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Sample records for thermal contact algorithms

  1. Contact-impact algorithms on parallel computers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhong Zhihua; Nilsson, Larsgunnar

    1994-01-01

    Contact-impact algorithms on parallel computers are discussed within the context of explicit finite element analysis. The algorithms concerned include a contact searching algorithm and an algorithm for contact force calculations. The contact searching algorithm is based on the territory concept of the general HITA algorithm. However, no distinction is made between different contact bodies, or between different contact surfaces. All contact segments from contact boundaries are taken as a single set. Hierarchy territories and contact territories are expanded. A three-dimensional bucket sort algorithm is used to sort contact nodes. The defence node algorithm is used in the calculation of contact forces. Both the contact searching algorithm and the defence node algorithm are implemented on the connection machine CM-200. The performance of the algorithms is examined under different circumstances, and numerical results are presented. ((orig.))

  2. Non-Contact Smartphone-Based Monitoring of Thermally Stressed Structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozturk, Turgut; Mas, David; Rizzo, Piervincenzo

    2018-01-01

    The in-situ measurement of thermal stress in beams or continuous welded rails may prevent structural anomalies such as buckling. This study proposed a non-contact monitoring/inspection approach based on the use of a smartphone and a computer vision algorithm to estimate the vibrating characteristics of beams subjected to thermal stress. It is hypothesized that the vibration of a beam can be captured using a smartphone operating at frame rates higher than conventional 30 Hz, and the first few natural frequencies of the beam can be extracted using a computer vision algorithm. In this study, the first mode of vibration was considered and compared to the information obtained with a conventional accelerometer attached to the two structures investigated, namely a thin beam and a thick beam. The results show excellent agreement between the conventional contact method and the non-contact sensing approach proposed here. In the future, these findings may be used to develop a monitoring/inspection smartphone application to assess the axial stress of slender structures, to predict the neutral temperature of continuous welded rails, or to prevent thermal buckling. PMID:29670034

  3. Scalable algorithms for contact problems

    CERN Document Server

    Dostál, Zdeněk; Sadowská, Marie; Vondrák, Vít

    2016-01-01

    This book presents a comprehensive and self-contained treatment of the authors’ newly developed scalable algorithms for the solutions of multibody contact problems of linear elasticity. The brand new feature of these algorithms is theoretically supported numerical scalability and parallel scalability demonstrated on problems discretized by billions of degrees of freedom. The theory supports solving multibody frictionless contact problems, contact problems with possibly orthotropic Tresca’s friction, and transient contact problems. It covers BEM discretization, jumping coefficients, floating bodies, mortar non-penetration conditions, etc. The exposition is divided into four parts, the first of which reviews appropriate facets of linear algebra, optimization, and analysis. The most important algorithms and optimality results are presented in the third part of the volume. The presentation is complete, including continuous formulation, discretization, decomposition, optimality results, and numerical experimen...

  4. Review of prediction for thermal contact resistance

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2010-01-01

    Theoretical prediction research on thermal contact resistance is reviewed in this paper. In general, modeling or simulating the thermal contact resistance involves several aspects, including the descriptions of surface topography, the analysis of micro mechanical deformation, and the thermal models. Some key problems are proposed for accurately predicting the thermal resistance of two solid contact surfaces. We provide a perspective on further promising research, which would be beneficial to understanding mechanisms and engineering applications of the thermal contact resistance in heat transport phenomena.

  5. Analysis of Non-contact Acousto Thermal Signature Data (Postprint)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-02-01

    AFRL-RX-WP-JA-2016-0321 ANALYSIS OF NON-CONTACT ACOUSTO-THERMAL SIGNATURE DATA (POSTPRINT) Amanda K. Criner AFRL/RX...October 2014 – 16 September 2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE ANALYSIS OF NON-CONTACT ACOUSTO-THERMAL SIGNATURE DATA (POSTPRINT) 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER...words) The non-contact acousto-thermal signature (NCATS) is a nondestructive evaluation technique with potential to detect fatigue in materials such as

  6. Effects of pressure and temperature on thermal contact resistance between different materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhao Zhe

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available To explore whether pressure and temperature can affect thermal contact resistance, we have proposed a new experimental approach for measurement of the thermal contact resistance. Taking the thermal contact resistance between phenolic resin and carbon-carbon composites, cuprum, and aluminum as the examples, the influence of the thermal contact resistance between specimens under pressure is tested by experiment. Two groups of experiments are performed and then an analysis on influencing factors of the thermal contact resistance is presented in this paper. The experimental results reveal that the thermal contact resistance depends not only on the thermal conductivity coefficient of materials, but on the interfacial temperature and pressure. Furthermore, the thermal contact resistance between cuprum and aluminum is more sensitive to pressure and temperature than that between phenolic resin and carbon-carbon composites.

  7. FASTSIM2: a second-order accurate frictional rolling contact algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vollebregt, E. A. H.; Wilders, P.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we consider the frictional (tangential) steady rolling contact problem. We confine ourselves to the simplified theory, instead of using full elastostatic theory, in order to be able to compute results fast, as needed for on-line application in vehicle system dynamics simulation packages. The FASTSIM algorithm is the leading technology in this field and is employed in all dominant railway vehicle system dynamics packages (VSD) in the world. The main contribution of this paper is a new version "FASTSIM2" of the FASTSIM algorithm, which is second-order accurate. This is relevant for VSD, because with the new algorithm 16 times less grid points are required for sufficiently accurate computations of the contact forces. The approach is based on new insights in the characteristics of the rolling contact problem when using the simplified theory, and on taking precise care of the contact conditions in the numerical integration scheme employed.

  8. Contact Thermal Analysis and Wear Simulation of a Brake Block

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nándor Békési

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The present paper describes an experimental test and a coupled contact-thermal-wear analysis of a railway wheel/brake block system through the braking process. During the test, the friction, the generated heat, and the wear were evaluated. It was found that the contact between the brake block and the wheel occurs in relatively small and slowly moving hot spots, caused by the wear and the thermal effects. A coupled simulation method was developed including numerical frictional contact, transient thermal and incremental wear calculations. In the 3D simulation, the effects of the friction, the thermal expansion, the wear, and the temperature-dependent material properties were also considered. A good agreement was found between the results of the test and the calculations, both for the thermal and wear results. The proposed method is suitable for modelling the slowly oscillating wear caused by the thermal expansions in the contact area.

  9. Thermal contact conductance

    CERN Document Server

    Madhusudana, Chakravarti V

    2013-01-01

    The work covers both theoretical and practical aspects of thermal contact conductance. The theoretical discussion focuses on heat transfer through spots, joints, and surfaces, as well as the role of interstitial materials (both planned and inadvertent). The practical discussion includes formulae and data that can be used in designing heat-transfer equipment for a variety of joints, including special geometries and configurations. All of the material has been updated to reflect the latest advances in the field.

  10. Analysis of non-contact and contact probe-to-sample thermal exchange for quantitative measurements of thin film and nanostructure thermal conductivity by the scanning hot probe method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Adam A.

    The ability to measure thermal properties of thin films and nanostructured materials is an important aspect of many fields of academic study. A strategy especially well-suited for nanoscale investigations of these properties is the scanning hot probe technique, which is unique in its ability to non-destructively interrogate the thermal properties with high resolution, both laterally as well as through the thickness of the material. Strategies to quantitatively determine sample thermal conductivity depend on probe calibration. State of the art calibration strategies assume that the area of thermal exchange between probe and sample does not vary with sample thermal conductivity. However, little investigation has gone into determining whether or not that assumption is valid. This dissertation provides a rigorous study into the probe-to-sample heat transfer through the air gap at diffusive distances for a variety of values of sample thermal conductivity. It is demonstrated that the thermal exchange radius and gap/contact thermal resistance varies with sample thermal conductivity as well as tip-to-sample clearance in non-contact mode. In contact mode, it is demonstrated that higher thermal conductivity samples lead to a reduction in thermal exchange radius for Wollaston probe tips. Conversely, in non-contact mode and in contact mode for sharper probe tips where air contributes the most to probe-to-sample heat transfer, the opposite trend occurs. This may be attributed to the relatively strong solid-to-solid conduction occurring between probe and sample for the Wollaston probes. A three-dimensional finite element (3DFE) model was developed to investigate how the calibrated thermal exchange parameters vary with sample thermal conductivity when calibrating the probe via the intersection method in non-contact mode at diffusive distances. The 3DFE model was then used to explore the limits of sensitivity of the experiment for a range of simulated experimental conditions. It

  11. An algorithm for selecting the most accurate protocol for contact angle measurement by drop shape analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Z N

    2014-12-01

    In this study, an error analysis is performed to study real water drop images and the corresponding numerically generated water drop profiles for three widely used static contact angle algorithms: the circle- and ellipse-fitting algorithms and the axisymmetric drop shape analysis-profile (ADSA-P) algorithm. The results demonstrate the accuracy of the numerically generated drop profiles based on the Laplace equation. A significant number of water drop profiles with different volumes, contact angles, and noise levels are generated, and the influences of the three factors on the accuracies of the three algorithms are systematically investigated. The results reveal that the above-mentioned three algorithms are complementary. In fact, the circle- and ellipse-fitting algorithms show low errors and are highly resistant to noise for water drops with small/medium volumes and contact angles, while for water drop with large volumes and contact angles just the ADSA-P algorithm can meet accuracy requirement. However, this algorithm introduces significant errors in the case of small volumes and contact angles because of its high sensitivity to noise. The critical water drop volumes of the circle- and ellipse-fitting algorithms corresponding to a certain contact angle error are obtained through a significant amount of computation. To improve the precision of the static contact angle measurement, a more accurate algorithm based on a combination of the three algorithms is proposed. Following a systematic investigation, the algorithm selection rule is described in detail, while maintaining the advantages of the three algorithms and overcoming their deficiencies. In general, static contact angles over the entire hydrophobicity range can be accurately evaluated using the proposed algorithm. The ease of erroneous judgment in static contact angle measurements is avoided. The proposed algorithm is validated by a static contact angle evaluation of real and numerically generated water drop

  12. Numerical algorithms for contact problems in linear elastostatics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barbosa, H.J.C.; Feijoo, R.A.

