Remark on the role of the driving force in BWR instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dykin, V.; Pazsit, I.

2009-01-01

Simple models of BWR instability, used e.g. in understanding the role of the various oscillation modes in the overall stability of the plant, assume that each oscillation mode can be described by a second order system (a damped harmonic oscillator) driven by a white noise driving force. Change of the decay ratio (DR) of the observed signal is, as a rule, associated with the changing of the parameters of the damped oscillator, mainly its damping coefficient, and is interpreted in terms of the change of the stability of the system. However, conceptually, one cannot exclude cases when the change of the response of a driven damped oscillator is due to the change of the properties of the driving force. In this work we investigate the effect of a non-white driving force on the behaviour of the system. A question of interest is how changes of the spectrum of the driving force influence the observed autocorrelation function (ACF) of the resulting signal. Hence we calculate the response of a damped harmonic oscillator driven by a non-white driving force, corresponding to the reactivity effect of propagating density fluctuations in two-phase flow. It is shown how in some special cases such a driving force, when interpreting the neutron noise as if induced by a white noise driving source, can lead to an erroneous conclusion regarding the stability of the system. It is also concluded that in the practically interesting cases the effect of the coloured driving force, arising from propagating density fluctuations, is negligible.

Processes and driving forces in changing cultural landscapes across Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bürgi, Matthias; Bieling, Claudia; Von Hackwitz, Kim

2017-01-01

Context: Cultural landscapes evolve over time. However, the rate and direction of change might not be in line with societal needs and more information on the forces driving these changes are therefore needed. Objectives: Filling the gap between single case studies and meta-analyses, we present...... perceived landscape changes, and remembered driving forces. Land cover and landscape changes were analysed regarding change, conversions and processes. For all case study areas, narratives on mapped land cover change, perceived landscape changes and driving forces were compiled. Results: Despite a very high...... diversity in extent, direction and rates of change, a few dominant processes and widespread factors driving the changes could be identified in the six case study areas, i.e. access and infrastructure, political shifts, labor market, technological innovations, and for the more recent period climate change...

Plate Tectonics as a Far-From-Equilibrium Self-Organized Dissipative System

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, D. L.

2001-12-01

A fluid above the critical Rayleigh number is far from equilibrium and spontaneously organizes itself into patterns involving the collective motion of large numbers of molecules which are resisted by the viscosity of the fluid. No external template is involved in forming the pattern. In 1928 Pearson showed that Bénard's experiments were driven by variations in surface tension at the top of the fluid and the surface motions drove convection in the fluid. In this case, the surface organized itself AND the underlying fluid. Both internal buoyancy driven flow and flow driven by surface forces can be far-from-equilibrium self-organized open systems that receive energy and matter from the environment. In the Earth, the cold thermal boundary layer at the surface drives plate tectonics and introduces temperature, shear and pressure gradients into the mantle that drive mantle convection. The mantle provides energy and material but may not provide the template. Plate tectonics is therefore a candidate for a far-from-equilibrium dissipative self-organizing system. Alternatively, one could view mantle convection as the self-organized system and the plates as simply the surface manifestation. Lithospheric architecture also imposes lateral temperature gradients onto the mantle which can drive and organize flow. Far-from-equilibrium self-organization requires; an open system, interacting parts, nonlinearities or feedbacks, an outside steady source of energy or matter, multiple possible states and a source of dissipation. In uniform fluids viscosity is the source of dissipation. Sources of dissipation in the plate system include bending, breaking, folding, shearing, tearing, collision and basal drag. These can change rapidly, in contrast to plate driving forces, and introduce the sort of fluctuations that can reorganize far-from-equilibrium systems. Global plate reorganizations can alternatively be thought of as convective overturns of the mantle, or thermal weakening of plates

The Secret Driving Force Behind Mongolia’s Successful Democracy

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

the nation’s democracy movement its earliest stages. Courtesy of the Democratic Union of Mongolia PRISM 6, no. 1 FROM THE FIELD | 141 The Secret Driving...assistance and trade. Our state budget PRISM 6, no. 1 FROM THE FIELD | 143 THE SECRET DRIVING FORCE BEHIND MONGOLIA’S SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRACY collapsed; we...O yungerel Tsedevdam ba (2006) PRISM 6, no. 1 FROM THE FIELD | 145 THE SECRET DRIVING FORCE BEHIND MONGOLIA’S SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRACY significantly as

A guide for statewide impaired-driving task forces.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-09-01

The purpose of the guide is to assist State officials and other stakeholders who are interested in establishing an : Impaired-Driving Statewide Task Force or who are exploring ways to improve their current Task Force. The guide : addresses issues suc...

Use of a tibial accelerometer to measure ground reaction force in running: A reliability and validity comparison with force plates.

Science.gov (United States)

Raper, Damian P; Witchalls, Jeremy; Philips, Elissa J; Knight, Emma; Drew, Michael K; Waddington, Gordon

2018-01-01

The use of microsensor technologies to conduct research and implement interventions in sports and exercise medicine has increased recently. The objective of this paper was to determine the validity and reliability of the ViPerform as a measure of load compared to vertical ground reaction force (GRF) as measured by force plates. Absolute reliability assessment, with concurrent validity. 10 professional triathletes ran 10 trials over force plates with the ViPerform mounted on the mid portion of the medial tibia. Calculated vertical ground reaction force data from the ViPerform was matched to the same stride on the force plate. Bland-Altman (BA) plot of comparative measure of agreement was used to assess the relationship between the calculated load from the accelerometer and the force plates. Reliability was calculated by intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) with 95% confidence intervals. BA plot indicates minimal agreement between the measures derived from the force plate and ViPerform, with variation at an individual participant plot level. Reliability was excellent (ICC=0.877; 95% CI=0.825-0.917) in calculating the same vertical GRF in a repeated trial. Standard error of measure (SEM) equalled 99.83 units (95% CI=82.10-119.09), which, in turn, gave a minimum detectable change (MDC) value of 276.72 units (95% CI=227.32-330.07). The ViPerform does not calculate absolute values of vertical GRF similar to those measured by a force plate. It does provide a valid and reliable calculation of an athlete's lower limb load at constant velocity. Copyright © 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Driving forces for texture transformation in thin Ag films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellis, Elizabeth A.; Chmielus, Markus; Lin, Ming-Tzer; Joress, Howie; Visser, Kyle; Woll, Arthur; Vinci, Richard P.; Brown, Walter L.; Baker, Shefford P.

2016-01-01

The well-known thickness-dependent (111)-to-(100) texture transformation in thin FCC films is usually attributed to a competition between interface and strain energies. In this model, thin films retain their (111) texture due to the lower energy of the (111) interface, while thick films transform to (100) due to the lower stiffness and thus strain energy of a (100) film. However, recent work has called this model into question, suggesting that neither the stress nor the interface energy play a dominant role in texture transformation. We investigated the driving forces involved in this transformation by using a bulge test apparatus to induce different stresses in thin Ag films under identical annealing conditions. In situ synchrotron XRD measurements show the change in texture during annealing, and reveal that applied stresses have no effect on the transformation. Stress analysis shows that differences in driving forces for texture transformation due to applied bulge pressure were significant (≈200 kJ/m 3 ), suggesting that a different, much larger driving force must be responsible. Reduction in defect energy has been proposed as an alternative. However, vacancy and dislocation densities must be exceptionally high to significantly exceed the strain energy and do not provide obvious orientation selection mechanisms. Nanotwins in reported densities are shown to provide greater driving force (≈1000 kJ/m 3 ) and may account for orientation selection. The large difference between the calculated strain and defect energies and the driving force for grain growth (21,100 kJ/m 3 ) casts doubt on the applicability of a simple thermodynamic model of texture transformation.

[Experimental study on carbon fiber reinforced plastic plate--analysis of stabilizing force required for plate].

Science.gov (United States)

Iizuka, H

1990-11-01

Plates currently in use for the management of bone fracture made of metal present with various problems. We manufactured carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) plates from Pyrofil T/530 puriplegs overlaid at cross angles of +/- 10 degrees, +/- 20 degrees, and +/- 30 degrees for trial and carried out an experimental study on rabbit tibiofibular bones using 316L stainless steel plates of comparable shape and size as controls. The results indicate the influence of CFRP plate upon cortical bone was milder than that of stainless steel plate, with an adequate stabilizing force for the repair of fractured rabbit tibiofibular bones. CFRP has the advantages over metals of being virtually free from corrosion and fatigue, reasonably radiolucent and able to meet a wide range of mechanical requirements. This would make CFRP plate quite promising as a new devices of treating fracture of bones.

A square-plate ultrasonic linear motor operating in two orthogonal first bending modes.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhijiang; Li, Xiaotian; Chen, Jianguo; Dong, Shuxiang

2013-01-01

A novel square-plate piezoelectric ultrasonic linear motor operated in two orthogonal first bending vibration modes (B₁) is proposed. The piezoelectric vibrator of the linear motor is simply made of a single PZT ceramic plate (sizes: 15 x 15 x 2 mm) and poled in its thickness direction. The top surface electrode of the square ceramic plate was divided into four active areas along its two diagonal lines for exciting two orthogonal B₁ modes. The achieved driving force and speed from the linear motor are 1.8 N and 230 mm/s, respectively, under one pair orthogonal voltage drive of 150 V(p-p) at the resonance frequency of 92 kHz. The proposed linear motor has advantages over conventional ultrasonic linear motors, such as relatively larger driving force, very simple working mode and structure, and low fabrication cost.

Forces that Drive Nanoscale Self-assembly on Solid Surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suo, Z.; Lu, W.

2000-01-01

Experimental evidence has accumulated in the recent decade that nanoscale patterns can self-assemble on solid surfaces. A two-component monolayer grown on a solid surface may separate into distinct phases. Sometimes the phases select sizes about 10 nm, and order into an array of stripes or disks. This paper reviews a model that accounts for these behaviors. Attention is focused on thermodynamic forces that drive the self-assembly. A double-welled, composition-dependent free energy drives phase separation. The phase boundary energy drives phase coarsening. The concentration-dependent surface stress drives phase refining. It is the competition between the coarsening and the refining that leads to size selection and spatial ordering. These thermodynamic forces are embodied in a nonlinear diffusion equation. Numerical simulations reveal rich dynamics of the pattern formation process. It is relatively fast for the phases to separate and select a uniform size, but exceedingly slow to order over a long distance, unless the symmetry is suitably broken

OSHA Laboratory Standard: Driving Force for Laboratory Safety!

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Kenneth R.

2000-01-01

Discusses the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) Laboratory Safety Standards as the major driving force in establishing and maintaining a safe working environment for teachers and students. (Author)

On the forces that drive and resist deformation of the south-central Mediterranean: a mechanical model study

Science.gov (United States)

Nijholt, Nicolai; Govers, Rob; Wortel, Rinus

2018-04-01

The geodynamics of the Mediterranean comprises a transitional setting in which slab rollback and plate convergence compete to shape the region. In the central Mediterranean, where the balance of driving and resisting forces changes continuously and rapidly since the Miocene, both kinematic and seismo-tectonic observations display a strong variation in deformation style and, therefore possibly, lithospheric forces. We aim to understand the current kinematics in southern Italy and Sicily in terms of lithospheric forces that cause them. The strong regional variation of geodetic velocities appears to prohibit such simple explanation. We use mechanical models to quantify the deformation resulting from large-scale Africa-Eurasia convergence, ESE retreat of the Calabrian subduction zone, pull by the Aegean slab, and regional variations in gravitational potential energy (topography). A key model element is the resistance to slip on major regional fault zones. We show that geodetic velocities, seismicity and sense of slip on regional faults can be understood to result from lithospheric forces. Our most important new finding is that regional variations in resistive tractions are required to fit the observations, with notably very low tractions on the Calabrian subduction contact, and a buildup towards a significant earthquake in the Calabrian fore-arc. We also find that the Calabrian net slab pull force is strongly reduced (compared to the value possible in view of the slab's dimensions) and that trench suction tractions are negligible. Such very small contributions to the present-day force balance in the south-central Mediterranean suggest that the Calabrian arc is now further transitioning towards a setting dominated by Africa-Eurasia plate convergence, whereas during the past 30 Myrs slab retreat continually was the dominant factor.

Crack Driving Forces in a Multilayered Coating System for Ceramic Matrix Composite Substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosn, Louis J.; Zhu, Dongming; Miller, Robert A.

2005-01-01

The effects of the top coating thickness, modulus and shrinkage strains on the crack driving forces for a baseline multilayer Yttria-Stabilized-Zirconia/Mullite/Si thermal and environment barrier coating (TEBC) system for SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composite substrates are determined for gas turbine applications. The crack driving forces increase with increasing modulus, and a low modulus thermal barrier coating material (below 10 GPa) will have no cracking issues under the thermal gradient condition analyzed. Since top coating sintering increases the crack driving forces with time, highly sintering resistant coatings are desirable to maintain a low tensile modulus and maintain a low crack driving force with time. Finite element results demonstrated that an advanced TEBC system, such as ZrO2/HfO2, which possesses improved sintering resistance and high temperature stability, exhibited excellent durability. A multi-vertical cracked structure with fine columnar spacing is an ideal strain tolerant coating capable of reducing the crack driving forces to an acceptable level even with a high modulus of 50 GPa.

On Optimizing Steering Performance of Multi-axle Vehicle Based on Driving Force Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Zhicheng

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The steering performance of multi-axle vehicle with independent driving system is affected by the distribution of the wheel driving force. A nonlinear vehicle dynamics model including magic formula tire model for describing 11 DoF four-axle vehicle with dual-front-axle-steering (DFAS system was presented. The influence of different driving force distribution scheme on the steering performance of the vehicle was analyzed. A control strategy for improving the steady response and transient response of the vehicle steering is proposed. The results show: For the steady response, setting different drive force for internal and external wheels according to the actual steering characteristics of the vehicle can effectively improve its steering characteristics; For the transient response, adopting the zero sideslip angle control strategy and using the PID control algorithm to control the driving force of the outside wheel of tear-two-axle, under angle step input, the vehicle sideslip angle can quickly stabilize to 0 and yaw rate also significantly decreases.

Information driving force and its application in agent-based modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ting-Ting; Zheng, Bo; Li, Yan; Jiang, Xiong-Fei

2018-04-01

Exploring the scientific impact of online big-data has attracted much attention of researchers from different fields in recent years. Complex financial systems are typical open systems profoundly influenced by the external information. Based on the large-scale data in the public media and stock markets, we first define an information driving force, and analyze how it affects the complex financial system. The information driving force is observed to be asymmetric in the bull and bear market states. As an application, we then propose an agent-based model driven by the information driving force. Especially, all the key parameters are determined from the empirical analysis rather than from statistical fitting of the simulation results. With our model, both the stationary properties and non-stationary dynamic behaviors are simulated. Considering the mean-field effect of the external information, we also propose a few-body model to simulate the financial market in the laboratory.

Wall relaxation and the driving forces for cell expansive growth

Science.gov (United States)

Cosgrove, D. J.

1987-01-01

When water uptake by growing cells is prevented, the turgor pressure and the tensile stress in the cell wall are reduced by continued wall loosening. This process, termed in vivo stress relaxation, provides a new way to study the dynamics of wall loosening and to measure the wall yield threshold and the physiological wall extensibility. Stress relaxation experiments indicate that wall stress supplies the mechanical driving force for wall yielding. Cell expansion also requires water absorption. The driving force for water uptake during growth is created by wall relaxation, which lowers the water potential of the expanding cells. New techniques for measuring this driving force show that it is smaller than believed previously; in elongating stems it is only 0.3 to 0.5 bar. This means that the hydraulic resistance of the water transport pathway is small and that rate of cell expansion is controlled primarily by wall loosening and yielding.

On the driving force for crack growth during thermal actuation of shape memory alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Baxevanis, T.; Parrinello, A. F.; Lagoudas, D. C.

2016-04-01

The effect of thermomechanically induced phase transformation on the driving force for crack growth in polycrystalline shape memory alloys is analyzed in an infinite center-cracked plate subjected to a thermal actuation cycle under mechanical load in plain strain. Finite element calculations are carried out to determine the mechanical fields near the static crack and the crack-tip energy release rate using the virtual crack closure technique. A substantial increase of the energy release rate - an order of magnitude for some material systems - is observed during the thermal cycle due to the stress redistribution induced by large scale phase transformation. Thus, phase transformation occurring due to thermal variations under mechanical load may result in crack growth if the crack-tip energy release rate reaches a material specific critical value.

Driving reconnection in sheared magnetic configurations with forced fluctuations

Science.gov (United States)

Pongkitiwanichakul, Peera; Makwana, Kirit D.; Ruffolo, David

2018-02-01

We investigate reconnection of magnetic field lines in sheared magnetic field configurations due to fluctuations driven by random forcing by means of numerical simulations. The simulations are performed with an incompressible, pseudo-spectral magnetohydrodynamics code in 2D where we take thick, resistively decaying, current-sheet like sheared magnetic configurations which do not reconnect spontaneously. We describe and test the forcing that is introduced in the momentum equation to drive fluctuations. It is found that the forcing does not change the rate of decay; however, it adds and removes energy faster in the presence of the magnetic shear structure compared to when it has decayed away. We observe that such a forcing can induce magnetic reconnection due to field line wandering leading to the formation of magnetic islands and O-points. These reconnecting field lines spread out as the current sheet decays with time. A semi-empirical formula is derived which reasonably explains the formation and spread of O-points. We find that reconnection spreads faster with stronger forcing and longer correlation time of forcing, while the wavenumber of forcing does not have a significant effect. When the field line wandering becomes large enough, the neighboring current sheets with opposite polarity start interacting, and then the magnetic field is rapidly annihilated. This work is useful to understand how forced fluctuations can drive reconnection in large scale current structures in space and astrophysical plasmas that are not susceptible to reconnection.

Analyzing the Long Term Cohesive Effect of Sector Specific Driving Forces.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yonatan Berman

Full Text Available Financial markets are partially composed of sectors dominated by external driving forces, such as commodity prices, infrastructure and other indices. We characterize the statistical properties of such sectors and present a novel model for the coupling of the stock prices and their dominating driving forces, inspired by mean reverting stochastic processes. Using the model we were able to explain the market sectors' long term behavior and estimate the coupling strength between stocks in financial markets and the sector specific driving forces. Notably, the analysis was successfully applied to the shipping market, in which the Baltic dry index (BDI, an assessment of the price of transporting the major raw materials by sea, influences the shipping financial market. We also present the analysis of other sectors-the gold mining market and the food production market, for which the model was also successfully applied. The model can serve as a general tool for characterizing the coupling between external forces and affected financial variables and therefore for estimating the risk in sectors and their vulnerability to external stress.

A wearable force plate system for the continuous measurement of triaxial ground reaction force in biomechanical applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Tao; Inoue, Yoshio; Shibata, Kyoko

2010-01-01

The ambulatory measurement of ground reaction force (GRF) and human motion under free-living conditions is convenient, inexpensive and never restricted to gait analysis in a laboratory environment and is therefore much desired by researchers and clinical doctors in biomedical applications. A wearable force plate system was developed by integrating small triaxial force sensors and three-dimensional (3D) inertial sensors for estimating dynamic triaxial GRF in biomechanical applications. The system, in comparison to existent systems, is characterized by being lightweight, thin and easy-to-wear. A six-axial force sensor (Nitta Co., Japan) was used as a verification measurement device to validate the static accuracy of the developed force plate. To evaluate the precision during dynamic gait measurements, we compared the measurements of the triaxial GRF and the center of pressure (CoP) by using the developed system with the reference measurements made using a stationary force plate and an optical motion analysis system. The root mean square (RMS) differences of the two transverse components (x- and y-axes) and the vertical component (z-axis) of the GRF were 4.3 ± 0.9 N, 6.0 ± 1.3 N and 12.1 ± 1.1 N, respectively, corresponding to 5.1 ± 1.1% and 6.5 ± 1% of the maximum of each transverse component and 1.3 ± 0.2% of the maximum vertical component of GRF. The RMS distance between the two systems' CoP traces was 3.2 ± 0.8 mm, corresponding to 1.2 ± 0.3% of the length of the shoe. Moreover, based on the results of the assessment of the influence of the system on natural gait, we found that gait was almost never affected. Therefore, the wearable system as an alternative device can be a potential solution for measuring CoP and triaxial GRF in non-laboratory environments

The Importance of Lower Mantle Structure to Plate Stresses and Plate Motions

Science.gov (United States)

Holt, W. E.; Wang, X.; Ghosh, A.

2016-12-01

Plate motions and plate stresses are widely assumed as the surface expression of mantle convection. The generation of plate tectonics from mantle convection has been studied for many years. Lithospheric thickening (or ridge push) and slab pull forces are commonly accepted as the major driving forces for the plate motions. However, the importance of the lower mantle to plate stresses and plate motions remains less clear. Here, we use the joint modeling of lithosphere and mantle dynamics approach of Wang et al. (2015) to compute the tractions originating from deeper mantle convection and follow the method of Ghosh et al. (2013) to calculate gravitational potential energy per unit area (GPE) based on Crust 1.0 (Laske et al., 2013). Absolute values of deviatoric stresses are determined by the body force distributions (GPE gradients and traction magnitudes applied at the base of the lithosphere). We use the same relative viscosity model that Ghosh et al. (2013) used, and we solve for one single adjustable scaling factor that multiplies the entire relative viscosity field to provide absolute values of viscosity throughout the lithosphere. This distribution of absolute values of lithosphere viscosities defines the magnitudes of surface motions. In this procedure, the dynamic model first satisfies the internal constraint of no-net-rotation of motions. The model viscosity field is then scaled by the single factor until we achieve a root mean square (RMS) minimum between computed surface motions and the kinematic no-net-rotation (NNR) model of Kreemer et al. (2006). We compute plate stresses and plate motions from recently published global tomography models (over 70 based on Wang et al., 2015). We find that RMS misfits are significantly reduced when details of lower mantle structure from the latest tomography models are added to models that contain only upper and mid-mantle density distributions. One of the key reasons is that active upwelling from the Large Low Shear

Forced and free convection hydromagnetic flow past a vertical flat plate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdelkhalek, M.M.

2004-01-01

The effects of magnetic field and temperature heat source on the free and forced convection flow past an infinite vertical plate is studied analytically. Solutions of the reduced equation appropriate in the forced convection and free convection regime are obtained using perturbation technique. The expression for the velocity field, skin friction and Nusselt number have been obtained

Four-plate piezoelectric actuator driving a large-diameter special optical fiber for nonlinear optical microendoscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ying; Li, Zhi; Liang, Xiaobao; Fu, Ling

2016-08-22

In nonlinear optical microendoscope (NOME), a fiber with excellent optical characteristics and a miniature scanning mechanism at the distal end are two key components. Double-clad fibers (DCFs) and double-clad photonic crystal fibers (DCPCFs) have shown great optical characteristics but limited vibration amplitude due to large diameter. Besides reducing the damping of fiber cantilever, optimizing the structural of the actuator for lower energy dissipation also contributes to better driving capability. This paper presented an optimized actuator for driving a particular fiber cantilever in the view point of energy. Firstly, deformation energy of a bending fiber cantilever operating in resonant mode is investigated. Secondly, strain and stress analyses revealed that the four-plate actuator achieved lower energy dissipation. Then, finite-element simulations showed that the large-diameter fiber yielded an adequate vibration amplitude driven by a four-plate actuator, which was confirmed by experiments of our home-made four-plate actuator prototypes. Additionally, a NOME based on a DCPCF with a diameter of 350 μm driven by four-plate piezoelectric actuator has been developed. The NOME can excite and collect intrinsic second-harmonic and two-photon fluorescence signals with the excitation power of 10-30 mW and an adequate field of view of 200 μm, which suggest great potential applications in neuroscience and clinical diagnoses.

Forced convection heat transfer correlation for finned plates in a duct

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chae, Myeong-Seon; Moon, Je-Young; Chung, Bum-Jin

2014-01-01

Forced convection heat transfer experiments were conducted for plate-fin in a duct using various fin spacing, fin height, duct width, Reynolds number for Prandtl numbers 2,014. Based upon analogy concept, mass transfer rate were measured instead of heat transfer rates. The heat transfer rates were enhanced with the increase of fin height and decrease of fin spacing as they increase the heat transfer area. Meanwhile, heat transfer rates were impaired with the increase of the duct width as the bypass flows increased to tip clearance region. Forced convection heat transfer correlations were developed for laminar and turbulent flow conditions and for narrow and wide ducts. The work draws attention to the tip clearance on the heat transfer of the finned plate in a duct. (author)

Driving forces and barriers for environmental technology development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

Driving forces and barriers behind development and usage of environmental technology is discussed, and also whether there are certain characteristics related to environmental innovations compared to other innovations in general. The development of environmental technology is in principle dominated by the same drivers and barriers as any other technology, but the order and strength of the various factors may be different. This examination as well as other empirical studies shows that regulations play a greater part for environmental technology than 'pure market forces'. To many participants it is important to be one step ahead of the regulations, i.e. the expected regulations are equally important as the factual ones in driving the technology development. Players in the business community express that it is important that the authorities cooperate with them when introducing new regulations. This will increase acceptance for the regulations and facilitate the necessary adjustments. The most important barrier in the development and use of the technologies studied is probably the lack of demand

Towards measurement of the Casimir force between parallel plates separated at sub-mircon distance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Syed Nawazuddin, M.B.; Lammerink, Theodorus S.J.; Wiegerink, Remco J.; Berenschot, Johan W.; de Boer, Meint J.; Elwenspoek, Michael Curt

2011-01-01

Ever since its prediction, experimental investigation of the Casimir force has been of great scientific interest. Many research groups have successfully attempted quantifying the force with different device geometries; however measurement of the Casimir force between parallel plates with sub-micron

Measuring Industry Coagglomeration and Identifying the Driving Forces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Howard, Emma; Newman, Carol; Tarp, Finn

2015-01-01

Understanding industry agglomeration and its driving forces is critical for the formulation of industrial policy in developing countries. Crucial to this process is the definition and measurement of agglomeration. We construct a new coagglomeration index based purely on the location of firms. We...... underlying stories at work. We conclude that in conducting analyses of this kind giving consideration to the source of agglomeration economies, employees or entrepreneurs, and finding an appropriate measure for agglomeration, are both crucial to the process of identifying agglomerative forces....

Estimation of Muscle Force Based on Neural Drive in a Hemispheric Stroke Survivor.

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Chenyun; Zheng, Yang; Hu, Xiaogang

2018-01-01

Robotic assistant-based therapy holds great promise to improve the functional recovery of stroke survivors. Numerous neural-machine interface techniques have been used to decode the intended movement to control robotic systems for rehabilitation therapies. In this case report, we tested the feasibility of estimating finger extensor muscle forces of a stroke survivor, based on the decoded descending neural drive through population motoneuron discharge timings. Motoneuron discharge events were obtained by decomposing high-density surface electromyogram (sEMG) signals of the finger extensor muscle. The neural drive was extracted from the normalized frequency of the composite discharge of the motoneuron pool. The neural-drive-based estimation was also compared with the classic myoelectric-based estimation. Our results showed that the neural-drive-based approach can better predict the force output, quantified by lower estimation errors and higher correlations with the muscle force, compared with the myoelectric-based estimation. Our findings suggest that the neural-drive-based approach can potentially be used as a more robust interface signal for robotic therapies during the stroke rehabilitation.

Driving forces in the Greenlandic urbanization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hendriksen, Kåre

2014-01-01

Generally urbanization is recognised as a natural development where the population is mowing into the larger towns driven by e.g. better job opportunities, larger product and service supply and better education and health services, and it is often argued that this is also the driving forces...... support and with limited export oriented value creation. It will be disused how the previous and present urbanization interact with a sustainable development and what is the core prerequisites for sustainable towns and settlements....

An introductory handbook for state task forces to combat drunk driving.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-01-01

In June 1982 Governor Robb created a task force to identify and assess efforts under way in Virginia to address the problem of drunken driving and to make recommendations. This booklet was prepared to assist the task force in its deliberations.

A balanced ATP driving force module for enhancing photosynthetic biosynthesis of 3-hydroxybutyrate from CO2.

Science.gov (United States)

Ku, Jason T; Lan, Ethan I

2018-03-01

Using engineered photoautotrophic microorganisms for the direct chemical synthesis from CO 2 is an attractive direction for both sustainability and CO 2 mitigation. However, the behaviors of non-native metabolic pathways may be difficult to control due to the different intracellular contexts between natural and heterologous hosts. While most metabolic engineering efforts focus on strengthening driving forces in pathway design to favor biochemical production in these organisms, excessive driving force may be detrimental to product biosynthesis due to imbalanced cellular intermediate distribution. In this study, an ATP-hydrolysis based driving force module was engineered into cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 to produce 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB), a valuable chemical feedstock for the synthesis of biodegradable plastics and antibiotics. However, while the ATP driving force module is effective for increasing product formation, uncontrolled accumulation of intermediate metabolites likely led to metabolic imbalance and thus to cell growth inhibition. Therefore, the ATP driving force module was reengineered by providing a reversible outlet for excessive carbon flux. Upon expression of this balanced ATP driving force module with 3HB biosynthesis, engineered strain produced 3HB with a cumulative titer of 1.2 g/L, a significant increase over the initial strain. This result highlighted the importance of pathway reversibility as an effective design strategy for balancing driving force and intermediate accumulation, thereby achieving a self-regulated control for increased net flux towards product biosynthesis. Copyright © 2018 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A global limit load solution for plates with surface cracks under combined end force and cross-thickness bending

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lei Yuebao; Fox, Mike J.H.

2011-01-01

A global limit load solution for rectangular surface cracks in plates under combined end force and cross-thickness bending is derived, which allows any combination of positive/negative end force and positive/negative cross-thickness moment. The solution is based on the net-section plastic collapse concept and, therefore, gives limit load values based on the Tresca yielding criterion. Solutions for both cases with and without crack face contact are derived when whole or part of the crack is located in the compressive stress zone. From the solution, particular global limit load solutions for plates with extended surface cracks and through-thickness cracks under the same loading conditions are obtained. The solution is consistent with the limit load solution for surface cracks in plates under combined tension and positive bending due to Goodall and Webster and Lei when both the applied end force and bending moment are positive. The solution reduces to the limit load solution for plain plates under combined end force and cross-thickness bending when the crack vanishes. - Highlights: → A global limit load solution for plates with surface cracks in plates is derived. → Combined positive/negative end force and positive/negative cross-thickness moment are considered. → The solution is based on the net-section plastic collapse concept.

Driving-forces model on individual behavior in scenarios considering moving threat agents

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shuying; Zhuang, Jun; Shen, Shifei; Wang, Jia

2017-09-01

The individual behavior model is a contributory factor to improve the accuracy of agent-based simulation in different scenarios. However, few studies have considered moving threat agents, which often occur in terrorist attacks caused by attackers with close-range weapons (e.g., sword, stick). At the same time, many existing behavior models lack validation from cases or experiments. This paper builds a new individual behavior model based on seven behavioral hypotheses. The driving-forces model is an extension of the classical social force model considering scenarios including moving threat agents. An experiment was conducted to validate the key components of the model. Then the model is compared with an advanced Elliptical Specification II social force model, by calculating the fitting errors between the simulated and experimental trajectories, and being applied to simulate a specific circumstance. Our results show that the driving-forces model reduced the fitting error by an average of 33.9% and the standard deviation by an average of 44.5%, which indicates the accuracy and stability of the model in the studied situation. The new driving-forces model could be used to simulate individual behavior when analyzing the risk of specific scenarios using agent-based simulation methods, such as risk analysis of close-range terrorist attacks in public places.

Multi-axis force sensing using a resonant composite piezoelectric plate: model and experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Castaño-Cano, Davinson; Grossard, Mathieu; Hubert, Arnaud

2015-05-01

Wrist force/torque sensors used in robotic applications increase the performances and flexibility of the automated tasks. They also offer new possibilities in the manufacturing process, where physical contact between the work-piece and environment is required. The wide spreading of these sensors is for now restricted by their features. As an alternative to the existing strain-gauges force sensors, this paper presents a resonant composite structure, which is sensitive to multiple components of force that are considered via the pre-stress effect. Structurally bonded piezoelectric patches are used to bring the structure to its resonance, which is shifted according to applied forces. The relationship between force and frequency shift is modelled considering the multi-physics of this smart structure. This model is built using Hamilton's principle and takes into account pre-stress phenomena. A finite element model (FEM) based on Mindlin theory for plates, has been derived from the analytical model. The FEM model is implemented in MATLAB and compared with commercial FE software. Finally, an experimental prototype validates the model, and shows that it is possible to measure multiple force-components with one single sensing element such as a plate.

Multi-axis force sensing using a resonant composite piezoelectric plate: model and experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castaño-Cano, Davinson; Grossard, Mathieu; Hubert, Arnaud

2015-01-01

Wrist force/torque sensors used in robotic applications increase the performances and flexibility of the automated tasks. They also offer new possibilities in the manufacturing process, where physical contact between the work-piece and environment is required. The wide spreading of these sensors is for now restricted by their features. As an alternative to the existing strain-gauges force sensors, this paper presents a resonant composite structure, which is sensitive to multiple components of force that are considered via the pre-stress effect. Structurally bonded piezoelectric patches are used to bring the structure to its resonance, which is shifted according to applied forces. The relationship between force and frequency shift is modelled considering the multi-physics of this smart structure. This model is built using Hamilton's principle and takes into account pre-stress phenomena. A finite element model (FEM) based on Mindlin theory for plates, has been derived from the analytical model. The FEM model is implemented in MATLAB and compared with commercial FE software. Finally, an experimental prototype validates the model, and shows that it is possible to measure multiple force-components with one single sensing element such as a plate. (paper)

Position and force control of a vehicle with two or more steerable drive wheels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reister, D.B.; Unseren, M.A.

1992-10-01

When a vehicle with two or more steerable drive wheels is traveling in a circle, the motion of the wheels is constrained. The wheel translational velocity divided by the radius to the center of rotation must be the same for all wheels. When the drive wheels are controlled independently using position control, the motion of the wheels may violate the constraints and the wheels may slip. Consequently, substantial errors can occur in the orientation of the vehicle. A vehicle with N drive wheels has (N - 1) constraints and one degree of freedom. We have developed a new approach to the control of a vehicle with N steerable drive wheels. The novel aspect of our approach is the use of force control. To control the vehicle, we have one degree of freedom for the position on the circle and (N - 1) forces that can be used to reduce errors. Recently, Kankaanranta and Koivo developed a control architecture that allows the force and position degrees of freedom to be decoupled. In the work of Kankaanranta and Koivo the force is an exogenous input. We have made the force endogenous by defining the force in terms of the errors in satisfying the rigid body kinematic constraints. We have applied the control architecture to the HERMIES-III robot and have measured a dramatic reduction in error (more than a factor of 20) compared to motions without force control.

Vehicle Dynamics Control of In-wheel Electric Motor Drive Vehicles Based on Averaging of Tire Force Usage

Science.gov (United States)

Masaki, Nobuo; Iwano, Haruo; Kamada, Takayoshi; Nagai, Masao

For in-wheel electric motor drive vehicles, a new vehicle dynamics control which is based on the tire force usage rate is proposed. The new controller adopts non-linear optimal control could manage the interference between direct yaw-moment control and the tire force usage rate. The new control is considered total longitudinal and transverse tire force. Therefore the controller can prevent tire force saturation near tire force limit during cornering. Simulations and test runs by the custom made four wheel drive in-wheel motor electric vehicle show that higher driving stability performance compared to the performance of the same vehicle without control.

Human health and the water environment: using the DPSEEA framework to identify the driving forces of disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Gentry-Shields, Jennifer; Bartram, Jamie

2014-01-15

There is a growing awareness of global forces that threaten human health via the water environment. A better understanding of the dynamic between human health and the water environment would enable prediction of the significant driving forces and effective strategies for coping with or preventing them. This report details the use of the Driving Force-Pressure-State-Exposure-Effect-Action (DPSEEA) framework to explore the linkage between water-related diseases and their significant driving forces. The DPSEEA frameworks indicate that a select group of driving forces, including population growth, agriculture, infrastructure (dams and irrigation), and climate change, is at the root cause of key global disease burdens. Construction of the DPSEEA frameworks also allows for the evaluation of public health interventions. Sanitation was found to be a widely applicable and effective intervention, targeting the driver/pressure linkage of most of the water-related diseases examined. Ultimately, the DPSEEA frameworks offer a platform for constituents in both the health and environmental fields to collaborate and commit to a common goal targeting the same driving forces. © 2013.

WP/084 Measuring Industry Agglomeration and Identifying the Driving Forces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Howard, Emma; Tarp, Finn; Newman, Carol

Understanding industry agglomeration and its driving forces is critical for the formulation of industrial policy in developing countries. Crucial to this process is the definition and measurement of agglomeration. We propose a new measure and examine what it reveals about the importance of transp......Understanding industry agglomeration and its driving forces is critical for the formulation of industrial policy in developing countries. Crucial to this process is the definition and measurement of agglomeration. We propose a new measure and examine what it reveals about the importance...... of transport costs, labour market pooling, and technology transfer for agglomeration processes. We contrast this analysis with insights from existing measures in the literature and find very different underlying stories at work. An exceptionally rich set of data from Vietnam makes us confident that our measure...

The impact force acting on a flat plate exposed normally to a rarefied plasma plume issuing from an annular or circular nozzle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen Xi, E-mail: cx-dem@mail.tsinghua.edu.c [Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2010-08-11

With the indirect thrust measurement of electric thrusters working at a low vacuum chamber pressure as the research background, this paper analyses the impact force acting on a flat plate exposed normally to a rarefied plasma plume issuing from a thruster with an annular or circular exit section for the free-molecule flow regime (at large Knudsen numbers). The constraint relation proposed by Cai and Boyd (2007 J. Spacecr. Rockets 44 619, 1326) about the velocity components of gas particles leaving a location on the nozzle exit section and arriving at a given spatial point outside the nozzle has been employed here to derive the analytical expressions for calculating the impact force. Sample calculation results show that if the flat plate is sufficiently large, the impact force acting on the flat plate calculated for the case without accounting for gas particle reflection at the plate surface agrees well with the axial momentum flux calculated at the thruster exit or the theoretical thrust force of the studied thruster, while accounting for the contribution of gas particles reflected from the plate surface to the impact force production may significantly increase the calculated impact force acting on the flat plate. For a Hall-effect thruster in which the thrust force is dominantly produced by the ions with high directional kinetic energy and the ions are not directly reflected from the plate surface, the contribution to the impact force production of atom species and of gas particles reflected from the plate surface is negligibly small and thus the measured axial impact force acting on a sufficiently large plate can well represent the thrust force of the thruster. On the other hand, if the contribution of the gas particles reflected from the plate surface to the impact force production cannot be neglected (e.g. for the electric thrusters with comparatively low thruster exit temperatures), appreciable error would appear in the indirect thrust measurement.

DRIVING VEHICLES SUBJECT TO A CUSTOMS RESTRICTIONS AGREEMENT WITH ORDINARY SWISS NUMBER PLATES

CERN Document Server

Relations with the Host States Service

2001-01-01

The Swiss Permanent Mission to the International Organisations in Geneva has just confirmed to CERN that it is not necessary to hold a carte de légitimation or an attestation de fonctions issued by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs to drive a vehicle subject to a customs restrictions agreement (engagement douanier), i.e. purchased or imported free of tax and customs duty, provided that the vehicle concerned is registered on ordinary Swiss number plates and not on diplomatic plates. We should like to remind you that the documents published by the Relations with the Host States Service since 1996 can be consulted on the Service's Web pages (http://www.cern.ch/relations/), which are updated as soon as new information is received from the Authorities of the Host States.

A Study of the Effect of the Fringe Fields on the Electrostatic Force in Vertical Comb Drives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Else Gallagher

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The equation that describes the relationship between the applied voltage and the resulting electrostatic force within comb drives is often used to assist in choosing the dimensions for their design. This paper re-examines how some of these dimensions—particularly the cross-sectional dimensions of the comb teeth—affect this relationship in vertical comb drives. The electrostatic forces in several vertical comb drives fabricated for this study were measured and compared to predictions made with four different mathematical models in order to explore the amount of complexity required within a model to accurately predict the electrostatic forces in the comb drives.

Model to Analyze Micro Circular Plate Subjected to Electrostatic Force

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cao Tian-Jie

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper a distributed model with three possible static modes was presented to investigate the behavior of the plate subjected to electrostatic force and uniform hydrostatic pressure both before pull in and beyond pull in. The differential governing equation of the micro circular plate specifically used for numerical solution of the three modes, in which the singularity at the center of the micro plate did not occur, was presented based on the classical thin plate theory, Taylor's series expansion and Saint-Venant's principle. The numerical solution to the differential governing equation for the different mode was mainly attributed to solve for one unknown boundary condition and the applied voltage, which could be obtained by using a two-fold method of bisection based on the shooting method. The voltage ranges over which the three modes could exist and the points where transitions occurred between the modes were computed. Incorporating the above numerical solution to the applied voltage at the normal mode with some constrained optimization method, pull-in voltage and the corresponding pull-in position can automatically be obtained. In examples, the entire mechanical behavior of the circular plate over the operational voltage ranges was investigated and the effects of different parameters on pull-in voltage were studied. The obtained results were compared with the existing results and good agreement has been achieved.

Emission of greenhouse gases 1990-2010. Trends and driving forces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-03-01

Emissions of greenhouse gases in Norway from 1990-2010 - trends and driving forces, a report that presents emission trends in Norway with the analysis of the main drivers and trends, and a review and analysis of the effectiveness of implemented measures.(Author)

Output Force Enhancement of Scratch Drive Actuator in Low-Voltage Region by Using Flexible Joint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shawn CHEN

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Here a low-voltage scratch drive actuator (LVSDA is proposed by incorporating flexible joint into the conventional SDA to improve performance in low-voltage region. Experimental results show that, at the same total plate length of 80 mm and width of 65 mm, the proposed LVSDA can be actuated as low as 40 V, much lower than 80 V, the minimum required input voltage of the conventional SDA. From finite element analysis by CosmosWorks, yielding effect is found to be a critical factor. Before yielding, LVSDA can provide better performance than SDA at the same input voltage. However, the yielding stress in flexible joint would limit the achievable maximum output force in high-voltage region. By varying joint length, width, or location, LVSDA is shown to be operated in low-voltage region where the conventional SDA can not be operated, and can still provide comparable performance as SDA in high-voltage region.

A square-plate piezoelectric linear motor operating in two orthogonal and isomorphic face-diagonal-bending modes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ci, Penghong; Chen, Zhijiang; Liu, Guoxi; Dong, Shuxiang

2014-01-01

We report a piezoelectric linear motor made of a single Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 square-plate, which operates in two orthogonal and isomorphic face-diagonal-bending modes to produce precision linear motion. A 15 × 15 × 2 mm prototype was fabricated, and the motor generated a driving force of up to 1.8 N and a speed of 170 mm/s under an applied voltage of 100 Vpp at the resonance frequency of 136.5 kHz. The motor shows such advantages as large driving force under relatively low driving voltage, simple structure, and stable motion because of its isomorphic face-diagonal-bending mode.

Investigating the effect of clamping force on the fatigue life of bolted plates using volumetric approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esmaeili, F.; Chakherlou, T. N.; Zehsaz, M.; Hasanifard, S.

2013-01-01

In this paper, the effects of bolt clamping force on the fatigue life for bolted plates made from Al7075-T6 have been studied on the values of notch strength reduction factor obtained by volumetric approach. To attain stress distribution around the notch (hole) which is required for volumetric approach, nonlinear finite element simulations were carried out. To estimate the fatigue life, the available smooth S-N curve of Al7075-T6 and the notch strength reduction factor obtained from volumetric method were used. The estimated fatigue life was compared with the available experimental test results. The investigation shows that there is a good agreement between the life predicted by the volumetric approach and the experimental results for various specimens with different amount of clamping forces. Volumetric approach and experimental results showed that the fatigue life of bolted plates improves because of the compressive stresses created around the plate hole due to clamping force.

Effect of a powered drive on pushing and pulling forces when transporting bariatric hospital beds.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiggermann, Neal

2017-01-01

Powered drives designed to assist with moving hospital beds are commercially available but no studies have evaluated whether they reduce the push and pull forces likely contributing to injury in caregivers. This study measured hand forces of 10 caregivers maneuvering a manual and powered bariatric bed through simulated hospital environments (hallway, elevator, and ramp). Peak push and pull forces exceeded previously established psychophysical limits for all activities with the manual bed. For the powered bed, peak forces were significantly (p pushing did not differ between beds. Powered drive may reduce the risk of injury or the number of caregivers needed for transport. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Technology as a driving force

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Torvund, T.

1994-01-01

The competitiveness of the Norwegian Continental shelf has been put firmly on the agenda in Norway since the report from a working group set up by the Ministry of Industry and Energy was released in February this year. If there is to be secured a long future for oil and gas activities, a reduction in the time and costs used in the projects of the order of 40-50%, without jeopardizing the high safety and environmental standards achieved in Norway. The paper addresses how technology can be a driving force in achieving these aims. But technology alone cannot do the job. Progress and changes in several other areas are also necessary, and the new scenario also calls for improved relations between all actors in the North Sea, authorities, oil companies, contractors and labour unions. 15 figs

Technology as a driving force

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Torvund, T [Norsk Hydro A/S (Norway)

1994-12-31

The competitiveness of the Norwegian Continental shelf has been put firmly on the agenda in Norway since the report from a working group set up by the Ministry of Industry and Energy was released in February this year. If there is to be secured a long future for oil and gas activities, a reduction in the time and costs used in the projects of the order of 40-50%, without jeopardizing the high safety and environmental standards achieved in Norway. The paper addresses how technology can be a driving force in achieving these aims. But technology alone cannot do the job. Progress and changes in several other areas are also necessary, and the new scenario also calls for improved relations between all actors in the North Sea, authorities, oil companies, contractors and labour unions. 15 figs.

Novel parallel plate condenser for single particle electrostatic force measurements in atomic force microscope

KAUST Repository

Kwek, Jin Wang

2011-07-01

A combination of small parallel plate condenser with Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) glass slides as electrodes and an atomic force microscope (AFM) is used to characterize the electrostatic behavior of single glass bead microparticles (105-150 μm) glued to the AFM cantilever. This novel setup allows measurements of the electrostatic forces acting on a particle in an applied electrical field to be performed in ambient air conditions. By varying the position of the microparticle between the electrodes and the strength of the applied electric field, the relative contributions of the particle net charge, induced and image charges were investigated. When the microparticle is positioned in the middle of the electrodes, the force acting on the microparticle was linear with the applied electric field and proportional to the microparticle net charge. At distances close to the bottom electrode, the force follows a parabolic relationship with the applied electric field reflecting the contributions of induced and image charges. The method can be used for the rapid evaluation of the charging and polarizability properties of the microparticle as well as an alternative to the conventional Faraday\\'s pail technique. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

Drive frequency dependent phase imaging in piezoresponse force microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bo Huifeng; Kan Yi; Lu Xiaomei; Liu Yunfei; Peng Song; Wang Xiaofei; Cai Wei; Xue Ruoshi; Zhu Jinsong

2010-01-01

The drive frequency dependent piezoresponse (PR) phase signal in near-stoichiometric lithium niobate crystals is studied by piezoresponse force microscopy. It is clearly shown that the local and nonlocal electrostatic forces have a great contribution to the PR phase signal. The significant PR phase difference of the antiparallel domains are observed at the contact resonances, which is related to the electrostatic dominated electromechanical interactions of the cantilever and tip-sample system. Moreover, the modulation voltage induced frequency shift at higher eigenmodes could be attributed to the change of indention force depending on the modulation amplitude with a piezoelectric origin. The PR phase of the silicon wafer is also measured for comparison. It is certificated that the electrostatic interactions are universal in voltage modulated scanning probe microscopy and could be extended to other phase imaging techniques.

A modified synthetic driving force method for molecular dynamics simulation of grain boundary migration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Liang; Li, Saiyi

2015-01-01

The synthetic driving force (SDF) molecular dynamics method, which imposes crystalline orientation-dependent driving forces for grain boundary (GB) migration, has been considered deficient in many cases. In this work, we revealed the cause of the deficiency and proposed a modified method by introducing a new technique to distinguish atoms in grains and GB such that the driving forces can be imposed properly. This technique utilizes cross-reference order parameter (CROP) to characterize local lattice orientations in a bicrystal and introduces a CROP-based definition of interface region to minimize interference from thermal fluctuations in distinguishing atoms. A validation of the modified method was conducted by applying it to simulate the migration behavior of Ni 〈1 0 0〉 and Al 〈1 1 2〉 symmetrical tilt GBs, in comparison with the original method. The discrepancies between the migration velocities predicted by the two methods are found to be proportional to their differences in distinguishing atoms. For the Al 〈1 1 2〉 GBs, the modified method predicts a negative misorientation dependency for both the driving pressure threshold for initiating GB movement and the mobility, which agree with experimental findings and other molecular dynamics computations but contradict those predicted using the original method. Last, the modified method was applied to evaluate the mobility of Ni Σ5 〈1 0 0〉 symmetrical tilt GB under different driving pressure and temperature conditions. The results reveal a strong driving pressure dependency of the mobility at relatively low temperatures and suggest that the driving pressure should be as low as possible but large enough to trigger continuous migration.

