, which may form discontinuities that further affect the bitumen frictional performance.

Characterization of Bitumen Micro-Mechanical Behaviors Using AFM, Phase Dynamics Theory and MD Simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Yue; Wang, Linbing; Wang, Dawei; Guo, Meng; Liu, Pengfei; Yu, Jianxin

2017-02-21

Fundamental understanding of micro-mechanical behaviors in bitumen, including phase separation, micro-friction, micro-abrasion, etc., can help the pavement engineers better understand the bitumen mechanical performances at macroscale. Recent researches show that the microstructure evolution in bitumen will directly affect its surface structure and micro-mechanical performance. In this study, the bitumen microstructure and micro-mechanical behaviors are studied using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) experiments, Phase Dynamics Theory and Molecular Dynamics (MD) Simulation. The AFM experiment results show that different phase-structure will occur at the surface of the bitumen samples under certain thermodynamic conditions at microscale. The phenomenon can be explained using the phase dynamics theory, where the effects of stability parameter and temperature on bitumen microstructure and micro-mechanical behavior are studied combined with MD Simulation. Simulation results show that the saturates phase, in contrast to the naphthene aromatics phase, plays a major role in bitumen micro-mechanical behavior. A high stress zone occurs at the interface between the saturates phase and the naphthene aromatics phase, which may form discontinuities that further affect the bitumen frictional performance.

Micromechanical modeling of strength and damage of fiber reinforced composites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mishnaevsky, L. Jr.; Broendsted, P.

2007-03-15

The report for the first year of the EU UpWind project includes three parts: overview of concepts and methods of modelling of mechanical behavior, deformation and damage of unidirectional fiber reinforced composites, development of computational tools for the automatic generation of 3D micromechanical models of fiber reinforced composites, and micromechanical modelling of damage in FRC, and phenomenological analysis of the effect of frequency of cyclic loading on the lifetime and damage evolution in materials. (au)

EDITORIAL: Selected papers from the 22nd MicroMechanics and Microsystems Europe Workshop (MME 2011) Selected papers from the 22nd MicroMechanics and Microsystems Europe Workshop (MME 2011)

Science.gov (United States)

Ohlckers, Per

2012-07-01

This special section of Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering is a selection of 13 of the best papers presented at the 22nd Micromechanics and Microsystems Europe Workshop, which was arranged in Toensberg, Norway, 19-22 June, 2011. 110 participants attended the 3 day workshop that had 5 invited keynote speakers and 80 submitted poster presentations. The MME Workshop is organized every year to gather mostly European scientists and people from industry to discuss topics related to research in micromechanics and microsystems in an informal manner. A distinct feature of this specialized workshop is to be an excellent venue for young scientists in the field, such as PhD students, to present their latest work. This workshop series was inaugurated in Enschede, the Netherlands in 1989, followed by: Berlin, Germany (1990), Leuven, Belgium (1992), Neuchatel, Switzerland (1993), Pisa, Italy (1994), Copenhagen, Denmark (1995), Barcelona, Spain (1996) [1], Southampton, UK (1997) [2], Ulvik, Norway (1998) [3], Gif-sur-Yvette, France (1999) [4], Uppsala, Sweden (2000), Cork, Ireland (2001) [5], Sinaia, Romania (2002) [6], Delft, The Netherlands (2003) [7], Leuven, Belgium (2004) [8], Goteborg, Sweden (2005) [9], Southampton, UK (2006) [10], Guimaraes, Portugal (2007) [11], Aachen, Germany (2008) [12], Toulouse, France (2009) [13] and Enschede, the Netherlands (2010) [14]. The workshop series has remained remarkably true to its original concept such as still having micromechanics as a priority topic while, at the same time, adapting to recent research topics such as microsystems integration. It is nice to observe that an earlier fragmented and mostly academic research field now has matured into a very strong industrial field being one of the fastest growing industries in the world, with successful applications on all levels from high end to low end, from space to consumer applications, with the inclusion of microsystems in smartphones such as three-axis accelerometers and

MEMS capacitive accelerometer-based middle ear microphone.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Darrin J; Zurcher, Mark A; Semaan, Maroun; Megerian, Cliff A; Ko, Wen H

2012-12-01

The design, implementation, and characterization of a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) capacitive accelerometer-based middle ear microphone are presented in this paper. The microphone is intended for middle ear hearing aids as well as future fully implantable cochlear prosthesis. Human temporal bones acoustic response characterization results are used to derive the accelerometer design requirements. The prototype accelerometer is fabricated in a commercial silicon-on-insulator (SOI) MEMS process. The sensor occupies a sensing area of 1 mm × 1 mm with a chip area of 2 mm × 2.4 mm and is interfaced with a custom-designed low-noise electronic IC chip over a flexible substrate. The packaged sensor unit occupies an area of 2.5 mm × 6.2 mm with a weight of 25 mg. The sensor unit attached to umbo can detect a sound pressure level (SPL) of 60 dB at 500 Hz, 35 dB at 2 kHz, and 57 dB at 8 kHz. An improved sound detection limit of 34-dB SPL at 150 Hz and 24-dB SPL at 500 Hz can be expected by employing start-of-the-art MEMS fabrication technology, which results in an articulation index of approximately 0.76. Further micro/nanofabrication technology advancement is needed to enhance the microphone sensitivity for improved understanding of normal conversational speech.

Moisture-related mechanical properties of softwood: 3D micromechanical modeling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Qing, Hai; Mishnaevsky, Leon

2009-01-01

Computational micromechanical analysis of the influence of moisture, density and microstructure of latewood on its hydroelastic and shrinkage properties is carried out. The elastic properties of cell sublayers have been determined using the unit cell models as for fiber reinforced composites (two....... The results for elastic properties of cell sublayers obtained from the unit cell models, from the self-consistent method and Halpin-Tsai equations are compared, and good agreement between these methods was observed. A computational technique, based on the representation of moisture effect as equivalent...... temperature-caused effects, has been developed and employed to the modeling of the moisture-related changes of the elastic properties of cell layers. A series of computational experiments have been carried out. In the simulations, it was observed that the shrinkage coefficients of longitudinal direction...

[Value of the study of cochlear microphonic recordings in deep and severe deafness].

Science.gov (United States)

Moatti, L; Busquet, D; Cotin, G

1983-01-01

A study was conducted to assess the contribution of cochlear microphonic potential recordings during electrophysiologic audiometry examinations. Amplitude of microphonic recordings were correlated with the degree of deafness, its etiology, and the prosthetic prognosis in 38 electrocochleographic examinations. Preliminary results are analyzed.

Effect of Free Stream Turbulence on the Flow-Induced Background Noise of In-Flow Microphones

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Christopher S.; Olson, Lawrence E. (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

When making noise measurements of sound sources in flow using microphones immersed in an air stream or wind tunnel, the factor limiting the dynamic range of the measurement is, in many cases, the noise caused by the flow over the microphone. To lower this self-noise, and to protect the microphone diaphragm, an aerodynamic microphone forebody is usually mounted on the tip of the omnidirectional microphone. The microphone probe is then pointed into the wind stream. Even with a microphone forebody, however, the self-noise persists, prompting further research in the area of microphone forebody design for flow-induced self-noise reduction. The magnitude and frequency characteristics of in-flow microphone probe self-noise is dependent upon the exterior shape of the probe and on the level of turbulence in the onset flow, among other things. Several recent studies present new designs for microphone forebodies, some showing the forbodies' self-noise characteristics when used in a given facility. However, these self-noise characteristics may change when the probes are used in different facilities. The present paper will present results of an experimental investigation to determine an empirical relationship between flow turbulence and self-noise levels for several microphone forebody shapes as a function of frequency. As a result, the microphone probe self-noise for these probes will be known as a function of freestream turbulence, and knowing the freestream turbulence spectra for a given facility, the probe self-noise can be predicted. Flow-induced microphone self-noise is believed to be related to the freestream. turbulence by three separate mechanisms. The first mechanism is produced by large scale, as compared to the probe size, turbulence which appears to the probe as a variation in the angle of attack of the freestream. flow. This apparent angle of attack variation causes the pressure along the probe surface to fluctuate, and at the location of the sensor orifice this

4th Conference on Microactuators and Micromechanisms

CERN Document Server

Corves, Burkhard; Jensen, Brian; Lovasz, Erwin-Christian

2017-01-01

This book brings together investigations which combine theoretical and experimental results related to such systems as capsule micromechanisms, active micro catheters, nanotube vascular stents, mechanisms for micromilling, different compliant mechanisms including grippers and compliant systems with actuators and sensors, microrobots based on vibrations, tactile sensors, tooth brackets, compliant valves, and space reflectors. This volume contains twenty-two contributions from researchers from ten countries, represented at the 4th Conference on Microactuators and Micromechanisms, which was held in 2016 in Ilmenau, Germany. The aim of the conference was to provide a special opportunity for a know-how exchange and collaboration in various disciplines concerning systems pertaining to micro-technology. This Conference was organized under the patronage of IFToMM (International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science). .

Analysis of jet-airfoil interaction noise sources by using a microphone array technique

Science.gov (United States)

Fleury, Vincent; Davy, Renaud

2016-03-01

The paper is concerned with the characterization of jet noise sources and jet-airfoil interaction sources by using microphone array data. The measurements were carried-out in the anechoic open test section wind tunnel of Onera, Cepra19. The microphone array technique relies on the convected, Lighthill's and Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings' acoustic analogy equation. The cross-spectrum of the source term of the analogy equation is sought. It is defined as the optimal solution to a minimal error equation using the measured microphone cross-spectra as reference. This inverse problem is ill-posed yet. A penalty term based on a localization operator is therefore added to improve the recovery of jet noise sources. The analysis of isolated jet noise data in subsonic regime shows the contribution of the conventional mixing noise source in the low frequency range, as expected, and of uniformly distributed, uncorrelated noise sources in the jet flow at higher frequencies. In underexpanded supersonic regime, a shock-associated noise source is clearly identified, too. An additional source is detected in the vicinity of the nozzle exit both in supersonic and subsonic regimes. In the presence of the airfoil, the distribution of the noise sources is deeply modified. In particular, a strong noise source is localized on the flap. For high Strouhal numbers, higher than about 2 (based on the jet mixing velocity and diameter), a significant contribution from the shear-layer near the flap is observed, too. Indications of acoustic reflections on the airfoil are also discerned.

A micromechanical approach to elastic and viscoelastic properties of fiber reinforced concrete

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pasa Dutra, V.F.; Maghous, S.; Campos Filho, A.; Pacheco, A.R.

2010-01-01

Some aspects of the constitutive behavior of fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) are investigated within a micromechanical framework. Special emphasis is put on the prediction of creep of such materials. The linear elastic behavior is first examined by implementation of a Mori-Tanaka homogenization scheme. The micromechanical predictions for the overall stiffness prove to be very close to finite element solutions obtained from the numerical analysis of a representative elementary volume of FRC modeled as a randomly heterogeneous medium. The validation of the micromechanical concepts based on comparison with a set of experiments, shows remarkable predictive capabilities of the micromechanical representation. The second part of the paper is devoted to non-ageing viscoelasticity of FRC. Adopting a Zener model for the behavior of the concrete matrix and making use of the correspondence principle, the homogenized relaxation moduli are derived analytically. The validity of the model is established by mean of comparison with available experiment measurements of creep strain of steel fiber reinforced concrete under compressive load. Finally, the model predictions are compared to those derived from analytical models formulated within a one-dimensional setting.

77 FR 64446 - Wireless Microphones Proceeding

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-22

... to balance the needs of potential new classes of wireless microphone licensees with those of other... undercut that balance by significantly reducing the amount of spectrum available for other uses, such as by..., a space capacity-rated for 3,000 people; for sports venues, a minimum of 10,000 seats for indoors...

Electronics for the CMS muon drift tube chambers the read-out minicrate

CERN Document Server

Fernandez Bedoya, Cristina; Oller, Juan Carlos; Willmott, Carlos

2005-01-01

On the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experimentat the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the CERN laboratory, the drift tube chambers are responsible for muon detection and precise momentum measurement. In this paper the first level of the read out electronics for these drift tube chambers is described. These drift tube chambers will be located inside the muon barrel detector in the so-called minicrates (MCs), attached to the chambers. The read out boards (ROBs) are the main component of this first level data acquisition system, and they are responsible for the time digitalization related to Level 1 Accept (L1A) trigger of the incoming signals from the front-end electronics, followed by a consequent data merging to the next stages of the data acquisition system. ROBs' architecture and functionality have been exhaustively tested, as well as their capability of operation beyond the expected environmental conditions inside the CMS detector. Due to the satisfactory results obtained, final production of ROBs and their a...

Design of UAV-Embedded Microphone Array System for Sound Source Localization in Outdoor Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kotaro Hoshiba

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In search and rescue activities, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV should exploit sound information to compensate for poor visual information. This paper describes the design and implementation of a UAV-embedded microphone array system for sound source localization in outdoor environments. Four critical development problems included water-resistance of the microphone array, efficiency in assembling, reliability of wireless communication, and sufficiency of visualization tools for operators. To solve these problems, we developed a spherical microphone array system (SMAS consisting of a microphone array, a stable wireless network communication system, and intuitive visualization tools. The performance of SMAS was evaluated with simulated data and a demonstration in the field. Results confirmed that the SMAS provides highly accurate localization, water resistance, prompt assembly, stable wireless communication, and intuitive information for observers and operators.

Design of UAV-Embedded Microphone Array System for Sound Source Localization in Outdoor Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoshiba, Kotaro; Washizaki, Kai; Wakabayashi, Mizuho; Ishiki, Takahiro; Kumon, Makoto; Bando, Yoshiaki; Gabriel, Daniel; Nakadai, Kazuhiro; Okuno, Hiroshi G

2017-11-03

In search and rescue activities, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) should exploit sound information to compensate for poor visual information. This paper describes the design and implementation of a UAV-embedded microphone array system for sound source localization in outdoor environments. Four critical development problems included water-resistance of the microphone array, efficiency in assembling, reliability of wireless communication, and sufficiency of visualization tools for operators. To solve these problems, we developed a spherical microphone array system (SMAS) consisting of a microphone array, a stable wireless network communication system, and intuitive visualization tools. The performance of SMAS was evaluated with simulated data and a demonstration in the field. Results confirmed that the SMAS provides highly accurate localization, water resistance, prompt assembly, stable wireless communication, and intuitive information for observers and operators.

Medipix3 array high performance read-out board for synchrotron research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tartoni, N.; Horswell, I. C.; Marchal, J.; Gimenez, E. N.; Fearn, R. D.; Silfhout, R. G. van

2010-01-01

The Medipix3 ASIC is one of the most advanced chip that is presently available to build photon counting area detectors. The capabilities of the chip include adjacent pixels charge summing circuitry to sort out the distortion due to charge sharing, simultaneous counting and read-out that enables frames to be acquired without dead time, the colour mode of operation that enables up to eight energy bands to be acquired. In order to fully exploit the capabilities of the Medipix3 chip in synchrotron research, a high performance electronic board capable of driving large arrays of chips is necessary. We propose a parallel read-out board of Medipix3 chip arrays with a scalable architecture that allows driving the Medipix3 chip in all of its modes of operation. The board functions include the control of the chip arrays, data formatting and data compression, the management of the communications with the data storage devices, and operation in various trigger modes. In addition to this the board will have some 'intelligence' embedded. This will add some very important features to the final detector such as pattern recognition, capability of variable frame duration as a function of the photon flux, feedback to other equipment and real time calculations of data relevant to experiments such as the autocorrelation function.

On the use of mobile phones and wearable microphones for noise exposure measurements: Calibration and measurement accuracy

Science.gov (United States)

Dumoulin, Romain

Despite the fact that noise-induced hearing loss remains the number one occupational disease in developed countries, individual noise exposure levels are still rarely known and infrequently tracked. Indeed, efforts to standardize noise exposure levels present disadvantages such as costly instrumentation and difficulties associated with on site implementation. Given their advanced technical capabilities and widespread daily usage, mobile phones could be used to measure noise levels and make noise monitoring more accessible. However, the use of mobile phones for measuring noise exposure is currently limited due to the lack of formal procedures for their calibration and challenges regarding the measurement procedure. Our research investigated the calibration of mobile phone-based solutions for measuring noise exposure using a mobile phone's built-in microphones and wearable external microphones. The proposed calibration approach integrated corrections that took into account microphone placement error. The corrections were of two types: frequency-dependent, using a digital filter and noise level-dependent, based on the difference between the C-weighted noise level minus A-weighted noise level of the noise measured by the phone. The electro-acoustical limitations and measurement calibration procedure of the mobile phone were investigated. The study also sought to quantify the effect of noise exposure characteristics on the accuracy of calibrated mobile phone measurements. Measurements were carried out in reverberant and semi-anechoic chambers with several mobiles phone units of the same model, two types of external devices (an earpiece and a headset with an in-line microphone) and an acoustical test fixture (ATF). The proposed calibration approach significantly improved the accuracy of the noise level measurements in diffuse and free fields, with better results in the diffuse field and with ATF positions causing little or no acoustic shadowing. Several sources of errors

Development of a micro-mechanical valve in a novel glaucoma implant.

Science.gov (United States)

Siewert, Stefan; Schultze, Christine; Schmidt, Wolfram; Hinze, Ulf; Chichkov, Boris; Wree, Andreas; Sternberg, Katrin; Allemann, Reto; Guthoff, Rudolf; Schmitz, Klaus-Peter

2012-10-01

This paper describes methods for design, manufacturing and characterization of a micro-mechanical valve for a novel glaucoma implant. The implant is designed to drain aqueous humour from the anterior chamber of the eye into the suprachoroidal space in case of an elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). In contrast to any existing glaucoma drainage device (GDD), the valve mechanism is located in the anterior chamber and there, surrounded by aqueous humour, immune to fibrosis induced failure. For the prevention of hypotony the micro-mechanical valve is designed to open if the physiological pressure difference between the anterior chamber and the suprachoroidal space in the range of 0.8 mmHg to 3.7 mmHg is exceeded. In particular the work includes: (i) manufacturing and morphological characterization of polymer tubing, (ii) mechanical material testing as basis for (iii) the design of micro-mechanical valves using finite element analysis (FEA), (iv) manufacturing of microstent prototypes including micro-mechanical valves by femtosecond laser micromachining and (v) the experimental fluid-mechanical characterization of the manufactured microstent prototypes with regard to valve opening pressure. The considered materials polyurethane (PUR) and silicone (SIL) exhibit low elastic modulus and high extensibility. The unique valve design enables a low opening pressure of micro-mechanical valves. An ideal valve design for PUR and SIL with an experimentally determined opening pressure of 2 mmHg and 3.7 mmHg is identified. The presented valve approach is suitable for the inhibition of hypotony as a major limitation of today's GDD and will potentially improve the minimally invasive treatment of glaucoma.

Investigation of a Huffman-based compression algorithm for the ALICE TPC read-out in LHC Run 3

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klewin, Sebastian [Physikalisches Institut, University of Heidelberg (Germany); Collaboration: ALICE-Collaboration

2016-07-01

Within the scope of the ALICE upgrade towards the Run 3 of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, starting in 2020, the ALICE Time Projection Chamber (TPC) will be reworked in order to allow for a continuous read-out. This rework includes not only a replacement of the current read-out chambers with Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) technology, but also new front-end electronics. To be able to read out the whole data stream without loosing information, in particular without zero-suppression, a lossless compression algorithm, the Huffman encoding, was investigated and adapted to the needs of the TPC. In this talk, an algorithm, adapted for an FPGA implementation, is presented. We show its capability to reduce the data volume to less than 40% of its original size.

Factors affecting the performance of large-aperture microphone arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Silverman, Harvey F.; Patterson, William R.; Sachar, Joshua

2002-05-01

Large arrays of microphones have been proposed and studied as a possible means of acquiring data in offices, conference rooms, and auditoria without requiring close-talking microphones. When such an array essentially surrounds all possible sources, it is said to have a large aperture. Large-aperture arrays have attractive properties of spatial resolution and signal-to-noise enhancement. This paper presents a careful comparison of theoretical and measured performance for an array of 256 microphones using simple delay-and-sum beamforming. This is the largest currently functional, all digital-signal-processing array that we know of. The array is wall-mounted in the moderately adverse environment of a general-purpose laboratory (8 m×8 m×3 m). The room has a T60 reverberation time of 550 ms. Reverberation effects in this room severely impact the array's performance. However, the width of the main lobe remains comparable to that of a simplified prediction. Broadband spatial resolution shows a single central peak with 10 dB gain about 0.4 m in diameter at the -3 dB level. Away from that peak, the response is approximately flat over most of the room. Optimal weighting for signal-to-noise enhancement degrades the spatial resolution minimally. Experimentally, we verify that signal-to-noise gain is less than proportional to the square root of the number of microphones probably due to the partial correlation of the noise between channels, to variation of signal intensity with polar angle about the source, and to imperfect correlation of the signal over the array caused by reverberations. We show measurements of the relative importance of each effect in our environment.

Temporary formation of highly conducting domain walls for non-destructive read-out of ferroelectric domain-wall resistance switching memories

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Jun; Bai, Zi Long; Chen, Zhi Hui; He, Long; Zhang, David Wei; Zhang, Qing Hua; Shi, Jin An; Park, Min Hyuk; Scott, James F.; Hwang, Cheol Seong; Jiang, An Quan

2018-01-01

Erasable conductive domain walls in insulating ferroelectric thin films can be used for non-destructive electrical read-out of the polarization states in ferroelectric memories. Still, the domain-wall currents extracted by these devices have not yet reached the intensity and stability required to drive read-out circuits operating at high speeds. This study demonstrated non-destructive read-out of digital data stored using specific domain-wall configurations in epitaxial BiFeO3 thin films formed in mesa-geometry structures. Partially switched domains, which enable the formation of conductive walls during the read operation, spontaneously retract when the read voltage is removed, reducing the accumulation of mobile defects at the domain walls and potentially improving the device stability. Three-terminal memory devices produced 14 nA read currents at an operating voltage of 5 V, and operated up to T = 85 °C. The gap length can also be smaller than the film thickness, allowing the realization of ferroelectric memories with device dimensions far below 100 nm.

Optical wave microphone measurement during laser ablation of Si

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitsugi, Fumiaki, E-mail: mitsugi@cs.kumamoto-u.ac.jp [Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto, 860-8555 (Japan); Ide, Ryota; Ikegami, Tomoaki [Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto, 860-8555 (Japan); Nakamiya, Toshiyuki; Sonoda, Yoshito [Graduate School of Industrial Engineering, Tokai University, 9-1-1 Toroku, Kumamoto, 862-8652 (Japan)

2012-10-30

Pulsed laser irradiation is used for surface treatment of a solid and ablation for particle formation in gas, liquid or supercritical phase media. When a pulsed laser is used to irradiate a solid, spatial refractive index variations (including photothermal expansion, shockwaves and particles) occur, which vary depending on the energy density of the pulsed laser. We focused on this phenomenon and applied an unique method for detection of refractive index variation using an optical wave microphone based on Fraunhofer diffraction. In this research, we analyzed the waveforms and frequencies of refractive index variations caused by pulsed laser irradiation of silicon in air and measured with an optical wave microphone.

TPC cathode read-out with C-pads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janik, R.; Pikna, M.; Sitar, B.; Strmen, P.; Szarka, I.

2009-01-01

A Time Projection Chamber with 'C' like shaped cathode pads was built and tested. It offers a low gas gain operation, a good pulse shape and a lightweight construction. The Pad Response Function (PRF), the cathode to anode pulse height ratios and the pad pulse shapes of the C-pad structure were measured and compared with planar cathode structures in two different wire geometries. The cathode to anode signal ratio was improved from between 0.2 and 0.4 up to 0.7. The PRF was considerably improved, it has a Gaussian shape and is narrower than in the case of the planar pads. The pulse shape from the C-pad read-out is similar to the pulse shape from a detector with a cylindrical shape of electrodes. A method for aluminum pad mass production based on a precise cold forging was developed and tested.

DFT-Domain Based Single-Microphone Noise Reduction for Speech Enhancement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

C. Hendriks, Richard; Gerkmann, Timo; Jensen, Jesper

As speech processing devices like mobile phones, voice controlled devices, and hearing aids have increased in popularity, people expect them to work anywhere and at any time without user intervention. However, the presence of acoustical disturbances limits the use of these applications, degrades...... their performance, or causes the user difficulties in understanding the conversation or appreciating the device. A common way to reduce the effects of such disturbances is through the use of single-microphone noise reduction algorithms for speech enhancement. The field of single-microphone noise reduction...

Noise Reduction with Microphone Arrays for Speaker Identification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cohen, Z

2011-12-22

Reducing acoustic noise in audio recordings is an ongoing problem that plagues many applications. This noise is hard to reduce because of interfering sources and non-stationary behavior of the overall background noise. Many single channel noise reduction algorithms exist but are limited in that the more the noise is reduced; the more the signal of interest is distorted due to the fact that the signal and noise overlap in frequency. Specifically acoustic background noise causes problems in the area of speaker identification. Recording a speaker in the presence of acoustic noise ultimately limits the performance and confidence of speaker identification algorithms. In situations where it is impossible to control the environment where the speech sample is taken, noise reduction filtering algorithms need to be developed to clean the recorded speech of background noise. Because single channel noise reduction algorithms would distort the speech signal, the overall challenge of this project was to see if spatial information provided by microphone arrays could be exploited to aid in speaker identification. The goals are: (1) Test the feasibility of using microphone arrays to reduce background noise in speech recordings; (2) Characterize and compare different multichannel noise reduction algorithms; (3) Provide recommendations for using these multichannel algorithms; and (4) Ultimately answer the question - Can the use of microphone arrays aid in speaker identification?

An introduction to computational micromechanics

CERN Document Server

Zohdi, Tarek I; Zohdi, Tarek I

2004-01-01

In this, its second corrected printing, Zohdi and Wriggers' illuminating text presents a comprehensive introduction to the subject. The authors include in their scope basic homogenization theory, microstructural optimization and multifield analysis of heterogeneous materials. This volume is ideal for researchers and engineers, and can be used in a first-year course for graduate students with an interest in the computational micromechanical analysis of new materials.

Optical wave microphone measurements of laser ablation of copper in supercritical carbon dioxide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitsugi, Fumiaki, E-mail: mitsugi@cs.kumamoto-u.ac.jp [Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555 (Japan); Ikegami, Tomoaki [Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555 (Japan); Nakamiya, Toshiyuki; Sonoda, Yoshito [Graduate School of Industrial Engineering, Tokai University, 9-1-1 Toroku, Kumamoto 862-8652 (Japan)

2013-11-29

Laser ablation plasma in a supercritical fluid has attracted much attention recently due to its usefulness in forming nanoparticles. Observation of the dynamic behavior of the supercritical fluid after laser irradiation of a solid is necessary for real-time monitoring and control of laser ablation. In this study, we utilized an optical wave microphone to monitor pulsed laser irradiation of a solid in a supercritical fluid. The optical wave microphone works based on Fraunhofer diffraction of phase modulation of light by changes in refractive index. We hereby report on our measurements for pulsed laser irradiation of a Cu target in supercritical carbon dioxide using an optical wave microphone. Photothermal acoustic waves which generated after single pulsed laser irradiation of a Cu target were detectable in supercritical carbon dioxide. The speed of sound around the critical point of supercritical carbon dioxide was clearly slower than that in gas. The optical wave microphone detected a signal during laser ablation of Cu in supercritical carbon dioxide that was caused by shockwave degeneration. - Highlights: • Photothermal acoustic wave in supercritical fluid was observed. • Sound speed around the critical point was slower than that in gas. • Optical wave microphone detected degeneration of a shockwave. • Ablation threshold of a solid in supercritical fluid can be estimated. • Generation of the second shockwave in supercritical phase was suggested.

Application of micromechanical models of ductile fracture initiation to reactor pressure vessel materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaouadi, R.; Walle, E. van; Fabry, A.; Velde, J. van de; Meester, P. de

1996-01-01

The aim of the current study is the application of local micromechanical models to predict crack initiation in ductile materials. Two reactor pressure vessel materials have been selected for this study: JRQ IAEA monitor base metal (A533B Cl.1) and Doel-IV weld material. Charpy impact tests have been performed in both un-irradiated and irradiated conditions. In addition to standard tensile tests, notched tensile specimens have been tested. The upper shelf energy of the weld material remains almost un-affected by irradiation, whereas a decrease of 20% is detected for the base metal. Accordingly, the tensile properties of the weld material do not reveal a clear irradiation effect on the yield and ultimate stresses, this in contrast to the base material flow properties. The tensile tests have been analyzed in terms of micromechanical models. A good correlation is found between the standard tests and the micromechanical models, that are able to predict the ductile damage evolution in these materials. Additional information on the ductility behavior of these materials is revealed by this micromechanical analysis

Micromechanical Models of Mechanical Response of High Performance Fibre Reinforced Cement Composites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, V. C.; Mihashi, H.; Alwan, J.

1996-01-01

generation of FRC with high performance and economical viability, is in sight. However, utilization of micromechanical models for a more comprehensive set of important HPFRCC properties awaits further investigations into fundamental mechanisms governing composite properties, as well as intergrative efforts......The state-of-the-art in micromechanical modeling of the mechanical response of HPFRCC is reviewed. Much advances in modeling has been made over the last decade to the point that certain properties of composites can be carefully designed using the models as analytic tools. As a result, a new...... across responses to different load types. Further, micromechanical models for HPFRCC behavior under complex loading histories, including those in fracture, fatigue and multuaxial loading are urgently needed in order to optimize HPFRCC microstrcuctures and enable predictions of such material in structures...

Optical anisotropy in micromechanically rolled carbon nanotube forest

Science.gov (United States)

Razib, Mohd Asyraf bin Mohd; Rana, Masud; Saleh, Tanveer; Fan, Harrison; Koch, Andrew; Nojeh, Alireza; Takahata, Kenichi; Muthalif, Asan Gani Bin Abdul

2017-09-01

The bulk appearance of arrays of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNT arrays or CNT forests) is dark as they absorb most of the incident light. In this paper, two postprocessing techniques have been described where the CNT forest can be patterned by selective bending of the tips of the nanotubes using a rigid cylindrical tool. A tungsten tool was used to bend the vertical structure of CNTs with predefined parameters in two different ways as stated above: bending using the bottom surface of the tool (micromechanical bending (M2B)) and rolling using the side of the tool (micromechanical rolling (M2R)). The processed zone was investigated using a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and optical setup to reveal the surface morphology and optical characteristics of the patterned CNTs on the substrate. Interestingly, the polarized optical reflection from the micromechanical rolled (M2R) sample was found to be significantly influenced by the rotation of the sample. It was observed that, if the polarization of the light is parallel to the alignment of the CNTs, the reflectance is at least 2 x higher than for the perpendicular direction. Furthermore, the reflectance varied almost linearly with good repeatability ( 10%) as the processed CNT forest sample was rotated from 0° to 90°. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Micromechanical Resonator Driven by Radiation Pressure Force.

Science.gov (United States)

Boales, Joseph A; Mateen, Farrukh; Mohanty, Pritiraj

2017-11-22

Radiation pressure exerted by light on any surface is the pressure generated by the momentum of impinging photons. The associated force - fundamentally, a quantum mechanical aspect of light - is usually too small to be useful, except in large-scale problems in astronomy and astrodynamics. In atomic and molecular optics, radiation pressure can be used to trap or cool atoms and ions. Use of radiation pressure on larger objects such as micromechanical resonators has been so far limited to its coupling to an acoustic mode, sideband cooling, or levitation of microscopic objects. In this Letter, we demonstrate direct actuation of a radio-frequency micromechanical plate-type resonator by the radiation pressure force generated by a standard laser diode at room temperature. Using two independent methods, the magnitude of the resonator's response to forcing by radiation pressure is found to be proportional to the intensity of the incident light.

The LST analog read-out system of the ZEUS muon detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Giorgi, M.; Abbiendi, G.; Bertolin, A.; Borsato, E.; Brugnera, R.; Carlin, R.; Dal Corso, F.; Dosselli, U.; Gasparini, F.; Limentani, S.; Morandin, M.; Pitacco, G.; Posocco, M.; Stanco, L.; Stroili, R.; Voci, C.; Zuin, F.

1996-01-01

A muon position detector based on limited streamer tubes has been built for the ZEUS experiment at the HERA e-p collider at Desy. The tubes are arranged in chambers equipped with electronics circuitry providing an analog read-out of induced signals on strips set orthogonal to the tube wires. The electronic module for charge amplification and conversion will be described including some results obtained from the complete system. (orig.)

Design of UAV-Embedded Microphone Array System for Sound Source Localization in Outdoor Environments †

Science.gov (United States)

Hoshiba, Kotaro; Washizaki, Kai; Wakabayashi, Mizuho; Ishiki, Takahiro; Bando, Yoshiaki; Gabriel, Daniel; Nakadai, Kazuhiro; Okuno, Hiroshi G.

2017-01-01

In search and rescue activities, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) should exploit sound information to compensate for poor visual information. This paper describes the design and implementation of a UAV-embedded microphone array system for sound source localization in outdoor environments. Four critical development problems included water-resistance of the microphone array, efficiency in assembling, reliability of wireless communication, and sufficiency of visualization tools for operators. To solve these problems, we developed a spherical microphone array system (SMAS) consisting of a microphone array, a stable wireless network communication system, and intuitive visualization tools. The performance of SMAS was evaluated with simulated data and a demonstration in the field. Results confirmed that the SMAS provides highly accurate localization, water resistance, prompt assembly, stable wireless communication, and intuitive information for observers and operators. PMID:29099790

Acoustic Source Localization in Aircraft Interiors Using Microphone Array Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Sklanka, Bernard J.; Tuss, Joel R.; Buehrle, Ralph D.; Klos, Jacob; Williams, Earl G.; Valdivia, Nicolas

2006-01-01

Using three microphone array configurations at two aircraft body stations on a Boeing 777-300ER flight test, the acoustic radiation characteristics of the sidewall and outboard floor system are investigated by experimental measurement. Analysis of the experimental data is performed using sound intensity calculations for closely spaced microphones, PATCH Inverse Boundary Element Nearfield Acoustic Holography, and Spherical Nearfield Acoustic Holography. Each method is compared assessing strengths and weaknesses, evaluating source identification capability for both broadband and narrowband sources, evaluating sources during transient and steady-state conditions, and quantifying field reconstruction continuity using multiple array positions.

A new electronic read-out for the YAPPET scanner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Damiani, C.; Ramusino, A.C.A. Cotta; Malaguti, R.; Guerra, A. Del; Domenico, G. Di; Zavattini, G.

2002-01-01

A small animal PET-SPECT scanner (YAPPET) prototype was built at the Physics Department of the Ferrara University and is presently being used at the Nuclear Medicine Department for radiopharmaceutical studies on rats. The first YAPPET prototype shows very good performances, but needs some improvements before it can be fully used for intensive radiopharmaceutical research. The main problem of the actual prototype is its heavy electronics, based on NIM and CAMAC standard modules. For this reason a new, compact read-out electronics was developed and tested. The results of a first series of tests made on the first prototype will be presented in the paper

A new electronic read-out for the YAPPET scanner

CERN Document Server

Damiani, C; Malaguti, R; Guerra, A D; Domenico, G D; Zavattini, G

2002-01-01

A small animal PET-SPECT scanner (YAPPET) prototype was built at the Physics Department of the Ferrara University and is presently being used at the Nuclear Medicine Department for radiopharmaceutical studies on rats. The first YAPPET prototype shows very good performances, but needs some improvements before it can be fully used for intensive radiopharmaceutical research. The main problem of the actual prototype is its heavy electronics, based on NIM and CAMAC standard modules. For this reason a new, compact read-out electronics was developed and tested. The results of a first series of tests made on the first prototype will be presented in the paper.

Methodological review of the quality of reach out and read: does it "work"?