    1984-01-01

    In this work contact problems in linear elasticity are analysed by means of Finite Elements and Mathematical Programming Techniques. The principle of virtual work leads in this case to a variational inequality which in turn is equivalent, for Hookean materials and infinitesimal strains, to the minimization of the total potential energy over the set of all admissible virtual displacements. The use of Gauss-Seidel algorithm with relaxation and projection and also Lemke's algorithm and Uzawa's algorithm for solving the minimization problem is discussed. Finally numerical examples are presented. (Author) [pt

  13. Influence factors of the inter-nanowire thermal contact resistance in the stacked nanowires

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Dongxu; Huang, Congliang; Zhong, Jinxin; Lin, Zizhen

    2018-05-01

    The inter-nanowire thermal contact resistance is important for tuning the thermal conductivity of a nanocomposite for thermoelectric applications. In this paper, the stacked copper nanowires are applied for studying the thermal contact resistance. The stacked copper nanowires are firstly made by the cold-pressing method, and then the nanowire stacks are treated by sintering treatment. With the effect of the volumetric fraction of nanowires in the stack and the influence of the sintering-temperature on the thermal contact resistance discussed, results show that: The thermal conductivity of the 150-nm copper nanowires can be enlarged almost 2 times with the volumetric fraction increased from 32 to 56% because of the enlarged contact-area and contact number of a copper nanowire. When the sintering temperature increases from 293 to 673 K, the thermal conductivity of the stacked 300-nm nanowires could be enlarged almost 2.5 times by the sintering treatment, because of the improved lattice property of the contact zone. In conclusion, application of a high volumetric fraction or/and a sintering-treatment are effectivity to tune the inter-nanowire thermal contact resistance, and thus to tailor the thermal conductivity of a nanowire network or stack.

  14. Effect of air confinement on thermal contact resistance in nanoscale heat transfer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pratap, Dheeraj; Islam, Rakibul; Al-Alam, Patricia; Randrianalisoa, Jaona; Trannoy, Nathalie

    2018-03-01

    Here, we report a detailed analysis of thermal contact resistance (R c) of nano-size contact formed between a Wollaston wire thermal probe and the used samples (fused silica and titanium) as a function of air pressure (from 1 Pa to 105 Pa). Moreover, we suggest an analytical model using experimental data to extract R c. We found that for both samples, the thermal contact resistance decreases with increasing air pressure. We also showed that R c strongly depends on the thermal conductivity of materials keeping other parameters the same, such as roughness of the probe and samples, as well as the contact force. We provide a physical explanation of the R c trend with pressure and thermal conductivity of the materials: R c is ascribed to the heat transfer through solid-solid (probe-sample) contact and confined air at nanoscale cavities, due to the rough nature of the materials in contact. The contribution of confined air on heat transfer through the probe sample contact is significant at atmospheric pressure but decreases as the pressure decreases. In vacuum, only the solid-solid contact contributes to R c. In addition, theoretical calculations using the well-known acoustic and diffuse mismatch models showed a high thermal conductivity material that exhibits high heat transmission and consequently low R c, supporting our findings.

  15. Titanium contacts to graphene: process-induced variability in electronic and thermal transport

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freedy, Keren M.; Giri, Ashutosh; Foley, Brian M.; Barone, Matthew R.; Hopkins, Patrick E.; McDonnell, Stephen

    2018-04-01

    Contact resistance (R C) is a major limiting factor in the performance of graphene devices. R C is sensitive to the quality of the interface and the composition of the contact, which are affected by the graphene transfer process and contact deposition conditions. In this work, a linear correlation is observed between the composition of Ti contacts, characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and the Ti/graphene contact resistance measured by the transfer length method. We find that contact composition is tunable via deposition rate and base pressure. Reactor base pressure is found to effect the resultant contact resistance. The effect of contact deposition conditions on thermal transport measured by time-domain thermoreflectance is also reported. Interfaces with higher oxide composition appear to result in a lower thermal boundary conductance. Possible origins of this thermal boundary conductance change with oxide composition are discussed.

  16. Thermal contact resistance of a particle on a substrate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tan, J.; Safa, H.; Bonin, B.

    1996-01-01

    It has been formerly established that field emission in RF cavities is mainly due to contamination by small micron size particles lying on the surface. When applying the RF field, these particles can melt and stick to the surface making it harder to get rid of them. In order to understand the thermal process involved, a crucial physical quantity is needed: the thermal contact resistance between the particle and the substrate. An experimental method is described to measure this quantity, with the use of a scanning electron microscope. By defocusing the beam of the SEM, one can get enough power deposited in one particle to melt it. The power level at which the particle melts gives the thermal contact resistance. Therefore, using the measured value, thermal calculations yield some hints for understanding the violent thermal processes observed in RF fields. (author)

  17. Thermal contact resistance of a particle on a substrate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tan, J.; Safa, H.; Bonin, B.

    1996-01-01

    It has been formerly established that field emission in RF cavities is mainly die to contamination by small micron size particles lying on the surface. When applying the RF field, these particles can melt and stick to the surface making it harder to get rid of them. In order to understand the thermal process involved, a crucial physical quantity is needed: the thermal contact resistance between the particle and the substrate. In the present paper, an experimental method is described to measure this quantity, with the use of a scanning electron microscope. By defocusing the beam of the SEM, one can get enough power deposited in one particle to melt it. The power level at which the particle melts gives the thermal contact resistance. Therefore, using the measured value, thermal calculations yield some hints for understanding the violent thermal processes observed in RF fields. (author)

  18. Nonlocal laser annealing to improve thermal contacts between multi-layer graphene and metals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ermakov, Victor A; Alaferdov, Andrei V; Vaz, Alfredo R; Moshkalev, Stanislav A; Baranov, Alexander V

    2013-01-01

    The accuracy of thermal conductivity measurements by the micro-Raman technique for suspended multi-layer graphene flakes has been shown to depend critically on the quality of the thermal contacts between the flakes and the metal electrodes used as the heat sink. The quality of the contacts can be improved by nonlocal laser annealing at increased power. The improvement of the thermal contacts to initially rough metal electrodes is attributed to local melting of the metal surface under laser heating, and increased area of real metal–graphene contact. Improvement of the thermal contacts between multi-layer graphene and a silicon oxide surface was also observed, with more efficient heat transfer from graphene as compared with the graphene–metal case. (paper)

  19. Experimental determination of fuel-cladding thermal contact resistance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maglic, K.; Zivotic, Z.

    1968-01-01

    Thermal resistance of the UO 2 fuel - Zr-2 cladding was measure by the same experimental apparatus which was used for measuring the thermal conductivity of ceramic fuel. Thermal resistance was measure for a series of heat flux values and the dependence of thermal resistance on the flux is given within in the range from 0.66 W/cm 2 to 13.3 W/cm 2 . The temperature drop on the contact surface was between 39 deg C and 181.7 deg C, proportional to the increase of the heat flux [sr

  20. Influence of the degree of thermal contact in fin and tube heat exchanger

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Singh, Shobhana; Sørensen, Kim; Condra, Thomas Joseph

    2016-01-01

    Present work aims to investigate the significance of thermal contact area between fins and tubes in a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger type selected for the study is a liquid-gas fin and tube heat exchanger. Four different cases namely I, II, III, and IV, based on a variable degree of thermal...... contact between fins and tubes are investigated. Case-I with 100% thermal contact area between the fin and tube is set as a reference to cases-II, III, and IV with a thermal contact area of approximately 70%, 50%, and 35%, respectively. Three-dimensional (3D) steady-state numerical models based on finite...... and to compare the performance of heat exchanger design in different cases. Comparative analysis indicates a significant influence of the degree of the thermal contact area between fin and tube on the overall performance. Case-I is found to have higher overall heat transfer coefficient of 47.332 W/(m2 K), higher...

  1. Angular-contact ball-bearing internal load estimation algorithm using runtime adaptive relaxation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medina, H.; Mutu, R.

    2017-07-01

    An algorithm to estimate internal loads for single-row angular contact ball bearings due to externally applied thrust loads and high-operating speeds is presented. A new runtime adaptive relaxation procedure and blending function is proposed which ensures algorithm stability whilst also reducing the number of iterations needed to reach convergence, leading to an average reduction in computation time in excess of approximately 80%. The model is validated based on a 218 angular contact bearing and shows excellent agreement compared to published results.