Pull-in voltage of microswitch rough plates in the presence of electromagnetic and acoustic Casimir forces

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Palasantzas, George

2007-01-01

In this work, we investigate the combined influence of electromagnetic and acoustic Casimir forces on the pull-in voltage of microswitches with self-affine rough plates. It is shown that for plate separations within the micron range the acoustic term arising from pressure fluctuations can influence

Testing thermal gradient driving force for grain boundary migration using molecular dynamics simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bai, Xian-Ming; Zhang, Yongfeng; Tonks, Michael R.

2015-01-01

Strong thermal gradients in low-thermal-conductivity ceramics may drive extended defects, such as grain boundaries and voids, to migrate in preferential directions. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations are conducted to study thermal gradient driven grain boundary migration and to verify a previously proposed thermal gradient driving force equation, using uranium dioxide as a model system. It is found that a thermal gradient drives grain boundaries to migrate up the gradient and the migration velocity increases under a constant gradient owing to the increase in mobility with temperature. Different grain boundaries migrate at very different rates due to their different intrinsic mobilities. The extracted mobilities from the thermal gradient driven simulations are compared with those calculated from two other well-established methods and good agreement between the three different methods is found, demonstrating that the theoretical equation of the thermal gradient driving force is valid, although a correction of one input parameter should be made. The discrepancy in the grain boundary mobilities between modeling and experiments is also discussed.

Development of magnetic drive packless valves for commercial purpose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Sung Tai; Choi, J. H.; Jeong, K. C.; Jeong, J. Y.; Choi, Y. D.; Kwon, S. W.; Kim, B. H.

1997-01-01

A study on development of magnetic drive packless valves for commercial purpose showed the results as follows: 1) characteristics and principle of the valve 2) study on the radial rays effecting to the permanent magnets 3) effects of temperature on the magnetic driving device a) temperature-dependency of the Nd-casting magnets b) effects of temperature on the heat releasing fins of high-temperature valve 4) optimization of torque a) arranging method of permanent magnets b) measuring method and results of torque 5) enlargement of magnetic rotating force a) experiments for the torque enlargement 6) calculation and pressure test for the pressure-resisting structure of magnetic power transmitting device a) calculation for the flat circular plates under pressure b) pressure test of the separating plate 7) design and manufacture of the valve 8) patent application. (author). 1 ref., 18 tabs., 38 figs

Study on electromagnetism force of CARR control rod drive mechanism experimental machine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Xuewei; Zhen Jianxiao; Wang Yulin; Jia Yueguang; Yang Kun; Yin Haozhe

2015-01-01

With the aim of acquiring electromagnetic force and electromagnetic field distributions of control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) in China Advanced Research Reactor (CARR), the force analysis on the CRDM was taken. Manufacturing the experimental machine, the electromagnetic force experiment was taken on it. The electromagnetic field and electromagnetic force simulation analyses of experimental machine were taken, working out distribution data of electromagnetic force and magnetic induction intensity distribution curve, and the effects of permanent magnetic field on electromagnetic field and structure parameters on electromagnetic force. The simulation value is accord with experiment value, the research results provide a reference to electromagnetic force study on CRDM in CARR, and also provide a reference to design of the same type CRDM. (authors)

Physical driving force of actomyosin motility based on the hydration effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Makoto; Mogami, George; Ohsugi, Hideyuki; Watanabe, Takahiro; Matubayasi, Nobuyuki

2017-12-01

We propose a driving force hypothesis based on previous thermodynamics, kinetics and structural data as well as additional experiments and calculations presented here on water-related phenomena in the actomyosin systems. Although Szent-Györgyi pointed out the importance of water in muscle contraction in 1951, few studies have focused on the water science of muscle because of the difficulty of analyzing hydration properties of the muscle proteins, actin, and myosin. The thermodynamics and energetics of muscle contraction are linked to the water-mediated regulation of protein-ligand and protein-protein interactions along with structural changes in protein molecules. In this study, we assume the following two points: (1) the periodic electric field distribution along an actin filament (F-actin) is unidirectionally modified upon binding of myosin subfragment 1 (M or myosin S1) with ADP and inorganic phosphate Pi (M.ADP.Pi complex) and (2) the solvation free energy of myosin S1 depends on the external electric field strength and the solvation free energy of myosin S1 in close proximity to F-actin can become the potential force to drive myosin S1 along F-actin. The first assumption is supported by integration of experimental reports. The second assumption is supported by model calculations utilizing molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to determine solvation free energies of a small organic molecule and two small proteins. MD simulations utilize the energy representation method (ER) and the roughly proportional relationship between the solvation free energy and the solvent-accessible surface area (SASA) of the protein. The estimated driving force acting on myosin S1 is as high as several piconewtons (pN), which is consistent with the experimentally observed force. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Influence of Flexibility Coefficient on the Size of Internal Forces and Deformations in Circular Plates on Elastic Medium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Şandru Mirela

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an analytical study which deals with the behavior of the circular plates in bending theory, considering the soil-structure interaction under Winkler's hypothesis. It was intended to illustrate the variation of internal forces and deformations according to the flexibility coefficient of plates considering three models: a fixed solid circular plate subjected to a uniformly distributed load, a fixed solid circular plate acted by a displacement applied on the exterior contour and a solid plate subjected to a temperature gradient. For this study the computation relations were written as a product between a dimensional and a non-dimensional factor, the last one indicating the variation of internal forces and deformations. For each type of action there are presented results obtained using the finite element method to illustrate the differences between this method and the analytical computation.

Gait Analysis Study of Runner Using Force Plate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flaviana Catherine

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Humans do regular physical activities such as running. Gait is forward  propulsion of the human body using lower extremities as a thrust. Humans gait pattern is characterized by their limbs movement in terms of velocity, ground reaction force, work, kinetic energy and potential energy cycle . Human gait analysis is used to assess, to plan, and to deliver the treatment for individuals based on the conditions that affect their ability to move. Gait analysis is commonly used in running sport to improve the efficiency of athletes in running and to identify problems related to their posture or movement. The aim of this research is to do running gait analysis study of human, using force plate which equipped by track board. The benefit of this study is to provide information, ideas and new perspectives about running and its prevention over an injury. The main method that will be discussed in this study is system design of gait analysis with specific setting, hardware and software, in order to acquire data(s.

Current Reversal Due to Coupling Between Asymmetrical Driving Force and Ratchet Potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ai Baoquan; Xie Huizhang; Liu Lianggang

2006-01-01

Transport of a Brownian particle moving in a periodic potential is investigated in the presence of an asymmetric unbiased external force. The asymmetry of the external force and the asymmetry of the potential are the two ways of inducing a net current. It is found that the competition of the spatial asymmetry of potential with the temporal asymmetry of the external force leads to the phenomena like current reversal. The competition between the two opposite driving factors is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for current reversals.

Force Plate Assessment of Quiet Standing Balance Control: Perspectives on Clinical Application within Stroke Rehabilitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Avril Mansfield

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Assessment of balance control is essential to guide physical rehabilitation poststroke. However, current observational assessment tools available to physiotherapists provide limited information about underlying dyscontrol. This paper describes a force plate-based assessment of quiet standing balance control that we have implemented for individuals attending inpatient stroke rehabilitation. The assessment uses two force plates to measure location of ground reaction forces to maintain stability in quiet standing in five conditions (eyes open, eyes closed, standing symmetrically, and maximal loading on the less-affected and more-affected limbs. Measures of interest are variability of the centers of pressure under each foot and both feet combined, weight-bearing asymmetry, and correlation of center of pressure fluctuations between limbs. We present representative values for the above-mentioned measures and case examples to illustrate how the assessment can reveal patient-specific balance control problems and direct treatment. We identify limitations to our current assessment and recommendations for future research.

Driving forces of main landscape change processes from past 200 years in Central Europe - differences between old democratic and post-socialist countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Skokanová Hana

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The article compares and points out differences in driving forces of four main landscape change processes that shaped post-socialist countries and old democratic countries of Central Europe during the last two centuries. Studying landscape change processes and corresponding driving forces helps in understanding patterns of present landscape and can help among others in better prediction of future landscape change trends. Here, the presented results are based on review of scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2014. Driving forces affecting these processes were grouped into four categories. Economic forces drove mainly agricultural intensification; agricultural land abandonment and urbanisation and were pronounced especially in the second half of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century. Technological driving forces affected agricultural intensification especially in the 19th century and the second half of the 20th century while cultural driving forces had the biggest impact on urbanisation at the beginning of the 21st century. Political driving forces affected agricultural intensification, urbanisation as well as agricultural land abandonment and were pronounced mainly during the second half of the 20th century in the post-socialist countries. Political forces in the form of subsidies drove agricultural extensification at the beginning of the 21st century. The drivers for the agricultural intensification as well as urbanisation seem to be similar for both old democratic and post-socialist countries. In contrast, agricultural land abandonment in the old democratic countries was driven by technological, cultural and economic driving forces while in the post-socialist countries the political driving forces were mainly responsible. Changes in systems for subsidies and changes in the agricultural commodity markets are also responsible for different frequencies and rates of extensification of

A feedback control system for vibration of magnetostrictive plate subjected to follower force using sinusoidal shear

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Ghorbanpour Arani

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this research, the vibrational behavior of magnetostrictive plate (MsP as a smart component is studied. The plate is subjected to an external follower force and a magnetic field in which the vibration response of MsP has been investigated for both loading combinations. The velocity feedback gain parameter is evaluated to study the effect of magnetic field which is generated by the coil. Sinusoidal shear deformation theory is utilized due to its accuracy of polynomial function with respect to other plate theories. Equations of motion are derived using Hamilton’s principle and solved by differential quadrature method (DQM considering general boundary conditions. The effects of aspect ratio, thickness ratio, follower force and velocity feedback gain are investigated on the frequency response of MsP. Results indicate that magneto-mechanical coupling in MsM helps to control vibrational behaviors of systems such as electro-hydraulic actuator, wireless linear Motors and sensors.

Impact assessment of land use planning driving forces on environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Longgao, E-mail: chenlonggao@163.com [Institute of Land Resources, Jiangsu Normal University (JSNU), Xuzhou 221116 (China); Yang, Xiaoyan [Institute of Land Resources, Jiangsu Normal University (JSNU), Xuzhou 221116 (China); School of Environment and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116 (China); Chen, Longqian [School of Environment and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116 (China); Li, Long [Department of Geography, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels 1050 (Belgium)

2015-11-15

Land use change may exert a negative impact on environmental quality. A state–impact–state (SIS) model describing a state transform under certain impacts has been integrated into land use planning (LUP) environmental impact assessment (LUPEA). This logical model is intuitive and easy to understand, but the exploration of impact is essential to establish the indicator system and to identify the scope of land use environmental impact when it is applied to a specific region. In this study, we investigated environmental driving forces from land use planning (LUPF), along with the conception, components, scope, and impact of LUPF. This method was illustrated by a case study in Zoucheng, China. Through the results, we concluded that (1) the LUPF on environment are impacts originated from the implementation of LUP on a regional environment, which are characterized by four aspects: magnitude, direction, action point, and its owner; (2) various scopes of LUPF on individual environmental elements based on different standards jointly define the final scope of LUPEA; (3) our case study in Zoucheng demonstrates the practicability of this proposed approach; (4) this method can be embedded into LUPEA with direction, magnitudes, and scopes of the LUPF on individual elements obtained, and the identified indicator system can be directly employed into LUPEA and (5) the assessment helps to identify key indicators and to set up a corresponding strategy to mitigate the negative impact of LUP on the environment, which are two important objectives of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in LUP. - Highlights: • Environmental driving forces from land use planning (LUPF) are investigated and categorized. • Our method can obtains the direction, magnitudes and scopes of environmental driving forces. • The LUPEA scope is determined by the combination of various scopes of LUPF on individual elements. • LUPF assessment can be embedded into LUPEA. • The method can help to

Spatiotemporal Variation of Driving Forces for Settlement Expansion in Different Types of Counties

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Guanglong Dong

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Understanding the process of settlement expansion and the spatiotemporal variation of driving forces is the foundation of rational and specific planning for sustainable development. However, little attention has been paid to the spatiotemporal differences of driving forces among different counties, especially when they are representatives of different development types. This study used Guanyun, Kunshan and Changshu as case studies, and binary logistic regression was employed. The results showed that the expansion rates of Kunshan and Changshu were 5.55 and 3.93 times higher than that of Guanyun. The combinations and relative importance of drivers varied with counties and periods. The change in the number of driving forces can be divided into three stages: increasing stage, decreasing stage, and stable stage. In the relatively developed counties, Kunshan and Changshu, the importance of population is decreased, while it remain an important factor in the less developed county, Guanyun. In addition, the effect of GDP stays the same in Kunshan while it becomes the most important factor in Changshu. The distance to the main road and the distance to town are increasingly important in Kunshan and Guanyun, and distance to town has been the only common factor in the last period, indicating the discrepancy is increased. The relative importance of distance to a lake in Kunshan and Changshu increased, reflecting the role of increasing tourism in accelerating settlement expansion.

The marriage between welfare services and tourism - A driving force for innovation?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjalager, Anne Mette

2006-01-01

-based sectors are well connected with other sectors, including the voluntary sector. Both internal and external driving forces are continuously challenging the Danish welfare model. The pressures and the opportunities are transmitted to tourism, albeit not uniformly. There are good reasons for commercial...

Force analysis of the advanced neutron source control rod drive latch mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Damiano, B.

1989-01-01

The Advanced Neutron Source reactor (ANS), a proposed Department of Energy research reactor currently undergoing conceptual design at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), will generate a thermal neutron flux approximating 10 30 M -2 emdash S -1 . The compact core necessary to produce this flux provides little space for the shim safety control rods, which are located in the central annulus of the core. Without proper control rod drive design, the control rod drive magnets (which hold the control rod latch in a ready-to-scram position) may be unable to support the required load due to their restricted size. This paper describes the force analysis performed on the control rod latch mechanism to determine the fraction of control rod weight transferred to the drive magnet. This information will be useful during latch, control rod drive and magnet design. 5 refs., 12 figs

The driving force of the Na+/Ca2+-exchanger during metabolic inhibition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baartscheer, Antonius; Schumacher, Cees A.; Coronel, Ruben; Fiolet, Jan W. T.

2011-01-01

Objective: Metabolic inhibition causes a decline in mechanical performance and, if prolonged, myocardial contracture and cell death. The decline in mechanical performance is mainly due to altered intracellular calcium handling, which is under control of the Na+/Ca2+-exchanger (NCX) The driving force

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and force-plate analysis of gait in dogs with healed femora after leg-lengthening plate fixation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muir, P.; Markel, M.D.; Bogdanske, J.J.; Johnson, K.A.

1995-01-01

Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry was used to measure bone mineral density of four regions in healed femora of nine dogs after fracture fixation with a leg-lengthening plate. Six to 85 months (mean, 46 months) after surgery, the bone mineral density of healed femora was not significantly different from the contralateral uninjured femora (P > .05; power = 0.8 at delta = 15%). Radiolucencies around the proximal screws, apparently associated with screw loosening, were seen on radiographic views of the healed femora of three dogs. In one of these dogs, one screw in the proximal metaphysis had broken. Force-plate analysis of gait was also performed on dogs at the time of bone mineral density measurement. Peak vertical force was decreased in the pelvic limb with the healed fracture compared with the contralateral unoperated limb (P < 0.05). Clinically apparent lameness in three dogs did not appear to be associated with altered bone mineral density and may have been caused by hip osteoarthritis, a nondisplaced hairline diaphyseal fracture, and screw loosening in conjunction with extensive post-traumatic soft tissue injury

Pacific plate slab pull and intraplate deformation in the early Cenozoic

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N. P. Butterworth

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Large tectonic plates are known to be susceptible to internal deformation, leading to a~range of phenomena including intraplate volcanism. However, the space and time dependence of intraplate deformation and its relationship with changing plate boundary configurations, subducting slab geometries, and absolute plate motion is poorly understood. We utilise a buoyancy-driven Stokes flow solver, BEM-Earth, to investigate the contribution of subducting slabs through time on Pacific plate motion and plate-scale deformation, and how this is linked to intraplate volcanism. We produce a series of geodynamic models from 62 to 42 Ma in which the plates are driven by the attached subducting slabs and mantle drag/suction forces. We compare our modelled intraplate deformation history with those types of intraplate volcanism that lack a clear age progression. Our models suggest that changes in Cenozoic subduction zone topology caused intraplate deformation to trigger volcanism along several linear seafloor structures, mostly by reactivation of existing seamount chains, but occasionally creating new volcanic chains on crust weakened by fracture zones and extinct ridges. Around 55 Ma, subduction of the Pacific-Izanagi ridge reconfigured the major tectonic forces acting on the plate by replacing ridge push with slab pull along its northwestern perimeter, causing lithospheric extension along pre-existing weaknesses. Large-scale deformation observed in the models coincides with the seamount chains of Hawaii, Louisville, Tokelau and Gilbert during our modelled time period of 62 to 42 Ma. We suggest that extensional stresses between 72 and 52 Ma are the likely cause of large parts of the formation of the Gilbert chain and that localised extension between 62 and 42 Ma could cause late-stage volcanism along the Musicians volcanic ridges. Our models demonstrate that early Cenozoic changes in Pacific plate driving forces only cause relatively minor changes in Pacific

Frictional characteristics of erythrocytes on coated glass plates subject to inclined centrifugal forces.

Science.gov (United States)

Kandori, Takashi; Hayase, Toshiyuki; Inoue, Kousuke; Funamoto, Kenichi; Takeno, Takanori; Ohta, Makoto; Takeda, Motohiro; Shirai, Atsushi

2008-10-01

In recent years a diamond-like carbon (DLC) film and a 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) polymer have attracted attention as coating materials for implantable artificial organs or devices. When these materials are coated on vascular devices, compatibility to blood is an important problem. The present paper focuses on friction characteristics of erythrocytes to these coating materials in a medium. With an inclined centrifuge microscope developed by the authors, observation was made for erythrocytes moving on flat glass plates with and without coating in a medium of plasma or saline under the effect of inclined centrifugal force. Friction characteristics of erythrocytes with respect to these coating materials were then measured and compared to each other to characterize DLC and MPC as coating materials. The friction characteristics of erythrocytes in plasma using the DLC-coated and noncoated glass plates are similar, changing approximately proportional to the 0.5th power of the cell velocity. The cells stick to these plates in saline as well, implying the influence of plasma protein. The results using the MPC-coated plate in plasma are similar to those of the other plates for large cell velocities, but deviate from the other results with decreased cell velocity. The results change nearly proportional to the 0.75th power of the cell velocity in the range of small velocities. The results for the MPC-coated plate in saline are similar to that in plasma but somewhat smaller, implying that the friction characteristics for the MPC-coated plate are essentially independent of plasma protein.

Frequency response of rectangular plates with free-edge openings and carlings subjected to point excitation force and enforced displacement at boundaries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dae Seung Cho

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a numerical procedure for the natural vibration analysis of plates with openings and carlings based on the assumed mode method is extended to assess their forced response. Firstly, natural response of plates with openings and carlings is calculated from the eigenvalue equation derived by using Lagrange's equation of motion. Secondly, the mode superposition method is applied to determine frequency response. Mindlin theory is adopted for plate modelling and the effect of openings is taken into account by subtracting their potential and kinetic energies from the corresponding plate energies. Natural and frequency response of plates with openings and carlings subjected to point excitation force and enforced acceleration at boundaries, respectively, is analysed by using developed in-house code. For the validation of the developed method and the code, extensive numerical results, related to plates with different opening shape, carlings and boundary conditions, are compared with numerical data from the relevant literature and with finite element solutions obtained by general finite element tool.

Preliminary Experimental Results for Indirect Vector-Control of Induction Motor Drives with Forced Dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Vittek

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The contribution presents an extension of indirect vector control of electric drives employing induction motors to 'Forced Dynamic Control'. This method of control offers an accurate realisation of dynamic response profiles, which can be selected by the user. The developed system can be integrated into a drive with a shaft position encoder or a shaft sensoriess drive, in which only the stator currents are measured. The applied stator voltages are determined by a computed inverter switching algorithm. Simulation results and preliminary experimental results for indirect vector control of an idle running induction motor indicate good agreement with the theoretical predictions.

Agricultural land use change and associated driving forces over the past 180 years in two municipalities of the Brazilian Cerrado

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arruda, de Murilo Rodrigues; Slingerland, Maja; Santos, José Zilton Lopes; Giller, Ken E.

2018-01-01

This paper aims to test the hypothesis that a single driving force from the local, national, or global level is capable of triggering land use changes, including large scale deforestation, within a historical context. To reach this goal we describe and explain the driving forces from the global to

Development of an innovative reflector drive mechanism using magnetic repulsion force for 4S reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuji, K.; Watanabe, M.; Inagaki, H.; Nishikawa, A.; Takahashi, H.; Wakamatsu, M.; Matsumiya, H.; Nishiguchi, Y.

2001-01-01

A small sized fast reactor 4S: (Super Safe Small and Simple) which has a core of 10 - 30 years life time is controlled by reflectors. The reflector is required to be risen at very low speed to make up for the reactivity swing during operation. This report shows the development of an innovative reflector drive mechanism using magnetic repulsion force that can move at a several micrometer per one step. This drive mechanism has a passive shut down capability, and can eliminate reflector drive line. (author)

Driving forces behind the Chinese public's demand for improved environmental safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Ting; Wang, Jigan; Ma, Zongwei; Bi, Jun

2017-12-15

Over the past decades, the public demand for improved environmental safety keeps increasing in China. This study aims to assess the driving forces behind the increasing public demand for improved environmental safety using a provincial and multi-year (1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2014) panel data and the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model. The potential driving forces investigated included population size, income levels, degrees of urbanization, and educational levels. Results show that population size and educational level are positively (Pdemand for improved environmental safety. No significant impact on demand was found due to the degree of urbanization. For the impact due to income level, an inverted U-shaped curve effect with the turning point of ~140,000 CNY GDP per capita is indicated. Since per capita GDP of 2015 in China was approximately 50,000 CNY and far from the turning point, the public demand for improved environmental safety will continue rising in the near future. To meet the increasing public demand for improved environmental safety, proactive and risk prevention based environmental management systems coupled with effective environmental risk communication should be established. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Remote sensing monitoring and driving force analysis to forest and greenbelt in Zhuhai

Science.gov (United States)

Yuliang Qiao, Pro.

As an important city in the southern part of Chu Chiang Delta, Zhuhai is one of the four special economic zones which are opening up to the outside at the earliest in China. With pure and fresh air and trees shading the street, Zhuhai is a famous beach port city which is near the mountain and by the sea. On the basis of Garden City, the government of Zhuhai decides to build National Forest City in 2011, which firstly should understand the situation of greenbelt in Zhuhai in short term. Traditional methods of greenbelt investigation adopt the combination of field surveying and statistics, whose efficiency is low and results are not much objective because of artificial influence. With the adventure of the information technology such as remote sensing to earth observation, especially the launch of many remote sensing satellites with high resolution for the past few years, kinds of urban greenbelt information extraction can be carried out by using remote sensing technology; and dynamic monitoring to spatial pattern evolvement of forest and greenbelt in Zhuhai can be achieved by the combination of remote sensing and GIS technology. Taking Landsat5 TM data in 1995, Landsat7 ETM+ data in 2002, CCD and HR data of CBERS-02B in 2009 as main information source, this research firstly makes remote sensing monitoring to dynamic change of forest and greenbelt in Zhuhai by using the combination of vegetation coverage index and three different information extraction methods, then does a driving force analysis to the dynamic change results in 3 months. The results show: the forest area in Zhuhai shows decreasing tendency from 1995 to 2002, increasing tendency from 2002 to 2009; overall, the forest area show a small diminution tendency from 1995 to 2009. Through the comparison to natural and artificial driving force, the artificial driving force is the leading factor to the change of forest and greenbelt in Zhuhai. The research results provide a timely and reliable scientific basis

Robot Arm with Tendon Connector Plate and Linear Actuator

Science.gov (United States)

Ihrke, Chris A. (Inventor); Diftler, Myron A. (Inventor); Bridgwater, Lyndon (Inventor); Nguyen, Vienny (Inventor); Millerman, Alexander (Inventor)

2014-01-01

A robotic system includes a tendon-driven end effector, a linear actuator, a flexible tendon, and a plate assembly. The linear actuator assembly has a servo motor and a drive mechanism, the latter of which translates linearly with respect to a drive axis of the servo motor in response to output torque from the servo motor. The tendon connects to the end effector and drive mechanism. The plate assembly is disposed between the linear actuator assembly and the tendon-driven end effector and includes first and second plates. The first plate has a first side that defines a boss with a center opening. The second plate defines an accurate through-slot having tendon guide channels. The first plate defines a through passage for the tendon between the center opening and a second side of the first plate. A looped end of the flexible tendon is received within the tendon guide channels.

Segregation in ternary alloys: an interplay of driving forces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luyten, J.; Helfensteyn, S.; Creemers, C.

2003-01-01

Monte Carlo (MC) simulations combined with the constant bond energy (CBE) model are set up to explore and understand the general segregation behaviour in ternary alloys as a function of composition and more in particular the segregation to Cu-Ni-Al (1 0 0) surfaces. Besides its simplicity, allowing swift simulations, which are necessary for a first general survey over all possible compositions, one of the advantages of the CBE model lies in the possibility to clearly identify the different driving forces for segregation. All simulations are performed in the Grand Canonical Ensemble, using a new algorithm to determine the chemical potential of the components. Notwithstanding the simplicity of the CBE model, one extra feature is evidenced: depending on the values of the interatomic interaction parameters, in some regions of the ternary diagram, a single solid solution becomes thermodynamically unstable, leading to demixing into two conjugate phases. The simulations are first done for three hypothetical systems that are however representative for real alloy systems. The three systems are characterised by different sets of interatomic interaction parameters. These extensive simulations over the entire composition range of the ternary alloy yield a 'topographical' segregation map, showing distinct regions where different species segregate. These distinct domains originate from a variable interplay between the driving forces for segregation and attractive/repulsive interactions in the bulk of the alloy. The results on these hypothetical systems are very helpful for a better understanding of the segregation behaviour in Cu-Ni-Al and other ternary alloys

Electric field and dielectrophoretic force on a dielectric particle chain in a parallel-plate electrode system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Techaumnat, B; Eua-arporn, B; Takuma, T

2004-01-01

This paper presents results of calculations of the electric field and dielectrophoretic force on a dielectric particle chain suspended in a host liquid lying between parallel-plate electrodes. The method of calculation is based on the method of multipole images using the multipole re-expansion technique. We have investigated the effect of the particle permittivity, the tilt angle (between the chain and the applied field) and the chain arrangement on the electric field and force. The results show that the electric field intensification rises in accordance with the increase in the ratio of the particle-to-liquid permittivity, Γ ε . The electric field at the contact point between the particles decreases with increasing tilt angle, while the maximal field at the contact point between the particles and the plate electrodes is almost unchanged. The maximal field can be approximated by a simple formula, which is a quadratic function of Γ ε . The dielectrophoretic force depends significantly on the distance from other particles or an electrode. However, for the tilt angles in this paper, the horizontal force on the upper particle of the chain always has the direction opposite to the shear direction. The maximal horizontal force of a chain varies proportional to (Γ ε - 1) 1.7 if the particles in the chain are still in contact with each other. The approximated force, based on the force on an isolated chain, has been compared with our calculation results. The comparison shows that no approximation model agrees well with our results throughout the range of permittivity ratios

Driving force for hydrophobic interaction at different length scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Zangi, Ronen

2011-03-17

We study by molecular dynamics simulations the driving force for the hydrophobic interaction between graphene sheets of different sizes down to the atomic scale. Similar to the prediction by Lum, Chandler, and Weeks for hard-sphere solvation [J. Phys. Chem. B 1999, 103, 4570-4577], we find the driving force to be length-scale dependent, despite the fact that our model systems do not exhibit dewetting. For small hydrophobic solutes, the association is purely entropic, while enthalpy favors dissociation. The latter is demonstrated to arise from the enhancement of hydrogen bonding between the water molecules around small hydrophobes. On the other hand, the attraction between large graphene sheets is dominated by enthalpy which mainly originates from direct solute-solute interactions. The crossover length is found to be inside the range of 0.3-1.5 nm(2) of the surface area of the hydrophobe that is eliminated in the association process. In the large-scale regime, different thermodynamic properties are scalable with this change of surface area. In particular, upon dimerization, a total and a water-induced stabilization of approximately 65 and 12 kJ/mol/nm(2) are obtained, respectively, and on average around one hydrogen bond is gained per 1 nm(2) of graphene sheet association. Furthermore, the potential of mean force between the sheets is also scalable except for interplate distances smaller than 0.64 nm which corresponds to the region around the barrier for removing the last layer of water. It turns out that, as the surface area increases, the relative height of the barrier for association decreases and the range of attraction increases. It is also shown that, around small hydrophobic solutes, the lifetime of the hydrogen bonds is longer than in the bulk, while around large hydrophobes it is the same. Nevertheless, the rearrangement of the hydrogen-bond network for both length-scale regimes is slower than in bulk water. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Measuring Risky Driving Behavior Using an mHealth Smartphone App: Development and Evaluation of gForce

Science.gov (United States)

Dave, Amisha D; Espey, Benjamin G; Stanley, Sean T; Garmendia, Marcial A; Pursley, Randall; Ehsani, Johnathon P; Simons-Morton, Bruce G; Pohida, Thomas J

2018-01-01

Background Naturalistic driving studies, designed to objectively assess driving behavior and outcomes, are conducted by equipping vehicles with dedicated instrumentation (eg, accelerometers, gyroscopes, Global Positioning System, and cameras) that provide continuous recording of acceleration, location, videos, and still images for eventual retrieval and analyses. However, this research is limited by several factors: the cost of equipment installation; management and storage of the large amounts of data collected; and data reduction, coding, and analyses. Modern smartphone technology includes accelerometers built into phones, and the vast, global proliferation of smartphones could provide a possible low-cost alternative for assessing kinematic risky driving. Objective We evaluated an in-house developed iPhone app (gForce) for detecting elevated g-force events by comparing the iPhone linear acceleration measurements with corresponding acceleration measurements obtained with both a custom Android app and the in-vehicle miniDAS data acquisition system (DAS; Virginia Tech Transportation Institute). Methods The iPhone and Android devices were dashboard-mounted in a vehicle equipped with the DAS instrumentation. The experimental protocol consisted of driving maneuvers on a test track, such as cornering, braking, and turning that were performed at different acceleration levels (ie, mild, moderate, or hard). The iPhone gForce app recorded linear acceleration (ie, gravity-corrected). The Android app recorded gravity-corrected and uncorrected acceleration measurements, and the DAS device recorded gravity-uncorrected acceleration measurements. Lateral and longitudinal acceleration measures were compared. Results The correlation coefficients between the iPhone and DAS acceleration measurements were slightly lower compared to the correlation coefficients between the Android and DAS, possibly due to the gravity correction on the iPhone. Averaging the correlation coefficients for

No quantum friction between uniformly moving plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Philbin, T G; Leonhardt, U

2009-01-01

The Casimir forces between two plates moving parallel to each other at arbitrary constant speed are found by calculating the vacuum electromagnetic stress tensor. The perpendicular force between the plates is modified by the motion but there is no lateral force on the plates. Electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations do not therefore give rise to 'quantum friction' in this case, contrary to previous assertions. The result shows that the Casimir-Polder force on a particle moving at constant speed parallel to a plate also has no lateral component.

ANALYTICAL SYNTHESIS OF FORCED PULSE ELECTRONIC DRIVE CONTROL OF A TRACKING SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. S. Abufanas

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The problem of analytical synthesis of a control signal by a linear dynamical system is considered. As an optimization criterion, it is proposed to consider the transition time of the system from the initial state to a given final state. This type of control is called forced, providing the maximum system speed. The principle of solving this problem is considered on the basis of application of uncertain Lagrange multipliers and the Pontryagin maximum principle. Expressions are obtained for the matrix of transitions of the system and the control signal in a vector form.As an example, the electric drive described by the widespread second-order mathematical model is considered to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed method. Qualitative illustrations of the operability of the proposed approach, obtained by modeling in the Mathcad environment, and quantitative characteristics of the change in the input and output signals of the hypothetical control system are presented. It is shown that the use of forced control does not lead to the output of variables characterizing the state of the system, beyond the limits of admissible values.The use of forced control makes it possible to synthesize the control law in the form of a sequence of rectangular pulses of constant amplitude determined by the power source, variable duty cycle and polarity. This approach can be used for the control of DC-type DC motors used in various tracking systems used on unmanned aerial vehicles. Key words: forced control, target function, electric drive, pulse train. The use of forced control makes it possible to synthesize the control law in the form of a sequence of rectangular pulses of constant amplitude determined by the power source, variable duty cycle and polarity. This approach can be used for the control of DC-type DC motors used in various tracking systems used on unmanned aerial vehicles.

Mechanisms driving variability in the ocean forcing of Pine Island Glacier.

Science.gov (United States)

Webber, Benjamin G M; Heywood, Karen J; Stevens, David P; Dutrieux, Pierre; Abrahamsen, E Povl; Jenkins, Adrian; Jacobs, Stanley S; Ha, Ho Kyung; Lee, Sang Hoon; Kim, Tae Wan

2017-02-17

Pine Island Glacier (PIG) terminates in a rapidly melting ice shelf, and ocean circulation and temperature are implicated in the retreat and growing contribution to sea level rise of PIG and nearby glaciers. However, the variability of the ocean forcing of PIG has been poorly constrained due to a lack of multi-year observations. Here we show, using a unique record close to the Pine Island Ice Shelf (PIIS), that there is considerable oceanic variability at seasonal and interannual timescales, including a pronounced cold period from October 2011 to May 2013. This variability can be largely explained by two processes: cumulative ocean surface heat fluxes and sea ice formation close to PIIS; and interannual reversals in ocean currents and associated heat transport within Pine Island Bay, driven by a combination of local and remote forcing. Local atmospheric forcing therefore plays an important role in driving oceanic variability close to PIIS.

Evaluation on driving force of natural circulation in downcomer for passive residual heat removal system in JAERI passive safety reactor JPSR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kunii, Katsuhiko; Iwamura, Takamichi; Murao, Yoshio

1997-01-01

The driving-force of the natural circulation in the residual heat removal (RHR) system for the JPSR (JAERI Passive Safety Reactor) is given as a gravity force of the density difference between hotter coolant in core and upper plenum and cooler coolant in downcomer. The amount of density difference and time to achieve the enough density difference for the RHR system change directly dependent on the thermal fluid flow pattern in downcomer of annulus flow pass. The purposes of the present study are to investigate the possibilities of the followings by evaluating the three-dimensional thermal fluid flow in downcomer by numerical analysis using the STREAM code; 1) promotion of making the flow pattern uniform in downcomer by installing a baffle, 2) achievement of an enough driving-force of the natural circulation, 3) validity of one-point assumption, that is, complete mixing down-flow assumption for the three-dimensional thermal fluid flow in downcomer to evaluate the function of the passive RHR system. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) The effect of baffle on the thermal fluid flow and driving-force is little, (2) The driving-force required for natural circulation cooling can be obtained in wide range of inlet velocity even if the flow is multi-dimensional, (3) Both in initial transient stage and in steady-state, the one-point assumption can be applied to evaluate the driving-force of natural circulation in the passive RHR system. (author)

The effect of drive frequency and set point amplitude on tapping forces in atomic force microscopy: simulation and experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Legleiter, Justin

2009-01-01

In tapping mode atomic force microscopy (AFM), a sharp probe tip attached to an oscillating cantilever is allowed to intermittently strike a surface. By raster scanning the probe while monitoring the oscillation amplitude of the cantilever via a feedback loop, topographical maps of surfaces with nanoscale resolution can be acquired. While numerous studies have employed numerical simulations to elucidate the time-resolved tapping force between the probe tip and surface, until recent technique developments, specific read-outs from such models could not be experimentally verified. In this study, we explore, via numerical simulation, the impact of imaging parameters, i.e. set point ratio and drive frequency as a function of resonance, on time-varying tip-sample force interactions, which are directly compared to reconstructed tapping forces from real AFM experiments. As the AFM model contains a feedback loop allowing for the simulation of the entire scanning process, we further explore the impact that various tip-sample force have on the entire imaging process.

A Quadruped Micro-Robot Based on Piezoelectric Driving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qi Su

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Inspired by a way of rowing, a new piezoelectric driving quadruped micro-robot operating in bending-bending hybrid vibration modes was proposed and tested in this work. The robot consisted of a steel base, four steel connecting pins and four similar driving legs, and all legs were bonded by four piezoelectric ceramic plates. The driving principle is discussed, which is based on the hybrid of first order vertical bending and first order horizontal bending vibrations. The bending-bending hybrid vibration modes motivated the driving foot to form an elliptical trajectory in space. The vibrations of four legs were used to provide the driving forces for robot motion. The proposed robot was fabricated and tested according to driving principle. The vibration characteristics and elliptical movements of the driving feet were simulated by FEM method. Experimental tests of vibration characteristics and mechanical output abilities were carried out. The tested resonance frequencies and vibration amplitudes agreed well with the FEM calculated results. The size of robot is 36 mm × 98 mm × 14 mm, its weight is only 49.8 g, but its maximum load capacity achieves 200 g. Furthermore, the robot can achieve a maximum speed of 33.45 mm/s.

No quantum friction between uniformly moving plates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Philbin, T G; Leonhardt, U [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS, Scotland (United Kingdom)], E-mail: tgp3@st-andrews.ac.uk

2009-03-15

The Casimir forces between two plates moving parallel to each other at arbitrary constant speed are found by calculating the vacuum electromagnetic stress tensor. The perpendicular force between the plates is modified by the motion but there is no lateral force on the plates. Electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations do not therefore give rise to 'quantum friction' in this case, contrary to previous assertions. The result shows that the Casimir-Polder force on a particle moving at constant speed parallel to a plate also has no lateral component.

Plate Tearing by a Cone

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonsen, Bo Cerup

1997-01-01

The present paper is concerned with steady-state plate tearing by a cone. This is a scenario where a cone is forced through a ductile metal plate with a constant lateral tip penetration in a motion in the plane of the plate. The considered process could be an idealisaton of the damage, which...... as for the out-of-plane reaction force....

Casimir interaction between a cylinder and a plate at finite temperature: Exact results and comparison to proximity force approximation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teo, L. P.

2011-01-01

We study the finite temperature Casimir interaction between a cylinder and a plate using the exact formula derived from the Matsubara representation and the functional determinant representation. We consider the scalar field with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. The asymptotic expansions of the Casimir free energy and the Casimir force when the separation a between the cylinder and the plate is small are derived. As in the zero temperature case, it is found that the leading terms of the Casimir free energy and the Casimir force agree with those derived from the proximity force approximation when rT>>1, where r is the radius of the cylinder. Specifically, when aT 5/2 whereas, for the Casimir force, it is of order T 7/2 . In this case, the leading terms are independent of the separation a. When 1 3/2 , whereas, for the force, it is inversely proportional to a 5/2 . The first order corrections to the proximity force approximations in different temperature regions are computed using the perturbation approach. In the zero temperature case, the results agree with those derived in [M. Bordag, Phys. Rev. D 73, 125018 (2006)].

Electronic structure and driving forces in β-cyclodextrin: Diclofenac inclusion complexes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogdan, Diana; Morari, C.

2007-01-01

We investigate the geometry and electronic structure for complexes of β-cyclodextrin with diclofenac using DFT calculations. The effect of solvent is explicitly taken into account. This investigation allows us to draw meaningful conclusions upon the stability of the complex and the nature of the driving forces leading to the complexation process. In particular we emphasize the role of the water, by pointing out the changes in the solvent's electronic structure for different docking geometries

Variation along liquid isomorphs of the driving force for crystallization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Ulf Rørbæk; Adrjanowicz, Karolina; Niss, Kristine

2017-01-01

at a reference temperature. More general analysis allows interpretation of experimental data for molecular liquids such as dimethyl phthalate and indomethacin, and suggests that the isomorph scaling exponent γ in these cases is an increasing function of density, although this cannot be seen in measurements......We investigate the variation of the driving force for crystallization of a supercooled liquid along isomorphs, curves along which structure and dynamics are invariant. The variation is weak, and can be predicted accurately for the Lennard-Jones fluid using a recently developed formalism and data...

Some Exact Solutions of Boundary Layer Flows along a Vertical Plate with Buoyancy Forces Combined with Lorentz Forces under Uniform Suction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asterios Pantokratoras

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Exact analytical solutions of boundary layer flows along a vertical porous plate with uniform suction are derived and presented in this paper. The solutions concern the Blasius, Sakiadis, and Blasius-Sakiadis flows with buoyancy forces combined with either MHD Lorentz or EMHD Lorentz forces. In addition, some exact solutions are presented specifically for water in the temperature range of 0∘C≤≤8∘C, where water density is nearly parabolic. Except for their use as benchmarking means for testing the numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations, the presented exact solutions with EMHD forces have use in flow separation control in aeronautics and hydronautics, whereas the MHD results have applications in process metallurgy and fusion technology. These analytical solutions are valid for flows with strong suction.

Preliminary aseismic analysis on bolts of driving mechanism in absorption sphere shutdown system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Feng; Li Tianjin; Zhang Zhengming; Huang Zhiyong; Bo Hanliang

2012-01-01

The absorption sphere shutdown system performs an important role in reactivity regulating and control. Driving mechanism is a set of key mechanical moving parts which is used to control falling of absorption spheres in absorption sphere shutdown system. It is about 5 m for driving mechanism with the slim structure, which is connected with the upper supported plate of metal reactor internals through storage vessel with bolts. Both the storage vessel and driving mechanism are equipment of seismic classification I. It is significant to calculate and check the bolts strength of driving mechanism. In this paper, complicate structure of driving mechanism was simplified to three variable cross sections and statically indeterminate problem was solved. The bolts at the bottom and on the top of the storage vessel were calculated and checked. The preliminary results indicate that the bolts strength is reliable and safe, and the supporting force at the most weak point of driving mechanism is as well obtained. (authors)

Negotiating EU CO2/energy taxation. Political economic driving forces and barriers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klok, Jacob

2001-11-01

The primary objective of this project is to identify the main political economic driving forces behind and barriers against the creation of an EU agreement on CO 2 /energy taxation. The analysis is based on a theoretical framework for understanding European integration and on detailed historical investigations into a process of EU negotiations concerning CO 2 /energy taxation that took place from the 1980s to 1994. Following the historical analysis of political economic driving forces and barriers, some overall perspectives on possible future developments within the field of EU CO 2 /energy taxation are finally advanced. The secondary objective of the project is to consider the possible effects on the EU negotiation process of Danish efforts to push the CO 2 /energy tax proposal from the late 1980s to 994. This analysis is based on the preceding historical analysis of the EU negotiation process, as well as further investigations into the national Danish development within the field of CO 2 /energy taxation, including accounts of Denmark's particular relations with the EU during the period in question. Finally, based on the likely future developments in the field EU CO 2 /energy taxation. Denmark's strategic opportunities are outlined. (BA)

Uncovering driving forces on greenhouse gas emissions in China’ aluminum industry from the perspective of life cycle analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Zhe; Geng, Yong; Adams, Michelle; Dong, Liang; Sun, Lina; Zhao, Jingjing; Dong, Huijuan; Wu, Jiao; Tian, Xu

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Energy-related GHG emission trajectories, features and driving forces of CAI are analyzed from the perspective of LCA. • CAI experienced a rapid growth of energy-related GHG emissions from 2004 to 2013. • Energy-scale effect is the main driving force for energy-related GHG emissions increase in CAI. • Construction and transportation-related activities account for more than 40% of the total embodied emissions. • Policy implications such as developing secondary aluminum industry, improving energy mix etc, are raised. - Abstract: With the rapid growth of aluminum production, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China’s aluminum industry (CAI) is posing a significant challenge. In this study, the energy-related GHG emission trajectories, features and driving forces of CAI are analyzed from the perspective of life cycle analysis (LCA) from 2004 to 2013. Results indicate that CAI experienced a rapid growth of energy-related GHG emissions with an average annual growth of 28.5 million tons CO_2e from 2004 to 2013. Energy-scale effect is the main driving force for energy-related GHG emissions increase in CAI, while emission-factor effect of secondary aluminum production plays a marginal effect. Construction and transportation-related activities account for the bulk of the embodied emissions, accounting for more than 40% of the total embodied emissions from CAI. Policy implications for GHG mitigation within the CAI, such as developing secondary aluminum industry, improving energy mix and optimizing resource efficiency of production, are raised.

Rolling Force Prediction in Heavy Plate Rolling Based on Uniform Differential Neural Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Zhang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Accurate prediction of the rolling force is critical to assuring the quality of the final product in steel manufacturing. Exit thickness of plate for each pass is calculated from roll gap, mill spring, and predicted roll force. Ideal pass scheduling is dependent on a precise prediction of the roll force in each pass. This paper will introduce a concept that allows obtaining the material model parameters directly from the rolling process on an industrial scale by the uniform differential neural network. On the basis of the characteristics that the uniform distribution can fully characterize the solution space and enhance the diversity of the population, uniformity research on differential evolution operator is made to get improved crossover with uniform distribution. When its original function is transferred with a transfer function, the uniform differential evolution algorithms can quickly solve complex optimization problems. Neural network structure and weights threshold are optimized by uniform differential evolution algorithm, and a uniform differential neural network is formed to improve rolling force prediction accuracy in process control system.

Measuring Risky Driving Behavior Using an mHealth Smartphone App: Development and Evaluation of gForce.

Science.gov (United States)

Freidlin, Raisa Z; Dave, Amisha D; Espey, Benjamin G; Stanley, Sean T; Garmendia, Marcial A; Pursley, Randall; Ehsani, Johnathon P; Simons-Morton, Bruce G; Pohida, Thomas J

2018-04-19

Naturalistic driving studies, designed to objectively assess driving behavior and outcomes, are conducted by equipping vehicles with dedicated instrumentation (eg, accelerometers, gyroscopes, Global Positioning System, and cameras) that provide continuous recording of acceleration, location, videos, and still images for eventual retrieval and analyses. However, this research is limited by several factors: the cost of equipment installation; management and storage of the large amounts of data collected; and data reduction, coding, and analyses. Modern smartphone technology includes accelerometers built into phones, and the vast, global proliferation of smartphones could provide a possible low-cost alternative for assessing kinematic risky driving. We evaluated an in-house developed iPhone app (gForce) for detecting elevated g-force events by comparing the iPhone linear acceleration measurements with corresponding acceleration measurements obtained with both a custom Android app and the in-vehicle miniDAS data acquisition system (DAS; Virginia Tech Transportation Institute). The iPhone and Android devices were dashboard-mounted in a vehicle equipped with the DAS instrumentation. The experimental protocol consisted of driving maneuvers on a test track, such as cornering, braking, and turning that were performed at different acceleration levels (ie, mild, moderate, or hard). The iPhone gForce app recorded linear acceleration (ie, gravity-corrected). The Android app recorded gravity-corrected and uncorrected acceleration measurements, and the DAS device recorded gravity-uncorrected acceleration measurements. Lateral and longitudinal acceleration measures were compared. The correlation coefficients between the iPhone and DAS acceleration measurements were slightly lower compared to the correlation coefficients between the Android and DAS, possibly due to the gravity correction on the iPhone. Averaging the correlation coefficients for all maneuvers, the longitudinal and

Electronic structure and driving forces in {beta}-cyclodextrin: Diclofenac inclusion complexes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bogdan, Diana [National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, Donath street 71-103, 400293 Cluj-Napoca (Romania); Morari, C. [National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, Donath street 71-103, 400293 Cluj-Napoca (Romania)]. E-mail: cristim@s3.itim-cj.ro

2007-07-02

We investigate the geometry and electronic structure for complexes of {beta}-cyclodextrin with diclofenac using DFT calculations. The effect of solvent is explicitly taken into account. This investigation allows us to draw meaningful conclusions upon the stability of the complex and the nature of the driving forces leading to the complexation process. In particular we emphasize the role of the water, by pointing out the changes in the solvent's electronic structure for different docking geometries.

The driving forces of landscape change in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plieninger, Tobias; Draux, Hélène; Fagerholm, Nora

2016-01-01

, we find that distinct combinations of mainly political/institutional, cultural, and natural/spatial underlying drivers are determining landscape change, rather than single key drivers. Our systematic review indicates knowledge gaps that can be filled by: (a) expanding the scope of studies to include...... because landscape research is spread across many domains and disciplines. We here provide a systematic synthesis of 144 studies that identify the proximate and underlying drivers of landscape change across Europe. First, we categorize how driving forces have been addressed and find that most studies......; low Gross Domestic Product; boreal, steppic, and arctic landscapes; as well as forestland systems are underrepresented in the literature. Third, our review shows that land abandonment/extensification is the most prominent (62% of cases) among multiple proximate drivers of landscape change. Fourthly...

Plate Tearing by a Cone

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonsen, Bo Cerup

1998-01-01

The present paper is concerned with steady-state plate tearing by a cone. This is a scenario where a cone is forced through a ductile metal plate with a constant lateral tip penetration in a motion in the plane of the plate. The considered process could be an idealisation of the damage, which...... as for the out-of-plane reaction force. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved....