Science.gov (United States)

Yeager Pelatti, Christina; Pentimonti, Jill M; Justice, Laura M

2014-04-01

A considerable percentage of American children and adults fail to learn adequate literacy skills and read below a third grade level. Shared book reading is perhaps the single most important activity to prepare young children for success in reading. The primary objective of this manuscript was to critically review the methodological quality of Read Out and Read (ROR), a clinically based literacy program/intervention that teaches parents strategies to incorporate while sharing books with children as a method of preventing reading difficulties and academic struggles. A PubMed search was conducted. Articles that met three criteria were considered. First, the study must be clinically based and include parent contact with a pediatrician. Second, parental counseling ("anticipatory guidance") about the importance of parent-child book reading must be included. Third, only experimental or quasi-experimental studies were included; no additional criteria were used. Published articles from any year and peer-reviewed journal were considered. Study quality was determined using a modified version of the Downs and Black (1998) checklist assessing four categories: (1) Reporting, (2) External Validity, (3) Internal Validity-Bias, and (4) Internal Validity-Confounding. We were also interested in whether quality differed based on study design, children's age, sample size, and study outcome. Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. The overall quality of evidence was variable across all studies; Reporting and External Validity categories were relatively strong while methodological concerns were found in the area of internal validity. Quality scores differed on the four study characteristics. Implications related to clinical practice and future studies are discussed.

Micromechanics of Composite Materials Governed by Vector Constitutive Laws

Science.gov (United States)

Bednarcyk, Brett A.; Aboudi, Jacob; Arnold, Steven M.

2017-01-01

The high-fidelity generalized method of cells micromechanics theory has been extended for the prediction of the effective property tensor and the corresponding local field distributions for composites whose constituents are governed by vector constitutive laws. As shown, the shear analogy, which can predict effective transverse properties, is not valid in the general three-dimensional case. Consequently, a general derivation is presented that is applicable to both continuously and discontinuously reinforced composites with arbitrary vector constitutive laws and periodic microstructures. Results are given for thermal and electric problems, effective properties and local field distributions, ordered and random microstructures, as well as complex geometries including woven composites. Comparisons of the theory's predictions are made to test data, numerical analysis, and classical expressions from the literature. Further, classical methods cannot provide the local field distributions in the composite, and it is demonstrated that, as the percolation threshold is approached, their predictions are increasingly unreliable. XXXX It has been observed that the bonding between the fibers and matrix in composite materials can be imperfect. In the context of thermal conductivity, such imperfect interfaces have been investigated in micromechanical models by Dunn and Taya (1993), Duan and Karihaloo (2007), Nan et al. (1997) and Hashin (2001). The present HFGMC micromechanical method, derived for perfectly bonded composite materials governed by vector constitutive laws, can be easily generalized to include the effects of weak bonding between the constituents. Such generalizations, in the context of the mechanical micromechanics problem, involve introduction of a traction-separation law at the fiber/matrix interface and have been presented by Aboudi (1987), Bednarcyk and Arnold (2002), Bednarcyk et al. (2004) and Aboudi et al. (2013) and will be addressed in the future.

Micromechanisms of damage in unidirectional fiber reinforced composites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mishnaevsky, Leon; Brøndsted, Povl

2009-01-01

strength of a composite at the pre-critical load, while the fibers with randomly distributed strengths lead to the higher strength of the composite at post-critical loads. In the case of randomly distributed fiber strengths, the damage growth in fibers seems to be almost independent from the crack length...... in the numerical experiments. The effect of the statistical variability of fiber strengths, viscosity of the polymer matrix as well as the interaction between the damage processes in matrix, fibers and interface are investigated numerically. It is demonstrated that fibers with constant strength ensure higher......Numerical micromechanical investigations of the mechanical behavior and damage evolution of glass fiber reinforced composites are presented. A program code for the automatic generation of 3D micromechanical unit cell models of composites with damageable elements is developed, and used...

Three-axial force sensor with capacitive read-out using a differential relaxation oscillator

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brookhuis, Robert Anton; Wiegerink, Remco J.; Lammerink, Theodorus S.J.; Krijnen, Gijsbertus J.M.

2013-01-01

A silicon three-axis force sensor is designed and realized to be used for measurement of the interaction force between a human finger and the environment. To detect the force components, a capacitive read-out system using a novel relaxation oscillator has been developed with an output frequency

Linear read out electronics associated with MWPC cathode strips

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hrisoho, A.; Truong, K.

1979-10-01

Low-cost linear chain for MWPC cathode strip charge read-out is described. Some simple relations for noise calculation of the preamplifier (which is a fast low-noise current amplifier) are given. Due to space restriction on the detector, hybrid technique for the preamplifier realization is adopted. The problem of transmission of linear signals (60 m) using twisted pairs, are discussed. 0.2% of cross-talk is achieved. Fast differential input line receiver with shortening filter is used in order to compensate the integration of the transmission line. The cross-talk and the noise pick-up are reduced by assuming a good symmetry and using charge sensing ADC for digitalization of the analog signal

Design, construction and setting of a parallel plate avalanche detector with coordinate read-out

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guillermet, C.

1980-01-01

This detector planned for heavy ion experiments has the following dimensions: 150x210 mm 2 . Each coordinate of the trajectory is obtained from a plane of read-out wires located half-way between the two electrodes of each gap. Position read-out is made by the delay line method. Interpolating properties cancel out the effects of quantization due to the wires. Two gaps sharing a common electrode, with their wire-planes at 90 0 , furnish the two coordinates. The common electrode (Anode) delivers a fast signal on each ion crossing. Formation of signals on the anode with their distortion by the associated circuit was calculated. Formation of signals on the wires and their distortion into the delay lines was also determined. This allowed to evaluate the influence of the various parameters leading to an optimum time and space resolution. With 252 Cf fission products, 500 ps and 0.6 mm were so obtained. Differential linearity is better than 75 μm. Pulse height analysis of the anode signals makes discrimination between lightly and heavily ionizing ions possible [fr

Read-out concepts for FPGA-based sub-systems within the CBM detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Michel, Jan [Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt (Germany); Collaboration: CBM-Collaboration

2015-07-01

The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment (CBM) to be built at FAIR consists of several individual sub-detectors. Some are based on custom ASICs as front-ends. Others employ FPGA based modules where extensive slow control features can be implemented to ease the recording of data and to allow for fast detection of any kind of error condition. Being designed as a free-running data acquisition, the demands also include a synchronized read-out, i.e. distribution of a common clock signal to all modules. To reduce the complexity of wiring, this is to be done sharing the same optical fibers as the data transport. During the past years, TrbNet has been designed and is used in various experiments, initially for the HADES experiment at FAIR. This protocol can now serve as a platform for the CBM read-out. In several steps, synchronous links with deterministic latency, as well as a free-streaming data transport can be included. At the same time, modifications to improve bandwidth and provide compatibility to the CERN GBTx links used for ASIC based sub-systems are to be developed. This contribution shows the planned steps as well as the current status of development.

The micro-mechanisms of failure of nodular cast iron

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan Vaško

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The contribution deals with a comparison of the micro-mechanisms of failure of nodular cast irons at static, impact and fatigue stress. Several specimens of ferrite-pearlitic nodular cast irons with different content of ferrite in a matrix were used for metallographic analysis, mechanical tests and micro-fractographic analysis. Mechanical properties were found by static tensile test, impact bending test and fatigue tests. The micro-fractographic analysis was made with use of scanning electron microscope VEGA II LMU on fracture surfaces of the specimens fractured by these mechanical and fatigue tests. Fracture surfaces of analysed specimens are characteristic of mixed mode of fracture. Micro-mechanism of failure of nodular cast irons is dependent on the method of stress.

[Coupled Analysis of Fluid-Structure Interaction of a Micro-Mechanical Valve for Glaucoma Drainage Devices].

Science.gov (United States)

Siewert, S; Sämann, M; Schmidt, W; Stiehm, M; Falke, K; Grabow, N; Guthoff, R; Schmitz, K-P

2015-12-01

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. In therapeutically refractory cases, alloplastic glaucoma drainage devices (GDD) are being increasingly used to decrease intraocular pressure. Current devices are mainly limited by fibrotic encapsulation and postoperative hypotension. Preliminary studies have described the development of a glaucoma microstent to control aqueous humour drainage from the anterior chamber into the suprachoroidal space. One focus of these studies was on the design of a micro-mechanical valve placed in the anterior chamber to inhibit postoperative hypotension. The present report describes the coupled analysis of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) as basis for future improvements in the design micro-mechanical valves. FSI analysis was carried out with ANSYS 14.5 software. Solid and fluid geometry were combined in a model, and the corresponding material properties of silicone (Silastic Rx-50) and water at room temperature were assigned. The meshing of the solid and fluid domains was carried out in accordance with the results of a convergence study with tetrahedron elements. Structural and fluid mechanical boundary conditions completed the model. The FSI analysis takes into account geometric non-linearity and adaptive remeshing to consider changing geometry. A valve opening pressure of 3.26 mmHg was derived from the FSI analysis and correlates well with the results of preliminary experimental fluid mechanical studies. Flow resistance was calculated from non-linear pressure-flow characteristics as 8.5 × 10(-3) mmHg/µl  · min(-1) and 2.7 × 10(-3) mmHg/µl  · min(-1), respectively before and after valve opening pressure is exceeded. FSI analysis indicated leakage flow before valve opening, which is due to the simplified model geometry. The presented bidirectional coupled FSI analysis is a powerful tool for the development of new designs of micro-mechanical valves for GDD and may help to minimise the time and cost

Micro-mechanical modeling of the cement-bone interface: the effect of friction, morphology and material properties on the micromechanical response.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, D.; Mann, K.A.; Verdonschot, N.J.J.

2008-01-01

In order to gain insight into the micro-mechanical behavior of the cement-bone interface, the effect of parametric variations of frictional, morphological and material properties on the mechanical response of the cement-bone interface were analyzed using a finite element approach. Finite element

Micro-mechanical modeling of the cement-bone interface: the effect of friction morphology and material properties on the micromechanical response

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, Dennis; Mann, Kenneth A.; Verdonschot, Nicolaas Jacobus Joseph

2008-01-01

In order to gain insight into the micro-mechanical behavior of the cement–bone interface, the effect of parametric variations of frictional, morphological and material properties on the mechanical response of the cement–bone interface were analyzed using a finite element approach. Finite element

Improved multi-microphone noise reduction preserving binaural cues

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koutrouvelis, A.; Hendriks, R.C.; Jensen, J; Heusdens, R.; Dong, Min; Zheng, Thomas Fang

2016-01-01

We propose a new multi-microphone noise reduction technique for binaural cue preservation of the desired source and the interferers. This method is based on the linearly constrained minimum variance (LCMV) framework, where the constraints are used for the binaural cue preservation of the desired

On Acoustic Feedback Cancellation Using Probe Noise in Multiple-Microphone and Single-Loudspeaker Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guo, Meng; Elmedyb, Thomas Bo; Jensen, Søren Holdt

2012-01-01

of the adaptive estimation is significantly decreased when keeping the steady-state error unchanged. The goal of this work is to derive analytic expressions for the system behavior such as convergence rate and steady-state error for a multiple-microphone and single-loudspeaker audio system, where the acoustic...... feedback cancellation is carried out using a probe noise signal. The derived results show how different system parameters and signal properties affect the cancellation performance, and the results explain theoretically the decreased convergence rate. Understanding this is important for making further...

Design, construction, quality checks and test results of first resistive-Micromegas read-out boards for the ATLAS experiment

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00215943; The ATLAS collaboration; Kuger, Fabian

2015-01-01

The development work carried out at CERN to push the Micromegas technology to a new frontier is now coming to an end. The construction of the first read-out boards for the upgrade of the ATLAS muon system will demonstrate in full-scale the feasibility of this ambitious project. The read-out boards, representing the heart of the detector, are manufactured in industries, making the Micromegas for ATLAS the first MPGD for a large experiment with a relevant part industrially produced. The boards are 50 cm wide and up to 220 cm long, carrying copper strips 315 μm wide with 415 μm pitch. Interconnected resistive strips, having the same pattern as the copper strips, provide spark protection. The boards are completed by the creation of cylindrical pillars 128 μm high, 280 μm in diameter and arranged in a triangular array 7 mm aside. The total number of boards to be produced for ATLAS is 2048 of 32 different types. We will review the main design parameters of the read-out boards for the ATLAS Micromegas, following...

Shooter Localization in Wireless Microphone Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Lindgren

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Shooter localization in a wireless network of microphones is studied. Both the acoustic muzzle blast (MB from the gunfire and the ballistic shock wave (SW from the bullet can be detected by the microphones and considered as measurements. The MB measurements give rise to a standard sensor network problem, similar to time difference of arrivals in cellular phone networks, and the localization accuracy is good, provided that the sensors are well synchronized compared to the MB detection accuracy. The detection times of the SW depend on both shooter position and aiming angle and may provide additional information beside the shooter location, but again this requires good synchronization. We analyze the approach to base the estimation on the time difference of MB and SW at each sensor, which becomes insensitive to synchronization inaccuracies. Cramér-Rao lower bound analysis indicates how a lower bound of the root mean square error depends on the synchronization error for the MB and the MB-SW difference, respectively. The estimation problem is formulated in a separable nonlinear least squares framework. Results from field trials with different types of ammunition show excellent accuracy using the MB-SW difference for both the position and the aiming angle of the shooter.

Parametric Investigation of Laser Doppler Microphones

Science.gov (United States)

Daoud, M.; Naguib, A.

2002-11-01

The concept of a Laser Doppler Microphone (LDM) is based on utilizing the Doppler frequency shift of a focused laser beam to measure the unsteady velocity of the center point of a flexible polymer diaphragm that is mounted on top of a hole and subjected to the unsteady pressure. Time integration of the velocity signal yields a time series of the diaphragm displacement, which can be converted to pressure from knowledge of the sensor's deflection sensitivity. In our APS/DFD presentation last year, the stringent frequency resolution requirement of these new sensors and methods to meet this requirement were discussed. Here, the dependence of the sensor characteristics (sensitivity, bandwidth, and noise floor) on various significant parameters is investigated in detail by calibrating the sensor in a plane wave tube in the frequency range of 50 - 5000 Hz. Parameters investigated include sensor diaphragm material and thickness, sensor size, damping of the diaphragm motion and laser beam spot size. The results shed light on the operating limits of the new sensor and demonstrate its ability to conduct high-spatial-resolution measurements in typical high-Reynolds-number test facilities. Moreover, calibrated LDM sensors were used to conduct measurements in a separating/reattaching flow and the results are compared to classical electret-type microphones with a similar sensing diameter.

Micromechanics of soil responses in cyclic simple shear tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cui Liang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Offshore wind turbine (OWT foundations are subjected to a combination of cyclic and dynamic loading arising from wind, wave, rotor and blade shadowing. Under cyclic loading, most soils change their characteristics including stiffness, which may cause the system natural frequency to approach the loading frequency and lead to unplanned resonance and system damage or even collapse. To investigate such changes and the underlying micromechanics, a series of cyclic simple shear tests were performed on the RedHill 110 sand with different shear strain amplitudes, vertical stresses and initial relative densities of soil. The test results showed that: (a Vertical accumulated strain is proportional to the shear strain amplitude but inversely proportional to relative density of soil; (b Shear modulus increases rapidly in the initial loading cycles and then the rate of increase diminishes and the shear modulus remains below an asymptote; (c Shear modulus increases with increasing vertical stress and relative density, but decreasing with increasing strain amplitude. Coupled DEM simulations were performed using PFC2D to analyse the micromechanics underlying the cyclic behaviour of soils. Micromechanical parameters (e.g. fabric tensor, coordination number were examined to explore the reasons for the various cyclic responses to different shear strain amplitudes or vertical stresses. Both coordination number and magnitude of fabric anisotropy contribute to the increasing shear modulus.

Resolution and Efficiency of Monitored Drift-Tube Chambers with Final Read-out Electronics at High Background Rates

CERN Document Server

Dubbert, J; Kortner, O; Kroha, H; Manz, A; Mohrdieck-Möck, S; Rauscher, F; Richter, R; Staude, A; Stiller, W

2003-01-01

The performance of a monitored drift-tube chamber for ATLAS with the final read-out electronics was tested at the Gamma Irradiation facility at CERN under varyin photon irradiation rates of up to 990~Hz\\,cm$^{-2}$ which corresponds to 10 times the highest background rate expected in ATLAS. The signal pulse-height measurement of the final read-out electronics was used to perform time-slewing corrections. The corrections improve the average single-tube resolution from 106~$\\mu$m to 89~$\\mu$m at the nominal discriminator threshold of 44~mV without irradiation, and from 114~$\\mu$m to 89~$\\mu$m at the maximum nominal irradiation rate in ATLAS of 100~Hz\\,cm$^{-2}$. The reduction of the threshold from 44~mV to 34~mV and the time-slewing corrections lead to an average single-tube resolution of 82~$\\mu$m without photon background and of 89~$\\mu$m at 100~Hz\\,cm$^{-2}$. The measured muon detection efficiency agrees with the expectation for the final read-out electronics.

Spherical near field acoustic holography with microphones on a rigid sphere

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Finn; Hald, Jørgen; Fernandez Grande, Efren

2008-01-01

Spherical near field acoustic holography (SNAH) is a recently developed technique that makes it possible to reconstruct the sound field inside and just outside an acoustically transparent spherical surface on which the sound pressure is measured with an array of microphones with negligible...... with an array of microphones flush-mounted on a rigid sphere. However, this approach is only valid if it can be assumed that the sphere has a negligible influence on the incident sound field, in other words if multiple scattering can be ignored, and this is not necessarily a good assumption when the sphere...

Numerical design and testing of a sound source for secondary calibration of microphones using the Boundary Element Method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cutanda Henriquez, Vicente; Juhl, Peter Møller; Barrera Figueroa, Salvador

2009-01-01

Secondary calibration of microphones in free field is performed by placing the microphone under calibration in an anechoic chamber with a sound source, and exposing it to a controlled sound field. A calibrated microphone is also measured as a reference. While the two measurements are usually made...... apart to avoid acoustic interaction. As a part of the project Euromet-792, aiming to investigate and improve methods for secondary free-field calibration of microphones, a sound source suitable for simultaneous secondary free-field calibration has been designed using the Boundary Element Method...... of the Danish Fundamental Metrology Institute (DFM). The design and verification of the source are presented in this communication....

Reproducibility of Dual-Microphone Voice Range Profile Equipment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Printz, Trine; Pedersen, Ellen Raben; Juhl, Peter

2017-01-01

in an anechoic chamber and an office: (a) comparing sound pressure levels (SPLs) from a dual-microphone VRP device, the Voice Profiler, when given the same input repeatedly (test-retest reliability); (b) comparing SPLs from 3 devices when given the same input repeatedly (intervariation); and (c) assessing...

Electromagnetic and nuclear radiation detector using micromechanical sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Thundat, Thomas G.; Warmack, Robert J.; Wachter, Eric A.

2000-01-01

Electromagnetic and nuclear radiation is detected by micromechanical sensors that can be coated with various interactive materials. As the micromechanical sensors absorb radiation, the sensors bend and/or undergo a shift in resonance characteristics. The bending and resonance changes are detected with high sensitivity by any of several detection methods including optical, capacitive, and piezoresistive methods. Wide bands of the electromagnetic spectrum can be imaged with picoJoule sensitivity, and specific absorptive coatings can be used for selective sensitivity in specific wavelength bands. Microcantilevers coated with optical cross-linking polymers are useful as integrating optical radiation dosimeters. Nuclear radiation dosimetry is possible by fabricating cantilevers from materials that are sensitive to various nuclear particles or radiation. Upon exposure to radiation, the cantilever bends due to stress and its resonance frequency shifts due to changes in elastic properties, based on cantilever shape and properties of the coating.

Precision Instrumentation Amplifiers and Read-Out Integrated Circuits

CERN Document Server

Wu, Rong; Makinwa, Kofi A A

2013-01-01

This book presents innovative solutions in the design of precision instrumentation amplifier and read-out ICs, which can be used to boost millivolt-level signals transmitted by modern sensors, to levels compatible with the input ranges of typical Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs).  The discussion includes the theory, design and realization of interface electronics for bridge transducers and thermocouples. It describes the use of power efficient techniques to mitigate low frequency errors, resulting in interface electronics with high accuracy, low noise and low drift. Since this book is mainly about techniques for eliminating low frequency errors, it describes the nature of these errors and the associated dynamic offset cancellation techniques used to mitigate them.  Surveys comprehensively offset cancellation and accuracy improvement techniques applied in precision amplifier designs; Presents techniques in precision circuit design to mitigate low frequency errors in millivolt-level signals transmitted by ...

Evaluation of Methods for In-Situ Calibration of Field-Deployable Microphone Phased Arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Humphreys, William M.; Lockard, David P.; Khorrami, Mehdi R.; Culliton, William G.; McSwain, Robert G.

2017-01-01

Current field-deployable microphone phased arrays for aeroacoustic flight testing require the placement of hundreds of individual sensors over a large area. Depending on the duration of the test campaign, the microphones may be required to stay deployed at the testing site for weeks or even months. This presents a challenge in regards to tracking the response (i.e., sensitivity) of the individual sensors as a function of time in order to evaluate the health of the array. To address this challenge, two different methods for in-situ tracking of microphone responses are described. The first relies on the use of an aerial sound source attached as a payload on a hovering small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) vehicle. The second relies on the use of individually excited ground-based sound sources strategically placed throughout the array pattern. Testing of the two methods was performed in microphone array deployments conducted at Fort A.P. Hill in 2015 and at Edwards Air Force Base in 2016. The results indicate that the drift in individual sensor responses can be tracked reasonably well using both methods. Thus, in-situ response tracking methods are useful as a diagnostic tool for monitoring the health of a phased array during long duration deployments.

Theory and applications of spherical microphone array processing

CERN Document Server

Jarrett, Daniel P; Naylor, Patrick A

2017-01-01

This book presents the signal processing algorithms that have been developed to process the signals acquired by a spherical microphone array. Spherical microphone arrays can be used to capture the sound field in three dimensions and have received significant interest from researchers and audio engineers. Algorithms for spherical array processing are different to corresponding algorithms already known in the literature of linear and planar arrays because the spherical geometry can be exploited to great beneficial effect. The authors aim to advance the field of spherical array processing by helping those new to the field to study it efficiently and from a single source, as well as by offering a way for more experienced researchers and engineers to consolidate their understanding, adding either or both of breadth and depth. The level of the presentation corresponds to graduate studies at MSc and PhD level. This book begins with a presentation of some of the essential mathematical and physical theory relevant to ...

Micromechanics of non-active clays in saturated state and DEM modelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pagano Arianna Gea

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a conceptual micromechanical model for 1-D compression behaviour of non-active clays in saturated state. An experimental investigation was carried out on kaolin clay samples saturated with fluids of different pH and dielectric permittivity. The effect of pore fluid characteristics on one-dimensional compressibility behaviour of kaolin was investigated. A three dimensional Discrete Element Method (DEM was implemented in order to simulate the response of saturated kaolin observed during the experiments. A complex contact model was introduced, considering both the mechanical and physico-chemical microscopic interactions between clay particles. A simple analysis with spherical particles only was performed as a preliminary step in the DEM study in the elastic regime.

Development of a distributed read-out imaging TES X-ray microcalorimeter

Science.gov (United States)

Trowell, S.; Holland, A. D.; Fraser, G. W.; Goldie, D.; Gu, E.

2002-02-01

We report on the development of a linear absorber detector for one-dimensional imaging spectroscopy, read-out by two Transition Edge Sensors (TESs). The TESs, based on a single layer of iridium, demonstrate stable and controllable superconducting-to-normal transitions in the region of 130 mK. Results from Monte Carlo simulations are presented indicating that the device configuration is capable of detecting photon positions to better than 200 μm, thereby meeting the resolution specification for missions such as XEUS of ~250 μm. .

Development of a distributed read-out imaging TES X-ray microcalorimeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trowell, S.; Holland, A.D.; Fraser, G.W.; Goldie, D.; Gu, E.

2002-01-01

We report on the development of a linear absorber detector for one-dimensional imaging spectroscopy, read-out by two Transition Edge Sensors (TESs). The TESs, based on a single layer of iridium, demonstrate stable and controllable superconducting-to-normal transitions in the region of 130 mK. Results from Monte Carlo simulations are presented indicating that the device configuration is capable of detecting photon positions to better than 200 μm, thereby meeting the resolution specification for missions such as XEUS of ∼250 μm

A Simplified Micromechanical Modeling Approach to Predict the Tensile Flow Curve Behavior of Dual-Phase Steels

Science.gov (United States)

Nanda, Tarun; Kumar, B. Ravi; Singh, Vishal

2017-11-01

Micromechanical modeling is used to predict material's tensile flow curve behavior based on microstructural characteristics. This research develops a simplified micromechanical modeling approach for predicting flow curve behavior of dual-phase steels. The existing literature reports on two broad approaches for determining tensile flow curve of these steels. The modeling approach developed in this work attempts to overcome specific limitations of the existing two approaches. This approach combines dislocation-based strain-hardening method with rule of mixtures. In the first step of modeling, `dislocation-based strain-hardening method' was employed to predict tensile behavior of individual phases of ferrite and martensite. In the second step, the individual flow curves were combined using `rule of mixtures,' to obtain the composite dual-phase flow behavior. To check accuracy of proposed model, four distinct dual-phase microstructures comprising of different ferrite grain size, martensite fraction, and carbon content in martensite were processed by annealing experiments. The true stress-strain curves for various microstructures were predicted with the newly developed micromechanical model. The results of micromechanical model matched closely with those of actual tensile tests. Thus, this micromechanical modeling approach can be used to predict and optimize the tensile flow behavior of dual-phase steels.

Filtering microphonics in dark matter germanium experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morales, J.; Garcia, E.; Ortiz de Solorzano, A.; Morales, A.; Nunz-Lagos, R.; Puimedon, J.; Saenz, C.; Villar, J.A.

1992-01-01

A technique for reducing the microphonic noise in a germanium spectrometer used in dark matter particles searches is described. Filtered energy spectra, corresponding to 48.5 kg day of data in a running experiment in the Canfranc tunnel are presented. Improvements of this filtering procedure with respect to the method of rejecting those events not distributed evenly in time are also discussed. (orig.)

Multichannel signal enhancement using a remote wireless microphone

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bloemendal, Brian; Van De Laar, Jakob; Sommen, Piet

2012-01-01

A novel approach to multichannel signal enhancement is presented that exploits data from a remote wireless microphone (RWM). This RWM is placed near an interfering source and transmits only autocorrelation data of its observations to a host, i.e., not the entire signal. The host has access to the

Micro-mechanical modeling of the cement-bone interface: the effect of friction, morphology and material properties on the micromechanical response.

Science.gov (United States)

Janssen, Dennis; Mann, Kenneth A; Verdonschot, Nico

2008-11-14

In order to gain insight into the micro-mechanical behavior of the cement-bone interface, the effect of parametric variations of frictional, morphological and material properties on the mechanical response of the cement-bone interface were analyzed using a finite element approach. Finite element models of a cement-bone interface specimen were created from micro-computed tomography data of a physical specimen that was sectioned from an in vitro cemented total hip arthroplasty. In five models the friction coefficient was varied (mu=0.0; 0.3; 0.7; 1.0 and 3.0), while in one model an ideally bonded interface was assumed. In two models cement interface gaps and an optimal cement penetration were simulated. Finally, the effect of bone cement stiffness variations was simulated (2.0 and 2.5 GPa, relative to the default 3.0 GPa). All models were loaded for a cycle of fully reversible tension-compression. From the simulated stress-displacement curves the interface deformation, stiffness and hysteresis were calculated. The results indicate that in the current model the mechanical properties of the cement-bone interface were caused by frictional phenomena at the shape-closed interlock rather than by adhesive properties of the cement. Our findings furthermore show that in our model maximizing cement penetration improved the micromechanical response of the cement-bone interface stiffness, while interface gaps had a detrimental effect. Relative to the frictional and morphological variations, variations in the cement stiffness had only a modest effect on the micro-mechanical behavior of the cement-bone interface. The current study provides information that may help to better understand the load-transfer mechanisms taking place at the cement-bone interface.

Added value of IP-10 as a read-out of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jenum, Synne; Dhanasekaran, Sivmakumaran; Ritz, Christian

2016-01-01

We have explored the added value of IFNγ-inducible protein 10 as a read-out of Mycobacterium tuberculosis specific immunity in young Indian children where the sensitivity of the IGRA for tuberculosis (TB) is poor. Reduced frequency of indeterminate results and an increased sensitivity for TB, sug...

The Microphone Feedback Analogy for Chatter in Machining

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tony Schmitz

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper provides experimental evidence for the analogy between the time-delay feedback in public address systems and chatter in machining. Machining stability theory derived using the Nyquist criterion is applied to predict the squeal frequency in a microphone/speaker setup. Comparisons between predictions and measurements are presented.

Setup, tests and results for the ATLAS TileCal Read Out Driver production

CERN Document Server

Valero, Alberto; Castillo, V; Cuenca, C; Ferrer, A; Fullana, E; González, V; Higón, E; Munar, A; Poveda, J; Ruiz-Martínez, A; Salvachúa, B; Sanchís, E; Solans, C; Soret, J; Torres, J; Valls, J A

2007-01-01

In this paper we describe the performance and test results of the production of the 38 ATLAS TileCal Read Out Drivers (RODs). We first describe the basic hardware specifications and firmware functionality of the modules, the test-bench setup used for production and the test procedure to qualify the boards. We then finally show and discuss the performance results.

Test of a position-sensitive photomultiplier for fast scintillating fiber detector read-out

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baehr, J.; Hoffmann, B.; Luedecke, H.; Nahnhauer, R.; Pohl, M.; Roloff, H.E.

1993-01-01

A position-sensitive photomultiplier with 256 anode pixels has been used to read out scintillating fibers excited by light emitting diodes, electrons from a β-source and a 5 GeV electron beam. Measurements have been done within a magnetic field up to 0.6 T. Tracking and electromagnetic shower detection capabilities of a simple fiber detector have been studied. (orig.)

Muon Identification with the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter Read-Out Driver for Level-2 Trigger Purposes

CERN Document Server

Ruiz-Martinez, A

2008-01-01

The Hadronic Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) at the ATLAS experiment is a detector made out of iron as passive medium and plastic scintillating tiles as active medium. The light produced by the particles is converted to electrical signals which are digitized in the front-end electronics and sent to the back-end system. The main element of the back-end electronics are the VME 9U Read-Out Driver (ROD) boards, responsible of data management, processing and transmission. A total of 32 ROD boards, placed in the data acquisition chain between Level-1 and Level-2 trigger, are needed to read out the whole calorimeter. They are equipped with fixed-point Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) that apply online algorithms on the incoming raw data. Although the main purpose of TileCal is to measure the energy and direction of the hadronic jets, taking advantage of its projective segmentation soft muons not triggered at Level-1 (with pT<5 GeV) can be recovered. A TileCal standalone muon identification algorithm is presented and i...

Speech understanding in noise with an eyeglass hearing aid: asymmetric fitting and the head shadow benefit of anterior microphones.

Science.gov (United States)

Mens, Lucas H M

2011-01-01

To test speech understanding in noise using array microphones integrated in an eyeglass device and to test if microphones placed anteriorly at the temple provide better directivity than above the pinna. Sentences were presented from the front and uncorrelated noise from 45, 135, 225 and 315°. Fifteen hearing impaired participants with a significant speech discrimination loss were included, as well as 5 normal hearing listeners. The device (Varibel) improved speech understanding in noise compared to most conventional directional devices with a directional benefit of 5.3 dB in the asymmetric fit mode, which was not significantly different from the bilateral fully directional mode (6.3 dB). Anterior microphones outperformed microphones at a conventional position above the pinna by 2.6 dB. By integrating microphones in an eyeglass frame, a long array can be used resulting in a higher directionality index and improved speech understanding in noise. An asymmetric fit did not significantly reduce performance and can be considered to increase acceptance and environmental awareness. Directional microphones at the temple seemed to profit more from the head shadow than above the pinna, better suppressing noise from behind the listener.

Micro-phonics analysis and compensation with a feedback loop at low cavity gradient

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luong, M.; Devanz, G.; Jacques, E.; Novo, J.; Neumann, A.; Kugeler, O.

2007-10-01

For FEL projects based on a superconducting linac operating in continuous wave (CW) mode, the RF power optimization finally comes up against the micro-phonics disturbances, which result in an unpredictable detuning of the cavities. A new piezoelectric tuner was developed and mounted on a TTF 9-cells cavity with an appropriate instrumentation. This system enables a full characterization of the disturbances and the tuner behavior. The experimental results pointed out 3 distinct regimes of perturbation: a strong but quickly damped very low frequency oscillation due to cryogenic control, a quasi-stationary oscillation around 50 and 100 Hz due to the operation of vacuum pumps motor and some lower amplitudes oscillations related to the excitation of the mechanical structure Eigenmodes by environmental noise. Modeling, simulations and experimental validations were carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of a feedback compensation for a multi-cell cavity. The results also bring to some recommendations that may overcome the limitations pointed out in the present experimentation

Speech understanding in background noise with the two-microphone adaptive beamformer BEAM in the Nucleus Freedom Cochlear Implant System.

Science.gov (United States)

Spriet, Ann; Van Deun, Lieselot; Eftaxiadis, Kyriaky; Laneau, Johan; Moonen, Marc; van Dijk, Bas; van Wieringen, Astrid; Wouters, Jan

2007-02-01

This paper evaluates the benefit of the two-microphone adaptive beamformer BEAM in the Nucleus Freedom cochlear implant (CI) system for speech understanding in background noise by CI users. A double-blind evaluation of the two-microphone adaptive beamformer BEAM and a hardware directional microphone was carried out with five adult Nucleus CI users. The test procedure consisted of a pre- and post-test in the lab and a 2-wk trial period at home. In the pre- and post-test, the speech reception threshold (SRT) with sentences and the percentage correct phoneme scores for CVC words were measured in quiet and background noise at different signal-to-noise ratios. Performance was assessed for two different noise configurations (with a single noise source and with three noise sources) and two different noise materials (stationary speech-weighted noise and multitalker babble). During the 2-wk trial period at home, the CI users evaluated the noise reduction performance in different listening conditions by means of the SSQ questionnaire. In addition to the perceptual evaluation, the noise reduction performance of the beamformer was measured physically as a function of the direction of the noise source. Significant improvements of both the SRT in noise (average improvement of 5-16 dB) and the percentage correct phoneme scores (average improvement of 10-41%) were observed with BEAM compared to the standard hardware directional microphone. In addition, the SSQ questionnaire and subjective evaluation in controlled and real-life scenarios suggested a possible preference for the beamformer in noisy environments. The evaluation demonstrates that the adaptive noise reduction algorithm BEAM in the Nucleus Freedom CI-system may significantly increase the speech perception by cochlear implantees in noisy listening conditions. This is the first monolateral (adaptive) noise reduction strategy actually implemented in a mainstream commercial CI.

Micromechanics-Based Structural Analysis (FEAMAC) and Multiscale Visualization within Abaqus/CAE Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Steven M.; Bednarcyk, Brett A.; Hussain, Aquila; Katiyar, Vivek

2010-01-01

A unified framework is presented that enables coupled multiscale analysis of composite structures and associated graphical pre- and postprocessing within the Abaqus/CAE environment. The recently developed, free, Finite Element Analysis--Micromechanics Analysis Code (FEAMAC) software couples NASA's Micromechanics Analysis Code with Generalized Method of Cells (MAC/GMC) with Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit to perform micromechanics based FEA such that the nonlinear composite material response at each integration point is modeled at each increment by MAC/GMC. The Graphical User Interfaces (FEAMAC-Pre and FEAMAC-Post), developed through collaboration between SIMULIA Erie and the NASA Glenn Research Center, enable users to employ a new FEAMAC module within Abaqus/CAE that provides access to the composite microscale. FEA IAC-Pre is used to define and store constituent material properties, set-up and store composite repeating unit cells, and assign composite materials as sections with all data being stored within the CAE database. Likewise FEAMAC-Post enables multiscale field quantity visualization (contour plots, X-Y plots), with point and click access to the microscale i.e., fiber and matrix fields).

Description of an Advantageous Optical Label-Free Biosensing Interferometric Read-Out Method to Measure Biological Species

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel Holgado

2014-02-01

Full Text Available In this article we report a new, simple, and reliable optical read-out detection method able to assess Rotavirus present in human sera as well as in the viral pollution sources. It is based on the interference of two interferometers used as biophotonic transducers. The method significantly improves the optical label-free biosensing response measuring both, the concentration of the AgR and its corresponding size. Two different immunoassays were carried out: Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA, and the recognition by its antibody (anti-BSA; and Rotavirus (AgR and the recognition by its antibody (anti-AgR. In the cases studied, and using as model interferometer a simple Fabry-Perot transducer, we demonstrate a biosensing enhancement of two orders of magnitude in the Limit of Detection (LoD. In fact, this read-out optical method may have significant implications to enhance other optical label-free photonic transducers reported in the scientific literature.