  2. Studying the Transient Thermal Contact Conductance Between the Exhaust Valve and Its Seat Using the Inverse Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nezhad, Mohsen Motahari; Shojaeefard, Mohammad Hassan; Shahraki, Saeid

    2016-02-01

    In this study, the experiments aimed at analyzing thermally the exhaust valve in an air-cooled internal combustion engine and estimating the thermal contact conductance in fixed and periodic contacts. Due to the nature of internal combustion engines, the duration of contact between the valve and its seat is too short, and much time is needed to reach the quasi-steady state in the periodic contact between the exhaust valve and its seat. Using the methods of linear extrapolation and the inverse solution, the surface contact temperatures and the fixed and periodic thermal contact conductance were calculated. The results of linear extrapolation and inverse methods have similar trends, and based on the error analysis, they are accurate enough to estimate the thermal contact conductance. Moreover, due to the error analysis, a linear extrapolation method using inverse ratio is preferred. The effects of pressure, contact frequency, heat flux, and cooling air speed on thermal contact conductance have been investigated. The results show that by increasing the contact pressure the thermal contact conductance increases substantially. In addition, by increasing the engine speed the thermal contact conductance decreases. On the other hand, by boosting the air speed the thermal contact conductance increases, and by raising the heat flux the thermal contact conductance reduces. The average calculated error equals to 12.9 %.

  3. Improvement and evaluation of thermal, electrical, sealing and mechanical contacts, and their interface materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Xiangcheng

    Material contacts, including thermal, electrical, seating (fluid sealing and electromagnetic sealing) and mechanical (pressure) contacts, together with their interface materials, were, evaluated, and in some cases, improved beyond the state of the art. The evaluation involved the use of thermal, electrical and mechanical methods. For thermal contacts, this work evaluated and improved the heat transfer efficiency between two contacting components by developing various thermal interface pastes. Sodium silicate based thermal pastes (with boron nitride particles as the thermally conductive filler) as well as polyethylene glycol (PEG) based thermal pastes were developed and evaluated. The optimum volume fractions of BN in sodium silicate based pastes and PEG based pastes were 16% and 18% respectively. The contribution of Li+ ions to the thermal contact conductance in the PEG-based paste was confirmed. For electrical contacts, the relationship between the mechanical reliability and electrical reliability of solder/copper and silver-epoxy/copper joints was addressed. Mechanical pull-out testing was conducted on solder/copper and silver-epoxy/copper joints, while the contact electrical resistivity was measured. Cleansing of the copper surface was more effective for the reliability of silver-epoxy/copper joint than that of solder/copper joint. For sealing contacts, this work evaluated flexible graphite as an electromagnetic shielding gasket material. Flexible graphite was found to be at least comparable to conductive filled silicone (the state of the art) in terms of the shielding effectiveness. The conformability of flexible graphite with its mating metal surface under repeated compression was characterized by monitoring the contact electrical resistance, as the conformability is important to both electromagnetic scaling and fluid waling using flexible graphite. For mechanical contacts, this work focused on the correlation of the interface structure (such as elastic

  4. An algorithm for nonlinear thermal analysis of fuel bearing pads

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Attia, M.H.; D'Silva, N.

    1983-01-01

    An algorithm has been developed for accurate prediction of the temperature field in a CANDU fuel bearing pad and the extent of the nucleate boiling in the crevice region. The methodology recognizes the nonlinear nature of the problem due to the fact that local boiling is both controlling and being controlled by the conditions of heat transfer at the boundaries. The finite difference model accounts for the volumetric effect of the thermal contact resistance at the bearing pad/pressure tube interface. It also allows the evaluation of the thermal barrier effect caused by applying an oxide film on the radiused surface of the bearing pad. Information pertaining to the distribution of the coefficient of heat transfer over water-cooled surfaces has been generated. Analysis of the results indicated the significance of considering the nonlinear behaviour of the system in determining its state of equilibrium. It also indicated that, depending on the thickness of the oxide layer and the position of the bearing pad along the core of the reactor, the nucleate boiling process can be prevented

  5. Contact Modelling in Resistance Welding, Part II: Experimental Validation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Song, Quanfeng; Zhang, Wenqi; Bay, Niels

    2006-01-01

    Contact algorithms in resistance welding presented in the previous paper are experimentally validated in the present paper. In order to verify the mechanical contact algorithm, two types of experiments, i.e. sandwich upsetting of circular, cylindrical specimens and compression tests of discs...... with a solid ring projection towards a flat ring, are carried out at room temperature. The complete algorithm, involving not only the mechanical model but also the thermal and electrical models, is validated by projection welding experiments. The experimental results are in satisfactory agreement...

  6. Metallized compliant 3D microstructures for dry contact thermal conductance enhancement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Jin; Wang, Jicheng; Zhong, Yang; Pan, Liang; Weibel, Justin A.

    2018-05-01

    Microstructured three-dimensional (3D) materials can be engineered to enable new capabilities for various engineering applications; however, microfabrication of large 3D structures is typically expensive due to the conventional top-down fabrication scheme. Herein we demonstrated the use of projection micro-stereolithography and electrodeposition as cost-effective and high-throughput methods to fabricate compliant 3D microstructures as a thermal interface material (TIM). This novel TIM structure consists of an array of metallized micro-springs designed to enhance the dry contact thermal conductance between nonflat surfaces under low interface pressures (10s-100s kPa). Mechanical compliance and thermal resistance measurements confirm that this dry contact TIM can achieve conformal contact between mating surfaces with a nonflatness of approximately 5 µm under low interface pressures.

  7. Experimental determination of thermal contact conductance between pressure and calandria tubes of Indian pressurised heavy water reactors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dureja, A.K., E-mail: akdureja@barc.gov.in [Reactor Design & Development Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (India); Pawaskar, D.N.; Seshu, P. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai (India); Sinha, S.K. [Reactor Design & Development Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (India); Sinha, R.K. [Department of Atomic Energy, OYC, Near Gateway of India, Mumbai (India)

    2015-04-01

    Highlights: • We established an experimental facility to measure thermal contact conductance between disc shaped specimens. • We measured thermal contact conductance between Zr-2.5Nb alloy pressure tube (PT) material and Zr-4 calandria tube (CT) material. • We concluded that thermal contact conductance is a linear function of contact pressure for interface of PT and CT up to 10 MPa contact pressure. • We concluded that thermal contact conductance is a weak function of interface temperature. - Abstract: Thermal contact conductance (TCC) is one of the most important parameters in determining the temperature distribution in contacting structures. Thermal contact conductance between the contacting structures depends on the mechanical properties of underlying materials, thermo-physical properties of the interstitial fluid and surface condition of the structures coming in contact. During a postulated accident scenario of loss of coolant with coincident loss of emergency core cooling system in a tube type heavy water nuclear reactor, the pressure tube is expected to sag/balloon and come in contact with outer cooler calandria tube to dissipate away the heat generated to the moderator. The amount of heat thus transferred is a function of thermal contact conductance and the nature of contact between the two tubes. An experimental facility was designed, fabricated and commissioned to measure thermal contact conductance between pressure tube and calandria tube specimens. Experiments were conducted on disc shaped specimens under axial contact pressure in between mandrels. Experimental results of TCC and a linear correlation as a function of contact pressure have been reported in this paper.

  8. Algorithm describing pressure distribution of non-contact TNT explosion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radosław Kiciński

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available [b]Abstract[/b]. The aim of this study is to develop a computational algorithm, describing the shock wave pressure distribution in the space induced by non-contact TNT explosion. The procedure describes pressure distribution on a damp surface of the hull. Simulations have been carried out using Abaqus/CAE. The study also shows the pressure waveform descriptions provided by various authors and presents them in charts. The formulated conclusions convince efficiency of the algorithm application.[b]Keywords:[/b] Underwater explosion, shock wave, CAE, TNT, Kobben class submarine

  9. Development of a Thermal Equilibrium Prediction Algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aviles-Ramos, Cuauhtemoc

    2002-01-01

    A thermal equilibrium prediction algorithm is developed and tested using a heat conduction model and data sets from calorimetric measurements. The physical model used in this study is the exact solution of a system of two partial differential equations that govern the heat conduction in the calorimeter. A multi-parameter estimation technique is developed and implemented to estimate the effective volumetric heat generation and thermal diffusivity in the calorimeter measurement chamber, and the effective thermal diffusivity of the heat flux sensor. These effective properties and the exact solution are used to predict the heat flux sensor voltage readings at thermal equilibrium. Thermal equilibrium predictions are carried out considering only 20% of the total measurement time required for thermal equilibrium. A comparison of the predicted and experimental thermal equilibrium voltages shows that the average percentage error from 330 data sets is only 0.1%. The data sets used in this study come from calorimeters of different sizes that use different kinds of heat flux sensors. Furthermore, different nuclear material matrices were assayed in the process of generating these data sets. This study shows that the integration of this algorithm into the calorimeter data acquisition software will result in an 80% reduction of measurement time. This reduction results in a significant cutback in operational costs for the calorimetric assay of nuclear materials. (authors)

  10. A highly accurate dynamic contact angle algorithm for drops on inclined surface based on ellipse-fitting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Z N; Wang, S Y

    2015-02-01

    To improve the accuracy in the calculation of dynamic contact angle for drops on the inclined surface, a significant number of numerical drop profiles on the inclined surface with different inclination angles, drop volumes, and contact angles are generated based on the finite difference method, a least-squares ellipse-fitting algorithm is used to calculate the dynamic contact angle. The influences of the above three factors are systematically investigated. The results reveal that the dynamic contact angle errors, including the errors of the left and right contact angles, evaluated by the ellipse-fitting algorithm tend to increase with inclination angle/drop volume/contact angle. If the drop volume and the solid substrate are fixed, the errors of the left and right contact angles increase with inclination angle. After performing a tremendous amount of computation, the critical dimensionless drop volumes corresponding to the critical contact angle error are obtained. Based on the values of the critical volumes, a highly accurate dynamic contact angle algorithm is proposed and fully validated. Within nearly the whole hydrophobicity range, it can decrease the dynamic contact angle error in the inclined plane method to less than a certain value even for different types of liquids.