Trends and driving forces of ecological training and education in the context of ecological education environment of the technical university

OpenAIRE

Danilenkova V. A.

2017-01-01

common patterns of ecological training and education in the technical university are analyzed in this article, their descriptions are defined. Driving forces of ecological training and education in the context of ecological education environment are discovered and proved. According to conducted research the author makes a proposition to point out at ecological risks as driving forces, searching for which improves the efficiency and effectiveness of ecological education environment. The resear...

Transmission of government spending shocks in the Euro area: time variation and driving forces

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kirchner, M.; Cimadomo, J.; Hauptmeier, S.

This paper applies structural vector autoregressions with time-varying parameters in order to investigate changes in the effects of government spending shocks in the euro area, and the driving forces of those changes. Our contribution is two-fold. First, we present evidence that the short-run impact

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Forced Convection Heat Transfer in Heat Sink with Rectangular Plates at Varying Inclinations on Vertical Base

Science.gov (United States)

Patil, Harshal Bhauso; Dingare, Sunil Vishnu

2018-03-01

Heat exchange upgrade is a vital territory of research area. Utilization of reasonable systems can bring about noteworthy specialized points of interest coming about reserve funds of cost. Rectangular plates are viewed as best balance arrangement utilized for heat exchange improvement. This gives an enlargement strategy to heat exchange with beginning of limit layer and vortex development. To assess and look at the rate of heat exchange enhancement by rectangular plate fins with differing inclinations (0°-30°-60°), shifting Re and heat supply under forced convection are the principle destinations of this study. The study is done by fluctuating introductions of fins with various inclinations, input heat supply and Re under forced convection. The coefficient of heat transfer increments observed with the expansion in air speed for all the examined designs. The coefficient of the heat transfer is discovered higher at the edge of introduction of fins at 30° for inline arrangement and 0° for staggered arrangement. Looking at both the arrangements, it is discovered that the heat transfer coefficient in 0° fin staggered arrangement is about 17% higher than 30° inline arrangement and 76% higher than the vertical plate fin. For plate fin heat sink, boundary layer formation and growth results in decrease of the coefficient of heat transfer in forced convection. This issue is overcome by accommodating some rectangular fins on the plate fin. It brings about increment of heat transfer coefficient of the RPFHS under the states of trial factors. As indicated by past research, it is discovered that examination of the plate fin heat sink with various sorts of fins for horizontal orientation is done yet but this investigation expects to discover the upgrade of transfer coefficient of plate fin heat sink for its vertical position with rectangular plates at different inclinations under the shifting scopes of heat input supply, fin arrangements and Reynolds number (Re).

Development of a shear force measurement dummy for seat comfort.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Seong Guk; Ko, Chang-Yong; Kim, Dong Hyun; Song, Ye Eun; Kang, Tae Uk; Ahn, Sungwoo; Lim, Dohyung; Kim, Han Sung

2017-01-01

Seat comfort is one of the main factors that consumers consider when purchasing a car. In this study, we develop a dummy with a shear-force sensor to evaluate seat comfort. The sensor has dimensions of 25 mm × 25 mm × 26 mm and is made of S45C. Electroless nickel plating is employed to coat its surface in order to prevent corrosion and oxidation. The proposed sensor is validated using a qualified load cell and shows high accuracy and precision (measurement range: -30-30 N; sensitivity: 0.1 N; linear relationship: R = 0.999; transverse sensitivity: <1%). The dummy is manufactured in compliance with the SAE standards (SAE J826) and incorporates shear sensors into its design. We measure the shear force under four driving conditions and at five different speeds using a sedan; results showed that the shear force increases with speed under all driving conditions. In the case of acceleration and deceleration, shear force significantly changes in the lower body of the dummy. During right and left turns, it significantly changes in the upper body of the dummy.

Production bias: A proposed modification of the driving force for void swelling under cascade damage conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woo, C.H.; Garner, F.A.

1991-11-01

A new concept of point-defect production as the main driving force for void swelling under cascade damage conditions is proposed. This concept takes into account the recombination and formation of immobile clusters and loops of vacancies and interstitials in the cascade region. The life times of the clusters and loops due to desolution are strong functions of the temperature, as well as their vacancy and interstitial nature. The resulting biased production of free point defects from the internal sources is shown to be a strong driving force for void swelling. The characteristics of void swelling due to production bias are described and compared with experimental results. We conclude that the production bias concept provides a good description of void swelling under cascade damage conditions

Production bias: A proposed modification of the driving force for void swelling under cascade damage conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woo, C.H.; Singh, B.N.; Garner, F.A.

1992-01-01

A new concept of point defect production as the main driving force for void swelling under cascade damage conditions is proposed. This concept takes into account the recombination and formation of immobile clusters and loops of vacancies and interstitials in the cascade region. The lifetimes of the clusters and loops due to desolution are strong functions of the temperature, as well as their vacancy and interstitial nature. The resulting biased production of free point defects from the internal sources is shown to be a strong driving force for void swelling. The characteristics of void swelling due to production bias are described and compared with experimental results. We conclude that the production bias concept provides a good description of void swelling under cascade damage conditions. (orig.)

The world food situation: New driving forces and required actions [In Chinese

OpenAIRE

von Braun, Joachim

2008-01-01

"The world food situation is currently being rapidly redefined by new driving forces. Income growth, climate change, high energy prices, globalization, and urbanization are transforming food consumption, production, and markets. The influence of the private sector in the world food system, especially the leverage of food retailers, is also rapidly increasing. Changes in food availability, rising commodity prices, and new producer–consumer linkages have crucial implications for the livelihoods...

Biomechanical study: resistance comparison of posterior antiglide plate and lateral plate on synthetic bone models simulating Danis-Weber B malleolar fractures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruna Buscharino

2013-06-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE : The purpose of this study was to compare different positions of plates in lateral malleolar Danis-Weber B fractures on synthetic bone: a lateral plate and a posterior antiglide plate. METHODS : Short oblique fractures of distal fibula at the level of the syndesmosys were simulated with a fibular osteotomy in sixteen synthetic fibula bones (Synbone®. Eight fractures were fixed with lateral plating associated with an independent lag screw, and the other eight were fixed with posterior antiglide plating with a lag screw through the plate. A strain gage was installed at the center of each plate at the osteotomy site. Supination and external rotation forces were applied to each of the two groups at the bend. RESULTS : The lateral position plate group suffered more deformity in response to supination forces compared to the group with the posterior antiglide plate, but this result was not statistically significant. In the tests with external rotation forces, the posterior antiglide plating group had significantly higher resistance (p < 0.05. CONCLUSION : When subjected to external rotation forces, osteosynthesis with posterior antiglide plate models simulating type B fractures of the lateral malleolus of the ankle is more resistant than that of the neutralization plate.

Detachment of polystyrene particles from collector surfaces by surface tension forces induced by air-bubble passage through a parallel plate flow chamber

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wit, PJ; vanderMei, HC; Busscher, HJ

1997-01-01

By allowing an air-bubble to pass through a parallel plate flow chamber with negatively charged, colloidal polystyrene particles adhering to the bottom collector plate of the chamber, the detachment of adhering particles stimulated by surface tension forces induced by the passage of a liquid-air

Use of the Nintendo Wii Balance Board for Studying Standing Static Balance Control: Technical Considerations, Force-Plate Congruency, and the Effect of Battery Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Tyler B; Ma, Christine; Laing, Andrew C

2017-02-01

The Nintendo Wii Balance Board (WBB) has become popular as a low-cost alternative to research-grade force plates. The purposes of this study were to characterize a series of technical specifications for the WBB, to compare balance control metrics derived from time-varying center of pressure (COP) signals collected simultaneously from a WBB and a research-grade force plate, and to investigate the effects of battery life. Drift, linearity, hysteresis, mass accuracy, uniformity of response, and COP accuracy were assessed from a WBB. In addition, 6 participants completed an eyes-closed quiet standing task on the WBB (at 3 battery life levels) mounted on a force plate while sway was simultaneously measured by both systems. Characterization results were all associated with less than 1% error. R 2 values reflecting WBB sensor linearity were > .99. Known and measured COP differences were lowest at the center of the WBB and greatest at the corners. Between-device differences in quiet stance COP summary metrics were of limited clinical significance. Lastly, battery life did not affect WBB COP accuracy, but did influence 2 of 8 quiet stance WBB parameters. This study provides general support for the WBB as a low-cost alternative to research-grade force plates for quantifying COP movement during standing.

Forces and Moments on Flat Plates of Small Aspect Ratio with Application to PV Wind Loads and Small Wind Turbine Blades

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xavier Ortiz

2015-03-01

Full Text Available To improve knowledge of the wind loads on photovoltaic structures mounted on flat roofs at the high angles required in high latitudes, and to study starting flow on low aspect ratio wind turbine blades, a series of wind tunnel tests were undertaken. Thin flat plates of aspect ratios between 0.4 and 9.0 were mounted on a sensitive three-component instantaneous force and moment sensor. The Reynolds numbers varied from 6 × 104 to 2 × 105. Measurements were made for angles of attack between 0° and 90° both in the free stream and in wall proximity with increased turbulence and mean shear. The ratio of drag to lift closely follows the inverse tangent of the angle of incidence for virtually all measurements. This implies that the forces of interest are due largely to the instantaneous pressure distribution around the plate and are not significantly influenced by shear stresses. The instantaneous forces appear most complex for the smaller aspect ratios but the intensity of the normal force fluctuations is between 10% and 20% in the free-steam but can exceed 30% near the wall. As the wind tunnel floor is approached, the lift and drag reduce with increasing aspect ratio, and there is a reduction in the high frequency components of the forces. It is shown that the centre of pressure is closer to the centre of the plates than the quarter-chord position for nearly all cases.

An analytical study of the free and forced vibration response of a ribbed plate with free boundary conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Tian Ran; Zhang, Kai

2018-05-01

An analytical study to predict the vibration response of a ribbed plate with free boundary conditions is presented. The analytical solution was derived using a double cosine integral transform technique and then utilized to study the free and forced vibration of the ribbed plate, as well as the effect of the rib on the modal response of the uniform plate. It is shown that in addition to the three zero-frequency rigid body modes of the plate, the vibration modes of the uniform plate can be classified into four mode groups according to the symmetric properties of the plate with respect to the two orthogonal middle lines parallel to the plate edges. The four mode groups correspond to a double symmetric group, a double anti-symmetric group and two symmetric/anti-symmetric groups. Whilst the inclusion of the rib to the plate is shown to cause distortion to the distribution of vibration modes, most modes can still be traced back to the original modes of the uniform plate. Both the mass and stiffness of the rib are shown to affect the modal vibration of the uniform plate, whereby a dominant effect from the rib mass leads to a decrease in the modal frequency of the plate, whereas a dominant effect from the rib stiffness leads to an increase in plate modal frequency. When the stiffened rib behaves as an effective boundary to the plate vibration, an original plate mode becomes a pair of degenerate modes, whereby one mode has a higher frequency and the other mode has a lower frequency than that of the original mode.

Discharge switch driving by Lorentz force and its characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inoue, Kunikazu; Hasegawa, Mitsuo; Ueno, Isao

1999-01-01

Our newly developed 'Rotary-Arc mode Discharge Switch' have featured longer life expectancy and lower inductance-wise by extremely minimizing the insulation deterioration and consumable main electrode through installation of permanent magnet, simplified construction and careful attention on the demagnetization. Resultantly, highly efficient and larger capacitive discharge switch have been available at such economical cost. In addition, by having derived an experimental formula for the driving speed of the arc, the required design parameters of the discharge switch have been determined, and then it has been well noted that any affections of electro-magnetic Lorentz force toward the starting characteristics have been negligible small. All these have made it possible to materialize such discharge switch which will satisfy the required conditions. (author)

Divergent plate motion drives rapid exhumation of (ultra)high pressure rocks

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Jie; Malusà, Marco G.; Zhao, Liang; Baldwin, Suzanne L.; Fitzgerald, Paul G.; Gerya, Taras

2018-06-01

Exhumation of (ultra)high pressure [(U)HP] rocks by upper-plate divergent motion above an unbroken slab, first proposed in the Western Alps, has never been tested by numerical methods. We present 2D thermo-mechanical models incorporating subduction of a thinned continental margin beneath either a continental or oceanic upper plate, followed by upper-plate divergent motion away from the lower plate. Results demonstrate how divergent plate motion may trigger rapid exhumation of large volumes of (U)HP rocks directly to the Earth's surface, without the need for significant overburden removal by erosion. Model exhumation paths are fully consistent with natural examples for a wide range of upper-plate divergence rates. Exhumation rates are systematically higher than the divergent rate imposed to the upper plate, and the modeled size of exhumed (U)HP domes is invariant for different rates of upper-plate divergence. Major variations are instead predicted at depth for differing model scenarios, as larger amounts of divergent motion may allow mantle-wedge exhumation to shallow depth under the exhuming domes. The transient temperature increase, due to ascent of mantle-wedge material in the subduction channel, has a limited effect on exhumed continental (U)HP rocks already at the surface. We test two examples, the Cenozoic (U)HP terranes of the Western Alps (continental upper plate) and eastern Papua New Guinea (oceanic upper plate). The good fit between model predictions and the geologic record in these terranes encourages the application of these models globally to pre-Cenozoic (U)HP terranes where the geologic record of exhumation is only partly preserved.

Position Control of Linear Synchronous Motor Drives with Exploitation of Forced Dynamics Control Principles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Vittek

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Closed-loop position control of mechanisms directly driven by linear synchronous motors with permanent magnets is presented. The control strategy is based on forced dynamic control, which is a form of feedback linearisation, yielding a non-liner multivariable control law to obtain a prescribed linear speed dynamics together with the vector control condition of mutal orthogonality between the stator current and magnetic flux vectors (assuming perfect estimates of the plant parameters. Outer position control loop is closed via simple feedback with proportional gain. Simulations of the design control sysstem, including the drive with power electronic switching, predict the intended drive performance.

Finite Element Analysis of the Vertical Levitation Force in an Electrostatic MEMS Comb Drive Actuator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wooldridge, J; Blackburn, J; Muniz-Piniella, A; Stewart, M; Shean, T A V; Weaver, P M; Cain, M G

2013-01-01

A vertical levitation electrostatic comb drive actuator was manufactured for the purpose of measuring piezoelectric coefficients in small-scale materials and devices. Previous modelling work on comb drive levitation has focussed on control of the levitation in standard poly-silicon devices in order to minimize effects on lateral modes of operation required for the accelerometer and gyroscope applications. The actuator developed in this study was manufactured using a 20 μm electroplated Ni process with a 25 μm trench created beneath the released structure through chemical wet etching. A finite element analysis using ZINC was used to model electrostatic potential around a cross section of one static and one movable electrode, from which the net levitation force per unit electrode was calculated. The model was first verified using the electrode geometry from previously studied systems, and then used to study the variation of force as a function of decreasing substrate-electrode distance. With the top electrode surfaces collinear the calculated force density is 0.00651 ε 0 V 2 M μm −1 , equivalent to a total force for the device of 36.4 μN at an applied voltage of V M =100 V, just 16% larger than the observed value. The measured increase in force with distance was smaller than predicted with the FEA, due to the geometry of the device in which the electrodes at the anchored ends of the supporting spring structure displace by a smaller amount than those at the centre

Orbital Forcing driving climate variability on Tropical South Atlantic

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, A. S.; Baker, P. A.; Silva, C. G.; Dwyer, G. S.; Chiessi, C. M.; Rigsby, C. A.; Ferreira, F.

2017-12-01

Past research on climate response to orbital forcing in tropical South America has emphasized on high precession cycles influencing low latitude hydrologic cycles, and driving the meridional migration of Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).However, marine proxy records from the tropical Pacific Ocean showed a strong 41-ka periodicities in Pleistocene seawater temperature and productivity related to fluctuations in Earth's obliquity. It Indicates that the western Pacific ITCZ migration was influenced by combined precession and obliquity changes. To reconstruct different climate regimes over the continent and understand the orbital cycle forcing over Tropical South America climate, hydrological reconstruction have been undertaken on sediment cores located on the Brazilian continental slope, representing the past 1.6 million years. Core CDH 79 site is located on a 2345 m deep seamount on the northern Brazilian continental slope (00° 39.6853' N, 44° 20.7723' W), 320 km from modern coastline of the Maranhão Gulf. High-resolution XRF analyses of Fe, Ti, K and Ca are used to define the changes in precipitation and sedimentary input history of Tropical South America. The response of the hydrology cycle to orbital forcing was studied using spectral analysis.The 1600 ka records of dry/wet conditions presented here indicates that orbital time-scale climate change has been a dominant feature of tropical climate. We conclude that the observed oscillation reflects variability in the ITCZ activity associated with the Earth's tilt. The prevalence of the eccentricity and obliquity signals in continental hydrology proxies (Ti/Ca and Fe/K) as implicated in our precipitation records, highlights that these orbital forcings play an important role in tropics hydrologic cycles. Throughout the Quaternary abrupt shifts of tropical variability are temporally correlated with abrupt climate changes and atmospheric reorganization during Mid-Pleistocene Transition and Mid-Brunhes Events

Driving forces and barriers for environmental technology development; Drivkrefter og barrierer for utvikling av miljoeteknologi

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-07-01

Driving forces and barriers behind development and usage of environmental technology is discussed, and also whether there are certain characteristics related to environmental innovations compared to other innovations in general. The development of environmental technology is in principle dominated by the same drivers and barriers as any other technology, but the order and strength of the various factors may be different. This examination as well as other empirical studies shows that regulations play a greater part for environmental technology than 'pure market forces'. To many participants it is important to be one step ahead of the regulations, i.e. the expected regulations are equally important as the factual ones in driving the technology development. Players in the business community express that it is important that the authorities cooperate with them when introducing new regulations. This will increase acceptance for the regulations and facilitate the necessary adjustments. The most important barrier in the development and use of the technologies studied is probably the lack of demand.

Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Burnishing Force on Service Properties of AISI 1010 Steel Plates

Science.gov (United States)

Gharbi, F.; Sghaier, S.; Morel, F.; Benameur, T.

2015-02-01

This paper presents the results obtained with a new ball burnishing tool developed for the mechanical treatment of large flat surfaces. Several parameters can affect the mechanical behavior and fatigue of workpiece. Our study focused on the effect of the burnishing force on the surface quality and on the service properties (mechanical behavior, fatigue) of AISI 1010 steel hot-rolled plates. Experimental results assert that burnishing force not exceeding 300 N causes an increase in the ductility. In addition, results indicated that the effect of the burnishing force on the residual surface stress was greater in the direction of advance than in the cross-feed direction. Furthermore, the flat burnishing surfaces did not improve the fatigue strength of AISI 1010 steel flat specimens.

Development of a shear force measurement dummy for seat comfort.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seong Guk Kim

Full Text Available Seat comfort is one of the main factors that consumers consider when purchasing a car. In this study, we develop a dummy with a shear-force sensor to evaluate seat comfort. The sensor has dimensions of 25 mm × 25 mm × 26 mm and is made of S45C. Electroless nickel plating is employed to coat its surface in order to prevent corrosion and oxidation. The proposed sensor is validated using a qualified load cell and shows high accuracy and precision (measurement range: -30-30 N; sensitivity: 0.1 N; linear relationship: R = 0.999; transverse sensitivity: <1%. The dummy is manufactured in compliance with the SAE standards (SAE J826 and incorporates shear sensors into its design. We measure the shear force under four driving conditions and at five different speeds using a sedan; results showed that the shear force increases with speed under all driving conditions. In the case of acceleration and deceleration, shear force significantly changes in the lower body of the dummy. During right and left turns, it significantly changes in the upper body of the dummy.

Salticid predation as one potential driving force of ant mimicry in jumping spiders

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jin-Nan; Cheng, Ren-Chung; Li, Daiqin; Tso, I-Min

2011-01-01

Many spiders possess myrmecomorphy, and species of the jumping spider genus Myrmarachne exhibit nearly perfect ant mimicry. Most salticids are diurnal predators with unusually high visual acuity that prey on various arthropods, including conspecifics. In this study, we tested whether predation pressure from large jumping spiders is one possible driving force of perfect ant mimicry in jumping spiders. The results showed that small non-ant-mimicking jumping spiders were readily treated as prey by large ones (no matter whether heterospecific or conspecific) and suffered high attack and mortality rates. The size difference between small and large jumping spiders significantly affected the outcomes of predatory interactions between them: the smaller the juvenile jumping spiders, the higher the predation risk from large ones. The attack and mortality rates of ant-mimicking jumping spiders were significantly lower than those of non-ant-mimicking jumping spiders, indicating that a resemblance to ants could provide protection against salticid predation. However, results of multivariate behavioural analyses showed that the responses of large jumping spiders to ants and ant-mimicking salticids differed significantly. Results of this study indicate that predation pressure from large jumping spiders might be one selection force driving the evolution of nearly perfect myrmecomorphy in spiders and other arthropods. PMID:20961898

Forced convection on a heated horizontal flat plate with finite thermal conductivity in a non-Darcian porous medium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luna, N. [Direccion de Operacion Petrolera, Direccion General de Exploracion y Explotacion de Hidrocarburos, Secretaria de Energia, 03100 Mexico DF (Mexico); Mendez, F. [Facultad de Ingenieria, UNAM, 04510 Mexico DF (Mexico)

2005-07-01

The steady-state analysis of conjugated heat transfer process for the hydrodynamically developed forced convection flow on a heated flat plate embedded in a porous medium is studied. The governing equations for the fluid-saturated porous medium are solved analytically using the integral boundary layer approximation. This integral solution is coupled to the energy equation for the flat plate, where the longitudinal heat conduction effects are taken into account. The resulting equations are then reduced to an integro-differential equation which is solved by regular perturbation techniques and numerical methods. The analytical and numerical predictions for the temperature profile of the plate and appropriate local and average Nusselt numbers are plotted for finite values of the conduction parameter, {alpha}, which represents the presence of the longitudinal heat conduction effects. (authors)

Magnetostatic torsional actuator with embedded nickel structures for the improvement of driving force and wobble motion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, Tsung-Lin; Fang, Weileun

2011-01-01

This study demonstrates the magnetostatic torsional actuator consisting in a Si–Ni compound frame to significantly improve the driving force. The present design has three merits: (1) it employs a Si mold to simultaneously electroplate/pattern thick Ni, and the Ni and Si structures respectively provide magnetostatic force and superior mechanical properties, (2) the embedded Ni structures not only increase the ferromagnetic material volume but also enhance magnetization strength to enlarge magnetostatic torque, (3) the Si–Ni compound structure, which is nearly symmetric about the torsional axis in the out-of-plane direction, can decrease the moment of inertia and also reduce the wobble motion. In applications, one-axis torsional actuator is implemented and characterized. The experiments show that the Si–Ni compound scanner has an optical scan angle θ optical = 90° with the input power 81 mW. The input power is decreased as compared with the existing scanner. Moreover, the out-of-plane wobble motion is only 44 nm at θ optical = 15°. Compared with the existing designs consisted of asymmetric structures in the out-of-plane direction, such as electroplated film and silicon rib, about the torsional axis, the equivalent eccentric force is reduced nearly two-fold. In short, the proposed design not only increases the driving force but also decreases the wobble motion

Effect of Chord Splice Joints on Force Distribution and Deformations in Trusses with Punched Metal Plate Fasteners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ellegaard, Peter

2007-01-01

The span of roof trusses with punched metal plate fasteners (nail plates) makes it often necessary to use splice joints in the top and bottom chords. In the finite element models used for design of the trusses these splice joints are normally assumed to be either rotationally stiff or pinned....... Timber-to-timber contact and non-linear elastic behaviour are included in the model. Results from tests with joints under fourpoint bending are compared with predictions given by TrussLab, and a good agreement is found. Splice joints in trusses with nail plates may be assumed to be rotationally stiff...... if their deformation has no significant effect upon the distribution of member forces according to Eurocode 5. Two simple guidelines for the design and location of splice joints are given in Eurocode 5 for treating the splice joints as rotationally stiff. The reasonability of these guidelines and the influence...

Predictions of the effect of stratification on superimposed forced and free convection between vertical parallel plates for various boundary conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cowan, G.H.; Irvine, T.J. Jr.; Quarini, G.L.

1983-01-01

The velocity and temperature equations for laminar buoyancy and forced convection flows between vertical flat parallel plates are presented. The thermal boundary conditions on the plate define the buoyancy driven field, while the channel Reynolds number defines the forced flow field. Specific examples relating to tall narrow channels with laminar convention and to closed high ratio cavities (as may be found in the proposed active and passive insulation systems for sodium cooled fast reactors) are presented. The analysis is limited to the laminar flow regimes, whilst some reactor situations are likely to be turbulent, hence a proposal for a simple extension of this analysis to the turbulent regime is made. It is shown how the analysis can be made to apply to fluids of various Prandtl numbers. (author)

Plumes do not Exist: Plate Circulation is Confined to Upper Mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, W. B.

2002-12-01

key to kinematics. Arcs advance and collide, fast-spreading Pacific shrinks, etc. A fore-arc basin atop an overriding plate shows that hinge and non-shortening plate front there track together: velocities of rollback and advance are equal. Convergence velocity commonly also equals rollback velocity but often is greater. Slabs sinking broadside push upper mantle back under incoming plates and force rapid Pacific spreading, whereas overriding plates flow forward with retreating hinges. Backarc basins open behind island arcs migrating with hinges. Slabs settle on uncrossable 660-km discontinuity. (Contrary tomographic claims reflect sampling and smearing artifacts, notably due to along-slab raypaths.) Plates advance over sunken slabs and mantle displaced rearward by them, and ridges spread where advancing plates pull away. Ridges migrate over asthenosphere, producing geophysical and bathymetric asymmetry, and tap fresh asthenosphere into which slab material is recycled upward. Sluggish deep-mantle circulation is decoupled from rapid upper-mantle circulation, so plate motions can be referenced to semistable lower mantle. Global plate motions make kinematic sense if Antarctica, almost ringed by departing ridges and varying little in Cenozoic paleomagnetic position, is stationary: hinges roll back, ridges migrate, and directions and velocities of plate rotations accord with subduction, including sliding and crowding of oceanic lithosphere toward free edges, as the dominant drive. (The invalid hotspot and no-net-rotation frames minimize motions of hinges and ridges, and their plate motions lack kinematic sense.) Northern Eurasia also is almost stationary, Africa rotates very slowly counterclockwise toward Aegean and Zagros, Pacific plate races toward surface-exit subduction systems, etc.

Driving force of PCMI failure under reactivity initiated accident conditions and influence of hydrogen embrittlement on failure limit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomiyasu, Kunihiko; Sugiyama, Tomoyuki; Nakamura, Takehiko; Fuketa, Toyoshi

2005-09-01

In order to clarify the driving force of PCMI (Pellet/Cladding Mechanical Interaction) failure on high burnup fuels and to investigate the influence of hydrogen embrittlement on failure limit under RIA (Reactivity Initiated Accident) conditions, RIA-simulation experiments were performed on fresh fuel rods in the NSRR (Nuclear Safety Research Reactor). The driving force of PCMI was restricted only to thermal expansion of pellet by using fresh UO 2 pellets. Fresh claddings were pre-hydrided to simulate hydrogen absorption of high burnup fuel rods. In seven experiments out of fourteen, test rods resulted in PCMI failure, which has been observed in the NSRR tests on high burnup PWR fuels, in terms of the transient behavior and the fracture configuration. This indicates that the driving force of PCMI failure is sufficiently explained with thermal expansion of pellet and a contribution of fission gas on it is small. A large number of incipient cracks were generated in the outer surface of the cladding even on non-failed fuel rods, and they stopped at the boundary between hydride rim, which was a hydride layer localized in the periphery of the cladding, and metallic layer. It suggests that the integrity of the metallic layer except for the hydride rim has particular importance for failure limit. Fuel enthalpy at failure correlates with the thickness of hydride rim, and tends to decrease with thicker hydride layer. (author)

Deformation-induced martensitic transformation in a 201 austenitic steel: The synergy of stacking fault energy and chemical driving force

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moallemi, M., E-mail: m.moallemi@ma.iut.ac.ir [Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Kermanpur, A. [Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Najafizadeh, A. [Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Fould Institute of Technology, Fouladshahr, Isfahan, 8491663763 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Rezaee, A.; Baghbadorani, H. Samaei; Nezhadfar, P. Dastranjy [Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2016-01-20

The present study deals with the correlation of stacking fault energy's synergy and driving force in the formation of deformation-induced martensitic transformation in a 201 austenitic stainless steel. The fraction of deformation-induced martensite was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction and magnetic induction techniques. The kinetics of the martensite formation versus applied strain was evaluated through the sigmoidal model. It was shown that the volume fraction of ά-martensite is closely related to the driving force/SFE ratio of the alloy. The results also showed that the martensite content is similar in both XRD and magnetic methods and the applied sigmoidal model was consistent with the obtained experimental data.

Blood pressure is the major driving force for plaque formation in aortic-constricted ApoE-/- mice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansson, Maria E.; Wickman, Anna; Skøtt, Ole

2006-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Using an aortic constriction model in mice, we studied whether the increase in pressure or the activation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and its main receptors is the main driving force for plaque progression. METHODS: Male ApoE mice underwent sham surgery or placement of a supr...

Flow of nanofluid past a Riga plate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahmad, Adeel, E-mail: adeelahmed@comsats.edu.pk [Department of Mathematics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Park Road, Chak Shahzad, 44000 Islamabad (Pakistan); Laboratoire J.A. Dieudonné, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice (France); Asghar, Saleem [Department of Mathematics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Park Road, Chak Shahzad, 44000 Islamabad (Pakistan); Department of Mathematics, King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia); Afzal, Sumaira [Department of Mathematics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Park Road, Chak Shahzad, 44000 Islamabad (Pakistan)

2016-03-15

This paper studies the mixed convection boundary layer flow of a nanofluid past a vertical Riga plate in the presence of strong suction. The mathematical model incorporates the Brownian motion and thermophoresis effects due to nanofluid and the Grinberg-term for the wall parallel Lorentz force due to Riga plate. The analytical solution of the problem is presented using the perturbation method for small Brownian and thermophoresis diffusion parameters. The numerical solution is also presented to ensure the reliability of the asymptotic method. The comparison of the two solutions shows an excellent agreement. The correlation expressions for skin friction, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are developed by performing linear regression on the obtained numerical data. The effects of nanofluid and the Lorentz force due to Riga plate, on the skin friction are discussed. - Highlights: • Mixed convection flow of a nanofluid past a vertical Riga plate. • The Brownian motion and thermophoresis effects due to nanofluid are incorporated. • Grinberg-term represents the wall parallel Lorentz force due to Riga plate. • The correlation expressions for skin friction, Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are developed. • The effects of nanofluid and the Lorentz force on the skin friction are discussed.

The reliability of linear position transducer, force plate and combined measurement of explosive power-time variables during a loaded jump squat in elite athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Keir T; Cronin, John B; Newton, Michael J

2011-03-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the between day reliability of power-time measures calculated with data collected using the linear position transducer or the force plate independently, or a combination of the two technologies. Twenty-five male rugby union players performed three jump squats on two occasions one week apart. Ground reaction forces were measured via a force plate and position data were collected using a linear position transducer. From these data, a number of power-time variables were calculated for each method. The force plate, linear position transducer and a combined method were all found to be a reliable means of measuring peak power (ICC = 0.87-0.95, CV = 3.4%-8.0%). The absolute consistency of power-time measures varied between methods (CV = 8.0%-53.4%). Relative consistency of power-time measures was generally comparable between methods and measures, and for many variables was at an acceptable level (ICC = 0.77-0.94). Although a number of time-dependent power variables can be reliably calculated from data acquired from the three methods investigated, the reliability of a number of these measures is below that which is acceptable for use in research and for practical applications.

Driving forces for adsorption of amphiphilic peptides to the air-water interface.

Science.gov (United States)

Engin, Ozge; Villa, Alessandra; Sayar, Mehmet; Hess, Berk

2010-09-02

We have studied the partitioning of amphiphilic peptides at the air-water interface. The free energy of adsorption from bulk to interface was calculated by determining the potential of mean force via atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. To this end a method is introduced to restrain or constrain the center of mass of a group of molecules in a periodic system. The model amphiphilic peptides are composed of alternating valine and asparagine residues. The decomposition of the free energy difference between the bulk and interface is studied for different peptide block lengths. Our analysis revealed that for short amphiphilic peptides the surface driving force dominantly stems from the dehydration of hydrophobic side chains. The only opposing force is associated with the loss of orientational freedom of the peptide at the interface. For the peptides studied, the free energy difference scales linearly with the size of the molecule, since the peptides mainly adopt extended conformations both in bulk and at the interface. The free energy difference depends strongly on the water model, which can be rationalized through the hydration thermodynamics of hydrophobic solutes. Finally, we measured the reduction of the surface tension associated with complete coverage of the interface with peptides.

Sector trends and driving forces of global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions: focus in industry and buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Price, Lynn; Worrell, Ernst; Khrushch, Marta

1999-09-01

Disaggregation of sectoral energy use and greenhouse gas emissions trends reveals striking differences between sectors and regions of the world. Understanding key driving forces in the energy end-use sectors provides insights for development of projections of future greenhouse gas emissions. This report examines global and regional historical trends in energy use and carbon emissions in the industrial, buildings, transport, and agriculture sectors, with a more detailed focus on industry and buildings. Activity and economic drivers as well as trends in energy and carbon intensity are evaluated. The authors show that macro-economic indicators, such as GDP, are insufficient for comprehending trends and driving forces at the sectoral level. These indicators need to be supplemented with sector-specific information for a more complete understanding of future energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Sector trends and driving forces of global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions: focus in industry and buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, Lynn; Worrell, Ernst; Khrushch, Marta

1999-01-01

Disaggregation of sectoral energy use and greenhouse gas emissions trends reveals striking differences between sectors and regions of the world. Understanding key driving forces in the energy end-use sectors provides insights for development of projections of future greenhouse gas emissions. This report examines global and regional historical trends in energy use and carbon emissions in the industrial, buildings, transport, and agriculture sectors, with a more detailed focus on industry and buildings. Activity and economic drivers as well as trends in energy and carbon intensity are evaluated. The authors show that macro-economic indicators, such as GDP, are insufficient for comprehending trends and driving forces at the sectoral level. These indicators need to be supplemented with sector-specific information for a more complete understanding of future energy use and greenhouse gas emissions

Validity Study of a Jump Mat Compared to the Reference Standard Force Plate.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogan, Slavko; Radlinger, Lorenz; Imhasly, Caroline; Kneubuehler, Andrea; Hilfiker, Roger

2015-12-01

In the field of vertical jump diagnostics, force plates (FP) are the reference standard. Recently, despite a lack of evidence, jump mats have been used increasingly. Important factors in favor of jumping mats are their low cost and portability. This validity study compared the Haynl-Elektronik jump mat (HE jump mat) with the reference standard force plate. Ten healthy volunteers participated and each participant completed three series of five drop jumps (DJ). The parameters ground contact time (GCT) and vertical jump height (VJH) from the HE jump mat and the FP were used to evaluate the concurrent validity. The following statistical calculations were performed: Pearson's correlation (r), Bland-Altman plots (standard and for adjusted trend), and regression equations. The Bland-Altman plots suggest that the HE jump mat measures shorter contact times and higher jump heights than the FP. The trend-adjusted Bland-Altman plot shows higher mean differences and wider wing-spreads of confidence limits during longer GCT. During the VJH the mean differences and the wing-spreads of the confidence limits throughout the range present as relatively constant. The following regression equations were created, as close as possible to the true value: GCT = 5.920385 + 1.072293 × [value HE jump mat] and VJH = -1.73777 + 1.011156 × [value HE jump mat]. The HE jump mat can be recommended in relation to the validity of constraints. In this study, only a part of the quality criteria were examined. For the final recommendation it is advised to examine the HE jump mat on the other quality criteria (test-retest reliability, sensitivity change).

Solvent driving force ensures fast formation of a persistent and well-separated radical pair in plant cryptochrome

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lüdemann, Gesa; Solov'yov, Ilia; Kubar, Tomás

2015-01-01

upon the electron transfer. This approach allows us to follow the time evolution of the electron transfer in an unbiased fashion and to reveal the molecular driving force which ensures fast electron transfer in cryptochrome guaranteeing formation of a persistent radical pair suitable...

3-D subduction dynamics in the western Pacific: Mantle pressure, plate kinematics, and dynamic topography.

Science.gov (United States)

Holt, A. F.; Royden, L.; Becker, T. W.; Faccenna, C.

2017-12-01

While it is well established that the slab pull of negatively buoyant oceanic plates is the primary driving force of plate tectonics, the dynamic "details" of subduction have proved difficult to pin down. We use the Philippine Sea Plate region of the western Pacific as a site to explore links between kinematic observables (e.g. topography and plate motions) and the dynamics of the subduction system (e.g. mantle flow, mantle pressure). To first order, the Philippine Sea Plate can be considered to be the central plate of a double slab system containing two slabs that dip in the same direction, to the west. This subduction configuration presents the opportunity to explore subduction dynamics in a setting where two closely spaced slabs interact via subduction-induced mantle flow and stresses transmitted through the intervening plate. We use a 3-D numerical approach (e.g. Holt et al., 2017), augmented by semi-analytical models (e.g. Jagoutz et al., 2017), to develop relationships between dynamic processes and kinematic properties, including plate velocities, lithospheric stress state, slab dip angles, and topography. When combined with subduction zone observables, this allows us to isolate the first order dynamic processes that are in operation in the Philippine Sea Plate region. Our results suggest that positive pressure build-up occurs in the asthenosphere between the two slabs (Izu-Bonin-Mariana and Ryukyu-Nankai), and that this is responsible for producing much of the observed kinematic variability in the region, including the steep dip of the Pacific slab at the Izu-Bonin-Mariana trench, as compared to the flat dip of the Pacific slab north of Japan. We then extend our understanding of the role of asthenospheric pressure to examine the forces responsible for the plate kinematics and dynamic topography of the entire Western Pacific subduction margin(s). References:Holt, A. F., Royden, L. H., Becker, T. W., 2017. Geophys. J. Int., 209, 250-265Jagoutz, O., Royden, L

Experimental study of oscillating plates in viscous fluids: Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the flow physics and hydrodynamic forces

Science.gov (United States)

Shrestha, Bishwash; Ahsan, Syed N.; Aureli, Matteo

2018-01-01

In this paper, we present a comprehensive experimental study on harmonic oscillations of a submerged rigid plate in a quiescent, incompressible, Newtonian, viscous fluid. The fluid-structure interaction problem is analyzed from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives via a detailed particle image velocimetry (PIV) experimental campaign conducted over a broad range of oscillation frequency and amplitude parameters. Our primary goal is to identify the effect of the oscillation characteristics on the mechanisms of fluid-structure interaction and on the dynamics of vortex shedding and convection and to elucidate the behavior of hydrodynamic forces on the oscillating structure. Towards this goal, we study the flow in terms of qualitative aspects of its pathlines, vortex shedding, and symmetry breaking phenomena and identify distinct hydrodynamic regimes in the vicinity of the oscillating structure. Based on these experimental observations, we produce a novel phase diagram detailing the occurrence of distinct hydrodynamic regimes as a function of relevant governing nondimensional parameters. We further study the hydrodynamic forces associated with each regime using both PIV and direct force measurement via a load cell. Our quantitative results on experimental estimation of hydrodynamic forces show good agreement against predictions from the literature, where numerical and semi-analytical models are available. The findings and observations in this work shed light on the relationship between flow physics, vortex shedding, and convection mechanisms and the hydrodynamic forces acting on a rigid oscillating plate and, as such, have relevance to various engineering applications, including energy harvesting devices, biomimetic robotic system, and micro-mechanical sensors and actuators.

Driving forces shaping advanced reactor designs: Near-term and long-term prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sholly, S.C.

1990-01-01

This paper explores the forces which have driven and which in the opinion of the author should be driving advanced reactor development programs. Four general driving forces are identified: cost, safety, environmental concerns, and non-proliferation concerns. It is suggested that the primary driving forces should be cost and safety concerns. It is suggested that advanced reactors need to demonstrate the following characteristics: (a) A design which explicitly accounts for severe accidents, including severe external events (not necessarily limited to contemporary design basis events) and which results in a frequency of severe core damage substantially lower than in current plants. The goal for the frequency of severe core damage should reflect a reasonable assurance that a severe core damage accident will not occur during the operating lifetime of a fleet' of such plants. (b) A design which explicitly accounts for severe accidents in terms of accident mitigation, resulting in a very low conditional likelihood of a substantial fission product release given a severe accident. (c) A design which utilizes near-passive and passive concepts (whose safety and reliability are demonstrable by experiment and/or full-scale test) for both accident prevention and accident mitigation to the maximum extent feasible. (d) A design which allows f a suitably long time between refueling outages, with a balance struck between refueling outage duration and refueling outage frequency so as to maximize availability and capacity factor. (e) A design which emphasizes modular construction and exceptional quality control. (f) A design which de emphasizes the importance of maintenance and human reliability more generally to assure that safety functions are performed with acceptable reliability, and to assure that passive safety characteristics are not compromised by design, manufacturing, or installation defects. It is further suggested that key factors in gaining public acceptance are the early

Driving forces shaping advanced reactor designs: Near-term and long-term prospects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sholly, S C [MHB Technical Associates, San Jose, CA (United States)

1990-07-01

This paper explores the forces which have driven and which in the opinion of the author should be driving advanced reactor development programs. Four general driving forces are identified: cost, safety, environmental concerns, and non-proliferation concerns. It is suggested that the primary driving forces should be cost and safety concerns. It is suggested that advanced reactors need to demonstrate the following characteristics: (a) A design which explicitly accounts for severe accidents, including severe external events (not necessarily limited to contemporary design basis events) and which results in a frequency of severe core damage substantially lower than in current plants. The goal for the frequency of severe core damage should reflect a reasonable assurance that a severe core damage accident will not occur during the operating lifetime of a fleet' of such plants. (b) A design which explicitly accounts for severe accidents in terms of accident mitigation, resulting in a very low conditional likelihood of a substantial fission product release given a severe accident. (c) A design which utilizes near-passive and passive concepts (whose safety and reliability are demonstrable by experiment and/or full-scale test) for both accident prevention and accident mitigation to the maximum extent feasible. (d) A design which allows f a suitably long time between refueling outages, with a balance struck between refueling outage duration and refueling outage frequency so as to maximize availability and capacity factor. (e) A design which emphasizes modular construction and exceptional quality control. (f) A design which de emphasizes the importance of maintenance and human reliability more generally to assure that safety functions are performed with acceptable reliability, and to assure that passive safety characteristics are not compromised by design, manufacturing, or installation defects. It is further suggested that key factors in gaining public acceptance are the early

Estimation of Longitudinal Force and Sideslip Angle for Intelligent Four-Wheel Independent Drive Electric Vehicles by Observer Iteration and Information Fusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Te; Chen, Long; Xu, Xing; Cai, Yingfeng; Jiang, Haobin; Sun, Xiaoqiang

2018-04-20

Exact estimation of longitudinal force and sideslip angle is important for lateral stability and path-following control of four-wheel independent driven electric vehicle. This paper presents an effective method for longitudinal force and sideslip angle estimation by observer iteration and information fusion for four-wheel independent drive electric vehicles. The electric driving wheel model is introduced into the vehicle modeling process and used for longitudinal force estimation, the longitudinal force reconstruction equation is obtained via model decoupling, the a Luenberger observer and high-order sliding mode observer are united for longitudinal force observer design, and the Kalman filter is applied to restrain the influence of noise. Via the estimated longitudinal force, an estimation strategy is then proposed based on observer iteration and information fusion, in which the Luenberger observer is applied to achieve the transcendental estimation utilizing less sensor measurements, the extended Kalman filter is used for a posteriori estimation with higher accuracy, and a fuzzy weight controller is used to enhance the adaptive ability of observer system. Simulations and experiments are carried out, and the effectiveness of proposed estimation method is verified.

Crack-arrest behavior in SEN wide plates of low-upper-shelf base metal tested under nonisothermal conditions: WP-2 series

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naus, D.J.; Keeney-Walker, J.; Bass, B.R.; Robinson, G.C. Jr.; Iskander, S.K.; Alexander, D.J.; Fields, R.J.; deWit, R.; Low, S.R.; Schwartz, C.W.

1990-08-01

The Heavy-Section Steel Technology (HSST) Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory under the sponsorship of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting analytical and experimental studies aimed at understanding the circumstances that would initiate the growth of an existing crack in a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and the conditions leading to arrest of a propagating crack. Objectives of these studies are to determine (1) if the material will exhibit crack-arrest behavior when the driving force on a crack exceeds the ASME limit, (2) the relationship between K Ia and temperature, and (3) the interaction of fracture modes (arrest, stable crack growth, unstable crack growth, and tensile instability) when arrest occurs at high temperatures. In meeting these objectives, crack-arrest data are being developed over an expanded temperature range through tests involving large thermally shocked cylinders, pressurized thermally shocked vessels, and wide-plate specimens. The wide-plate specimens provide the opportunity for a significant number of data points to be obtained at relatively affordable costs. These tests are designed to provide fracture-toughness measurements approaching or above the onset of the Charpy upper-shelf regime in a rising toughness region and with an increasing driving force. This document discusses test methodology and results. 23 refs., 92 figs., 25 tabs

Ultrasonic Low-Friction Containment Plate for Thermal and Ultrasonic Stir Weld Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Graff, Karl; Short, Matt

2013-01-01

The thermal stir welding (TSW) process is finding applications in fabrication of space vehicles. In this process, workpieces to be joined by TSW are drawn, by heavy forces, between "containment plates," past the TSW tool that then causes joining of the separate plates. It is believed that the TSW process would be significantly improved by reducing the draw force, and that this could be achieved by reducing the friction forces between the workpieces and containment plates. Based on use of high-power ultrasonics in metal forming processes, where friction reduction in drawing dies has been achieved, it is believed that ultrasonic vibrations of the containment plates could achieve similar friction reduction in the TSW process. By applying ultrasonic vibrations to the containment plates in a longitudinal vibration mode, as well as by mounting and holding the containment plates in a specific manner such as to permit the plates to acoustically float, friction between the metal parts and the containment plates is greatly reduced, and so is the drawing force. The concept was to bring in the ultrasonics from the sides of the plates, permitting the ultrasonic hardware to be placed to the side, away from the equipment that contains the thermal stir tooling and that applies clamping forces to the plates. Tests demonstrated that one of the major objectives of applying ultrasonics to the thermal stir system, that of reducing draw force friction, should be achievable on a scaled-up system.

Preliminary experiments using light-initiated high explosive for driving thin flyer plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benham, R.A.

1980-02-01

Light-initiated high explosive, silver acelytide - silver-nitrate (SASN), has been used to produce simulated x ray blow-off impulse loading on reentry vehicles to study the system structural response. SASN can be used to accelerate thin flyer plates to high terminal velocities which, in turn, can deliver a pressure pulse that can be tailored to the target material. This process is important for impulse tests where both structural and material response is desired. The theories used to calculate the dynamic state of the flyer plate prior to impact are summarized. Data from several experiments are presented which indicate that thin flyer plates can be properly accelerated and that there are predictive techniques available which are adequate to calculate the motion of the flyer plate. Recommendations are made for future study that must be undertaken to make the SASN flyer plate technique usable

Photoinduced electron transfer in covalent ruthenium-anthraquinone dyads: relative importance of driving-force, solvent polarity, and donor-bridge energy gap.

Science.gov (United States)

Hankache, Jihane; Wenger, Oliver S

2012-02-28

Four rigid rod-like molecules comprised of a Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) photosensitizer, a 9,10-anthraquinone electron acceptor, and a molecular bridge connecting the two redox partners were synthesized and investigated by optical spectroscopic and electrochemical means. An attempt was made to assess the relative importance of driving-force, solvent polarity, and bridge variation on the rates of photoinduced electron transfer in these molecules. Expectedly, introduction of tert-butyl substituents in the bipyridine ligands of the ruthenium complex and a change in solvent from dichloromethane to acetonitrile lead to a significant acceleration of charge transfer rates. In dichloromethane, photoinduced electron transfer is not competitive with the inherent excited-state deactivation processes of the photosensitizer. In acetonitrile, an increase in driving-force by 0.2 eV through attachment of tert-butyl substituents to the bpy ancillary ligands causes an increase in electron transfer rates by an order of magnitude. Replacement of a p-xylene bridge by a p-dimethoxybenzene spacer entails an acceleration of charge transfer rates by a factor of 3.5. In the dyads from this study, the relative order of importance of individual influences on electron transfer rates is therefore as follows: solvent polarity ≥ driving-force > donor-bridge energy gap.

Local deforestation patterns and their driving forces of tropical dry forest in two municipalities in Southern Oaxaca, Mexico (1985-2006

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Galicia

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The tropical dry forest is an ecosystem that is undergoing rapid changes. Although global driving forces behind these changes have been addressed at a local scale, spatio-temporal dynamics are still largely unknown. The main objective of this study was to identify the causes governing the dynamics of changes in land use and land cover in the tropical dry forest in two municipalities in Southern México. Satellite imagery and air photographs were used in a GIS context to produce maps of land use and land cover for 1985, 1995 and 2006. A number of statistical methods (Markov chains, general lineal models and regression tree analysis were applied to identify the proximate and the underlying causes of deforestation, agriculture being the most important one. When agriculture is mainly for self consumption, topographic factors determine its location. Increasing job opportunities in the tourism sector has resulted in the abandonment of agricultural land; consequently, the forest has recovered. Different studies have examined the dynamics of local deforestation and its driving forces in México; however, this study considered both spatial and temporal elements in order to identify the most important underlying driving forces of deforestation and its dynamics at local scale, and also compared two neighboring municipalities.