Chip-size-packaged silicon microphones [for hearing instruments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Müllenborn, Matthias; Rombach, Pirmin; Klein, Udo

2001-01-01

bonding. The devices are fully encapsulated and provided with a well-determined interface to the environment. The integrated microphones operate at a bias of 1.5 V and are expected to reach a sensitivity of 5 mV/Pa, an A-weighted equivalent input noise of 24 dB sound pressure level, and a power...

Micromechanics model for predicting anisotropic electrical conductivity of carbon fiber composite materials

Science.gov (United States)

Haider, Mohammad Faisal; Haider, Md. Mushfique; Yasmeen, Farzana

2016-07-01

Heterogeneous materials, such as composites consist of clearly distinguishable constituents (or phases) that show different electrical properties. Multifunctional composites have anisotropic electrical properties that can be tailored for a particular application. The effective anisotropic electrical conductivity of composites is strongly affected by many parameters including volume fractions, distributions, and orientations of constituents. Given the electrical properties of the constituents, one important goal of micromechanics of materials consists of predicting electrical response of the heterogeneous material on the basis of the geometries and properties of the individual phases, a task known as homogenization. The benefit of homogenization is that the behavior of a heterogeneous material can be determined without resorting or testing it. Furthermore, continuum micromechanics can predict the full multi-axial properties and responses of inhomogeneous materials, which are anisotropic in nature. Effective electrical conductivity estimation is performed by using classical micromechanics techniques (composite cylinder assemblage method) that investigates the effect of the fiber/matrix electrical properties and their volume fractions on the micro scale composite response. The composite cylinder assemblage method (CCM) is an analytical theory that is based on the assumption that composites are in a state of periodic structure. The CCM was developed to extend capabilities variable fiber shape/array availability with same volume fraction, interphase analysis, etc. The CCM is a continuum-based micromechanics model that provides closed form expressions for upper level length scales such as macro-scale composite responses in terms of the properties, shapes, orientations and constituent distributions at lower length levels such as the micro-scale.

Implementation of Hybrid Speech Dereverberation Systems and Proposing Dual Microphone Farsi Database in Order to Evaluating Enhancement Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farhad Faghani

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In various applications, such as speech recognition and automatic teleconferencing, the recorded speech signals may be corrupted by both noise and reverberation. Reverberation causes a noticeable change in speech intelligibility and quality. In this research, firstly reverberation is described. There are some de-reverberation enhancement algorithms that use only one microphone. They mostly use inverse filtering and spectral subtraction as their sub-systems. On the other hand, there are many multi-microphone speech enhancement systems; Delay-and-sum beam former is the most famous amongst them. Moreover, several efficient approaches have been also reported that use linear prediction (LP residual signal, inverse filtering, and phase error. Despite the improvements and benefits gained by the use of several input microphones, considering the tradeoff between these gains and the complexity and computational cost forced by the use of more microphones, many researchers have focused on dual-microphones systems. So, a review on Microphone array signal processing is explained and then an arrangement for two microphones systems is proposed. As we want to evaluate these algorithms for Farsi speech signals, the problem of speech intelligibility assessment has been explained and a Farsi word list for Diagnostic Rhyme Test (DRT is presented.The structure of presented word list is similar to that of English DRT words. In this research, after a brief study of above-mentioned methods, we propose and implement some hybrid techniques to benefit from the advantages of several methods and achieve significant improvement in output signals. It will be shown that the proposed method performs superior to the state-of-the-art dereverberation algorithms.

Performance of multiclad scintillating and clear waveguide fibers read out with visible light photon counters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baumbaugh, B. (Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States)); Erdman, J. (Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States)); Gaskell, D. (Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States)); Lu, Q. (Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States)); Marchant, J. (Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States)); Ruchti, R. (Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States)); Wayne, M. (Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States)); Cooper, C. (Department of Physics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 (United States)); Hinson, J. (Department of Physics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 (United States)); Koltick, D.S. (Department of Physics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 (United State

1994-06-15

Measurements have been made of the performance of scintillating fibers read out with visible light photon counters (VLPCs). The light yields of single-clad and multiclad scintillating fibers have been compared. The experiment consisted of 3 m long scintillating fibers of 830 [mu]m diameter optically coupled to 8 m long waveguide fibers of 965 [mu]m diameter read out with HISTE-IV VLPCs. For the case of multiclad scintillating fiber and waveguide, an average of 6.2 photoelectrons was detected from the far end of the scintillating fiber if the fiber end was unmirrored, and 10.2 photoelectrons if the fiber end was mirrored. With this substantial photoelectron yield, minimum-ionizing tracks can be easily detected in fiber arrays, and excellent performance characteristics are expected for the fiber trackers designed for the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider and the SDC experiment at the SSC Laboratory. ((orig.))

SiGe HBT cryogenic preamplification for higher bandwidth donor spin read-out

Science.gov (United States)

Curry, Matthew; Carr, Stephen; Ten-Eyck, Greg; Wendt, Joel; Pluym, Tammy; Lilly, Michael; Carroll, Malcolm

2014-03-01

Single-shot read-out of a donor spin can be performed using the response of a single-electron-transistor (SET). This technique can produce relatively large changes in current, on the order of 1 (nA), to distinguish between the spin states. Despite the relatively large signal, the read-out time resolution has been limited to approximately 100 (kHz) of bandwidth because of noise. Cryogenic pre-amplification has been shown to extend the response of certain detection circuits to shorter time resolution and thus higher bandwidth. We examine a SiGe HBT circuit configuration for cryogenic preamplification, which has potential advantages over commonly used HEMT configurations. Here we present 4 (K) measurements of a circuit consisting of a Silicon-SET inline with a Heterojunction-Bipolar-Transistor (HBT). We compare the measured bandwidth with and without the HBT inline and find that at higher frequencies the signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) with the HBT inline exceeds the SNR without the HBT inline. This work was performed, in part, at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, a U.S. DOE, Office of Basic Energy Sciences user facility. The work was supported by the Sandia National Laboratories Directed Research and Development Program. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed-Martin Company, for the U. S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Cosserat moduli of anisotropic cancellous bone : A micromechanical analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fatemi, J.; Onck, P.R.; Poort, G.; Van Keulen, F.

A micromechanical-based approach is proposed to quantify the effective (in the macroscopic sense) elastic constants of Cosserat materials. The material under investigation (cancellous bone) is cellular and classically elastic at the microscopic level and assumed to be dense Cosserat elastic at the

Micromechanical modelling of nanocrystalline and ultrafine grained metals: A short overview

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mishnaevsky, Leon; Levashov, Evgeny

2015-01-01

An overview of micromechanical models of strength and deformation behaviour of nanostructured and ultrafine grained metallic materials is presented. Composite models of nanomaterials, polycrystal plasticity based models, grain boundary sliding, the effect of non-equilibrium grain boundaries...... and nanoscale properties are discussed and compared. The examples of incorporation of peculiar nanocrystalline effects (like large content of amorphous or semi-amorphous grain boundary phase, partial dislocation GB emission/glide/GB absorption based deformation mechanism, diffusion deformation, etc.......) into the continuum mechanical approach are given. The possibilities of using micromechanical models to explore the ways of the improving the properties of nanocrystalline materials by modifying their structures (e.g., dispersion strengthening, creating non-equilibrium grain boundaries, varying the grain size...

Improving beamforming by optimization of acoustic array microphone positions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Malgoezar, A.M.N.; Snellen, M.; Sijtsma, P.; Simons, D.G.

2016-01-01

Assigning proper positions to microphones within arrays is essential in order to reduce or eliminate side- and grating lobes in 2D beamform images. In this paper an objective function is derived providing a measure for the presence of artificial sources. Using the global optimization method

Development of early core anomaly detection system by using in-sodium microphone in JOYO. Fundamental characteristics test of in-sodium microphone in water and examination of improvement of detection accuracy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komai, Masafumi

2001-07-01

Fast reactor core anomalies can be detected in near real-time with acoustic sensors. An acoustic detection system senses an in-core anomaly immediately from the fast acoustic signals that propagate through the sodium coolant. One example of a detectable anomaly is sodium boiling due to local blockage in a sub-assembly; the slight change in background acoustic signals can be detected. A key advantage of the acoustic detector is that it can be located outside the core. The location of the anomaly in the core can be determined by correlating multiple acoustic signals. This report describes the testing and fundamental characteristics of a microphone suitable for use in the sodium coolant and examines methods to improve the system's S/N ratio. Testing in water confirmed that the in-sodium microphone has good impulse and wide band frequency responses. These tests used impulse and white noise signals that imitate acoustic signals from boiling sodium. Correlation processing of multiple microphone signals to improve S/N ratio is also described. (author)

Cantilever-like micromechanical sensors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boisen, Anja; Dohn, Søren; Keller, Stephan Sylvest

2011-01-01

The field of cantilever-based sensing emerged in the mid-1990s and is today a well-known technology for label-free sensing which holds promise as a technique for cheap, portable, sensitive and highly parallel analysis systems. The research in sensor realization as well as sensor applications has...... increased significantly over the past 10 years. In this review we will present the basic modes of operation in cantilever-like micromechanical sensors and discuss optical and electrical means for signal transduction. The fundamental processes for realizing miniaturized cantilevers are described with focus...... on silicon-and polymer-based technologies. Examples of recent sensor applications are given covering such diverse fields as drug discovery, food diagnostics, material characterizations and explosives detection....

Ultrafast Hydro-Micromechanical Synthesis of Calcium Zincate: Structural and Morphological Characterizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vincent Caldeira

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Calcium zincate is a compound with a large panel of application: mainly known as an advantageous replacement of zinc oxide in negative electrodes for air-zinc or nickel-zinc batteries, it is also used as precursor catalyst in biodiesel synthesis and as antifungal compound for the protection of limestone monuments. However, its synthesis is not optimized yet. In this study, it was elaborated using an ultrafast synthesis protocol: Hydro-Micromechanical Synthesis. Two other synthesis methods, Hydrochemical Synthesis and Hydrothermal Synthesis, were used for comparison. In all cases, the as-synthesized samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and LASER diffraction particle size analysis. Rietveld method was used to refine various structural parameters and obtain an average crystallite size, on a Hydro-Micromechanical submicronic sample. X-ray single crystal structure determination was performed on a crystal obtained by Hydrochemical Synthesis. It has been shown that regardless of the synthesis protocol, the prepared samples always crystallize in the same crystal lattice, with P21/c space group and only differ from their macroscopic textural parameters. Nevertheless, only the Hydro-Micromechanical method is industrially scalable and enables a precise control of the textural parameters of the obtained calcium zincate.

Beamforming with a circular array of microphones mounted on a rigid sphere (L)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tiana Roig, Elisabet; Jacobsen, Finn; Fernandez Grande, Efren

2011-01-01

Beamforming with uniform circular microphone arrays can be used for localizing sound sources over 360. Typically, the array microphones are suspended in free space or they are mounted on a solid cylinder. However, the cylinder is often considered to be infinitely long because the scattering problem...... has no exact solution for a finite cylinder. Alternatively one can use a solid sphere. This investigation compares the performance of a circular array mounded on a rigid sphere with that of such an array in free space and mounted on an infinite cylinder, using computer simulations. The examined...

Requirements on read-out electronics for future keV-scale sterile neutrino search with KATRIN

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dolde, Kai [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe (Germany)

2016-07-01

Recent publications show the great potential of the KATRIN (KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino) experiment in the search for sterile neutrinos in the mass range of a few keV down to active-to-sterile mixing angles at least one order of magnitude smaller than current laboratory limits of sin{sup 2}θ < 10{sup -3}. In order to be sensitive to the tiny kink-like signature of sterile neutrinos in tritium beta decay, KATRIN requires a novel sophisticated detector and read-out system. Several silicon prototype detectors are under construction at the moment to explore the most suitable detector design for this purpose. The selection of appropriate read-out electronics is strongly triggered by the requirements of allowing only very small systematic uncertainties due to ADC Non-Linearities to reach the expected sensitivity. This talk investigates the impact of ADC Non-Linearities on the tritium beta decay spectrum, depending on the digitization method of analogue signals of a multi-pixel silicon detector, peak sensing or waveform digitization. The simulations show a higher achievable sensitivity using waveform digitizers and moreover strongly favor additional variable post-acceleration of the electrons to smear out the periodic structure of the ADC Non-Linearities.

Heterogeneous Rock Simulation Using DIP-Micromechanics-Statistical Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Molladavoodi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Rock as a natural material is heterogeneous. Rock material consists of minerals, crystals, cement, grains, and microcracks. Each component of rock has a different mechanical behavior under applied loading condition. Therefore, rock component distribution has an important effect on rock mechanical behavior, especially in the postpeak region. In this paper, the rock sample was studied by digital image processing (DIP, micromechanics, and statistical methods. Using image processing, volume fractions of the rock minerals composing the rock sample were evaluated precisely. The mechanical properties of the rock matrix were determined based on upscaling micromechanics. In order to consider the rock heterogeneities effect on mechanical behavior, the heterogeneity index was calculated in a framework of statistical method. A Weibull distribution function was fitted to the Young modulus distribution of minerals. Finally, statistical and Mohr–Coulomb strain-softening models were used simultaneously as a constitutive model in DEM code. The acoustic emission, strain energy release, and the effect of rock heterogeneities on the postpeak behavior process were investigated. The numerical results are in good agreement with experimental data.

PCI Based Read-out Receiver Card in the ALICE DAQ System

CERN Document Server

Carena, W; Dénes, E; Divià, R; Schossmaier, K; Soós, C; Sulyán, J; Vascotto, Alessandro; Van de Vyvre, P

2001-01-01

The Detector Data Link (DDL) is the high-speed optical link for the ALICE experiment. This link shall transfer the data coming from the detectors at 100 MB/s rate. The main components of the link have been developed: the destination Interface Unit (DIU), the Source Interface Unit (SIU) and the Read-out Receiver Card (RORC). The first RORC version is based on the VME bus. The performance tests show that the maximum VME bandwidth could be reached. Meanwhile the PCI bus became very popular and is used in many platforms. The development of a PCI-based version has been started. The document describes the prototype version in three sections. An overview explains the main purpose of the card: to provide an interface between the DDL and the PCI bus. Acting as a 32bit/33MHz PCI master the card is able to write or read directly to or from the system memory from or to the DDL, respectively. Beside these functions the card can also be used as an autonomous data generator. The card has been designed to be well adapted to ...

An application of CCD read-out technique to neutron distribution measurement using the self-activation method with a CsI scintillator plate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nohtomi, Akihiro; Kurihara, Ryosuke; Kinoshita, Hiroyuki; Honda, Soichiro; Tokunaga, Masaaki; Uno, Heita; Shinsho, Kiyomitsu; Wakabayashi, Genichiro; Koba, Yusuke; Fukunaga, Junichi; Umezu, Yoshiyuki; Nakamura, Yasuhiko; Ohga, Saiji

2016-01-01

In our previous paper, the self-activation of an NaI scintillator had been successfully utilized for detecting photo-neutrons around a high-energy X-ray radiotherapy machine; individual optical pulses from the self-activated scintillator are read-out by photo sensors such as a photomultiplier tube (PMT). In the present work, preliminary observations have been performed in order to apply a direct CCD read-out technique to the self-activation method with a CsI scintillator plate using a Pu-Be source and a 10-MV linac. In conclusion, it has been revealed that the CCD read-out technique is applicable to neutron measurement around a high-energy X-ray radiotherapy machine with the self-activation of a CsI plate. Such application may provide a possibility of novel method for simple neutron dose-distribution measurement. - Highlights: • Preliminary observations have been performed by a CCD for the CsI self-activation method. • It has been revealed that the CCD read-out technique is applicable to neutron measurement. • Such application may provide a novel method for simple neutron distribution measurement.

An application of CCD read-out technique to neutron distribution measurement using the self-activation method with a CsI scintillator plate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nohtomi, Akihiro, E-mail: nohtomi@hs.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582 (Japan); Kurihara, Ryosuke; Kinoshita, Hiroyuki; Honda, Soichiro; Tokunaga, Masaaki; Uno, Heita [Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582 (Japan); Shinsho, Kiyomitsu [Graduate School of Human Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 7-2-10 Higashi-oku, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo 116-8551 (Japan); Wakabayashi, Genichiro [Atomic Energy Research Institute, Kinki University, 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashiosaka-shi, Osaka 577-8502 (Japan); Koba, Yusuke [National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba 263-8555 (Japan); Fukunaga, Junichi; Umezu, Yoshiyuki; Nakamura, Yasuhiko [Department of Radiology, Kyushu University Hospital, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582 (Japan); Ohga, Saiji [Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582 (Japan)

2016-10-01

In our previous paper, the self-activation of an NaI scintillator had been successfully utilized for detecting photo-neutrons around a high-energy X-ray radiotherapy machine; individual optical pulses from the self-activated scintillator are read-out by photo sensors such as a photomultiplier tube (PMT). In the present work, preliminary observations have been performed in order to apply a direct CCD read-out technique to the self-activation method with a CsI scintillator plate using a Pu-Be source and a 10-MV linac. In conclusion, it has been revealed that the CCD read-out technique is applicable to neutron measurement around a high-energy X-ray radiotherapy machine with the self-activation of a CsI plate. Such application may provide a possibility of novel method for simple neutron dose-distribution measurement. - Highlights: • Preliminary observations have been performed by a CCD for the CsI self-activation method. • It has been revealed that the CCD read-out technique is applicable to neutron measurement. • Such application may provide a novel method for simple neutron distribution measurement.

Microphone detected ionacoustic signal from metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dioszeghy, T.; Szoekefalvi-Nagy, Z.; Biro, T.

1986-12-01

An experimental system for studying the radiation-induced acoustic signal generated by a modulated 2 MeV He + ion beam in metals is described. For detection, a closed cell on the rear side of the copper or aluminium sample, a half-inch condenser microphone, and a lock-in amplifier were employed. The signal was found to be proportional to beam current and particle energy, and inversely proportional to cell length. A decrease of the signal magnitude and an increase of the phase delay with increasing modulation frequency and sample thickness were also observed. (author)

Characterization of condenser microphones under different environmental conditions for accurate speed of sound measurements with acoustic resonators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guianvarc' h, Cecile; Pitre, Laurent [Laboratoire Commun de Metrologie LNE/Cnam, 61 rue du Landy, 93210 La Plaine Saint Denis (France); Gavioso, Roberto M.; Benedetto, Giuliana [Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Strada delle Cacce 91, 10135 Turin (Italy); Bruneau, Michel [Laboratoire d' Acoustique de l' Universite du Maine UMR CNRS 6613, av. Olivier Messiaen, 72085 Le Mans Cedex 9 (France)

2009-07-15

Condenser microphones are more commonly used and have been extensively modeled and characterized in air at ambient temperature and static pressure. However, several applications of interest for metrology and physical acoustics require to use these transducers in significantly different environmental conditions. Particularly, the extremely accurate determination of the speed of sound in monoatomic gases, which is pursued for a determination of the Boltzmann constant k by an acoustic method, entails the use of condenser microphones mounted within a spherical cavity, over a wide range of static pressures, at the temperature of the triple point of water (273.16 K). To further increase the accuracy achievable in this application, the microphone frequency response and its acoustic input impedance need to be precisely determined over the same static pressure and temperature range. Few previous works examined the influence of static pressure, temperature, and gas composition on the microphone's sensitivity. In this work, the results of relative calibrations of 1/4 in. condenser microphones obtained using an electrostatic actuator technique are presented. The calibrations are performed in pure helium and argon gas at temperatures near 273 K and in the pressure range between 10 and 600 kPa. These experimental results are compared with the predictions of a realistic model available in the literature, finding a remarkable good agreement. The model provides an estimate of the acoustic impedance of 1/4 in. condenser microphones as a function of frequency and static pressure and is used to calculate the corresponding frequency perturbations induced on the normal modes of a spherical cavity when this is filled with helium or argon gas.

Continuum and micro-mechanics treatment of constraint in fracture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dodds, R.H. Jr.; Shih, C.F.

1993-01-01

This paper explores the fundamental concepts of the J-Q description of crack-tip fields, the fracture toughness locus and micromechanics approaches to predict the variability of macroscopic fracture toughness with constraint under elastic-plastic conditions. While these concepts derived from plane-strain considerations, initial applications in fully 3-D geometries are very promising. Computational results are presented for a surface cracked plate containing a 6:1 semi-elliptical, a=t/4 flaw subjected to remote uniaxial and biaxial tension. Crack-tip stress fields consistent with the J-Q theory are demonstrated to exist at each location along the crack front. The micromechanics model employs the J-Q description of crack-front stresses to interpret fracture toughness values measured on laboratory specimens for fracture assessment of the surface cracked plate. The computational results suggest only a minor effect of the biaxial loading on the crack tip stress fields and, consequently, on the propensity for fracture relative to the uniaxial loading. 45 refs., 19 figs., 3 tabs

A simple and accurate method for bidimensional position read-out of parallel plate avalanche counters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Breskin, A.; Zwang, N.

1977-01-01

A simple method for bidimensional position read-out of Parallel Plate Avalanche counters (PPAC) has been developed, using the induced charge technique. An accuracy better than 0.5 mm (FWHM) has been achieved for both coordinates with 5.5. MeV α-particles at gas pressures of 10-40 torr. (author)

Micromechanical Modeling of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode Supports based on Three-dimensional Reconstructions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kwok, Kawai; Jørgensen, Peter Stanley; Frandsen, Henrik Lund

2014-01-01

Ni-3YSZ in the operating temperature through numerical micromechanical modeling. Three-dimensional microstructures of Ni-3YSZ anode supports are reconstructed from a two-dimensional image stack obtained via focused ion beam tomography. Time-dependent stress distributions in the microscopic scale...... are computed by the finite element method. The macroscopic creep response of the porous anode support is determined based on homogenization theory. It is shown that micromechanical modeling provides an effective tool to study the effect of microstructures on the macroscopic properties....

A Comparison of Acoustic Field Measurement by a Microphone and by an Optical Interferometric Probe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Bálek

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work is to show that our optical method for measuring acoustic pressure is in some way superior to measurement using a microphone. Measurement of the integral acoustic pressure in the air by a laser interferometric probe is compared with measurement using a microphone. We determined the particular harmonic components in the acoustic field in the case of relatively high acoustic power in the ultrasonic frequency range.

Micromechanics of fracture in WC-Co hardmetals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dusza, J.; Parilak, L.

1986-01-01

A study has been made in WC-Co cemented carbides with grain sizes of 2.1 - 3.6 μm and 13 - 32 vol% Co, of the relationship between the fracture toughness and microstructural parameters and micromechanisms of fracture. Regression analyses have been used to derive empirical relationships between fracture toughness, and the binder spacing, the contiguity and the relative proportions of fracture in the binder phase and between contiguous WC grains

The read-out electronics of the AMS prototype RICH detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gallin-Martel, L.; Eraud, L.; Pouxe, J.; Aguayo de Hoyos, P.; Marin Munoz, J.; Martinez Botella, G.

2003-01-01

A Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) counter dedicated to the AMS experiment is under development. An integrated circuit has been designed with the Austriamicrosystems 0.6 πm CMOS technology to process the signals of the 16 anode PMTs used in the photon detection. To improve the detector compactness, the read out electronics is placed very close to the PMTs. This lead to the design of a detection cell that comprises: a light guide, a PMT, a high voltage divider, an analog front end chip and an analog to digital converter. The analog front-end chips were extensively and successfully tested in a laboratory environment, 96 of them are now mounted on the RICH prototype. Tests with cosmic rays have started. Ion beam tests are planed in a near future. (authors)

Systematic shifts of evaluated charge centroid for the cathode read-out multiwire proportional chamber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endo, I.; Kawamoto, T.; Mizuno, Y.; Ohsugi, T.; Taniguchi, T.; Takeshita, T.

1981-01-01

We have investigated the systematic error associtated with the charge centroid evaluation for the cathode read-out multiwire proportional chamber. Correction curves for the systematic error according to six centroid finding algorithms have been obtained by using the charge distribution calculated in a simple electrostatic mode. They have been experimentally examined and proved to be essential for the accurate determination of the irradiated position. (orig.)

Prediction of Quadcopter State through Multi-Microphone Side-Channel Fusion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koops, Hendrik Vincent; Garg, Kashish; Kim, Munsung; Li, Jonathan; Volk, Anja; Franchetti, Franz

Improving trust in the state of Cyber-Physical Systems becomes increasingly important as more tasks become autonomous. We present a multi-microphone machine learning fusion approach to accurately predict complex states of a quadcopter drone in flight from the sound it makes using audio content

Comparisons of spectral characteristics of wind noise between omnidirectional and directional microphones.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, King

2012-06-01

Wind noise reduction is a topic of ongoing research and development for hearing aids and cochlear implants. The purposes of this study were to examine spectral characteristics of wind noise generated by directional (DIR) and omnidirectional (OMNI) microphones on different styles of hearing aids and to derive wind noise reduction strategies. Three digital hearing aids (BTE, ITE, and ITC) were fitted to Knowles Electronic Manikin for Acoustic Research. They were programmed to have linear amplification and matching frequency responses between the DIR and OMNI modes. Flow noise recordings were made from 0° to 360° azimuths at flow velocities of 4.5, 9.0, and 13.5 m/s in a quiet wind tunnel. Noise levels were analyzed in one-third octave bands from 100 to 8000 Hz. Comparison of wind noise revealed that DIR generally produced higher noise levels than OMNI for all hearing aids, but it could result in lower levels than OMNI at some frequencies and head angles. Wind noise reduction algorithms can be designed to detect noise levels of DIR and OMNI outputs in each frequency channel, remove the constraint to switch to OMNI in low-frequency channel(s) only, and adopt the microphone mode with lower noise levels to take advantage of the microphone differences.

Readout of micromechanical cantilever sensor arrays by Fabry-Perot interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wehrmeister, Jana; Fuss, Achim; Saurenbach, Frank; Berger, Ruediger; Helm, Mark

2007-01-01

The increasing use of micromechanical cantilevers in sensing applications causes a need for reliable readout techniques of micromechanical cantilever sensor (MCS) bending. Current optical beam deflection techniques suffer from drawbacks such as artifacts due to changes in the refraction index upon exchange of media. Here, an adaptation of the Fabry-Perot interferometer is presented that allows simultaneous determination of MCS bending and changes in the refraction index of media. Calibration of the instrument with liquids of known refraction index provides an avenue to direct measurement of bending with nanometer precision. Versatile construction of flow cells in combination with alignment features for substrate chips allows simultaneous measurement of two MCS situated either on the same, or on two different support chips. The performance of the instrument is demonstrate in several sensing applications, including adsorption experiments of alkanethioles on MCS gold surfaces, and measurement of humidity changes in air

Micromechanical exfoliation of two-dimensional materials by a polymeric stamp

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costa, M C Ferraz da; Ribeiro, H B; Kessler, F; Souza, E A T de; Fechine, G J M

2016-01-01

In this work, an alternative technique to the traditional micromechanical exfoliation of two-dimensional materials is proposed, consisting of isolated flakes of graphite and molybdenum disulphide onto polymeric surfaces films. The set made up of polymer and flakes is fabricated by using a hot-press machine called polymeric stamp. The polymeric stamp was used to allocate flakes and also to allow the exfoliation process to take place just in one face of isolated flake. Optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy results showed that multilayers, bilayers and single layers of graphene and MoS 2 were obtained by using a polymeric stamp as tool for micromechanical exfoliation. These crystals were more easily found because the exfoliation process concentrates them in well-defined locations. The results prove the effectiveness of the method by embedding two-dimensional materials into polymers to fabricate fewer layers crystals in a fast, economic and clean way. (paper)

Micromechanical exfoliation of two-dimensional materials by a polymeric stamp

Science.gov (United States)

Ferraz da Costa, M. C.; Ribeiro, H. B.; Kessler, F.; de Souza, E. A. T.; Fechine, G. J. M.

2016-02-01

In this work, an alternative technique to the traditional micromechanical exfoliation of two-dimensional materials is proposed, consisting of isolated flakes of graphite and molybdenum disulphide onto polymeric surfaces films. The set made up of polymer and flakes is fabricated by using a hot-press machine called polymeric stamp. The polymeric stamp was used to allocate flakes and also to allow the exfoliation process to take place just in one face of isolated flake. Optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy results showed that multilayers, bilayers and single layers of graphene and MoS2 were obtained by using a polymeric stamp as tool for micromechanical exfoliation. These crystals were more easily found because the exfoliation process concentrates them in well-defined locations. The results prove the effectiveness of the method by embedding two-dimensional materials into polymers to fabricate fewer layers crystals in a fast, economic and clean way.

Skiroc A Front-end Chip to Read Out the Imaging Silicon-Tungsten Calorimeter for ILC

CERN Document Server

Bouchel, Michel; Fleury, Julien; de La Taille, Christophe; Martin-Chassard,Gisèle; Raux, Ludovic; Wicek, Francois; Bohner, Gérard; Gay, Pascal; Lecoq, Jacques; Manen, Samuel; Royer, Laurent

2007-01-01

Integration and low-power consumption of the read-out ASIC for the International Linear Collider (ILC) 82-millionchannel W-Si calorimeter must reach an unprecedented level as it will be embedded inside the detector. Uniformity and dynamic range performance has to reach the accuracy to achieve calorimetric measurement. A first step towards this goal has been a 10,000-channel physics prototype of 18*18 cm which is currently in test beam in CERN. A new version of a full integrated read out chip (SKIROC) has been designed to equip the technologic prototype to be built for 2009. Based on the running physics prototype ASIC (FLC_PHY3), it embeds most of the required features expected for the final detector. The dynamic range has been improved from 500 to 2000 MIP. An auto-trigger capability has been added allowing built-in zero suppress. The number of channel has been doubled reaching 36 to fit smaller silicon pads and the lownoise charge preamplifier now accepts both AC and DC coupled detectors. After an exhaustive...

Development of a test system for the analysis of the read-out electronic cabling for the CMS drift tube chambers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez Bedoya, C.; Montero, M.; Willmott, C.

2004-01-01

A test system has been developed for the analysis of the read-out electronics cabling for the CMS drift tube chambers. The read-out electronics will be placed inside some aluminium boxes, so-called Minicrates, which are going to be produced soon at CIEMAT. Due to the difficulty of detecting and repairing errors in the cables once they have been installed and recalling also to the large number of Minicrates that are going to be produced, it was decided to design and develop a test system for testing the cabling before its installation. (Author)

Photomultiplier pulse Read Out system for the preshower detector of the LHCb experiment

CERN Document Server

Ajaltouni, Ziad J; Cornat, R; Deschamps, O; Lecoq, J; Monteil, S; Perret, P

2003-01-01

The second generation experiment for CP violation studies in B decays, LHCb, is a 20-m-long single-arm spectrometer to be installed on the future Large Hadron Collider at CERN. For its precision measurement purpose, it combines precise vertex location and particle identification, in addition to a performance trigger system able to cope with high flux. The first level of trigger is mainly based on the fast response of the calorimetric subsystem. Of major importance is the 6000 channels preshower detector that aims to validate the electromagnetic nature of calorimetric showers. It consists of two- radiation-length lead sheet in front of a scintillator plane. Scintillator signals are extracted from plastic cells using wavelength-shifting fibres coupled to multi-anode photomultiplier tubes. The preshower Read Out system has to cope with fluctuating photomultiplier pulses caused by small amounts of photoelectrons, in addition to strong constraints imposed by the 40 MHz LHC bunch- crossing frequency. A special Read...

A low-noise/low-power preamplifier for capacitive microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fürst, Claus Erdmann

1996-01-01

A design for a microphone preamplifier for application in hearing aids is presented. The amplifier operates at a supply of 1-1.5 V, the current drain is 40 μA. The maximum sound level allowed is more than 120 dB SPL (Sound Pressure Level), with a typical noise level of 25 dB(A) SPL (A...

MP.EXE Microphone pressure sensitivity calibration calculation program

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Knud

1999-01-01

MP.EXE is a program which calculates the pressure sensitivity of LS1 microphones as defined in IEC 61094-1, based on measurement results performed as laid down in IEC 61094-2.A very early program was developed and written by K. Rasmussen. The code of the present heavily extended version is writte...... by E.S. Olsen.The present manual is written by K.Rasmussen and E.S. Olsen....

Near field acoustic holography with microphones on a rigid sphere

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Finn; Moreno-Pescador, Guillermo; Fernandez Grande, Efren

2011-01-01

Spherical near field acoustic holography (spherical NAH) is a technique that makes it possible to reconstruct the sound field inside and just outside a spherical surface on which the sound pressure is measured with an array of microphones. This is potentially very useful for source identification...

The Effect of Microphone Placement on Interaural Level Differences and Sound Localization Across the Horizontal Plane in Bilateral Cochlear Implant Users.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Heath G; Kan, Alan; Litovsky, Ruth Y

2016-01-01

This study examined the effect of microphone placement on the interaural level differences (ILDs) available to bilateral cochlear implant (BiCI) users, and the subsequent effects on horizontal-plane sound localization. Virtual acoustic stimuli for sound localization testing were created individually for eight BiCI users by making acoustic transfer function measurements for microphones placed in the ear (ITE), behind the ear (BTE), and on the shoulders (SHD). The ILDs across source locations were calculated for each placement to analyze their effect on sound localization performance. Sound localization was tested using a repeated-measures, within-participant design for the three microphone placements. The ITE microphone placement provided significantly larger ILDs compared to BTE and SHD placements, which correlated with overall localization errors. However, differences in localization errors across the microphone conditions were small. The BTE microphones worn by many BiCI users in everyday life do not capture the full range of acoustic ILDs available, and also reduce the change in cue magnitudes for sound sources across the horizontal plane. Acute testing with an ITE placement reduced sound localization errors along the horizontal plane compared to the other placements in some patients. Larger improvements may be observed if patients had more experience with the new ILD cues provided by an ITE placement.

Photoelectron yields of scintillation counters with embedded wavelength-shifting fibers read out with silicon photomultipliers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Artikov, Akram; Baranov, Vladimir; Blazey, Gerald C.; Chen, Ningshun; Chokheli, Davit; Davydov, Yuri; Dukes, E. Craig; Dychkant, Alexsander; Ehrlich, Ralf; Francis, Kurt; Frank, M. J.; Glagolev, Vladimir; Group, Craig; Hansen, Sten; Magill, Stephen; Oksuzian, Yuri; Pla-Dalmau, Anna; Rubinov, Paul; Simonenko, Aleksandr; Song, Enhao; Stetzler, Steven; Wu, Yongyi; Uzunyan, Sergey; Zutshi, Vishnu

2018-05-01

Photoelectron yields of extruded scintillation counters with titanium dioxide coating and embedded wavelength shifting fibers read out by silicon photomultipliers have been measured at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility using 120\\,GeV protons. The yields were measured as a function of transverse, longitudinal, and angular positions for a variety of scintillator compositions and reflective coating mixtures, fiber diameters, and photosensor sizes. Timing performance was also studied. These studies were carried out by the Cosmic Ray Veto Group of the Mu2e collaboration as part of their R\\&D program.

Photoelectron yields of scintillation counters with embedded wavelength-shifting fibers read out with silicon photomultipliers

Science.gov (United States)

Artikov, Akram; Baranov, Vladimir; Blazey, Gerald C.; Chen, Ningshun; Chokheli, Davit; Davydov, Yuri; Dukes, E. Craig; Dychkant, Alexsander; Ehrlich, Ralf; Francis, Kurt; Frank, M. J.; Glagolev, Vladimir; Group, Craig; Hansen, Sten; Magill, Stephen; Oksuzian, Yuri; Pla-Dalmau, Anna; Rubinov, Paul; Simonenko, Aleksandr; Song, Enhao; Stetzler, Steven; Wu, Yongyi; Uzunyan, Sergey; Zutshi, Vishnu

2018-05-01

Photoelectron yields of extruded scintillation counters with titanium dioxide coating and embedded wavelength shifting fibers read out by silicon photomultipliers have been measured at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility using 120 GeV protons. The yields were measured as a function of transverse, longitudinal, and angular positions for a variety of scintillator compositions, reflective coating mixtures, and fiber diameters. Timing performance was also studied. These studies were carried out by the Cosmic Ray Veto Group of the Mu2e collaboration as part of their R&D program.