  11. ACME - Algorithms for Contact in a Multiphysics Environment API Version 1.0

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    BROWN, KEVIN H.; SUMMERS, RANDALL M.; GLASS, MICHEAL W.; GULLERUD, ARNE S.; HEINSTEIN, MARTIN W.; JONES, REESE E.

    2001-01-01

    An effort is underway at Sandia National Laboratories to develop a library of algorithms to search for potential interactions between surfaces represented by analytic and discretized topological entities. This effort is also developing algorithms to determine forces due to these interactions for transient dynamics applications. This document describes the Application Programming Interface (API) for the ACME (Algorithms for Contact in a Multiphysics Environment) library

  12. Impact of measurable physical phenomena on contact thermal comfort

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fojtlín, Miloš; Pokorný, Jan; Fišer, Jan; Toma, Róbert; Tuhovčák, Ján

    Cabin HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air-conditioning) systems have become an essential part of personal vehicles as demands for comfortable transport are still rising. In fact, 85 % of the car trips in Europe are shorter than 18 km and last only up to 30 minutes. Under such conditions, the HVAC unit cannot often ensure desired cabin environment and passengers are prone to experience thermal stress. For this reason, additional comfort systems, such as heated or ventilated seats, are available on the market. However, there is no straightforward method to evaluate thermal comfort at the contact surfaces nowadays. The aim of this work is to summarise information about heated and ventilated seats. These technologies use electrical heating and fan driven air to contact area in order to achieve enhanced comfort. It is also expected, that such measures may contribute to lower energy consumption. Yet, in real conditions it is almost impossible to measure the airflow through the ventilated seat directly. Therefore, there is a need for an approach that would correlate measurable physical phenomena with thermal comfort. For this reason, a method that exploits a measurement of temperatures and humidity at the contact area is proposed. Preliminary results that correlate comfort with measurable physical phenomena are demonstrated.

  13. Impact of measurable physical phenomena on contact thermal comfort

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fojtlín Miloš

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Cabin HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air-conditioning systems have become an essential part of personal vehicles as demands for comfortable transport are still rising. In fact, 85 % of the car trips in Europe are shorter than 18 km and last only up to 30 minutes. Under such conditions, the HVAC unit cannot often ensure desired cabin environment and passengers are prone to experience thermal stress. For this reason, additional comfort systems, such as heated or ventilated seats, are available on the market. However, there is no straightforward method to evaluate thermal comfort at the contact surfaces nowadays. The aim of this work is to summarise information about heated and ventilated seats. These technologies use electrical heating and fan driven air to contact area in order to achieve enhanced comfort. It is also expected, that such measures may contribute to lower energy consumption. Yet, in real conditions it is almost impossible to measure the airflow through the ventilated seat directly. Therefore, there is a need for an approach that would correlate measurable physical phenomena with thermal comfort. For this reason, a method that exploits a measurement of temperatures and humidity at the contact area is proposed. Preliminary results that correlate comfort with measurable physical phenomena are demonstrated.

  14. A Novel Algorithm for Determining Contact Area Between a Respirator and a Headform

    OpenAIRE

    Lei, Zhipeng; Yang, James; Zhuang, Ziqing

    2014-01-01

    The contact area, as well as the contact pressure, is created when a respiratory protection device (a respirator or surgical mask) contacts a human face. A computer-based algorithm for determining the contact area between a headform and N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) was proposed. Six N95 FFRs were applied to five sizes of standard headforms (large, medium, small, long/narrow, and short/wide) to simulate respirator donning. After the contact simulation between a headform and an N95 ...

  15. A noise-resistant ADSA-PH algorithm for superhydrophobic surface’s static contact angle evaluation

    OpenAIRE

    Z. N. Xu

    2017-01-01

    The blur around the contact points significantly decreases the evaluated static contact angle for superhydrophobic surface which is clearly presented in the paper. To improve the accuracy in the evaluated static contact angle for superhydrophobic surface, an accurate static contact angle algorithm, namely ADSA-PH (axisymmetric drop shape analysis-profile and height), is proposed. It discards the extracted drop edge points close to the contact points and makes use of the residual points and th...

  16. Impedance learning for robotic contact tasks using natural actor-critic algorithm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Byungchan; Park, Jooyoung; Park, Shinsuk; Kang, Sungchul

    2010-04-01

    Compared with their robotic counterparts, humans excel at various tasks by using their ability to adaptively modulate arm impedance parameters. This ability allows us to successfully perform contact tasks even in uncertain environments. This paper considers a learning strategy of motor skill for robotic contact tasks based on a human motor control theory and machine learning schemes. Our robot learning method employs impedance control based on the equilibrium point control theory and reinforcement learning to determine the impedance parameters for contact tasks. A recursive least-square filter-based episodic natural actor-critic algorithm is used to find the optimal impedance parameters. The effectiveness of the proposed method was tested through dynamic simulations of various contact tasks. The simulation results demonstrated that the proposed method optimizes the performance of the contact tasks in uncertain conditions of the environment.

  17. A parallel algorithm for transient solid dynamics simulations with contact detection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Attaway, S.; Hendrickson, B.; Plimpton, S.; Gardner, D.; Vaughan, C.; Heinstein, M.; Peery, J.

    1996-01-01

    Solid dynamics simulations with Lagrangian finite elements are used to model a wide variety of problems, such as the calculation of impact damage to shipping containers for nuclear waste and the analysis of vehicular crashes. Using parallel computers for these simulations has been hindered by the difficulty of searching efficiently for material surface contacts in parallel. A new parallel algorithm for calculation of arbitrary material contacts in finite element simulations has been developed and implemented in the PRONTO3D transient solid dynamics code. This paper will explore some of the issues involved in developing efficient, portable, parallel finite element models for nonlinear transient solid dynamics simulations. The contact-detection problem poses interesting challenges for efficient implementation of a solid dynamics simulation on a parallel computer. The finite element mesh is typically partitioned so that each processor owns a localized region of the finite element mesh. This mesh partitioning is optimal for the finite element portion of the calculation since each processor must communicate only with the few connected neighboring processors that share boundaries with the decomposed mesh. However, contacts can occur between surfaces that may be owned by any two arbitrary processors. Hence, a global search across all processors is required at every time step to search for these contacts. Load-imbalance can become a problem since the finite element decomposition divides the volumetric mesh evenly across processors but typically leaves the surface elements unevenly distributed. In practice, these complications have been limiting factors in the performance and scalability of transient solid dynamics on massively parallel computers. In this paper the authors present a new parallel algorithm for contact detection that overcomes many of these limitations

  18. High thermally stable Ni /Ag(Al) alloy contacts on p-GaN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chou, C. H.; Lin, C. L.; Chuang, Y. C.; Bor, H. Y.; Liu, C. Y.

    2007-01-01

    Ag agglomeration was found to occur at Ni /Ag to p-GaN contacts after annealing at 500°C. This Ag agglomeration led to the poor thermal stability showed by the Ni /Ag contacts in relation to the reflectivity and electrical properties. However, after alloying with 10at.% Al by e-gun deposition, the Ni /Ag(Al) p-GaN contacts were found to effectively retard Ag agglomeration thereby greatly enhancing the thermal stability. Based on the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, the authors believe that the key for the retardation of Ag agglomeration was the formation of ternary Al-Ni-O layer at p-GaN interface.

  19. Alternative solution algorithm for coupled thermal-hydraulic problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farnsworth, D.A.; Rice, J.G.

    1986-01-01

    A thermal-hydraulic system involves flow of a fluid for which a combined solution of the continuity, momentum, and energy equations is required. When the solutions of the energy and momentum fields are dependent on each other, the system is said to be thermally coupled. A common problem encountered in the numerical solution of strongly coupled thermal-hydraulic problems is a very slow rate of convergence or a complete lack of convergence. Many times this degradation in convergence is due to the lack of true coupling between the energy and momentum fields during the iteration process. In the most widely used solution algorithms - such as the SIMPLE algorithm and its many variants - a sequential solution technique is required. That is, the solution process alternates between the flow and energy fields until a converged solution is obtained. This approach allows only implicit energy-momentum coupling. To improve the convergence rate for strongly coupled problems, a practical solution algorithm that can accommodate true energy-momentum coupling terms was developed. A complete simultaneous (versus sequential) solution of the governing conservation equations utilizing a line-by-line solution was developed and direct coupling terms between the momentum and energy fields were added utilizing a modified Newton-Raphson technique

  20. Thermal resistance of indium coated sapphire–copper contacts below 0.1K

    CERN Document Server

    Eisel, T; Koettig, T

    2014-01-01

    High thermal resistances exist at ultra-low temperatures for solid-solid interfaces. This is especially true for pressed metal-sapphire joints, where the heat is transferred by phonons only. For such pressed joints it is difficult to achieve good physical, i.e. thermal contacts due to surface irregularities in the microscopic or larger scale. Applying ductile indium as an intermediate layer reduces the thermal resistance of such contacts. This could be proven by measurements of several researchers. However, the majority of the measurements were performed at temperatures higher than 1 K. Consequently, it is difficult to predict the thermal resistance of pressed metal-sapphire joints at temperatures below 1 K. In this paper the thermal resistances across four different copper-sapphire-copper sandwiches are presented in a temperature range between 30 mK and 100 mK. The investigated sandwiches feature either rough or polished sapphire discs (empty set 20 mm x 1.5 mm) to investigate the phonon scattering at the bo...