Land use change and its driving forces toward mutual conversion in Zhangjiakou City, a farming-pastoral ecotone in Northern China.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chao; Xu, Yueqing; Sun, Piling; Huang, An; Zheng, Weiran

2017-09-14

Land use/cover change (LUCC), a local environmental issue of global importance, and its driving forces have been crucial issues in geography and environmental research. Previous studies primarily focused on major driving factors in various land use types, with few explorations of differences between driving forces of mutual land use type conversions, especially in fragile eco-environments. In this study, Zhangjiakou City, in a farming-pastoral ecotone in Northern China, was taken as an example to analyze land use change between 1989 and 2015, and explore the driving forces of mutual land use type conversions using canonical correlation analysis. Satellite images and government statistics, including social-economic and natural data, were used as sources. Arable land, forestland, and grassland formed the main land use structure. From 1989 to 2015 forestland, orchard land, and construction land significantly increased, while arable land, grassland, unused land, and water areas decreased. Conversions from grassland to forestland; from arable land to orchard land, forestland and construction land; and from unused land to grassland and forestland were the primary land use changes. Among these, the conversion from grassland to forestland had the highest ranking. Average annual precipitation and per capita net income of rural residents positively affected the conversion of arable land to forestland and unused land to grassland. GDP, total population, and urbanization rate contributed most significantly to converting arable land to construction land; total retail sales of social consumer goods, average annual temperature, and GDP had important positive influences in converting arable land to orchard land.

Differences in Pattern and Driving Forces between Urban and Rural Settlements in the Coastal Region of Ningbo, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingxing Chen

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Rapid urbanization on the coast of China has attracted much attention. The objective of this study was to explore the differences in dynamics and related driving forces between urban and rural settlements. Applying the quantitative method, we demonstrate that substantial heterogeneity in settlement growth, landscape pattern metrics, change, land sources and driving forces is exhibited across the different types of urban and rural settlements. The spatial growth of urban settlements is dominated by in situ expansion, while rural settlements tend to be scattered and shrinking rapidly. The sprawl of human settlements has mainly occupied farm land, but reclamation projects are increasingly becoming important land sources for urban settlements. Local government has played a critical role in urban settlements, while the expansion of rural settlements is mainly driven by individual choice and village collective organizations. Such differences may account for differential options for the management of human settlements scientifically.

Driving forces behind the construction of an eco-compensation mechanism for wetlands in China

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Changhai

2016-09-01

This research revealed important driving forces behind the construction of an eco-compensation mechanism for wetlands (DFEMW) in China. Using China's provincial panel data from 1978 to 2008, a fixed-effects model was used to analyze the impacts of agricultural production systems on wetlands. We identified three DFEMW as follows: the change of wetland resources and protection measures in China; declaration and implementation of the provincial Wetland Protection Ordinance; and wetland degradation by agricultural production systems, which necessitated the establishment of a wetland eco-compensation mechanism. In addition to the DFEMW, a significant positive correlation between wetland area and both rural population and gross agricultural production was identified, in addition to a negative correlation with chemical fertilizer usage, reservoir storage capacity, and irrigation area. The underlying reasons for the serious degradation and inadequate protection of wetlands were market failure and government failure; these were the driving forces behind the need to establish a wetland eco-compensation mechanism. From a governmental perspective, it has been difficult to rectify market failures in resource distribution and thus to prevent wetland degradation. Factors include conflicts of interest, lack of investment, effective special laws, a simple means to protect wetlands, and a multidisciplinary management system. Therefore, the key factor is the coordination of interest relationships between those who utilize wetlands and those who seek to minimize wetland degradation and effectively protect wetlands.

Bright Soil Churned by Spirit's Sol 1861 Drive

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit drove 22.7 meters (74 feet) toward the southwest on the 1,861st Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission on Mars (March 28, 2009). After the drive, the rover took this image with its front hazard-avoidance camera, looking back at the tracks from the drive. As usual since losing the use of its right-front wheel in 2006, Spirit drove backwards. The immobile right-front wheel churned up a long stripe of bright soil during this drive. Where Spirit has found such bright soil in the past, subsequent analysis of the composition found concentrations of sulfur or silica that testified to past action of water at the site. When members of the rover team saw the large quantity of bright soil exposed by the Sol 1861 drive, they quickly laid plans to investigate the composition with Spirit's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. The Sol 1861 drive took the rover past the northwest corner of the low plateau called 'Home Plate,' making progress on a route around the western side of Home Plate. The edge of Home Plate forms the horizon on the right side of this image. Husband Hill is on the horizon on the left side. For scale, the parallel rover wheel tracks are about 1 meter (40 inches) apart. The rover's hazard-avoidance cameras take 'fisheye' wide-angle images.

Stride length: the impact on propulsion and bracing ground reaction force in overhand throwing.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramsey, Dan K; Crotin, Ryan L

2018-03-26

Propulsion and bracing ground reaction force (GRF) in overhand throwing are integral in propagating joint reaction kinetics and ball velocity, yet how stride length effects drive (hind) and stride (lead) leg GRF profiles remain unknown. Using a randomised crossover design, 19 pitchers (15 collegiate and 4 high school) were assigned to throw 2 simulated 80-pitch games at ±25% of their desired stride length. An integrated motion capture system with two force plates and radar gun tracked each throw. Vertical and anterior-posterior GRF was normalised then impulse was derived. Paired t-tests identified whether differences between conditions were significant. Late in single leg support, peak propulsion GRF was statistically greater for the drive leg with increased stride. Stride leg peak vertical GRF in braking occurred before acceleration with longer strides, but near ball release with shorter strides. Greater posterior shear GRF involving both legs demonstrated increased braking with longer strides. Conversely, decreased drive leg propulsion reduced both legs' braking effects with shorter strides. Results suggest an interconnection between normalised stride length and GRF application in propulsion and bracing. This work has shown stride length to be an important kinematic factor affecting the magnitude and timing of external forces acting upon the body.

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.

Measuring the efficacy of flunixin meglumine and meloxicam for lame sows using a GAITFour pressure mat and an embedded microcomputer-based force plate system.

Science.gov (United States)

Pairis-Garcia, M D; Johnson, A K; Abell, C A; Coetzee, J F; Karriker, L A; Millman, S T; Stalder, K J

2015-05-01

Pain associated with lameness on farm is a negative affective state and has a detrimental impact on individual farm animal welfare. Animal pain can be managed utilizing husbandry tools and through pharmacological approaches. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including meloxicam and flunixin meglumine are compounds used in many species for pain management because they are easy to administer, long lasting, and cost-effective. Assessing an animal's biomechanical parameters using such tools as the embedded microcomputer-based force plate system and GAITFour pressure mat gait analysis walkway system provides an objective, sensitive, and precise means to detect animals in lame states. The objectives of this study were to determine the efficacy of meloxicam and flunixin meglumine for pain mitigation in lame sows using the embedded microcomputer-based force plate system and GAITFour pressure mat gait analysis walkway system. Lameness was induced in 24 mature mixed-parity sows using a chemical synovitis model and compared 3 treatments: meloxicam (1.0 mg/kg per os), flunixin meglumine (2.2 mg/kg intramuscular) and sterile saline (intramuscular). Weight distribution (kg) for each foot was collected twice per second for a total of 5 min for each time point using the embedded microcomputer-based force plate system. Stride time, stride length, maximum pressure, activated sensors, and stance time were collected using 3 quality walks (readings) for each time point using the GAITFour pressure mat gait analysis walkway system. Sows administered flunixin meglumine or meloxicam tolerated more weight on their lame leg compared with saline sows (P embedded microcomputer-based force plate system and GAITFour pressure mat gait analysis walkway system. Analgesic drugs may be a key tool to manage negative pain affective states associated with lameness.

Research on micromanipulator’s clamping force sensing based on static wirerope tension of a surgical robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lingtao Yu

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The micromanipulator’s force feedback is one of the key research contents of minimally invasive surgical robotic system. Because the micromanipulator is a kind of compact construction which is suitable for valve installation with small space in surgery, especially for the influence of disinfection method, there are major difficulties and limitations to integrate compact sensors in the end of micromanipulator. This article focuses on the 3-degree-of-freedom micromanipulator’s clamping force sensing, and these three joints are actuated by wirerope driving. A clamping force sensing method is proposed based on static tension of wirerope driving, and a static model between the clamping force and wirerope’s static tension is established considering the influence of real friction resistance in the mechanical system. Finally, an equivalent experimental test platform for 3-degree-of-freedom micromanipulator’s clamping force sensing is set up, and then a series of experiments of the clamping force are studied. The frictional resistances of wirerope between the guide plate and guide pulley mechanism are tested, and a calibration and correction method of the experimental clamping force is proposed. The final experiment results show that the total average accuracy of experimental clamping force is about 78.3%, and it can be the basic measurement force to realize micromanipulator’s clamping force feedback of a minimally invasive surgical robot.

The Key Driving Forces for Geo-Economic Relationships between China and ASEAN Countries

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Shufang Wang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available With the rise of China and the implementation of the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” strategy, research on geo-economics between China and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries has become increasingly important. Current studies mainly focus on influencing factors, while there is little consideration about how these influencing factors act on geo-economic relationships. Therefore, this paper explores the key driving forces for geo-economic relationships between China and ASEAN countries by use of the structural equation modeling based on Partial Lease Squares. There are three main findings: (1 Economic factors have the greatest impact on geo-economic relationships and the total path effect is 0.778. Geo-location, geopolitics and geo-culture act on geo-economic relationships directly and indirectly. Their total path effects are 0.731, 0.645 and 0.513, respectively. (2 Indirect effects of geo-location, geopolitics and geo-culture impacting geo-economic relationships are far greater than direct effects. Geo-culture, in particular, has a vital mediating effect on geo-economic relationships. (3 Economic drivers promote geo-economic relationships through market, industrial policy, technical, network and benefit-sharing mechanisms. Political drivers improve geo-economic relationships through cooperation, negotiation, coordination and institutional mechanisms. Cultural drivers enhance geo-economic relationships through transmission mechanism. Location drivers facilitate geo-economic relationships through selection mechanism. We provide new insights on the geo-economic relationships through quantitative analysis and enrich the existing literature by revealing the key driving forces and mechanisms for geo-economic relationships.

[Spatio-temporal change of sand-fixing function and its driving forces in desertification control ecological function area of Hunshandake, China].

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Lu; Tian, Mei-rong; Gao, Ji-xi; Qian, Jin-ping

2016-01-01

Soil erosion is an important ecological and environmental problem in Hunshandake Desert, and the sand-fixing function determines the degree of ecological security in the entire region. In order to clarify the situation of windbreak and sand fixation in Hunshandake area, and to guide the prevention and treatment of desertification on regional scale, based on the meteorological and remote sensing data, this paper quantitatively analyzed the temporal and spatial pattern of windbreak and sand fixation ability between 2000-2010 by the revised wind erosion equation (RWEQ) model, meanwhile, the driving forces for each county ( or banner) in the functional zone were analyzed with the method of principal component analysis. The results showed that there was a fluctuation of the sand fixing capacity in Hunshandake over time, generally rendering a decline trend. The coniferous forest and grassland had strong windbreak and sand fixation capacity in unit area among the various land categories. In terms of spatial distribution, the windbreak and sand fixation function in western and southeastern region was weak and needed to be strengthened with ecological restoration efforts. Through the study of the social driving forces of each administrative region in the function zone, there were 3 main social driving forces of soil erosion in the administrative functions: the intensity of input-output, the level of economic development and the level of agriculture-husbandry development.

Relative importance of driving force and electrostatic interactions in the reduction of multihaem cytochromes by small molecules.

Science.gov (United States)

Quintas, Pedro O; Cepeda, Andreia P; Borges, Nuno; Catarino, Teresa; Turner, David L

2013-06-01

Multihaem cytochromes are essential to the energetics of organisms capable of bioremediation and energy production. The haems in several of these cytochromes have been discriminated thermodynamically and their individual rates of reduction by small electron donors were characterized. The kinetic characterization of individual haems used the Marcus theory of electron transfer and assumed that the rates of reduction of each haem by sodium dithionite depend only on the driving force, while electrostatic interactions were neglected. To determine the relative importance of these factors in controlling the rates, we studied the effect of ionic strength on the redox potential and the rate of reduction by dithionite of native Methylophilus methylotrophus cytochrome c″ and three mutants at different pH values. We found that the main factor determining the rate is the driving force and that Marcus theory describes this satisfactorily. This validates the method of the simultaneous fitting of kinetic and thermodynamic data in multihaem cytochromes and opens the way for further investigation into the mechanisms of these proteins. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spirit's View Beside 'Home Plate' on Sol 1823

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,823rd Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's surface mission (Feb. 17, 2009). The center of the view is toward the south-southwest. The rover had driven 7 meters (23 feet) eastward earlier on Sol 1823, part of maneuvering to get Spirit into a favorable position for climbing onto the low plateau called 'Home Plate.' However, after two driving attempts with negligible progress during the following three sols, the rover team changed its strategy for getting to destinations south of Home Plate. The team decided to drive Spirit at least partway around Home Plate, instead of ascending the northern edge and taking a shorter route across the top of the plateau. Layered rocks forming part of the northern edge of Home Plate can be seen near the center of the image. Rover wheel tracks are visible at the lower edge. This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

Hydroelasticity of a Floating Plate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, X.; Jensen, Jørgen Juncher; Cui, W.

2003-01-01

The membrane forces are included in the hydroelastic analysis of a floating plate undergoing large vertical deflections in regular monochromatic multidirectional waves. The first-order vertical displacements induced by the linear wave exciting forces are calculated by the mode expansion method in...

Greatest Happiness Principle in a Complex System: Maximisation versus Driving Force

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katalin Martinás

2012-06-01

Full Text Available From philosophical point of view, micro-founded economic theories depart from the principle of the pursuit of the greatest happiness. From mathematical point of view, micro-founded economic theories depart from the utility maximisation program. Though economists are aware of the serious limitations of the equilibrium analysis, they remain in that framework. We show that the maximisation principle, which implies the equilibrium hypothesis, is responsible for this impasse. We formalise the pursuit of the greatest happiness principle by the help of the driving force postulate: the volumes of activities depend on the expected wealth increase. In that case we can get rid of the equilibrium hypothesis and have new insights into economic theory. For example, in what extent standard economic results depend on the equilibrium hypothesis?

The Conflicting Forces Driving Future Avionics Acquisition (Les Arguments Contradictoires pour les Futurs Achats d’Equipements d’Avionique)

Science.gov (United States)

1991-09-01

Sep 1983 "Reliability Parameter of Additive Plated Through Hoics," William E. Greiner , Kollmorgen Corporation, 1rAnnual "Guidelines for Surface Mounting...Militare Etat-Major delIs Force Adienne Ufficio del Delegato Nazionaic all*AGARD Quartier Reine Elisabeth Aeroporto Pratica di Mare Rue d’Evere, 1140

Mechanical obstacles to the movement of continent-bearing plates

Science.gov (United States)

Lowman, P. D., Jr.

1985-01-01

Selected geophysical problems associated with the concept of continental drift as an incidental corollary of plate movement are discussed. The problems include the absence of a suitable plate-driving mechanism for plates with continental leading edges, the absence of the low-velocity zone under shields, and continental roots of 400 to 700 km depths. It is shown that if continental drift occurs, it must use mechanisms not now understood, or that it may not occur at all, plate movement being confined to ocean basins.

Fringe Capacitance of a Parallel-Plate Capacitor.

Science.gov (United States)

Hale, D. P.

1978-01-01

Describes an experiment designed to measure the forces between charged parallel plates, and determines the relationship among the effective electrode area, the measured capacitance values, and the electrode spacing of a parallel plate capacitor. (GA)

Polarization-dependent force driving the Eg mode in bismuth under optical excitation: comparison of first-principles theory with ultra-fast x-ray experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Fahy, Stephen; Murray, Eamonn

2015-03-01

Using first principles electronic structure methods, we calculate the induced force on the Eg (zone centre transverse optical) phonon mode in bismuth immediately after absorption of a ultrafast pulse of polarized light. To compare the results with recent ultra-fast, time-resolved x-ray diffraction experiments, we include the decay of the force due to carrier scattering, as measured in optical Raman scattering experiments, and simulate the optical absorption process, depth-dependent atomic driving forces, and x-ray diffraction in the experimental geometry. We find excellent agreement between the theoretical predictions and the observed oscillations of the x-ray diffraction signal, indicating that first-principles theory of optical absorption is well suited to the calculation of initial atomic driving forces in photo-excited materials following ultrafast excitation. This work is supported by Science Foundation Ireland (Grant No. 12/IA/1601) and EU Commission under the Marie Curie Incoming International Fellowships (Grant No. PIIF-GA-2012-329695).

Cell origami: self-folding of three-dimensional cell-laden microstructures driven by cell traction force.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaori Kuribayashi-Shigetomi

Full Text Available This paper describes a method of generating three-dimensional (3D cell-laden microstructures by applying the principle of origami folding technique and cell traction force (CTF. We harness the CTF as a biological driving force to fold the microstructures. Cells stretch and adhere across multiple microplates. Upon detaching the microplates from a substrate, CTF causes the plates to lift and fold according to a prescribed pattern. This self-folding technique using cells is highly biocompatible and does not involve special material requirements for the microplates and hinges to induce folding. We successfully produced various 3D cell-laden microstructures by just changing the geometry of the patterned 2D plates. We also achieved mass-production of the 3D cell-laden microstructures without causing damage to the cells. We believe that our methods will be useful for biotechnology applications that require analysis of cells in 3D configurations and for self-assembly of cell-based micro-medical devices.

Cell origami: self-folding of three-dimensional cell-laden microstructures driven by cell traction force.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuribayashi-Shigetomi, Kaori; Onoe, Hiroaki; Takeuchi, Shoji

2012-01-01

This paper describes a method of generating three-dimensional (3D) cell-laden microstructures by applying the principle of origami folding technique and cell traction force (CTF). We harness the CTF as a biological driving force to fold the microstructures. Cells stretch and adhere across multiple microplates. Upon detaching the microplates from a substrate, CTF causes the plates to lift and fold according to a prescribed pattern. This self-folding technique using cells is highly biocompatible and does not involve special material requirements for the microplates and hinges to induce folding. We successfully produced various 3D cell-laden microstructures by just changing the geometry of the patterned 2D plates. We also achieved mass-production of the 3D cell-laden microstructures without causing damage to the cells. We believe that our methods will be useful for biotechnology applications that require analysis of cells in 3D configurations and for self-assembly of cell-based micro-medical devices.

A calibration mechanism based on worm drive for space telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Chong, Yaqin; Li, Chuang; Xia, Siyu; Zhong, Peifeng; Lei, Wang

2017-08-01

In this paper, a new type of calibration mechanism based on worm drive is presented for a space telescope. This calibration mechanism based on worm drive has the advantages of compact size and self-lock. The mechanism mainly consists of thirty-six LEDs as the light source for flat calibration, a diffuse plate, a step motor, a worm gear reducer and a potentiometer. As the main part of the diffuse plate, a PTFE tablet is mounted in an aluminum alloy frame. The frame is fixed on the shaft of the worm gear, which is driven by the step motor through the worm. The shaft of the potentiometer is connected to that of the worm gear to measure the rotation angle of the diffuse plate through a flexible coupler. Firstly, the calibration mechanism is designed, which includes the LEDs assembly design, the worm gear reducer design and the diffuse plate assembly design. The counterweight blocks and two end stops are also designed for the diffuse plate assembly. Then a modal analysis with finite element method for the diffuse plate assembly is completed.

Fracture Characteristics Analysis of Double-layer Rock Plates with Both Ends Fixed Condition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. R. Wang

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In order to research on the fracture and instability characteristics of double-layer rock plates with both ends fixed, the three-dimension computational model of double-layer rock plates under the concentrated load was built by using PFC3D technique (three-dimension particle flow code, and the mechanical parameters of the numerical model were determined based on the physical model tests. The results showed the instability process of the double-layer rock plates had four mechanical response phases: the elastic deformation stage, the brittle fracture of upper thick plate arching stage, two rock-arch bearing stage and two rock-arch failure stage; moreover, with the rock plate particle radius from small to large change, the maximum vertical force of double rock-arch appeared when the particle size was a certain value. The maximum vertical force showed an upward trend with the increase of the rock plate temperature, and in the case of the same thickness the maximum vertical force increased with the increase of the upper rock plate thickness. When the boundary conditions of double-layer rock plates changed from the hinged support to the fixed support, the maximum horizontal force observably decreased, and the maximum vertical force showed small fluctuations and then tended towards stability with the increase of cohesive strength of double-layer rock plates.

Directed motion of spheres induced by unbiased driving forces in viscous fluids beyond the Stokes' law regime

Science.gov (United States)

Casado-Pascual, Jesús

2018-03-01

The emergence of directed motion is investigated in a system consisting of a sphere immersed in a viscous fluid and subjected to time-periodic forces of zero average. The directed motion arises from the combined action of a nonlinear drag force and the applied driving forces, in the absence of any periodic substrate potential. Necessary conditions for the existence of such directed motion are obtained and an analytical expression for the average terminal velocity is derived within the adiabatic approximation. Special attention is paid to the case of two mutually perpendicular forces with sinusoidal time dependence, one with twice the period of the other. It is shown that, although neither of these two forces induces directed motion when acting separately, when added together, the resultant force generates directed motion along the direction of the force with the shortest period. The dependence of the average terminal velocity on the system parameters is analyzed numerically and compared with that obtained using the adiabatic approximation. Among other results, it is found that, for appropriate parameter values, the direction of the average terminal velocity can be reversed by varying the forcing strength. Furthermore, certain aspects of the observed phenomenology are explained by means of symmetry arguments.

Thermally developing forced convection and the corresponding thermal stresses in a porous plate channel

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

YANG Xiao; LIU Xuemei

2007-01-01

Based on the Darcy fluid model, by considering the effects of viscous dissipation due to the interaction between solid skeleton and pore fluid flow and thermal conduction in the direction of the fluid flow, the thermally developing forced convection of the local thermal equili- brium and the corresponding thermal stresses in a semi- infmite saturated porous plate channel are investigated in this paper. The expressions of temperature, local Nusselt number and corresponding thermal stresses are obtained by means of the Fourier series, and the distributions of the same are also shown. Furthermore, influences of the Péclet number (Pe) and Brinkman number (Br) on temperature, Nusselt number (Nu) and thermal stress are revealed numerically.

An experimental study of an explosively driven flat plate launcher

Science.gov (United States)

Rae, Philip; Haroz, Erik; Armstrong, Chris; Perry, Lee; M Division Team

2017-06-01

For some upcoming experiments it is desired to impact a large explosive assembly with one or more moderate diameter flat metal plates traveling at high velocity (2-3 km s-1). The time of arrival of these plates will need to carefully controlled and delayed (i.e. the time(s) of arrival known to approximately a microsecond). For this reason, producing a flyer plate from more traditional gun assemblies is not possible. Previous researchers have demonstrated the ability to throw reasonably flat metal flyers from the so-called Forest flyer geometry. The defining characteristics of this design are a carefully controlled reduction in explosive area from a larger explosive plane-wave-lens and booster pad to a smaller flyer plate to improve the planarity of the drive available and an air gap between the explosive booster and the plate to reduce the peak tensile stresses generated in the plate to suppress spalling. This experimental series comprised a number of different design variants and plate and explosive drive materials. The aim was to calibrate a predictive computational modeling capability on this kind of system in preparation for later more radical design ideas best tested in a computer before undertaking the expensive business of construction.

Hydrodynamics of a three-dimensional self-propelled flexible plate

Science.gov (United States)

Ryu, Jaeha; Sung, Hyung Jin

2017-11-01

A three-dimensional self-propelled flexible plate in a quiescent flow was simulated using the immersed boundary method. The clamped leading edge of the flexible plate was forced into a vertical oscillation, while free to move horizontally. To reveal the hydrodynamics of the plate, the averaged cruising speed (UC) , the input power (P) , and the swimming efficiency (η) were analyzed as a function of the bending rigidity (γ) and the flapping frequency (f) . The velocity field around the plate and the exerted force on the plate were demonstrated to find out the dynamic interaction between the plate and the surrounding fluid. The kinematics of the plate, the maximum angle of attack (ϕmax) , and the mean effective length (Leff) were examined accounting for the hydrodynamics of the self-propelled flexible plate. The vortical structures around the plate were visualized, and the influence of the tip vortex on the swimming efficiency was explored qualitatively and quantitatively. This work was supported by the Creative Research Initiatives (No. 2017-013369) program of the National Research Foundation of Korea (MSIP).

Modeling and Simulation of Nonlinear Micro-electromechanical Circular Plate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chin-Chia Liu

2013-09-01

Full Text Available In the present study, the hybrid differential transformation and finite difference method is applied to analyze the dynamic behavior of the nonlinear micro-electromechanical circular plate actuated by combined DC / AC loading schemes. The analysis takes account of the axial residual stress and hydrostatic pressure acting on micro circular plate upper surface. The dynamic response of the plate as a function of the magnitude of the AC driving voltage is explored. Moreover, the effect of the initial gap height on the pull-in voltage of the plate is systematically explored.

Interplay between geometry and temperature for inclined Casimir plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, Alexej; Gies, Holger

2009-01-01

We provide further evidence for the nontrivial interplay between geometry and temperature in the Casimir effect. We investigate the temperature dependence of the Casimir force between an inclined semi-infinite plate above an infinite plate in D dimensions using the worldline formalism. Whereas the high-temperature behavior is always found to be linear in T in accordance with dimensional-reduction arguments, different power-law behaviors at small temperatures emerge. Unlike the case of infinite parallel plates, which shows the well-known T D behavior of the force, we find a T D-1 behavior for inclined plates, and a ∼T D-0.3 behavior for the edge effect in the limit where the plates become parallel. The strongest temperature dependence ∼T D-2 occurs for the Casimir torque of inclined plates. Numerical as well as analytical worldline results are presented.

Earth's Decelerating Tectonic Plates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forte, A M; Moucha, R; Rowley, D B; Quere, S; Mitrovica, J X; Simmons, N A; Grand, S P

2008-08-22

Space geodetic and oceanic magnetic anomaly constraints on tectonic plate motions are employed to determine a new global map of present-day rates of change of plate velocities. This map shows that Earth's largest plate, the Pacific, is presently decelerating along with several other plates in the Pacific and Indo-Atlantic hemispheres. These plate decelerations contribute to an overall, globally averaged slowdown in tectonic plate speeds. The map of plate decelerations provides new and unique constraints on the dynamics of time-dependent convection in Earth's mantle. We employ a recently developed convection model constrained by seismic, geodynamic and mineral physics data to show that time-dependent changes in mantle buoyancy forces can explain the deceleration of the major plates in the Pacific and Indo-Atlantic hemispheres.

Controlling the Casimir force via the electromagnetic properties of materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Yaping; Chen Hong; Zeng Ran; Zhu Shiyao; Zubairy, M. Suhail

2010-01-01

The control of the Casimir force between two parallel plates can be achieved through adjusting the frequency-dependent electromagnetic properties of materials of the two plates. We show that, for different plate separations, the main contribution to the Casimir force comes from different frequency regions: For smaller (larger) separation, it comes from the higher (lower) frequency region. When the separation of the plates increases, the Casimir force can vary from attractive to repulsive and/or vice versa, by selecting the two plates with suitable electromagnetic properties. We discuss how a restoring Casimir force, which varies from repulsive to attractive by increasing the separation, can be realized and that the stable equilibrium is formed at zero Casimir force.

A COMPARISON OF GROUND REACTION FORCES DETERMINED BY PORTABLE FORCE-PLATE AND PRESSURE-INSOLE SYSTEMS IN ALPINE SKIING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kosuke Nakazato

2011-12-01

Full Text Available For the determination of ground reaction forces in alpine skiing, pressure insole (PI systems and portable force plate (FP systems are well known and widely used in previous studies. The purposes of this study were 1 to provide reference data for the vertical component of the ground reaction forces (vGRF during alpine skiing measured by the PI and FP systems, and 2 to analyze whether the differences in the vGRF measured by the PI and the FP depend on a skier's level, skiing mode and pitch. Ten expert and ten intermediate level skiers performed 10 double turns with the skiing technique "Carving in Short Radii" as High Dynamic Skiing mode and "Parallel Ski Steering in Long Radii" as Low Dynamic Skiing mode on both the steep (23 ° and the flat (15 ° slope twice. All subjects skied with both the PI and the FP system simultaneously. During the outside phase, the mean vGRF and the maximum vGRF determined by the FP are greater than the PI (p < 0.01. Additionally during the inside phase, the mean vGRF determined by the FP were greater than the PI (p < 0.01. During the edge changing phases, the mean vGRF determined by the FP were greater than the PI (p < 0.01. However, the minimum vGRF during the edge changing phases determined by the FP were smaller than the PI (p < 0.01 in the High-Steep skiing modes of Experts and Intermediates (p < 0.001. We have found that generally, the PI system underestimates the total vGRF compared to the FP system. However, this difference depends not only the phase in the turn (inside, outside, edge changing, but also is affected by the skier's level, the skiing mode performed and pitch.

Buckling analysis for axially compressed flat plates, structural sections, and stiffened plates reinforced with laminated composites

Science.gov (United States)

Viswanathan, A. V.; Soong, T.; Miller, R. E., Jr.

1971-01-01

A classical buckling analysis is developed for stiffened, flat plates composed of a series of linked plate and beam elements. Plates are idealized as multilayered orthotropic elements. Structural beads and lips are idealized as beams. The loaded edges of the stiffened plate are simply-supported and the conditions at the unloaded edges can be prescribed arbitrarily. The plate and beam elements are matched along their common junctions for displacement continuity and force equilibrium in an exact manner. Offsets between elements are considered in the analysis. Buckling under uniaxial compressive load for plates, sections, and stiffened plates is investigated. Buckling loads are the lowest of all possible general and local failure modes, and the mode shape is used to determine whether buckling is a local or general instability. Numerical correlations with existing analysis and test data for plates, sections, and stiffened plates including boron-reinforced structures are discussed. In general correlations are reasonably good.

Force Sensitive Handles and Capacitive Touch Sensor for Driving a Flexible Haptic-Based Immersive System

OpenAIRE

Covarrubias, Mario; Bordegoni, Monica; Cugini, Umberto

2013-01-01

In this article, we present an approach that uses both two force sensitive handles (FSH) and a flexible capacitive touch sensor (FCTS) to drive a haptic-based immersive system. The immersive system has been developed as part of a multimodal interface for product design. The haptic interface consists of a strip that can be used by product designers to evaluate the quality of a 3D virtual shape by using touch, vision and hearing and, also, to interactively change the shape of the virtual object...

Driving forces for home-based reablement; a qualitative study of older adults' experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Hjelle, Kari Margrete; Tuntland, Hanne; Førland, Oddvar; Alvsvåg, Herdis

2017-09-01

As a result of the ageing population worldwide, there has been a growing international interest in a new intervention termed 'reablement'. Reablement is an early and time-limited home-based intervention with emphasis on intensive, goal-oriented and interdisciplinary rehabilitation for older adults in need of rehabilitation or at risk of functional decline. The aim of this qualitative study was to describe how older adults experienced participation in reablement. Eight older adults participated in semi-structured interviews. A qualitative content analysis was used as the analysis strategy. Four main themes emerged from the participants' experiences of participating in reablement: 'My willpower is needed', 'Being with my stuff and my people', 'The home-trainers are essential', and 'Training is physical exercises, not everyday activities'. The first three themes in particular reflected the participants' driving forces in the reablement process. Driving forces are intrinsic motivation in interaction with extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation was based on the person's willpower and responsibility, and extrinsic motivation was expressed to be strengthened by being in one's home environment with 'own' people, as well as by the co-operation with the reablement team. The reablement team encouraged and supported the older adults to regain confidence in performing everyday activities as well as participating in the society. Our findings have practical significance for politicians, healthcare providers and healthcare professionals by contributing to an understanding of how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation influence reablement. Some persons need apparently more extrinsic motivational support also after the time-limited reablement period is completed. The municipal health and care services need to consider individualised follow-up programmes after the intensive reablement period in order to maintain the achieved skills to perform everyday activities and participate in

Confirmation of the extraterrestrial forces decisive effect on earthquake triggering and lithospheric plates movement.

Science.gov (United States)

Ostrihansky, L.; Kalenda, P.

2012-04-01

In contrast to unsuccessful searching for biweekly tides earthquakes triggering the Earth's rotation variations give the unambiguous answer that the extreme positions of the Earth's acceleration and deceleration trigger earthquakes. In addition to it, an important repetition of earthquakes with 19 years period of the Meton's cycle and nutation has been found. Further, it has been found that the continental heating by the Sun and formation of the thermoelastic wave is an important factor of affecting of the Earth's surface and the plate movement. For this the special static vertical pendulum serves with the optimum length of several tens of meters, which after its refinement will be an important instrument for confirmation of stated claims. This problem is so far important that the scientific community advocates an opinion that earthquakes are caused by fluently acting forces in the Earth's interior, i.e. by forces causing absolutely unpredictable disturbances of the Earth' crust. This work is in outstanding interest of the European Union because the volcanic eruptions in Iceland, till now unpredictable, disturb the air-traffic in Europe in spite that just earthquakes in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge show unequivocal earthquake triggering in rhythm of the Earth's rotation variations.

Experimental investigation of the unsteady two-phase flow through perforated plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tartaglia, G.P.

1985-07-01

The coolant flow across the perforated dip-plate during a hypothetical core disruptive accident (HCDA) in a liquid metal fast breeder reactor was simulated in a one-dimensional model. Experiments with a water-air mixture as fluid were run by varying the following parameters: geometry of the dip-plate (perforation ratio, number of the holes), height of the fluid head over the dip-plate, air volumetric fraction, size of the air bubbles, acceleration of the fluid. The pressure drop across the dip-plate, the forces acting on the dip-plate and on the upper plate, acceleration and displacement of the piston, the air volumetric fraction and the size of the air bubbles were measured in a wide range of Strouhal and acceleration numbers. The flow pattern downstream the dip-plate was filmed with a high-speed camera. The following correlations were investigated: resistance coefficients as a function of the acceleration and Strouhal number, time delay of the force on the upper plate as a function of the cavitation number, and forces and impulses acting on the upper plate compared with those acting on the dip-plate. Finally, using high-speed film pictures, the formation of fluid jets downstream the dip-plate was investigated. The following relations were obtained: displacement of the mixture surface and of the jets as a function of the perforation ratio and of the air volumetric fraction, and cavitation volume as a function of the cavitation number. (orig.) [de

Flow over a traveling wavy foil with a passively flapping flat plate

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Nansheng; Peng, Yan; Liang, Youwen; Lu, Xiyun

2012-05-01

Flow over a traveling wavy foil with a passively flapping flat plate has been investigated using a multiblock lattice Boltzmann equation and the immersed boundary method. The foil undergoes prescribed undulations in the lateral direction and the rigid flat plate has passive motion determined by the fluid structure interaction. This simplified model is used to study the effect of the fish caudal fin and its flexibility on the locomotion of swimming animals. The flexibility of the caudal fin is modeled by a torsion spring acting about the pivot at the conjuncture of the wavy foil and the flat plate. The study reveals that the passively oscillating flat plate contributes half of the propulsive force. The flexibility, represented by the nondimensional natural frequency F, plays a very important role in the movement and propulsive force generation of the whole body. When the plate is too flexible, the drag force is observed. As the flat plate becomes more rigid, the propulsive force that is generated when the undulation is confined to last part of the wavy foil becomes larger. The steady movement occurs at F=5. These results are consistent with the observations of some swimming animals in nature.

Changing and Differentiated Urban Landscape in China: Spatiotemporal Patterns and Driving Forces.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Chuanglin; Li, Guangdong; Wang, Shaojian

2016-03-01

Urban landscape spatiotemporal change patterns and their driving mechanisms in China are poorly understood at the national level. Here we used remote sensing data, landscape metrics, and a spatial econometric model to characterize the spatiotemporal patterns of urban landscape change and investigate its driving forces in China between 1990 and 2005. The results showed that the urban landscape pattern has experienced drastic changes over the past 15 years. Total urban area has expanded approximately 1.61 times, with a 2.98% annual urban-growth rate. Compared to previous single-city studies, although urban areas are expanding rapidly, the overall fragmentation of the urban landscape is decreasing and is more irregular and complex at the national level. We also found a stair-stepping, urban-landscape changing pattern among eastern, central, and western counties. In addition, administrative level, urban size, and hierarchy have effects on the urban landscape pattern. We also found that a combination of landscape metrics can be used to supplement our understanding of the pattern of urbanization. The changes in these metrics are correlated with geographical indicators, socioeconomic factors, infrastructure variables, administrative level factors, policy factors, and historical factors. Our results indicate that the top priority should be strengthening the management of urban planning. A compact and congregate urban landscape may be a good choice of pattern for urban development in China.

Interaction Between the Himalaya and the Flexed Indian Plate--Spatial Fluctuations in Seismic Hazard in India in the Past Millennium?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilham, Roger; Szeliga, Walter

2008-01-01

Between the tenth and early 16th centuries three megaquakes allowed most of the northern edge of the Indian plate to slip 20-24 m northward relative to the overlying Himalaya. Although the renewal time for earthquakes with this large amount of slip is less than 1300 years given a geodetic convergence rate of 16-20 mm/yr, recently developed scaling laws for the Himalaya suggest that the past 200 years of great earthquakes may be associated with slip of less than 10 m and renewal times of approximately 500 years. These same theoretical models show that the rupture lengths of the Himalaya's Medieval earthquakes (300-600 km) are too short to permit 24 m of slip given the relationships demonstrated by recent events. There is thus reason to suppose that recent earthquakes may have responded to different elastic driving forces from those that drove the megaquakes of Medieval times.An alternative source of energy to drive Himalayan earthquakes exists in the form of the elastic and gravitational energy stored in flexure of the Indian plate. The flexure is manifest in the form of a 200-450 m high bulge in central India, which is sustained by the forces of collision and by the end-loading of the plate by the Himalaya and southern Tibet. These flexural stresses are responsible for earthquakes in the sub-continent. The abrupt release of stress associated with the northward translation of the northern edge of the Indian plate by 24 m, were the process entirely elastic, would result in a deflation of the crest of the bulge by roughly 0.8 m. Geometrical changes, however, would be moderated by viscous rheologies in the plate and by viscous flow in the mantle in the following centuries.The hypothesized relaxation of flexural geometry following the Himalayan megaquake sequence would have the effect of backing-off stresses throughout central India resulting in quiescence both in the Himalaya and the Indian plate. The historical record shows an absence of great Himalayan earthquakes in

Quantifying the Driving Forces of Informal Urbanization in the Western Part of the Greater Cairo Metropolitan Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taher Osman

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the driving forces (DFs of informal urbanization (IU in the greater Cairo metropolitan region (GCMR using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP. The IU patterns in the GCMR have been extremely influenced by seven DFs: geographical characteristics, availability of life facilities, economic incentives, land demand and supply, population increase, administrative function, and development plans. This research found that these forces vary significantly in how they influence urban growth in the three study sectors, namely, the middle, north, and south areas in the western part of the GCMR. The forces with the highest influence were economic incentives in the middle sector, population increase in the north sector, and the administrative function in the south sector. Due to the lower availability of buildable land in the middle sector, the land demand and supply force had a lesser influence in this sector compared to in the north and south sectors. The development plans force had medium influence in all sectors. The geographical characteristics force had little influence in both the middle and the north sectors, but higher influence than economic incentives, availability of life facilities, and development plans in the south sector. Because of the spatial variances in life facilities organizations in the GCMR, the life facilities availability force had little effect on IU in the south sector.

Similarity Solution for Combined Free-Forced Convection Past a Vertical Porous Plate in a Porous Medium with a Convective Surface Boundary Condition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Garg P.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the mathematical implications of the two dimensional viscous steady laminar combined free-forced convective flow of an incompressible fluid over a semi infinite fixed vertical porous plate embedded in a porous medium. It is assumed that the left surface of the plate is heated by convection from a hot fluid which is at a temperature higher than the temperature of the fluid on the right surface of the vertical plate. To achieve numerical consistency for the problem under consideration, the governing non linear partial differential equations are first transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations using a similarity variable and then solved numerically under conditions admitting similarity solutions. The effects of the physical parameters of both the incompressible fluid and the vertical plate on the dimensionless velocity and temperature profiles are studied and analysed and the results are depicted both graphically and in a tabular form. Finally, algebraic expressions and the numerical values are obtained for the local skin-friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number.

Driving forces and barriers to improved energy performance of buildings: an analysis of energy performance of Swedish buildings, 2000-2006

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fuglseth, Bente Beckstroem

2008-06-15

The building sector is responsible for a substantial part of energy use and green house gas emissions in Europe. This report explores driving forces and barriers to improved energy performance of buildings, using the Swedish building sector as a case. The development of energy performance of buildings in Sweden from 2000 until 2006 is explored by applying a threefold understanding of energy performance of buildings: substitution from fossil fuels to renewable energy, conversion from electrical heating to thermal energy and reduction in energy demand. Three explanatory approaches are used to analyse driving forces and barriers to improved energy performance: the techno-economic approach stresses the physical aspects of infrastructure and technologies, the institutional approach emphasizes the role of institutional factors, while the regulative approach focuses on formal rules and laws. The study concludes that all factors have promoted substitution of fossil fuels with renewable energy, while they have prevented conversion from electrical heating to thermal energy and reduction in energy demand. (author). 95 refs

Identifying the driving forces of urban expansion and its environmental impact in Jakarta-Bandung mega urban region

Science.gov (United States)

Pravitasari, A. E.; Rustiadi, E.; Mulya, S. P.; Setiawan, Y.; Fuadina, L. N.; Murtadho, A.

2018-05-01

The socio-economic development in Jakarta-Bandung Mega Urban Region (JBMUR) caused the increasing of urban expansion and led to a variety of environmental damage such as uncontrolled land use conversion and raising anthropogenic disaster. The objectives of this study are: (1) to identify the driving forces of urban expansion that occurs on JBMUR and (2) to analyze the environmental quality decline on JBMUR by producing time series spatial distribution map and spatial autocorrelation of floods and landslide as the proxy of anthropogenic disaster. The driving forces of urban expansion in this study were identified by employing Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model using 6 (six) independent variables, namely: population density, percentage of agricultural land, distance to the center of capital city/municipality, percentage of household who works in agricultural sector, distance to the provincial road, and distance to the local road. The GWR results showed that local demographic, social and economic factors including distance to the road spatially affect urban expansion in JBMUR. The time series spatial distribution map of floods and landslide event showed the spatial cluster of anthropogenic disaster in some areas. Through Local Moran Index, we found that environmental damage in one location has a significant impact on the condition of its surrounding area.

NATURE AND DRIVING FORCES OF STRIKE MOVEMENT IN MOLDOVA IN LATE 1980S

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Галина Евгеньевна Слободянюк

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article discloses the nature and driving forces of the republican protest strike movement in Moldova in the period of perestroika reformsand its impact on the emergence and development of the civil conflict,which became the catalyst for the territorial division of the republic and the creation of the self-proclaimed Transnistrian statehood.In the article there is presented the analysis of the process of formationand activity of the strike movement. The author shows that the United Council of LabourUnionswas the initiator, organizer and the main acting force of the protest of the workers' movement, defending the civil and constitutional rights of the Russian-speaking population of the Transdnistrian region of the Moldavian SSR. The article allows getting an idea of the ways and methods of struggle of the working movement against the Soviet Moldavia nationalist representatives of the Popular front, which operated on the territory of the republic of Moldova. Particular attention is paid to the reasons of occurrence and major activities of the strike movement.Moreover, there are analyzed the consequences of these actions for the further political development of Moldova.

Design and Synthesis of Distillation Systems using a Driving Force Based Approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bek-Pedersen, Erik; Gani, Rafiqul

2004-01-01

A new integrated framework for synthesis, design and operation of distillation-based separation schemes is presented here. This framework is based on the driving force approach, which provides a measure of the differences in chemical/physical properties between two co-existing phases...... in a separation unit. A set of algorithms has been developed within this framework for design of simple as well as complex distillation columns, for the sequencing of distillation trains, for the determination of appropriate conditions of operation and for retrofit of distillation columns. The main feature of all...... these algorithms is that they provide a simple "visual" method to obtain near-optimal solutions in terms of energy consumption without rigorous simulation and/or optimisation. Several illustrative examples highlighting the application of the integrated approach are also presented. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V....

Computational simulations of direct contact condensation as the driving force for water hammer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ceuca, Sabin-Cristian

2015-01-01

An analysis, based on Computer Simulations of the Direct Contact Condensation as the Driving Force for the Condensation Induced Water Hammer phenomenon is performed within this thesis. The goal of the work is to develop a mechanistic HTC model, with predictive capabilities for the simulation of horizontal or nearly horizontal two-phase ows with complex patterns including the e ect of interfacial heat and mass transfer. The newly developed HTC model was implemented into the system code ATHLET and into the CFD tools ANSYS CFX and OpenFOAM. Validation calculations have been performed for horizontal or nearly horizontal ows, where simulation results have been compared against the local measurement data such as void and temperature or area averaged data delivered by a wire mesh sensor.

Computational simulations of direct contact condensation as the driving force for water hammer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ceuca, Sabin-Cristian

2015-04-27

An analysis, based on Computer Simulations of the Direct Contact Condensation as the Driving Force for the Condensation Induced Water Hammer phenomenon is performed within this thesis. The goal of the work is to develop a mechanistic HTC model, with predictive capabilities for the simulation of horizontal or nearly horizontal two-phase ows with complex patterns including the e ect of interfacial heat and mass transfer. The newly developed HTC model was implemented into the system code ATHLET and into the CFD tools ANSYS CFX and OpenFOAM. Validation calculations have been performed for horizontal or nearly horizontal ows, where simulation results have been compared against the local measurement data such as void and temperature or area averaged data delivered by a wire mesh sensor.

Control rod drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawke, B.C.

1986-01-01

A reactor core, one or more control rods, and a control rod drive are described for selectively inserting and withdrawing the one or more control rods into and from the reactor core, which consists of: a support structure secured beneath the reactor core; control rod positioning means supported by the support structure for movably supporting the control rod for movement between a lower position wherein the control rod is located substantially beneath the reactor core and an upper position wherein at least an upper portion of the control rod extends into the reactor core; transmission means; primary drive means connected with the control rod positioning means by the transmission means for positioning the control rod under normal operating conditions; emergency drive means for moving the control rod from the lower position to the upper position under emergency conditions, the emergency drive means including a weight movable between an upper and a lower position, means for movably supporting the weight, and means for transmitting gravitational force exerted on the weight to the control rod positioning means to move the control rod upwardly when the weight is pulled downwardly by gravity; the transmission means connecting the control rod positioning means with the emergency drive means so that the primary drive means effects movement of the weight and the control rod in opposite directions under normal conditions, thus providing counterbalancing to reduce the force required for upward movement of the control rod under normal conditions; and restraint means for restraining the fall of the weight under normal operating conditions and disengaging the primary drive means to release the weight under emergency conditions

Casimir Force Between Quantum Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buenzli, P.

2005-01-01

Field fluctuations are responsible for an attractive force - the Casimir force - between two parallel (globally neutral) metallic plates separated by a distance d. At high temperature, or equivalently large d, this force is known to exhibit a classical and universal character (independent of the material constitution of the plates). In a recent work, we have displayed the microscopic mechanisms responsible for this universality within a classical model. The plates consist of slabs containing classical charged particles in fluid phase and thermal equilibrium (plasmas). The universality of the force proves to originate from screening sum rules satisfied by the charge correlations. Here we show how this result is altered when the quantum-mechanical nature of the particles is taken into account. It turns out that in addition to the classical result, the asymptotic force for large d comprises a non-universal quantum correction, which is, however, small at high temperature. The method relies on an exact representation of the charge correlations by quantum Mayer graphs, based on the Feynman-Kac path integral formalism. (author)

Driving forces behind the increasing cardiovascular treatment intensity.A dynamic epidemiologic model of trends in Danish cardiovascular drug utilization.

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kildemoes, Helle Wallach; Andersen, Morten

. Objectives: To investigate the driving forces behind the increasing treatment prevalence of cardiovascular drugs, in particular statins, by means of a dynamic epidemiologic drug utilization model. Methods: Material: All Danish residents older than 20 years by January 1, 1996 (4.0 million inhabitants), were...

Experimental investigation of the unsteady one-phase flow through perforated plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casadei, F.