Virtual microphone sensing through vibro-acoustic modelling and Kalman filtering

Science.gov (United States)

van de Walle, A.; Naets, F.; Desmet, W.

2018-05-01

This work proposes a virtual microphone methodology which enables full field acoustic measurements for vibro-acoustic systems. The methodology employs a Kalman filtering framework in order to combine a reduced high-fidelity vibro-acoustic model with a structural excitation measurement and small set of real microphone measurements on the system under investigation. By employing model order reduction techniques, a high order finite element model can be converted in a much smaller model which preserves the desired accuracy and maintains the main physical properties of the original model. Due to the low order of the reduced-order model, it can be effectively employed in a Kalman filter. The proposed methodology is validated experimentally on a strongly coupled vibro-acoustic system. The virtual sensor vastly improves the accuracy with respect to regular forward simulation. The virtual sensor also allows to recreate the full sound field of the system, which is very difficult/impossible to do through classical measurements.

Micromechanics and Microactuators : Proceedings of MAMM 2010

CERN Document Server

Corves, Burkhard; Petuya, Victor

2012-01-01

This book contains selected papers presented at MAMM 2010, the First Workshop on Microactuators and Micromechanisms. This workshop has brought together scientists, industry experts and students and has provided a special opportunity for know-how exchange and collaboration in various disciplines referring to microsystems technology. The conference was organized by the Technical Committees of Mechanical Transmissions and Micromachines under the patronage of IFToMM, the International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science.

A PowerPC-based control system for the Read-Out-Driver module of the ATLAS IBL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balbi, G; Bruni, G; Bruschi, M; D'Antone, I; Polini, A; Rizzi, M; Travaglini, R; Dopke, J; Falchieri, D; Gabrielli, A; Zannoli, S; Flick, T; Heim, T; Neumann, M; Grosse-Knetter, J; Krieger, N; Joseph, J; Kugel, A; Schroer, N; Morettini, P

2012-01-01

The ATLAS experiment at LHC planned to upgrade the existing Pixel Detector with the insertion of an innermost silicon layer, called Insertable B-layer (IBL). A new front-end ASIC has been foreseen (named FE-I4) and it will be read out with improved off-detector electronics. In particular, the new Read-Out Driver card (ROD) is a VME-based board designed to process a four-fold data throughput. Moreover, the ROD hosts the electronics devoted to control operations whose main tasks are providing setup busses to access configuration registers on several FPGAs, receiving configuration data from external PCs, managing triggers and running calibration procedures. In parallel with a backward-compatible solution with a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a new ROD control circuitry with a PowerPC embedded into an FPGA has been implemented. In this paper the status of the PowerPC-based control system will be outlined with major focus on firmware and software development strategies.

LHCb-VELO module production with n-side read-out on n- and p-type silicon substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Affolder, A.; Bowcock, T.J.V.; Carrol, J.L.; Casse, G.; Huse, T.; Patel, G.D.; Rinnert, K.; Smith, N.A.; Turner, P.R.

2007-01-01

The modules for the Vertex Locator detector of the LHCb experiment represent a technical challenge for their complexity. The design of the sensors uses a complex double metal routing of the connection to the read-out strips and a high density of metal lines has to be accommodated in the module. The detectors are n-side read-out to be able to survive the highest radiation damage of any micro-strip sensor used in LHC experiments. The present choice is n-strips on n-type substrates (n-in-n geometry). Double-sided lithography is required, which impact on the cost of the devices and on the module construction. Moreover, the compact size of the hybrid imposes sophisticated technical solutions for cooling the electronics and the detector. The module construction and the possible benefits offered by the choice of p-type substrate detectors compared to the present n-in-n devices are here discussed in details

Some micromechanical models of elastoplastic behaviors of porous geomaterials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W.Q. Shen

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Some micromechanics-based constitutive models are presented in this study for porous geomaterials. These micro-macro mechanical models focus on the effect of porosity and the inclusions on the macroscopic elastoplastic behaviors of porous materials. In order to consider the effect of pores and the compressibility of the matrix, some macroscopic criteria are presented firstly for ductile porous medium having one population of pores with different types of matrix (von Mises, Green type, Mises–Schleicher and Drucker–Prager. Based on different homogenization techniques, these models are extended to the double porous materials with two populations of pores at different scales and a Drucker–Prager solid phase at the microscale. Based on these macroscopic criteria, complete constitutive models are formulated and implemented to describe the overall responses of typical porous geomaterials (sandstone, porous chalk and argillite. Comparisons between the numerical predictions and experimental data with different confining pressures or different mineralogical composites show the capabilities of these micromechanics-based models, which take into account the effects of microstructure on the macroscopic behavior and significantly improve the phenomenological ones.

Speech understanding in noise with an eyeglass hearing aid: asymmetric fitting and the head shadow benefit of anterior microphones.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mens, L.H.M.

2011-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To test speech understanding in noise using array microphones integrated in an eyeglass device and to test if microphones placed anteriorly at the temple provide better directivity than above the pinna. DESIGN: Sentences were presented from the front and uncorrelated noise from 45, 135,

Method for discriminating microphonic noise in proportional counters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gold, R.

1991-01-01

This patent describes a detector system responsive to nuclear events for installation in a downhole logging tool including measuring well drilling equipment which subjects the detection system to microphonic shock. It comprises a closed chamber subject to impinging nuclear events and having two separate anode wires therein spaced apart from each other and spanning the chamber, providing a pair of separated spaced output terminals to thereby form an output signal; circuit means connecting from at least one of the chamber output terminals to a different amplifier means having two input terminals; the circuit means connected from the output terminal of the chamber to one of the input terminals of the differential amplifier means to cause formation of an output signal from the differential amplifier means; and vibration shock responsive means mounted in the detector system and having an output terminal which forms an output signal for connection to a second input at the differential circuit means so that microphonic signals from the chamber and the shock responsive means are provided thereto and tend to cancel when applied to the input terminals thereof, and wherein the shock responsive means does not cancel at the differential circuit means signals relating to nuclear events from the detector system

Micromechanical modeling of the cement-bone interface: the effect of friction, morphology and material properties on the micromechanical response

OpenAIRE

Janssen, Dennis; Mann, Kenneth A.; Verdonschot, Nico

2008-01-01

In order to gain insight into the micro-mechanical behavior of the cement-bone interface, the effect of parametric variations of frictional, morphological and material properties on the mechanical response of the cement-bone interface were analyzed using a finite element approach. Finite element models of a cement-bone interface specimen were created from micro-computed tomography data of a physical specimen that was sectioned from an in vitro cemented total hip arthroplasty. In five models t...

Recognition of In-Ear Microphone Speech Data Using Multi-Layer Neural Networks

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bulbuller, Gokhan

2006-01-01

.... In this study, a speech recognition system is presented, specifically an isolated word recognizer which uses speech collected from the external auditory canals of the subjects via an in-ear microphone...

Design and preliminary testing of a MEMS microphone phased array for aeroacoustic testing of a small-scale wind turbine airfoil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bale, A.; Orlando, S.; Johnson, D. [Waterloo Univ., ON (Canada). Wind Energy Group

2010-07-01

One of the barriers preventing the widespread utilization of wind turbines is the audible sound that they produce. Developing quieter wind turbines will increase the amount of available land onto which wind farms can be built. Noise emissions from wind turbines can be attributed to the aerodynamic effects between the turbine blades and the air surrounding them. A dominant source of these aeroacoustic emissions from wind turbines is known to originate at the trailing edges of the airfoils. This study investigated the flow physics of noise generation in an effort to reduce noise from small-scale wind turbine airfoils. The trailing edge noise was studied on scale-models in wind tunnels and applied to full scale conditions. Microphone phased arrays are popular research tools in wind tunnel aeroacoustic studies because they can measure and locate noise sources. However, large arrays of microphones can be prohibitively expensive. This paper presented preliminary testing of micro-electrical mechanical system (MEMS) microphones in phased arrays for aeroacoustic testing on a small wind turbine airfoil. Preliminary results showed that MEMS microphones are an acceptable low-cost alternative to costly condenser microphones. 19 refs., 1 tab., 11 figs.

Computational methods for coupling microstructural and micromechanical materials response simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

HOLM,ELIZABETH A.; BATTAILE,CORBETT C.; BUCHHEIT,THOMAS E.; FANG,HUEI ELIOT; RINTOUL,MARK DANIEL; VEDULA,VENKATA R.; GLASS,S. JILL; KNOROVSKY,GERALD A.; NEILSEN,MICHAEL K.; WELLMAN,GERALD W.; SULSKY,DEBORAH; SHEN,YU-LIN; SCHREYER,H. BUCK

2000-04-01

Computational materials simulations have traditionally focused on individual phenomena: grain growth, crack propagation, plastic flow, etc. However, real materials behavior results from a complex interplay between phenomena. In this project, the authors explored methods for coupling mesoscale simulations of microstructural evolution and micromechanical response. In one case, massively parallel (MP) simulations for grain evolution and microcracking in alumina stronglink materials were dynamically coupled. In the other, codes for domain coarsening and plastic deformation in CuSi braze alloys were iteratively linked. this program provided the first comparison of two promising ways to integrate mesoscale computer codes. Coupled microstructural/micromechanical codes were applied to experimentally observed microstructures for the first time. In addition to the coupled codes, this project developed a suite of new computational capabilities (PARGRAIN, GLAD, OOF, MPM, polycrystal plasticity, front tracking). The problem of plasticity length scale in continuum calculations was recognized and a solution strategy was developed. The simulations were experimentally validated on stockpile materials.

Micromachined pressure/flow-sensor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oosterbroek, R.E.; Lammerink, Theodorus S.J.; Berenschot, Johan W.; Krijnen, Gijsbertus J.M.; Elwenspoek, Michael Curt; van den Berg, Albert

1999-01-01

The micromechanical equivalent of a differential pressure flow-sensor, well known in macro mechanics, is discussed. Two separate pressure sensors are used for the device, enabling to measure both, pressure as well as volume flow-rate. An integrated sensor with capacitive read-out as well as a

Shashlyk EM calorimeter prototype read out by MAPD with superhigh pixel density for COMPASS II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anfimov, N.; Anosov, V.; Chirikov-Zorin, I.

2012-01-01

A new-generation high-granularity Shashlyk EM calorimeter read out by micropixel avalanche photodiodes (MAPD) with precision thermostabilization based on the Peltier element was designed, constructed and tested. MAPD-3N with a superhigh pixel density of 1.5·10 4 mm -2 and an area of 3x3 mm manufactured by the Zecotek Company were used in the photodetector unit

Nanostructured interfaces for enhancing mechanical properties of composites: Computational micromechanical studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mishnaevsky, Leon

2015-01-01

Computational micromechanical studies of the effect of nanostructuring and nanoengineering of interfaces, phase and grain boundaries of materials on the mechanical properties and strength of materials and the potential of interface nanostructuring to enhance the materials properties are reviewed....

Micromechanical modeling of the elasto-viscoplastic bahavior of semi-crystalline polymers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dommelen, van J.A.W.; Parks, D.M.; Boyce, M.C.; Brekelmans, W.A.M.; Baaijens, F.P.T.

2003-01-01

A micromechanically-based constitutive model for the elasto-viscoplastic deformationand texture evolution of semi-crystalline polymers is developed. The modelidealizes the microstructure to consist of an aggregate of two-phase layered compositeinclusions. A new framework for the composite inclusion

Experimental and numerical study of the micro-mechanical failure in composites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ashouri Vajari, Danial; Martyniuk, Karolina; Sørensen, Bent F.

2013-01-01

The fibre/matrix interfacial debonding is found to be the first microscale failure mechanism leading to subsequent macroscale transverse cracks in composite materials under tensile load. In this paper, the micromechanical interface failure in fiber-reinforced composites is studied experimentally ...

Sound-field reconstruction performance of a mixed-order Ambisonics microphone array

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marschall, Marton; Chang, Jiho

2013-01-01

instruments and mobile phones. Previously, a mixed-order Ambisonics (MOA) approach was proposed to improve the horizontal spatial resolution of spherical arrays. This was achieved by increasing the number of microphones near the horizontal plane while keeping the total number of transducers fixed...

Studying Room Acoustics using a Monopole-Dipole Microphone Array

Science.gov (United States)

Begault, Durand R.; Abel, Jonathan S.; Gills, Stephen R. (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

The use of a soundfield microphone for examining the directional nature of a room impulse response was reported recently. By cross-correlating monopole and co-located dipole microphone signals aligned with left-right, up-down, and front-back axes, a sense of signal direction of arrival is revealed. The current study is concerned with the array's ability to detect individual reflections and directions of arrival, as a function of the cross-correlation window duration. If is window is too long, weak reflections are overlooked; if too short, spurious detections result. Guidelines are presented for setting the window width according to perceptual criteria. Formulas are presented describing the accuracy with which direction of arrival can be estimated as a function of room specifics and measurement noise. The direction of arrival of early reflections is more accurately determined than that of later reflections which are quieter and more numerous. The transition from a fairly directional sound field at the beginning of the room impulse response to a uni-directional diffuse field is examined. Finally, it is shown that measurements from additional dipole orientations can significantly improve the ability to detect reflections and estimate their directions of arrival.

Development of a leak detection system using high temperature-resistant microphones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morishita, Yoshitsugu; Mochizuki, Hiroyasu; Watanabe, Kenshiu; Nakamura, Takahisa; Nakajima, Yoshiaki; Yamauchi, Tatsuya

1991-01-01

This report describes the development of a detection system of coolant leak from an inlet feeder pipe of an Advanced Thermal Reactor (ATR) with high temperature-resistant microphones. A microphone having resistance to both high temperature and high radiation dose has been developed at first. The characteristics with regard to leakage sound, attenuation of sound level in a heat insulating box for the inlet feeder pipes and background noise were clarified by laboratory experiments and measurements in the prototype ATR 'Fugen'. On the basis of these experimental findings, appropriate frequency ranges were surveyed to detect the leakage sound with a high S/N ratio under the background noise. Reliability of the system to a malfunction caused by burst-type noises observed in the plant was also investigated by statistical analyses. Finally, it was confirmed that the present method could detect a leak within a couple of seconds. (author)

Analysis of metal-matrix composite structures. I - Micromechanics constitutive theory. II - Laminate analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Arenburg, R. T.; Reddy, J. N.

1991-01-01

The micromechanical constitutive theory is used to examine the nonlinear behavior of continuous-fiber-reinforced metal-matrix composite structures. Effective lamina constitutive relations based on the Abouli micromechanics theory are presented. The inelastic matrix behavior is modeled by the unified viscoplasticity theory of Bodner and Partom. The laminate constitutive relations are incorporated into a first-order deformation plate theory. The resulting boundary value problem is solved by utilizing the finite element method. Attention is also given to computational aspects of the numerical solution, including the temporal integration of the inelastic strains and the spatial integration of bending moments. Numerical results the nonlinear response of metal matrix composites subjected to extensional and bending loads are presented.

High Channel Count, High Density Microphone Arrays for Wind Tunnel Environments, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Interdisciplinary Consulting Corporation (IC2) proposes the development of high channel count, high density, reduced cost per channel, directional microphone...

Reading faster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Nation

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This article describes the visual nature of the reading process as it relates to reading speed. It points out that there is a physical limit on normal reading speed and beyond this limit the reading process will be different from normal reading where almost every word is attended to. The article describes a range of activities for developing reading fluency, and suggests how the development of fluency can become part of a reading programme.

MP.EXE, a Calculation Program for Pressure Reciprocity Calibration of Microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Knud

1998-01-01

A computer program is described which calculates the pressure sensitivity of microphones based on measurements of the electrical transfer impedance in a reciprocity calibration set-up. The calculations are performed according to the International Standard IEC 6194-2. In addition a number of options...

Ultrasensitive thermometer for atmospheric pressure operation based on a micromechanical resonator

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cagliani, Alberto; Pini, V.; Tamayo, J.

2014-01-01

For highly integrated systems for bio and chemical analysis a precise and integrated measurement of temperature is of fundamental importance. We have developed an ultrasensitive thermometer based on a micromechanical resonator for operation in air. The high quality factor and the strong temperatu...

Composite materials for wind energy applications: micromechanical modeling and future directions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mishnaevsky, Leon

2012-01-01

The strength and reliability of wind turbine blades depend on the properties, mechanical behavior and strengths of the material components (glass or carbon fibers and polymer matrix), and the interaction between them under loading. In this paper, ideas, methods and concepts of micromechanical...

Micromechanical Sensor for the Spectral Decomposition of Acoustic Signals

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-01

PZT Driver ......................................................... 226 Figure 7.3: PZT Driver...Gravity Abbreviations AF Amorphous Film ECM Electret Condenser Microphone FEA Finite Element Analysis FWHM Full Width Half Maximum PZT Lead...and/or critical equipment, such as rotating machinery and structural components, for signs of wear and fatigue . The first application, impact

Remote Microphone System Use at Home: Impact on Caregiver Talk

Science.gov (United States)

Benítez-Barrera, Carlos R.; Angley, Gina P.; Tharpe, Anne Marie

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of home use of a remote microphone system (RMS) on the spoken language production of caregivers with young children who have hearing loss. Method: Language Environment Analysis recorders were used with 10 families during 2 consecutive weekends (RMS weekend and No-RMS weekend). The…

Fast calculation of microphone array steering vectors with shear flow

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sijtsma, P.

2018-01-01

This paper proposes a fast method for calculating the acoustic time delay between an observer and a receiver in a shear flow. This method is applied to an outdoor microphone array measurement on a large-scale wind turbine. In such a set-up, a shear flow represents the actual wind field better than a

Mitigating Wind Induced Noise in Outdoor Microphone Signals Using a Singular Spectral Subspace Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omar Eldwaik

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Wind induced noise is one of the major concerns of outdoor acoustic signal acquisition. It affects many field measurement and audio recording scenarios. Filtering such noise is known to be difficult due to its broadband and time varying nature. In this paper, a new method to mitigate wind induced noise in microphone signals is developed. Instead of applying filtering techniques, wind induced noise is statistically separated from wanted signals in a singular spectral subspace. The paper is presented in the context of handling microphone signals acquired outdoor for acoustic sensing and environmental noise monitoring or soundscapes sampling. The method includes two complementary stages, namely decomposition and reconstruction. The first stage decomposes mixed signals in eigen-subspaces, selects and groups the principal components according to their contributions to wind noise and wanted signals in the singular spectrum domain. The second stage reconstructs the signals in the time domain, resulting in the separation of wind noise and wanted signals. Results show that microphone wind noise is separable in the singular spectrum domain evidenced by the weighted correlation. The new method might be generalized to other outdoor sound acquisition applications.

Failure Criterion for Brick Masonry: A Micro-Mechanics Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kawa Marek

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the formulation of failure criterion for an in-plane loaded masonry. Using micro-mechanics approach the strength estimation for masonry microstructure with constituents obeying the Drucker-Prager criterion is determined numerically. The procedure invokes lower bound analysis: for assumed stress fields constructed within masonry periodic cell critical load is obtained as a solution of constrained optimization problem. The analysis is carried out for many different loading conditions at different orientations of bed joints. The performance of the approach is verified against solutions obtained for corresponding layered and block microstructures, which provides the upper and lower strength bounds for masonry microstructure, respectively. Subsequently, a phenomenological anisotropic strength criterion for masonry microstructure is proposed. The criterion has a form of conjunction of Jaeger critical plane condition and Tsai-Wu criterion. The model proposed is identified based on the fitting of numerical results obtained from the microstructural analysis. Identified criterion is then verified against results obtained for different loading orientations. It appears that strength of masonry microstructure can be satisfactorily described by the criterion proposed.

Micromechanics Based Inelastic and Damage Modeling of Composites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. P. Procházka

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Micromechanics based models are considered for application to viscoelasticity and damage in metal matrix composites. The method proposes a continuation and development of Dvooák’s transformation field analysis, considering the piecewise uniform eigenstrains in each material phase. Standard applications of the method to a two-phase are considered in this study model, i.e., only one sub-volume per phase is considered. A continuous model is used, employing transformation field analysis with softening in order to prevent the tensile stress overstepping the tensile strength. At the same time shear cracking occurs in the tangential direction of the possible crack. This is considered in the principal shear stresses and they make disconnections in displacements. In this case, discontinuous models are more promising. Because discrete models, that can describe the situation more realistically have not been worked out in detail, we retain a continuous model and substitute the slip caused by overstepping the damage law by introducing eigenparameters from TFA. The various aspects of the proposed methods are systematically checked by comparing with finite element unit cell analyses, made through periodic homogenization assumptions, for SiC/Ti unidirectional lay-ups. 

Micro-Mechanical Voltage Tunable Fabry-Perot Filters Formed in (111) Silicon. Degree awarded by Colorado Univ., Boulder, CO

Science.gov (United States)

Patterson, James D.

1997-01-01

The MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) technology is quickly evolving as a viable means to combine micro-mechanical and micro-optical elements on the same chip. One MEMS technology that has recently gained attention by the research community is the micro-mechanical Fabry-Perot optical filter. A MEMS based Fabry-Perot consists of a vertically integrated structure composed of two mirrors separated by an air gap. Wavelength tuning is achieved by applying a bias between the two mirrors resulting in an attractive electrostatic force which pulls the mirrors closer. In this work, we present a new micro-mechanical Fabry-Perot structure which is simple to fabricate and is integratable with low cost silicon photodetectors and transistors. The structure consists of a movable gold coated oxide cantilever for the top mirror and a stationary Au/Ni plated silicon bottom mirror. The fabrication process is single mask level, self aligned, and requires only one grown or deposited layer. Undercutting of the oxide cantilever is carried out by a combination of RIE and anisotropic KOH etching of the (111) silicon substrate. Metallization of the mirrors is provided by thermal evaporation and electroplating. The optical and electrical characteristics of the fabricated devices were studied and show promissing results. A wavelength shift of 120nm with 53V applied bias was demonstrated by one device geometry using 6.27 micrometer air gap. The finesse of the structure was 2.4. Modulation bandwidths ranging from 91KHz to greater than 920KHz were also observed. Theoretical calculations show that if mirror reflectivity, smoothness, and parallelism are improved, a finesse of 30 is attainable. The predictions also suggest that a reduction of the air gap to 1 micrometer results in an increased wavelength tuning range of 175 nm with a CMOS compatible 4.75V.

Calibration of the pressure sensitivity of microphones by a free-field method at frequencies up to 80 khz.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuckerwar, Allan J; Herring, G C; Elbing, Brian R

2006-01-01

A free-field (FF) substitution method for calibrating the pressure sensitivity of microphones at frequencies up to 80 kHz is demonstrated with both grazing and normal-incidence geometries. The substitution-based method, as opposed to a simultaneous method, avoids problems associated with the nonuniformity of the sound field and, as applied here, uses a 1/4-in. air-condenser pressure microphone as a known reference. Best results were obtained with a centrifugal fan, which is used as a random, broadband sound source. A broadband source minimizes reflection-related interferences that can plague FF measurements. Calibrations were performed on 1/4-in. FF air-condenser, electret, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphones in an anechoic chamber. The uncertainty of this FF method is estimated by comparing the pressure sensitivity of an air-condenser FF microphone, as derived from the FF measurement, with that of an electrostatic actuator calibration. The root-mean-square difference is found to be +/- 0.3 dB over the range 1-80 kHz, and the combined standard uncertainty of the FF method, including other significant contributions, is +/- 0.41 dB.

Mechanical performance of SiC based MEMS capacitive microphone for ultrasonic detection in harsh environment

Science.gov (United States)

Zawawi, S. A.; Hamzah, A. A.; Mohd-Yasin, F.; Majlis, B. Y.

2017-08-01

In this project, SiC based MEMS capacitive microphone was developed for detecting leaked gas in extremely harsh environment such as coal mines and petroleum processing plants via ultrasonic detection. The MEMS capacitive microphone consists of two parallel plates; top plate (movable diaphragm) and bottom (fixed) plate, which separated by an air gap. While, the vent holes were fabricated on the back plate to release trapped air and reduce damping. In order to withstand high temperature and pressure, a 1.0 μm thick SiC diaphragm was utilized as the top membrane. The developed SiC could withstand a temperature up to 1400°C. Moreover, the 3 μm air gap is invented between the top membrane and the bottom plate via wafer bonding. COMSOL Multiphysics simulation software was used for design optimization. Various diaphragms with sizes of 600 μm2, 700 μm2, 800 μm2, 900 μm2 and 1000 μm2 are loaded with external pressure. From this analysis, it was observed that SiC microphone with diaphragm width of 1000 μm2 produced optimal surface vibrations, with first-mode resonant frequency of approximately 36 kHz. The maximum deflection value at resonant frequency is less than the air gap thickness of 8 mu;m, thus eliminating the possibility of shortage between plates during operation. As summary, the designed SiC capacitive microphone has high potential and it is suitable to be applied in ultrasonic gas leaking detection in harsh environment.

Cryogenic transimpedance amplifier for micromechanical capacitive sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Antonio, D; Pastoriza, H; Julián, P; Mandolesi, P

2008-08-01

We developed a cryogenic transimpedance amplifier that works at a broad range of temperatures, from room temperature down to 4 K. The device was realized with a standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor 1.5 mum process. Measurements of current-voltage characteristics, open-loop gain, input referred noise current, and power consumption are presented as a function of temperature. The transimpedance amplifier has been successfully applied to sense the motion of a polysilicon micromechanical oscillator at low temperatures. The whole device is intended to serve as a magnetometer for microscopic superconducting samples.

Metrics for performance assessment of mixed-order Ambisonics spherical microphone arrays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Favrot, Sylvain Emmanuel; Marschall, Marton

2012-01-01

Mixed-order Ambisonics (MOA) combines planar (2D) higher order Ambisonics (HOA) with lower order periphonic (3D) Ambisonics. MOA encoding from spherical microphone arrays has the potential to provide versatile recordings that can be played back using 2D, 3D or mixed systems. A procedure to generate...

Development of a micromechanical pitch-tunable grating with reflective/transmissive dual working modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Yi-Ting; Yuan, Wei-Zheng; Li, Tai-Ping; Yan, Bin

2010-01-01

In this paper, a micromechanical pitch-tunable grating with the capability of working in both reflective and transmissive modes is developed by using the silicon-on-glass (SOG) process. At a voltage of 65 V, the grating period is measured to increase by 4.62%. A simple optical experiment is performed to demonstrate how the proposed grating works in both modes. Then, experiments to measure the change of the diffraction angle versus driving voltage in both reflective and transmissive modes are designed and carried out utilizing an area-arrayed charge-coupled device (CCD), and the results are in good agreement with the theoretical calculation. Discussions on the structural configuration and diffraction efficiency of the proposed grating are presented. The grating presented provides better flexibility in the design and development of application systems.

Experiment feedbacks in micromechanics modeling of thermomechanical behaviors of SMA polycrystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sittner, P.; Novak, V.

2004-01-01

Simulations of pseudoelastic deformation of NiTi and CuAlZnMn polycrystals using an earlier developed micromechanics model are presented. Advantages of having multiple feedbacks established between the model and in situ neutron diffraction experiment as well as doing modeling and experimentation simultaneously are discussed

Development of a Microphone Phased Array Capability for the Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel

Science.gov (United States)

Humphreys, William M.; Brooks, Thomas F.; Bahr, Christopher J.; Spalt, Taylor B.; Bartram, Scott M.; Culliton, William G.; Becker, Lawrence E.

2014-01-01

A new aeroacoustic measurement capability has been developed for use in open-jet testing in the NASA Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel (14x22 tunnel). A suite of instruments has been developed to characterize noise source strengths, locations, and directivity for both semi-span and full-span test articles in the facility. The primary instrument of the suite is a fully traversable microphone phased array for identification of noise source locations and strengths on models. The array can be mounted in the ceiling or on either side of the facility test section to accommodate various test article configurations. Complementing the phased array is an ensemble of streamwise traversing microphones that can be placed around the test section at defined locations to conduct noise source directivity studies along both flyover and sideline axes. A customized data acquisition system has been developed for the instrumentation suite that allows for command and control of all aspects of the array and microphone hardware, and is coupled with a comprehensive data reduction system to generate information in near real time. This information includes such items as time histories and spectral data for individual microphones and groups of microphones, contour presentations of noise source locations and strengths, and hemispherical directivity data. The data acquisition system integrates with the 14x22 tunnel data system to allow real time capture of facility parameters during acquisition of microphone data. The design of the phased array system has been vetted via a theoretical performance analysis based on conventional monopole beamforming and DAMAS deconvolution. The performance analysis provides the ability to compute figures of merit for the array as well as characterize factors such as beamwidths, sidelobe levels, and source discrimination for the types of noise sources anticipated in the 14x22 tunnel. The full paper will summarize in detail the design of the instrumentation

Characterization of the front-end EASIROC for read-out of SiPM in the ASTRI camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Impiombato, D.; Giarrusso, S.; Belluso, M.; Billotta, S.; Bonanno, G.; Catalano, O.; Grillo, A.; La Rosa, G.; Marano, D.; Mineo, T.; Russo, F.; Sottile, G.

2013-01-01

The design and realization of a prototype for the Small-Size class Telescopes of the Cherenkov Telescope Array is one of the cornerstones of the ASTRI project. The prototype will adopt a focal plane camera based on Silicon Photo-Multiplier sensors that coupled with a dual mirror optics configuration represents an innovative solution for the detection of Atmospheric Cherenkov light. These detectors can be read by the Extended Analogue Silicon Photo-Multiplier Integrated Read Out Chip (EASIROC) equipped with 32-channels. In this paper, we report some preliminary results on measurements aimed to evaluate EASIROC capability of autotriggering and measurements of the trigger time walk, jitter, DAC linearity and trigger efficiency vs the injected charge. Moreover, the dynamic range of the ASIC is also reported

Potential constitutive models for salt: Survey of phenomenology, micromechanisms, and equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Senseny, P.E.; Hansen, F.D.

1987-12-01

Results are given of a literature survey performed to document the thermomechanical phenomena and micromechanical processes observed for salt over the ranges of stress and temperature of interest for a high-level nuclear repository. The elastic and thermal expansion behavior of salt can be readily modeled by the generalized Duhamel Neumann form of Hooke's law with temperature-dependent elastic constants and coefficient of thermal expansion. Inelastic deformation is primarily viscoplastic, but also has a brittle component. The observed phenomenological behavior of salt occurs because of micromechanical processes. To the extent that these processes have been studied, a summary of deformation mechanisms in natural salt is included in this report. Eight constitutive models that appear to be capable of modeling the viscoplastic deformation have been selected from the literature. Two models have been selected to model brittle deformation. Insufficient data are available to develop a model for failure. 92 refs., 39 figs., 6 tabs

Three-dimensional microstructure-based micromechanical modeling for TC6 titanium alloy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Guoju; Shi, Ran [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081 (China); National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Materials Under Shock and Impact, Beijing 100081 (China); Fan, Qunbo, E-mail: fanqunbo@bit.edu.cn [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081 (China); National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Materials Under Shock and Impact, Beijing 100081 (China); Xia, Yumeng; Zhang, Hongmei [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081 (China); National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Materials Under Shock and Impact, Beijing 100081 (China)

2017-02-08

A new in-depth evaluation of the micromechanical response of TC6 (Ti–6Al–1.5Cr–2.5Mo–0.5Fe–0.3Si) titanium alloy subjected to uniaxial tensile loading is performed based on micromechanical modeling. This evaluation includes reconstruction of the three-dimensional annealed microstructure (annealing at 800 °C for 2 h, then air cooled) of the alloy via dual-energy micro-computed tomography. In addition, constitutive relations of the constituent phases were determined via synchrotron-based in-situ high-energy X-ray diffraction and a self-consistent model as well as nanoindentation tests combined with finite element modeling. The results revealed that the stress concentration was translated from the primary α phase to the secondary α phase, then to the β phase. Moreover, the stress generated was re-transferred to the primary α phase when the strain was increased from 0.00 to 0.05. This transfer is indicative of crack initiation in the primary α grains.

Micromechanical simulation of frictional behaviour in metal forming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, S.; Hodgson, P.D.; Cardew-Hall, M.J.; Kalyanasundaram, S.

2000-01-01

Friction is a critical factor for Sheet Metal Forming (SMF). The Coulomb friction model is usually used in most Finite Element (FE) simulation for SMF. However, friction is a function of the local contact deformation conditions, such as local pressure, roughness and relative velocity. This paper will present a micromechanical model that accounts for the local frictional behaviour through finite element simulations performed at the micromechanical level. Frictional behaviour between contact surfaces can be based on three cases: boundary, hydrodynamic and mixed lubrication. In our microscopic friction model based on FEM, the case of boundary lubrication contact between sheet and tool has been considered. In the view of microscopic geometry, roughness depends upon amplitude and wavelength of surface asperities of sheet and tool. The mean pressure applied on the surface differs from the pressure over the actual contact area. The effect of roughness (microscopic geometric condition) and relative speed of contact surfaces on friction coefficient was examined in the FE model for the microscopic friction behaviour. The analysis was performed using an explicit finite element formulation. In this study, it was found that the roughness of deformable sheet decreases during sliding and the coefficient of friction increases with increasing roughness of contact surfaces. The coefficient of friction increases with the increase of relative velocity and adhesive friction coefficient between contact surfaces. (author)

A silicon pixel detector with routing for external VLSI read-out

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, S.L.; Seller, P.

1988-07-01

A silicon pixel detector with an array of 32 by 16 hexagonal pixels has been designed and is being built on high resistivity silicon. The detector elements are reverse biased diodes consisting of p-implants in an n-type substrate and are fully depleted from the front to the back of the wafer. They are intended to measure high energy ionising particles traversing the detector. The detailed design of the pixels, their layout and method of read-out are discussed. A number of test structures have been incorporated onto the wafer to enable measurements to be made on individual pixels together with a variety of active devices. The results will give a better understanding of the operation of the pixel array, and will allow testing of computer simulations of more elaborate structures for the future. (author)

A Two-Microphone Noise Reduction System for Cochlear Implant Users with Nearby Microphones—Part II: Performance Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rudolf Häusler

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Users of cochlear implants (auditory aids, which stimulate the auditory nerve electrically at the inner ear often suffer from poor speech understanding in noise. We evaluate a small (intermicrophone distance 7 mm and computationally inexpensive adaptive noise reduction system suitable for behind-the-ear cochlear implant speech processors. The system is evaluated in simulated and real, anechoic and reverberant environments. Results from simulations show improvements of 3.4 to 9.3 dB in signal to noise ratio for rooms with realistic reverberation and more than 18 dB under anechoic conditions. Speech understanding in noise is measured in 6 adult cochlear implant users in a reverberant room, showing average improvements of 7.9–9.6 dB, when compared to a single omnidirectional microphone or 1.3–5.6 dB, when compared to a simple directional two-microphone device. Subjective evaluation in a cafeteria at lunchtime shows a preference of the cochlear implant users for the evaluated device in terms of speech understanding and sound quality.

Benefits of the Fiber Optic versus the Electret Microphone in Voice Amplification

Science.gov (United States)

Kyriakou, Kyriaki; Fisher, Helene R.

2013-01-01

Background: Voice disorders that result in reduced loudness may cause difficulty in communicating, socializing and participating in occupational activities. Amplification is often recommended in order to facilitate functional communication, reduce vocal load and avoid developing maladaptive compensatory behaviours. The most common microphone used…

Application of the remote microphone method to active noise control in a mobile phone.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheer, Jordan; Elliott, Stephen J; Oh, Eunmi; Jeong, Jonghoon

2018-04-01

Mobile phones are used in a variety of situations where environmental noise may interfere with the ability of the near-end user to communicate with the far-end user. To overcome this problem, it might be possible to use active noise control technology to reduce the noise experienced by the near-end user. This paper initially demonstrates that when an active noise control system is used in a practical mobile phone configuration to minimise the noise measured by an error microphone mounted on the mobile phone, the attenuation achieved at the user's ear depends strongly on the position of the source generating the acoustic interference. To help overcome this problem, a remote microphone processing strategy is investigated that estimates the pressure at the user's ear from the pressure measured by the microphone on the mobile phone. Through an experimental implementation, it is demonstrated that this arrangement achieves a significant improvement in the attenuation measured at the ear of the user, compared to the standard active control strategy. The robustness of the active control system to changes in both the interfering sound field and the position of the mobile device relative to the ear of the user is also investigated experimentally.