  1. Structural evolution of tunneling oxide passivating contact upon thermal annealing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Sungjin; Min, Kwan Hong; Jeong, Myeong Sang; Lee, Jeong In; Kang, Min Gu; Song, Hee-Eun; Kang, Yoonmook; Lee, Hae-Seok; Kim, Donghwan; Kim, Ka-Hyun

    2017-10-16

    We report on the structural evolution of tunneling oxide passivating contact (TOPCon) for high efficient solar cells upon thermal annealing. The evolution of doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) into polycrystalline-silicon (poly-Si) by thermal annealing was accompanied with significant structural changes. Annealing at 600 °C for one minute introduced an increase in the implied open circuit voltage (V oc ) due to the hydrogen motion, but the implied V oc decreased again at 600 °C for five minutes. At annealing temperature above 800 °C, a-Si:H crystallized and formed poly-Si and thickness of tunneling oxide slightly decreased. The thickness of the interface tunneling oxide gradually decreased and the pinholes are formed through the tunneling oxide at a higher annealing temperature up to 1000 °C, which introduced the deteriorated carrier selectivity of the TOPCon structure. Our results indicate a correlation between the structural evolution of the TOPCon passivating contact and its passivation property at different stages of structural transition from the a-Si:H to the poly-Si as well as changes in the thickness profile of the tunneling oxide upon thermal annealing. Our result suggests that there is an optimum thickness of the tunneling oxide for passivating electron contact, in a range between 1.2 to 1.5 nm.

  2. Thermal stability of Ni/Ti/Al ohmic contacts to p-type 4H-SiC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, Hailong; Shen, Huajun, E-mail: shenhuajun@ime.ac.cn; Tang, Yidan; Bai, Yun; Liu, Xinyu [Microwave Device and IC Department, Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029 (China); Zhang, Xufang [School of Physical Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Wu, Yudong; Liu, Kean [Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric Co., Ltd, ZhuZhou 412001 (China)

    2015-01-14

    Low resistivity Ni/Ti/Al ohmic contacts on p-type 4H-SiC epilayer were developed, and their thermal stabilities were also experimentally investigated through high temperature storage at 600 °C for 100 h. The contact resistance of the Al/Ti/Ni/SiC contacts degraded in different degrees, and the contact morphology deteriorated with the increases of the average surface roughness and interface voids. X-ray spectra showed that Ni{sub 2}Si and Ti{sub 3}SiC{sub 2}, which were formed during ohmic contact annealing and contributed to low contact resistivity, were stable under high temperature storage. The existence of the TiAl{sub 3} and NiAl{sub 3} intermetallic phases was helpful to prevent Al agglomeration on the interface and make the contacts thermally stable. Auger electron spectroscopy indicated that the incorporation of oxygen at the surface and interface led to the oxidation of Al or Ti resulting in increased contact resistance. Also, the formation of these oxides roughened the surface and interface. The temperature-dependence of the specific contact resistance indicated that a thermionic field emission mechanism dominates the current transport for contacts before and after the thermal treatment. It suggests that the Ni/Ti/Al composite ohmic contacts are promising for SiC devices to be used in high temperature applications.

  3. Effect of Length, Diameter, Chirality, Deformation, and Strain on Contact Thermal Conductance between Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varshney, Vikas; Lee, Jonghoon; Brown, Joshua S.; Farmer, Barry L.; Voevodin, Andrey A.; Roy, Ajit K.

    2018-04-01

    Thermal energy transfer across physically interacting single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) interconnects has been investigated using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. The role of various geometrical and structural (length, diameter, chirality) as well as external (deformation and strain) carbon nanotube (CNT) parameters has been explored to estimate total as well as area-normalized thermal conductance across cross-contact interconnects. It is shown that the CNT aspect ratio and degree of lateral as well as tensile deformation play a significant role in determining the extent of thermal energy exchange across CNT contacts, while CNT chirality has a negligible influence on thermal transport. Depending on the CNT diameter, aspect ratio, and degree of deformation at the contact interface, the thermal conductance values can vary significantly –by more than an order of magnitude for total conductance and a factor of 3 to 4 for area-normalized conductance. The observed trends are discussed from the perspective of modulation in number of low frequency out-of-plane (transverse, flexural, and radial) phonons that transmit thermal energy across the contact and govern the conductance across the interface. The established general dependencies for phonon governed thermal transport at CNT contacts are anticipated to help design and performance prediction of CNT-based flexible nanoelectronic devices, where CNT-CNT contact deformation and strain are routinely encountered during device operations.

  4. A novel algorithm for determining contact area between a respirator and a headform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lei, Zhipeng; Yang, James; Zhuang, Ziqing

    2014-01-01

    The contact area, as well as the contact pressure, is created when a respiratory protection device (a respirator or surgical mask) contacts a human face. A computer-based algorithm for determining the contact area between a headform and N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) was proposed. Six N95 FFRs were applied to five sizes of standard headforms (large, medium, small, long/narrow, and short/wide) to simulate respirator donning. After the contact simulation between a headform and an N95 FFR was conducted, a contact area was determined by extracting the intersection surfaces of the headform and the N95 FFR. Using computer-aided design tools, a superimposed contact area and an average contact area, which are non-uniform rational basis spline (NURBS) surfaces, were developed for each headform. Experiments that directly measured dimensions of the contact areas between headform prototypes and N95 FFRs were used to validate the simulation results. Headform sizes influenced all contact area dimensions (P contact area dimensions (P contact area, while the large and small headforms produced the smallest.

  5. Design optimization and analysis of selected thermal devices using self-adaptive Jaya algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rao, R.V.; More, K.C.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Self-adaptive Jaya algorithm is proposed for optimal design of thermal devices. • Optimization of heat pipe, cooling tower, heat sink and thermo-acoustic prime mover is presented. • Results of the proposed algorithm are better than the other optimization techniques. • The proposed algorithm may be conveniently used for the optimization of other devices. - Abstract: The present study explores the use of an improved Jaya algorithm called self-adaptive Jaya algorithm for optimal design of selected thermal devices viz; heat pipe, cooling tower, honeycomb heat sink and thermo-acoustic prime mover. Four different optimization case studies of the selected thermal devices are presented. The researchers had attempted the same design problems in the past using niched pareto genetic algorithm (NPGA), response surface method (RSM), leap-frog optimization program with constraints (LFOPC) algorithm, teaching-learning based optimization (TLBO) algorithm, grenade explosion method (GEM) and multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA). The results achieved by using self-adaptive Jaya algorithm are compared with those achieved by using the NPGA, RSM, LFOPC, TLBO, GEM and MOGA algorithms. The self-adaptive Jaya algorithm is proved superior as compared to the other optimization methods in terms of the results, computational effort and function evalutions.

  6. An Experimental Study on Heat Conduction and Thermal Contact Resistance for the AlN Flake

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huann-Ming Chou

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The electrical technology has been a fast development over the past decades. Moreover, the tendency of microelements and dense division multiplex is significantly for the electrical industries. Therefore, the high thermal conductible and electrical insulating device will be popular and important. It is well known that AlN still maintains stablility in the high temperature. This is quite attractive for the research and development department. Moreover, the thermal conduct coefficient of AlN is several times larger than the others. Therefore, it has been thought to play an important role for the radiator of heat source in the future. Therefore, this paper is focused on the studies of heat conduction and thermal contact resistance between the AlN flake and the copper specimens. The heating temperatures and the contact pressures were selected as the experimental parameters. According to the experimental results, the materials are soft and the real contact areas between the interfaces significantly increase under higher temperatures. As a result, the thermal contact resistance significantly decreases and the heat transfer rate increases with increasing the heating temperature or the contact pressures.

  7. Hydro-Thermal-Wind Generation Scheduling Considering Economic and Environmental Factors Using Heuristic Algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suresh K. Damodaran

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Hydro-thermal-wind generation scheduling (HTWGS with economic and environmental factors is a multi-objective complex nonlinear power system optimization problem with many equality and inequality constraints. The objective of the problem is to generate an hour-by-hour optimum schedule of hydro-thermal-wind power plants to attain the least emission of pollutants from thermal plants and a reduced generation cost of thermal and wind plants for a 24-h period, satisfying the system constraints. The paper presents a detailed framework of the HTWGS problem and proposes a modified particle swarm optimization (MPSO algorithm for evolving a solution. The competency of selected heuristic algorithms, representing different heuristic groups, viz. the binary coded genetic algorithm (BCGA, particle swarm optimization (PSO, improved harmony search (IHS, and JAYA algorithm, for searching for an optimal solution to HTWGS considering economic and environmental factors was investigated in a trial system consisting of a multi-stream cascaded system with four reservoirs, three thermal plants, and two wind plants. Appropriate mathematical models were used for representing the water discharge, generation cost, and pollutant emission of respective power plants incorporated in the system. Statistical analysis was performed to check the consistency and reliability of the proposed algorithm. The simulation results indicated that the proposed MPSO algorithm provided a better solution to the problem of HTWGS, with a reduced generation cost and the least emission, when compared with the other heuristic algorithms considered.