1982-07-01

The flow of the coolant through the perforated dip-plate during a hypothetical core-disruptive accident in a sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor was simulated in a one-dimensional model. Several experiments with water as fluid and with various perforation ratios of the dip-plate and different initial heights of the fluid head over the dip plate were run. The pressure drop through the dip-plate and the forces acting on the dip-plate and on the upper plug of the reactor vessel in a wide range of the Reynolds and Strouhal numbers were measured. The flow pattern downstreams the perforated plate was filmed with high-speed cameras. The resistance coefficients for the unsteady flow of the coolant through the perforated plate were obtained as a function of the acceleration. The forces acting on the upper plug and their time integral were compared with those acting on the dip-plate. Finally, using the high-speed film pictures the formation of fluid jets downstream the dip-plate was investigated. (orig.) [de

Stabilization of car-caravan combination using independent steer and drive/or brake forces distribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ossama Mokhiamar

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Once a combined vehicle becomes unstable, it is very difficult for a driver to stabilize it especially under severe driving conditions, such as turning with braking. This is mainly due to the effect of the towed vehicle on the towing vehicle through the hitch jackknifing. This effect makes the handling characteristics of a car-caravan combination different from those of a single vehicle. Therefore, this paper proposes a control design concept for an optimum distribution of longitudinal and lateral forces of the four tires of a towing vehicle. The mean objectives of the control system were to stabilize the motion of an articulated vehicle utilizing the tires entire ability in both longitudinal and lateral directions as well as to make the handling characteristics of an articulated vehicle similar to those of a single one. The sliding control law based on vehicle planar equations of motion is used to derive the control laws. The proposed control system is evaluated under severe driving conditions and compared with the results of integrated control systems. The robustness of the articulated vehicle motion with the proposed control against the coefficient of friction variation is discussed.

Combination spindle-drive system for high precision machining

Science.gov (United States)

Gerth, Howard L.

1977-07-26

A combination spindle-drive is provided for fabrication of optical quality surface finishes. Both the spindle-and-drive utilize the spindle bearings for support, thereby removing the conventional drive-means bearings as a source of vibration. An airbearing spindle is modified to carry at the drive end a highly conductive cup-shaped rotor which is aligned with a stationary stator to produce torque in the cup-shaped rotor through the reaction of eddy currents induced in the rotor. This arrangement eliminates magnetic attraction forces and all force is in the form of torque on the cup-shaped rotor.

Stochastic Lorentz forces on a point charge moving near the conducting plate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsiang, J.-T.; Wu, T.-H.; Lee, D.-S.

2008-01-01

The influence of quantized electromagnetic fields on a nonrelativistic charged particle moving near a conducting plate is studied. We give a field-theoretic derivation of the nonlinear, non-Markovian Langevin equation of the particle by the method of Feynman-Vernon influence functional. This stochastic approach incorporates not only the stochastic noise manifested from electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations, but also dissipation backreaction on a charge in the form of the retarded Lorentz forces. Since the imposition of the boundary is expected to anisotropically modify the effects of the fields on the evolution of the particle, we consider the motion of a charge undergoing small-amplitude oscillations in the direction either parallel or normal to the plane boundary. Under the dipole approximation for nonrelativistic motion, velocity fluctuations of the charge are found to grow linearly with time in the early stage of the evolution at the rather different rate, revealing strong anisotropic behavior. They are then asymptotically saturated as a result of the fluctuation-dissipation relation, and the same saturated value is found for the motion in both directions. The observational consequences are discussed

THE EFFECT OF SUPPORT PLATE ON DRILLING-INDUCED DELAMINATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Navid Zarif Karimi

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Delamination is considered as a major problem in drilling of composite materials, which degrades the mechanical properties of these materials. The thrust force exerted by the drill is considered as the major cause of delamination; and one practical approach to reduce delamination is to use a back-up plate under the specimen. In this paper, the effect of exit support plate on delamination in twist drilling of glass fiber reinforced composites is studied. Firstly, two analytical models based on linear fracture mechanics and elastic bending theory of plates are described to find critical thrust forces at the beginning of crack growth for drilling with and without back-up plate. Secondly, two series of experiments are carried out on glass fiber reinforced composites to determine quantitatively the effect of drilling parameters on the amount of delamination. Experimental findings verify a large reduction in the amount of delaminated area when a back-up plate is placed under the specimen.

Spirit Beside 'Home Plate,' Sol 1809

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

NASA Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images assembled into this 120-degree view southward after a short drive during the 1,809th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission on the surface of Mars (February 3, 2009). Spirit had driven about 2.6 meters (8.5 feet) that sol, continuing a clockwise route around a low plateau called 'Home Plate.' In this image, the rocks visible above the rovers' solar panels are on the slope at the northern edge of Home Plate. This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

Climatic driving forces in inter-annual variation of global FPAR

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Dailiang; Liu, Liangyun; Yang, Xiaohua; Zhou, Bin

2012-09-01

Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) characterizes vegetation canopy functioning and its energy absorption capacity. In this paper, we focus on climatic driving forces in inter-annual variation of global FPAR from 1982 to 2006 by Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN-Monthly) data. Using FPAR-Simple Ratio Vegetation Index (SR) relationship, Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used to estimate FPAR at the global scale. The correlation between inter-annual variation of FPAR and temperature, precipitation derived from GHCN-Monthly was examined, during the periods of March-May (MAM), June-August (JJA), September-November (SON), and December-February (DJF) over from 1982 to 2006. The analysis of climatic influence on global FPAR revealed the significant correlation with temperature and precipitation in some meteorological stations area, and a more significant correlation with precipitation was found than which with temperature. Some stations in the regions between 30° N and 60° N and around 30° S in South America, where the annual FPAR variation showed a significant positive correlation with temperature (P forest of Africa and Amazon during the dry season of JJA and SON.

Petroleum Development in Russian Barents sea: Driving Forces and Constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moe, Arild; Joergensen, Anne-Kristin

2000-01-01

The potential of the Barents Sea for petroleum production has attracted interest for many years. In the Russian sector of this ocean, enormous gas finds and substantial oil resources have now been proven, and the first real licensing for field development in the area has just begun. Despite the area's potential, there are strong conflicts of interest. The report examines the forces alternatively driving and hindering offshore hydrocarbon development in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea. It describes exploration activities beginning during the Soviet period and extending to the present. The status of the major development projects financed in part with foreign capital, and conflicting regional and central government interests involved in such development, is described and evaluated. Coverage includes a discussion of the various regional interests in petroleum activities, with a particular focus on the conversion of naval yards in the area and the emergence of Rosshelf, an oil/gas conglomerate formed to facilitate such conversion. It also reviews the planned licensing rounds and the results of the first round. Finally, it discusses supplies from the Barents Sea in the context of overall Russian energy supply and energy development strategies. (author)

Advising patients on visual fitness to drive: implications of revised DVLA regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Latham, Keziah; Katsou, Maria Foteini; Rae, Sheila

2015-04-01

To examine the relationship between the two UK vision standards for driving: the ability to read a number-plate at 20 m and achieving 6/12 (+0.30 logMAR). 120 participants were assessed without refractive correction in this cross-sectional study. Vision was assessed with a Snellen chart, Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) style logMAR letter chart and logMAR chart using Landolt rings. Ability to read a post-2001 number-plate was assessed outdoors. For all charts, there was an 'overlap zone' of visions within which it was uncertain whether participants would pass the number-plate test. Within this zone, sensitivity and specificity of the 6/12 cut-off for predicting number-plate performance were reasonable for Snellen and ETDRS style charts, but poor for Landolt. All participants with 6/7.5 Snellen (+0.10 logMAR ETDRS) or better could read a number-plate. Some participants (2-6%) with vision between this level and 6/12 could not read a number-plate, and 14%-15% could read a number-plate but not achieve 6/12. To best predict drivers' ability to read a number-plate, vision should be assessed using a logMAR letter chart or a Snellen chart scored by full line. Drivers with 6/7.5 (+0.10 logMAR) or better vision can be advised that they meet the driving standard. Drivers with acuity between 6/9 and 6/12 (+0.12-+0.30 logMAR) should be advised to check their ability to read a number-plate, as some may not be able to. Clinicians will see patients who can read a number-plate, but do not achieve 6/12, who will need improved vision to meet visual requirements for driving. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

The Modeling of Viscoelastic Circular Plates for Use as Waveguide Absorbers

Science.gov (United States)

1988-09-01

oncituoe Security Ciasstircation) X THE MODELING OF VISCOELASTIC CIRCULAR PLATES FOR USE AS WAVEGUIDE ABSORBERS C 12 PERSONAL AUTmO ?S) -Hettema...33mvU3dT’U Figure 67. Experimental Jmainiey Part ot the Driving Point Jmpedancs of a 6 in Radius Elastic Plate, With and Without aaker and Mount Conecon, In

Exciplexes versus Loose Ion Pairs: How Does the Driving Force Impact the Initial Product Ratio of Photoinduced Charge Separation Reactions?

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Many donor–acceptor systems can undergo a photoinduced charge separation reaction, yielding loose ion pairs (LIPs). LIPs can be formed either directly via (distant) electron transfer (ET) or indirectly via the dissociation of an initially formed exciplex or tight ion pair. Establishing the prevalence of one of the reaction pathways is challenging because differentiating initially formed exciplexes from LIPs is difficult due to similar spectroscopic footprints. Hence, no comprehensive reaction model has been established for moderately polar solvents. Here, we employ an approach based on the time-resolved magnetic field effect (MFE) of the delayed exciplex luminescence to distinguish the two reaction channels. We focus on the effects of the driving force of ET and the solvent permittivity. We show that, surprisingly, the exciplex channel is significant even for an exergonic ET system with a free energy of ET of −0.58 eV and for the most polar solutions studied (butyronitrile). Our findings demonstrate that exciplexes play a crucial role even in polar solvents and at moderate driving forces, contrary to what is usually assumed. PMID:25243054

Force sensor for chameleon and Casimir force experiments with parallel-plate configuration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Almasi, A.; Brax, P.; Iannuzzi, D.; Sedmik, R.

2015-01-01

The search for non-Newtonian forces has been pursued following many different paths. Recently it was suggested that hypothetical chameleon interactions, which might explain the mechanisms behind dark energy, could be detected in a high-precision force measurement. In such an experiment, interactions

The Driving Forces for the Practice of Strategic Planning in SMEs: Evidence from Harare Metropolitan Province, Zimbabwe

OpenAIRE

Maxwell Sandada; Raynold Tinomudaishe Chikwama

2016-01-01

Despite Zimbabwe sharing with the rest of the world, the notion that SMEs are the impeccable engines to economic revival, growth and development, many of the nation`s SMEs are plagued with high failure rates. Previous studies carried out in most foreign countries suggested that the high failure rate of SMEs was attributable to lack of strategic planning among a host of other factors. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this study was to examine the driving forces for the practic...

EXTERNAL FORCES DRIVING CHANGE IN THE ROMANIAN SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roiban Roxana Nadina

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Change is a constant in everyday life confronting organizations to continuously adapt their strategy, structure, processes, and culture in order to survive and stay competitive on the market. Implementing organizational change is one of the most important skills required for managers and in the meantime the most difficult one. The forces driving change within an organization, that can be either external or internal, are those that propel a company forward towards change and in order to identify the need for change and make the proper changes, managers have to develop a tool that allows them to analyze how does the environment influence their business activities. A vision for change will clarify the directions in which the organization needs to move, starting from its current state and taking in consideration the existing opportunities and threats from the environment that allow to move to a future desired state. The purpose of this paper is to identify the concern for change in the Romanian small and medium sized enterprises by presenting and explaining the past and present influences of the main external forces that have determined the need for change in the last 3-5 years and to make recommendations about future possible changes that have to be performed by managers for a better harmonization with the environment. The research method used for this study is the interview on a sample that contains some of the most relevant SME’s from the western side of Romania, from different industries. We analyzed the main external forces that had an impact on the small and medium sized enterprises and how were they generating the need for organizational change, in order to see which present and future changes are required.

Beyond-proximity-force-approximation Casimir force between two spheres at finite temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Bimonte, Giuseppe

2018-04-01

A recent experiment [J. L. Garrett, D. A. T. Somers, and J. N. Munday, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 040401 (2018), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.040401] measured for the first time the gradient of the Casimir force between two gold spheres at room temperature. The theoretical analysis of the data was carried out using the standard proximity force approximation (PFA). A fit of the data, using a parametrization of the force valid for the sphere-plate geometry, was used by the authors to place a bound on deviations from PFA. Motivated by this work, we compute the Casimir force between two gold spheres at finite temperature. The semianalytic formula for the Casimir force that we construct is valid for all separations, and can be easily used to interpret future experiments in both the sphere-plate and sphere-sphere configurations. We describe the correct parametrization of the corrections to PFA for two spheres that should be used in data analysis.

Development of magnetic drive packless valves for commercial purpose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Sung Tae; Park, Jin Ho; Choi, Yoon Dong; Choi, Jong Hyun; Cho, Byung Ryeol; Kim, Tae Jun; Moon, Byung Hwan; Hong, Soon Bok; Jeong, Ji Young

1995-09-01

A study on development of magnetic drive packless valves for commercial purpose showed the results as follows; 1. Study on the radial rays effecting to the permanent magnets -Measurement of the strength of Nd-magnets according to irradiation of radial rays. 2. Effects of temperature on the magnetic driving device -Temperature dependency of the Nd-casting magnets. -Effects of temperature on the heat releasing fins of high-temperature valve. 3. Optimization of torque -Arranging method of permanent magnets -Measuring method and results of torque. 4. Design, manufacture and test for the pressure-resisting structure of magnetic power transmitting device -Calculation and design for the flat circular plates under pressure of the magnetic power transmitting device -Design, manufacture and test for the pressure-resisting structure of magnetic power transmitting device -Comparison of the characteristics between magnetic drive valve and general/bellows-sealed valves. 5. Pressure test and strength analysis of flat circular plates under pressure. 6. Patent application. 12 tabs., 24 figs., 1 ref. (Author)

New active machine tool drive mounting on the frame

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Švéda J.

2007-10-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the new active mounting of the machine tool drives. The commonly used machine tools are at this time mainly equipped with fix-mounting of the feed drives. This structure causes full transmission of the force shocks to the machine bed and thereby restricts the dynamic properties of the motion axis and the whole machine. The spring-mounting of the feed drives is one of the possibilities how to partially suppress the vibrations. The force that reacts to the machine tool bed is transformed thereby the vibrations are lightly reduced. Unfortunately the transformation is not fully controlled. The new active mounting of the machine tool drives allows to fully control the force behaviour that react to the machine body. Thereby the number of excited frequencies on the machine tool bed is significantly reduced. The active variant of the feed drive mounting is characterized by the synergistic cooperation between two series-connected actuators (“motor on motor”. The paper briefly describes design, control techniques and optimization of the feed drives with the new active mounting conception.

A Light Sail Inspired Model to Harness Casimir Forces for Propellantless Propulsion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeBiase, R. L.

2010-01-01

The model used to calculate Casimir forces for variously shaped conducting plates in this paper assumes the vacuum energy pervades all space and that photons randomly pop into and out of existence. While they exist, they possess energy and momentum that can be transferred by reflection as in a light sail. Quantum mechanics in the model is entirely bound up in the Casimir equation of force per unit area. This model is compared with two different experiments: that of Chen and Mohideen demonstrating lateral Casimir forces for sinusoidally corrugated spherical and flat plates and Lamoreaux demonstrating normal Casimir forces between a conducting sphere and flat plate. The calculated forces using this model were compared to the forces obtained in these experiments as well as with calculations using the proximity force approximation. In both cases the results (when compared to the actual plates measured and calculated using non-corrected equations) were less than a few parts per thousand different for the range of separation distances used. When the model was used to calculate forces on the opposite plates, different force magnitudes were obtained seemingly indicating prospects for propellentless propulsion but requiring skeptical verification.

Biomechanical analysis of acromioclavicular joint dislocation treated with clavicle hook plates in different lengths.

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, Cheng-Min; Huang, Kui-Chou; Pan, Chien-Chou; Lee, Cheng-Hung; Su, Kuo-Chih

2015-11-01

Clavicle hook plates are frequently used in clinical orthopaedics to treat acromioclavicular joint dislocation. However, patients often exhibit acromion osteolysis and per-implant fracture after undergoing hook plate fixation. With the intent of avoiding future complications or fixation failure after clavicle hook plate fixation, we used finite element analysis (FEA) to investigate the biomechanics of clavicle hook plates of different materials and sizes when used in treating acromioclavicular joint dislocation. Using finite element analysis, this study constructed a model comprising four parts: clavicle, acromion, clavicle hook plate and screws, and used the model to simulate implanting different types of clavicle hook plates in patients with acromioclavicular joint dislocation. Then, the biomechanics of stainless steel and titanium alloy clavicle hook plates containing either six or eight screw holes were investigated. The results indicated that using a longer clavicle hook plate decreased the stress value in the clavicle, and mitigated the force that clavicle hook plates exert on the acromion. Using a clavicle hook plate material characterized by a smaller Young's modulus caused a slight increase in the stress on the clavicle. However, the external force the material imposed on the acromion was less than the force exerted on the clavicle. The findings of this study can serve as a reference to help orthopaedic surgeons select clavicle hook plates.

New Record Five-Wheel Drive, Spirit's Sol 1856

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this stereo, 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,856th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's surface mission (March 23, 2009). The center of the view is toward the west-southwest. The rover had driven 25.82 meters (84.7 feet) west-northwestward earlier on Sol 1856. This is the longest drive on Mars so far by a rover using only five wheels. Spirit lost the use of its right-front wheel in March 2006. Before Sol 1856, the farthest Spirit had covered in a single sol's five-wheel drive was 24.83 meters (81.5 feet), on Sol 1363 (Nov. 3, 2007). The Sol 1856 drive made progress on a route planned for taking Spirit around the western side of the low plateau called 'Home Plate.' A portion of the northwestern edge of Home Plate is prominent in the left quarter of this image, toward the south. This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

Aerodynamics of a translating comb-like plate inspired by a fairyfly wing

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Seung Hun; Kim, Daegyoum

2017-08-01

Unlike the smooth wings of common insects or birds, micro-scale insects such as the fairyfly have a distinctive wing geometry, comprising a frame with several bristles. Motivated by this peculiar wing geometry, we experimentally investigated the flow structure of a translating comb-like wing for a wide range of gap size, angle of attack, and Reynolds number, Re = O(10) - O(103), and the correlation of these parameters with aerodynamic performance. The flow structures of a smooth plate without a gap and a comb-like plate are significantly different at high Reynolds number, while little difference was observed at the low Reynolds number of O(10). At low Reynolds number, shear layers that were generated at the edges of the tooth of the comb-like plate strongly diffuse and eventually block a gap. This gap blockage increases the effective surface area of the plate and alters the formation of leading-edge and trailing-edge vortices. As a result, the comb-like plate generates larger aerodynamic force per unit area than the smooth plate. In addition to a quasi-steady phase after the comb-like plate travels several chords, we also studied a starting phase of the shear layer development when the comb-like plate begins to translate from rest. While a plate with small gap size can generate aerodynamic force at the starting phase as effectively as at the quasi-steady phase, the aerodynamic force drops noticeably for a plate with a large gap because the diffusion of the developing shear layers is not enough to block the gap.

Vortex Dynamics of Asymmetric Heave Plates

Science.gov (United States)

Rusch, Curtis; Maurer, Benjamin; Polagye, Brian

2017-11-01

Heave plates can be used to provide reaction forces for wave energy converters, which harness the power in ocean surface waves to produce electricity. Heave plate inertia includes both the static mass of the heave plate, as well as the ``added mass'' of surrounding water accelerated with the object. Heave plate geometries may be symmetric or asymmetric, with interest in asymmetric designs driven by the resulting hydrodynamic asymmetry. Limited flow visualization has been previously conducted on symmetric heave plates, but flow visualization of asymmetric designs is needed to understand the origin of observed hydrodynamic asymmetries and their dependence on the Keulegan-Carpenter number. For example, it is hypothesized that the time-varying added mass of asymmetric heave plates is caused by vortex shedding, which is related to oscillation amplitude. Here, using direct flow visualization, we explore the relationship between vortex dynamics and time-varying added mass and drag. These results suggest potential pathways for more advanced heave plate designs that can exploit vortex formation and shedding to achieve more favorable hydrodynamic properties for wave energy converters.

Entropic forces drive contraction of cytoskeletal networks

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Braun, M.; Lánský, Zdeněk; Hilitski, F.; Dogic, Z.; Diez, S.

2016-01-01

Roč. 38, č. 5 (2016), s. 474-481 ISSN 0265-9247 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA15-17488S; GA MŠk(CZ) ED1.1.00/02.0109 Institutional support: RVO:86652036 Keywords : cytoskeleton * depletion forces * entropic forces Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology Impact factor: 4.441, year: 2016

Plating pulse switching power based on a CPLD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Hongguo; Wu, Jun

2013-01-01

This paper presents a method of using a CPLD to generate a PWM trigger pulse to a full bridge inverter and a chopper circuit. This method results in a very good high power and low voltage large current pulse plating power supply. A single-chip microcomputer is the core of the feedback control system. A fuzzy PID algorithm with SCM and CPLD complexes precisely controls the output voltage, allowing it to maintain a constant value. The system contains a protection circuit that detects output current and output voltage and can correct the system if it enters an over-current abnormal state, ensuring that the driving circuit can effectively drive the IGBT. The circuit is also protected by setting the inverter frequency and dead time of a digital PWM chip. This method for bidirectional pulse plating power supply digital control was verified to be correct and practicable by a Matlab software simulation

The tectonic stress field evolution of India since the Oligocene

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Müller, R.D.; Yatheesh, V.; Shuhail, M.

reconstructed plate geometries following Seton et al. (2012). We reconstruct the plate boundary configuration and age-area distribution of ocean crust around Australia through time to obtain estimates for ridge push, slab pull and collisional forces acting... on the Indo-Australian Plate since the early Cretaceous, following the methodology outlined in Dyksterhuis et al. (2005a; 2005b). In the case of the Indo-Australian Plate the dominant plate driving forces are the ridge push, slab pull and collisional forces...

Structure and relative importance of ponderomotive forces and current drive generated by converted fast waves in pre-heated low aspect ratio tokamaks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cuperman, S.; Bruma, C.; Komoshvili, K

2003-05-12

The generation in low aspect ratio tokamaks (LARTs) of ponderomotive forces and non-inductive current drive by the resonant fast wave-plasma interaction with mode conversion to kinetic Alfven waves (KAWs) and subsequent deposition, mainly by resonant electron Landau damping, is considered. The calculations follow the rigorous solution of the full wave equations upon using a dielectric tensor operator consisting of (i) a parallel conductivity including both kinetic effects (collisionless Landau damping on passing electrons) and collisional damping on both trapped electrons and passing electrons+ions and (ii) perpendicular components provided by the resistive two-fluid model equations. The fast waves are launched by an antenna located on the low field side and extending {+-}45 deg. about the equatorial plane. A parametric investigation of the structure and importance of the various components of the ponderomotive forces and current drive generated in START-like plasmas is carried out and their suitability for supplementing the required non-rf toroidal equilibrium current is demonstrated.

Flow over a cylinder with a hinged-splitter plate

Science.gov (United States)

Shukla, S.; Govardhan, R. N.; Arakeri, J. H.

2009-05-01

Previous work on rigid splitter plates in the wake of a bluff body has shown that the primary vortex shedding can be suppressed for sufficiently long splitter plates. In the present work, we study the problem of a hinged-splitter plate in the wake of a circular cylinder. The splitter plate can rotate about the hinge at the base of the cylinder due to the unsteady fluid forces acting on it, and hence the communication between the two sides of the wake is not totally disrupted as in the rigid splitter plate case. In our study, we investigate this problem in the limit where the stiffness and internal damping associated with the hinge are negligible, and the mass ratio of the splitter plate is small. The experiments show that the splitter plate oscillations increase with Reynolds numbers at low values of Re, and are found to reach a saturation amplitude level at higher Re, Re>4000. This type of saturation amplitude level that appears to continue indefinitely with Re, appears to be related to the fact that there is no structural restoring force, and has been observed previously for transversely oscillating cylinders with no restoring force. In the present case, the saturation tip amplitude level can be up to 0.45D, where D is the cylinder diameter. For this hinged-rigid splitter plate case, it is found that the splitter plate length to cylinder diameter ratio (L/D) is crucial in determining the character and magnitude of the oscillations. For small splitter plate lengths (L/D⩽3.0), the oscillations appear to be nearly periodic with tip amplitudes of about 0.45D nearly independent of L/D. The nondimensional oscillation frequencies (fD/U) on the other hand are found to continuously vary with L/D from fD/U≈0.2 at L/D=1 to fD/U≈0.1 at L/D=3. As the splitter plate length is further increased beyond L/D⩾4.0, the character of the splitter plate oscillations suddenly changes. The oscillations become aperiodic with much smaller amplitudes. In this long splitter plate

Experiments on forced convection form a horizontal heated plate in a packed bed of glass spheres

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Renken, K.J. (Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (USA)); Poulikakos, D. (Univ. of Illinois, Chicago (USA))

1989-02-01

This paper presents an experimental investigation of boundary-layer forced convective heat transfer from a flat isothermal plate in a packed bed of spheres. Extensive experimental results are reported for the thermal boundary-layer thickness, the temperature field, and the local wall heat flux (represented by the local Nusselt number). Theoretical findings of previous investigations using the Darcy flow model as well as a general model for themomentum equation accouting for flow inertia and macroscopic shear wtih and without variable porosity are used to evaluate the theoretical models. Several trends are revealed regarding the conditions of validity of these flow models. Overall the general flow model including variable porosity appears to perform better, even through the need for serious improvements in modeling becomes apparent.

Probabilistic analysis for identifying the driving force of protein folding

Science.gov (United States)

Tokunaga, Yoshihiko; Yamamori, Yu; Matubayasi, Nobuyuki

2018-03-01

Toward identifying the driving force of protein folding, energetics was analyzed in water for Trp-cage (20 residues), protein G (56 residues), and ubiquitin (76 residues) at their native (folded) and heat-denatured (unfolded) states. All-atom molecular dynamics simulation was conducted, and the hydration effect was quantified by the solvation free energy. The free-energy calculation was done by employing the solution theory in the energy representation, and it was seen that the sum of the protein intramolecular (structural) energy and the solvation free energy is more favorable for a folded structure than for an unfolded one generated by heat. Probabilistic arguments were then developed to determine which of the electrostatic, van der Waals, and excluded-volume components of the interactions in the protein-water system governs the relative stabilities between the folded and unfolded structures. It was found that the electrostatic interaction does not correspond to the preference order of the two structures. The van der Waals and excluded-volume components were shown, on the other hand, to provide the right order of preference at probabilities of almost unity, and it is argued that a useful modeling of protein folding is possible on the basis of the excluded-volume effect.

Laser Induced Forced Motion and Stress Waves in Plates and Shells.

Science.gov (United States)

1981-08-01

the plate at the center, normal to the plate surface. The Laser used was a Holobeam model 630-QNd glass system. This Laser produces an output power (in...V o 0 0 I lue ceill I Ii 1)r1 i 11im and hot nchary\\ cond i t i ons S or tile i n it i aI I St ate toget her with ji(. 38c ) iiav he u ISed to

A liquid helium piston pump with a superconducting drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, C.

1984-01-01

This chapter describes a bellows pump where the driving force is achieved by an arrangement of three superconducting coils. The pump was designed for use in the supercritical helium flow circuit of the LCT-conductor test facility. The main advantage of the superconducting drive, compared to conventional pumps with external drive, is the compact design. Force transferring parts between 4.2 K and room temperature are not necessary. The pump was tested in a closed loop arrangement. The superconducting drive for a piston pump consists of a moving coil in a constant background field. Other coil configurations and the upscaling of the pump design are discussed

DropBot: An open-source digital microfluidic control system with precise control of electrostatic driving force and instantaneous drop velocity measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fobel, Ryan; Fobel, Christian; Wheeler, Aaron R.

2013-01-01

We introduce DropBot: an open-source instrument for digital microfluidics (http://microfluidics.utoronto.ca/dropbot). DropBot features two key functionalities for digital microfluidics: (1) real-time monitoring of instantaneous drop velocity (which we propose is a proxy for resistive forces), and (2) application of constant electrostatic driving forces through compensation for amplifier-loading and device capacitance. We anticipate that this system will enhance insight into failure modes and lead to new strategies for improved device reliability, and will be useful for the growing number of users who are adopting digital microfluidics for automated, miniaturized laboratory operation.

Driving forces behind the increasing cardiovascular treatment intensity.A dynamic epidemiologic model of trends in Danish cardiovascular drug utilization.

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kildemoes, Helle Wallach; Andersen, Morten

. Objectives: To investigate the driving forces behind the increasing treatment prevalence of cardiovascular drugs, in particular statins, by means of a dynamic epidemiologic drug utilization model. Methods: Material: All Danish residents older than 20 years by January 1, 1996 (4.0 million inhabitants), were...

Geometrically Nonlinear Transient Response of Laminated Plates with Nonlinear Elastic Restraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaochong Yang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available To investigate the dynamic behavior of laminated plates with nonlinear elastic restraints, a varied constraint force model and a systematic numerical procedure are presented in this work. Several kinds of typical relationships of force-displacement for spring are established to simulate the nonlinear elastic restraints. In addition, considering the restraining moments of flexible pads, the pads are modeled by translational and rotational springs. The displacement- dependent constraint forces are added to the right-hand side of equations of motion and treated as additional applied loads. These loads can be explicitly defined, via an independent set of nonlinear load functions. The time histories of transverse displacements at typical points of the laminated plate are obtained through the transient analysis. Numerical examples show that the present method can effectively treat the geometrically nonlinear transient response of plates with nonlinear elastic restraints.

Stress wave calculations in composite plates using the fast Fourier transform.

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, F. C.

1973-01-01

The protection of composite turbine fan blades against impact forces has prompted the study of dynamic stresses in composites due to transient loads. The mathematical model treats the laminated plate as an equivalent anisotropic material. The use of Mindlin's approximate theory of crystal plates results in five two-dimensional stress waves. Three of the waves are flexural and two involve in-plane extensional strains. The initial value problem due to a transient distributed transverse force on the plate is solved using Laplace and Fourier transforms. A fast computer program for inverting the two-dimensional Fourier transform is used. Stress contours for various stresses and times after application of load are obtained for a graphite fiber-epoxy matrix composite plate. Results indicate that the points of maximum stress travel along the fiber directions.

FDR (drive-dynamics-control) - a new driving safety system with active control of brake and drive forces in the dynamic fringe range; FDR, ein neues Fahrsicherheitssystem mit aktiver Regelung der Brems- und Antriebskraefte im fahrdynamischen Grenzbereich

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Erhardt, R. [Bosch (R.) GmbH, Stuttgart (Germany); Zanten, A.T. van [Bosch (R.) GmbH, Stuttgart (Germany)

1995-12-31

BOSCH is going to introduce a new driving safety system in 1995, the FDR (drive-dynamics-control). Using the measured and estimated dynamic magnitudes as a basis, the system calculates inhowfar the actual vehicle motion differs from the desired stable trace- and direction-consistent handling properties. Depending on the driving situation and driver`s wishes the braking and driving forces at the wheels are adjusted with a considerable divergence in order to achieve the desired handling properties. The system improves the driving stability in all operating states as soon as the dynamic limiting range is reached. It even reduces the risk of skidding in case of extreme steering manoeuvres and also enables the safe control of the vehicle in critical traffic situations. Furthermore the system offers improved basic anti-skid braking system and anti-slip control functions. Due to these advantages it can be expected that the FDR is going to make an important contribution to avoiding accidents and reducing damage. (orig.) [Deutsch] Mit FDR (Fahr-Dynamik-Regelung) wird BOSCH 1995 ein neues Fahrsicherheitssystem einfuehren. Das System berechnet auf der Basis gemessener und geschaetzter fahrdynamischer Groessen, wie stark die tatsaechliche Fahrzeugbewegung von einem gewuenschten stabilen, spur- und richtungstreuen Fahrverhalten abweicht. Die Brems- und Antriebskraefte an den Raedern werden bei deutlicher Abweichung abhaengig von Fahrsituation und Fahrerwunsch so eingestellt, dass die Abweichung minimiert und das gewuenschte Fahrverhalten weitgehend erreicht wird. Das System verbessert die Fahrstabilitaet in allen Betriebszustaenden, sobald der fahrdynamische Grenzbereich erreicht wird. Es reduziert selbst bei extremen Lenkmanoevern die Schleudergefahr drastisch und ermoeglicht auch in kritischen Verkehrssituationen die sicherere Beherrschung des Fahrzeugs. Darueberhinaus bietet das System verbesserte ABS- und ASR-Grundfunktionen. Diese Vorteile lassen erwarten, dass FDR einen

Casualisation of the nursing workforce in Australia: driving forces and implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Creegan, Reta; Duffield, Christine; Forrester, Kim

2003-01-01

This article provides an overview of the extent of casualisation of the nursing workforce in Australia, focusing on the impact for those managing the system. The implications for nurse managers in particular are considerable in an industry where service demand is difficult to control and where individual nurses are thought to be increasingly choosing to work casually. While little is known of the reasons behind nurses exercising their preference for casual work arrangements, some reasons postulated include visa status (overseas trained nurses on holiday/working visas); permanent employees taking on additional shifts to increase their income levels; and those who elect to work under casual contracts for lifestyle reasons. Unknown is the demography of the casual nursing workforce, how these groups are distributed within the workforce, and how many contracts of employment they have across the health service--either through privately managed nursing agencies or hospital managed casual pools. A more detailed knowledge of the forces driving the decisions of this group is essential if health care organisations are to equip themselves to manage this changing workforce and maintain a standard of patient care that is acceptable to the community.

Surface contact potential patches and Casimir force measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, W. J.; Sushkov, A. O.; Lamoreaux, S. K.; Dalvit, D. A. R.

2010-01-01

We present calculations of contact potential surface patch effects that simplify previous treatments. It is shown that, because of the linearity of Laplace's equation, the presence of patch potentials does not affect an electrostatic calibration of a two-plate Casimir measurement apparatus. Using models that include long-range variations in the contact potential across the plate surfaces, a number of experimental observations can be reproduced and explained. For these models, numerical calculations show that if a voltage is applied between the plates which minimizes the force, a residual electrostatic force persists, and that the minimizing potential varies with distance. The residual force can be described by a fit to a simple two-parameter function involving the minimizing potential and its variation with distance. We show the origin of this residual force by use of a simple parallel capacitor model. Finally, the implications of a residual force that varies in a manner different from 1/d on the accuracy of previous Casimir measurements is discussed.

Flow patterns and heat transfer characteristics of flat plate pulsating heat pipes with various asymmetric and aspect ratios of the channels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Dong Soo; Lee, Joo Seong; Ahn, Jae Hwan; Kim, Dongwoo; Kim, Yongchan

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Flat plate pulsating heat pipes with asymmetric and aspect ratios were tested. • Flow patterns were investigated according to channel geometry and flow condition. • Heat transfer characteristics were analyzed with various heat inputs. • Optimum asymmetric and aspect ratios were suggested for maximum thermal performance. - Abstract: The thermal performance of flat plate pulsating heat pipes (PHPs) in compact electronic devices can be improved by adopting asymmetric channels with increased pressure differences and an unbalanced driving force. The objective of this study is to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of flat plate PHPs with various asymmetric ratios and aspect ratios in the channels. The thermal performance and flow pattern of the flat plate PHPs were measured by varying the asymmetric ratio from 1.0 to 4.0, aspect ratio from 2.5 to 5.0, and heat input from 2 to 28 W. The effects of the asymmetric ratio and aspect ratio on the thermal resistance were analyzed with the measured evaporator temperature and flow patterns at various heat inputs. With heat inputs of 6 W and 12 W, the optimum asymmetric ratio and aspect ratio for the flat plate PHPs were determined to be 4.0 and 2.5, respectively. With the heat input of 18 W, the optimum asymmetric ratio and aspect ratio were determined to be 1.5 and 2.5, respectively.

Free and Forced Vibration of the Moderately Thick Laminated Composite Rectangular Plate on Various Elastic Winkler and Pasternak Foundations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dongyan Shi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available An improved Fourier series method (IFSM is applied to study the free and forced vibration characteristics of the moderately thick laminated composite rectangular plates on the elastic Winkler or Pasternak foundations which have elastic uniform supports and multipoints supports. The formulation is based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT and combined with artificial virtual spring technology and the plate-foundation interaction by establishing the two-parameter foundation model. Under the framework of this paper, the displacement and rotation functions are expressed as a double Fourier cosine series and two supplementary functions which have no relations to boundary conditions. The Rayleigh-Ritz technique is applied to solve all the series expansion coefficients. The accuracy of the results obtained by the present method is validated by being compared with the results of literatures and Finite Element Method (FEM. In this paper, some results are obtained by analyzing the varying parameters, such as different boundary conditions, the number of layers and points, the spring stiffness parameters, and foundation parameters, which can provide a benchmark for the future research.

Stiffness Matters: Part II - The Effects of Plate Stiffness on Load-Sharing and the Progression of Fusion Following ACDF In Vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Joshua M; Chlebek, Carolyn; Clough, Ashley M; Wells, Alexandra K; Batzinger, Kathleen E; Houston, John M; Kradinova, Katerina; Glennon, Joseph C; DiRisio, Darryl J; Ledet, Eric H

2018-03-19

Real time in vivo measurement of forces in the cervical spine of goats following anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). To measure interbody forces in the cervical spine during the time course of fusion following ACDF with plates of different stiffnesses. Following ACDF, the biomechanics of the arthrodesis is largely dictated by the plate. The properties of the plate prescribe the extent of load-sharing through the disc space versus the extent of stress-shielding. Load-sharing promotes interbody bone formation and stress-shielding can inhibit maturation of bone. However, these principles have never been validated in vivo. Measuring in vivo biomechanics of the cervical spine is critical to understanding the complex relationships between implant design, interbody loading, load-sharing, and the progression of fusion. Anterior cervical plates of distinct bending stiffnesses were placed surgically following ACDF in goats. A validated custom force-sensing interbody implant was placed in the disc space to measure load-sharing in the spine. Interbody loads were measured in vivo in real time during the course of fusion for each plate. Interbody forces during flexion/extension were highly dynamic. In animals that received high stiffness plates, maximum forces were in extension whereas in animals that received lower stiffness plates, maximum forces were in flexion. As fusion progressed, interbody load magnitude decreased. The magnitude of interbody forces in the cervical spine is dynamic and correlates to activity and posture of the head and neck. The magnitude and consistency of forces in the interbody space correlates to plate stiffness with more compliant plates resulting in more consistent load-sharing. The magnitude of interbody forces decreases as fusion matures suggesting that smart interbody implants may be used as a diagnostic tool to indicate the progression of interbody fusion. N/A.

Panel Flutter Emulation Using a Few Concentrated Forces

Science.gov (United States)

Dhital, Kailash; Han, Jae-Hung

2018-04-01

The objective of this paper is to study the feasibility of panel flutter emulation using a few concentrated forces. The concentrated forces are considered to be equivalent to aerodynamic forces. The equivalence is carried out using surface spline method and principle of virtual work. The structural modeling of the plate is based on the classical plate theory and the aerodynamic modeling is based on the piston theory. The present approach differs from the linear panel flutter analysis in scheming the modal aerodynamics forces with unchanged structural properties. The solutions for the flutter problem are obtained numerically using the standard eigenvalue procedure. A few concentrated forces were considered with an optimization effort to decide their optimal locations. The optimization process is based on minimizing the error between the flutter bounds from emulated and linear flutter analysis method. The emulated flutter results for the square plate of four different boundary conditions using six concentrated forces are obtained with minimal error to the reference value. The results demonstrated the workability and viability of using concentrated forces in emulating real panel flutter. In addition, the paper includes the parametric studies of linear panel flutter whose proper literatures are not available.

Plasticity, Fracture and Friction in Steady-State Plate Cutting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonsen, Bo Cerup; Wierzbicki, Tomasz

1997-01-01

perpendicular to the direction of motion is derived theoretically in a consistent manner. The perpendicular reaction force is of paramount importance for prediction the structural damage of a ship hull because it governs the vertical ship motion and rock penetration which is strongly coupled with the horizontal...... extension of the presented plate model to include more structural members as for example the stiffeners attached to a ship bottom plating. The fracture process is discussed and the model is formulated partly on the basis of the material fracture toughness. The effect of friction and the reaction force...

Meeting the challenges of the new energy industry: The driving forces facing electric power generators and the natural gas industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1995-01-01

The proceedings of the IGT national conference on meeting the challenges of the New Energy Industry: The driving forces facing Electric Power Generators and the Natural Gas Industry are presented. The conference was held June 19-21, 1995 at the Ambassador West Hotel in Downtown Chicago, Illinois. A separate abstract and indexing for each of the 18 papers presented for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database

Meeting the challenges of the new energy industry: The driving forces facing electric power generators and the natural gas industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-12-31

The proceedings of the IGT national conference on meeting the challenges of the New Energy Industry: The driving forces facing Electric Power Generators and the Natural Gas Industry are presented. The conference was held June 19-21, 1995 at the Ambassador West Hotel in Downtown Chicago, Illinois. A separate abstract and indexing for each of the 18 papers presented for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.

Robust 2-Qubit Gates in a Linear Ion Crystal Using a Frequency-Modulated Driving Force

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Pak Hong; Landsman, Kevin A.; Figgatt, Caroline; Linke, Norbert M.; Monroe, Christopher; Brown, Kenneth R.

2018-01-01

In an ion trap quantum computer, collective motional modes are used to entangle two or more qubits in order to execute multiqubit logical gates. Any residual entanglement between the internal and motional states of the ions results in loss of fidelity, especially when there are many spectator ions in the crystal. We propose using a frequency-modulated driving force to minimize such errors. In simulation, we obtained an optimized frequency-modulated 2-qubit gate that can suppress errors to less than 0.01% and is robust against frequency drifts over ±1 kHz . Experimentally, we have obtained a 2-qubit gate fidelity of 98.3(4)%, a state-of-the-art result for 2-qubit gates with five ions.

An analysis of the driving forces of CO2 emissions embodied in Japan-China trade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong Yanli; Ishikawa, Masanobu; Liu Xianbing; Wang Can

2010-01-01

By using the latest China-Japan input-output data sets and the index decomposition analysis (IDA) approach, this article analyzes the driving forces of CO 2 emissions embodied in trade between the two countries during 1990-2000. We found that the growth of trade volume had a large influence on the increase of CO 2 emissions embodiments in bilateral trade. The dramatic decline in carbon intensity of the Chinese economy is a primary cause in offsetting CO 2 emissions exported from China to Japan over 1995-2000. We argue that a better understanding of the factors affecting CO 2 emissions embodied in international trade will assist in seeking more effective climate policies with wider participation in the post-Kyoto regime.

Plate-shaped non-contact ultrasonic transporter using flexural vibration.

Science.gov (United States)

Ishii, Takahiko; Mizuno, Yosuke; Koyama, Daisuke; Nakamura, Kentaro; Harada, Kana; Uchida, Yukiyoshi

2014-02-01

We developed a plate-shaped non-contact transporter based on ultrasonic vibration, exploiting a phenomenon that a plate can be statically levitated at the place where its gravity and the acoustic radiation force are balanced. In the experiment, four piezoelectric zirconate titanate elements were attached to aluminum plates, on which lattice flexural vibration was excited at 22.3 kHz. The vibrating plates were connected to a loading plate via flexible posts that can minimize the influence of the flexure induced by heavy loads. The distribution of the vibration displacement on the plate was predicted through finite-element analysis to find the appropriate positions of the posts. The maximum levitation height of this transporter was 256 μm with no load. When two vibrating plates were connected to a loading plate, the maximum transportable load was 4.0 kgf. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Land use changes and its driving forces in hilly ecological restoration area based on gis and rs of northern china

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Peng; Niu, Xiang; Wang, Bing; Zheng, Yunlong

2015-01-01

Land use change is one of the important aspects of the regional ecological restoration research. With remote sensing (RS) image in 2003, 2007 and 2012, using geographic information system (GIS) technologies, the land use pattern changes in Yimeng Mountain ecological restoration area in China and its driving force factors were studied. Results showed that: (1) Cultivated land constituted the largest area during 10 years, and followed by forest land and grass land; cultivated land and unused land were reduced by 28.43% and 44.32%, whereas forest land, water area and land for water facilities and others were increased. (2) During 2003–2007, forest land change showed the largest, followed by unused land and grass land; however, during 2008–2012, water area and land for water facilities change showed the largest, followed by grass land and unused land. (3) Land use degree was above the average level, it was in the developing period during 2003–2007 and in the degenerating period during 2008–2012. (4) Ecological Restoration Projects can greatly change the micro topography, increase vegetation coverage, and then induce significant changes in the land use distribution, which were the main driving force factors of the land use pattern change in the ecological restoration area. PMID:26047160

Analyzing the driving forces behind CO2 emissions and reduction strategies for energy-intensive sectors in Taiwan, 1996–2006

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Yun-Hsun; Wu, Jung-Hua

2013-01-01

Between 1996 and 2006, CO 2 emissions in Taiwan increased by approximately 60%, with the industrial sector accounting for 50% of that increase. Among all industrial sectors, iron and steel, petrochemicals, electronics, textiles, pulp and paper and cement accounted for approximately three-quarters of the total industrial CO 2 emissions. Identifying the driving forces behind increased CO 2 emissions in these six sectors could be valuable for the development of effective environmental policy. This study used two-tier KLEM input–output structural decomposition analysis (I-O SDA) to analyze the factors that lead to changes in CO 2 emissions. Empirical results obtained in Taiwan reveal that increased exports level and elevated domestic autonomous final demand level were the main reasons for increases in CO 2 emissions. Technological changes in materials and labor tended to decrease CO 2 emissions, while the power generation mix contributed significantly to the increase. Relevant strategies for reducing CO 2 emissions from energy-intensive sectors are also highlighted. - Highlights: • Identifying the driving forces behind increased CO 2 emissions is important. • This study uses two-tier KLEM I-O SDA to analyze the changes in CO 2 emissions. • Three issues are identified to achieve future CO 2 emissions reduction in Taiwan

Design and operation of AFC ramp plates for track clearance on longwall faces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaw, I R

1975-10-01

A study of the use of AFC ramp plates carried out in the University of Newcastle upon Tyne is reported. A 1/4-scale ramp plate test rig was designed and the effects of pushing force, ramp plate toe angle, track width and other factors were studied.

Rotating magnetic field current drive-theory and experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donnelly, I.J.

1989-01-01

Rotating magnetic fields have been used to drive plasma current and establish a range of compact torus configurations, named rotamaks. The current drive mechanism involves a ponderomotive force acting on the electron fluid. Recent extensions of the theory indicate that this method is most suitable for driving currents in directions perpendicular to the steady magnetic fields

Nonlinear vibrations of thin arbitrarily laminated composite plates subjected to harmonic excitations using DKT elements

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, C. K.; Xue, David Y.; Mei, Chuh

1993-04-01

A finite element formulation is presented for determining the large-amplitude free and steady-state forced vibration response of arbitrarily laminated anisotropic composite thin plates using the Discrete Kirchhoff Theory (DKT) triangular elements. The nonlinear stiffness and harmonic force matrices of an arbitrarily laminated composite triangular plate element are developed for nonlinear free and forced vibration analyses. The linearized updated-mode method with nonlinear time function approximation is employed for the solution of the system nonlinear eigenvalue equations. The amplitude-frequency relations for convergence with gridwork refinement, triangular plates, different boundary conditions, lamination angles, number of plies, and uniform versus concentrated loads are presented.

Wettability measurements of irregular shapes with Wilhelmy plate method

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jaehyung; Pasaogullari, Ugur; Bonville, Leonard

2018-01-01

One of the most accurate methods for measuring the dynamic contact angle of liquids on solid surfaces is the Wilhelmy plate method. This method generally requires the use of rectangular samples having a constant perimeter in the liquid during advancing and receding cycles. A new formulation based on the Wilhelmy force balance equation to determine the contact angle for plate samples with irregular shapes has been developed. This method employs a profile plot obtained from an optical image to determine the perimeter (i.e. wetted length) of the sample as a function of the immersion depth. The raw force data measured by the force tensiometer is manipulated using the profile plot and the Wilhelmy equation to determine the wetting force and consequently advancing and the receding contact angle. This method is verified with both triangular and irregular PTFE samples in water, and measured contact angles are in good agreement with results from conventional regular shaped samples with a constant perimeter.

Chaos control for the plates subjected to subsonic flow

Science.gov (United States)

Norouzi, Hamed; Younesian, Davood

2016-07-01

The suppression of chaotic motion in viscoelastic plates driven by external subsonic air flow is studied. Nonlinear oscillation of the plate is modeled by the von-Kármán plate theory. The fluid-solid interaction is taken into account. Galerkin's approach is employed to transform the partial differential equations of the system into the time domain. The corresponding homoclinic orbits of the unperturbed Hamiltonian system are obtained. In order to study the chaotic behavior of the plate, Melnikov's integral is analytically applied and the threshold of the excitation amplitude and frequency for the occurrence of chaos is presented. It is found that adding a parametric perturbation to the system in terms of an excitation with the same frequency of the external force can lead to eliminate chaos. Variations of the Lyapunov exponent and bifurcation diagrams are provided to analyze the chaotic and periodic responses. Two perturbation-based control strategies are proposed. In the first scenario, the amplitude of control forces reads a constant value that should be precisely determined. In the second strategy, this amplitude can be proportional to the deflection of the plate. The performance of each controller is investigated and it is found that the second scenario would be more efficient.