Practically Efficient Blind Speech Separation Using Frequency Band Selection Based on Magnitude Squared Coherence and a Small Dodecahedral Microphone Array

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazunobu Kondo

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Small agglomerative microphone array systems have been proposed for use with speech communication and recognition systems. Blind source separation methods based on frequency domain independent component analysis have shown significant separation performance, and the microphone arrays are small enough to make them portable. However, the level of computational complexity involved is very high because the conventional signal collection and processing method uses 60 microphones. In this paper, we propose a band selection method based on magnitude squared coherence. Frequency bands are selected based on the spatial and geometric characteristics of the microphone array device which is strongly related to the dodecahedral shape, and the selected bands are nonuniformly spaced. The estimated reduction in the computational complexity is 90% with a 68% reduction in the number of frequency bands. Separation performance achieved during our experimental evaluation was 7.45 (dB (signal-to-noise ratio and 2.30 (dB (cepstral distortion. These results show improvement in performance compared to the use of uniformly spaced frequency band.

Pulseshape characteristics of a 300 $\\mu$m PR03 R-measuring VELO sensor read out with a Beetle1.3 chip

CERN Document Server

Palacios, A; Buytaert, J; Borel, J; Collins, P; Eckstein, D; Eklund, L; Ferro-Luzzi, M; Jans, E; Ketel, T; Petrie, D; Pivk, M; Tobin, M

2005-01-01

The signal-to-noise, overspill and undershoot characteristics of a VELO module equipped with Beetle1.3 read-out chips have been measured using 120 GeV pions from the SPS test beam facility at CERN. The module consists of a PR03 n-on-n 300 $\\mu$m R measuring prototype sensor and a fully populated K03 hybrid. Results are presented for a single Beetle1.3 chip with a variety of chip parameter settings controlling the pre-amplifier and shaper currents and feedback voltages, with the objective of establishing the performance of the module and understanding its dependence on the read-out chip settings.

High channel count microphone array accurately and precisely localizes ultrasonic signals from freely-moving mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Warren, Megan R; Sangiamo, Daniel T; Neunuebel, Joshua P

2018-03-01

An integral component in the assessment of vocal behavior in groups of freely interacting animals is the ability to determine which animal is producing each vocal signal. This process is facilitated by using microphone arrays with multiple channels. Here, we made important refinements to a state-of-the-art microphone array based system used to localize vocal signals produced by freely interacting laboratory mice. Key changes to the system included increasing the number of microphones as well as refining the methodology for localizing and assigning vocal signals to individual mice. We systematically demonstrate that the improvements in the methodology for localizing mouse vocal signals led to an increase in the number of signals detected as well as the number of signals accurately assigned to an animal. These changes facilitated the acquisition of larger and more comprehensive data sets that better represent the vocal activity within an experiment. Furthermore, this system will allow more thorough analyses of the role that vocal signals play in social communication. We expect that such advances will broaden our understanding of social communication deficits in mouse models of neurological disorders. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Micromechanical models to guide the development of synthetic 'brick and mortar' composites

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Begley, M.R.; Philips, N.R.; Compton, B.G.; Wilbrink, D.V.; Ritchie, R.O.; Utz, M.

2012-01-01

This paper describes a micromechanical analysis of the uniaxial response of composites comprising elastic platelets (bricks) bonded together with thin elastic perfectly plastic layers (mortar). The model yields closed-form results for the spatial variation of displacements in the bricks as a

Development of a Novel Bone Conduction Verification Tool Using a Surface Microphone: Validation With Percutaneous Bone Conduction Users.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodgetts, William; Scott, Dylan; Maas, Patrick; Westover, Lindsey

2018-03-23

To determine if a newly-designed, forehead-mounted surface microphone would yield equivalent estimates of audibility when compared to audibility measured with a skull simulator for adult bone conduction users. Data was analyzed using a within subjects, repeated measures design. There were two different sensors (skull simulator and surface microphone) measuring the same hearing aid programmed to the same settings for all subjects. We were looking for equivalent results. Twenty-one adult percutaneous bone conduction users (12 females and 9 males) were recruited for this study. Mean age was 54.32 years with a standard deviation of 14.51 years. Nineteen of the subjects had conductive/mixed hearing loss and two had single-sided deafness. To define audibility, we needed to establish two things: (1) in situ-level thresholds at each audiometric frequency in force (skull simulator) and in sound pressure level (SPL; surface microphone). Next, we measured the responses of the preprogrammed test device in force on the skull simulator and in SPL on the surface mic in response to pink noise at three input levels: 55, 65, and 75 dB SPL. The skull simulator responses were converted to real head force responses by means of an individual real head to coupler difference transform. Subtracting the real head force level thresholds from the real head force output of the test aid yielded the audibility for each audiometric frequency for the skull simulator. Subtracting the SPL thresholds from the surface microphone from the SPL output of the test aid yielded the audibility for each audiometric frequency for the surface microphone. The surface microphone was removed and retested to establish the test-retest reliability of the tool. We ran a 2 (sensor) × 3 (input level) × 10 (frequency) mixed analysis of variance to determine if there were any significant main effects and interactions. There was a significant three-way interaction, so we proceeded to explore our planned comparisons

Pearlitic ductile cast iron: damaging micromechanisms at crack tip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Iacoviello

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Ductile cast irons (DCIs are characterized by a wide range of mechanical properties, mainly depending on microstructural factors, as matrix microstructure (characterized by phases volume fraction, grains size and grain distribution, graphite nodules (characterized by size, shape, density and distribution and defects presence (e.g., porosity, inclusions, etc.. Versatility and higher performances at lower cost if compared to steels with analogous performances are the main DCIs advantages. In the last years, the role played by graphite nodules was deeply investigated by means of tensile and fatigue tests, performing scanning electron microscope (SEM observations of specimens lateral surfaces during the tests (“in situ” tests and identifying different damaging micromechanisms.In this work, a pearlitic DCIs fatigue resistance is investigated considering both fatigue crack propagation (by means of Compact Type specimens and according to ASTM E399 standard and overload effects, focusing the interaction between the crack and the investigated DCI microstructure (pearlitic matrix and graphite nodules. On the basis of experimental results, and considering loading conditions and damaging micromechanisms, the applicability of ASTM E399 standard on the characterization of fatigue crack propagation resistance in ferritic DCIs is critically analyzed, mainly focusing the stress intensity factor amplitude role.

Micromechanical modelling of fuel viscoplastic behaviour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masson, R.; Blanc, V.; Gatt, J.M.; Julien, J.; Michel, B.; Largenton, R.

2015-01-01

To identify the effect of microstructural parameters on the viscoplastic behaviour of nuclear fuels, micromechanical (also called homogenisation) approaches are used. These approaches aim at deriving effective properties of heterogeneous material from the properties of their constituents. They stand on full-field computations of representative volume elements of microstructures as well as on mean-field semi-analytical models. For light water reactor fuels, these approaches have been applied to the modelling of the effect of two microstructural parameters: the porosity effects on the thermal creep of dioxide uranium fuels (transient conditions of irradiation) as well as the plutonium content effect on the viscoplastic behaviour (nominal conditions of irradiations) of mixed oxide fuels (MOX). (authors)

The effect of different cochlear implant microphones on acoustic hearing individuals’ binaural benefits for speech perception in noise

Science.gov (United States)

Aronoff, Justin M.; Freed, Daniel J.; Fisher, Laurel M.; Pal, Ivan; Soli, Sigfrid D.

2011-01-01

Objectives Cochlear implant microphones differ in placement, frequency response, and other characteristics such as whether they are directional. Although normal hearing individuals are often used as controls in studies examining cochlear implant users’ binaural benefits, the considerable differences across cochlear implant microphones make such comparisons potentially misleading. The goal of this study was to examine binaural benefits for speech perception in noise for normal hearing individuals using stimuli processed by head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) based on the different cochlear implant microphones. Design HRTFs were created for different cochlear implant microphones and used to test participants on the Hearing in Noise Test. Experiment 1 tested cochlear implant users and normal hearing individuals with HRTF-processed stimuli and with sound field testing to determine whether the HRTFs adequately simulated sound field testing. Experiment 2 determined the measurement error and performance-intensity function for the Hearing in Noise Test with normal hearing individuals listening to stimuli processed with the various HRTFs. Experiment 3 compared normal hearing listeners’ performance across HRTFs to determine how the HRTFs affected performance. Experiment 4 evaluated binaural benefits for normal hearing listeners using the various HRTFs, including ones that were modified to investigate the contributions of interaural time and level cues. Results The results indicated that the HRTFs adequately simulated sound field testing for the Hearing in Noise Test. They also demonstrated that the test-retest reliability and performance-intensity function were consistent across HRTFs, and that the measurement error for the test was 1.3 dB, with a change in signal-to-noise ratio of 1 dB reflecting a 10% change in intelligibility. There were significant differences in performance when using the various HRTFs, with particularly good thresholds for the HRTF based on the

Using Micromechanical Resonators to Measure Rheological Properties and Alcohol Content of Model Solutions and Commercial Beverages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bart W. Hoogenboom

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Micromechanic resonators provide a small-volume and potentially high-throughput method to determine rheological properties of fluids. Here we explore the accuracy in measuring mass density and viscosity of ethanol-water and glycerol-water model solutions, using a simple and easily implemented model to deduce the hydrodynamic effects on resonating cantilevers of various length-to-width aspect ratios. We next show that these measurements can be extended to determine the alcohol percentage of both model solutions and commercial beverages such as beer, wine and liquor. This demonstrates how micromechanical resonators can be used for quality control of every-day drinks.

Contact damage and fracture micromechanisms of multilayered TiN/CrN coatings at micro- and nano-length scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roa, J.J.; Jiménez-Piqué, E.; Martínez, R.; Ramírez, G.; Tarragó, J.M.

2014-01-01

In this study, systematic nanomechanical and micromechanical studies have been conducted in three multilayer TiN/CrN systems with different bilayer periods (8, 19 and 25 nm). Additionally, experimental work has been performed on corresponding TiN and CrN single layers, for comparison purposes. The investigation includes the use of different indenter tip geometries as well as contact loading conditions (i.e. indentation/scratch) such to induce different stress field and damage scenarios within the films. The surface and subsurface damage under the different indentation imprints and scratch tracks have been observed by atomic force microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and focused ion beam. Multilayer TiN/CrN coated systems are found to exhibit higher adhesion strength (under sliding contact load) and cracking resistance (under spherical indentation) than those coated with reference TiN and CrN monolayers. The main reason behind these findings is the effective development of microstructurally-driven deformation and cracking resistant micromechanisms: rotation of columnar grains (and associated distortion of bilayer period) and crack deflection of interlayer thickness length scale, respectively. - Highlights: • Nanomechanical and micromechanical study in TiN/CrN systems • TiN/CrN coated systems exhibit higher adhesion strength and cracking resistance. • Main deformation and cracking micromechanisms: columnar grain rotation and crack deflection

Contact damage and fracture micromechanisms of multilayered TiN/CrN coatings at micro- and nano-length scales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roa, J.J., E-mail: joan.josep.roa@upc.edu [CIEFMA — Departament de Ciència dels Materials i Eng. Metallúrgica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); CRnE, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, C. Pasqual i Vila 15, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Jiménez-Piqué, E. [CIEFMA — Departament de Ciència dels Materials i Eng. Metallúrgica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); CRnE, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, C. Pasqual i Vila 15, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Martínez, R. [Centro de Ingeniería Avanzada de Superfícies, Asociación de la Industria Navarra — AIN, Crta. Pamplona, 1, Edificio AIN, 31191 Cordovilla (Spain); Ramírez, G. [CIEFMA — Departament de Ciència dels Materials i Eng. Metallúrgica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Fundació CTM Centre Tecnològic, Avda. Bases de Manresa 1, 08243 Manresa (Spain); Tarragó, J.M. [CIEFMA — Departament de Ciència dels Materials i Eng. Metallúrgica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); CRnE, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, C. Pasqual i Vila 15, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); and others

2014-11-28

In this study, systematic nanomechanical and micromechanical studies have been conducted in three multilayer TiN/CrN systems with different bilayer periods (8, 19 and 25 nm). Additionally, experimental work has been performed on corresponding TiN and CrN single layers, for comparison purposes. The investigation includes the use of different indenter tip geometries as well as contact loading conditions (i.e. indentation/scratch) such to induce different stress field and damage scenarios within the films. The surface and subsurface damage under the different indentation imprints and scratch tracks have been observed by atomic force microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and focused ion beam. Multilayer TiN/CrN coated systems are found to exhibit higher adhesion strength (under sliding contact load) and cracking resistance (under spherical indentation) than those coated with reference TiN and CrN monolayers. The main reason behind these findings is the effective development of microstructurally-driven deformation and cracking resistant micromechanisms: rotation of columnar grains (and associated distortion of bilayer period) and crack deflection of interlayer thickness length scale, respectively. - Highlights: • Nanomechanical and micromechanical study in TiN/CrN systems • TiN/CrN coated systems exhibit higher adhesion strength and cracking resistance. • Main deformation and cracking micromechanisms: columnar grain rotation and crack deflection.

Micromechanical definition of an entropy for quasi-static deformation of granular materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rothenburg, L.; Kruyt, Nicolaas P.

2009-01-01

A micromechanical theory is formulated for quasi-static deformation of granular materials, which is based on information theory. A reasoning is presented that leads to the definition of an information entropy that is appropriate for quasi-static deformation of granular materials. This definition is

Evolution of the ReadOut System of the ATLAS experiment

CERN Document Server

Borga, A; The ATLAS collaboration; Joos, M; Schumacher, J; Tremblet, L; Vandelli, W; Vermeulen, J; Werner, P; Wickens, F

2014-01-01

The ReadOut System (ROS) is a central and essential part of the ATLAS data-acquisition system. It receives and buffers event data accepted from all sub-detectors and first-level trigger subsystems. Event data are subsequently forwarded to the High-Level Trigger system and Event Builder via a GbE-based network. The ATLAS ROS will be completely renewed in view of the demanding conditions expected during LHC Run 2 and Run 3. The new ROS will consist of roughly 100 Linux-based 2U-high rack-mounted server PCs, each equipped with 2 PCIe I/O cards and four 10GbE interfaces. The FPGA-based PCIe I/O cards, developed by the ALICE collaboration, will be configured with ATLAS-specific firmware, called RobinNP. They will provide connectivity to about 2000 point-to-point optical links conveying the ATLAS event data. This dense configuration provides an excellent test bench for studying I/O efficiency and challenges in current COTS PC architectures with non-uniform memory and I/O access paths. In this paper the requirements...

Evolution of the ReadOut System of the ATLAS experiment

CERN Document Server

Borga, A; The ATLAS collaboration; Green, B; Kugel, A; Joos, M; Panduro Vazquez, W; Schumacher, J; Teixeira-Dias, P; Tremblet, L; Vandelli, W; Vermeulen, J; Werner, P; Wickens, F

2014-01-01

The ReadOut System (ROS) is a central and essential part of the ATLAS DAQ system. It receives and buffers data of events accepted by the first-level trigger from all subdetectors and first-level trigger subsystems. Event data are subsequently forwarded to the High-Level Trigger system and Event Builder via a 1 GbE-based network. The ATLAS ROS is completely renewed in view of the demanding conditions expected during LHC Run 2 and Run 3, to replace obsolete technologies and space constraints require it to be compact. The new ROS will consist of roughly 100 Linux-based 2U high rack mounted server PCs, each equipped with 2 PCIe I/O cards and two four 10 GbE interfaces. The FPGA-based PCIe I/O cards, developed by the ALICE collaboration, will be configured with ATLAS-specific firmware, the so-called RobinNP firmware. They will provide the connectivity to about 2000 optical point-to-point links conveying the ATLAS event data. This dense configuration provides an excellent test bench for studying I/O efficiency and ...

Prototyping the read-out chain of the CBM Microvertex Detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klaus, P.; Wiebusch, M.; Amar-Youcef, S.; Deveaux, M.; Koziel, M.; Michel, J.; Milanovic, B.; Müntz, C.; Tischler, T.; Stroth, J.

2016-01-01

The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) Experiment at the future FAIR (Darmstadt/Germany) will study the phase diagram of hadronic matter in the regime of highest net-baryon densities. The fixed target experiment will explore the nuclear fireballs created in violent heavy ion reactions with a rich number of probes. To reconstruct the decay topologies of open-charm particles as well as to track low-momentum particles, an ultra-light and precise Microvertex Detector (MVD) is required. The necessary performance in terms of spatial resolution, material budget and rate capability will be reached by equipping the MVD with highly granular, radiation-hard CMOS Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (CPS) developped at IPHC Strasbourg, which are operated in the target vacuum of the experiment. This contribution introduces the concept of the MVD and puts a focus on the latest results obtained from the R and D of the electronics and read-out chain of the device. Moreover, we briefly introduce the PRESTO project, which realises a prototype of a full size quadrant of an MVD detector station

Analysis of cement-treated clay behavior by micromechanical approach

OpenAIRE

Zhang , Dong-Mei; Yin , Zhenyu; Hicher , Pierre Yves; Huang , Hong-Wei

2013-01-01

International audience; Experimental results show the significant influence of cement content on the mechanical properties of cement-treated clays. Cementation is produced by mixing a certain amount of cement with the saturated clay. The purpose of this paper is to model the cementation effect on the mechanical behavior of cement-treated clay. A micromechanical stress-strain model is developed considering explicitly the cementation at inter-cluster contacts. The inter-cluster bonding and debo...

On the influence of microphone array geometry on HRTF-based Sound Source Localization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Farmani, Mojtaba; Pedersen, Michael Syskind; Tan, Zheng-Hua

2015-01-01

The direction dependence of Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) forms the basis for HRTF-based Sound Source Localization (SSL) algorithms. In this paper, we show how spectral similarities of the HRTFs of different directions in the horizontal plane influence performance of HRTF-based SSL...... algorithms; the more similar the HRTFs of different angles to the HRTF of the target angle, the worse the performance. However, we also show how the microphone array geometry can assist in differentiating between the HRTFs of the different angles, thereby improving performance of HRTF-based SSL algorithms....... Furthermore, to demonstrate the analysis results, we show the impact of HRTFs similarities and microphone array geometry on an exemplary HRTF-based SSL algorithm, called MLSSL. This algorithm is well-suited for this purpose as it allows to estimate the Direction-of-Arrival (DoA) of the target sound using any...

Influence of ceramic thickness and type on micromechanical properties of light-cured adhesive bonding agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Öztürk, Elif; Bolay, Sükran; Hickel, Reinhard; Ilie, Nicoleta

2014-10-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the micromechanical properties of different adhesive bonding agents when polymerized through ceramics. Sixty sound extracted human third molars were selected and the crowns were sectioned perpendicular to the long axis in order to obtain dentin slices to be bonded with one of the following adhesives: Syntac/Heliobond (Ivoclar-Vivadent) or Adper-Scotchbond-1XT (3M-ESPE). The adhesives were cured by using a LED-unit (Bluephase®, Ivoclar Vivadent) with three different curing times (10 s, 20 s and 30 s) under two ceramics (IPS-e.max-Press, Ivoclar-Vivadent; IPS-Empress®CAD, Ivoclar-Vivadent) of different thicknesses (0 mm, 0.75 mm, 2 mm). Thirty groups were included, each containing 60 measurements. Micromechanical properties (Hardness, HV; indentation modulus, E; and creep, Cr) of the adhesives were measured with an automatic microhardness indenter (Fisherscope H100C, Germany). Data were statistically analyzed by using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post-hoc test, as well as a multivariate analysis to test the influence of the study parameters (SPSS 18.0). Significant differences were observed between the micromechanical properties of the adhesives (p ceramic type showed the highest effect on HV (Partial-eta squared (η(2)) = 0.109) of the tested adhesives, while E (η(2) = 0.275) and Cr (η(2) = 0.194) were stronger influenced by the adhesive type. Ceramic thickness showed no effect on the E and Cr of the adhesives. The adhesive bonding agents used in this study performed well by curing through different thicknesses of ceramics. The micromechanical properties of the adhesives were determined by the adhesive type and were less influenced by ceramic type and curing time.

Metacognitive Reading Strategies, Motivation, and Reading Comprehension Performance of Saudi EFL Students

Science.gov (United States)

Meniado, Joel C.

2016-01-01

Metacognitive reading strategies and reading motivation play a significant role in enhancing reading comprehension. In an attempt to prove the foregoing claim in a context where there is no strong culture for reading, this study tries to find out if there is indeed a relationship between and among metacognitive reading strategies, reading…

3D multiscale micromechanical model of wood: From annual rings to microfibrils

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Qing, Hai; Mishnaevsky, Leon

2010-01-01

A 3D micromechanical analytical-computational model of softwood, which takes into account the wood microstructures at four scale levels, from microfibrils to annual rings, is developed. For the analysis of the effect of the annual rings structure on the properties of softwood, an improved rule-of...

Comparison of Computational and Experimental Microphone Array Results for an 18%-Scale Aircraft Model

Science.gov (United States)

Lockard, David P.; Humphreys, William M.; Khorrami, Mehdi R.; Fares, Ehab; Casalino, Damiano; Ravetta, Patricio A.

2015-01-01

An 18%-scale, semi-span model is used as a platform for examining the efficacy of microphone array processing using synthetic data from numerical simulations. Two hybrid RANS/LES codes coupled with Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings solvers are used to calculate 97 microphone signals at the locations of an array employed in the NASA LaRC 14x22 tunnel. Conventional, DAMAS, and CLEAN-SC array processing is applied in an identical fashion to the experimental and computational results for three different configurations involving deploying and retracting the main landing gear and a part span flap. Despite the short time records of the numerical signals, the beamform maps are able to isolate the noise sources, and the appearance of the DAMAS synthetic array maps is generally better than those from the experimental data. The experimental CLEAN-SC maps are similar in quality to those from the simulations indicating that CLEAN-SC may have less sensitivity to background noise. The spectrum obtained from DAMAS processing of synthetic array data is nearly identical to the spectrum of the center microphone of the array, indicating that for this problem array processing of synthetic data does not improve spectral comparisons with experiment. However, the beamform maps do provide an additional means of comparison that can reveal differences that cannot be ascertained from spectra alone.

Micromechanics and constitutive modeling of connective soft tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Fallah, A; Ahmadian, M T; Firozbakhsh, K; Aghdam, M M

2016-07-01

In this paper, a micromechanical model for connective soft tissues based on the available histological evidences is developed. The proposed model constituents i.e. collagen fibers and ground matrix are considered as hyperelastic materials. The matrix material is assumed to be isotropic Neo-Hookean while the collagen fibers are considered to be transversely isotropic hyperelastic. In order to take into account the effects of tissue structure in lower scales on the macroscopic behavior of tissue, a strain energy density function (SEDF) is developed for collagen fibers based on tissue hierarchical structure. Macroscopic response and properties of tissue are obtained using the numerical homogenization method with the help of ABAQUS software. The periodic boundary conditions and the proposed constitutive models are implemented into ABAQUS using the DISP and the UMAT subroutines, respectively. The existence of the solution and stable material behavior of proposed constitutive model for collagen fibers are investigated based on the poly-convexity condition. Results of the presented micromechanics model for connective tissues are compared and validated with available experimental data. Effects of geometrical and material parameters variation at microscale on macroscopic mechanical behavior of tissues are investigated. The results show that decrease in collagen content of the connective tissues like the tendon due to diseases leads 20% more stretch than healthy tissue under the same load which can results in connective tissue malfunction and hypermobility in joints. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fatigue crack tip damaging micromechanisms in a ferritic-pearlitic ductile cast iron

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Iacoviello

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Due to the peculiar graphite elements shape, obtained by means of a chemical composition control (mainly small addition of elements like Mg, Ca or Ce, Ductile Cast Irons (DCIs are able to offer the good castability of gray irons with the high mechanical properties of irons (first of all, toughness. This interesting properties combination can be improved both by means of the chemical composition control and by means of different heat treatments(e.g. annealing, normalizing, quenching, austempering etc. In this work, fatigue crack tip damaging micromechanisms in a ferritic-pearlitic DCI were investigated by means of scanning electron microscope observations performed on a lateral surface of Compact Type (CT specimens during the fatigue crack propagation test (step by step procedure, performed according to the “load shedding procedure”. On the basis of the experimental results, different fatigue damaging micromechanisms were identified, both in the graphite nodules and in the ferritic – pearlitic matrix.

Reducing support loss in micromechanical ring resonators using phononic band-gap structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hsu, Feng-Chia; Huang, Tsun-Che; Wang, Chin-Hung; Chang, Pin [Industrial Technology Research Institute-South, Tainan 709, Taiwan (China); Hsu, Jin-Chen, E-mail: fengchiahsu@itri.org.t, E-mail: hsujc@yuntech.edu.t [Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Douliou, Yunlin 64002, Taiwan (China)

2011-09-21

In micromechanical resonators, energy loss via supports into the substrates may lead to a low quality factor. To eliminate the support loss, in this paper a phononic band-gap structure is employed. We demonstrate a design of phononic-crystal (PC) strips used to support extensional wine-glass mode ring resonators to increase the quality factor. The PC strips are introduced to stop elastic-wave propagation by the band-gap and deaf-band effects. Analyses of resonant characteristics of the ring resonators and the dispersion relations, eigenmodes, and transmission properties of the PC strips are presented. With the proposed resonator architecture, the finite-element simulations show that the leaky power is effectively reduced and the stored energy inside the resonators is enhanced simultaneously as the operating frequencies of the resonators are within the band gap or deaf bands. Realization of a high quality factor micromechanical ring resonator with minimized support loss is expected.

Reducing support loss in micromechanical ring resonators using phononic band-gap structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, Feng-Chia; Huang, Tsun-Che; Wang, Chin-Hung; Chang, Pin; Hsu, Jin-Chen

2011-01-01

In micromechanical resonators, energy loss via supports into the substrates may lead to a low quality factor. To eliminate the support loss, in this paper a phononic band-gap structure is employed. We demonstrate a design of phononic-crystal (PC) strips used to support extensional wine-glass mode ring resonators to increase the quality factor. The PC strips are introduced to stop elastic-wave propagation by the band-gap and deaf-band effects. Analyses of resonant characteristics of the ring resonators and the dispersion relations, eigenmodes, and transmission properties of the PC strips are presented. With the proposed resonator architecture, the finite-element simulations show that the leaky power is effectively reduced and the stored energy inside the resonators is enhanced simultaneously as the operating frequencies of the resonators are within the band gap or deaf bands. Realization of a high quality factor micromechanical ring resonator with minimized support loss is expected.

Paper-based electrochemical sensing platform with integral battery and electrochromic read-out.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hong; Crooks, Richard M

2012-03-06

We report a battery-powered, microelectrochemical sensing platform that reports its output using an electrochromic display. The platform is fabricated based on paper fluidics and uses a Prussian blue spot electrodeposited on an indium-doped tin oxide thin film as the electrochromic indicator. The integrated metal/air battery powers both the electrochemical sensor and the electrochromic read-out, which are in electrical contact via a paper reservoir. The sample activates the battery and the presence of analyte in the sample initiates the color change of the Prussian blue spot. The entire system is assembled on the lab bench, without the need for cleanroom facilities. The applicability of the device to point-of-care sensing is demonstrated by qualitative detection of 0.1 mM glucose and H(2)O(2) in artificial urine samples.

Micromechanics based simulation of ductile fracture in structural steels

Science.gov (United States)

Yellavajjala, Ravi Kiran

The broader aim of this research is to develop fundamental understanding of ductile fracture process in structural steels, propose robust computational models to quantify the associated damage, and provide numerical tools to simplify the implementation of these computational models into general finite element framework. Mechanical testing on different geometries of test specimens made of ASTM A992 steels is conducted to experimentally characterize the ductile fracture at different stress states under monotonic and ultra-low cycle fatigue (ULCF) loading. Scanning electron microscopy studies of the fractured surfaces is conducted to decipher the underlying microscopic damage mechanisms that cause fracture in ASTM A992 steels. Detailed micromechanical analyses for monotonic and cyclic loading are conducted to understand the influence of stress triaxiality and Lode parameter on the void growth phase of ductile fracture. Based on monotonic analyses, an uncoupled micromechanical void growth model is proposed to predict ductile fracture. This model is then incorporated in to finite element program as a weakly coupled model to simulate the loss of load carrying capacity in the post microvoid coalescence regime for high triaxialities. Based on the cyclic analyses, an uncoupled micromechanics based cyclic void growth model is developed to predict the ULCF life of ASTM A992 steels subjected to high stress triaxialities. Furthermore, a computational fracture locus for ASTM A992 steels is developed and incorporated in to finite element program as an uncoupled ductile fracture model. This model can be used to predict the ductile fracture initiation under monotonic loading in a wide range of triaxiality and Lode parameters. Finally, a coupled microvoid elongation and dilation based continuum damage model is proposed, implemented, calibrated and validated. This model is capable of simulating the local softening caused by the various phases of ductile fracture process under

Experiment feedbacks in micromechanics modeling of thermomechanical behaviour of SMA polycrystals

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Šittner, Petr; Novák, Václav

2004-01-01

Roč. 51, - (2004), s. 321-326 ISSN 1359-6462 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA1048107; GA ČR GA202/04/2016 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1010914 Keywords : shape memory alloys (SMA) * martensitic phase transformation * micromechanical modeling * neutron diffraction Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 2.112, year: 2004

Bit-rate reduction strategies for noise suppression with a remote wireless microphone

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cvijanovic, N.; Sadiq, O.; Srinivasan, S.

2012-01-01

In single channel non-stationary noise reduction it is paramount that a good noise reference is available in a timely manner to maintaina high quality speech signal. Using a remote wireless microphone placed close to a noise source, a good estimate of the noise power spectral density (PSD) can be

Bit rate reduction strategies for noise suppression using a remote wireless microphone

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cvijanovic, N.; Sadiq, O.; Srinivasan, S.

2012-01-01

In single-channel non-stationary noise reduction it is paramount that a good noise reference is available in a timely manner to maintain a high quality speech signal. Using a remote wireless microphone placed close to a noise source, a good estimate of the noise power spectral density (PSD) can be

FPGA-based upgrade of the read-out electronics for the low energy polarimeter at the cooler synchrotron

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hempelmann, Nils [Institut fuer Kernphysik, Forschungszentrum Juelich (Germany); Collaboration: JEDI-Collaboration

2015-07-01

The Cooler Synchrotron (COSY) is a storage ring used for experiments with polarized proton and deuteron beams. The low energy polarimeter is used to determine the vector and tensor polarization of the beam before injection at kinetic energies up to 45 MeV for protons and 75 MeV for deuterons. The polarimeter uses scintillators to measure the energy of both outgoing particles of a scattering reaction and the time between their detection. The present read-out electronics consists of analog NIM modules and is limited in terms of time resolution and the capability for online data analysis. The read-out electronics will be replaced with a a new system based on analog pulse sampling and an FPGA chip for logic operations. The new system will be able to measure the time at which particles arrive to a precision better than 50 ps, facilitating better background reduction using coincidence measurement. In addition to measuring the beam polarization, the system will be used to precisely determine the vector and tensor analyzing powers for deuteron scattering off carbon at a kinetic energy of 75 MeV.

High frequency microphone measurements for transition detection on airfoils. NACA-0015 appendix report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Døssing, Mads

Time series of pressure fluctuations has been obtained using high frequency microphones distributed over the surface of airfoils undergoing wind tunnel tests in the LM Windtunnel, owned by ’LM Glasfiber’, Denmark. The present report describes the dataanalysis, with special attention given to tran...

Micromechanical characteristics of an Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/-TiNi ceramic produced in a high-pressure chamber

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barashkov, G.A.; Neshpor, V.S.; Berdikov, V.F.; Pushkarev, O.I.; Lavrenova, E. A.

1987-03-01

The micromechanical characteristics of an Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/-TiNi ceramic produced in high-pressure chambers under conditions of forced mass transfer are investigated experimentally using the microindentation method. The objective of the study is to use micromechanical characteristics to determine the time required for producing an Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/-TiNi ceramic with a fully formed structure. It is found that the process of forced mass transfer and crystallization is completed within 60-120 s.

Light Dependent Resistance as a Sensor in Spectroscopy Setups Using Pulsed Light and Compared with Electret Microphones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Acosta-Avalos

2006-05-01

Full Text Available Light-dependent resistances (LDR are cheap light sensors. A less known lightdetector is the electret microphone, whose electret membrane functions as a perfectabsorber, but only detects pulsed light. The aim of this study was to analyze the use of aLDR and an electret microphone as a light sensor in an optical spectroscopy system usingpulsed light. A photoacoustic spectroscopy setup was used, substituting the photoacousticchamber by the light sensor proposed. The absorption spectra of two different liquids wereanalyzed. The results obtained allow the recommendation of the LDR as the first choice inthe construction of cheap homemade pulsed light spectroscopy systems.

Micromechanical analysis of porous SMA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sepe, V; Marfia, S; Sacco, E; Auricchio, F

2015-01-01

The present paper deals with computational micromechanical analyses of porous shape memory alloy (SMA). Porous SMAs are considered composite materials made of a dense SMA matrix including voids. A three-dimensional constitutive law is presented for the dense SMA able to reproduce the pseudo-elastic as well as the shape memory effects and, moreover, to account for the different elastic properties of the austenite and martensite phases. Furthermore, a numerical procedure is developed and the overall behavior of the porous SMA is recovered studying a representative volume element. Comparisons between the numerical results, recovered using the proposed modeling, and experimental data available in the literature are presented. The case of closed and open porosity is investigated. Parametric studies have been conducted in order to investigate the influence of the porosity, the shape and orientation of the pores on the overall mechanical response and, mainly, on the energy absorption dissipation capability. (paper)

PDC: A wire chamber cathode read-out on 6-bit fast ADC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Giorgi, M; Gasparini, F; Meneguzzo, A T; Pitacco, G [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Padua (Italy); Padua Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Fisica)

1984-06-01

A read-out for MWPC and drift chamber is presented in which the coordinate along the sense wires is obtained by measuring the centre of gravity (CoG) of the charge induced on cathode strips or pads. The peak value of the signals coming from subsets of 8-pad cathodes are recorded by a parallel sample and hold, strobed by their own OR, and then serially digitized by one 6-bit fast ADC (FADC). The basic module of the system is a peak detector and converter (PDC) built in CAMAC cards, which could be an interesting approach to the analog signal acquisition of large particle detectors. The system has been designed to equip the central detector in an experiment at the CERN LEAR facility. A prototype of a card will be described and the results of some tests will be presented.

Sensitization of glycine (spectrophotometric read-out) dosimetric system using sorbitol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinde, S.H.; Mukherjee, T.

2009-01-01

Glycine spectrophotometric read-out systems have a useful dose range of 15-4000 Gy. An attempt was made to sensitize it using sorbitol as a sensitizer. Optimum compositions of aqueous acidic solutions of ferrous ammonium sulphate-xylenol orange (XO), i.e. FX and sorbitol-ferrous ammonium sulphate-xylenol orange, i.e. SFX, for 400 mg of glycine, which gives maximum dosimetric response for any given dose, were established. Molar absorption coefficient values of ferric-XO-glycine complex, i.e. ε-values, were determined for glycine system in FX and SFX. These values were found to be 8410 and 15,000 m 2 mol -1 respectively, indicating that an enhancement or sensitivity factor of about 1.78 can be achieved by sorbitol for glycine in SFX. This factor was further confirmed by measuring the gamma dose response of glycine in FX and in SFX for four different doses, viz. 37.8, 75.5, 151 and 302 Gy. It was observed that dose response of glycine in SFX is about 77% more than that of glycine in FX. The maximum variation observed in response of glycine in FX or SFX was found to be within ±1.5%.