  8. An efficient randomized algorithm for contact-based NMR backbone resonance assignment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamisetty, Hetunandan; Bailey-Kellogg, Chris; Pandurangan, Gopal

    2006-01-15

    Backbone resonance assignment is a critical bottleneck in studies of protein structure, dynamics and interactions by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. A minimalist approach to assignment, which we call 'contact-based', seeks to dramatically reduce experimental time and expense by replacing the standard suite of through-bond experiments with the through-space (nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy, NOESY) experiment. In the contact-based approach, spectral data are represented in a graph with vertices for putative residues (of unknown relation to the primary sequence) and edges for hypothesized NOESY interactions, such that observed spectral peaks could be explained if the residues were 'close enough'. Due to experimental ambiguity, several incorrect edges can be hypothesized for each spectral peak. An assignment is derived by identifying consistent patterns of edges (e.g. for alpha-helices and beta-sheets) within a graph and by mapping the vertices to the primary sequence. The key algorithmic challenge is to be able to uncover these patterns even when they are obscured by significant noise. This paper develops, analyzes and applies a novel algorithm for the identification of polytopes representing consistent patterns of edges in a corrupted NOESY graph. Our randomized algorithm aggregates simplices into polytopes and fixes inconsistencies with simple local modifications, called rotations, that maintain most of the structure already uncovered. In characterizing the effects of experimental noise, we employ an NMR-specific random graph model in proving that our algorithm gives optimal performance in expected polynomial time, even when the input graph is significantly corrupted. We confirm this analysis in simulation studies with graphs corrupted by up to 500% noise. Finally, we demonstrate the practical application of the algorithm on several experimental beta-sheet datasets. Our approach is able to eliminate a large majority of noise edges and to

  9. Non-Contact Thermal Properties Measurement with Low-Power Laser and IR Camera System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudson, Troy L.; Hecht, Michael H.

    2011-01-01

    As shown by the Phoenix Mars Lander's Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe (TECP), contact measurements of thermal conductivity and diffusivity (using a modified flux-plate or line-source heat-pulse method) are constrained by a number of factors. Robotic resources must be used to place the probe, making them unavailable for other operations for the duration of the measurement. The range of placement is also limited by mobility, particularly in the case of a lander. Placement is also subject to irregularities in contact quality, resulting in non-repeatable heat transfer to the material under test. Most important from a scientific perspective, the varieties of materials which can be measured are limited to unconsolidated or weakly-cohesive regolith materials, rocks, and ices being too hard for nominal insertion strengths. Accurately measuring thermal properties in the laboratory requires significant experimental finesse, involving sample preparation, controlled and repeatable procedures, and, practically, instrumentation much more voluminous than the sample being tested (heater plates, insulation, temperature sensors). Remote measurements (infrared images from orbiting spacecraft) can reveal composite properties like thermal inertia, but suffer both from a large footprint (low spatial resolution) and convolution of the thermal properties of a potentially layered medium. In situ measurement techniques (the Phoenix TECP is the only robotic measurement of thermal properties to date) suffer from problems of placement range, placement quality, occupation of robotic resources, and the ability to only measure materials of low mechanical strength. A spacecraft needs the ability to perform a non-contact thermal properties measurement in situ. Essential components include low power consumption, leveraging of existing or highly-developed flight technologies, and mechanical simplicity. This new in situ method, by virtue of its being non-contact, bypasses all of these

  10. Contact detection acceleration in pebble flow simulation for pebble bed reactor systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Y.; Ji, W. [Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering Rensselaer, Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th street, Troy, NY 12180 (United States)

    2013-07-01

    Pebble flow simulation plays an important role in the steady state and transient analysis of thermal-hydraulics and neutronics for Pebble Bed Reactors (PBR). The Discrete Element Method (DEM) and the modified Molecular Dynamics (MD) method are widely used to simulate the pebble motion to obtain the distribution of pebble concentration, velocity, and maximum contact stress. Although DEM and MD present high accuracy in the pebble flow simulation, they are quite computationally expensive due to the large quantity of pebbles to be simulated in a typical PBR and the ubiquitous contacts and collisions between neighboring pebbles that need to be detected frequently in the simulation, which greatly restricted their applicability for large scale PBR designs such as PBMR400. Since the contact detection accounts for more than 60% of the overall CPU time in the pebble flow simulation, the acceleration of the contact detection can greatly enhance the overall efficiency. In the present work, based on the design features of PBRs, two contact detection algorithms, the basic cell search algorithm and the bounding box search algorithm are investigated and applied to pebble contact detection. The influence from the PBR system size, core geometry and the searching cell size on the contact detection efficiency is presented. Our results suggest that for present PBR applications, the bounding box algorithm is less sensitive to the aforementioned effects and has superior performance in pebble contact detection compared with basic cell search algorithm. (authors)

  11. Contact detection acceleration in pebble flow simulation for pebble bed reactor systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Y.; Ji, W.

    2013-01-01

    Pebble flow simulation plays an important role in the steady state and transient analysis of thermal-hydraulics and neutronics for Pebble Bed Reactors (PBR). The Discrete Element Method (DEM) and the modified Molecular Dynamics (MD) method are widely used to simulate the pebble motion to obtain the distribution of pebble concentration, velocity, and maximum contact stress. Although DEM and MD present high accuracy in the pebble flow simulation, they are quite computationally expensive due to the large quantity of pebbles to be simulated in a typical PBR and the ubiquitous contacts and collisions between neighboring pebbles that need to be detected frequently in the simulation, which greatly restricted their applicability for large scale PBR designs such as PBMR400. Since the contact detection accounts for more than 60% of the overall CPU time in the pebble flow simulation, the acceleration of the contact detection can greatly enhance the overall efficiency. In the present work, based on the design features of PBRs, two contact detection algorithms, the basic cell search algorithm and the bounding box search algorithm are investigated and applied to pebble contact detection. The influence from the PBR system size, core geometry and the searching cell size on the contact detection efficiency is presented. Our results suggest that for present PBR applications, the bounding box algorithm is less sensitive to the aforementioned effects and has superior performance in pebble contact detection compared with basic cell search algorithm. (authors)

  12. Lighting system with thermal management system having point contact synthetic jets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arik, Mehmet; Weaver, Stanton Earl; Kuenzler, Glenn Howard; Wolfe, Jr., Charles Franklin; Sharma, Rajdeep

    2013-12-10

    Lighting system having unique configurations are provided. For instance, the lighting system may include a light source, a thermal management system and driver electronics, each contained within a housing structure. The light source is configured to provide illumination visible through an opening in the housing structure. The thermal management system includes a plurality of synthetic jets. The synthetic jets are arranged within the lighting system such that they are secured at contact points.

  13. Effects of service condition on rolling contact fatigue failure mechanism and lifetime of thermal spray coatings—A review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Huawei; Cui, Xiufang; Wang, Haidou; Xing, Zhiguo; Jin, Guo

    2015-01-01

    The service condition determines the Rolling Contact Fatigue(RCF) failure mechanism and lifetime under ascertain material structure integrity parameter of thermal spray coating. The available literature on the RCF testing of thermal spray coatings under various condition services is considerable; it is generally difficult to synthesize all of the result to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the parameters which has a great effect on a thermal spray coating's resistance of RCF. The effects of service conditions(lubrication states, contact stresses, revolve speed, and slip ratio) on the changing of thermal spray coatings' contact fatigue lifetime is introduced systematically. The effects of different service condition on RCF failure mechanism of thermal spray coating from the change of material structure integrity are also summarized. Moreover, In order to enhance the RCF performance, the parameter optimal design formula of service condition and material structure integrity is proposed based on the effect of service condition on thermal spray coatings' contact fatigue lifetime and RCF failure mechanism. The shortage of available literature and the forecast focus in future researches are discussed based on available research. The explicit result of RCF lifetime law and parameter optimal design formula in term of lubrication states, contact stresses, revolve speed, and slip ratio, is significant to improve the RCF performance on the engineering application.

  14. Kalker's algorithm Fastsim solves tangential contact problems with slip-dependent friction and friction anisotropy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piotrowski, J.

    2010-07-01

    This paper presents two extensions of Kalker's algorithm Fastsim of the simplified theory of rolling contact. The first extension is for solving tangential contact problems with the coefficient of friction depending on slip velocity. Two friction laws have been considered: with and without recuperation of the static friction. According to the tribological hypothesis for metallic bodies shear failure, the friction law without recuperation of static friction is more suitable for wheel and rail than the other one. Sample results present local quantities inside the contact area (division to slip and adhesion, traction) as well as global ones (creep forces as functions of creepages and rolling velocity). For the coefficient of friction diminishing with slip, the creep forces decay after reaching the maximum and they depend on the rolling velocity. The second extension is for solving tangential contact problems with friction anisotropy characterised by a convex set of the permissible tangential tractions. The effect of the anisotropy has been shown on examples of rolling without spin and in the presence of pure spin for the elliptical set. The friction anisotropy influences tangential tractions and creep forces. Sample results present local and global quantities. Both extensions have been described with the same language of formulation and they may be merged into one, joint algorithm.