The Casimir Effect Upon A Single Plate

OpenAIRE

Hoodbhoy, Pervez

2004-01-01

In the presence of an external field, the imposition of specific boundary conditions can lead to interesting new manifestations of the Casimir effect. In particular, it is shown here that even a single conducting plate may experience a non-zero force due to vacuum fluctuations. The origins of this force lie in the change induced by the external potential in the density of available quantum states.

Rising electricity consumption: Driving forces and consequences. The case of rural Zanzibar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Winther, Tanja [Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), Univ. of Oslo (Norway)

2007-07-01

The paper addresses the current, rising electricity consumption in the southern, rural locality of Zanzibar and seeks to account for the range of driving forces behind people's changed practices. The author argues that these forces are, on the one hand, determined by the availability of new technologies and through global and national institutions and influences such as Islam, commercials and changes in the governmental sector (health, education). On the other hand, the paper explores the way such influences interplay with the internal dynamics related to increasing consumption. Through an analysis of the particular character and dynamics of social and cultural life in this region, the author explains why some practices are less likely to change than other practices. For example, people in Zanzibar keep electricity (freezers and stoves) at a distance from their food. By contrast, electric light is perceived as intimately related to education, as illustrated when school children are sent to school for night classes before important exams. To which extent may general approaches to the study of energy consumption draw on this empirical case from Zanzibar? In other contexts, the patterns of people's electricity use certainly differ. In terms of sustainable energy policies, each locality has a particular set of challenges and goals, which to varying degree may be related to poverty reduction and concern for the environment. Methodologically, however, the author argues that the phenomenon of energy consumption may be studied and understood within the same framework of analysis; one that pays attention to both external and internal dynamics, the material and social aspects of technologies and the importance of power relations, gender and negotiations.

Control rod drive mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mizuno, Katsuyuki.

1976-01-01

Object: To restrict the reduction in performance due to stress corrosion cracks by making use of condensate produced in a turbine steam condenser. Structure: Water produced in a turbine steam condenser is forced into a condensed water desalting unit by low pressure condensate pump. The condensate is purified and then forced by a high pressure condensate pump into a feedwater heater for heating before it is returned to the reactor by a feedwater pump. Part of the condensate issuing from the condensate desalting unit is branched from the remaining portion at a point upstream the pump and is withdrawn into a control rod drive water pump after passing through a motordriven bypass valve, an orifice and a condenser water level control valve, is pressurized in the control rod drive water desalting unit and supplied to a control rod drive water pressure system. The control rod is vertically moved by the valve operation of the water pressure system. Since water of high oxygen concentration does not enter during normal operation, it is possible to prevent the stress cracking of the stainless steel apparatus. (Nakamura, S.)

Use of local and global limit load solutions for plates with surface cracks under tension

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lei, Y. [British Energy Generation Ltd, Barnett Way, Bamwood, Gloucester GL4 3RS (United Kingdom)], E-mail: yuebao.lei@british-energy.com

2007-09-15

Some available experimental results for the ductile failure of plates with surface cracks under tension are reviewed. The response of crack driving force, J, and the ligament strain near the local and global limit loads are investigated by performing elastic-perfectly plastic finite element (FE) analysis of a plate with a semi-elliptical crack under tension. The results show that a ligament may survive until the global collapse load is reached when the average ligament strain at the global collapse load, which depends on the uniaxial strain corresponding to the flow stress of the material and the crack geometry, is less than the true fracture strain of the material obtained from uniaxial tension tests. The FE analysis shows that ligament yielding corresponding to the local limit load has little effect on J and the average ligament strain, whereas approach to global collapse corresponds to a sharp increase in both J and the average ligament strain. The prediction of the FE value of J using the reference stress method shows that the global limit load is more relevant to J-estimation than the local one.

Use of local and global limit load solutions for plates with surface cracks under tension

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lei, Y.

2007-01-01

Some available experimental results for the ductile failure of plates with surface cracks under tension are reviewed. The response of crack driving force, J, and the ligament strain near the local and global limit loads are investigated by performing elastic-perfectly plastic finite element (FE) analysis of a plate with a semi-elliptical crack under tension. The results show that a ligament may survive until the global collapse load is reached when the average ligament strain at the global collapse load, which depends on the uniaxial strain corresponding to the flow stress of the material and the crack geometry, is less than the true fracture strain of the material obtained from uniaxial tension tests. The FE analysis shows that ligament yielding corresponding to the local limit load has little effect on J and the average ligament strain, whereas approach to global collapse corresponds to a sharp increase in both J and the average ligament strain. The prediction of the FE value of J using the reference stress method shows that the global limit load is more relevant to J-estimation than the local one

Driving forces of organic carbon spatial distribution in the tropical seascape

Science.gov (United States)

Gillis, L. G.; Belshe, F. E.; Ziegler, A. D.; Bouma, T. J.

2017-02-01

An important ecosystem service of tropical coastal vegetation including seagrass beds and mangrove forests is their ability to accumulate carbon. Here we attempt to establish the driving forces for the accumulation of surface organic carbon in southern Thailand coastal systems. Across 12 sites we found that in line with expectations, seagrass beds (0.6 ± 0.09%) and mangrove forests (0.9 ± 0.3%) had higher organic carbon in the surface (top 5 cm) sediment than un-vegetated mudflats (0.4 ± 0.04%). Unexpectedly, however, mangrove forests in this region retained organic carbon, rather than outwell it, under normal tidal conditions. No relationship was found between organic carbon and substrate grain size. The most interesting finding of our study was that climax and pioneer seagrass species retained more carbon than mixed-species meadows, suggesting that plant morphology and meadow characteristics can be important factors in organic carbon accumulation. Insights such as these are important in developing carbon management strategies involving coastal ecosystems such as offsetting of carbon emissions. The ability of tropical coastal vegetation to sequester carbon is an important aspect for valuing the ecosystems. Our results provide some initial insight into the factors affecting carbon sequestration in these ecosystems, but also highlight the need for further research on a global scale.

External fixation using locking plate in distal tibial fracture: a finite element analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jingwei; Ebraheim, Nabil; Li, Ming; He, Xianfeng; Schwind, Joshua; Liu, Jiayong; Zhu, Limei

2015-08-01

External fixation of tibial fractures using a locking plate has been reported with favorable results in some selected patients. However, the stability of external plate fixation in this fracture pattern has not been previously demonstrated. We investigated the stability of external plate fixation with different plate-bone distances. In this study, the computational processing model of external fixation of a distal tibial metaphyseal fracture utilizing the contralateral femoral less invasive stabilization system plate was analyzed. The plate was placed on the anteromedial aspect of tibia with different plate-bone distances: 1, 10, 20, and 30 mm. Under axial load, the stiffness of construct in all groups was higher than intact tibia. Under axial load with an internal rotational force, the stiffness of construct with 1 and 10 mm plate-bone distances was similar to that of an intact tibia and the stiffness of the construct with 20 and 30 mm distances was lower than that of an intact tibia. Under axial load with an external rotational force, the stiffness of the construct in all groups was lower than that of an intact tibia. The maximum plate stresses were concentrated at the two most distal screws and were highest in the construct with the 10 mm plate-bone distance, and least in the construct with a 1 mm plate-bone distance. To guarantee a stable external plate fixation in distal tibial fracture, the plate-bone distance should be less than 30 mm.

Cam-Follower Mechanism Design for Narrow Loom Beat Up Motion ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The topology of the kinematics is developed by using the graph theory method of kinematic synthesis. The forces required to drive the plate-cam and follower system were modeled and the components such as the plate-cam, camshaft, the follower and the drive mechanism were synthesized for smooth operation of the ...

Sila kojom vazduh pritiska pokretnu ploču/Force of the air pressure on a moving plate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonid Ivanovich Gretchihin

2014-10-01

Full Text Available U radu je razrađena matematički model gasodinamičkog opstrujavanja ravne ploče pri njenom kretanju sa pozitivnim i negativnim napadnim uglom. Pokazano je da pri malim brzinama kretanja, silu uzgona i čeoni otpor određuje gasodinamički tok vazduha u izlaznoj oblasti opstrujavanja, a pri brzinama kretanja koje su bliske brzini zvuka odlučujuću ulogu vrši uzajamno udarno dejstvo ploče sa molekulima okružujuće sredine u ulaznoj oblasti opstrujavanja. Otcepljena struja iza ploče se ne pojavljuje pri malim brzinama kretanja. Određeni su uslovi kada čeoni otpor i sila uzgona ploče menjaju znak. / (ruski Razrabotana matematičeskaja model' gazodinamičeskogo obtekanija ploskoj plastiny pri ee dviženii s položitel'nym i otricatel'nym uglom ataki. Pokazano, čto pri malyh skorostjah dviženija plastiny pod''emnaja sila i lobovoe soprotivlenie opredeljajutsja gazodinamikoj tečenija vozduha v tyl'noj oblasti, a pri skorostjah dviženija blizkih k skorosti zvuka rešajuščuju rol' vypolnjaet udarnoe vzaimodejstvie plastiny s molekulami okružajuščej sredy v perednej oblasti. Sryvnoe tečenie za plastinoj pri malyh skorostjah dviženija ne voznikaet. Opredeleny uslovija, kogda lobovoe soprotivlenie i pod''emnaja sila plastiny izmenjaet znak. / This paper developed a mathematical model of gas dynamic fluid flow for a flat plate during its movement with positive and negative angles of attack. It is shown that at low velocities, the lifting force and the frontal resistance are determined by gasdynamic air flow in the fluid flow exit areawhile at velocities close to the speed of sound the decisive role is played by a mutualeffect of the pplate coliding with molecules of the surrounding environment in the fluid flow incidence field. The airflow behind the plate does not appear at low velocities. The conditions when the frontal resistance and the lifting force change the sign are determined.

Polar-Drive Experiments at the National Ignition Facility

Science.gov (United States)

Hohenberger, M.

2014-10-01

To support direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in its indirect-drive beam configuration, the polar-drive (PD) concept has been proposed. It requires direct-drive-specific beam smoothing, phase plates, and repointing the NIF beams toward the equator to ensure symmetric target irradiation. First experiments testing the performance of ignition-relevant PD implosions at the NIF have been performed. The goal of these early experiments was to develop a stable, warm implosion platform to investigate laser deposition and laser-plasma instabilities at ignition-relevant plasma conditions, and to develop and validate ignition-relevant models of laser deposition and heat conduction. These experiments utilize the NIF in its current configuration, including beam geometry, phase plates, and beam smoothing. Warm, 2.2-mm-diam plastic shells were imploded with total drive energies ranging from ~ 350 to 750 kJ with peak powers of 60 to 180 TW and peak on-target intensities from 4 ×1014 to 1 . 2 ×1015 W/cm2. Results from these initial experiments are presented, including the level of hot-electron preheat, and implosion symmetry and shell trajectory inferred via self-emission imaging and backlighting. Experiments are simulated with the 2-D hydrodynamics code DRACO including a full 3-D ray trace to model oblique beams, and a model for cross-beam energy transfer (CBET). These simulations indicate that CBET affects the shell symmetry and leads to a loss of energy imparted onto the shell, consistent with the experimental data. This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE-NA0001944.

Forces and Moments on Flat Plates of Small Aspect Ratio with Application to PV Wind Loads and Small Wind Turbine Blades

OpenAIRE

Xavier Ortiz; David Rival; David Wood

2015-01-01

To improve knowledge of the wind loads on photovoltaic structures mounted on flat roofs at the high angles required in high latitudes, and to study starting flow on low aspect ratio wind turbine blades, a series of wind tunnel tests were undertaken. Thin flat plates of aspect ratios between 0.4 and 9.0 were mounted on a sensitive three-component instantaneous force and moment sensor. The Reynolds numbers varied from 6 × 10 4 to 2 × 10 5 . Measurements were made for angles of attack between 0°...

Driving Chemical Reactions in Plasmonic Nanogaps with Electrohydrodynamic Flow.

Science.gov (United States)

Thrift, William J; Nguyen, Cuong Q; Darvishzadeh-Varcheie, Mahsa; Zare, Siavash; Sharac, Nicholas; Sanderson, Robert N; Dupper, Torin J; Hochbaum, Allon I; Capolino, Filippo; Abdolhosseini Qomi, Mohammad Javad; Ragan, Regina

2017-11-28

Nanoparticles from colloidal solution-with controlled composition, size, and shape-serve as excellent building blocks for plasmonic devices and metasurfaces. However, understanding hierarchical driving forces affecting the geometry of oligomers and interparticle gap spacings is still needed to fabricate high-density architectures over large areas. Here, electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow is used as a long-range driving force to enable carbodiimide cross-linking between nanospheres and produces oligomers exhibiting sub-nanometer gap spacing over mm 2 areas. Anhydride linkers between nanospheres are observed via surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. The anhydride linkers are cleavable via nucleophilic substitution and enable placement of nucleophilic molecules in electromagnetic hotspots. Atomistic simulations elucidate that the transient attractive force provided by EHD flow is needed to provide a sufficient residence time for anhydride cross-linking to overcome slow reaction kinetics. This synergistic analysis shows assembly involves an interplay between long-range driving forces increasing nanoparticle-nanoparticle interactions and probability that ligands are in proximity to overcome activation energy barriers associated with short-range chemical reactions. Absorption spectroscopy and electromagnetic full-wave simulations show that variations in nanogap spacing have a greater influence on optical response than variations in close-packed oligomer geometry. The EHD flow-anhydride cross-linking assembly method enables close-packed oligomers with uniform gap spacings that produce uniform SERS enhancement factors. These results demonstrate the efficacy of colloidal driving forces to selectively enable chemical reactions leading to future assembly platforms for large-area nanodevices.

Counterevidence to the ion hammering scenario as a driving force for the shape elongation of embedded nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

Amekura, H.; Okubo, N.; Tsuya, D.; Ishikawa, N.

2017-08-01

Counterevidence is provided in the ion-hammering scenario as a driving force for the shape elongation of embedded nanoparticles (NPs) under swift heavy ion irradiation (SHII). Ion-induced compaction and the hammering, which are both induced in silica under SHII, dominate at low and high fluences, respectively, causing a crossover between them around a fluence of ˜4 × 1012 ions/cm2. Nevertheless, the shape elongation of NPs detected by the optical dichroism exhibits nearly linear dependence in a wide fluence range between ˜1 × 1011 and 2 × 1013 ions/cm2, indicating that the hammering does not play an important role.

The Impact of Evolutionary Driving Forces on Human Complex Diseases: A Population Genetics Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amr T. M. Saeb

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Investigating the molecular evolution of human genome has paved the way to understand genetic adaptation of humans to the environmental changes and corresponding complex diseases. In this review, we discussed the historical origin of genetic diversity among human populations, the evolutionary driving forces that can affect genetic diversity among populations, and the effects of human movement into new environments and gene flow on population genetic diversity. Furthermore, we presented the role of natural selection on genetic diversity and complex diseases. Then we reviewed the disadvantageous consequences of historical selection events in modern time and their relation to the development of complex diseases. In addition, we discussed the effect of consanguinity on the incidence of complex diseases in human populations. Finally, we presented the latest information about the role of ancient genes acquired from interbreeding with ancient hominids in the development of complex diseases.

Plate tectonics

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Chaubey, A.K.

's continental drift theory was later disproved, it was one of the first times that the idea of crustal movement had been introduced to the scientific community; and it has laid the groundwork for the development of modern plate tectonics. In the early... of the structure of the atom was to physical sciences and the theory of evolution was to the life sciences. Tectonics is the study of the forces within the Earth that give rise to continents, ocean basins, mountain ranges, earthquake belts and other large-scale...

Principle and analysis of a linear motor driving system for HTS levitation applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin, Jian X.; Guo, You G.; Zhu, Jian G.

2007-01-01

High temperature superconductor (HTS) high levitation force density with passive and self-stabilizing features allows a number of special applications to be developed. Linear motor driving systems are commonly required for those applications such as levitated transport systems. In this paper a prototype linear motor driving system with HTS is analyzed with calculation details including its magnetic fields and driving forces presented in the paper

Extended Analysis of the Casimir Force

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lehnert B.

2014-04-01

Full Text Available There are several arguments for the conventional form of the Zero Point Energy fre- quency spectrum to be put in doubt. It has thus to be revised in to that of a self-consistent system in statistical equilibrium where the total energy de nsity and the equivalent pres- sure become finite. An extended form of the Casimir force is th ereby proposed to be used as a tool for determining the local magnitude of the same pressure. This can be done in terms of measurements on the force between a pair po lished plane plates consisting of different metals, the plates having very small or zero air gaps. T his corre- sponds to the largest possible Casimir force. Even then, the re may arise problems with other adhering forces, possibly to be clarified in further experiments.

Current Drive in a Ponderomotive Potential with Sign Reversal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

N.J. Fisch; J.M. Rax; I.Y. Dodin

2003-07-30

Noninductive current drive can be accomplished through ponderomotive forces with high efficiency when the potential changes sign over the interaction region. The effect can practiced upon both ions and electrons. The current drive efficiencies, in principle, might be higher than those possible with conventional radio-frequency current-drive techniques, since different considerations come into play.

Current Drive in a Ponderomotive Potential with Sign Reversal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisch, N.J.; Rax, J.M.; Dodin, I.Y.

2003-01-01

Noninductive current drive can be accomplished through ponderomotive forces with high efficiency when the potential changes sign over the interaction region. The effect can practiced upon both ions and electrons. The current drive efficiencies, in principle, might be higher than those possible with conventional radio-frequency current-drive techniques, since different considerations come into play

Analysis of Plasticity, Fracture and Friction in Steady State Plate Cutting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonsen, Bo Cerup; Wierzbicki, Tomasz

1996-01-01

perpendicular to the direction of motion is derived theoretically in a new consistent manner. The perpendicular reaction force is of paramount importance for predicting the structural damage of a ship hull because it governs the vertical ship motion and rock penetration which is strongly coupled...... extension of the presented plate model to include more structural members as for example the stiffeners attached to a ship bottom plating. The fracture process is discussed and the model is formulated partly on the basis of the material fracture toughness. The effect of friction and the reaction force...

Evaluation of Steel Shear Walls Behavior with Sinusoidal and Trapezoidal Corrugated Plates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emad Hosseinpour

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Reinforcement of structures aims to control the input energy of unnatural and natural forces. In the past four decades, steel shear walls are utilized in huge constructions in some seismic countries such as Japan, United States, and Canada to lessen the risk of destructive forces. The steel shear walls are divided into two types: unstiffened and stiffened. In the former, a series of plates (sinusoidal and trapezoidal corrugated with light thickness are used that have the postbuckling field property under overall buckling. In the latter, steel profile belt series are employed as stiffeners with different arrangement: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal in one side or both sides of wall. In the unstiffened walls, increasing the thickness causes an increase in the wall capacity under large forces in tall structures. In the stiffened walls, joining the stiffeners to the wall is costly and time consuming. The ANSYS software was used to analyze the different models of unstiffened one-story steel walls with sinusoidal and trapezoidal corrugated plates under lateral load. The obtained results demonstrated that, in the walls with the same dimensions, the trapezoidal corrugated plates showed higher ductility and ultimate bearing compared to the sinusoidal corrugated plates.

Neuromorphic meets neuromechanics, part II: the role of fusimotor drive

Science.gov (United States)

Jalaleddini, Kian; Minos Niu, Chuanxin; Chakravarthi Raja, Suraj; Sohn, Won Joon; Loeb, Gerald E.; Sanger, Terence D.; Valero-Cuevas, Francisco J.

2017-04-01

Objective. We studied the fundamentals of muscle afferentation by building a Neuro-mechano-morphic system actuating a cadaveric finger. This system is a faithful implementation of the stretch reflex circuitry. It allowed the systematic exploration of the effects of different fusimotor drives to the muscle spindle on the closed-loop stretch reflex response. Approach. As in Part I of this work, sensory neurons conveyed proprioceptive information from muscle spindles (with static and dynamic fusimotor drive) to populations of α-motor neurons (with recruitment and rate coding properties). The motor commands were transformed into tendon forces by a Hill-type muscle model (with activation-contraction dynamics) via brushless DC motors. Two independent afferented muscles emulated the forces of flexor digitorum profundus and the extensor indicis proprius muscles, forming an antagonist pair at the metacarpophalangeal joint of a cadaveric index finger. We measured the physical response to repetitions of bi-directional ramp-and-hold rotational perturbations for 81 combinations of static and dynamic fusimotor drives, across four ramp velocities, and three levels of constant cortical drive to the α-motor neuron pool. Main results. We found that this system produced responses compatible with the physiological literature. Fusimotor and cortical drives had nonlinear effects on the reflex forces. In particular, only cortical drive affected the sensitivity of reflex forces to static fusimotor drive. In contrast, both static fusimotor and cortical drives reduced the sensitivity to dynamic fusimotor drive. Interestingly, realistic signal-dependent motor noise emerged naturally in our system without having been explicitly modeled. Significance. We demonstrate that these fundamental features of spinal afferentation sufficed to produce muscle function. As such, our Neuro-mechano-morphic system is a viable platform to study the spinal mechanisms for healthy muscle function—and its

Spirit's View Beside 'Home Plate' on Sol 1823 (Stereo)

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11971 [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11971 NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this stereo, 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,823rd Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's surface mission (Feb. 17, 2009). This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The center of the view is toward the south-southwest. The rover had driven 7 meters (23 feet) eastward earlier on Sol 1823, part of maneuvering to get Spirit into a favorable position for climbing onto the low plateau called 'Home Plate.' However, after two driving attempts with negligible progress during the following three sols, the rover team changed its strategy for getting to destinations south of Home Plate. The team decided to drive Spirit at least partway around Home Plate, instead of ascending the northern edge and taking a shorter route across the top of the plateau. Layered rocks forming part of the northern edge of Home Plate can be seen near the center of the image. Rover wheel tracks are visible at the lower edge. This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction.

Autoimmunity as a Driving Force of Cognitive Evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serge Nataf

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In the last decades, increasingly robust experimental approaches have formally demonstrated that autoimmunity is a physiological process involved in a large range of functions including cognition. On this basis, the recently enunciated “brain superautoantigens” theory proposes that autoimmunity has been a driving force of cognitive evolution. It is notably suggested that the immune and nervous systems have somehow co-evolved and exerted a mutual selection pressure benefiting to both systems. In this two-way process, the evolutionary-determined emergence of neurons expressing specific immunogenic antigens (brain superautoantigens has exerted a selection pressure on immune genes shaping the T-cell repertoire. Such a selection pressure on immune genes has translated into the emergence of a finely tuned autoimmune T-cell repertoire that promotes cognition. In another hand, the evolutionary-determined emergence of brain-autoreactive T-cells has exerted a selection pressure on neural genes coding for brain superautoantigens. Such a selection pressure has translated into the emergence of a neural repertoire (defined here as the whole of neurons, synapses and non-neuronal cells involved in cognitive functions expressing brain superautoantigens. Overall, the brain superautoantigens theory suggests that cognitive evolution might have been primarily driven by internal cues rather than external environmental conditions. Importantly, while providing a unique molecular connection between neural and T-cell repertoires under physiological conditions, brain superautoantigens may also constitute an Achilles heel responsible for the particular susceptibility of Homo sapiens to “neuroimmune co-pathologies” i.e., disorders affecting both neural and T-cell repertoires. These may notably include paraneoplastic syndromes, multiple sclerosis as well as autism, schizophrenia and neurodegenerative diseases. In the context of this theoretical frame, a specific

PMBLDC motor drive with power factor correction controller

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

George, G.J.; Ramachandran, Rakesh; Arun, N.

2012-01-01

reliability, and low maintenance requirements. The proposed Power Factor Controller topology improves power quality by improving performance of PMBLDCM drive, such as reduction of AC main current harmonics, near unity power factor. PFC converter forces the drive to draw sinusoidal supply current in phase...

Design of Stress-Strain Measuring System for Bulldozing Plate Based on Virtual Instrument Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, S C; Li, J Q; Zhang, R

2006-01-01

Soil is a kind of discrete, multiphase compound that is composed of soil particles, liquid and air. When soil is disturbed by bulldozing plate, the mechanical behavior of the soil will become very complex. Based on the law of action and reaction, the dynamic mechanical behavior of disturbed soil was indirectly analyzed by measuring and studying the forces on the bulldozing plate by soil currently, so a stress-strain virtual measuring system for bulldozing plate, which was designed by the graphical programming language DASYLab, was used to measure the horizontal force Fz acting on the bulldozing plate. In addition, during the course of design, the experimental complexities and the interferential factors influencing on signal logging were analyzed when bulldozing plate worked, so the anti-jamming methods of hardware and software technology were adopted correlatively. In the end, the horizontal force Fz was analyzed with Error Theory, the result shown that the quantificational analysis of Fz were identical to the qualitative results of soil well, and the error of the whole test system is under 5 percent, so the tress-strain virtual measuring system was stable and credible

Fermionic Casimir effect for parallel plates in the presence of compact dimensions with applications to nanotubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellucci, S.; Saharian, A. A.

2009-01-01

We evaluate the Casimir energy and force for a massive fermionic field in the geometry of two parallel plates on background of Minkowski spacetime with an arbitrary number of toroidally compactified spatial dimensions. The bag boundary conditions are imposed on the plates and periodicity conditions with arbitrary phases are considered along the compact dimensions. The Casimir energy is decomposed into purely topological, single plate and interaction parts. With independence of the lengths of the compact dimensions and the phases in the periodicity conditions, the interaction part of the Casimir energy is always negative. In order to obtain the resulting force, the contributions from both sides of the plates must be taken into account. Then, the forces coming from the topological parts of the vacuum energy cancel out and only the interaction term contributes to the Casimir force. Applications of the general formulae to Kaluza-Klein-type models and carbon nanotubes are given. In particular, we show that for finite-length metallic nanotubes, the Casimir forces acting on the tube edges are always attractive, whereas for semiconducting-type ones, they are attractive for small lengths of the nanotube and repulsive for large lengths.

The Impact of Nitinol Staples on the Compressive Forces, Contact Area, and Mechanical Properties in Comparison to a Claw Plate and Crossed Screws for the First Tarsometatarsal Arthrodesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Aiyer, Amiethab; Russell, Nicholas A; Pelletier, Matthew H; Myerson, Mark; Walsh, William R

2016-06-01

Background The optimal fixation method for the first tarsometatarsal arthrodesis remains controversial. This study aimed to develop a reproducible first tarsometatarsal testing model to evaluate the biomechanical performance of different reconstruction techniques. Methods Crossed screws or a claw plate were compared with a single or double shape memory alloy staple configuration in 20 Sawbones models. Constructs were mechanically tested in 4-point bending to 1, 2, and 3 mm of plantar displacement. The joint contact force and area were measured at time zero, and following 1 and 2 mm of bending. Peak load, stiffness, and plantar gapping were determined. Results Both staple configurations induced a significantly greater contact force and area across the arthrodesis than the crossed screw and claw plate constructs at all measurements. The staple constructs completely recovered their plantar gapping following each test. The claw plate generated the least contact force and area at the joint interface and had significantly greater plantar gapping than all other constructs. The crossed screw constructs were significantly stiffer and had significantly less plantar gapping than the other constructs, but this gapping was not recoverable. Conclusions Crossed screw fixation provides a rigid arthrodesis with limited compression and contact footprint across the joint. Shape memory alloy staples afford dynamic fixation with sustained compression across the arthrodesis. A rigid polyurethane foam model provides an anatomically relevant comparison for evaluating the interface between different fixation techniques. Clinical Relevance The dynamic nature of shape memory alloy staples offers the potential to permit early weight bearing and could be a useful adjunctive device to impart compression across an arthrodesis of the first tarsometatarsal joint. Therapeutic, Level V: Bench testing. © 2015 The Author(s).

Precipitation formation in recrystallized nickel-plated non-sag tungsten wire

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lai, Z.H.

1994-01-01

It is well established that some metals, such as palladium and nickel, can easily penetrate into tungsten by fast diffusion via crystal defects such as grain boundaries and dislocations. As a result of the fast penetration of these so called activators the recrystallization temperature of heavily drawn non-sag tungsten wire can be lower from about 2,000 C to about 1,000 C, thus the application of the tungsten wire, serving as reinforcement material in metal matrix composites used at high temperatures, is limited. An interesting question is in which form these activators exist in the recrystallized tungsten wire. It is generally believed that W-Ni intermediate compounds could form in the recrystallized material, presumably at grain boundaries. The free energy difference between the pure tungsten fibbers and the precipitating W(Ni) solid solution was suggested as the chemical driving force which governed the recrystallization process. The presence of nickel in small particles had also been observed in recrystallized grains of nickel plated tungsten wires using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. These particles were considered to be nickel rich precipitates. However, a detailed investigation of the precipitation process has not been reported. In the present work an investigation of the structure, composition and distribution of nickel rich particles precipitated in recrystallized grains of nickel plated heavily drawn non-sage tungsten wires was carried out using analytical electron microscopy (AEM)

Shallow and buoyant lithospheric subduction : causes and implications from thermo-chemical numerical modeling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hunen, Jeroen van

2001-01-01

Where two lithospheric plates converge on the Earth, one of them disappears into the mantle. The dominant driving mechanism for plate motion is regarded to be `slab pull': the subducted plate, the slab, exerts a pulling force on the attached plate at the surface. However, what has been puzzling

Nonmonotonic Thermal Casimir Force from Geometry-Temperature Interplay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, Alexej; Gies, Holger

2010-01-01

The geometry dependence of Casimir forces is significantly more pronounced in the presence of thermal fluctuations due to a generic geometry-temperature interplay. We show that the thermal force for standard sphere-plate or cylinder-plate geometries develops a nonmonotonic behavior already in the simple case of a fluctuating Dirichlet scalar. In particular, the attractive thermal force can increase for increasing distances below a critical temperature. This anomalous behavior is triggered by a reweighting of relevant fluctuations on the scale of the thermal wavelength. The essence of the phenomenon becomes transparent within the worldline picture of the Casimir effect.

Hydroelastic Oscillations of a Circular Plate, Resting on Winkler Foundation

Science.gov (United States)

Kondratov, D. V.; Mogilevich, L. I.; Popov, V. S.; Popova, A. A.

2018-01-01

The forced hydroelastic oscillations of a circular plate resting on elastic foundation are investigated. The oscillations are caused by a stamp vibration under interaction with a plate through a thin layer of viscous incompressible liquid. The axis-symmetric problem for the regime of the steady-state harmonic oscillations is considered. On the basis of hydroelasticity problem solution the laws of plate deflection and pressure in the liquid are found. The functions of the amplitudes deflection distribution and liquid pressure along the plate are constructed. The presented mathematical model provides for investigating viscous liquid layer interaction dynamics with a circular plate resting on an elastic foundation. The above-mentioned model makes it possible to define the plate oscillations resonance frequencies and the corresponding amplitudes of deflection and liquid pressure, as well.

The Driving Forces of Subsidiary Absorptive Capacity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schleimer, Stephanie C.; Pedersen, Torben

2013-01-01

The study investigates how a multinational corporation (MNC) can promote the absorptive capacity of its subsidiaries. The focus is on what drives the MNC subsidiary's ability to absorb marketing strategies that are initiated by the MNC parent, as well as how the subsidiary enacts on this absorptive...... as a purposeful response to this dual embeddedness. An analysis of marketing strategy absorptions undertaken by 213 subsidiaries reveals that MNCs can assist their subsidiaries to compete in competitive and dynamic focal markets by forming specific organizational mechanisms that are conducive to the development...

The driving forces for nitrogen and phosphorus flows in the food chain of china, 1980 to 2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Y; Ma, L; Gao, Z L; Wang, F H; Sims, J T; Ma, W Q; Zhang, F S

2013-07-01

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) use and losses in China's food chain have accelerated in the past three decades, driven by population growth, rapid urbanization, dietary transition, and changing nutrient management practice. There has been little detailed quantitative analysis of the relative magnitude of these driving forces throughout this period. Therefore, we analyzed changes in N and P flows and key drivers behind changes in the food (production and consumption) chain at the national scale from 1980 to 2010. Food (N and P) consumption increased by about fivefold in urban settings over this period but has decreased in rural settings since the 1990s. For urban settings, the integrated driving forces for increased food consumption were population growth, which accounted for ∼60%, and changing urban diets toward a greater emphasis on the consumption of animal products. Nutrient inputs and losses in crop and animal productions have continuously increased from 1980 to 2010, but the rates of decadal increase were greatly different. Increased total inputs and losses in crop production were primarily driven by increased crop production for food demand (68-96%) in the 1980s but were likely offset in the 2000s by improved nutrient management practices, as evidenced by decreased total inputs to and losses from cropland for harvesting per nutrient in crop. The contributions of animal production to total N and P losses to waters from the food chain increased by 34 and 60% from 1980 to 2010. These increases were caused mainly by decreased ratios of manure returned to cropland. Our study highlights a larger impact of changing nutrient management practice than population growth on elevated nutrient flows in China's food chain. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

CAE DEVELOPMENT OF PRECESSIONAL DRIVES USING AUTODESK INVENTOR PLATFORM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion BOSTAN

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the modelling and simulation of precessional drives designed in two variants capable of high transmission ratio and torque for one stage compact construction. The constructions were designed in Inventor and also as multi body systems in otionInventor. The simulations of the drives provide information concerning positions, velocities, accelerations, point trajectories, forces and moments, energies, as well as contact forces at the contact between gear teeth and satellite teeth and other data concerning the system.

The effect of electric field geometry on the performance of electromembrane extraction systems: Footprints of a third driving force along with migration and diffusion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moazami, Hamid Reza [School of Physics and Accelerators, NSTRI, P. O. Box, 11365-8486, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Hosseiny Davarani, Saied Saeed, E-mail: ss-hosseiny@sbu.ac.ir [Faculty of Chemistry, Shahid Beheshti University, G. C., 1983963113, Evin, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Mohammadi, Jamil; Nojavan, Saeed [Faculty of Chemistry, Shahid Beheshti University, G. C., 1983963113, Evin, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Abrari, Masoud [Laser and Plasma Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, G. C., 1983963113, Evin, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-09-03

The distribution of electric field vectors was first calculated for electromembrane extraction (EME) systems in classical and cylindrical electrode geometries. The results showed that supported liquid membrane (SLM) has a general field amplifying effect due to its lower dielectric constant in comparison with aqueous donor/acceptor solutions. The calculated norms of the electric field vector showed that a DC voltage of 50 V can create huge electric field strengths up to 64 kV m{sup −1} and 111 kV m{sup −1} in classical and cylindrical geometries respectively. In both cases, the electric field strength reached its peak value on the inner wall of the SLM. In the case of classical geometry, the field strength was a function of the polar position of the SLM whereas the field strength in cylindrical geometry was angularly uniform. In order to investigate the effect of the electrode geometry on the performance of real EME systems, the analysis was carried out in three different geometries including classical, helical and cylindrical arrangements using naproxen and sodium diclofenac as the model analytes. Despite higher field strength and extended cross sectional area, the helical and cylindrical geometries gave lower recoveries with respect to the classical EME. The observed decline of the signal was proved to be against the relations governing migration and diffusion processes, which means that a third driving force is involved in EME. The third driving force is the interaction between the radially inhomogeneous electric field and the analyte in its neutral form. - Highlights: • Electric field vectors have been calculated in EME systems. • A new driving force has been proposed in EME systems. • EME can be theoretically applied to nonionic polarizable analytes.

The effect of electric field geometry on the performance of electromembrane extraction systems: Footprints of a third driving force along with migration and diffusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moazami, Hamid Reza; Hosseiny Davarani, Saied Saeed; Mohammadi, Jamil; Nojavan, Saeed; Abrari, Masoud

2015-01-01

The distribution of electric field vectors was first calculated for electromembrane extraction (EME) systems in classical and cylindrical electrode geometries. The results showed that supported liquid membrane (SLM) has a general field amplifying effect due to its lower dielectric constant in comparison with aqueous donor/acceptor solutions. The calculated norms of the electric field vector showed that a DC voltage of 50 V can create huge electric field strengths up to 64 kV m −1 and 111 kV m −1 in classical and cylindrical geometries respectively. In both cases, the electric field strength reached its peak value on the inner wall of the SLM. In the case of classical geometry, the field strength was a function of the polar position of the SLM whereas the field strength in cylindrical geometry was angularly uniform. In order to investigate the effect of the electrode geometry on the performance of real EME systems, the analysis was carried out in three different geometries including classical, helical and cylindrical arrangements using naproxen and sodium diclofenac as the model analytes. Despite higher field strength and extended cross sectional area, the helical and cylindrical geometries gave lower recoveries with respect to the classical EME. The observed decline of the signal was proved to be against the relations governing migration and diffusion processes, which means that a third driving force is involved in EME. The third driving force is the interaction between the radially inhomogeneous electric field and the analyte in its neutral form. - Highlights: • Electric field vectors have been calculated in EME systems. • A new driving force has been proposed in EME systems. • EME can be theoretically applied to nonionic polarizable analytes.

Ameliorative design for CARR safety rod drive mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Xuewei; Luo Zhong; Zhen Jianxiao; Wang Yulin

2014-01-01

The problem of safety rod accident dropped during C commissioning phase for China Advanced Research Reactor (CARR) was analyzed, and the reason was that the solenoid valve in safety rod drive mechanism (SRDM) driven loop was breakdown because of long-playing work. To solve this safe hidden trouble, SRDM was redesigned, and a new type of 'hydro lifting-hydro and electromagnetic holding' SRDM was presented, using Ansoft Maxwell to make a finite element analysis on new SRDM, working out electromagnetic field distribution and electromagnetic force of new SRDM. The results show that the value of electromagnetic force produced by electromagnetic force holding unit reaches 2.12 times about the weight of safety rod drive line, and it has some margins. (authors)

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

Science.gov (United States)

Vaughn, Mark R.; Montague, Stephen

2017-05-16

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

Efficient Driving of Piezoelectric Transducers Using a Biaxial Driving Technique.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel Pichardo

Full Text Available Efficient driving of piezoelectric materials is desirable when operating transducers for biomedical applications such as high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU or ultrasound imaging. More efficient operation reduces the electric power required to produce the desired bioeffect or contrast. Our preliminary work [Cole et al. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. 2014;26(13:135901.] suggested that driving transducers by applying orthogonal electric fields can significantly reduce the coercivity that opposes ferroelectric switching. We present here the experimental validation of this biaxial driving technique using piezoelectric ceramics typically used in HIFU. A set of narrow-band transducers was fabricated with two sets of electrodes placed in an orthogonal configuration (following the propagation and the lateral mode. The geometry of the ceramic was chosen to have a resonance frequency similar for the propagation and the lateral mode. The average (± s.d. resonance frequency of the samples was 465.1 (± 1.5 kHz. Experiments were conducted in which each pair of electrodes was driven independently and measurements of effective acoustic power were obtained using the radiation force method. The efficiency (acoustic/electric power of the biaxial driving method was compared to the results obtained when driving the ceramic using electrodes placed only in the pole direction. Our results indicate that the biaxial method increases efficiency from 50% to 125% relative to the using a single electric field.

Mining spatial information to investigate the evolution of karst rocky desertification and its human driving forces in Changshun, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Erqi; Zhang, Hongqi; Li, Mengxian

2013-08-01

The processes of karst rocky desertification (KRD) have been found to cause the most severe environmental degradation in southwestern China. Understanding the driving forces that cause KRD is essential for managing and restoring the areas that it impacts. Studies of the human driving forces of KRD are limited to the county level, a specific administrative unit in China; census data are acquired at this scale, which can lead to scale biases. Changshun County is studied here as a representative area and anthropogenic influences in the county are accounted for by using Euclidean distances for the proximity to roads and settlements. We propose a standard coefficient of human influence (SOI) that standardizes the Euclidean distances for different KRD transformations to compare the effects of human activities in different areas. In Changshun County, the individual influences of roads and settlements share similar characteristics. The SOIs of improved KRD transformation types are almost negative, but the SOIs of deteriorated types are nearly positive except for one form of KRD turning to the extremely severe KRD. The results indicated that the distribution and evolution of the KRD areas from 2000 to 2010 in Changshun were affected positively by human activities (e.g., KRD restoration projects) and also negatively (e.g., by intense and irrational land use). Our results demonstrate that the spatial techniques and SOI used in this study can effectively incorporate information concerning human influences and internal KRD transformations. This provides a suitable approach for studying the relationships between human activities and KRD processes at fine scales. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Urban-Rural Land-Use Change during 1995-2006 and Its Policy Dimensional Driving Forces in Chongqing, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guihua Dong

2008-02-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the urban-rural land-use change of Chongqing and its policydimensional driving forces from 1995 to 2006, using high-resolution Landsat TM(Thematic Mapper data of 1995, 2000 and 2006, and socio-economic data from bothresearch institutes and government departments. The outcomes indicated that urban-ruralland-use change in Chongqing can be characterized by two major trends: First, thenon-agricultural land increased substantially from 1995 to 2006, thus causing agriculturalland especially farmland to decrease continuously. Second, the aggregation index of urbansettlements and rural settlements shows that local urban-rural development experienced aprocess of changing from aggregation (1995-2000 to decentralization (2000-2006.Chongqing is a special area getting immersed in many important policies, which includethe establishment of the municipality directly under the Central Government, the buildingof Three Gorges Dam Project, the Western China Development Program and theGrain-for-Green Programme, and bring about tremendous influences on its land-usechange. By analyzing Chongqing’s land-use change and its policy driving forces, someimplications for its new policy of ‘Urban-rural Integrated Reform’ are obtained. That ismore attentions need to be paid to curbing excessive and idle rural housing andconsolidating rural construction land, and to laying out a scientific land-use plan for its rural areas taking such rural land-use issues as farmland occupation and rural housing landmanagement into accounts, so as to coordinate and balance the urban-rural development.

Quantitative assessment of growth plate activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harcke, H.T.; Macy, N.J.; Mandell, G.A.; MacEwen, G.D.

1984-01-01

In the immature skeleton the physis or growth plate is the area of bone least able to withstand external forces and is therefore prone to trauma. Such trauma often leads to premature closure of the plate and results in limb shortening and/or angular deformity (varus or valgus). Active localization of bone seeking tracers in the physis makes bone scintigraphy an excellent method for assessing growth plate physiology. To be most effective, however, physeal activity should be quantified so that serial evaluations are accurate and comparable. The authors have developed a quantitative method for assessing physeal activity and have applied it ot the hip and knee. Using computer acquired pinhole images of the abnormal and contralateral normal joints, ten regions of interest are placed at key locations around each joint and comparative ratios are generated to form a growth plate profile. The ratios compare segmental physeal activity to total growth plate activity on both ipsilateral and contralateral sides and to adjacent bone. In 25 patients, ages 2 to 15 years, with angular deformities of the legs secondary to trauma, Blount's disease, and Perthes disease, this technique is able to differentiate abnormal segmental physeal activity. This is important since plate closure does not usually occur uniformly across the physis. The technique may permit the use of scintigraphy in the prediction of early closure through the quantitative analysis of serial studies

Study on anti-seismic test of control rod driving system suspended by magnetic force

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Zhihua; Qian Dazhi; Xu Xianqi; Huang Hongwen; Zhang Zhengming; Wu Xinxin; Hu Xiao

2012-01-01

To verify the stability, reliability and security function in extreme conditions, the anti-seismic test of control rod drive line was conducted. Drop-time of control rod drive line in different earthquake intensities was got. The response and strain values of control rod drive line acceleration on SL-1, SL-2 level were measured. Safety functions of control rod drive line were validated in different work conditions. Anti-seismic test data shows that the driving system can keep the structure's integrality and realize operation function under OBE and SSE. (authors)

Steam generator of the forced circulation type

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forestier, Jean; Leblanc, Bernard; Monteil, Marcel; Monteil, Pierre

1977-01-01

The steam generator described is of the forced circulation single passage type comprising an outer casing including a vertical generally cylindrical side ring, an internal skirt coaxial with the outer casing, the bottom of this skirt having a free edge separated from a bottom end closing the outer casing, a central tube plate extending horizontally near a top end, in opposition to the bottom end, a peripheral tube plate, parallel to the central plate and located in the annular space under this central plate, a bundle of J shaped tubes [fr

Reconstruction of Northeast Asian Deformation Integrated with Western Pacific Plate Subduction since 200 Ma

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, S.; Gurnis, M.; Ma, P.; Zhang, B.

2017-12-01

The configuration and kinematics of continental deformation and its marginal plate tectonics on the Earth's surface are intrinsic manifestations of plate-mantle coupling. The complex interactions of plate boundary forces result in plate motions that are dominated by slab pull and ridge push forces and the effects of mantle drag; these interactions also result in continental deformation with a complex basin-mountain architecture and evolution. The kinematics and evolution of the western Pacific subduction and northeast Asian continental-margin deformation are a first-order tectonic process whose nature and chronology remains controversial. This paper implements a "deep-time" reconstruction of the western Pacific subduction, continental accretion or collision and basin-mountain deformation in northeast Asia since 200 Ma based on a newly revised global plate model. The results demonstrate a NW-SE-oriented shortening from 200-137 Ma, a NWW-SEE-oriented extension from 136-101 Ma, a nearly N-S-oriented extension and uplift with a short-term NWW-SEE-oriented compressional inversion in northeast China from 100-67 Ma, and a NW-SE- and nearly N-S-oriented extension from 66 Ma to the present day. The western Pacific oceanic plate subducted forward under East Asia along Mudanjiang-Honshu Island during the Jurassic, and the trenches retreated to the Sikhote-Alin, North Shimanto, and South Shimanto zones from ca. 137-128 Ma, ca. 130-90 Ma, and in ca. 60 Ma, respectively. Our time-dependent analysis of plate motion and continental deformation coupling suggests that the multi-plate convergent motion and ocean-continent convergent orogeny were induced by advance subduction during the Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous. Our analysis also indicates that the intra-continent rifting and back-arc extension were triggered by trench retreat during the Cretaceous and that the subduction of oceanic ridge and arc were triggered by trench retreat during the Cenozoic. Therefore, reconstructing

Application and improvement of reciprocating-sieve plate extraction column in natural uranium extraction and purification process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Xuejun; Li Linyan; Liu Jing; Liu Xin; Yang Lifeng; Xiao Shaohua; Liu Hao

2013-01-01

Reciprocating-sieve plate extraction column is commonly used in the extraction process. Optimization and application were conducted successfully via production practice in some chemical and pharmaceutical plants, and good results are obtained while it is applied in the natural uranium extraction and purification process. The key component of reciprocating-sieve plate extraction column is gear-drive equipment in which drive motor serves as its core. Hence, it is important to select appropriate mode of speed regulation. In this paper, the principle and performance of several mode of speed regulation are compared. Both electromagnetic slip and frequency speed-regulation can be applied in general industrial process, but frequency speed-regulation with low energy cost can be used in wider operating range. The application of frequency speed-regulation mode used in reciprocating-sieve plate extraction column will increase the convenience and stability of natural uranium extraction and purification process. (authors)

Consistent Automation Solutions for Electrohydraulic Drives in Times of Industry 4.0

OpenAIRE

Köckemann, Albert; Birke, Benno

2016-01-01

Electrohydraulic drives are primarily used whenever a low power/weight ratio, a compact build and/or large forces are required for individual applications. These drives are often used together with electric drive technology in machines. However, in terms of automation, unlike electric drives, electrohydraulic drives are still largely connected via analog interfaces and centralized closed control loops today. To compensate for this competitive disadvantage of hydraulic drive technology and, at...

Spreading continents kick-started plate tectonics.

Science.gov (United States)

Rey, Patrice F; Coltice, Nicolas; Flament, Nicolas

2014-09-18

Stresses acting on cold, thick and negatively buoyant oceanic lithosphere are thought to be crucial to the initiation of subduction and the operation of plate tectonics, which characterizes the present-day geodynamics of the Earth. Because the Earth's interior was hotter in the Archaean eon, the oceanic crust may have been thicker, thereby making the oceanic lithosphere more buoyant than at present, and whether subduction and plate tectonics occurred during this time is ambiguous, both in the geological record and in geodynamic models. Here we show that because the oceanic crust was thick and buoyant, early continents may have produced intra-lithospheric gravitational stresses large enough to drive their gravitational spreading, to initiate subduction at their margins and to trigger episodes of subduction. Our model predicts the co-occurrence of deep to progressively shallower mafic volcanics and arc magmatism within continents in a self-consistent geodynamic framework, explaining the enigmatic multimodal volcanism and tectonic record of Archaean cratons. Moreover, our model predicts a petrological stratification and tectonic structure of the sub-continental lithospheric mantle, two predictions that are consistent with xenolith and seismic studies, respectively, and consistent with the existence of a mid-lithospheric seismic discontinuity. The slow gravitational collapse of early continents could have kick-started transient episodes of plate tectonics until, as the Earth's interior cooled and oceanic lithosphere became heavier, plate tectonics became self-sustaining.

From Geodynamics to Simplicity

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, D. L.