STUDENTS’ READING PRACTICES AND ENVIRONMENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aiza Johari

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract: The challenges of reading are indeed apparent in most teaching and learning processes in ESL classrooms. As a result, this study is conducted to resolve the issues of students who seem to find reading to be unbearable. Many of them have limited ability to read well and hence, possess insufficient reading habits to become competent readers, particularly out-of-school context. Besides, poor home literacy environments also contribute to their shortcomings in reading. The main objectives of this study are to identify the students’ reasons for reading as well as to find out their home reading environments (reading backgrounds and habits; reading attitudes and motivation; reading exposure and supports. To identify these, questionnaires were distributed to 120 secondary school students (Form 4: 16 years old from one of the urban schools in Sarawak, Malaysia. The findings indicate that the students read to gain information and knowledge though many chose reading as a hobby as their last choice in explaining their motives of reading. Besides, they preferred non-academic reading materials, mainly lighter forms reading materials such as comics, story books and magazines. Though the students acknowledged the importance of reading in their daily lives, their average reading habits, attitude, motivation, exposure and support within the home domain had suggested otherwise. They mainly read for instrumental purposes while reading for pleasure seemed not to be given priority. Besides, the respondents acknowledge that their parents and themselves did not read much at home. As an implication, it is vital for students to improve their reading perceptions, abilities and practices to achieve personal, societal and national progress. On a final note, parents’ early and continuous efforts to be involved in their children’s literacy events in an out-of-school context are believed to be vital to inculcate positive reading environments, habits and culture

Transistor amplifier as an electrochemical transducer with intuitive optical read-out: Improving its performance with simple electronic solutions

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Lacina, K.; Žák, J.; Sopoušek, J.; Szabó, Z.; Václavek, Tomáš; Žeravík, J.; Fiala, P.; Skládal, P.

2016-01-01

Roč. 216, OCT (2016), s. 147-151 ISSN 0013-4686 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-09086S; GA ČR(CZ) GBP206/12/G014 Institutional support: RVO:68081715 Keywords : electrochemical transducer transistor * operational amplifier * optical read-out * ( bio )sensing Subject RIV: CB - Analytical Chemistry, Separation Impact factor: 4.798, year: 2016

Transistor amplifier as an electrochemical transducer with intuitive optical read-out: Improving its performance with simple electronic solutions

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Lacina, K.; Žák, J.; Sopoušek, J.; Szabó, Z.; Václavek, Tomáš; Žeravík, J.; Fiala, P.; Skládal, P.

2016-01-01

Roč. 216, OCT (2016), s. 147-151 ISSN 0013-4686 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-09086S; GA ČR(CZ) GBP206/12/G014 Institutional support: RVO:68081715 Keywords : electrochemical transducer transistor * operational amplifier * optical read-out * (bio)sensing Subject RIV: CB - Analytical Chemistry, Separation Impact factor: 4.798, year: 2016

Final report on COOMET.AUV.A-S1: Technical report on supplementary comparison 'Comparison of national standards of the sound pressure unit in air through calibration of working reference microphones'

Science.gov (United States)

Pozdeeva, Valentina; Chalyy, Vladimir

2014-01-01

The supplementary comparison COOMET.AUV.A-S1 for secondary calibration methods using WS1 and WS2 measurement microphones was carried out from 2009 to 2010. The results were submitted to and approved by CCAUV in April 2014. Four National Metrology Institutes took part in this comparison and are as follows: BelGIM (Belarus), VNIIFTRI (Russia), SMU (Slovakia) and DP NDI 'Sistema' (Ukraine). Three of the above NMIs (VNIIFTRI, SMU and DP NDI 'Sistema') had earlier participated in COOMET key comparisons and one NMI (VNIIFTRI) had also participated in CCAUV key comparisons. The Comparison Reference Values were calculated as the weighted mean values from results obtained by three institutes. The comparison results show agreement for all participants in the frequency range from 20 Hz to 12.5 kHz for WS1 microphones, and in the frequency range from 20 Hz to 16 kHz for WS2 microphones. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCAUV, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

Reading Disabilities and PASS Reading Enhancement Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Mahapatra, Shamita

2016-01-01

Children experience difficulties in reading either because they fail to decode the words and thus are unable to comprehend the text or simply fail to comprehend the text even if they are able to decode the words and read them out. Failure in word decoding results from a failure in phonological coding of written information, whereas reading…

Reconstruction of sound fields with a spherical microphone array

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fernandez Grande, Efren; Walton, Tim

2014-01-01

waves traveling in any direction. In particular, rigid sphere microphone arrays are robust, and have the favorable property that the scattering introduced by the array can be compensated for - making the array virtually transparent. This study examines a recently proposed sound field reconstruction...... method based on a point source expansion, i.e. equivalent source method, using a rigid spherical array. The study examines the capability of the method to distinguish between sound waves arriving from different directions (i.e., as a sound field separation method). This is representative of the potential...

A Multifunction Low-Power Preamplifier for MEMS Capacitive Microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jawed, Syed Arsalan; Nielsen, Jannik Hammel; Gottardi, Massimo

2009-01-01

A multi-function two-stage chopper-stabilized preamplifier (PAMP) for MEMS capacitive microphones (MCM) is presented. The PAMP integrates digitally controllable gain, high-pass filtering and offset control, adding flexibility to the front-end readout of MCMs. The first stage of the PAMP consists...... of a source-follower (SF) while the second-stage is a capacitive gain stage. The second-stage employs chopper-stabilization (CHS), while SF buffer shields the MCM sensor from the switching spurs. The PAMP uses M poly bias resistors for the second-stage, exploiting Miller effect to achieve flat audio...

Microphonics detuning compensation in 3.9 GHZ superconducting RF cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruben Carcagno

2003-01-01

Mechanical vibrations can detune superconducting radio frequency (SCRF) cavities unless a tuning mechanism counteracting the vibrations is present. Due to their narrow operating bandwidth and demanding mechanical structure, the 13-cell 3.9GHz SCRF cavities for the Charged Kaons at Main Injector (CKM) experiment at Fermilab are especially susceptible to this microphonic phenomena. We present early results correlating RF frequency detuning with cavity vibration measurements for CKM cavities; initial detuning compensation results with piezoelectric actuators are also presented

Microphonics detuning compensation in 3.9 GHZ superconducting RF cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruben Carcagno et al.

2003-10-20

Mechanical vibrations can detune superconducting radio frequency (SCRF) cavities unless a tuning mechanism counteracting the vibrations is present. Due to their narrow operating bandwidth and demanding mechanical structure, the 13-cell 3.9GHz SCRF cavities for the Charged Kaons at Main Injector (CKM) experiment at Fermilab are especially susceptible to this microphonic phenomena. We present early results correlating RF frequency detuning with cavity vibration measurements for CKM cavities; initial detuning compensation results with piezoelectric actuators are also presented.

Interface for Barge-in Free Spoken Dialogue System Based on Sound Field Reproduction and Microphone Array

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hinamoto Yoichi

2007-01-01

Full Text Available A barge-in free spoken dialogue interface using sound field control and microphone array is proposed. In the conventional spoken dialogue system using an acoustic echo canceller, it is indispensable to estimate a room transfer function, especially when the transfer function is changed by various interferences. However, the estimation is difficult when the user and the system speak simultaneously. To resolve the problem, we propose a sound field control technique to prevent the response sound from being observed. Combined with a microphone array, the proposed method can achieve high elimination performance with no adaptive process. The efficacy of the proposed interface is ascertained in the experiments on the basis of sound elimination and speech recognition.

Contrast image formation based on thermodynamic approach and surface laser oxidation process for optoelectronic read-out system

Science.gov (United States)

Scherbak, Aleksandr; Yulmetova, Olga

2018-05-01

A pulsed fiber laser with the wavelength 1.06 μm was used to treat titanium nitride film deposited on beryllium substrates in the air with intensities below an ablation threshold to provide oxide formation. Laser oxidation results were predicted by the chemical thermodynamic method and confirmed by experimental techniques (X-ray diffraction). The developed technology of contrast image formation is intended to be used for optoelectronic read-out system.

Patch holography using a double layer microphone array

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gomes, Jesper Skovhus

a closed local element mesh that surrounds the microphone array, and with a part of the mesh coinciding with a patch, the entire source is not needed in the model. Since the array has two layers, sources/reflections behind the array are also allowed. The Equivalent Source Method (ESM) is another technique...... in which the sound field is represented by a set of monopoles placed inside the source. In this paper these monopoles are distributed so that they surround the array, and the reconstruction is compared with the IBEM-based approach. The comparisons are based on computer simulations with a planar double...... layer array and sources with different shapes....

Don't Throw out Paper and Pens Yet: On the Reading Habits of Students

Science.gov (United States)

Davidovitch, Nitza; Yavich, Roman; Druckman, Eran

2016-01-01

This paper focuses on students' reading habits--whether traditional reading habits (print books) or modern reading habits (using a computer screen). We review the changes in students' reading habits over time, as part of other global changes, and explore whether corresponding digital pedagogies have evolved to address these changes. We examine…

Fiber Temperature Sensor Based on Micro-mechanical Membranes and Optical Interference Structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yueming; Tian Weijian; Hua Jing

2011-01-01

A novel fiber temperature sensor is presented theoretically and experimentally in this paper. Its working principle is based on Optical Fabry-Perot interference structure that is formed between a polished optical fiber end and micro-mechanical Bi-layered membranes. When ambient temperature is varying, Bi-layered membranes will be deflected and the length of Fabry-Perot cavity will be changed correspondingly. By detecting the reflecting optical intensity from the Fabry-Perot cavity, the ambient temperature can be measured. Using finite element software ANSYS, the sensor structure was optimized based on optical Interference theory and Bi-layered membranes thermal expansion theory, and theoretical characteristics was simulated by computer software. In the end, using optical fiber 2x2 coupler and photo-electrical detector, the fabricated sample sensor was tested successfully by experiment that demonstrating above theoretical analysis and simulation results. This sensor has some favorable features, such as: micro size owing to its micro-mechanical structure, high sensitivity owing to its working Fabry-Perot interference cavity structure, and optical integration character by using optical fiber techniques.

Analysis of Fiber Clustering in Composite Materials Using High-Fidelity Multiscale Micromechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Bednarcyk, Brett A.; Aboudi, Jacob; Arnold, Steven M.

2015-01-01

A new multiscale micromechanical approach is developed for the prediction of the behavior of fiber reinforced composites in presence of fiber clustering. The developed method is based on a coupled two-scale implementation of the High-Fidelity Generalized Method of Cells theory, wherein both the local and global scales are represented using this micromechanical method. Concentration tensors and effective constitutive equations are established on both scales and linked to establish the required coupling, thus providing the local fields throughout the composite as well as the global properties and effective nonlinear response. Two nondimensional parameters, in conjunction with actual composite micrographs, are used to characterize the clustering of fibers in the composite. Based on the predicted local fields, initial yield and damage envelopes are generated for various clustering parameters for a polymer matrix composite with both carbon and glass fibers. Nonlinear epoxy matrix behavior is also considered, with results in the form of effective nonlinear response curves, with varying fiber clustering and for two sets of nonlinear matrix parameters.

SU-8 Cantilevers for Bio/chemical Sensing; Fabrication, Characterisation and Development of Novel Read-out Methods

OpenAIRE

Anja Boisen; Mogens Havsteen-Jakobsen; Gabriela Blagoi; Daniel Haefliger; Søren Dohn; Alicia Johansson; Michael Lillemose; Stephan Keller; Maria Nordström

2008-01-01

Here, we present the activities within our research group over the last five years with cantilevers fabricated in the polymer SU-8. We believe that SU-8 is an interesting polymer for fabrication of cantilevers for bio/chemical sensing due to its simple processing and low Young's modulus. We show examples of different integrated read-out methods and their characterisation. We also show that SU-8 cantilevers have a reduced sensitivity to changes in the environmental temperature and pH of the bu...

A full-scale prototype for the tracking chambers of the ALICE muon spectrometer. Part II- Electronics. Preamplifier; Read-out prototype

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Courtat, P.; Charlet, D.; Lebon, S.; Martin, J.M.; Sellem, R.; Wanlin, E. [CEA Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires de Saclay, 91 - Gif-sur-Yvette (France). Service d' Electronique Physique; Douet, R.; Harroch, H.; Bimbot, L.; Jouan, D.; Kharmandarian, L.; Le Bornec, Y.; Mac Cormick, M.; Willis, N. [Paris-11 Univ., 91 - Orsay (France). Institut de Physique Nucleaire

1999-07-01

A full scale prototype of one module of the first tracking station has already been constructed. It will be equipped with the new read-out electronics proposed for the final chambers. Before integration of the whole chain, tests have been carried out on the individual components in discrete circuit prototypes. The different parts of the chain are described, together with the tests performed. The final version with integrated circuits in then described. (author)

A full-scale prototype for the tracking chambers of the ALICE muon spectrometer. Part II- Electronics. Preamplifier; Read-out prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courtat, P.; Charlet, D.; Lebon, S.; Martin, J.M.; Sellem, R.; Wanlin, E.; Douet, R.; Harroch, H.; Bimbot, L.; Jouan, D.; Kharmandarian, L.; Le Bornec, Y.; Mac Cormick, M.; Willis, N.

1999-01-01

A full scale prototype of one module of the first tracking station has already been constructed. It will be equipped with the new read-out electronics proposed for the final chambers. Before integration of the whole chain, tests have been carried out on the individual components in discrete circuit prototypes. The different parts of the chain are described, together with the tests performed. The final version with integrated circuits in then described. (author)

Use of a Microphone Phased Array to Determine Noise Sources in a Rocket Plume

Science.gov (United States)

Panda, J.; Mosher, R.

2010-01-01

A 70-element microphone phased array was used to identify noise sources in the plume of a solid rocket motor. An environment chamber was built and other precautions were taken to protect the sensitive condenser microphones from rain, thunderstorms and other environmental elements during prolonged stay in the outdoor test stand. A camera mounted at the center of the array was used to photograph the plume. In the first phase of the study the array was placed in an anechoic chamber for calibration, and validation of the indigenous Matlab(R) based beamform software. It was found that the "advanced" beamform methods, such as CLEAN-SC was partially successful in identifying speaker sources placed closer than the Rayleigh criteria. To participate in the field test all equipments were shipped to NASA Marshal Space Flight Center, where the elements of the array hardware were rebuilt around the test stand. The sensitive amplifiers and the data acquisition hardware were placed in a safe basement, and 100m long cables were used to connect the microphones, Kulites and the camera. The array chamber and the microphones were found to withstand the environmental elements as well as the shaking from the rocket plume generated noise. The beamform map was superimposed on a photo of the rocket plume to readily identify the source distribution. It was found that the plume made an exceptionally long, >30 diameter, noise source over a large frequency range. The shock pattern created spatial modulation of the noise source. Interestingly, the concrete pad of the horizontal test stand was found to be a good acoustic reflector: the beamform map showed two distinct source distributions- the plume and its reflection on the pad. The array was found to be most effective in the frequency range of 2kHz to 10kHz. As expected, the classical beamform method excessively smeared the noise sources at lower frequencies and produced excessive side-lobes at higher frequencies. The "advanced" beamform

The ALICE silicon pixel detector front-end and read-out electronics

CERN Document Server

Kluge, A

2006-01-01

The ALICE silicon pixel detector (SPD) comprises the two innermost barrel layers of the ALICE inner tracker system. The SPD includes 120 half staves each of which consists of a linear array of 10 ALICE pixel chips bump bonded to two silicon sensors. Each pixel chip contains 8192 active cells, so the total number of pixel cells in the SPD is ≈107. The tight material budget and the limitation in physical dimensions required by the detector design introduce new challenges for the integration of the on-detector electronics. An essential part of the half stave is a low-mass multi-layer flex that carries power, ground, and signals to the pixel chips. Each half stave is read out using a multi-chip module (MCM). The MCM contains three radiation hard ASICs and an 800 Mbit/s custom developed optical link for the data transfer between the detector and the control room. The detector components are less than 3 mm thick. The production of the half-staves and MCMs is currently under way. Test results as well as on overvie...

The monitoring system of the ATLAS muon spectrometer read out driver

CERN Document Server

Capasso, Luciano

My PhD work focuses upon the Read Out Driver (ROD) of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer. The ROD is a VME64x board, designed around two Xilinx Virtex-II FPGAs and an ARM7 microcontroller and it is located off-detector, in a counting room of the ATLAS cavern at the CERN. The readout data of the ATLAS’ RPC Muon spectrometer are collected by the front-end electronics and transferred via optical fibres to the ROD boards in the counting room. The ROD arranges all the data fragments of a sector of the spectrometer in a unique event. This is made by the Event Builder Logic, a cluster of Finite State Machines that parses the fragments, checks their syntax and builds an event containing all the sector data. In the presentation I will describe the Builder Monitor, developed by me in order to analyze the Event Builder timing performance. It is designed around a 32-bit soft-core microprocessor, embedded in the same FPGA hosting the Builder logic. This approach makes it possible to track the algorithm execution in the field. ...

Characteristics and measurement of supersonic projectile shock waves by a 32-microphone ring array

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Ho; Wu, Yan-Chyuan; Tsung, Tsing-Tshih

2011-08-01

This paper discusses about the characteristics of supersonic projectile shock wave in muzzle region during firing of high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) and high explosive (HE) projectiles. HEAT projectiles are fired horizontally at a muzzle velocity of Mach 3.5 from a medium caliber tank gun equipped with a newly designed multi-perforated muzzle brake, whereas HE projectiles are fired at elevation angles at a muzzle velocity of Mach 2 from a large caliber howitzer equipped with a newly designed double-baffle muzzle brake. In the near field, pressure signatures of the N-wave generated from projectiles are measured by 32-microphone ring array wrapped by cotton sheath. Records measured by the microphone array are used to demonstrate several key characteristics of the shock wave of supersonic projectile. All measurements made in this study can be a significant reference for developing guns, tanks, or the chassis of fighting vehicles.

A circuit design for front-end read-out electronics of beam homogeneity measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

She Qianshun; Su Hong; Xu Zhiguo; Ma Xiaoli; Hu Zhengguo; Mao Ruishi; Xu Hushan

2011-01-01

It introduces a circuit design of beam homogeneity measurement for heavy ion beam in the monitoring needs, which convert multichannel weak current from 10 pA to 100 nA of the output of parallel plate avalanche counter (PPAC) for large area with sensitive two-dimensional position to voltage signal from -2 V to -20 mV by current-voltage-converter (IVC) circuit which composed of T-feedback resistor networks, combined with data acquisition and processing system realized the beam homogeneity measurement in heavy ion tumor therapy of the Institute of Modern Physics. Experiments have shown that the circuit with speed and high precision. This circuit can be used for read-out of the beam for the Multiwire Proportional Chamber, Faraday Cup and other weak current sources. (authors)

Current feedback operational amplifiers as fast charge sensitive preamplifiers for photomultiplier read out

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Giachero, A; Gotti, C; Maino, M; Pessina, G, E-mail: claudio.gotti@mib.infn.it [INFN - Sezione di Milano-Bicocca, I-20126, Milano (Italy)

2011-05-01

Fast charge sensitive preamplifiers were built using commercial current feedback operational amplifiers for fast read out of charge pulses from a photomultiplier tube. Current feedback opamps prove to be particularly well suited for this application where the charge from the detector is large, of the order of one million electrons, and high timing resolution is required. A proper circuit arrangement allows very fast signals, with rise times down to one nanosecond, while keeping the amplifier stable. After a review of current feedback circuit topology and stability constraints, we provide a 'recipe' to build stable and very fast charge sensitive preamplifiers from any current feedback opamp by adding just a few external components. The noise performance of the circuit topology has been evaluated and is reported in terms of equivalent noise charge.

Video Games to Reading: Reaching out to Reluctant Readers

Science.gov (United States)

Jolley, Kristie

2008-01-01

Junior high school teacher Kristie Jolley believes students become more willing and motivated to practice reading strategies when they are "comfortable within their realm of literacy." Background knowledge of video games helps students succeed in understanding and enjoying game-based texts, which she incorporates into her classroom library as…

Micromechanics Based Failure Analysis of Heterogeneous Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Sertse, Hamsasew M.

In recent decades, heterogeneous materials are extensively used in various industries such as aerospace, defense, automotive and others due to their desirable specific properties and excellent capability of accumulating damage. Despite their wide use, there are numerous challenges associated with the application of these materials. One of the main challenges is lack of accurate tools to predict the initiation, progression and final failure of these materials under various thermomechanical loading conditions. Although failure is usually treated at the macro and meso-scale level, the initiation and growth of failure is a complex phenomena across multiple scales. The objective of this work is to enable the mechanics of structure genome (MSG) and its companion code SwiftComp to analyze the initial failure (also called static failure), progressive failure, and fatigue failure of heterogeneous materials using micromechanics approach. The initial failure is evaluated at each numerical integration point using pointwise and nonlocal approach for each constituent of the heterogeneous materials. The effects of imperfect interfaces among constituents of heterogeneous materials are also investigated using a linear traction-displacement model. Moreover, the progressive and fatigue damage analyses are conducted using continuum damage mechanics (CDM) approach. The various failure criteria are also applied at a material point to analyze progressive damage in each constituent. The constitutive equation of a damaged material is formulated based on a consistent irreversible thermodynamics approach. The overall tangent modulus of uncoupled elastoplastic damage for negligible back stress effect is derived. The initiation of plasticity and damage in each constituent is evaluated at each numerical integration point using a nonlocal approach. The accumulated plastic strain and anisotropic damage evolution variables are iteratively solved using an incremental algorithm. The damage analyses

Firmware development and testing of the ATLAS IBL Read-Out Driver card

CERN Document Server

Chen, S-P; The ATLAS collaboration; Falchieri, D; Gabrielli, A; Hauck, S; Hsu, S-C; Kretz, M; Kugel, A; Travaglini, R; Wensing, M

2014-01-01

The ATLAS Experiment is reworking and upgrading systems during the current LHC shutdown. In particular, the Pixel detector is inserting an additional inner layer called Insertable B-Layer (IBL). The Read-Out Driver card (ROD), the Back-of-Crate card (BOC), and the S-Link together form the essential frontend data path of the IBL’s off-detector DAQ system. The strategy for IBL ROD firmware development focused on migrating and tailoring HDL code blocks from Pixel ROD to ensure modular compatibility in future ROD upgrades, in which a unified code version will interface with IBL and Pixel layers. Essential features such as data formatting, frontend-specific error handling, and calibration are added to the ROD data path. An IBL DAQ testbench using a realistic frontend chip model was created to serve as an initial framework for full offline electronic system simulation. In this document, major firmware achievements concerning the IBL ROD data path implementation, tested in testbench and on ROD prototypes, will be ...

Nanogenerator-based dual-functional and self-powered thin patch loudspeaker or microphone for flexible electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wei; Torres, David; Díaz, Ramón; Wang, Zhengjun; Wu, Changsheng; Wang, Chuan; Lin Wang, Zhong; Sepúlveda, Nelson

2017-05-01

Ferroelectret nanogenerators were recently introduced as a promising alternative technology for harvesting kinetic energy. Here we report the device's intrinsic properties that allow for the bidirectional conversion of energy between electrical and mechanical domains; thus extending its potential use in wearable electronics beyond the power generation realm. This electromechanical coupling, combined with their flexibility and thin film-like form, bestows dual-functional transducing capabilities to the device that are used in this work to demonstrate its use as a thin, wearable and self-powered loudspeaker or microphone patch. To determine the device's performance and applicability, sound pressure level is characterized in both space and frequency domains for three different configurations. The confirmed device's high performance is further validated through its integration in three different systems: a music-playing flag, a sound recording film and a flexible microphone for security applications.

High-Resolution Time-Frequency Spectrum-Based Lung Function Test from a Smartphone Microphone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tharoeun Thap

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a smartphone-based lung function test, developed to estimate lung function parameters using a high-resolution time-frequency spectrum from a smartphone built-in microphone is presented. A method of estimation of the forced expiratory volume in 1 s divided by forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC based on the variable frequency complex demodulation method (VFCDM is first proposed. We evaluated our proposed method on 26 subjects, including 13 healthy subjects and 13 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD patients, by comparing with the parameters clinically obtained from pulmonary function tests (PFTs. For the healthy subjects, we found that an absolute error (AE and a root mean squared error (RMSE of the FEV1/FVC ratio were 4.49% ± 3.38% and 5.54%, respectively. For the COPD patients, we found that AE and RMSE from COPD patients were 10.30% ± 10.59% and 14.48%, respectively. For both groups, we compared the results using the continuous wavelet transform (CWT and short-time Fourier transform (STFT, and found that VFCDM was superior to CWT and STFT. Further, to estimate other parameters, including forced vital capacity (FVC, forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1, and peak expiratory flow (PEF, regression analysis was conducted to establish a linear transformation. However, the parameters FVC, FEV1, and PEF had correlation factor r values of 0.323, 0.275, and −0.257, respectively, while FEV1/FVC had an r value of 0.814. The results obtained suggest that only the FEV1/FVC ratio can be accurately estimated from a smartphone built-in microphone. The other parameters, including FVC, FEV1, and PEF, were subjective and dependent on the subject’s familiarization with the test and performance of forced exhalation toward the microphone.

Test beam results using scintillating fibers read out by a multianode phototube and visible light photon counters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbott, B.; Davies, R.; Koltick, D.; McIlwain, R.; Schmitz, C.J.; Shibata, E.I.; Atac, M.; Baumbaugh, B.; Jaques, J.; Kehoe, R.; Marchant, J.; Ruchti, R.; Warchol, J.; Wayne, M.; Binkley, M.; Elias, J.; Goldberg, H.; Margulies, S.; Solomon, J.; Armstrong, T.; Lewis, R.; Smith, G.

1993-01-01

The results from a test beam experiment at Fermilab using 830 μm scintillating fibers, a version of a solid state photomultiplier, the VLPC, and a 256 channel multianode phototube are reported. Muon tracks were observed in a combined tracking system read out by VLPCs and the multianode phototube. A tracking algorithm was developed to unfold the complex cross talk pattern observed in the multianode phototube. A spatial resolution of ∝130 μm was obtained. (orig.)

Infrastructure-Less Indoor Localization Using the Microphone, Magnetometer and Light Sensor of a Smartphone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos E. Galván-Tejada

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present the development of an infrastructure-less indoor location system (ILS, which relies on the use of a microphone, a magnetometer and a light sensor of a smartphone, all three of which are essentially passive sensors, relying on signals available practically in any building in the world, no matter how developed the region is. In our work, we merge the information from those sensors to estimate the user’s location in an indoor environment. A multivariate model is applied to find the user’s location, and we evaluate the quality of the resulting model in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Our experiments were carried out in an office environment during summer and winter, to take into account changes in light patterns, as well as changes in the Earth’s magnetic field irregularities. The experimental results clearly show the benefits of using the information fusion of multiple sensors when contrasted with the use of a single source of information.

Infrastructure-Less Indoor Localization Using the Microphone, Magnetometer and Light Sensor of a Smartphone.

Science.gov (United States)

Galván-Tejada, Carlos E; García-Vázquez, Juan Pablo; Galván-Tejada, Jorge I; Delgado-Contreras, J Rubén; Brena, Ramon F

2015-08-18

In this paper, we present the development of an infrastructure-less indoor location system (ILS), which relies on the use of a microphone, a magnetometer and a light sensor of a smartphone, all three of which are essentially passive sensors, relying on signals available practically in any building in the world, no matter how developed the region is. In our work, we merge the information from those sensors to estimate the user's location in an indoor environment. A multivariate model is applied to find the user's location, and we evaluate the quality of the resulting model in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Our experiments were carried out in an office environment during summer and winter, to take into account changes in light patterns, as well as changes in the Earth's magnetic field irregularities. The experimental results clearly show the benefits of using the information fusion of multiple sensors when contrasted with the use of a single source of information.

Free-field reciprocity calibration of laboratory standard (LS) microphones using a time selective technique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Knud; Barrera Figueroa, Salvador

2006-01-01

Although the basic principle of reciprocity calibration of microphones in a free field is simple, the practical problems are complicated due to the low signal-to-noise ratio and the influence of cross talk and reflections from the surroundings. The influence of uncorrelated noise can be reduced...

Virtual Microphones for Multichannel Audio Resynthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Athanasios Mouchtaris

2003-09-01

Full Text Available Multichannel audio offers significant advantages for music reproduction, including the ability to provide better localization and envelopment, as well as reduced imaging distortion. On the other hand, multichannel audio is a demanding media type in terms of transmission requirements. Often, bandwidth limitations prohibit transmission of multiple audio channels. In such cases, an alternative is to transmit only one or two reference channels and recreate the rest of the channels at the receiving end. Here, we propose a system capable of synthesizing the required signals from a smaller set of signals recorded in a particular venue. These synthesized “virtual” microphone signals can be used to produce multichannel recordings that accurately capture the acoustics of that venue. Applications of the proposed system include transmission of multichannel audio over the current Internet infrastructure and, as an extension of the methods proposed here, remastering existing monophonic and stereophonic recordings for multichannel rendering.

Micromechanical modeling of stress-induced strain in polycrystalline Ni–Mn–Ga by directional solidification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Yuping; Shi, Tao; Teng, Yao

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A micromechanical model of directional solidification Ni–Mn–Ga is developed. • The stress–strain curves in different directions are tested. • The martensite Young’s moduli in different directions are predicted. • The macro reorientation strains in different directions are investigated. - Abstract: Polycrystalline ferromagnetic shape memory alloy Ni–Mn–Ga produced by directional solidification possess unique properties. Its compressive stress–strain behaviors in loading–unloading cycle show nonlinear and anisotropic. Based on the self-consistent theory and thermodynamics principle, a micromechanical constitutive model of polycrystalline Ni–Mn–Ga by directional solidification is developed considering the generating mechanism of the macroscopic strain and anisotropy. Then, the stress induced strains at different angles to solidification direction are calculated, and the results agree well with the experimental data. The predictive curves of martensite Young’s modulus and macro reorientation strain in different directions are investigated. It may provide theoretical guidance for the design and use of ferromagnetic shape memory alloy

Validation of the Read Out Electronics for the CMS Muon Drift Chambers at Tests Beam in CERN/GIF

CERN Document Server

Fernández, C; Fouz-Iglesias, M C; Marin, J; Oller, J C; Willmott, C

2002-01-01

Part of the readout system for the CMS muon drift chambers has been tested in test beams at CERN/GIF. Read Out Board (ROB) and HPTD have been validated with signals from a real muon beam, with an structure and flux similar to LHC operating conditions and using one of the chambers produced in CIEMAT already located in the test beam area under normal gas and voltage conditions. (Author) 5 refs.

Why should I read? - A cross-cultural investigation into adolescents' reading socialisation and reading attitude

Science.gov (United States)

Broeder, Peter; Stokmans, Mia

2013-06-01

While reading behaviour of adolescents is a frequent object of research, most studies in this field are restricted to a single country. This study investigates reading as a leisure-time activity across social groups from three regions differing in reading tradition as well as in the facilities available for reading. The authors analyse the reading behaviour of a total of 2,173 adolescents in the Netherlands, in Beijing (China), and in Cape Town (South Africa). Taking Icek Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour as a starting point, the authors adjusted it to model the three most important determinants of reading behaviour, namely (1) reading attitude; (2) subjective norms (implicit and explicit social pressure to read); and (3) perceived behavioural control, which includes reading proficiency and appropriateness of the available books (book supply). While they found the adjusted model to fit the Dutch and Beijing situation quite well, it appeared to be inappropriate for the Cape Town situation. Despite considerable cultural and situational differences between the Netherlands and Beijing, the results show a similar pattern for these two environments. The most important determinants turn out to be: the hedonic reading attitude, the implicit norm of family and friends, the attractiveness of the available choice of books, and the perceived reading proficiency.

Direct Measurement of the Speed of Sound Using a Microphone and a Speaker

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Tejedor, José A.; Castro-Palacio, Juan C.; Monsoriu, Juan A.

2014-01-01

We present a simple and accurate experiment to obtain the speed of sound in air using a conventional speaker and a microphone connected to a computer. A free open source digital audio editor and recording computer software application allows determination of the time-of-flight of the wave for different distances, from which the speed of sound is…

Micromechanical Behavior of Single-Crystal Superalloy with Different Crystal Orientations by Microindentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinghui Li

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In order to investigate the anisotropic micromechanical properties of single-crystal nickel-based superalloy DD99 of four crystallographic orientations, (001, (215, (405, and (605, microindentation test (MIT was conducted with different loads and loading velocities by a sharp Berkovich indenter. Some material parameters reflecting the micromechanical behavior of DD99, such as microhardness H, Young’s modulus E, yield stress σy, strain hardening component n, and tensile strength σb, can be obtained from load-displacement relations. H and E of four different crystal planes evidently decrease with the increase of h. The reduction of H is due to dislocation hardening while E is related to interplanar spacing and crystal variable. σy of (215 is the largest among four crystal planes, followed by (605, and (001 has the lowest value. n of (215 is the lowest, followed by (605, and that of (001 is the largest. Subsequently, a simplified elastic-plastic material model was employed for 3D microindentation simulation of DD99 with various crystal orientations. The simulation results agreed well with experimental, which confirmed the accuracy of the simplified material model.

Materials selection in micromechanical design: an application of the Ashby approach

OpenAIRE

Srikar, V.T.; Spearing, S.M.

2003-01-01

The set of materials available to microsystems designers is rapidly expanding. Techniques now exist to introduce and integrate a large number of metals, alloys, ceramics, glasses, polymers, and elastomers into microsystems, motivating the need for a rational approach for materials selection in microsystems design. As a step toward such an approach, we focus on the initial stages of materials selection for micromechanical structures with minimum feature sizes greater than 1 /spl mu/m. The vari...

Optimizing read-out of the NECTAr front-end electronics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vorobiov, S., E-mail: vorobiov@lpta.in2p3.fr [LUPM, Universite Montpellier II and IN2P3/CNRS, Montpellier (France); DESY-Zeuthen, Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen (Germany); Feinstein, F. [LUPM, Universite Montpellier II and IN2P3/CNRS, Montpellier (France); Bolmont, J.; Corona, P. [LPNHE, Universite Paris VI and Universite Paris VII and IN2P3/CNRS, Paris (France); Delagnes, E. [IRFU/DSM/CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Falvard, A. [LUPM, Universite Montpellier II and IN2P3/CNRS, Montpellier (France); Gascon, D. [ICC-UB, Universitat Barcelona, Barcelona (Spain); Glicenstein, J.-F. [IRFU/DSM/CEA, Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Naumann, C.L.; Nayman, P. [LPNHE, Universite Paris VI and Universite Paris VII and IN2P3/CNRS, Paris (France); Ribo, M.; Sanuy, A. [ICC-UB, Universitat Barcelona, Barcelona (Spain); Tavernet, J.-P.; Toussenel, F.; Vincent, P. [LPNHE, Universite Paris VI and Universite Paris VII and IN2P3/CNRS, Paris (France)

2012-12-11

We describe the optimization of the read-out specifications of the NECTAr front-end electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The NECTAr project aims at building and testing a demonstrator module of a new front-end electronics design, which takes an advantage of the know-how acquired while building the cameras of the CAT, H.E.S.S.-I and H.E.S.S.-II experiments. The goal of the optimization work is to define the specifications of the digitizing electronics of a CTA camera, in particular integration time window, sampling rate, analog bandwidth using physics simulations. We employed for this work real photomultiplier pulses, sampled at 100 ps with a 600 MHz bandwidth oscilloscope. The individual pulses are drawn randomly at the times at which the photo-electrons, originating from atmospheric showers, arrive at the focal planes of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The timing information is extracted from the existing CTA simulations on the GRID and organized in a local database, together with all the relevant physical parameters (energy, primary particle type, zenith angle, distance from the shower axis, pixel offset from the optical axis, night-sky background level, etc.), and detector configurations (telescope types, camera/mirror configurations, etc.). While investigating the parameter space, an optimal pixel charge integration time window, which minimizes relative error in the measured charge, has been determined. This will allow to gain in sensitivity and to lower the energy threshold of CTA telescopes. We present results of our optimizations and first measurements obtained using the NECTAr demonstrator module.

Optimizing read-out of the NECTAr front-end electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vorobiov, S.; Feinstein, F.; Bolmont, J.; Corona, P.; Delagnes, E.; Falvard, A.; Gascón, D.; Glicenstein, J.-F.; Naumann, C.L.; Nayman, P.; Ribo, M.; Sanuy, A.; Tavernet, J.-P.; Toussenel, F.; Vincent, P.