  15. A recursive economic dispatch algorithm for assessing the cost of thermal generator schedules

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wong, K.P.; Doan, K.

    1992-01-01

    This paper develops an efficient, recursive algorithm for determining the economic power dispatch of thermal generators within the unit commitment environment. A method for incorporating the operation limits of all on-line generators and limits due to ramping generators is developed in the paper. The developed algorithm is amenable for computer implementation using the artificial intelligence programming language, Prolog. The performance of the developed algorithm is demonstrated through its application to evaluate the costs of dispatching 13 thermal generators within a generator schedule in a 24-hour schedule horizon

  16. Automatic contact algorithm in ppercase[dyna3d] for crashworthiness and impact problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Whirley, Robert G.; Engelmann, Bruce E.

    1994-01-01

    This paper presents a new approach for the automatic definition and treatment of mechanical contact in explicit non-linear finite element analysis. Automatic contact offers the benefits of significantly reduced model construction time and fewer opportunities for user error, but faces significant challenges in reliability and computational costs. Key aspects of the proposed new method include automatic identification of adjacent and opposite surfaces in the global search phase, and the use of a well-defined surface normal which allows a consistent treatment of shell intersection and corner contact conditions without adhoc rules. The paper concludes with three examples which illustrate the performance of the newly proposed algorithm in the public ppercase[dyna3d] code. ((orig.))

  17. Binding Direction-Based Two-Dimensional Flattened Contact Area Computing Algorithm for Protein-Protein Interactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Beom Sik; Pugalendhi, GaneshKumar; Kim, Ku-Jin

    2017-10-13

    Interactions between protein molecules are essential for the assembly, function, and regulation of proteins. The contact region between two protein molecules in a protein complex is usually complementary in shape for both molecules and the area of the contact region can be used to estimate the binding strength between two molecules. Although the area is a value calculated from the three-dimensional surface, it cannot represent the three-dimensional shape of the surface. Therefore, we propose an original concept of two-dimensional contact area which provides further information such as the ruggedness of the contact region. We present a novel algorithm for calculating the binding direction between two molecules in a protein complex, and then suggest a method to compute the two-dimensional flattened area of the contact region between two molecules based on the binding direction.

  18. Binding Direction-Based Two-Dimensional Flattened Contact Area Computing Algorithm for Protein–Protein Interactions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beom Sik Kang

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Interactions between protein molecules are essential for the assembly, function, and regulation of proteins. The contact region between two protein molecules in a protein complex is usually complementary in shape for both molecules and the area of the contact region can be used to estimate the binding strength between two molecules. Although the area is a value calculated from the three-dimensional surface, it cannot represent the three-dimensional shape of the surface. Therefore, we propose an original concept of two-dimensional contact area which provides further information such as the ruggedness of the contact region. We present a novel algorithm for calculating the binding direction between two molecules in a protein complex, and then suggest a method to compute the two-dimensional flattened area of the contact region between two molecules based on the binding direction.

  19. Phonon Transport through Nanoscale Contact in Tip-Based Thermal Analysis of Nanomaterials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dulhani, Jay; Lee, Bong Jae

    2017-07-28

    Nanomaterials have been actively employed in various applications for energy and sustainability, such as biosensing, gas sensing, solar thermal energy conversion, passive radiative cooling, etc. Understanding thermal transports inside such nanomaterials is crucial for optimizing their performance for different applications. In order to probe the thermal transport inside nanomaterials or nanostructures, tip-based nanoscale thermometry has often been employed. It has been well known that phonon transport in nanometer scale is fundamentally different from that occurred in macroscale. Therefore, Fourier's law that relies on the diffusion approximation is not ideally suitable for describing the phonon transport occurred in nanostructures and/or through nanoscale contact. In the present study, the gray Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) is numerically solved using finite volume method. Based on the gray BTE, phonon transport through the constriction formed by a probe itself as well as the nanoscale contact between the probe tip and the specimen is investigated. The interaction of a probe and a specimen (i.e., treated as a substrate) is explored qualitatively by analyzing the temperature variation in the tip-substrate configuration. Besides, each contribution of a probe tip, tip-substrate interface, and a substrate to the thermal resistance are analyzed for wide ranges of the constriction ratio of the probe.

  20. Development of a thermal control algorithm using artificial neural network models for improved thermal comfort and energy efficiency in accommodation buildings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moon, Jin Woo; Jung, Sung Kwon

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • An ANN model for predicting optimal start moment of the cooling system was developed. • An ANN model for predicting the amount of cooling energy consumption was developed. • An optimal control algorithm was developed employing two ANN models. • The algorithm showed the advanced thermal comfort and energy efficiency. - Abstract: The aim of this study was to develop a control algorithm to demonstrate the improved thermal comfort and building energy efficiency of accommodation buildings in the cooling season. For this, two artificial neural network (ANN)-based predictive and adaptive models were developed and employed in the algorithm. One model predicted the cooling energy consumption during the unoccupied period for different setback temperatures and the other predicted the time required for restoring current indoor temperature to the normal set-point temperature. Using numerical simulation methods, the prediction accuracy of the two ANN models and the performance of the algorithm were tested. Through the test result analysis, the two ANN models showed their prediction accuracy with an acceptable error rate when applied in the control algorithm. In addition, the two ANN models based algorithm can be used to provide a more comfortable and energy efficient indoor thermal environment than the two conventional control methods, which respectively employed a fixed set-point temperature for the entire day and a setback temperature during the unoccupied period. Therefore, the operating range was 23–26 °C during the occupied period and 25–28 °C during the unoccupied period. Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that the optimal algorithm with two predictive and adaptive ANN models can be used to design a more comfortable and energy efficient indoor thermal environment for accommodation buildings in a comprehensive manner.

  1. CFD investigation of thermal-hydraulic characteristics in a PBR core using different contact treatments between pebbles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferng, Y.M.; Lin, K.Y.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • It is important to study thermal-hydraulic characteristics in a PBR for a HTGR. • A CFD model is proposed to simulate flow and heat transfer in a segment of pebbles. • Area and point contact treatments for adjacent pebbles are adopted in this study. • Predicted dependences of Nu and friction factor agree with the correlations. - Abstract: A high temperature gas cooled reactor (HTGR) with a pebble bed core (PBR) can be considered as one of the possible energy generation sources in the incoming future due to its inherently safe performance, lower power density, and higher conversion efficiency, etc. It is important to study the thermal-hydraulic characteristics in a PBR for optimum design and safe operation of a HTGR. In this paper, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methodology is proposed to investigate the thermal-hydraulic behavior in a segment of pebbles representing the central region of a PBR. Two kinds of contact modeling between adjacent pebbles are adopted, namely area and point contact treatments. The former contact treatment is a geometric approximation modeling. Based on the comparisons of thermal-hydraulic characteristics in the pebbles predicted by both contact treatments, no significant difference is revealed except for the near-wall secondary flow pattern. In addition, compared with the calculated results from the well-known correlations, the present predicted dependence of Nu number and friction factor on the particle Reynolds number shows good agreement qualitatively and quantitatively

  2. Effect of thermal contact resistances on fast charging of large format lithium ion batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye, Yonghuang; Saw, Lip Huat; Shi, Yixiang; Somasundaram, Karthik; Tay, Andrew A.O.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • The effect of thermal contact resistance on thermal performance of large format lithium ion batteries. • The effect of temperature gradient on electrochemical performance of large format batteries during fast charging. • The thermal performance of lithium ion battery utilizing pulse charging protocol. • Suggestions on battery geometry design optimization to improve thermal performance. - Abstract: A two dimensional electrochemical thermal model is developed on the cross-plane of a laminate stack plate pouch lithium ion battery to study the thermal performance of large format batteries. The effect of thermal contact resistance is taken into consideration, and is found to greatly increase the maximum temperature and temperature gradient of the battery. The resulting large temperature gradient would induce in-cell non-uniformity of charging-discharging current and state of health. Simply increasing the cooling intensity is inadequate to reduce the maximum temperature and narrow down the temperature difference due to the poor cross-plane thermal conductivity. Pulse charging protocol does not help to mitigate the temperature difference on the bias of same total charging time, because of larger time-averaged heat generation rate than constant current charging. Suggestions on battery geometry optimizations for both prismatic/pouch battery and cylindrical battery are proposed to reduce the maximum temperature and mitigate the temperature gradient within the lithium ion battery

  3. Simulation of thermal stresses in anode-supported solid oxide fuel cell stacks. Part II: Loss of gas-tightness, electrical contact and thermal buckling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakajo, Arata; Wuillemin, Zacharie; Van herle, Jan; Favrat, Daniel

    Structural stability issues in planar solid oxide fuel cells arise from the mismatch between the coefficients of thermal expansion of the components. The stress state at operating temperature is the superposition of several contributions, which differ depending on the component. First, the cells accumulate residual stresses due to the sintering phase during the manufacturing process. Further, the load applied during assembly of the stack to ensure electric contact and flatten the cells prevents a completely stress-free expansion of each component during the heat-up. Finally, thermal gradients cause additional stresses in operation. The temperature profile generated by a thermo-electrochemical model implemented in an equation-oriented process modelling tool (gPROMS) was imported into finite-element software (ABAQUS) to calculate the distribution of stress and contact pressure on all components of a standard solid oxide fuel cell repeat unit. The different layers of the cell in exception of the cathode, i.e. anode, electrolyte and compensating layer were considered in the analysis to account for the cell curvature. Both steady-state and dynamic simulations were performed, with an emphasis on the cycling of the electrical load. The study includes two different types of cell, operation under both thermal partial oxidation and internal steam-methane reforming and two different initial thicknesses of the air and fuel compressive sealing gaskets. The results generated by the models are presented in two papers: Part I focuses on cell cracking. In the present paper, Part II, the occurrences of loss of gas-tightness in the compressive gaskets and/or electrical contact in the gas diffusion layer were identified. In addition, the dependence on temperature of both coefficients of thermal expansion and Young's modulus of the metallic interconnect (MIC) were implemented in the finite-element model to compute the plastic deformation, while the possibilities of thermal buckling

  4. Laser lock-in thermography for thermal contact characterisation of surface layer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Semerok, A.; Jaubert, F.; Fomichev, S.V.; Thro, P.-Y.; Courtois, X.; Grisolia, C.