2002-12-01

Mantle convection and plate tectonics are often thought as synonymous. Convection is sometimes treated as the driver or plate tectonics is viewed as simply a manifestation of mantle convection. Mantle plumes are regarded as supplying some of the elements missing in the plate tectonic and mantle convection paradigms, such as island chains, swells and large igneous provinces. An alternate view is motivated by Prigogine's concept of far-from-equilibrium self-organization ( SOFFE), not to be confused with Bak's self-organized criticality ( SOC) . In a SOFFE system the components interact, and the system is small compared to the outside world to which it is open. There must be multiple possible states and dissipation is important. Such a system is sensitive to small changes. Rayleigh-Benard convection in a container with isothermal walls is such a self-organizing system ; the driving bouyancy and the dissipation ( viscosity ) are in the fluid. In Marangoni convection the driving forces ( surface tension ) and dissipation are in the surface film and this organizes the surface and the underlying fluid. The mantle provides energy and matter to the interacting plate system but forces in the plates drive and dissipate the energy. Thus, plate tectonics may be a SOFFEE system that drives convection,as are systems cooled from above, in general. If so, plates will reorganize as boundary conditions change ; incipient plate boundaries will emerge as volcanic chains at tensile regions. Plates are defined as regions of lateral compression ( force chains ), rather than strength, and they are ephemeral. The plate system, rather than mantle viscosity, will modulate mantle cooling. The supercontinent cycle, with episodes of reorganization and massive magmatism, may be a manifestation of this far-from-equilibrium, driven from above, system. Geodynamics may be simpler than we think. Plate tectonics is certainly a more powerful concept once the concepts of rididity, elasticity, homogeneity

Device for filling tubular electrode plates for lead batteries. [German patent

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barth, P.U.; Kubis, C.; Weber, H.J.; Wiepen, R.

1979-02-01

The device applies the vibration principle and according to the invention it uses a filling cassette for accommodating tubular electrode plates. The filling cassette has a filling funnel and is suspended with its vibration drive by springs. The vibration drive consists either of two out-of-balance motors, which are rigidly connected to the lower frame of the cassette, and have opposite directions of rotation, or of one out-of-balance motor, which is connected to a joint below the frame of the cassette.

Design and analysis of the Gemini chain system in dual clutch transmission of automobile

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Yabing; Guo, Haitao; Fu, Zhenming; Wan, Nen; Li, Lei; Wang, Yang

2015-01-01

Chain drive system is widely used in the conditions of high-speed, overload, variable speed and load. Many studies are focused on the meshing theory and wear characteristics of chain drive system, but system design, analysis, and noise characteristics of the chain drive system are weak. System design and noise characteristic are studied for a new type Gemini chain of dual-clutch automatic transmission. Based on the meshing theory of silent chain, the design parameters of the Gemini chain system are calculated and the mathematical models and dynamic analysis models of the Gemini chain system are established. Dynamic characteristics of the Gemini chain system is simulated and the contact force of plate and pin, plate and sprockets, the chain tension forces, the transmission error and the stress of plates and pins are analyzed. According to the simulation results of the Gemini chain system, the noise experiment about system is carried out. The noise values are tested at different speed and load and spectral characteristics are analyzed. The results of simulation and experimental show that the contact forces of plate and pin, plate and sprockets are smaller than the allowable stress values, the chain tension force is less than ultimate tension and transmission error is limited in 1.2%. The noise values can meet the requirements of industrial design, and it is proved that the design and analysis method of the Gemini chain system is scientific and feasible. The design and test system is built from analysis to test of Gemini chain system. This research presented will provide a corresponding theoretical guidance for the design and dynamic characteristics and noise characteristics of chain drive system.

Indonesian Landforms and Plate Tectonics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herman Th. Verstappen

2014-06-01

Full Text Available DOI: 10.17014/ijog.v5i3.103The horizontal configuration and vertical dimension of the landforms occurring in the tectonically unstable parts of Indonesia were resulted in the first place from plate tectonics. Most of them date from the Quaternary and endogenous forces are ongoing. Three major plates – the northward moving Indo-Australian Plate, the south-eastward moving SE-Asian Plate and the westward moving Pacific Plate - meet at a plate triple-junction situated in the south of New Guinea’s Bird’s Head. The narrow North-Moluccan plate is interposed between the Asia and Pacific. It tapers out northward in the Philippine Mobile Belt and is gradually disappearing. The greatest relief amplitudes occur near the plate boundaries: deep ocean trenches are associated with subduction zones and mountain ranges with collision belts. The landforms of the more stable areas of the plates date back to a more remote past and, where emerged, have a more subdued relief that is in the first place related to the resistance of the rocks to humid tropical weathering Rising mountain ranges and emerging island arcs are subjected to rapid humid-tropical river erosions and mass movements. The erosion products accumulate in adjacent sedimentary basins where their increasing weight causes subsidence by gravity and isostatic compensations. Living and raised coral reefs, volcanoes, and fault scarps are important geomorphic indicators of active plate tectonics. Compartmental faults may strongly affect island arcs stretching perpendicular to the plate movement. This is the case on Java. Transcurrent faults and related pull-apart basins are a leading factor where plates meet at an angle, such as on Sumatra. The most complicated situation exists near the triple-junction and in the Moluccas. Modern research methods, such as GPS measurements of plate movements and absolute dating of volcanic outbursts and raised coral reefs are important tools. The mega-landforms resulting

Forelimb and hindlimb ground reaction forces of walking cats: Assessment and comparison with walking dogs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Corbee, R.J.; Maas, H.; Doornenbal, A; Hazewinkel, H.A.W.

2014-01-01

The primary aim of this study was to assess the potential of force plate analysis for describing the stride cycle of the cat. The secondary aim was to define differences in feline and canine locomotion based on force plate characteristics. Ground reaction forces of 24 healthy cats were measured and

Mechanical design of multiple zone plates precision alignment apparatus for hard X-ray focusing in twenty-nanometer scale

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shu, Deming; Liu, Jie; Gleber, Sophie C.; Vila-Comamala, Joan; Lai, Barry; Maser, Jorg M.; Roehrig, Christian; Wojcik, Michael J.; Vogt, Franz Stefan

2017-04-04

An enhanced mechanical design of multiple zone plates precision alignment apparatus for hard x-ray focusing in a twenty-nanometer scale is provided. The precision alignment apparatus includes a zone plate alignment base frame; a plurality of zone plates; and a plurality of zone plate holders, each said zone plate holder for mounting and aligning a respective zone plate for hard x-ray focusing. At least one respective positioning stage drives and positions each respective zone plate holder. Each respective positioning stage is mounted on the zone plate alignment base frame. A respective linkage component connects each respective positioning stage and the respective zone plate holder. The zone plate alignment base frame, each zone plate holder and each linkage component is formed of a selected material for providing thermal expansion stability and positioning stability for the precision alignment apparatus.

Beyond barriers – A case study on driving forces for improved energy efficiency in the foundry industries in Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thollander, Patrik; Backlund, Sandra; Trianni, Andrea; Cagno, Enrico

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Results are based on a questionnaire in the European foundry industry. • The energy efficiency potential is assed to be 7.5% of the total energy use. • Most important drivers to and barriers for energy efficiency are financial followed by organizational. • EPC is used among 23% of the foundries, third party financing among 12%. • Large energy management improvement potentials are uncovered. - Abstract: Energy management plays an important role in the transformation of industrial energy systems towards improved energy efficiency and increased sustainability. This paper aims to study driving forces for improved energy efficiency in some European energy-intensive foundry industries. The investigation has been conducted as a multiple case study involving 65 foundries located in Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden. The most relevant perceived driving forces were found to be financially related, followed by organizational driving forces. Nevertheless, some differences can be appreciated according to the firm’s size and country. Almost half of the studied foundries lack a long-term energy strategy, about one-fourth stated that they have used Energy Performance Contracting (EPC), and only approximately one in ten foundries have used Third Party Financing (TPF). Among the studied foundries, three out of five have conducted an energy audit. On average, the energy saving potential according to the respondents is stated to be 7.5%. In conclusion, energy management in the European foundry industry, despite increasing energy prices and extensive energy policy actions taken by the EU, still seems to have great improvement potential, calling for future research and policy actions in the field

Circular arc fuel plate stability experiments and analyses for the advanced neutron source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swinson, W.F.; Battiste, R.L.; Yahr, G.T.

1995-08-01

The thin fuel plates planned for the Advanced Neutron Source are to be cooled by forcing heavy water at high velocity, 25 m/s, through thin cooling channels on each side of each plate. Because the potential for structural failure of the plates is a design concern, considerable effort has been expended in assessing this potential. As part of this effort, experimental flow tests and analyses to evaluate the structural response of circular arc plates have been conducted, and the results are given in this report

Casimir-lifshitz force out of thermal equilibrium and asymptotic nonadditivity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Antezza, Mauro; Pitaevskii, Lev P.; Stringari, Sandro; Svetovoy, Vitaly

2006-01-01

We investigate the force acting between two parallel plates held at different temperatures. The force reproduces, as limiting cases, the well-known Casimir-Lifshitz surface-surface force at thermal equilibrium and the surface-atom force out of thermal equilibrium recently derived by M. Antezza et

Did the amalgamation of continents drive the end Ordovician mass extinctions?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mac Ørum Rasmussen, Christian; Harper, David Alexander Taylor

2011-01-01

not uniformly distributed, nor was the succeeding recovery. Here we argue that changing plate tectonic configurations during the Ordovician–Silurian interval may have exerted a primary control on biotic extinction and recovery. In particular the proximity and ultimate loss of microcontinents and associated...... smaller terranes around Laurentia may have restricted shelf and slope habitats during the latest Ordovician but, nevertheless, in a contracted Iapetus Ocean, provided migration routes to help drive a diachronous early Silurian recovery. The conclusion that plate tectonics was a primary factor controlling...

A right-handed signalling pathway drives heart looping in vertebrates

Science.gov (United States)

Ocaña, Oscar H.; Coskun, Hakan; Minguillón, Carolina; Murawala, Prayag; Tanaka, Elly M.; Galcerán, Joan; Muñoz-Chapuli, Ramón; Nieto, M. Angela

2017-01-01

The majority of animals show external bilateral symmetry, precluding the observation of multiple internal left-right (L/R) asymmetries that are fundamental for organ packaging and function1,2. In vertebrates, left identity is mediated by the left-specific Nodal-Pitx2 axis that is repressed on the right-hand side by the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) inducer Snail13,4. Despite some existing evidence3,5, it remains unclear whether an equivalent instructive pathway provides right-hand specific information to the embryo. Here we show that in zebrafish, BMP mediates the L/R asymmetric activation of another EMT inducer, Prrx1a, in the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) with higher levels on the right. Prrx1a drives L/R differential cell movements towards the midline leading to a leftward displacement of the cardiac posterior pole through an actomyosin-dependent mechanism. Downregulation of Prrx1a prevents heart looping and leads to mesocardia. Two parallel and mutually repressed pathways, respectively driven by Nodal and BMP on the left and right LPM, converge on the asymmetric activation of Pitx2 and Prrx1, two transcription factors that integrate left and right information to govern heart morphogenesis. This mechanism is conserved in the chicken embryo and, in the mouse, Snail1 fulfills the role played by Prrx1 in fish and chick. Thus, a differential L/R EMT produces asymmetric cell movements and forces, more prominent from the right, that drive heart laterality in vertebrates. PMID:28880281

What drives microplate motion and deformation in the northeastern Caribbean plate boundary region?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Benthem, S.A.C.; Govers, R.; Wortel, R.

2014-01-01

The north Caribbean plate boundary zone is a broad deformation zone with several fault systems and tectonic blocks that move with different velocities. The indentation by the Bahamas Platform (the “Bahamas Collision”) is generally invoked as a cause of this fragmentation. We propose that a second

Influence of roughness on capillary forces between hydrophilic surfaces

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Zwol, P. J.; Palasantzas, G.; De Hosson, J. Th. M.

Capillary forces have been measured by atomic force microscopy in the plate-sphere setup between gold, borosilicate glass, GeSbTe, titanium, and UV-irradiated amorphous titanium-dioxide surfaces. The force measurements were performed as a function contact time and surface roughness in the range

Buckling analysis for structural sections and stiffened plates reinforced with laminated composites.

Science.gov (United States)

Viswanathan, A. V.; Soong, T.-C.; Miller, R. E., Jr.

1972-01-01

A classical buckling analysis is developed for stiffened, flat plates composed of a series of linked flat plate and beam elements. Plates are idealized as multilayered orthotropic elements; structural beads and lips are idealized as beams. The loaded edges of the stiffened plate are simply supported and the conditions at the unloaded edges can be prescribed arbitrarily. The plate and beam elements are matched along their common junctions for displacement continuity and force equilibrium in an exact manner. Offsets between elements are considered in the analysis. Buckling under uniaxial compressive load for plates, sections and stiffened plates is investigated. Buckling loads are found as the lowest of all possible general and local failure modes and the mode shape is used to determine whether buckling is a local or general instability. Numerical correlations with existing analysis and test data for plates, sections and stiffened plates including boron-reinforced structures are discussed. In general, correlations are reasonably good.

Determination of transfer parameters in corrugated plates exchangers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva Lima Filho, S. da.

1984-01-01

In this work is presented a experimental study about the forced convenction problem in vee-corrugated exchangers, with flow in the transversal sense, and parallel plates exchangers in which the isotermal plate is equivalent to the absobing one and the other plate is adiabatic. Global values of the transfer coefficients were experimentally obtained by application of the Naphthalene Sublimation Technique in accordance with the analogy between heat and mass transfer. The results were expressed in terms of Sh sup(-) /Sc sup(0,4) that according to the analogy is equal the Nu sup(-) / Pr sup(0,4) in function of the Reynolds number. The ratio between the lenght of the channel and the average spacing between plates L/2a was ranged in all the exchangers. Parameters of transfer to angles of 45 0 and 31 0 were determined in the corrugated plates exchangers. The experimental results obtained were analyzed and compared among them. Finally practical applications of these results are presented to heat exchangers with similars geometric characteristics. (Author) [pt

Standing wave acoustic levitation on an annular plate

Science.gov (United States)

Kandemir, Mehmet Hakan; Çalışkan, Mehmet

2016-11-01

In standing wave acoustic levitation technique, a standing wave is formed between a source and a reflector. Particles can be attracted towards pressure nodes in standing waves owing to a spring action through which particles can be suspended in air. This operation can be performed on continuous structures as well as in several numbers of axes. In this study an annular acoustic levitation arrangement is introduced. Design features of the arrangement are discussed in detail. Bending modes of the annular plate, known as the most efficient sound generation mechanism in such structures, are focused on. Several types of bending modes of the plate are simulated and evaluated by computer simulations. Waveguides are designed to amplify waves coming from sources of excitation, that are, transducers. With the right positioning of the reflector plate, standing waves are formed in the space between the annular vibrating plate and the reflector plate. Radiation forces are also predicted. It is demonstrated that small particles can be suspended in air at pressure nodes of the standing wave corresponding to a particular bending mode.

The Driving Forces of Cultural Complexity : Neanderthals, Modern Humans, and the Question of Population Size.

Science.gov (United States)

Fogarty, Laurel; Wakano, Joe Yuichiro; Feldman, Marcus W; Aoki, Kenichi

2017-03-01

The forces driving cultural accumulation in human populations, both modern and ancient, are hotly debated. Did genetic, demographic, or cognitive features of behaviorally modern humans (as opposed to, say, early modern humans or Neanderthals) allow culture to accumulate to its current, unprecedented levels of complexity? Theoretical explanations for patterns of accumulation often invoke demographic factors such as population size or density, whereas statistical analyses of variation in cultural complexity often point to the importance of environmental factors such as food stability, in determining cultural complexity. Here we use both an analytical model and an agent-based simulation model to show that a full understanding of the emergence of behavioral modernity, and the cultural evolution that has followed, depends on understanding and untangling the complex relationships among culture, genetically determined cognitive ability, and demographic history. For example, we show that a small but growing population could have a different number of cultural traits from a shrinking population with the same absolute number of individuals in some circumstances.

Free Vibration of Rectangular Plates with Attached Discrete Sprung Masses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ding Zhou

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A direct approach is used to derive the exact solution for the free vibration of thin rectangular plates with discrete sprung masses attached. The plate is simply supported along two opposite edges and elastically supported along the two other edges. The elastic support can represent a range of boundary conditions from free to clamped supports. Considering only the compatibility of the internal forces between the plate and the sprung masses, the equations of the coupled vibration of the plate-spring-mass system are derived. The exact expressions for mode and frequency equations of the coupled vibration of the plate and sprung masses are determined. The solutions converge steadily and monotonically to exact values. The correctness and accuracy of the solutions are demonstrated through comparison with published results. A parametric study is undertaken focusing on the plate with one or two sprung masses. The results can be used as a benchmark for further investigation.

Magneto-elastic dynamics and bifurcation of rotating annular plate*

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Yu-Da; Piao Jiang-Min; Li Wen-Qiang

2017-01-01

In this paper, magneto-elastic dynamic behavior, bifurcation, and chaos of a rotating annular thin plate with various boundary conditions are investigated. Based on the thin plate theory and the Maxwell equations, the magneto-elastic dynamic equations of rotating annular plate are derived by means of Hamilton’s principle. Bessel function as a mode shape function and the Galerkin method are used to achieve the transverse vibration differential equation of the rotating annular plate with different boundary conditions. By numerical analysis, the bifurcation diagrams with magnetic induction, amplitude and frequency of transverse excitation force as the control parameters are respectively plotted under different boundary conditions such as clamped supported sides, simply supported sides, and clamped-one-side combined with simply-anotherside. Poincaré maps, time history charts, power spectrum charts, and phase diagrams are obtained under certain conditions, and the influence of the bifurcation parameters on the bifurcation and chaos of the system is discussed. The results show that the motion of the system is a complicated and repeated process from multi-periodic motion to quasi-period motion to chaotic motion, which is accompanied by intermittent chaos, when the bifurcation parameters change. If the amplitude of transverse excitation force is bigger or magnetic induction intensity is smaller or boundary constraints level is lower, the system can be more prone to chaos. (paper)

Driving Forces of Dynamic Changes in Soil Erosion in the Dahei Mountain Ecological Restoration Area of Northern China Based on GIS and RS.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiao; Niu, Xiang; Wang, Bing; Gao, Peng; Liu, Yu

2016-01-01

Dynamic change in soil erosion is an important focus of regional ecological restoration research. Here, the dynamic changes of soil erosion and its driving forces in the Dahei Mountain ecological restoration area of northern China were analyzed by LANDSAT TM remote sensing captured via geographic information system (GIS) technologies during three typical periods in 2004, 2008 and 2013. The results showed the following: (1) a decrease in intensive erosion and moderate erosion areas, as well as an increase in light erosion areas, was observed during two periods: one from 2004 to 2008 and the other from 2008 to 2013. (2) Between 2004 and 2008, the variation in the range of slight erosion was the largest (24.28%), followed by light erosion and intensive erosion; between 2008 and 2013, the variation in the range of intensive erosion area was the largest (9.89%), followed by slight erosion and moderate erosion. (3) Socioeconomic impact, accompanied by natural environmental factors, was the main driving force underlying the change in soil erosion within the ecological restoration area. In particular, the socioeconomic factors of per capita forest area and land reclamation rate, as well as the natural environmental factor of terrain slope, significantly influenced soil erosion changes within the ecological restoration area.

A locking compression plate versus the gold-standard non-locking plate with lag screw for first metatarsophalangeal fusion: A biomechanical comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Mandell, Daniel; Karbassi, John; Zhou, Hanbing; Burroughs, Brian; Aurigemma, Philip; Patel, Abhay R

2018-03-01

The treatment of end-stage first metatarso-phalangeal joint (MTP) arthritis has been arthrodesis. A dorsal non-locking plate with a lag screw has been the standard traditional fixation method. This study compares the biomechanical strength of a locking compression plate (LCP) with and without internal compression versus this known gold standard. In group 1, six matched pairs of cadaver great toes were used to compare the standard non-locking dorsal plate and 3.5mm lag screw to an anatomic locking compression plate in which a lag screw was utilized rather than the internal compression features of the plate. In group 2, another six matched pairs of cadaver great toes were used to compare the gold standard to the locking compression plate, utilizing the plate's internal compression feature instead of a lag screw. A material testing system (MTS) machine applied loads to the MTP joints and measured displacement and stiffness of the constructs. The stiffness of the constructs (Young's modulus) was calculated from the force-displacement curves, and the displacement was measured. The locking compression plate group that used the compression features of the plate, without the lag screw, had less joint displacement and higher stiffness than control (p<0.05). The same plating construct in which a lag screw was used rather than internal compression of the plate was found to be stiffer than the control (p<0.05), but displacement was not statistically significant. The results suggest that a locking compression plate alone provides the stiffest construct for a first MTP joint fusion. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polar Direct Drive-Ignition at 1 MJ

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skupsky, S.; Craxton, R.S.; Marshall, F.J.; Betti, R.; Collins, T.J.B.; Epstein, R.; Goncharov, V.N.; Igumenshchev, I.V.; Marozas, J.A.; McKenty, P.W.; Radha, P.B.; Kilkenny, J.D.; Meyerhofer, D.D.; Sangster, T.C.; McCrory, R.L.

2006-01-01

Target designs to achieve direct-drive ignition on the NIF using the x-ray-drive beam configuration are examined. This approach, known as polar direct drive (PDD), achieves the required irradiation uniformity by repointing some of the beams toward the target equator, and by increasing the laser intensity at the equator to compensate for the reduced laser coupling from oblique irradiation. Techniques to increase the equatorial intensity can include using phase plates that produce elliptical spot shapes, increasing the power in beams directed toward the equator, and using a ring offset from the equator to redirect rays toward the target normal. The requirements for beam pointing, power balance, single-beam smoothing, and inner-ice-surface roughness are examined. Designs with an incident laser energy of 1.0 MJ are presented. The simulations use the 2-D hydrocode DRACO with 3-D ray trace to model the laser irradiation and Monte Carlo alpha particle transport to model the thermonuclear burn

Effect of Magnetic Field on Entropy Generation Due to Laminar Forced Convection Past a Horizontal Flat Plate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moh'd A. Al-Nimr

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Magnetic field effect on local entropy generation due to steady two-dimensional laminar forced convection flow past a horizontal plate was numerically investigated. This study was focused on the entropy generation characteristics and its dependency on various dimensionless parameters. The effect of various dimensionless parameters, such as Hartmann number (Ha, Eckert number (Ec, Prandtl number (Pr, Joule heating parameter (R and the free stream temperature parameter (θ∞ on the entropy generation characteristics is analyzed. The dimensionless governing equations in Cartesian coordinate were solved by an implicit finite difference technique. The solutions were carried out for Ha2=0.5-3, Ec=0.01-0.05, Pr=1-5 and θ∞=1.1-2.5. It was found that, the entropy generation increased with increasing Ha, Ec and R. While, increasing the free stream temperature parameter, and Prandtl number tend to decrease the local entropy generation.

Proceedings of the international conference on maglev and linear drives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1986-01-01

This book contains papers presented at a conference on Maglev and linear drives. Topics covered include: Development of superconducting magnets for the Canadian electrodynamic Maglev vehicle; Power supply system to drive HSST - Expo '86; and Thrust and levitation force characteristics of linear synchronous motors

Analysis of Vehicle Steering and Driving Bifurcation Characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xianbin Wang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The typical method of vehicle steering bifurcation analysis is based on the nonlinear autonomous vehicle model deriving from the classic two degrees of freedom (2DOF linear vehicle model. This method usually neglects the driving effect on steering bifurcation characteristics. However, in the steering and driving combined conditions, the tyre under different driving conditions can provide different lateral force. The steering bifurcation mechanism without the driving effect is not able to fully reveal the vehicle steering and driving bifurcation characteristics. Aiming at the aforementioned problem, this paper analyzed the vehicle steering and driving bifurcation characteristics with the consideration of driving effect. Based on the 5DOF vehicle system dynamics model with the consideration of driving effect, the 7DOF autonomous system model was established. The vehicle steering and driving bifurcation dynamic characteristics were analyzed with different driving mode and driving torque. Taking the front-wheel-drive system as an example, the dynamic evolution process of steering and driving bifurcation was analyzed by phase space, system state variables, power spectral density, and Lyapunov index. The numerical recognition results of chaos were also provided. The research results show that the driving mode and driving torque have the obvious effect on steering and driving bifurcation characteristics.

Full drive-by-wire dynamic control for four-wheel-steer all-wheel-drive vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Fahimi, Farbod

2013-03-01

Most of the controllers introduced for four-wheel-steer (4WS) vehicles are derived with the assumption that the longitudinal speed of the vehicle is constant. However, in real applications, the longitudinal speed varies, and the longitudinal, lateral, and yaw dynamics are coupled. In this paper, the longitudinal dynamics of the vehicle as well as its lateral and yaw motions are controlled simultaneously. This way, the effect of driving/braking forces of the tires on the lateral and yaw motions of the vehicle are automatically included in the control laws. To address the dynamic parameter uncertainty of the vehicle, a chatter-free variable structure controller is introduced. Elimination of chatter is achieved by introducing a dynamically adaptive boundary layer thickness. It is shown via simulations that the proposed control approach performs more robustly than the controllers developed based on dynamic models, in which longitudinal speed is assumed to be constant, and only lateral speed and yaw rate are used as system states. Furthermore, this approach supports all-wheel-drive vehicles. Front-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive vehicles are also supported as special cases of an all-wheel-drive vehicle.

Study on the effect of driving cycles on energy efficiency of electric vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ji Fenzhu; Xu Licong [School of Transportation Science and Engineering of Beihang Univ., BJ (China); Wu Zhixin [Tianjin Qing Yuan Electric Vehicle Corp. Ltd., TJ (China)

2009-07-01

The energy usage efficiency of electric vehicles (EVS) and evaluation index of electromotor efficiency were studied. The idea of ''interval usage percentage of energy efficiency'' and ''exertion degree of energy efficiency'' of electromotor was brought forward. The effect of driving cycles on the distribution of running status of electromotor and its efficiency was investigated. The electromotor efficiency and the variety trend of average driving force at different driving cycles were discussed. Based on several typical domestic and foreign driving cycles, the exertion degree of energy efficiency and the whole efficiency of power train on some types of EVS were analyzed and calculated. The result indicates that there is a difference of 9.64% in exertion degree of energy efficiency of electromotor at different driving cycles. The efficiency distribution of electromotor and control system is different, and the average driving force is different, too. That cause the great variety in driving range. The idiographic reference data are provided to the establishment of driving cycles' criterion of EVS in our country. (orig.)

Optimization of spent fuel pool weir gate driving mechanism

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chao; Du, Lin; Tao, Xinlei; Wang, Shijie; Shang, Ertao; Yu, Jianjiang

2018-04-01

Spent fuel pool is crucial facility for fuel storage and nuclear safety, and the spent fuel pool weir gate is the key related equipment. In order to achieve a goal of more efficient driving force transfer, loading during the opening/closing process is analyzed and an optimized calculation method for dimensions of driving mechanism is proposed. The result of optimizing example shows that the method can be applied to weir gates' design with similar driving mechanism.

Current drive in a ponderomotive potential with sign reversal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisch, N.J.; Dodin, I.Y.; Rax, J.M.

2003-01-01

Noninductive current drive can be accomplished through ponderomotive forces with high efficiency when the potential changes sign over the interaction region. The effect, which operates somewhat like a Maxwell demon, can be practiced upon both ions and electrons. The current-drive efficiencies, in principle, might be higher than those possible with conventional rf current-drive techniques. It remains, however, for us to identify how the effect might be implemented in a magnetic fusion device in a practical manner

Comparison of the Resistance to Bending Forces of the 4.5 LCP Plate-rod Construct and of 4.5 LCP Alone Applied to Segmental Femoral Defects in Miniature Pigs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucie Urbanová

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The study deals with the determination of mechanical properties, namely resistance to bending forces, of flexible buttress osteosynthesis using two different bone-implant constructs stabilizing experimental segmental femoral bone defects (segmental ostectomy in a miniature pig ex vivo model using 4.5 mm titanium LCP and a 3 mm intramedullary pin (“plate and rod” construct (PR-LCP, versus the 4.5 mm titanium LCP alone (A-LCP. The “plate and rod” fixation (PR-LCP of the segmental femoral defect is significantly more resistant (p in vivo experiments in the miniature pig to investigate bone defect healing after transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells in combination with biocompatible scaffolds.

Nonlinear nonresonant forces by radio-frequency waves in plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Zhe; Fisch, Nathaniel J.; Qin, Hong; Myra, J. R.

2007-01-01

Nonresonant forces by applied rf waves in plasmas are analyzed. Along the background dc magnetic field, the force arises from the gradient of the ponderomotive potential. Only when the dc magnetic field is straight, however, is this parallel force completely consistent with that from the single particle picture, where the ponderomotive force depends on the gradients of rf fields only. Across the dc magnetic field, besides the ponderomotive force from the particle picture, additional Reynolds stress and polarization stress contribute to the total force. For waves with frequency much lower than the cyclotron frequency, the perpendicular forces from the particle and fluid pictures can have opposite signs. In plasmas with a symmetry angle (e.g., toroidal systems), nonresonant forces cannot drive net flow or current in the flux surface, but the radial force may influence macroscopic behavior of plasma. Moreover, nonresonant forces may drive flow or current in linear plasmas or in a localized region of toroidal plasmas

THE ANALISYS OF RAILWAY MULTI MOTORS ELECTRICAL DRIVE DYNAMIC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. I. Khilmon

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The importance of multi motors electrical traction drive dynamic analysis is denoted by its large application in electrical driving railway vehicles. In this paper an analysis is presented for two inducton motors traction drive with frequency inverter, vector control, and speed sensors of each electrical drive. The goal of this work is the analysis of two induction motors electrical drive, taking into account parametric perturbations and also a limited moment of wheel-rail adhesion, by laboratory study and simulation. Because of difference between motor’s parameters, it is necessary for parallel work to select motors with identical resistances and inductive winding. For this purpose the parametric identification method was used for each electrical drive, and also for two parallel motors. The result of identification was used in control setting.The  slippage  of  the  traction  drives  is  difficult  to  reproduce  in  laboratory;  therefore a mathematical modeling and simulation of mechanical part with a traction force restriction, specific for railway transport, were carried out. The suggested simulation is built with account of elastic deformations in kinetic chain, transforming traction force. The model permits to study a dynamic system in various circumstances.The results of laboratory investigations and simulation of dynamic regimes for two motor electrical drives are presented in this article. The results of analysis show, that a minimal difference between any parameters of two motors, parallel connected to convertor, is important for the slippage stability.

Theory and design of heat exchanger : air cooled plate, spiral heat exchanger

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Min, Ui Dong

1960-02-01

This book deals with air cooled heat exchanger, which introduces heat rejection system, wet surface cooler in new from, explanation of structure and design, materials, basic design like plenums chambers and fan ring, finned tube fouling factor, airflow in forced draft and fan design. It also tells of plate heat exchanger and spiral heat exchanger giving descriptions of summary, selection, basic design, device and safety function, maintenance, structure of plate heat exchanger, frames and connector plate and, basic things of spiral tube heat exchanger.

Polar-direct-drive experiments on the National Ignition Facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hohenberger, M.; Radha, P. B.; Myatt, J. F.; Marozas, J. A.; Marshall, F. J.; Michel, D. T.; Regan, S. P.; Seka, W.; Shvydky, A.; Sangster, T. C.; Betti, R.; Boehly, T. R.; Bonino, M. J.; Collins, T. J. B.; Craxton, R. S.; Delettrez, J. A.; Edgell, D. H.; Epstein, R.; Fiksel, G.; Froula, D. H. [Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623-1299 (United States); and others

2015-05-15

To support direct-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [G. H. Miller, E. I. Moses, and C. R. Wuest, Opt. Eng. 43, 2841 (2004)] in its indirect-drive beam configuration, the polar-direct-drive (PDD) concept [S. Skupsky et al., Phys. Plasmas 11, 2763 (2004)] has been proposed. Ignition in PDD geometry requires direct-drive–specific beam smoothing, phase plates, and repointing the NIF beams toward the equator to ensure symmetric target irradiation. First experiments to study the energetics and preheat in PDD implosions at the NIF have been performed. These experiments utilize the NIF in its current configuration, including beam geometry, phase plates, and beam smoothing. Room-temperature, 2.2-mm-diam plastic shells filled with D{sub 2} gas were imploded with total drive energies ranging from ∼500 to 750 kJ with peak powers of 120 to 180 TW and peak on-target irradiances at the initial target radius from 8 × 10{sup 14} to 1.2 × 10{sup 15 }W/cm{sup 2}. Results from these initial experiments are presented, including measurements of shell trajectory, implosion symmetry, and the level of hot-electron preheat in plastic and Si ablators. Experiments are simulated with the 2-D hydrodynamics code DRACO including a full 3-D ray-trace to model oblique beams, and models for nonlocal electron transport and cross-beam energy transport (CBET). These simulations indicate that CBET affects the shell symmetry and leads to a loss of energy imparted onto the shell, consistent with the experimental data.

Thermodynamic Description of Synergy in Solvent Extraction: II Thermodynamic Balance of Driving Forces Implied in Synergistic Extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Rey, J; Bley, M; Dufrêche, J-F; Gourdin, S; Pellet-Rostaing, S; Zemb, T; Dourdain, S

2017-11-21

In the second part of this study, we analyze the free energy of transfer in the case of synergistic solvent extraction. This free energy of the transfer of an ion in dynamic equilibrium between two coexisting phases is decomposed into four driving forces combining long-range interactions with the classical complexation free energy associated with the nearest neighbors. We demonstrate how the organometallic complexation is counterbalanced by the cost in free energy related to structural change on the colloidal scale in the solvent phase. These molecular forces of synergistic extraction are driven not only by the entropic term associated with the tight packing of electrolytes in the solvent and by the free energy cost of coextracting water toward the hydrophilic core of the reverse aggregates present but also by the entropic costs in the formation of the reverse aggregate and by the interfacial bending energy of the extractant molecules packed around the extracted species. Considering the sum of the terms, we can rationalize the synergy observed, which cannot be explained by classical extraction modeling. We show an industrial synergistic mixture combining an amide and a phosphate complexing site, where the most efficient/selective mixture is observed for a minimal bending energy and maximal complexation energy.

Driving forces: Motor vehicle trends and their implications for global warming, energy strategies, and transportation planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacKenzie, J.J.; Walsh, M.P.

1990-01-01

Cars, trucks, and other vehicles have long been linked to smog and other urban pollution, but the part they play in the larger complex of atmospheric and energy ills that we now face is often overlooked. In Driving Forces: Motor Vehicle Trends and Their Implications for Global Warming, Energy Strategies, and Transportation Planning, James J. MacKenzie, senior associate in World Resources Institute's Program in Climate, Energy, and Pollution, and Michael P. Walsh, an international consultant on transportation and environmental issues, fill in this knowledge gap with new data and analyses. They spell out four policy shifts that can help hold the line on global warming: improve new-vehicle efficiency; make transportation more efficient; cut other greenhouse gas emissions; create the green car of the future. The report focuses especially on the US, which pioneered the automotive revolution and leads the world in oil imports and emissions

Motion of the Rivera plate since 10 Ma relative to the Pacific and North American plates and the mantle

Science.gov (United States)

DeMets, Charles; Traylen, Stephen

2000-03-01

.6 to 1.0 Ma along the entire plate boundary, followed by a resumption of trench-normal subduction along the southern half of the Rivera-North America plate boundary after 1.0 Ma. Motion of the Rivera plate relative to the underlying mantle since 10 Ma has oscillated between periods of landward motion and seaward motion. The evidence suggests that the torque exerted by slab pull on this young and hot oceanic plate is either minimal or is effectively counterbalanced by forces that resist its motion.

Unsteady force estimation using a Lagrangian drift-volume approach

Science.gov (United States)

McPhaden, Cameron J.; Rival, David E.

2018-04-01

A novel Lagrangian force estimation technique for unsteady fluid flows has been developed, using the concept of a Darwinian drift volume to measure unsteady forces on accelerating bodies. The construct of added mass in viscous flows, calculated from a series of drift volumes, is used to calculate the reaction force on an accelerating circular flat plate, containing highly-separated, vortical flow. The net displacement of fluid contained within the drift volumes is, through Darwin's drift-volume added-mass proposition, equal to the added mass of the plate and provides the reaction force of the fluid on the body. The resultant unsteady force estimates from the proposed technique are shown to align with the measured drag force associated with a rapid acceleration. The critical aspects of understanding unsteady flows, relating to peak and time-resolved forces, often lie within the acceleration phase of the motions, which are well-captured by the drift-volume approach. Therefore, this Lagrangian added-mass estimation technique opens the door to fluid-dynamic analyses in areas that, until now, were inaccessible by conventional means.

Ratchet baryogenesis and an analogy with the forced pendulum

Science.gov (United States)

Bamba, Kazuharu; Barrie, Neil D.; Sugamoto, Akio; Takeuchi, Tatsu; Yamashita, Kimiko

2018-06-01

A new scenario of baryogenesis via the ratchet mechanism is proposed based on an analogy with the forced pendulum. The oscillation of the inflaton field during the reheating epoch after inflation plays the role of the driving force, while the phase 𝜃 of a scalar baryon field (a complex scalar field with baryon number) plays the role of the angle of the pendulum. When the inflaton is coupled to the scalar baryon, the behavior of the phase 𝜃 can be analogous to that of the angle of the forced pendulum. If the oscillation of the driving force is adjusted to the pendulum’s motion, a directed rotation of the pendulum is obtained with a nonvanishing value of 𝜃˙, which models successful baryogenesis since 𝜃˙ is proportional to the baryon number density. Similar ratchet models which lead to directed motion have been used in the study of molecular motors in biology. There, the driving force is supplied by chemical reactions, while in our scenario this role is played by the inflaton during the reheating epoch.

Advising patients on visual fitness to drive: implications of revised DVLA regulations

OpenAIRE

Latham, Keziah; Katsou, Maria Foteini; Rae, Sheila

2014-01-01

Aim: To examine the relationship between the two UK vision standards for driving: the ability to read a number-plate at 20 m and achieving 6/12 (+0.30 logMAR). \\ud \\ud \\ud Methods: 120 participants were assessed without refractive correction in this cross-sectional study. Vision was assessed with a Snellen chart, Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) style logMAR letter chart and logMAR chart using Landolt rings. Ability to read a post-2001 number-plate was assessed outdoors. ...

Biomechanical comparison of double-row locking plates versus single- and double-row non-locking plates in a comminuted metacarpal fracture model.

Science.gov (United States)

Gajendran, Varun K; Szabo, Robert M; Myo, George K; Curtiss, Shane B

2009-12-01

Open or unstable metacarpal fractures frequently require open reduction and internal fixation. Locking plate technology has improved fixation of unstable fractures in certain settings. In this study, we hypothesized that there would be a difference in strength of fixation using double-row locking plates compared with single- and double-row non-locking plates in comminuted metacarpal fractures. We tested our hypothesis in a gap metacarpal fracture model simulating comminution using fourth-generation, biomechanical testing-grade composite sawbones. The metacarpals were divided into 6 groups of 15 bones each. Groups 1 and 4 were plated with a standard 6-hole, 2.3-mm plate in AO fashion. Groups 2 and 5 were plated with a 6-hole double-row 3-dimensional non-locking plate with bicortical screws aimed for convergence. Groups 3 and 6 were plated with a 6-hole double-row 3-dimensional locking plate with unicortical screws. The plated metacarpals were then tested to failure against cantilever apex dorsal bending (groups 1-3) and torsion (groups 4-6). The loads to failure in groups 1 to 3 were 198 +/- 18, 223 +/- 29, and 203 +/- 19 N, respectively. The torques to failure in groups 4 to 6 were 2,033 +/- 155, 3,190 +/- 235, and 3,161 +/- 268 N mm, respectively. Group 2 had the highest load to failure, whereas groups 5 and 6 shared the highest torques to failure (p row plates had equivalent bending and torsional stiffness, significantly higher than observed for the single-row non-locking plate. No other statistical differences were noted between groups. When subjected to the physiologically relevant forces of apex dorsal bending and torsion in a comminuted metacarpal fracture model, double-row 3-dimensional non-locking plates provided superior stability in bending and equivalent stability in torsion compared with double-row 3-dimensional locking plates, whereas single-row non-locking plates provided the least stability.

Newly designed anterolateral and posterolateral locking anatomic plates for lateral tibial plateau fractures: a finite element study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Pengbo; Lu, Hua; Shen, Hao; Wang, Wei; Ni, Binbin; Chen, Jishizhan

2017-02-23

Lateral column tibial plateau fracture fixation with a locking screw plate has higher mechanical stability than other fixation methods. The objectives of the present study were to introduce two newly designed locking anatomic plates for lateral tibial plateau fracture and to demonstrate their characteristics of the fixation complexes under the axial loads. Three different 3D finite element models of the lateral tibial plateau fracture with the bone plates were created. Various axial forces (100, 500, 1000, and 1500 N) were applied to simulate the axial compressive load on an adult knee during daily life. The equivalent maps of displacement and stress were output, and relative displacement was calculated along the fracture lines. The displacement and stresses in the fixation complexes increased with the axial force. The equivalent displacement or stress map of each fixation under different axial forces showed similar distributing characteristics. The motion characteristics of the three models differed, and the max-shear stress of trabecula increased with the axial load. These two novel plates could fix lateral tibial plateau fractures involving anterolateral and posterolateral fragments. Motions after open reduction and stable internal fixation should be advised to decrease the risk of trabecular microfracture. The relative displacement of the posterolateral fragments is different when using anterolateral plate and posterolateral plate, which should be considered in choosing the implants for different posterolateral plateau fractures.

Modeling particulate removal in plate-plate and wire-plate electrostatic precipitators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S Ramechecandane

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The present study is concerned with the modeling of electrically charged particles in a model plate-plate and a single wire-plate electrostatic precipitator (ESP. The particle concentration distributions for both a plate-plate and a wire-plate ESP are calculated using a modified drift flux model. Numerical investigations are performed using the modified drift flux model for particle number concentration, in addition to the RNG k - ε model for the mean turbulent flow field and the Poisson equation for the electric field. The proposed model and the outlined methodology for coupling the flow field, electric field, charging kinetics and particle concentration is applied to two model precipitators that are truly representative of a wide class of commercialized ESPs. The present investigation is quite different from the earlier studies as it does not make assumptions like a homogeneous electric field or an infinite turbulent diffusivity. The electric field calculated is a strong function of position and controls the migration velocity of particles. Hence, the proposed model can be implemented in a flow solver to obtain a full-fledged solution for any kind of ESP with no limitations on the particle number concentration, as encountered in a Lagrangian approach. The effect of turbulent diffusivity on particle number concentration in a plate-plate ESP is investigated in detail and the results obtained are compared with available experimental data. Similarly, the effect of particle size/diameter and applied electric potential on the accumulative collection performance in the case of a wire-plate ESP is studied and the results obtained are compared with available numerical data. The numerical results obtained using the modified drift flux model for both the plate-plate and wire-plate ESP are in close agreement with available experimental and numerical data.

Australian plate motion and topography linked to fossil New Guinea slab below Lake Eyre

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schellart, W. P.; Spakman, W.

2015-01-01

Unravelling causes for absolute plate velocity change and continental dynamic topography change is challenging because of the interdependence of large-scale geodynamic driving processes. Here, we unravel a clear spatio-temporal relation between latest Cretaceous-Early Cenozoic subduction at the

Vibration analysis of partially cracked plate submerged in fluid

Science.gov (United States)

Soni, Shashank; Jain, N. K.; Joshi, P. V.

2018-01-01

The present work proposes an analytical model for vibration analysis of partially cracked rectangular plates coupled with fluid medium. The governing equation of motion for the isotropic plate based on the classical plate theory is modified to accommodate a part through continuous line crack according to simplified line spring model. The influence of surrounding fluid medium is incorporated in the governing equation in the form of inertia effects based on velocity potential function and Bernoulli's equations. Both partially and totally submerged plate configurations are considered. The governing equation also considers the in-plane stretching due to lateral deflection in the form of in-plane forces which introduces geometric non-linearity into the system. The fundamental frequencies are evaluated by expressing the lateral deflection in terms of modal functions. The assessment of the present results is carried out for intact submerged plate as to the best of the author's knowledge the literature lacks in analytical results for submerged cracked plates. New results for fundamental frequencies are presented as affected by crack length, fluid level, fluid density and immersed depth of plate. By employing the method of multiple scales, the frequency response and peak amplitude of the cracked structure is analyzed. The non-linear frequency response curves show the phenomenon of bending hardening or softening and the effect of fluid dynamic pressure on the response of the cracked plate.

Casimir force in the Goedel space-time and its possible induced cosmological inhomogeneity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khodabakhshi, Sh. [University of Tehran, Department of Physics, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Shojai, A. [University of Tehran, Department of Physics, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), Foundations of Physics Group, School of Physics, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2017-07-15

The Casimir force between two parallel plates in the Goedel universe is computed for a scalar field at finite temperature. It is observed that when the plates' separation is comparable with the scale given by the rotation of the space-time, the force becomes repulsive and then approaches zero. Since it has been shown previously that the universe may experience a Goedel phase for a small period of time, the induced inhomogeneities from the Casimir force are also studied. (orig.)

Amnioserosa cell constriction but not epidermal actin cable tension autonomously drives dorsal closure.

Science.gov (United States)

Pasakarnis, Laurynas; Frei, Erich; Caussinus, Emmanuel; Affolter, Markus; Brunner, Damian

2016-11-01

Tissue morphogenesis requires coordination of multiple force-producing components. During dorsal closure in fly embryogenesis, an epidermis opening closes. A tensioned epidermal actin/MyosinII cable, which surrounds the opening, produces a force that is thought to combine with another MyosinII force mediating apical constriction of the amnioserosa cells that fill the opening. A model proposing that each force could autonomously drive dorsal closure was recently challenged by a model in which the two forces combine in a ratchet mechanism. Acute force elimination via selective MyosinII depletion in one or the other tissue shows that the amnioserosa tissue autonomously drives dorsal closure while the actin/MyosinII cable cannot. These findings exclude both previous models, although a contribution of the ratchet mechanism at dorsal closure onset remains likely. This shifts the current view of dorsal closure being a combinatorial force-component system to a single tissue-driven closure event.

Improving greater trochanteric reattachment with a novel cable plate system.

Science.gov (United States)

Baril, Yannick; Bourgeois, Yan; Brailovski, Vladimir; Duke, Kajsa; Laflamme, G Yves; Petit, Yvan

2013-03-01

Cable-grip systems are commonly used for greater trochanteric reattachment because they have provided the best fixation performance to date, even though they have a rather high complication rate. A novel reattachment system is proposed with the aim of improving fixation stability. It consists of a Y-shaped fixation plate combined with locking screws and superelastic cables to reduce cable loosening and limit greater trochanter movement. The novel system is compared with a commercially available reattachment system in terms of greater trochanter movement and cable tensions under different greater trochanteric abductor application angles. A factorial design of experiments was used including four independent variables: plate system, cable type, abductor application angle, and femur model. The test procedure included 50 cycles of simultaneous application of an abductor force on the greater trochanter and a hip force on the femoral head. The novel plate reduces the movements of a greater trochanter fragment within a single loading cycle up to 26%. Permanent degradation of the fixation (accumulated movement based on 50-cycle testing) is reduced up to 46%. The use of superelastic cables reduces tension loosening up to 24%. However this last improvement did not result in a significant reduction of the grater trochanter movement. The novel plate and cables present advantages over the commercially available greater trochanter reattachment system. The plate reduces movements generated by the hip abductor. The superelastic cables reduce cable loosening during cycling. Both of these positive effects could decrease the risks related to grater trochanter non-union. Copyright © 2012 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Divertor plate for thermonuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamazaki, Seiichiro; Sato, Keisuke; Nishio, Satoshi.

1993-01-01

In a divertor plate for a thermonuclear reactor, adjacent cooling pipes are electrically insulated from each other and pipes made of a gradient functional material prepared by compositing ceramics having an insulation property and metals are metallurgically joined to at least one portion of each of the cooling pipes. Electric current caused upon occurrence of plasma disruption is interrupted by the insulation portion, so that a large circuit is not formed and electromagnetic force is decreased to such a extent that the divertor plate is not ruptured. Since a header of the cooling pipes can be installed at any optional position, the installation space can be reduced. Further, since inlet and exit collection headers can be disposed on both ends of the cooling pipes, it is possible to shorten the length of the cooling pipe of the divertor plate corresponded to high heat fluxes and reduce the pressure loss on the side of coolants to about 1/2. Further, turn back portions of small radius of curvature of the cooling pipes are eliminated to reduce the cost and extend the lifetime and, in addition, protection tiles can be attached easily. (N.H.)

Exertion of forces by children performing a free-style jump

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moes, C.C.M.; Visser, R.J.

1998-01-01

This research project focuses on the force characteristics and force/time relationships of loads exerted by jumping children. The current study is an experimental research into children jumping on both hard and soft substrates. The hard substrate is obtained by using a force plate. For the soft

Dilemma in pediatric mandible fractures: resorbable or metallic plates?