2012-01-01

We describe the optimization of the read-out specifications of the NECTAr front-end electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The NECTAr project aims at building and testing a demonstrator module of a new front-end electronics design, which takes an advantage of the know-how acquired while building the cameras of the CAT, H.E.S.S.-I and H.E.S.S.-II experiments. The goal of the optimization work is to define the specifications of the digitizing electronics of a CTA camera, in particular integration time window, sampling rate, analog bandwidth using physics simulations. We employed for this work real photomultiplier pulses, sampled at 100 ps with a 600 MHz bandwidth oscilloscope. The individual pulses are drawn randomly at the times at which the photo-electrons, originating from atmospheric showers, arrive at the focal planes of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The timing information is extracted from the existing CTA simulations on the GRID and organized in a local database, together with all the relevant physical parameters (energy, primary particle type, zenith angle, distance from the shower axis, pixel offset from the optical axis, night-sky background level, etc.), and detector configurations (telescope types, camera/mirror configurations, etc.). While investigating the parameter space, an optimal pixel charge integration time window, which minimizes relative error in the measured charge, has been determined. This will allow to gain in sensitivity and to lower the energy threshold of CTA telescopes. We present results of our optimizations and first measurements obtained using the NECTAr demonstrator module.

Optimizing read-out of the NECTAr front-end electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Vorobiov, S.; Feinstein, F.; Bolmont, J.; Corona, P.; Delagnes, E.; Falvard, A.; Gascón, D.; Glicenstein, J.-F.; Naumann, C. L.; Nayman, P.; Ribo, M.; Sanuy, A.; Tavernet, J.-P.; Toussenel, F.; Vincent, P.

2012-12-01

We describe the optimization of the read-out specifications of the NECTAr front-end electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The NECTAr project aims at building and testing a demonstrator module of a new front-end electronics design, which takes an advantage of the know-how acquired while building the cameras of the CAT, H.E.S.S.-I and H.E.S.S.-II experiments. The goal of the optimization work is to define the specifications of the digitizing electronics of a CTA camera, in particular integration time window, sampling rate, analog bandwidth using physics simulations. We employed for this work real photomultiplier pulses, sampled at 100 ps with a 600 MHz bandwidth oscilloscope. The individual pulses are drawn randomly at the times at which the photo-electrons, originating from atmospheric showers, arrive at the focal planes of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The timing information is extracted from the existing CTA simulations on the GRID and organized in a local database, together with all the relevant physical parameters (energy, primary particle type, zenith angle, distance from the shower axis, pixel offset from the optical axis, night-sky background level, etc.), and detector configurations (telescope types, camera/mirror configurations, etc.). While investigating the parameter space, an optimal pixel charge integration time window, which minimizes relative error in the measured charge, has been determined. This will allow to gain in sensitivity and to lower the energy threshold of CTA telescopes. We present results of our optimizations and first measurements obtained using the NECTAr demonstrator module.

A low-voltage silicon condenser microphone for hearing instrument applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rombach, Pirmin; Müllenborn, Matthias; Klein, Udo

1999-01-01

the input-related noise of the following preamplifier stage becomes dominant and results in a high equivalent input-related noise. Here a silicon condenser microphone with the potential for hearing instrument applications will be presented. To get the best properties for the different mechanical parts, e...... related A-weighted noise is 23 dB SPL, including the preamplifier. Due to a conservative layout, the parasitic capacitance is about 50%. An increase of 2–3 mV/Pa sensitivity and hence 3 dB SPL less noise can therefore be achieved by design optimization....

Periphony-Lattice Mixed-Order Ambisonic Scheme for Spherical Microphone Arrays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chang, Jiho; Marschall, Marton

2018-01-01

to performance that is independent of the incident direction of the sound waves. On the other hand, mixed-order ambisonic (MOA) schemes that select an appropriate subset of spherical harmonics can improve the performance for horizontal directions at the expense of other directions. This paper proposes an MOA......Most methods for sound field reconstruction and spherical beamforming with spherical microphone arrays are mathematically based on the spherical harmonics expansion. In many cases, this expansion is truncated at a certain order as in higher order ambisonics (HOA). This truncation leads...

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

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2017-01-01

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

Ad Hoc Microphone Array Beamforming Using the Primal-Dual Method of Multipliers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tavakoli, Vincent Mohammad; Jensen, Jesper Rindom; Heusdens, Richard

2016-01-01

In the recent years, there have been increasing amount of researches aiming at optimal beamforming with ad hoc microphone arrays, mostly with fusion-based schemes. However, huge amount of computational complexity and communication overhead impede many of these algorithms from being useful in prac...... the distributed linearly-constrained minimum variance beamformer using the the state of the art primal-dual method of multipliers. We study the proposed algorithm with an experiment....

Temperature compensated, humidity insensitive, high-T_g TOPAS FBGs for accelerometers and microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stefani, Alessio; Yuan, W.; Markos, C.

2012-01-01

In this paper we present our latest work on Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) in microstructured polymer optical fibers (mPOFs) and their application as strain sensing transducers in devices, such as accelerometers and microphones. We demonstrate how the cross-sensitivity of the FBG to temperature...

A note on determination of the diffuse-field sensitivity of microphones using the reciprocity technique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barrera Figueroa, Salvador; Jacobsen, Finn

2008-01-01

angles of incidence but also on the accuracy of the frequency response at normal incidence. By contrast, this paper is concerned with determining the absolute diffuse-field response of a microphone using the reciprocity technique. To examine this possibility, a reciprocity calibration setup is used...

Linear micromechanical stepping drive for pinhole array positioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endrödy, Csaba; Mehner, Hannes; Hoffmann, Martin; Grewe, Adrian

2015-01-01

A compact linear micromechanical stepping drive for positioning a 7 × 5.5 mm 2 optical pinhole array is presented. The system features a step size of 13.2 µm and a full displacement range of 200 µm. The electrostatic inch-worm stepping mechanism shows a compact design capable of positioning a payload 50% of its own weight. The stepping drive movement, step sizes and position accuracy are characterized. The actuated pinhole array is integrated in a confocal chromatic hyperspectral imaging system, where coverage of the object plane, and therefore the useful picture data, can be multiplied by 14 in contrast to a non-actuated array. (paper)

Spectroscopy study of imaging devices based on silicon Pixel Array Detector coupled to VATAGP7 read-out chips

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Linhart, V; Lacasta, C; Llosa, G; Stankova, V; Burdette, D; Chessi, E; Cochran, E; Honscheid, K; Kagan, H; Weilhammer, P; Cindro, V; Grosicar, B; Mikuz, M; Studen, A; Zontar, D; Clinthorne, N H

2011-01-01

Spectroscopic and timing response studies have been conducted on a detector module consisting of a silicon Pixel Array Detector bonded on two VATAGP7 read-out chips manufactured by Gamma-Medica Ideas using laboratory gamma sources and the internal calibration facilities (the calibration system of the read-out chips). The performed tests have proven that the chips have (i) non-linear calibration curves which can be approximated by power functions, (ii) capability to measure the energy of photons with energy resolution better than 2 keV (exact range and resolution depend on experimental setup), (iii) the internal calibration facility which provides 6 out of 16 available internal calibration charges within our region of interest (spanning the Compton edge of 511 keV photons). The peaks induced by the internal calibration facility are suitable for a fit of the calibration curves. However, they are not suitable for measurements of equivalent noise charge because their full width at half maximum varies with their amplitude. These facts indicate that the VATAGP7 chips are useful and precise tools for a wide variety of spectroscopic devices. We have also explored time walk of the module and peaking time of the spectroscopy signals provided by the chips. We have observed that (iv) the time walk is caused partly by the peaking time of the signals provided by the fast shaper of the chips and partly by the timing uncertainty related to the varying position of the photon interaction, (v) the peaking time of the spectroscopy signals provided by the chips increases with increasing pulse height.

Identification of impact force acting on composite laminated plates using the radiated sound measured with microphones

Science.gov (United States)

Atobe, Satoshi; Nonami, Shunsuke; Hu, Ning; Fukunaga, Hisao

2017-09-01

Foreign object impact events are serious threats to composite laminates because impact damage leads to significant degradation of the mechanical properties of the structure. Identification of the location and force history of the impact that was applied to the structure can provide useful information for assessing the structural integrity. This study proposes a method for identifying impact forces acting on CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) laminated plates on the basis of the sound radiated from the impacted structure. Identification of the impact location and force history is performed using the sound pressure measured with microphones. To devise a method for identifying the impact location from the difference in the arrival times of the sound wave detected with the microphones, the propagation path of the sound wave from the impacted point to the sensor is examined. For the identification of the force history, an experimentally constructed transfer matrix is employed to relate the force history to the corresponding sound pressure. To verify the validity of the proposed method, impact tests are conducted by using a CFRP cross-ply laminate as the specimen, and an impulse hammer as the impactor. The experimental results confirm the validity of the present method for identifying the impact location from the arrival time of the sound wave detected with the microphones. Moreover, the results of force history identification show the feasibility of identifying the force history accurately from the measured sound pressure using the experimental transfer matrix.

Broadband implementation of coprime linear microphone arrays for direction of arrival estimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bush, Dane; Xiang, Ning

2015-07-01

Coprime arrays represent a form of sparse sensing which can achieve narrow beams using relatively few elements, exceeding the spatial Nyquist sampling limit. The purpose of this paper is to expand on and experimentally validate coprime array theory in an acoustic implementation. Two nested sparse uniform linear subarrays with coprime number of elements ( M and N) each produce grating lobes that overlap with one another completely in just one direction. When the subarray outputs are combined it is possible to retain the shared beam while mostly canceling the other superfluous grating lobes. In this way a small number of microphones ( N+M-1) creates a narrow beam at higher frequencies, comparable to a densely populated uniform linear array of MN microphones. In this work beampatterns are simulated for a range of single frequencies, as well as bands of frequencies. Narrowband experimental beampatterns are shown to correspond with simulated results even at frequencies other than the arrays design frequency. Narrowband side lobe locations are shown to correspond to the theoretical values. Side lobes in the directional pattern are mitigated by increasing bandwidth of analyzed signals. Direction of arrival estimation is also implemented for two simultaneous noise sources in a free field condition.

Detection of electromagnetic radiation using micromechanical multiple quantum wells structures

Science.gov (United States)

Datskos, Panagiotis G [Knoxville, TN; Rajic, Slobodan [Knoxville, TN; Datskou, Irene [Knoxville, TN

2007-07-17

An apparatus and method for detecting electromagnetic radiation employs a deflectable micromechanical apparatus incorporating multiple quantum wells structures. When photons strike the quantum-well structure, physical stresses are created within the sensor, similar to a "bimetallic effect." The stresses cause the sensor to bend. The extent of deflection of the sensor can be measured through any of a variety of conventional means to provide a measurement of the photons striking the sensor. A large number of such sensors can be arranged in a two-dimensional array to provide imaging capability.

Imaging of heart acoustic based on the sub-space methods using a microphone array.

Science.gov (United States)

Moghaddasi, Hanie; Almasganj, Farshad; Zoroufian, Arezoo

2017-07-01

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death around the world. Phonocardiogram (PCG) is an important bio-signal which represents the acoustic activity of heart, typically without any spatiotemporal information of the involved acoustic sources. The aim of this study is to analyze the PCG by employing a microphone array by which the heart internal sound sources could be localized, too. In this paper, it is intended to propose a modality by which the locations of the active sources in the heart could also be investigated, during a cardiac cycle. In this way, a microphone array with six microphones is employed as the recording set up to be put on the human chest. In the following, the Group Delay MUSIC algorithm which is a sub-space based localization method is used to estimate the location of the heart sources in different phases of the PCG. We achieved to 0.14cm mean error for the sources of first heart sound (S 1 ) simulator and 0.21cm mean error for the sources of second heart sound (S 2 ) simulator with Group Delay MUSIC algorithm. The acoustical diagrams created for human subjects show distinct patterns in various phases of the cardiac cycles such as the first and second heart sounds. Moreover, the evaluated source locations for the heart valves are matched with the ones that are obtained via the 4-dimensional (4D) echocardiography applied, to a real human case. Imaging of heart acoustic map presents a new outlook to indicate the acoustic properties of cardiovascular system and disorders of valves and thereby, in the future, could be used as a new diagnostic tool. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Designing for Scale: Reflections on Rolling Out Reading Improvement in Kenya and Liberia.

Science.gov (United States)

Gove, Amber; Korda Poole, Medina; Piper, Benjamin

2017-03-01

Since 2008, the Ministries of Education in Liberia and Kenya have undertaken transitions from small-scale pilot programs to improve reading outcomes among primary learners to the large-scale implementation of reading interventions. The effects of the pilots on learning outcomes were significant, but questions remained regarding whether such large gains could be sustained at scale. In this article, the authors dissect the Liberian and Kenyan experiences with implementing large-scale reading programs, documenting the critical components and conditions of the program designs that affected the likelihood of successfully transitioning from pilot to scale. They also review the design, deployment, and effectiveness of each pilot program and the scale, design, duration, enabling conditions, and initial effectiveness results of the scaled programs in each country. The implications of these results for the design of both pilot and large-scale reading programs are discussed in light of the experiences of both the Liberian and Kenyan programs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Role of discrete intragranular slip on lattice rotations in polycrystalline Ni: Experimental and micromechanical studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perrin, C.; Berbenni, S.; Vehoff, H.; Berveiller, M.

2010-01-01

In this paper, a new micromechanical approach accounting for the discreteness of intragranular slip is used to derive the local misorientations in the case of plastically deformed polycrystalline nickel in uniaxial tension. This intragranular microstructure is characterized in particular single slip grains by atomic force microscopy measurements in the early stage of plastic deformation. The micromechanical modelling accounts for the individual grain size, the spatial distances between active slip bands and the magnitude of slip in bands. The slip bands are modelled using discrete distributions of circular super glide dislocation loops constrained at grain boundaries for a spherical grain boundary embedded in an infinite matrix. In contrast with classic mean field approaches based on Eshelby's plastic inclusion concept, the present model is able to capture different intragranular behaviours between near grain boundary regions and grain interiors. These theoretical results are quantitatively confirmed by local electron backscatter diffraction measurements regarding intragranular misorientation mapping with respect to a reference point in the centre of the grain.

Development of the microphone array measurement technique for application to cryogenic wind tunnels; Entwicklung der Mikrofonarraymesstechnik fuer die experimentelle Anwendung in kryogenen Windkanaelen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahlefeldt, Thomas

2013-02-01

The present work deals with the development of the microphone array measurement technique for application to cryogenic wind tunnels at temperatures down to 100 K. In contrast to conventional wind tunnels, in cryogenic wind tunnels the Reynolds number can be changed independent of the Mach number. Therefore the applicability of the microphone array measurement technique to cryogenic wind tunnels allows the independent investigation of Mach and Reynolds number effects for aeroacoustic sources. For this purpose two microphone arrays suitable for cryogenic application have been developed. A small array was used for a validation experiment using a single-rod configuration as an aeroacoustic noise source; the experience gained therefrom being then used to develop a larger array. This array was used to finally demonstrate the applicability of the measuring technology to an airplane half model. For the development of both arrays several factors had to be considered, such as, for example, the contraction arising from the low temperatures and the influence of the temperature on the microphone frequency response. In the validation experiment, acoustic array measurements have been performed using the small microphone array with 21 microphones in a cryogenic wind tunnel for various Mach and Reynolds numbers, using a single-rod configuration. The aeroacoustic source induced by the rod could be identified by the microphone.array at ambient as well as at cryogenic temperatures. The radiated sound powers were compared with predictions from two models: one model was based on a dimensional analysis of the measured data without taking into consideration the Reynolds number. The measured data with this model could be better fitted by a speed law with the exponent 6.7 rather than the expected 6.0. The second model was based on an analytical model for sound radiation from a single-rod configuration which took into account variables dependent on the Reynolds number. The comparison with

Micromechanics and statistics of slipping events in a granular seismic fault model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arcangelis, L de [Department of Information Engineering and CNISM, Second University of Naples, Aversa (Italy); Ciamarra, M Pica [CNR-SPIN, Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Universita di Napoli Federico II (Italy); Lippiello, E; Godano, C, E-mail: dearcangelis@na.infn.it [Department of Environmental Sciences and CNISM, Second University of Naples, Caserta (Italy)

2011-09-15

The stick-slip is investigated in a seismic fault model made of a confined granular system under shear stress via three dimensional Molecular Dynamics simulations. We study the statistics of slipping events and, in particular, the dependence of the distribution on model parameters. The distribution consistently exhibits two regimes: an initial power law and a bump at large slips. The initial power law decay is in agreement with the the Gutenberg-Richter law characterizing real seismic occurrence. The exponent of the initial regime is quite independent of model parameters and its value is in agreement with experimental results. Conversely, the position of the bump is solely controlled by the ratio of the drive elastic constant and the system size. Large slips also become less probable in absence of fault gouge and tend to disappear for stiff drives. A two-time force-force correlation function, and a susceptibility related to the system response to pressure changes, characterize the micromechanics of slipping events. The correlation function unveils the micromechanical changes occurring both during microslips and slips. The mechanical susceptibility encodes the magnitude of the incoming microslip. Numerical results for the cellular-automaton version of the spring block model confirm the parameter dependence observed for size distribution in the granular model.

Mechanical design and force calibration of dual-axis micromechanical probe for friction force microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuzawa, Kenji; Terada, Satoshi; Shikida, Mitsuhiro; Amakawa, Hiroaki; Zhang, Hedong; Mitsuya, Yasunaga

2007-01-01

A dual-axis micromechanical probe that combines a double cantilever and torsion beams is presented. This probe can reduce the mechanical cross-talk between the lateral and vertical force detections. In addition, dual-axis forces can be detected by measuring the dual-axis displacement of the probe end using the optical lever-based method used in conventional friction force microscopes (FFMs). In this paper, the mechanical design of the probe, the details of the fabrication method, FFM performance, and calibration of the friction force are discussed. The mechanical design and the microfabrication method for probes that can provide a force resolution of the order of 1 nN without mechanical cross-talk are presented. Calibration of the lateral force signal is possible by using the relationship between the lateral force and the piezodisplacement at the onset of the probe scanning. The micromechanical probe enables simultaneous and independent detection of atomic and friction forces. This leads to accurate investigation of nanotribological phenomena and visualization of the distribution of the friction properties, which helps the identification of the material properties

Investigating the Effects of Repeated Reading and NLP : Language Patterns on Reading Rate

OpenAIRE

Ben, Backwell; Brian, Cullen

2018-01-01

This paper investigates EFL student reading speed and describes a quasi-experimental study that attempted to quantify the effects of repeated reading and the use of NLP language patterns in the instructions. An experimental group (n=30) and a control group (n=30) carried out the same timed reading activity three times each lesson for five lessons. The instructions for the experimental group included NLP language patterns designed to promote faster reading. It was shown that the repeated readi...

Interfacial Micromechanics in Fibrous Composites: Design, Evaluation, and Models

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Zhenkun; Li, Xuan; Qin, Fuyong; Qiu, Wei

2014-01-01

Recent advances of interfacial micromechanics in fiber reinforced composites using micro-Raman spectroscopy are given. The faced mechanical problems for interface design in fibrous composites are elaborated from three optimization ways: material, interface, and computation. Some reasons are depicted that the interfacial evaluation methods are difficult to guarantee the integrity, repeatability, and consistency. Micro-Raman study on the fiber interface failure behavior and the main interface mechanical problems in fibrous composites are summarized, including interfacial stress transfer, strength criterion of interface debonding and failure, fiber bridging, frictional slip, slip transition, and friction reloading. The theoretical models of above interface mechanical problems are given. PMID:24977189

An Optical Fiber Read Out Method for a Reflective Microcantilever Biosensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feng Wen

2013-03-01

Full Text Available An effective optical read out approach based on fiber reflective is presented to detect bends of a biomaterial microcantilever. The microcantilever was fabricated on single crystalline SOI wafer using a series of side definitions and backside wet/dry etchings. A Cr/Au layer with 30 nm Cr and 50 nm Au layer was deposited for the immobilized of bimolecular on the cantilever surface and for reflecting the light back into the fiber, the different light intensities means different bimolecular concentrations. The noncoherent light source is a super luminescent LED. Gradient index lens as a collimator and 50:50 optical coupler and signal modefiber was used to transmit light. Two PINFETs were used to convert the reflecting the light intensities and the light sources into electronic signals, two ADCs convert the signal into digital signals, a MPU was used to eliminate the fluctuation of the light source error. The method can has got high sensitivity is 6507.59 mV/um. Though the experiment, the cantilever biosensor can detect glucose, measurement results clearly demonstrate that the output voltage induced by the microcantilevers bending is proportional to the glucose concentrations and the sensitivity is up to 0.1V/mM, which is enough for glucose real-time trace detection.

State of the art in thermoluminescent dosimetry using dosemeters with automated read-out

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Regulla, D.F.

1979-01-01

In the beginning, the results obtained with automated read-out TLD have been quite disappointing, both for manufacturers and users. In response to this, industry then seeked advice and assistance from those experienced in the practical use of dosemeters, and the development of the second generation of automated TLD has been a common task of manufacturers and purchosers. As a preliminary achievement of development work along this line, a dosemeter has been presented by a Japanese manufacturer, meeting the requirements in quite a satisfactory way. The device is characterized by a frequency of disturbance of -5 , a microprocessor for controlling the measuring and control functions, possibility of active input of device parameters and boundary conditions, extensive self-control of operating functions, complete data protection, and thin-film detector technique. Pursuing this line of development, and taking into account future recommentations, automated thermoluminescent dosimetry does seem to be a promising alternative to current measuring techniques in personnel monitoring. (orig./RW) [de

Selected papers from the 23rd MicroMechanics and Microsystems Europe Workshop (MME 2012) (Ilmenau, Germany, September 9-12, 2012)

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffmann, Martin

2013-07-01

In September 2012, the 23rd MicroMechanics Europe Workshop (MME) took place in Ilmenau, Germany. With about 120 participants from 20 countries and 76 accepted presentations, the workshop series turned out to be a successful platform for young scientists to present their work to our scientific community. Traditionally, the interaction is an important aspect of this workshop: while short presentations introduce the posters, an extended poster session allows intensive discussion which is quite useful to the participants. The discussion very often extends into the breaks and the evening events. It is also encouraging for them that the best presentations are selected and invited to submit a full paper to this journal. Thanks to the support of IOP Publishing, this next logical step to present work to the scientific world is made possible. In this issue, you can find the best papers that have been selected by a committee during the workshop taking the written workshop contribution, the poster and the presentation into account. Again, all areas of micromechanics from new technology developments up to systems integration were presented at the workshop at different levels of completion. The selected papers present those results which are almost complete. Nevertheless, it is nice to see that in some cases topics grow over the years from 'nice ideas' to realized system concepts. And although this is the 23rd workshop, it is clear that micromechanics is a topic that is not running short of new ideas. First, I would like to thank the authors of the selected papers for each of their individual excellent contributions. My gratitude also goes to my fellow members in the programme committee (Per Ohlckers, Martin Hill and Sami Franssila) for their cooperation in the selection of invited speakers and submitted papers, as well as the anonymous Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering (JMM) reviewers for their careful selection of the final papers presented here. Last, but not

Micromechanics based framework with second-order damage tensors

Science.gov (United States)

Desmorat, R.; Desmorat, B.; Olive, M.; Kolev, B.

2018-05-01

The harmonic product of tensors---leading to the concept of harmonic factorization---has been defined in a previous work (Olive et al, 2017). In the practical case of 3D crack density measurements on thin or thick walled structures, this mathematical tool allows us to factorize the harmonic (irreducible) part of the fourth-order damage tensor as an harmonic square: an exact harmonic square in 2D, an harmonic square over the set of so-called mechanically accessible directions for measurements in the 3D case. The corresponding micro-mechanics framework based on second---instead of fourth---order damage tensors is derived. An illustrating example is provided showing how the proposed framework allows for the modeling of the so-called hydrostatic sensitivity up to high damage levels.

SU-8 Cantilevers for Bio/chemical Sensing; Fabrication, Characterisation and Development of Novel Read-out Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anja Boisen

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Here, we present the activities within our research group over the last five yearswith cantilevers fabricated in the polymer SU-8. We believe that SU-8 is an interestingpolymer for fabrication of cantilevers for bio/chemical sensing due to its simple processingand low Young’s modulus. We show examples of different integrated read-out methodsand their characterisation. We also show that SU-8 cantilevers have a reduced sensitivity tochanges in the environmental temperature and pH of the buffer solution. Moreover, weshow that the SU-8 cantilever surface can be functionalised directly with receptormolecules for analyte detection, thereby avoiding gold-thiol chemistry.

Charge identification of highly ionizing particles in desensitized nuclear emulsion using high speed read-out system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toshito, T.; Kodama, K.; Yusa, K.; Ozaki, M.; Amako, K.; Kameoka, S.; Murakami, K.; Sasaki, T.; Aoki, S.; Ban, T.; Fukuda, T.; Naganawa, N.; Nakamura, T.; Natsume, M.; Niwa, K.; Takahashi, S.; Kanazawa, M.; Kanematsu, N.; Komori, M.; Sato, S.; Asai, M.; Koi, T.; Fukushima, C.; Ogawa, S.; Shibasaki, M.; Shibuya, H.

2006-01-01

We performed an experimental study of charge identification of heavy ions from helium to carbon having energy of about 290MeV/u using an emulsion chamber. Emulsion was desensitized by means of forced fading (refreshing) to expand a dynamic range of response to highly charged particles. For the track reconstruction and charge identification, the fully automated high speed emulsion read-out system, which was originally developed for identifying minimum ionizing particles, was used without any modification. Clear track by track charge identification up to Z=6 was demonstrated. The refreshing technique has proved to be a powerful technique to expand response of emulsion film to highly ionizing particles

Efficient voice activity detection in reverberant enclosures using far field microphones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petsatodis, Theodore; Boukis, Christos

2009-01-01

An algorithm suitable for voice activity detection under reverberant conditions is proposed in this paper. Due to the use of far-filed microphones the proposed solution processes speech signals of highly-varying intensity and signal to noise ratio, that are contaminated with several echoes....... The core of the system is a pair of Hidden Markov Models, that effectively model the speech presence and speech absence situations. To minimise mis-detections an adaptive threshold is used, while a hang-over scheme caters for the intra-frame correlation of speech signals. Experimental results conducted...

Low-Level RF Control of Microphonics in Superconducting Spoke-Loaded Cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conway, Z.A.; Kelly, M.P.; Sharamentov, S.I.; Shepard, K.W.; Davis, G.; Delayen, Jean; Doolittle, Lawrence

2007-01-01

This paper presents the results of cw RF frequency control and RF phase-stabilization experiments performed with a piezoelectric fast tuner mechanically coupled to a superconducting, 345 MHz, < = 0.5 triple-spoke-loaded cavity operating at 4.2K. The piezoelectric fast tuner damped low-frequency microphonic-noise by an order of magnitude. Two methods of RF phase-stabilization were characterized: overcoupling with negative phase feedback, and also fast mechanical tuner feedback. The = 0.5 triple-spoke-loaded cavity RF field amplitude and phase errors were controlled to ±0.5% and ±30 respectively.

A Partitioned Approach to Signal Separation with Microphone Ad Hoc Arrays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tavakoli, Vincent Mohammad; Jensen, Jesper Rindom; Benesty, Jacob

2016-01-01

In this paper, a blind algorithm is proposed for speech enhancement in multi-speaker scenarios, in which interference rejection is the main objective. Here, the ad hoc array is broken into microphone duples which are used to partition the array into local sub-arrays. The core algorithm takes...... advantage of differences in signal structure in each duple. A geometric mean filter is then used to merge the output signals obtained with different duples, and to form a global broadband maximum signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) enhancement apparatus. The resulting filter outputs are enhanced acoustic...

A pixel read-out architecture implementing a two-stage token ring, zero suppression and compression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heuvelmans, S; Boerrigter, M

2011-01-01

Increasing luminosity in high energy physics experiments leads to new challenges in the design of data acquisition systems for pixel detectors. With the upgrade of the LHCb experiment, the data processing will be changed; hit data from every collision will be transported off the pixel chip, without any trigger selection. A read-out architecture is proposed which is able to obtain low hit data loss on limited silicon area by using the logic beneath the pixels as a data buffer. Zero suppression and redundancy reduction ensure that the data rate off chip is minimized. A C++ model has been created for simulation of functionality and data loss, and for system development. A VHDL implementation has been derived from this model.

A pixel read-out architecture implementing a two-stage token ring, zero suppression and compression

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heuvelmans, S; Boerrigter, M, E-mail: sander.heuvelmans@bruco.nl [Bruco integrated circuits BV, Oostermaat 2, 7623 CS (Netherlands)

2011-01-15

Increasing luminosity in high energy physics experiments leads to new challenges in the design of data acquisition systems for pixel detectors. With the upgrade of the LHCb experiment, the data processing will be changed; hit data from every collision will be transported off the pixel chip, without any trigger selection. A read-out architecture is proposed which is able to obtain low hit data loss on limited silicon area by using the logic beneath the pixels as a data buffer. Zero suppression and redundancy reduction ensure that the data rate off chip is minimized. A C++ model has been created for simulation of functionality and data loss, and for system development. A VHDL implementation has been derived from this model.

High frequency microphone measurements for transition detection on airfoils. Risø C2-18 appendix report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Døssing, Mads

Time series of pressure fluctuations has been obtained using high frequency microphones distributed over the surface of airfoils undergoing wind tunnel tests in the LM Windtunnel, owned by ’LM Glasfiber’, Denmark. The present report describes the dataanalysis, with special attention given to tran...

High frequency microphone measurements for transition detection on airfoils. Risø B1-18 appendix report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Døssing, Mads

Time series of pressure fluctuations has been obtained using high frequency microphones distributed over the surface of airfoils undergoing wind tunnel tests in the LM Windtunnel, owned by ’LM Glasfiber’, Denmark. The present report describes the dataanalysis, with special attention given to tran...

A mathematical model for source separation of MMG signals recorded with a coupled microphone-accelerometer sensor pair.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Jorge; Chau, Tom

2005-09-01

Recent advances in sensor technology for muscle activity monitoring have resulted in the development of a coupled microphone-accelerometer sensor pair for physiological acousti signal recording. This sensor can be used to eliminate interfering sources in practical settings where the contamination of an acoustic signal by ambient noise confounds detection but cannot be easily removed [e.g., mechanomyography (MMG), swallowing sounds, respiration, and heart sounds]. This paper presents a mathematical model for the coupled microphone-accelerometer vibration sensor pair, specifically applied to muscle activity monitoring (i.e., MMG) and noise discrimination in externally powered prostheses for below-elbow amputees. While the model provides a simple and reliable source separation technique for MMG signals, it can also be easily adapted to other aplications where the recording of low-frequency (< 1 kHz) physiological vibration signals is required.

Improving Efl Students' Reading Comprehension And Students' Perception On Metacognitive Reading Strategies

OpenAIRE

Linda, Kristina; Regina; Sutapa,, Y. Gatot

2015-01-01

The aims of this study were improving EFL students' reading comprehension by using Metacognitive Reading Strategies and finding out the students' perceptions on Metacognitive Reading Strategies. The method of the research was a classroom action research. The research subjects were 29 students majoring in Accounting Program class 3 of Year-10. This research was conducted in three cycles to maximize the students' improvement in comprehending the text. The findings of data collecting revealed th...

Estimation of Temporal Gait Parameters Using a Wearable Microphone-Sensor-Based System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng Wang

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Most existing wearable gait analysis methods focus on the analysis of data obtained from inertial sensors. This paper proposes a novel, low-cost, wireless and wearable gait analysis system which uses microphone sensors to collect footstep sound signals during walking. This is the first time a microphone sensor is used as a wearable gait analysis device as far as we know. Based on this system, a gait analysis algorithm for estimating the temporal parameters of gait is presented. The algorithm fully uses the fusion of two feet footstep sound signals and includes three stages: footstep detection, heel-strike event and toe-on event detection, and calculation of gait temporal parameters. Experimental results show that with a total of 240 data sequences and 1732 steps collected using three different gait data collection strategies from 15 healthy subjects, the proposed system achieves an average 0.955 F1-measure for footstep detection, an average 94.52% accuracy rate for heel-strike detection and 94.25% accuracy rate for toe-on detection. Using these detection results, nine temporal related gait parameters are calculated and these parameters are consistent with their corresponding normal gait temporal parameters and labeled data calculation results. The results verify the effectiveness of our proposed system and algorithm for temporal gait parameter estimation.

Micromechanical Characterization of Complex Polypropylene Morphologies by HarmoniX AFM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Liparoti

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the capability of the HarmoniX Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM technique to draw accurate and reliable micromechanical characterization of complex polymer morphologies generally found in conventional thermoplastic polymers. To that purpose, injection molded polypropylene samples, containing representative morphologies, have been characterized by HarmoniX AFM. Mapping and distributions of mechanical properties of the samples surface are determined and analyzed. Effects of sample preparation and test conditions are also analyzed. Finally, the AFM determination of surface elastic moduli has been compared with that obtained by indentation tests, finding good agreement among the results.

The Role of Reading Skills on Reading Comprehension Ability of Turkish EFL Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ebru Kaya

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Reading is a part of our daily lives. It is performed both for pleasure and information. Reading skills are important for the individuals since they foster comprehension in reading. If the students do not have knowledge of reading skills, they cannot be expected to be successful readers. Thus, they cannot achieve the level of comprehension required to pass exams in their own departments. For this reason, reading skills should be taught in universities for the students to be able to cope with comprehension problems. This case study aims to find out whether or not reading skills has a role on the reading comprehension ability of Turkish EFL students. This study is both a qualitative and a quantitative study which lasted for a duration of 14 weeks. Two groups were selected (experimental and control among prep classes at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü Imam University. Both groups were administered a pre-test and questionnaire at the beginning of the study to find out if they were aware of reading skills. In addition, 10 students were chosen randomly for interview. During the study, reading skills were infused into the curriculum through designing lesson plans in accordance with the language content and topics for level C students, as determined by the Common European Language Framework. The lessons required the students to use reading skills before, during, and post reading. At the end of the study, the same questionnaire was re-administered. The students were given the post-test and then interviewed. The quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. The obtained data revealed that the students enhanced their comprehension ability provided that they were taught to use reading skills.

Automatically produced FRP beams with embedded FOS in complex geometry: process, material compatibility, micromechanical analysis, and performance tests

Science.gov (United States)

Gabler, Markus; Tkachenko, Viktoriya; Küppers, Simon; Kuka, Georg G.; Habel, Wolfgang R.; Milwich, Markus; Knippers, Jan

2012-04-01

The main goal of the presented work was to evolve a multifunctional beam composed out of fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) and an embedded optical fiber with various fiber Bragg grating sensors (FBG). These beams are developed for the use as structural member for bridges or industrial applications. It is now possible to realize large scale cross sections, the embedding is part of a fully automated process and jumpers can be omitted in order to not negatively influence the laminate. The development includes the smart placement and layout of the optical fibers in the cross section, reliable strain transfer, and finally the coupling of the embedded fibers after production. Micromechanical tests and analysis were carried out to evaluate the performance of the sensor. The work was funded by the German ministry of economics and technology (funding scheme ZIM). Next to the authors of this contribution, Melanie Book with Röchling Engineering Plastics KG (Haren/Germany; Katharina Frey with SAERTEX GmbH & Co. KG (Saerbeck/Germany) were part of the research group.

Micromechanical anisotropy and heterogeneity of the meniscus extracellular matrix.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Qing; Qu, Feini; Han, Biao; Wang, Chao; Li, Hao; Mauck, Robert L; Han, Lin

2017-05-01

To understand how the complex biomechanical functions of the meniscus are endowed by the nanostructure of its extracellular matrix (ECM), we studied the anisotropy and heterogeneity in the micromechanical properties of the meniscus ECM. We used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to quantify the time-dependent mechanical properties of juvenile bovine meniscus at deformation length scales corresponding to the diameters of collagen fibrils. At this scale, anisotropy in the elastic modulus of the circumferential fibers, the major ECM structural unit, can be attributed to differences in fibril deformation modes: uncrimping when normal to the fiber axis, and laterally constrained compression when parallel to the fiber axis. Heterogeneity among different structural units is mainly associated with their variations in microscale fiber orientation, while heterogeneity across anatomical zones is due to alterations in collagen fibril diameter and alignment at the nanoscale. Unlike the elastic modulus, the time-dependent properties are more homogeneous and isotropic throughout the ECM. These results enable a detailed understanding of the meniscus structure-mechanics at the nanoscale, and can serve as a benchmark for understanding meniscus biomechanical functions, documenting disease progression and designing tissue repair strategies. Meniscal damage is a common cause of joint injury, which can lead to the development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis among young adults. Restoration of meniscus function requires repairing its highly heterogeneous and complex extracellular matrix. Employing AFM, this study quantifies the anisotropic and heterogeneous features of the meniscus ECM structure and mechanics. The micromechanical properties are interpreted within the context of the collagen fibril nanostructure and its variation with tissue anatomical locations. These results provide a fundamental structure-mechanics knowledge benchmark, against which, repair and regeneration strategies can

Photodiode read-out of the ALICE photon spectrometer $PbWO_{4}$ crystals

CERN Document Server

Man'ko, V I; Sibiryak, Yu; Volkov, M; Klovning, A; Maeland, O A; Odland, O H; Rongved, R; Skaali, B

1999-01-01

Proposal of abstract for LEB99, Snowmass, Colorado, 20-24 September 1999The PHOton Spectrometer of the ALICE experiment is an electromagnetic calorimeter of high granularity consisting of 17280 lead-tungstate (PWO) crystals of dimensions 22x22x180 mm3, read out by large-area PIN-diodes with very low-noise front-end electronics. The crystal assembly is operated at -25C to increase the PWO light yield. A 16.1x17.1 mm2 photodiode, optimized for the PWO emissio spectrum at 400-500 nm, has been developed. The 20x20 mm2 preamplifier PCB is attached to the back side of the diode ceramic frame. The charge sensitive preamplifier is built in discrete logic with two input JFETs for optimum matching with the ~150pF PIN-diode. A prototype shaper has been designed and built in discrete logic. For a detector matrix of 64 units the measured ENCs are between 450-550e at -25C. Beam tests demonstrate that the required energy resolution is reached.Summary:The PHOton Spectrometer of the ALICE experiment is an electromagnetic calo...

Going Out on a Limb: A Reading and Writing Course about the Fourth Dimension.

Science.gov (United States)

Putz, John F.

2001-01-01

Describes a reading and writing course about the fourth dimension that involves readings selected from both mathematical and non-mathematical literature, frequent class discussion, several invited speakers from disciplines other than mathematics, and some hands-on and group activities. (Author/ASK)

Micromechanical modelling of quasi-brittle materials behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, V.C.

1992-01-01

This special issues on Micromechanical modelling of quasi-brittle materials behavior represents an outgrowth of presentations given at a symposium of the same title held at the 1991 ASME Applied Mechanics and Biomechanics Summer Conference at the Ohio State University. The symposium was organized to promote communication between researchers in three materials groups: rock, cementitious materials, ceramics and related composites. The enthusiastic response of both speakers and attendants at the ASME symposium convinced the organizer that it would be useful to put together a coherent volume which can reach a larger audience. It was decided that the papers individually and as a volume ought to provide a broader view, so that as much as possible, the work contained in each paper would be accessible to readers working in any of the three materials groups. Applied Mechanics Reviews presents an appropriate platform for achieving these objectives

2D micromechanical analysis of SiC/Al metal matrix composites under tensile, shear and combined tensile/shear loads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Qing, Hai

2013-01-01

The influence of interface strength and loading conditions on the mechanical behavior of the metal-matrix composites is investigated in this paper. A program is developed to generate automatically 2D micromechanical Finite element (FE) models including interface, in which both the locations...... and dimensions of Silicon-Carbide (SiC) particles are randomly distributed. Finite element simulations of the deformation and damage evolution of SiC particle reinforced Aluminum (Al) alloy composite are carried out for different microstructures and interphase strengths under tensile, shear and combined tensile....../shear loads. 2D cohesive element is applied to describe the fracture and failure process of interphase, while the damage models based on maximum principal stress criterion and the stress triaxial indicator are developed within Abaqus/Standard Subroutine USDFLD to simulate the failure process of SiC particles...

Single coil bistable, bidirectional micromechanical actuator

Science.gov (United States)

Tabat, Ned; Guckel, Henry

1998-09-15

Micromechanical actuators capable of bidirectional and bistable operation can be formed on substrates using lithographic processing techniques. Bistable operation of the microactuator is obtained using a single coil and a magnetic core with a gap. A plunger having two magnetic heads is supported for back and forth linear movement with respect to the gap in the magnetic core, and is spring biased to a neutral position in which the two heads are on each side of the gap in the core. The single electrical coil is coupled to the core and is provided with electrical current to attract one of the heads toward the core by reluctance action to drive the plunger to a limit of travel in one direction. The current is then cut off and the plunger returns by spring action toward the gap, whereafter the current is reapplied to the coil to attract the other head of the plunger by reluctance action to drive the plunger to its other limit of travel. This process can be repeated at a time when switching of the actuator is required.

Comparison of Multiple-Microphone and Single-Loudspeaker Adaptive Feedback/Echo Cancellation Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guo, Meng; Elmedyb, Thomas Bo; Jensen, Søren Holdt

2011-01-01

Recently, we introduced a frequency domain measure - the power transfer function - to predict the convergence rate, system stability bound and the steady-state behavior across time and frequency of a least mean square based feedback/echo cancellation algorithm in a general multiple-microphone and......Recently, we introduced a frequency domain measure - the power transfer function - to predict the convergence rate, system stability bound and the steady-state behavior across time and frequency of a least mean square based feedback/echo cancellation algorithm in a general multiple...

Localisation d'une source sonore par un réseau de microphones

OpenAIRE

Thaljaoui , Adel; Brulin , Damien; Val , Thierry; Nasri , Nejah

2014-01-01

National audience; L'assistance à domicile d'une personne âgée, notamment la connaissance de sa position géographique en tout instant, est devenue actuellement l'une des problématiques les plus urgentes. L'exploitation de l'information audio captée par un réseau de capteurs munis de microphones constitue un axe de recherche prometteur qui pourrait contribuer à une meilleure localisation dans le cadre des maisons intelligentes. Nous introduisons, dans cet article, nos premiers travaux sur la l...

Computational micromechanics analysis of electron hopping and interfacial damage induced piezoresistive response in carbon nanotube-polymer nanocomposites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaurasia, A K; Seidel, G D; Ren, X

2014-01-01

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-polymer nanocomposites have been observed to exhibit an effective macroscale piezoresistive response, i.e., change in macroscale resistivity when subjected to applied deformation. The macroscale piezoresistive response of CNT-polymer nanocomposites leads to deformation/strain sensing capabilities. It is believed that the nanoscale phenomenon of electron hopping is the major driving force behind the observed macroscale piezoresistivity of such nanocomposites. Additionally, CNT-polymer nanocomposites provide damage sensing capabilities because of local changes in electron hopping pathways at the nanoscale because of initiation/evolution of damage. The primary focus of the current work is to explore the effect of interfacial separation and damage at the nanoscale CNT-polymer interface on the effective macroscale piezoresistive response. Interfacial separation and damage are allowed to evolve at the CNT-polymer interface through coupled electromechanical cohesive zones, within a finite element based computational micromechanics framework, resulting in electron hopping based current density across the separated CNT-polymer interface. The macroscale effective material properties and gauge factors are evaluated using micromechanics techniques based on electrostatic energy equivalence. The impact of the electron hopping mechanism, nanoscale interface separation and damage evolution on the effective nanocomposite electrostatic and piezoresistive response is studied in comparison with the perfectly bonded interface. The effective electrostatic/piezoresistive response for the perfectly bonded interface is obtained based on a computational micromechanics model developed in the authors’ earlier work. It is observed that the macroscale effective gauge factors are highly sensitive to strain induced formation/disruption of electron hopping pathways, interface separation and the initiation/evolution of interfacial damage. (paper)

Read-out of emotional information from iconic memory: the longevity of threatening stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhbandner, Christof; Spitzer, Bernhard; Pekrun, Reinhard

2011-05-01

Previous research has shown that emotional stimuli are more likely than neutral stimuli to be selected by attention, indicating that the processing of emotional information is prioritized. In this study, we examined whether the emotional significance of stimuli influences visual processing already at the level of transient storage of incoming information in iconic memory, before attentional selection takes place. We used a typical iconic memory task in which the delay of a poststimulus cue, indicating which of several visual stimuli has to be reported, was varied. Performance decreased rapidly with increasing cue delay, reflecting the fast decay of information stored in iconic memory. However, although neutral stimulus information and emotional stimulus information were initially equally likely to enter iconic memory, the subsequent decay of the initially stored information was slowed for threatening stimuli, a result indicating that fear-relevant information has prolonged availability for read-out from iconic memory. This finding provides the first evidence that emotional significance already facilitates stimulus processing at the stage of iconic memory.

Sideband cooling of micromechanical motion to the quantum ground state.

Science.gov (United States)

Teufel, J D; Donner, T; Li, Dale; Harlow, J W; Allman, M S; Cicak, K; Sirois, A J; Whittaker, J D; Lehnert, K W; Simmonds, R W

2011-07-06

The advent of laser cooling techniques revolutionized the study of many atomic-scale systems, fuelling progress towards quantum computing with trapped ions and generating new states of matter with Bose-Einstein condensates. Analogous cooling techniques can provide a general and flexible method of preparing macroscopic objects in their motional ground state. Cavity optomechanical or electromechanical systems achieve sideband cooling through the strong interaction between light and motion. However, entering the quantum regime--in which a system has less than a single quantum of motion--has been difficult because sideband cooling has not sufficiently overwhelmed the coupling of low-frequency mechanical systems to their hot environments. Here we demonstrate sideband cooling of an approximately 10-MHz micromechanical oscillator to the quantum ground state. This achievement required a large electromechanical interaction, which was obtained by embedding a micromechanical membrane into a superconducting microwave resonant circuit. To verify the cooling of the membrane motion to a phonon occupation of 0.34 ± 0.05 phonons, we perform a near-Heisenberg-limited position measurement within (5.1 ± 0.4)h/2π, where h is Planck's constant. Furthermore, our device exhibits strong coupling, allowing coherent exchange of microwave photons and mechanical phonons. Simultaneously achieving strong coupling, ground state preparation and efficient measurement sets the stage for rapid advances in the control and detection of non-classical states of motion, possibly even testing quantum theory itself in the unexplored region of larger size and mass. Because mechanical oscillators can couple to light of any frequency, they could also serve as a unique intermediary for transferring quantum information between microwave and optical domains.

Concentration independent modulation of local micromechanics in a fibrin gel.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maxwell A Kotlarchyk

Full Text Available Methods for tuning extracellular matrix (ECM mechanics in 3D cell culture that rely on increasing the concentration of either protein or cross-linking molecules fail to control important parameters such as pore size, ligand density, and molecular diffusivity. Alternatively, ECM stiffness can be modulated independently from protein concentration by mechanically loading the ECM. We have developed a novel device for generating stiffness gradients in naturally derived ECMs, where stiffness is tuned by inducing strain, while local mechanical properties are directly determined by laser tweezers based active microrheology (AMR. Hydrogel substrates polymerized within 35 mm diameter Petri dishes are strained non-uniformly by the precise rotation of an embedded cylindrical post, and exhibit a position-dependent stiffness with little to no modulation of local mesh geometry. Here we present the device in the context of fibrin hydrogels. First AMR is used to directly measure local micromechanics in unstrained hydrogels of increasing fibrin concentration. Changes in stiffness are then mapped within our device, where fibrin concentration is held constant. Fluorescence confocal imaging and orbital particle tracking are used to quantify structural changes in fibrin on the micro and nano levels respectively. The micromechanical strain stiffening measured by microrheology is not accompanied by ECM microstructural changes under our applied loads, as measured by confocal microscopy. However, super-resolution orbital tracking reveals nanostructural straightening, lengthening, and reduced movement of fibrin fibers. Furthermore, we show that aortic smooth muscle cells cultured within our device are morphologically sensitive to the induced mechanical gradient. Our results demonstrate a powerful cell culture tool that can be used in the study of mechanical effects on cellular physiology in naturally derived 3D ECM tissues.

Near field acoustic holography with microphones mounted on a rigid sphere

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Finn; Moreno, Guillermo; Fernandez Grande, Efren

2008-01-01

Spherical near field acoustic holography (spherical NAH) is a technique that makes it pos-sible to reconstruct the sound field inside and just outside an acoustically transparent spherical surface on which the sound pressure is measured with an array of microphones with negligible scattering...... is only valid if it can be assumed that the sphere has a negligible in-fluence on the incident sound field, and this is not necessarily a good assumption when the sphere is very close to a radiating surface. This paper describes the modified spherical NAH theory and examines the matter through simulations...

Writing to Read: A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Writing and Writing Instruction on Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Steve; Hebert, Michael

2011-01-01

Reading is critical to students' success in and out of school. One potential means for improving students' reading is writing. In this meta-analysis of true and quasi-experiments, Graham and Herbert present evidence that writing about material read improves students' comprehension of it; that teaching students how to write improves their reading…

Optimisation of the Read-out Electronics of Muon Drift-Tube Chambers for Very High Background Rates at HL-LHC and Future Colliders

CERN Document Server

Nowak, Sebastian; Gadow, Philipp; Ecker, Katharina; Fink, David; Fras, Markus; Kortner, Oliver; Kroha, Hubert; Müller, Felix; Richter, Robert; Schmid, Clemens; Schmidt-Sommerfeld, Korbinian; Zhao, Yazhou

2016-01-01

In the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer, Monitored Drift Tube (MDT) chambers and sMDT chambers with half of the tube diameter of the MDTs are used for precision muon track reconstruction. The sMDT chambers are designed for operation at high counting rates due to neutron and gamma background irradiation expected for the HL-LHC and future hadron colliders. The existing MDT read-out electronics uses bipolar signal shaping which causes an undershoot of opposite polarity and same charge after a signal pulse. At high counting rates and short electronics dead time used for the sMDTs, signal pulses pile up on the undershoot of preceding background pulses leading to a reduction of the signal amplitude and a jitter in the drift time measurement and, therefore, to a degradation of drift tube efficiency and spatial resolution. In order to further increase the rate capability of sMDT tubes, baseline restoration can be used in the read-out electronics to suppress the pile-up effects. A discrete bipolar shaping circuit with baseline...

COLLABORATIVE STRATEGIC READING IMPLEMENTATION TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Desy Olivia Riani

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This collaborative action research is aimed to find out whether or not the implementation of Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR improves students' reading comprehension and also to identify students' attitude towards the implementation of CSR. CSR is reading strategy that employs four strategies namely Preview, Click and Clunk, Get the Gist and Wrap Up during students’ cooperative learning. A class of eleventh grade students of a public senior high school in Majalengka, West Java, Indonesia is participated as the participant of the study. The required data were collected through the use of questionnaire, observation checklist, and reading test. The data from the questionnaire indicated that 82% students had positive attitude toward the implementation of CSR. They feel that CSR improves their motivation in learning English and CSR brings more fun to the process of learning. Moreover, it was found from observation data that the students were actively participated during CSR implementation and they were motivated when comprehending a text by means CSR strategy. Finally, the study proved that CSR improved students’ reading comprehension. Students’ mean score of reading test in the beginning of the study was 67, meanwhile, after applying CSR as reading strategy, their mean scores improved to 88.

Development of the superconducting detectors and read-out for the X-IFU instrument on board of the X-ray observatory Athena

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gottardi, L., E-mail: l.gottardi@sron.nl [SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Utrecht (Netherlands); Akamatsu, H.; Bruijn, M.P.; Hartog, R. den; Herder, J.-W. den; Jackson, B. [SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Utrecht (Netherlands); Kiviranta, M. [VTT, Espoo (Finland); Kuur, J. van der; Weers, H. van [SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Utrecht (Netherlands)

2016-07-11

The Advanced Telescope for High-Energy Astrophysics (Athena) has been selected by ESA as its second large-class mission. The future European X-ray observatory will study the hot and energetic Universe with its launch foreseen in 2028. Microcalorimeters based on superconducting Transition-edge sensor (TES) are the chosen technology for the detectors array of the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) on board of Athena. The X-IFU is a 2-D imaging integral-field spectrometer operating in the soft X-ray band (0.3–12 keV). The detector consists of an array of 3840 TESs coupled to X-ray absorbers and read out in the MHz bandwidth using Frequency Domain Multiplexing (FDM) based on Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs). The proposed design calls for devices with a high filling-factor, high quantum efficiency, relatively high count-rate capability and an energy resolution of 2.5 eV at 5.9 keV. The paper will review the basic principle and the physics of the TES-based microcalorimeters and present the state-of-the art of the FDM read-out.

Design and evaluation of a higher-order spherical microphone/ambisonic sound reproduction system for the acoustical assessment of concert halls

Science.gov (United States)

Clapp, Samuel W.

Previous studies of the perception of concert hall acoustics have generally employed two methods for soliciting listeners' judgments. One method is to have listeners rate the sound in a hall while physically present in that hall. The other method is to make recordings of different halls and seat positions, and then recreate the environment for listeners in a laboratory setting via loudspeakers or headphones. In situ evaluations offer a completely faithful rendering of all aspects of the concert hall experience. However, many variables cannot be controlled and the short duration of auditory memory precludes an objective comparison of different spaces. Simulation studies allow for more control over various aspects of the evaluations, as well as A/B comparisons of different halls and seat positions. The drawback is that all simulation methods suffer from limitations in the accuracy of reproduction. If the accuracy of the simulation system is improved, then the advantages of the simulation method can be retained, while mitigating its disadvantages. Spherical microphone array technology has received growing interest in the acoustics community in recent years for many applications including beamforming, source localization, and other forms of three-dimensional sound field analysis. These arrays can decompose a measured sound field into its spherical harmonic components, the spherical harmonics being a set of spatial basis functions on the sphere that are derived from solving the wave equation in spherical coordinates. Ambisonics is a system for two- and three-dimensional spatialized sound that is based on recreating a sound field from its spherical harmonic components. Because of these shared mathematical underpinnings, ambisonics provides a natural way to present fully spatialized renderings of recordings made with a spherical microphone array. Many of the previously studied applications of spherical microphone arrays have used a narrow frequency range where the array

Doppler distortion correction based on microphone array and matching pursuit algorithm for a wayside train bearing monitoring system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Xingchen; Hu, Zhiyong; He, Qingbo; Zhang, Shangbin; Zhu, Jun

2017-01-01

Doppler distortion and background noise can reduce the effectiveness of wayside acoustic train bearing monitoring and fault diagnosis. This paper proposes a method of combining a microphone array and matching pursuit algorithm to overcome these difficulties. First, a dictionary is constructed based on the characteristics and mechanism of a far-field assumption. Then, the angle of arrival of the train bearing is acquired when applying matching pursuit to analyze the acoustic array signals. Finally, after obtaining the resampling time series, the Doppler distortion can be corrected, which is convenient for further diagnostic work. Compared with traditional single-microphone Doppler correction methods, the advantages of the presented array method are its robustness to background noise and its barely requiring pre-measuring parameters. Simulation and experimental study show that the proposed method is effective in performing wayside acoustic bearing fault diagnosis. (paper)

Doppler distortion correction based on microphone array and matching pursuit algorithm for a wayside train bearing monitoring system

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xingchen; Hu, Zhiyong; He, Qingbo; Zhang, Shangbin; Zhu, Jun

2017-10-01

Doppler distortion and background noise can reduce the effectiveness of wayside acoustic train bearing monitoring and fault diagnosis. This paper proposes a method of combining a microphone array and matching pursuit algorithm to overcome these difficulties. First, a dictionary is constructed based on the characteristics and mechanism of a far-field assumption. Then, the angle of arrival of the train bearing is acquired when applying matching pursuit to analyze the acoustic array signals. Finally, after obtaining the resampling time series, the Doppler distortion can be corrected, which is convenient for further diagnostic work. Compared with traditional single-microphone Doppler correction methods, the advantages of the presented array method are its robustness to background noise and its barely requiring pre-measuring parameters. Simulation and experimental study show that the proposed method is effective in performing wayside acoustic bearing fault diagnosis.

In situ Probe Microphone Measurement for Testing the Direct Acoustical Cochlear Stimulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christof Stieger

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Hypothesis: Acoustical measurements can be used for functional control of a direct acoustic cochlear stimulator (DACS.Background: The DACS is a recently released active hearing implant that works on the principle of a conventional piston prosthesis driven by the rod of an electromagnetic actuator. An inherent part of the DACS actuator is a thin titanium diaphragm that allows for movement of the stimulation rod while hermetically sealing the housing. In addition to mechanical stimulation, the actuator emits sound into the mastoid cavity because of the motion of the diaphragm.Methods: We investigated the use of the sound emission of a DACS for intra-operative testing. We measured sound emission in the external auditory canal (PEAC and velocity of the actuators stimulation rod (Vact in five implanted ears of whole-head specimens. We tested the influence various positions of the loudspeaker and a probe microphone on PEAC and simulated implant malfunction in one example.Results: Sound emission of the DACS with a signal-to-noise ratio >10 dB was observed between 0.5 and 5 kHz. Simulated implant misplacement or malfunction could be detected by the absence or shift in the characteristic resonance frequency of the actuator. PEAC changed by <6 dB for variations of the microphone and loudspeaker position.Conclusion: Our data support the feasibility of acoustical measurements for in situ testing of the DACS implant in the mastoid cavity as well as for post-operative monitoring of actuator function.

Fuel micro-mechanics: homogenization, cracking, granular media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monerie, Yann

2010-01-01

This work summarizes about fifteen years of research in the field of micro-mechanics of materials. Emphasis is placed on the most recent work carried out in the context of nuclear safety. Micro-mechanics finds a natural place there, aiming to predict the behavior of heterogeneous materials with an evolving microstructure. The applications concerned mainly involve the nuclear fuel and its tubular cladding. The uranium dioxide fuel is modeled, according to the scales under consideration, as a porous ceramic or a granular medium. The strongly irradiated Zircaloy claddings are identified with a composite medium with a metal matrix and a gradient of properties. The analysis of these classes of material is rich in problems of a more fundamental nature. Three main themes are discussed: 1/ Homogenization, 2/ cracking, rupture and fragmentation, 3/ discrete media and fluid-grain couplings. Homogenization: The analytical scale change methods proposed aim to estimate or limit the linear and equivalent nonlinear behaviors of isotropic porous media and anisotropic composites with a metal matrix. The porous media under consideration are saturated or drained, with a compressible or incompressible matrix, and have one or two scales of spherical or ellipsoid pores, or cracks. The composites studied have a macroscopic anisotropy related to that of the matrix, and to the shape and spatial distribution of the inclusions. Thermoelastic, elastoplastic, and viscoplastic behaviors and ductile damage of these media are examined using different techniques: extensions of classic approaches, linear in particular, variational approaches and approaches using elliptical potentials with thermally activated elementary mechanisms. The models developed are validated on numerical finite element simulations, and their functional relevance is illustrated in comparison to experimental data obtained from the literature. The significant results obtained include a plasticity criterion for Gurson matrix

Interface for read-out of numerical information to a Shch6800K high-speed printer from an ''Elektronika D3-28'' computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taluts, S.G.; IL'inykh, S.A.

1984-01-01

The authors describe an interface to connect a Shch6800K high-speed printer to and Elektronika D3-28 computer. A functional diagram and a line diagram give a detailed illustration of the system. Using series K155 microcircuits, the authors operated the system at a read-out speed of better than 25 16-character lines per second

Transversely Excited Multipass Photoacoustic Cell Using Electromechanical Film as Microphone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaakko Saarela

2010-05-01

Full Text Available A novel multipass photoacoustic cell with five stacked electromechanical films as a microphone has been constructed, tested and characterized. The photoacoustic cell is an open rectangular structure with two steel plates facing each other. The longitudinal acoustic resonances are excited transversely in an optical multipass configuration. A detection limit of 22 ppb (10−9 was achieved for flowing NO2 in N2 at normal pressure by using the maximum of 70 laser beams between the resonator plates. The corresponding minimum detectable absorption and the normalized noise-equivalent absorption coefficients were 2:2 × 10−7 cm−1 and 3:2 × 10−9 cm−1WHz−1/2, respectively.

The merit of using silicon for the development of hearing aid microphones and intraocular pressure sensors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergveld, Piet

1994-01-01

An important design rule for a hearing aid is the requirement of a large signal to noise ratio, which is mainly determined by that of the microphone and its preamplifier. It will be shown that in order to increase the signal to noise ratio it is favourable to integrate the preamplifier with the

The Politics of the Teaching of Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Soler, Janet

2016-01-01

Historically, political debates have broken out over how to teach reading in primary schools and infant classrooms. These debates and "reading wars" have often resulted from public concerns and media reportage of a fall in reading standards. They also reflect the importance placed on learning to read by parents, teachers, employers, and…

Analyzing acoustic phenomena with a smartphone microphone

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhn, Jochen; Vogt, Patrik

2013-02-01

This paper describes how different sound types can be explored using the microphone of a smartphone and a suitable app. Vibrating bodies, such as strings, membranes, or bars, generate air pressure fluctuations in their immediate vicinity, which propagate through the room in the form of sound waves. Depending on the triggering mechanism, it is possible to differentiate between four types of sound waves: tone, sound, noise, and bang. In everyday language, non-experts use the terms "tone" and "sound" synonymously; however, from a physics perspective there are very clear differences between the two terms. This paper presents experiments that enable learners to explore and understand these differences. Tuning forks and musical instruments (e.g., recorders and guitars) can be used as equipment for the experiments. The data are captured using a smartphone equipped with the appropriate app (in this paper we describe the app Audio Kit for iOS systems ). The values captured by the smartphone are displayed in a screen shot and then viewed directly on the smartphone or exported to a computer graphics program for printing.

Temperature effect on crack resistance and fracture micromechanisms in tungsten-copper pseudoalloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babak, A.V.; Gopkalo, E.E.; Krasovskij, A.Ya.; Nadezhdin, G.N.; Uskov, E.I.

1988-01-01

Results of the mechanical- and-physical study of peculiarities of the tungsten-copper pseudoalloy fracture in the temperature range of 293-2273 K are presented. It is shown that the studied material possesses maximum crack resistance in the vicinity of the upper temperature range boundary of the ductile-brittle transition and minimum resistance to cracks propagation when it contains melted copper. It is established that the peculiarities of changes in crack-resistance correspond to peculiarities of fracture micromechanisms for tungsten-copper pseudoalloy in the studied tempearture range

Laser Power Measurement Using Commercial MEMS Pressure Sensor along with PSoC Embedded Read-out

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Jayapandian

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Solid-state, gas, semiconductor and other types of lasers are extensively employed in industry for producing laser beams used in such wide ranging fields as machining, medicine and communications. In such applications, it is necessary to be able to accurately measure the power of the laser beam that is emitted by the laser. This paper describes a novel design technique which uses the diaphragm of a commercial MEMS pressure sensor as a target surface on which laser beam impinge, transfer heat and causes change in piezo resistance. The measured change in resistance was proportional to the intensity of laser beam in the range of 0 to 300 mW. The ratio metric embedded read-out design using a single chip programmable system on chip (PSoC has been used to acquire the resistance.

SHAPING OUR READING CLASSROOM ALIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ani Purjayanti

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Reading Comprehension has been determined (by the Director of First Common Year Program to be one of the core subjects for the first year IPB students, either in semester one or two. With the objective of being able to read English texts effectively and efficiently, the teaching of reading for these undergraduate programs are basically confined to skills that can develop reading speed and improve students‘ comprehension and reasoning abilities. Thus, skills like finding both general and specific ideas, guessing unknown words, finding meanings from English-English dictionary, predicting, ad nfinding inferences are those need to be covered. Such kind of teaching, however, can sometimes become a demanding task when dealing with certain classroom conditions and with certain targets. It is, therefore, a challenge for all English teachers in my university to be able to carry out the task well so as to achieve the above teaching objectives. Meanwhile, students‘ evaluation reveals that 3 semesters ago, teachers obtained various scores in their teaching evaluation, ranging from 2 to 3.7 out of the 1-4 scale. This paper, accordingly, is written to find out the teaching method and strategies used by those obtaining relatively good scores (3.2 and above in order to disseminate them as better insights for the teaching of reading not only in my university but also other schools or colleges.

Effect of High-Irradiance Light-Curing on Micromechanical Properties of Resin Cements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Peutzfeldt

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the influence of light-curing at high irradiances on micromechanical properties of resin cements. Three dual-curing resin cements and a light-curing flowable resin composite were light-cured with an LED curing unit in Standard mode (SM, High Power mode (HPM, or Xtra Power mode (XPM. Maximum irradiances were determined using a MARC PS radiometer, and exposure duration was varied to obtain two or three levels of radiant exposure (SM: 13.2 and 27.2 J/cm2; HPM: 15.0 and 30.4 J/cm2; XPM: 9.5, 19.3, and 29.7 J/cm2 (n=17. Vickers hardness (HV and indentation modulus (EIT were measured at 15 min and 1 week. Data were analyzed with nonparametric ANOVA, Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests, and Spearman correlation analyses (α=0.05. Irradiation protocol, resin-based material, and storage time and all interactions influenced HV and EIT significantly (p≤0.0001. Statistically significant correlations between radiant exposure and HV or EIT were found, indicating that high-irradiance light-curing has no detrimental effect on the polymerization of resin-based materials (p≤0.0021. However, one resin cement was sensitive to the combination of irradiance and exposure duration, with high-irradiance light-curing resulting in a 20% drop in micromechanical properties. The results highlight the importance of manufacturers issuing specific recommendations for the light-curing procedure of each resin cement.

Plane-wave decomposition by spherical-convolution microphone array

Science.gov (United States)

Rafaely, Boaz; Park, Munhum

2004-05-01

Reverberant sound fields are widely studied, as they have a significant influence on the acoustic performance of enclosures in a variety of applications. For example, the intelligibility of speech in lecture rooms, the quality of music in auditoria, the noise level in offices, and the production of 3D sound in living rooms are all affected by the enclosed sound field. These sound fields are typically studied through frequency response measurements or statistical measures such as reverberation time, which do not provide detailed spatial information. The aim of the work presented in this seminar is the detailed analysis of reverberant sound fields. A measurement and analysis system based on acoustic theory and signal processing, designed around a spherical microphone array, is presented. Detailed analysis is achieved by decomposition of the sound field into waves, using spherical Fourier transform and spherical convolution. The presentation will include theoretical review, simulation studies, and initial experimental results.

Reading Journal as A Way to Improve Students’ Comprehension toward A Textbook Reading Material

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Menik Winiharti

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Reading journal is one way to record students’ independent learning based on text they read. This study was conducted to find out the students’ level of reading comprehension through some notes written in the reading journal, the extent to which the activity of writing reading journals improved students’ reading comprehension, whether the students got benefit from reading journal. There were 104 respondents coming from four different departments in Bina Nusantara University were asked to read a text related to the subject they learned in a certain session. Then they were assigned to write a journal that records the things they had read. When this task was finished, the lecturer ran a quiz containing related questions to check whether they really understood the content of the text. Afterwards, students were to fill in a questionnaire regarding their opinion on the impact of the reading journal toward their reading comprehension. The findings indicate that more than half of the participants appear to understand the material well, and the task plays a certain role in improving students’ understanding. The most crucial thing is that most students think they get benefit by writing the reading journal.

A pixel unit-cell targeting 16 ns resolution and radiation hardness in a column read-out particle vertex detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wright, M.; Millaud, J.; Nygren, D.

1992-10-01

A pixel unit cell (PUC) circuit architecture, optimized for a column read out architecture, is reported. Each PUC contains an integrator, active filter, comparator, and optional analog store. The time-over-threshold (TOT) discriminator allows an all-digital interface to the array periphery readout while passing an analog measure of collected charge. Use of (existing) radiation hard processes, to build a detector bump-bonded to a pixel readout array, is targeted. Here, emphasis is on a qualitative explanation of how the unique circuit implementation benefits operation for Super Collider (SSC) detector application

A pixel unit-cell targeting 16ns resolution and radiation hardness in a column read-out particle vertex detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wright, M.; Millaud, J.; Nygren, D.

1993-01-01

A pixel unit cell (PUC) circuit architecture, optimized for a column read out architecture, is reported. Each PUC contains an integrator, active filter, comparator, and optional analog store. The time-over-threshold (TOT) discriminator allows an all-digital interface to the array periphery readout while passing an analog measure of collected charge. Use of (existing) radiation hard processes, to build a detector bump-bonded to a pixel readout array, is targeted. Here emphasis is on a qualitative explanation of how the unique circuit implementation benefits operation for Super Collider (SSC) detector application. (orig.)

Radiation effects in concrete for nuclear power plants, Part II: Perspective from micromechanical modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Le Pape, Y., E-mail: lepapeym@ornl.gov; Field, K.G.; Remec, I.

2015-02-15

Highlights: • A micromechanical model for irradiated concrete is proposed. • Confrontation with literature data is successful. • Neutron radiation-induced volumetric expansion is a predominant degradation mode. • The nature of the aggregate alters the severity of damage to irradiated concrete. - Abstract: The need to understand and characterize the effects of neutron irradiation on concrete has become urgent because of the possible extension of service life of many nuclear power generating stations. Current knowledge is primarily based on a collection of data obtained in test reactors. These data are inherently difficult to interpret because materials and testing conditions are inconsistent. A micromechanical approach based on the Hashin composite sphere model is presented to derive a first-order separation of the effects of radiation on cement paste and aggregate, and, also, on their interaction. Although the scarcity of available data limits the validation of the model, it appears that, without negating a possible gamma-ray induced effect, the neutron-induced damage and swelling of aggregate plays a predominant role on the overall concrete expansion and the damage of the cement paste. The radiation-induced volumetric expansion (RIVE) effects can also be aided by temperature elevation and shrinkage in the cement paste.

Radiation effects in concrete for nuclear power plants, Part II: Perspective from micromechanical modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Pape, Y.; Field, K.G.; Remec, I.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A micromechanical model for irradiated concrete is proposed. • Confrontation with literature data is successful. • Neutron radiation-induced volumetric expansion is a predominant degradation mode. • The nature of the aggregate alters the severity of damage to irradiated concrete. - Abstract: The need to understand and characterize the effects of neutron irradiation on concrete has become urgent because of the possible extension of service life of many nuclear power generating stations. Current knowledge is primarily based on a collection of data obtained in test reactors. These data are inherently difficult to interpret because materials and testing conditions are inconsistent. A micromechanical approach based on the Hashin composite sphere model is presented to derive a first-order separation of the effects of radiation on cement paste and aggregate, and, also, on their interaction. Although the scarcity of available data limits the validation of the model, it appears that, without negating a possible gamma-ray induced effect, the neutron-induced damage and swelling of aggregate plays a predominant role on the overall concrete expansion and the damage of the cement paste. The radiation-induced volumetric expansion (RIVE) effects can also be aided by temperature elevation and shrinkage in the cement paste

A COME and KISS QDC read-out scheme for the HADES Electromagnetic Calorimeter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rost, Adrian [Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, Darmstadt (Germany); Collaboration: HADES-Collaboration

2014-07-01

At the future FAIR Facility in Darmstadt the High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer will continue its physics program. For beam energies between 2 and 40 GeV/u the database for pion and eta production is not complete. Therefore, interpretation of future di-electron data would have to depend on interpolations or on theoretical models. The addition of an electromagnetic calorimeter to HADES would allow such measurements and would additionally improve the electron-to-pion separation at large momentum p>0.4 GeV/c. Furthermore, photon measurement would be of a large interest for the HADES strangeness program. An 8 channel QDC Front-End-Electronics (FEE) was developed for the signals of photomultipliers (PMTs) from lead-glass calorimeter modules. The measurement principle is to convert the charge of the PMT signals into a pulse, where the charge is encoded in the width of the pulse. The width of the pulses is afterwards measured by the already well-established TRBv3 platform. For that simple electronics, hiding complex operations inside a commercial FPGA is used. In this contribution the current status and future perspectives of this read-out concept are shown.

Reading Aloud.

Science.gov (United States)

Giorgis, Cyndi; Johnson, Nancy J.

1999-01-01

Offers brief descriptions of 34 children's books that are excellent for reading aloud: some of them for inviting interaction, for laughing out loud, for prompting discussion, for living vicariously, for lingering over language, and for making curricular connections. (SR)