Science.gov (United States)

Taylan Filinte, Gaye; Akan, İsmail Mithat; Ayçiçek Çardak, Gülçin Nujen; Özkaya Mutlu, Özay; Aköz, Tayfun

2015-12-01

The aim of this study was to compare the efficiency of resorbable and metallic plates in open reduction and internal fixation of mandible fractures in children. Thirty-one patients (mean age, 8.05 years; range 20 months-14 years) were operated on various fractures of the mandible (26 [60.4%] symphysis- parasymphysis, 12 [27.9%] condylar-subcondylar fractures, 5 [11.6%] angulus and ramus fractures). Twelve patients were treated with resorbable plates and 19 patients with metallic plates. Mean follow-up time was 41 months (11-74 months) in the metallic hardware group and was 22 months (8-35 months) in the resorbable plate group. Both groups were investigated for primary bone healing, complications, number of operations, and mandibular growth. The results were discussed below. Both groups demonstrated primary bone healing. Minor complications were similar in both groups. The metallic group involved secondary operations for plate removal. Mandibular growth was satisfactory in both groups. Resorbable plates cost more than the metallic ones; however, when the secondary operations are included in the total cost, resorbable plates were favourable. As mandibular growth and complication parameters are similar in both groups, resorbable plates are favored due to avoidance of potential odontogenic injury, elimination of long-term foreign body retention and provision of adequate stability for rapid bone healing. However, learning curve and concerns for decreased stability against heavy forces of mastication accompanied with the resorbable plates when compared to the metallic ones should be kept in mind.

Design of reinforced concrete plates and shells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schulz, M.

1984-01-01

Nowadays, the internal forces of reinforced concrete laminar structures can be easily evaluated by the finite element procedures. The longitudinal design in each direction is not adequate, since the whole set of internal forces in each point must be concomitantly considered. The classic formulation for the design and new design charts which bring reduction of the amount of necessary reinforcement are presented. A rational reinforced concrete mathematical theory which makes possible the limit state design of plates and shells is discussed. This model can also be applied to define the constitutive relationships of laminar finite elements of reinforced concrete. (Author) [pt

Balance assessment during squatting exercise: A comparison between laboratory grade force plate and a commercial, low-cost device.

Science.gov (United States)

Mengarelli, Alessandro; Verdini, Federica; Cardarelli, Stefano; Di Nardo, Francesco; Burattini, Laura; Fioretti, Sandro

2018-04-11

Testing balance through squatting exercise is a central part of many rehabilitation programs and sports and plays also an important role in clinical evaluation of residual motor ability. The assessment of center of pressure (CoP) displacement and its parametrization is commonly used to describe and analyze squat movement and the laboratory-grade force plates (FP) are the gold standard for measuring balance performances from a dynamic view-point. However, the Nintendo Wii Balance Board (NWBB) has been recently proposed as an inexpensive and easily available device for measuring ground reaction force and CoP displacement in standing balance tasks. Thus, this study aimed to compare the NWBB-CoP data with those obtained from a laboratory FP during a dynamic motor task, such as the squat task. CoP data of forty-eight subjects were acquired simultaneously from a NWBB and a FP and the analyses were performed over the descending squatting phase. Outcomes showed a very high correlation (r) and limited root-mean-square differences between CoP trajectories in anterior-posterior (r > 0.99, 1.63 ± 1.27 mm) and medial-lateral (r > 0.98, 1.01 ± 0.75 mm) direction. Spatial parameters computed from CoP displacement and ground reaction force peak presented fixed biases between NWBB and FP. Errors showed a high consistency (standard deviation < 2.4% of the FP outcomes) and a random spread distribution around the mean difference. Mean velocity is the only parameter which exhibited a tendency towards proportional values. Findings of this study suggested the NWBB as a valid device for the assessment and parametrization of CoP displacement during squatting movement. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Damage initiation and growth in laminated polymer compsosite plates with fluid-structure interaction under impact loading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y Kwon

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Damage initiation and growth as well as dynamic response of laminated polymer composite plates were investigated with the effect of Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI when they were subjected to impact loading. The E-glass composite plates were clamped along the boundaries and impact loading was applied from a specially designed vertical drop-impact testing machine while the plates were surrounded by either water or air. The damage and transient responses such as force- and strain-time history were measured during the progressive impact tests, and the test data collected from either impact in air or under water were compared to determine the effect of FSI. The study showed that FSI was generally detrimental to composite plates because of the hydrodynamic mass effect so that damage occurred at a lower impact force for the composite plate submerged in water. The strain measure also suggested that the FSI effect varied from location to location of the plate surface. Additionally, the FSI effect yielded a significant change in the strain response in terms of both magnitude and shape in time history for the plate in water along with progressive damage. In summary, it is essential to include the FSI effect for design and analysis of composite structures when they are in contact with water.

Tendency to occupy a statistically dominant spatial state of the flow as a driving force for turbulent transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Chekmarev, Sergei F

2013-03-01

The transition from laminar to turbulent fluid motion occurring at large Reynolds numbers is generally associated with the instability of the laminar flow. On the other hand, since the turbulent flow characteristically appears in the form of spatially localized structures (e.g., eddies) filling the flow field, a tendency to occupy such a structured state of the flow cannot be ruled out as a driving force for turbulent transition. To examine this possibility, we propose a simple analytical model that treats the flow as a collection of localized spatial structures, each of which consists of elementary cells in which the behavior of the particles (atoms or molecules) is uncorrelated. This allows us to introduce the Reynolds number, associating it with the ratio between the total phase volume for the system and that for the elementary cell. Using the principle of maximum entropy to calculate the most probable size distribution of the localized structures, we show that as the Reynolds number increases, the elementary cells group into the localized structures, which successfully explains turbulent transition and some other general properties of turbulent flows. An important feature of the present model is that a bridge between the spatial-statistical description of the flow and hydrodynamic equations is established. We show that the basic assumptions underlying the model, i.e., that the particles are indistinguishable and elementary volumes of phase space exist in which the state of the particles is uncertain, are involved in the derivation of the Navier-Stokes equation. Taking into account that the model captures essential features of turbulent flows, this suggests that the driving force for the turbulent transition is basically the same as in the present model, i.e., the tendency of the system to occupy a statistically dominant state plays a key role. The instability of the flow at high Reynolds numbers can then be a mechanism to initiate structural rearrangement of

Forelimb and hindlimb ground reaction forces of walking cats: assessment and comparison with walking dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Corbee, R J; Maas, H; Doornenbal, A; Hazewinkel, H A W

2014-10-01

The primary aim of this study was to assess the potential of force plate analysis for describing the stride cycle of the cat. The secondary aim was to define differences in feline and canine locomotion based on force plate characteristics. Ground reaction forces of 24 healthy cats were measured and compared with ground reaction forces of 24 healthy dogs. Force-time waveforms in cats generated by force plate analysis were consistent, as reflected by intra-class correlation coefficients for peak vertical force, peak propulsive force and peak braking force (0.94-0.95, 0.85-0.89 and 0.89-0.90, respectively). Compared with dogs, cats had a higher peak vertical force during the propulsion phase (cat, 3.89 ± 0.19 N/kg; dog, 3.03 ± 0.16 N/kg), and a higher hindlimb propulsive force (cat, -1.08 ± 0.13 N/kg; dog, (-0.87 ± 0.13 N/kg) and hindlimb impulse (cat, -0.18 ± 0.03 N/kg; dog, -0.14 ± 0.02 N/kg). Force plate analysis is a valuable tool for the assessment of locomotion in cats, because it can be applied in the clinical setting and provides a non-invasive and objective measurement of locomotion characteristics with high repeatability in cats, as well as information about kinetic characteristics. Differences in force-time waveforms between cats and dogs can be explained by the more crouched position of cats during stance and their more compliant gait compared with dogs. Feline waveforms of the medio-lateral ground reaction forces also differ between cats and dogs and this can be explained by differences in paw supination-pronation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance Analysis of a Self-Propelling Flat Plate Fin with Joint Compliance

Science.gov (United States)

Reddy, N. Srinivasa; Sen, Soumen; Pal, Sumit; Shome, Sankar Nath

2017-12-01

Fish fin muscles are compliant and they regulate the stiffness to suit different swimming conditions. This article attempts to understand the significance of presence of compliance in fin muscle with help of a flexible joint flat plate fin model. Blade element method is employed to model hydrodynamics and to compute the forces of interaction during motion of the plate within fluid. The dynamic model of self-propelling fin is developed through multi-body dynamics approach considering the hydrodynamic forces as external forces acting on the fin. The derived hydrodynamic model is validated with experiments on rigid flat plate fin. The effect of the joint stiffness and flapping frequency on the propulsion speed and efficiency is investigated through simulations using the derived and validated model. The propulsion efficiency is found to be highly influenced by the joint stiffness at a given flapping frequency. The fin attained maximum propulsion efficiency when the joint stiffness is tuned to a value at which flapping frequency matches near natural frequency of the fin. At this tuned joint stiffness and flapping frequency, the resulted Strouhal numbers are observed to fall within the optimum range (0.2 to 0.4) for maximized propulsion efficiency of flying birds and swimming aquatic animals reported in literature.

Electromagnetic design calculation of the control rod drive mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Qirong; Zhu Jingchang

1991-01-01

Electromagnetic design calculation of the step-by-step magnetic jacking control rod drive mechanism includes magnetic field force calculation and design calculation of magnetomotive force for three electromagnetic iron and their coilds. The basic principle and method of electromagnetic design calculation had been expounded to take the lift magnet and lift coil for example

Numerical and experimental study of bistable plates for morphing structures

Science.gov (United States)

Nicassio, F.; Scarselli, G.; Avanzini, G.; Del Core, G.

2017-04-01

This study is concerned with the activation energy threshold of bistable composite plates in order to tailor a bistable system for specific aeronautical applications. The aim is to explore potential configurations of the bistable plates and their dynamic behavior for designing novel morphing structure suitable for aerodynamic surfaces and, as a possible further application, for power harvesters. Bistable laminates have two stable mechanical shapes that can withstand aerodynamic loads without additional constraint forces or locking mechanisms. This kind of structures, when properly loaded, snap-through from one stable configuration to another, causing large strains that can also be used for power harvesting scopes. The transition between the stable states of the composite laminate can be triggered, in principle, simply by aerodynamic loads (pilot, disturbance or passive inputs) without the need of servo-activated control systems. Both numerical simulations based on Finite Element models and experimental testing based on different activating forcing spectra are used to validate this concept. The results show that dynamic activation of bistable plates depend on different parameters that need to be carefully managed for their use as aircraft passive wing flaps.

Buckling of Flat Thin Plates under Combined Loading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion DIMA

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This article aims to provide a quick methodology to determine the critical values of the forces applied to the central plane of a flat isotropic plate at which a change to the stable configuration of equilibrium occurs. Considering the variety of shapes, boundary conditions and loading combinations, the article does not intend to make an exhaustive presentation of the plate buckling. As an alternative, there will be presented only the most used configurations such as: rectangular flat thin plates, boundary conditions with simply supported (hinged or clamped (fixed edges, combined loadings with single compression or single shear or combination between them, compression and shear, with or without transverse loading, encountered at wings and control surfaces shell of fin and rudder or stabilizer and elevator. The reserve factor and the critical stresses will be calculated using comparatively two methods, namely the methodology proposed by the present article and ASSIST 6.6.2.0 – AIRBUS France software, a dedicated software to local calculations, for a simply supported plate under combined loading, compression on the both sides and shear.

Research Problems Associated with Limiting the Applied Force in Vibration Tests and Conducting Base-Drive Modal Vibration Tests

Science.gov (United States)

Scharton, Terry D.

1995-01-01

The intent of this paper is to make a case for developing and conducting vibration tests which are both realistic and practical (a question of tailoring versus standards). Tests are essential for finding things overlooked in the analyses. The best test is often the most realistic test which can be conducted within the cost and budget constraints. Some standards are essential, but the author believes more in the individual's ingenuity to solve a specific problem than in the application of standards which reduce problems (and technology) to their lowest common denominator. Force limited vibration tests and base-drive modal tests are two examples of realistic, but practical testing approaches. Since both of these approaches are relatively new, a number of interesting research problems exist, and these are emphasized herein.

Active mechanics in living oocytes reveal molecular-scale force kinetics

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Wylie; Fodor, Etienne; Almonacid, Maria; Bussonnier, Matthias; Verlhac, Marie-Helene; Gov, Nir; Visco, Paolo; van Wijland, Frederic; Betz, Timo

Unlike traditional materials, living cells actively generate forces at the molecular scale that change their structure and mechanical properties. This nonequilibrium activity is essential for cellular function, and drives processes such as cell division. Single molecule studies have uncovered the detailed force kinetics of isolated motor proteins in-vitro, however their behavior in-vivo has been elusive due to the complex environment inside the cell. Here, we quantify active forces and intracellular mechanics in living oocytes using in-vivo optical trapping and laser interferometry of endogenous vesicles. We integrate an experimental and theoretical framework to connect mesoscopic measurements of nonequilibrium properties to the underlying molecular- scale force kinetics. Our results show that force generation by myosin-V drives the cytoplasmic-skeleton out-of-equilibrium (at frequencies below 300 Hz) and actively softens the environment. In vivo myosin-V activity generates a force of F ~ 0 . 4 pN, with a power-stroke of length Δx ~ 20 nm and duration τ ~ 300 μs, that drives vesicle motion at vv ~ 320 nm/s. This framework is widely applicable to characterize living cells and other soft active materials.

Leveraging intellectual capital through Lewin's Force Field Analysis: The case of software development companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandru Capatina

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This article presents an original conceptual framework for the strategic management of intellectual capital assets in software development companies. The framework is based on Lewin's Force Field Analysis. The framework makes it possible to assess software company managers’ opinions regarding the way driving and restraining forces affect the pillars of intellectual capital. The capacity to adapt to change is vital for companies in knowledge-intensive industries. Accordingly, this study examined a sample of 74 Romanian software development companies. The aim was to help companies benefit from managing the driving and restraining forces acting upon the pillars of intellectual capital (human, structural, and relational. The effects of the driving forces, quantified by PathMaker software's Force Field Tool, were observed to be greater than the restraining forces for each pillar of intellectual capital. This paper contributes by showing the explanatory power of this framework. The framework thus offers a tool that helps managers drive change in their organizations through effective intellectual capital management. Furthermore, this article describes how to encourage the implementation of changes that create value for software development companies.

A mechanism of thrust enhancement on a heaving plate due to flexibility at moderately low Reynolds numbers

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yung-Sheng; Tzeng, Yau-Ting; Chang, Chien-Cheng; Chu, Chin-Chou

2017-11-01

A numerical study is conducted to investigate the force mechanisms for a 3D heaving flexible plate from the perspective of a diagnostic force element analysis (Chang 1992). The problem is relevant to a simplified flapping fish-tail with the front edge held fixed in space. The flow is assumed to be laminar with the Reynolds numbers fixed at Re =200 or 500, and the Strouhal number St ranging from 0.1 to 0.6, and the flexure amplitude of the plate a0 for 0.1 to 0.25 (dimensionless). It is shown that heaving, whilst increasing thrust generation, also reduces the frictional drag, yet the flexibility promotes thrust generation at the expense of accruing more frictional drag. In the literature, the thrust exerted on the tail-mimicking plate is largely credited to the vortices in the wake. However, this study performs a regional force analysis to show that the vorticity in the wake region supplies approximately 20-30% of the total thrust, especially in the cases of strong thrust generation. Comparable contributions come also from the regions direct above and below the heaving plate (mainly including the attached vortices) as well as from the two side regions (mainly including the tip vortices) next to the flapping plate. In addition, the potential motion associated with the unsteady flapping and the contribution from the surface vorticity are non-negligible constituent force components. MOST, TAIWAN under Contacts NO. 105-2221-E-002-097-MY3 and NO. 105-2221-E-002 -105 -MY3.

Finite-Element Modeling of Timber Joints with Punched Metal Plate Fasteners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ellegaard, Peter

2006-01-01

The focus of this paper is to describe the idea and the theory behind a finite-element model developed for analysis of timber trusses with punched metal plate fasteners (nail plates). The finite-element model includes the semirigid and nonlinear behavior of the joints (nonlinear nail and plate...... elements) and contact between timber beams, if any (bilinear contact elements). The timber beams have linear-elastic properties. The section forces needed for design of the joints are given directly by the finite-element model, since special elements are used to model the nail groups and the nail plate...... the behavior of the joints very well at lower load levels. At higher load levels the stiffness is overestimated due to development of cracks in the timber and the linear-elastic timber properties in the finite-element model....

Social Innovation : Driving Forces of Social Innovation in MNC

OpenAIRE

Tam, Hoising; Osadcha, Liudmyla

2017-01-01

Multinational Corporations (MNCs) currently face not only a dynamic business environment and challenging profit target, but also increased expectations from the public to take responsibility for addressing social, economic, and environmental issues. There is a tendency that the leading companies in the global market, especially MNCs, put more effort to the Social Innovation (SI). This study is to investigate what drives the MNCs to be involved in social innovation. In order to find out the re...

Particle deposition on face-up flat plates in parallel airflow under the combined influences of thermophoresis and electrophoresis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Handol; Yook, Sejin; Han, Seogyoung

2012-01-01

The deposition velocity is used to assess the degree of particulate contamination of wafers or photomasks. A numerical model was developed to predict the deposition velocity under the combined influences of thermophoresis and electrophoresis. The deposition velocity onto a face-up flat plate in parallel airflow was simulated by varying the temperature difference between the plate's surface and ambient air or by changing the strength of the electric field established above the plate. Both attraction and repulsion by thermophoresis or electrophoresis were considered. When the plate's surface was colder than ambient air, the surface of the face-up plate could be at risk of contamination by charged particles even with a repulsive applied electric force. When the temperature of the plate's surface was higher than the ambient temperature, the degree of particulate contamination on the surface of the face-up plate could be remarkably reduced in the presence of an electric field. The effect of repulsive thermophoresis, however, is expected to be reduced for very fine particles of high electric mobility or for micrometer-sized particles with large gravitational settling speed when the charged particles are influenced by an attractive electric force.

From Plate Tectonic to Continental Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Molnar, P. H.

2017-12-01

By the early 1970s, the basics of plate tectonics were known. Although much understanding remained to be gained, as a topic of research, plate tectonics no longer defined the forefront of earth science. Not only had it become a foundation on which to build, but also the methods used to reveal it became tools to take in new directions. For me as a seismologist studying earthquakes and active processes, the deformation of continents offered an obvious topic to pursue. Obviously examining the deformation of continents and ignoring the widespread geologic evidence of both ongoing and finite deformation of crust would be stupid. I was blessed with the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with two of the best, Paul Tapponnier and Clark Burchfiel. Continental deformation differed from plate tectonics both because deformation was widespread but more importantly because crust shortens (extends) horizontally and thickens (thins), processes that can be ignored where plate tectonics - the relative motion of rigid plates - occurs. Where a plate boundary passes into a continent, not only must the forces that move plates do work against friction or other dissipative processes, but where high terrain is created, they must also do work against gravity, to create gravitational potential energy in high terrain. Peter Bird and Kenneth Piper and Philip England and Dan McKenzie showed that a two-dimensional thin viscous sheet with vertically averaged properties enabled both sources of resistance to be included without introducing excessive complexity and to be scaled by one dimensionless number, what the latter pair called the Argand number. Increasingly over the past thirty years, emphasis has shifted toward the role played by the mantle lithosphere, because of both its likely strength and its negative buoyancy, which makes it gravitationally unstable. Despite progress since realizing that rigid plates (the essence of plate tectonics) provides a poor description of continental

Phase-locking of driven vortex lattices with transverse ac force and periodic pinning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reichhardt, Charles; Kolton, Alejandro B.; Dominguez, Daniel; Gronbech-Jensen, Niels

2001-01-01

For a vortex lattice moving in a periodic array we show analytically and numerically that a new type of phase locking occurs in the presence of a longitudinal dc driving force and a transverse ac driving force. This phase locking is distinct from the Shapiro step phase locking found with longitudinal ac drives. We show that an increase in critical current and a fundamental phase-locked step width scale with the square of the driving ac amplitude. Our results should carry over to other systems such as vortex motion in Josephson-junction arrays

Energy flow analysis of out-of-plane vibration in coplanar coupled finite Mindlin plates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Young-Ho Park

2015-01-01

Full Text Available : In this paper, an Energy Flow Analysis (EFA for coplanar coupled Mindlin plates was performed to estimate their dynamic responses at high frequencies. Mindlin plate theory can consider the effects of shear distortion and rotatory inertia, which are very important at high frequencies. For EFA for coplanar coupled Mindlin plates, the wave transmission and reflection relationship for progressing out-of-plane waves (out-of-plane shear wave, bending dominant flexural wave, and shear dominant flexural wave in coplanar coupled Mindlin plates was newly derived. To verify the validity of the EFA results, numerical analyses were performed for various cases where coplanar coupled Mindlin plates are excited by a harmonic point force, and the energy flow solutions for coplanar coupled Mindlin plates were compared with the classical solutions in the various conditions.

Effects of a Finger Tapping Fatiguing Task on M1-Intracortical Inhibition and Central Drive to the Muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Madrid, Antonio; Madinabeitia-Mancebo, Elena; Cudeiro, Javier; Arias, Pablo

2018-06-19

The central drive to the muscle reduces when muscle force wanes during sustained MVC, and this is generally considered the neurophysiological footprint of central fatigue. The question is if force loss and the failure of central drive to the muscle are responsible mechanisms of fatigue induced by un-resisted repetitive movements. In various experimental blocks, we validated a 3D-printed hand-fixation system permitting the execution of finger-tapping and maximal voluntary contractions (MVC). Subsequently, we checked the suitability of the system to test the level of central drive to the muscle and developed an algorithm to test it at the MVC force plateau. Our main results show that the maximum rate of finger-tapping dropped at 30 s, while the excitability of inhibitory M1-intracortical circuits and corticospinal excitability increased (all by approximately 15%). Furthermore, values obtained immediately after finger-tapping showed that MVC force and the level of central drive to the muscle remained unchanged. Our data suggest that force and central drive to the muscle are not determinants of fatigue induced by short-lasting un-resisted repetitive finger movements, even in the presence of increased inhibition of the motor cortex. According to literature, this profile might be different in longer-lasting, more complex and/or resisted repetitive movements.

A Passive and Wireless Sensor for Bone Plate Strain Monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Yisong; Hu, Jiale; Ren, Limin; Zhu, Jianhua; Yang, Jiaqi; Liu, Di

2017-11-16

This paper reports on a sensor for monitoring bone plate strain in real time. The detected bone plate strain could be used for judging the healing state of fractures in patients. The sensor consists of a magnetoelastic material, which can be wirelessly connected and passively embedded. In order to verify the effectiveness of the sensor, a tibia-bone plate-screw (TBS) model was established using the finite element analysis method. A variation of the bone plate strain was obtained via this model. A goat hindquarter tibia was selected as the bone fracture model in the experiment. The tibia was fixed on a high precision load platform and an external force was applied. Bone plate strain variation during the bone fracture healing process was acquired with sensing coils. Simulation results indicated that bone plate strain decreases as the bone gradually heals, which is consistent with the finite element analysis results. This validated the soundness of the sensor reported here. This sensor has wireless connections, no in vivo battery requirement, and long-term embedding. These results can be used not only for clinical practices of bone fracture healing, but also for bone fracture treatment and rehabilitation equipment design.

Hydrodynamics of a flexible plate between pitching rigid plates

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Junyoung; Kim, Daegyoum

2017-11-01

The dynamics of a flexible plate have been studied as a model problem in swimming and flying of animals and fluid-structure interaction of plants and flags. Motivated by fish schooling and an array of sea grasses, we investigate the dynamics of a flexible plate closely placed between two pitching rigid plates. In most studies on passive deformation of the flexible plate, the plate is immersed in a uniform flow or a wavy flow. However, in this study, the flexible plate experiences periodic deformation by the oscillatory flow generated by the prescribed pitching motion of the rigid plates. In our model, the pitching axes of the rigid plates and the clamping position of the flexible plate are aligned on the same line. The flexible plate shows various responses depending on length and pitching frequency of rigid plates, thickness of a flexible plate, and free-stream velocity. To find the effect of each variable on the response of the flexible plate, amplitude of a trailing edge and modal contribution of a flapping motion are compared, and flow structure around the flexible plate is examined.

An Asymptotic Approach for the Elastodynamic Problem of a Plate under Impact Loading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Penelope Michalopoulou

2010-01-01

Full Text Available An approach is presented for analyzing the transient elastodynamic problem of a plate under an impact loading. The plate is considered to be in the form of a long strip under plane strain conditions. The loading is taken as a concentrated line force applied normal to the plate surface. It is assumed that this line force is suddenly applied and maintained thereafter (i.e., it is a Heaviside step function of time. Inertia effects are taken into consideration and the problem is treated exactly within the framework of elastodynamic theory. The approach is based on multiple Laplace transforms and on certain asymptotic arguments. In particular, the one-sided Laplace transform is applied to suppress time dependence and the two-sided Laplace transform to suppress the dependence upon a spatial variable (along the extent of the infinite strip. Exact inversions are then followed by invoking the asymptotic Tauber theorem and the Cagniard-deHoop technique. Various extensions of this basic analysis are also discussed.

Selection of Belt Conveyors Drive Units Number by Technical –Economical Analysis

OpenAIRE

Despodov, Zoran; Mijalkovski, Stojance; Adjiski, Vancho; Panov, Zoran

2014-01-01

In this paper is presented a methodology for selection of belt conveyor drive units number by technical - economical analysis of their parameters. Belt Conveyors with follow drive arrangement will be considered: one, two, three and four drive units. In the technical - economical analysis are including: Tension forces, Power of belt conveyor, Costs for belt, Costs for power and reducers, Total cost for belt conveyor system.

A Low Frequency FBG Accelerometer with Symmetrical Bended Spring Plates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fufei Liu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available To meet the requirements for low-frequency vibration monitoring, a new type of FBG (fiber Bragg grating accelerometer with a bended spring plate is proposed. Two symmetrical bended spring plates are used as elastic elements, which drive the FBG to produce axial strains equal in magnitude but opposite in direction when exciting vibrations exist, leading to doubling the wavelength shift of the FBG. The mechanics model and a numerical method are presented in this paper, with which the influence of the structural parameters on the sensitivity and the eigenfrequency are discussed. The test results show that the sensitivity of the accelerometer is more than 1000 pm/g when the frequency is within the 0.7–20 Hz range.

The death drive in tourism studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buda, Dorina Maria

2015-01-01

The psychoanalytical concept of the death drive postulated by Freud and Lacan refers to a constant force at the junction between life and death, which is not understood in a biological sense of physical demise of the body, nor in opposition to life. Tourist experiences in conflict zones can be more

New Record Five-Wheel Drive, Spirit's Sol 1856 (Stereo)

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11962 [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11962 NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this stereo, 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,856th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's surface mission (March 23, 2009). The center of the view is toward the west-southwest. This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The rover had driven 25.82 meters (84.7 feet) west-northwestward earlier on Sol 1856. This is the longest drive on Mars so far by a rover using only five wheels. Spirit lost the use of its right-front wheel in March 2006. Before Sol 1856, the farthest Spirit had covered in a single sol's five-wheel drive was 24.83 meters (81.5 feet), on Sol 1363 (Nov. 3, 2007). The Sol 1856 drive made progress on a route planned for taking Spirit around the western side of the low plateau called 'Home Plate.' A portion of the northwestern edge of Home Plate is prominent in the left quarter of this image, toward the south. This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction.

Low velocity impact on polymer composite plates in contact with water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y Kwon

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In this study, composite materials were tested in two different environments to determine the role of Fluid Structure Interaction with composites under a low velocity impact. This was done using a low velocity impact machine and polymer composite plates. The composite is made of laminated symmetrical plain weave E-glass fabrics. The test area of the composite plates is 30.5 cm by 30.5 cm with clamped boundary conditions. The testing was done using a drop weight system to impact the center of the test area. One testing was performed with composite plates in air, called dry impact. The other testing was conducted while composite plates were submerged in water, called wet impact. A Plexiglas box in conjunction with the impact machine was used to keep the top of the composite sample dry while it was submerged in an anechoic water tank, so called water-backed air impact. Output from the tests was recorded using strain gauges and a force impact sensor. The results show that an added mass effect from the water plays a large role in the Fluid Structure Interaction with composites due to the similar densities of water and the composites. The wet impact results in a larger impact force and damage than the dry impact under the same impact condition, i.e., the same impact mass and drop height.

Axial forces in centrifugal compressor couplings

Science.gov (United States)

Ivanov, A. N.; Ivanov, N. M.; Yun, V. K.

2017-08-01

The article presents the results of the theoretical and experimental investigation of axial forces arising in the toothed and plate couplings of centrifugal compressor shaft lines. Additional loads on the thrust bearing are considered that can develop in the toothed couplings as a result of coupled rotors misalignment. Design relationships to evaluate the level of axial forces and recommendations for their reduction in the operating conditions are given.

Dehydrogenation Kinetics and Modeling Studies of MgH2 Enhanced by Transition Metal Oxide Catalysts Using Constant Pressure Thermodynamic Driving Forces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saidi Temitope Sabitu

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The influence of transition metal oxide catalysts (ZrO2, CeO2, Fe3O4 and Nb2O5 on the hydrogen desorption kinetics of MgH2 was investigated using constant pressure thermodynamic driving forces in which the ratio of the equilibrium plateau pressure (pm to the opposing plateau (pop was the same in all the reactions studied. The results showed Nb2O5 to be vastly superior to other catalysts for improving the thermodynamics and kinetics of MgH2. The modeling studies showed reaction at the phase boundary to be likely process controlling the reaction rates of all the systems studied.

Vibration control of an elastic strip by a singular force

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

strip are changed by applying a lateral concentrated force to the plate. ... Predicting resonance frequency of plates is an important technological and scientific ... Ritz methods in a number of studies pertaining to control of flutter in aerospace ..... Bingham B, Atalla M J, Hagood N W 2001 Comparison of structural-acoustic ...

Resonant driving of a nonlinear Hamiltonian system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palmisano, Carlo; Gervino, Gianpiero; Balma, Massimo; Devona, Dorina; Wimberger, Sandro

2013-01-01

As a proof of principle, we show how a classical nonlinear Hamiltonian system can be driven resonantly over reasonably long times by appropriately shaped pulses. To keep the parameter space reasonably small, we limit ourselves to a driving force which consists of periodic pulses additionally modulated by a sinusoidal function. The main observables are the average increase of kinetic energy and of the action variable (of the non-driven system) with time. Applications of our scheme aim for driving high frequencies of a nonlinear system with a fixed modulation signal.

Device for removing and recuperating sludge deposited on the tube plate of a steam generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bes, Louis.

1982-01-01

The cleaning device includes a descaling ramp with high pressure jets permanently fixed inside the steam generator, a system for driving the sludge formed towards the centre of the tube plate and a valve for removing the sludge giving into a hollow central column [fr

Current drive by Alfven waves in elongated cross section tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsypin, V.S.; Elfimov, A.G.; Nekrasov, F.M.; Azevedo, C.A.; Assis, A.S. de

1997-01-01

Full text. The problem of the noninductive current drive in cylindrical plasma model and in circular cross-section tokamaks had been already discussed intensively. At the beginning of the study of this problem it have been clear that there are significant difficulties in using of the current-drive in toroidal magnetic traps, especially in a tokamak reactor. Thus, in the case of the lower-hybrid current-drive the efficiency of this current-drive drops strongly as the plasma density increases. For the Alfven waves, there is an opinion that the efficiency of the current-drive drops as a result of waves absorption by the trapped particles 1,2. Okhawa proposed that the current in a magnetized plasma can be maintained also by means of forces, depending on the radiofrequency (rf) field amplitude gradients (the helicity injection). This idea was developed later, some new hopes appeared, connected with the possibility of the current-drive efficiency increasing. It was shown that for the cylindrical plasmas the local efficiency of Alfev wave current drive can be increased by one order of magnitude due to gradient forces, for the kinetic Alfven waves (KAW) and the global Alfven waves 9GAW) at some range of the phase velocity. For tokamaks, this additional nonresonant current drive does not depend on the trapped particle effects, which reduce strongly the Alfven current drive efficiency in tokamaks, as it is supposed. Now, the theory development of the Alfven wave (AW) current drive is very important in the cource of the future experiments on the TCA/BR tokamak (Brazil). In this paper, an attempt is made to clarify some general aspects of this problems for magnetic traps. For large aspects ratio tokamaks, with an elongated cross-section, some general formulas concerning the untrapped and trapped particles dynamics and their input to the Landau damping of the Alfven waves, are presented. They are supposed to be used for the further development of the Alfven current drive theory

Current drive by Alfven waves in elongated cross section tokamak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsypin, V.S.; Elfimov, A.G.; Nekrasov, F.M.; Azevedo, C.A. [Universidade Federal, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Inst. de Fisica; Assis, A.S. de [Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niteroi, RJ (Brazil). Inst. de Fisica

1997-12-31

Full text. The problem of the noninductive current drive in cylindrical plasma model and in circular cross-section tokamaks had been already discussed intensively. At the beginning of the study of this problem it have been clear that there are significant difficulties in using of the current-drive in toroidal magnetic traps, especially in a tokamak reactor. Thus, in the case of the lower-hybrid current-drive the efficiency of this current-drive drops strongly as the plasma density increases. For the Alfven waves, there is an opinion that the efficiency of the current-drive drops as a result of waves absorption by the trapped particles 1,2. Okhawa proposed that the current in a magnetized plasma can be maintained also by means of forces, depending on the radiofrequency (rf) field amplitude gradients (the helicity injection). This idea was developed later, some new hopes appeared, connected with the possibility of the current-drive efficiency increasing. It was shown that for the cylindrical plasmas the local efficiency of Alfev wave current drive can be increased by one order of magnitude due to gradient forces, for the kinetic Alfven waves (KAW) and the global Alfven waves (GAW) at some range of the phase velocity. For tokamaks, this additional nonresonant current drive does not depend on the trapped particle effects, which reduce strongly the Alfven current drive efficiency in tokamaks, as it is supposed. Now, the theory development of the Alfven wave (AW) current drive is very important in the cource of the future experiments on the TCA/BR tokamak (Brazil). In this paper, an attempt is made to clarify some general aspects of this problems for magnetic traps. For large aspects ratio tokamaks, with an elongated cross-section, some general formulas concerning the untrapped and trapped particles dynamics and their input to the Landau damping of the Alfven waves, are presented. They are supposed to be used for the further development of the Alfven current drive theory

A reciprocating pin-on-plate test-rig for studying friction materials for holding brakes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulios, Konstantinos; Drago, Nicola; Klit, Peder

2014-01-01

-on-plate test-rig for studying the evolution of wear by monitoring the pin height reduction using Eddy-current proximity sensors is presented. Moreover, a new mechanism for recording the friction force is suggested. Apart from the design of the test-rig, friction force and wear rate measurements for two...

Force Sensitive Handles and Capacitive Touch Sensor for Driving a Flexible Haptic-Based Immersive System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Umberto Cugini

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In this article, we present an approach that uses both two force sensitive handles (FSH and a flexible capacitive touch sensor (FCTS to drive a haptic-based immersive system. The immersive system has been developed as part of a multimodal interface for product design. The haptic interface consists of a strip that can be used by product designers to evaluate the quality of a 3D virtual shape by using touch, vision and hearing and, also, to interactively change the shape of the virtual object. Specifically, the user interacts with the FSH to move the virtual object and to appropriately position the haptic interface for retrieving the six degrees of freedom required for both manipulation and modification modalities. The FCTS allows the system to track the movement and position of the user’s fingers on the strip, which is used for rendering visual and sound feedback. Two evaluation experiments are described, which involve both the evaluation and the modification of a 3D shape. Results show that the use of the haptic strip for the evaluation of aesthetic shapes is effective and supports product designers in the appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of the shape.

Force sensitive handles and capacitive touch sensor for driving a flexible haptic-based immersive system.

Science.gov (United States)

Covarrubias, Mario; Bordegoni, Monica; Cugini, Umberto

2013-10-09

In this article, we present an approach that uses both two force sensitive handles (FSH) and a flexible capacitive touch sensor (FCTS) to drive a haptic-based immersive system. The immersive system has been developed as part of a multimodal interface for product design. The haptic interface consists of a strip that can be used by product designers to evaluate the quality of a 3D virtual shape by using touch, vision and hearing and, also, to interactively change the shape of the virtual object. Specifically, the user interacts with the FSH to move the virtual object and to appropriately position the haptic interface for retrieving the six degrees of freedom required for both manipulation and modification modalities. The FCTS allows the system to track the movement and position of the user's fingers on the strip, which is used for rendering visual and sound feedback. Two evaluation experiments are described, which involve both the evaluation and the modification of a 3D shape. Results show that the use of the haptic strip for the evaluation of aesthetic shapes is effective and supports product designers in the appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of the shape.

Development of untethered SU-8 polymer scratch drive microrobots

KAUST Repository

Valencia Garcia, Manuel; Atallah, Tarek Nabil; Castro, David; Conchouso Gonzalez, David; Al Dosari, Mishari Ibraheem; Hammad, Rafat; Al Rawashdeh, Ehab Jamal; Zaher, Amir Omar; Kosel, Jü rgen; Foulds, Ian G.

2011-01-01

This paper presents the design, simulation, fabrication and testing of novel, untethered SU-8 polymer microrobots based on scratch drive actuators (SDAs). The design consists of two 100×120×10μm linked SDAs, individually operated close to their resonant frequencies. The resonant frequency and deflection behavior of an individual SDA can be controlled by its shape, thickness, and stiffening design features. As a result, paired SDAs can be actuated individually or simultaneously by a multifrequency driving signal, allowing for two-dimensional displacement. The fabrication process uses SU-8 as structural material and PMGI as sacrificial material. The SU-8 provides a flexible material for the SDA's plates as well as the bushing. Finally, a Cr/Au layer is blanket deposited to provide electrical conductivity.

Software Process Improvement Using Force Field Analysis ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

An improvement plan is then drawn and implemented. This paper studied the state of Nigerian software development organizations based on selected attributes. Force field analysis is used to partition the factors obtained into driving and restraining forces. An attempt was made to improve the software development process ...

Shear Resistance Capacity of Interface of Plate-Studs Connection between CFST Column and RC Beam

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qianqian Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The combination of a concrete-filled steel tube (CFST column and reinforced concrete (RC beam produces a composite structural system that affords good structural performance, functionality, and workability. The effective transmission of moments and shear forces from the beam to the column is key to the full exploitation of the structural performance. The studs of the composite beam transfer the interfacial shear force between the steel beam and the concrete slab, with the web bearing most of the vertical shear force of the steel beam. In this study, the studs and vertical steel plate were welded to facilitate the transfer of the interfacial shear force between the RC beam and CFST column. Six groups of a total of 18 specimens were used to investigate the shear transfer mechanism and failure mode of the plate-studs connection, which was confirmed to effectively transmit the shear forces between the beam and column. The results of theoretical calculations were also observed to be in good agreement with the experimental measurements.

A novel ZVS high voltage power supply for micro-channel plate photomultiplier tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pei, Chengquan; Tian, Jinshou; Liu, Zhen; Qin, Hong; Wu, Shengli

2017-01-01

A novel resonant high voltage power supply (HVPS) with zero voltage switching (ZVS), to reduce the voltage stress on switching devices and improve conversion efficiency, is proposed. The proposed HVPS includes a drive circuit, a transformer, several voltage multiplying circuits, and a regulator circuit. The HVPS contains several secondary windings that can be precisely regulated. The proposed HVPS performed better than the traditional resistor voltage divider, which requires replacing matching resistors resulting in resistor dispersibility in the Micro-Channel Plate (MCP). The equivalent circuit of the proposed HVPS was established and the operational principle analyzed. The entire switching element can achieve ZVS, which was validated by a simulation and experiments. The properties of this HVPS were tested including minimum power loss (240 mW), maximum power loss (1 W) and conversion efficiency (85%). The results of this research are that the proposed HVPS was suitable for driving the micro-channel plate photomultiplier tube (MCP-PMT). It was therefore adopted to test the MCP-PMT, which will be used in Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment II in China.

A novel ZVS high voltage power supply for micro-channel plate photomultiplier tubes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pei, Chengquan [Key Laboratory for Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049 (China); Tian, Jinshou [Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi' an 710119 (China); Liu, Zhen [Key Laboratory for Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049 (China); Qin, Hong [School of Computer Science and Technology, Xi' an University of Science and Technology, Xi' an 710054 (China); Wu, Shengli, E-mail: slwu@mail.xjtu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory for Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049 (China)

2017-04-11

A novel resonant high voltage power supply (HVPS) with zero voltage switching (ZVS), to reduce the voltage stress on switching devices and improve conversion efficiency, is proposed. The proposed HVPS includes a drive circuit, a transformer, several voltage multiplying circuits, and a regulator circuit. The HVPS contains several secondary windings that can be precisely regulated. The proposed HVPS performed better than the traditional resistor voltage divider, which requires replacing matching resistors resulting in resistor dispersibility in the Micro-Channel Plate (MCP). The equivalent circuit of the proposed HVPS was established and the operational principle analyzed. The entire switching element can achieve ZVS, which was validated by a simulation and experiments. The properties of this HVPS were tested including minimum power loss (240 mW), maximum power loss (1 W) and conversion efficiency (85%). The results of this research are that the proposed HVPS was suitable for driving the micro-channel plate photomultiplier tube (MCP-PMT). It was therefore adopted to test the MCP-PMT, which will be used in Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment II in China.

General Observations of the Time-Dependent Flow Field Around Flat Plates in Free Fall

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hærvig, Jakob; Jensen, Anna Lyhne; Pedersen, Marie Cecilie

2015-01-01

a six degrees of freedom (6DOF) solver and a dynamic mesh. To validate the simulation, the trajectories of aluminium plates falling in water are recorded by digital camera recordings and compared to the simulation. The simulation is able to calculate the motion of the plate within each time step...... with high accuracy, and thereby allowing the whole trajectory to be predicted with fair accuracy. With the numerical model able to predict the free fall and the complex plate fluid interactions, fluids forces can be extracted for model development in future studies....

Analyzing driving forces behind changes in energy vulnerability of Spanish electricity generation through a Divisia index-based method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernández González, P.; Moreno, B.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We propose and develop the LMDI approach to factorize changes in electricity bill vulnerability. • Spanish vulnerability (1995–2011) markedly grew mainly by increasing gas dependence. • Fuel price increase and growing importance of electricity damage energy security. • Energy intensity advances & fuel diversification: insufficient to drive vulnerability. • Main recommendation: enhance internal energy market and common external EU strategy. - Abstract: High energy dependence on fossil raises vulnerability concerns about security of supply and energy cost. This research examines the impact of high dependence of imported fuels for power generation in Spain through the quantification and analysis of the driving forces behind the change in its electricity bill. Following logarithmic mean Divisia indexes approach, we present and perform a new method that enables a complete decomposition of changes in electricity vulnerability into contributions from several drivers. In fact, we identify five predefined factors behind the variations in vulnerability in Spain during the 1998–2011 period: fuel price, average heat rate, fuel dependence, degree of electricity importance and energy intensity. The application of this approach reveals a significant increase in Spanish vulnerability in the last two decades, promoted by increments in fuel price and importance of electricity over the primary energy consumption, but especially by increasing fuel dependence (particularly gas dependence). Therefore, findings mainly advocate for those strategies aimed at reducing Spanish energy dependence. Also those improving thermal efficiency and energy intensity are indicated

Seismic Performance and Design of Steel Plate Shear Walls with Low Yield Point Steel Infill Plates

OpenAIRE

Zirakian, Tadeh

2013-01-01

Steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) have been frequently used as the primary or part of the primary lateral force-resisting system in design of low-, medium-, and high-rise buildings. Their application has been based on two different design philosophies as well as detailing strategies. Stiffened and/or stocky-web SPSWs with improved buckling stability and high seismic performance have been mostly used in Japan, which is one of the pioneering countries in design and application of these systems. U...

Mathematical Modeling of Hydroelastic Oscillations of the Stamp and the Plate, Resting on Pasternak Foundation

Science.gov (United States)

Mogilevich, L. I.; Popov, V. S.; Popova, A. A.; Christoforova, A. V.

2018-01-01

The forced oscillations of the elastic fixed stamp and the plate, resting on Pasternak foundation are studied. The oscillations are caused by pressure pulsation in liquid layer between the stamp and the plate. Pasternak model is chosen as an elastic foundation. The laws of the stamp movement, the plate deflection and pressure in the liquid are discovered on the basis of hydroelasticity problem analytical solution. The functions of amplitude deflection distribution and liquid pressure along the plate are constructed, as well as the stamp amplitude-frequency characteristic. The obtained mathematical model allows to investigate the dynamics of hydroelastic interaction of the stamp with the plate, resting on elastic foundation, to define resonance frequencies of the plate and the stamp and corresponding deflections amplitudes, as well as liquid presser amplitudes.

Dynamic force spectroscopy of oppositely charged polyelectrolyte brushes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spruijt, E.; Cohen Stuart, M.A.; Gucht, van der J.

2010-01-01

Ion pairing is the main driving force in the formation of polyelectrolyte complexes, which find widespread use in micellar assemblies, drug carriers, and coatings. In this paper we examine the actual ion pairing forces in a polyelectrolyte complex between two oppositely charged polyelectrolyte

The effect on the multipolar electromagnet for the levitation of thin iron plate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Osabe, H [Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Musashi Inst. of Technology, Tokyo (Japan); Watada, M [Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Musashi Inst. of Technology, Tokyo (Japan); Torii, S [Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Musashi Inst. of Technology, Tokyo (Japan); Ebihara, D [Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Musashi Inst. of Technology, Tokyo (Japan)

1996-12-31

The thin iron plate is needed to be transported without the degradation of the quality of surface, and magnetic levitation technology is one of the solutions to satisfy these requirements. Magnetic saturation in the objective, however, is a severe problem for the levitation of the thin iron plate. Design and evaluation method of the electromagnet is studied to avoid the saturation. In this paper, the shape of the electromagnet is studied to obtain the maximum attractive force without the saturation in the thin iron plate. The magnetic saturation position is investigated first, and it is proved that the saturation occurs in the iron plate especially when it is very thin. Therefore, the preferable shape of electromagnet should be investigated to secure the large cross sectional area of flux path in the plate. The authors propose the Multipolar electromagnet to solve this problem. The relationship between the electromagnet shape and the cross sectional area of flux path in the plate is studied. (orig.)

Progress towards polar-drive ignition for the NIF

Science.gov (United States)

McCrory, R. L.; Betti, R.; Boehly, T. R.; Casey, D. T.; Collins, T. J. B.; Craxton, R. S.; Delettrez, J. A.; Edgell, D. H.; Epstein, R.; Frenje, J. A.; Froula, D. H.; Gatu-Johnson, M.; Glebov, V. Yu.; Goncharov, V. N.; Harding, D. R.; Hohenberger, M.; Hu, S. X.; Igumenshchev, I. V.; Kessler, T. J.; Knauer, J. P.; Li, C. K.; Marozas, J. A.; Marshall, F. J.; McKenty, P. W.; Meyerhofer, D. D.; Michel, D. T.; Myatt, J. F.; Nilson, P. M.; Padalino, S. J.; Petrasso, R. D.; Radha, P. B.; Regan, S. P.; Sangster, T. C.; Séguin, F. H.; Seka, W.; Short, R. W.; Shvydky, A.; Skupsky, S.; Soures, J. M.; Stoeckl, C.; Theobald, W.; Yaakobi, B.; Zuegel, J. D.

2013-11-01

The University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) performs direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research. LLE's Omega Laser Facility is used to study direct-drive ICF ignition concepts, developing an understanding of the underlying physics that feeds into the design of ignition targets for the National Ignition Facility (NIF). The baseline symmetric-illumination, direct-drive-ignition target design consists of a 1.5 MJ multiple-picket laser pulse that generates four shock waves (similar to the NIF baseline indirect-drive design) and is predicted to produce a one-dimensional (1D) gain of 48. LLE has developed the polar-drive (PD) illumination concept (for NIF beams in the x-ray-drive configuration) to allow the pursuit of direct-drive ignition without significant reconfiguration of the beam paths on the NIF. Some less-invasive changes in the NIF infrastructure will be required, including new phase plates, polarization rotators, and a PD-specific beam-smoothing front end. A suite of PD ignition designs with implosion velocities from 3.5 to 4.3 × 107 cm s-1 are predicted to have significant 2D gains (Collins et al 2012 Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 57 155). Verification of the physics basis of these simulations is a major thrust of direct-drive implosion experiments on both OMEGA and the NIF. Many physics issues are being examined with symmetric beam irradiation on OMEGA, varying the implosion parameters over a wide region of design space. Cryogenic deuterium-tritium target experiments with symmetric irradiation have produced areal densities of ˜0.3 g cm-2, ion temperatures over 3 keV, and neutron yields in excess of 20% of the ‘clean’ 1D predicted value. The inferred Lawson criterion figure of merit (Betti R. et al 2010 Phys. Plasmas 17 058102) has increased from 1.7 atm s (IAEA 2010) to 2.6 atm s.

Electromotor control rod drive for nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, S.M.

1975-01-01

The positioning of a control rod arranged in a pressure vessel takes place with a drive. This protrudes out of the pressure vessel through a support and is formed from a rotating field motor with energy source, e.g. alternating current connection. Its stator surrounds a section of a pressure casing which covers the length of the drive. The rotor is arranged in the pressure casing and interacts with a shaft lying in the rotation axis. Furthermore, segments are hinged on it, each of which forms two arms of a rocker. Each segment can be revolved against a storing force in a plane containing the rotation axis, through the stator field acting on one of the rocker arms. In order that the drive motor is automatically blocked should the electricity supply fail, the other rocker arm can be connected with a fixed cased component of the drive having the effect of a friction break or a form-locking mechanical catch. (DG/LH) [de

Analysis and optimization of kinematic pair force in control rod drive mechanism