    2012-01-01

    Lock-in thermography was applied to determine the thermal contact conductance of a W-layer (140 μm) on a CFC-substrate. A lock-in thermography system together with a pulse repetition rate Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm, 1–500 Hz pulse repetition rate) for layer heating was applied for phase shift measurements on the W-layer. A numerical model for direct phase shift calculations was developed and applied to rapid determination of the Fourier amplitudes and phases of the temperature. Thermal conductance coefficients were obtained by comparing the experimental and simulation phase shifts. -- Highlights: ► Lock-in thermography determines a layer/substrate thermal conductance. ► Thermal conductance coefficient of W-layer on a CFC-substrate. ► Model for direct phase shift calculations was developed and applied. ► Rapid determination of the Fourier amplitudes and phases of the temperature. ► Comparing the experimental and simulation phase shifts.

  5. Optimization of Combined Thermal and Electrical Behavior of Power Converters Using Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Malyna, D.V.; Duarte, J.L.; Hendrix, M.A.M.; Horck, van F.B.M.

    2007-01-01

    A practical example of power electronic converter synthesis is presented, where a multi-objective genetic algorithm, namely non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is used. The optimization algorithm takes an experimentally-derived thermal model for the converter into account. Experimental

  6. Thermographic Inspection of Fatigue Crack by Using Contact Thermal Resistance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Seung Yong; Kim, No Hyu [Korean University of Technology and Education, Cheonan (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-04-15

    Fatigue crack was detected from a temperature change around surface crack using the thermographic technique. Thermal gradient across the crack decreased very much due to thermal resistance of contact surface in the crack. Heat diffusion flow passing through the discontinuity was visualized in temperature by infrared camera to find and locate the crack. A fatigue crack specimen(SM-45C), which was prepared according to KS specification and notched in its center to initiate fatigue crack from the notch tip, was heated by halogen lamp at the end of one side to generate a heat diffusion flow in lateral direction. A abrupt jump in temperature across the fatigue crack was observed in thermographic image, by which the crack could be located and sized from temperature distribution.

  7. Thermographic Inspection of Fatigue Crack by Using Contact Thermal Resistance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Seung Yong; Kim, No Hyu

    2013-01-01

    Fatigue crack was detected from a temperature change around surface crack using the thermographic technique. Thermal gradient across the crack decreased very much due to thermal resistance of contact surface in the crack. Heat diffusion flow passing through the discontinuity was visualized in temperature by infrared camera to find and locate the crack. A fatigue crack specimen(SM-45C), which was prepared according to KS specification and notched in its center to initiate fatigue crack from the notch tip, was heated by halogen lamp at the end of one side to generate a heat diffusion flow in lateral direction. A abrupt jump in temperature across the fatigue crack was observed in thermographic image, by which the crack could be located and sized from temperature distribution.

  8. A novel algorithm for thermal image encryption.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hussain, Iqtadar; Anees, Amir; Algarni, Abdulmohsen

    2018-04-16

    Thermal images play a vital character at nuclear plants, Power stations, Forensic labs biological research, and petroleum products extraction. Safety of thermal images is very important. Image data has some unique features such as intensity, contrast, homogeneity, entropy and correlation among pixels that is why somehow image encryption is trickier as compare to other encryptions. With conventional image encryption schemes it is normally hard to handle these features. Therefore, cryptographers have paid attention to some attractive properties of the chaotic maps such as randomness and sensitivity to build up novel cryptosystems. That is why, recently proposed image encryption techniques progressively more depends on the application of chaotic maps. This paper proposed an image encryption algorithm based on Chebyshev chaotic map and S8 Symmetric group of permutation based substitution boxes. Primarily, parameters of chaotic Chebyshev map are chosen as a secret key to mystify the primary image. Then, the plaintext image is encrypted by the method generated from the substitution boxes and Chebyshev map. By this process, we can get a cipher text image that is perfectly twisted and dispersed. The outcomes of renowned experiments, key sensitivity tests and statistical analysis confirm that the proposed algorithm offers a safe and efficient approach for real-time image encryption.

  9. Experimental determination of the thermal contact conductance between two solid surfaces by the energy pulse technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rubin, Gerson Antonio

    1979-01-01

    An experimental procedure for the determination of the thermal contact conductance between two solid surfaces as a function of the contact pressure and the energy of the laser radiation has been developed using the laser pulse method. A rubi laser with variable energy levels was employed as a radiating pulse energy source. The laser beam was allowed to impinge perpendicularly on the front face of a electrolytic iron 73 4 . The temperature fluctuations resulting on the back surface of the sample was detected by a thermocouple, which Is coupled to a PDP-11/45 Computer 32 Kbytes of memory, through a Analog-Digital Converter. A theoretical function, derived exclusively for the problem mentioned in this work, was adjusted by a method of least square fitting of experimental results. This adjustment yielded the value of a parameter related to the contact conductance between two surfaces. The experimental error obtained for the thermal contact conductance was +- 4.9%. (author)

  10. Optimization of thermal performance of a smooth flat-plate solar air heater using teaching–learning-based optimization algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Venkata Rao

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the performance of teaching–learning-based optimization (TLBO algorithm to obtain the optimum set of design and operating parameters for a smooth flat plate solar air heater (SFPSAH. The TLBO algorithm is a recently proposed population-based algorithm, which simulates the teaching–learning process of the classroom. Maximization of thermal efficiency is considered as an objective function for the thermal performance of SFPSAH. The number of glass plates, irradiance, and the Reynolds number are considered as the design parameters and wind velocity, tilt angle, ambient temperature, and emissivity of the plate are considered as the operating parameters to obtain the thermal performance of the SFPSAH using the TLBO algorithm. The computational results have shown that the TLBO algorithm is better or competitive to other optimization algorithms recently reported in the literature for the considered problem.

  11. Mathematical Modeling of Contact Problems of Elasticity Theory with Unilateral Discrete Contact

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. V. Stankevich

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Development and operation of modern machinery and latest technology require reliable estimates of the strength characteristics of the critical elements of structures and technological equipment under the impact of high-intensity thermomechanical loading, accompanied, as a rule, by complex contact interaction. Mathematical modeling of stress-strain state of such parts and components in the contact area, based on adequate mathematical models, modern numerical methods and efficient algorithms that implement the direct determination of displacement fields, strains and stresses, is the main tool that allows fast acquisition of data required for the calculations of strength and durability. The paper considers an algorithm for constructing the numerical solution of the contact problem of elasticity theory in relation to the body, which has an obvious one-sided discrete contact interaction with an elastic half-space. The proposed algorithm is specially designed to have a correction of the tangential forces at discrete contact points, allowing us to achieve sufficiently accurate implementation of the adopted law of friction. The algorithm is embedded in a general finite element technology, with which the application code is generated. Numerical study of discrete unilateral contact interaction of an elastic plate and a rigid half-space showed a high efficiency of the developed algorithm and the application code that implements it.

  12. Investigations into the thermal non-equilibrium of W UMa-type contact binaries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiong, Xiao; Liu, Liang; Qian, Sheng-Bang

    2018-05-01

    Traditionally, some physical details (e.g., magnetic braking, energy transfer, angular momentum loss, etc.) have to be taken into consideration during investigations into the evolution of contact binaries. However, the real evolutionary processes which usually contain several of these physical mechanisms are very complicated as a result of strong interaction between components. To avoid dealing with these factors, a linear relationship is applied to the temperatures of components. It is found that the higher the mass ratio (M 2/M 1) of a contact system, the weaker the deviation from thermal equilibrium. On this basis, a variation trend of fill-out factor (f) changing with mass ratio can be inferred, which is consistent with observations. Moreover, if we stick to this point of view, it should be natural that the number of semi-detached binaries in the predicted broken-contact phase of relaxation oscillations is less than the number in the contact phase.

  13. Genetic Algorithm for Opto-thermal Skin Hydration Depth Profiling Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Y.; Xiao, Perry; Imhof, R. E.

    2013-09-01

    Stratum corneum is the outermost skin layer, and the water content in stratum corneum plays a key role in skin cosmetic properties as well as skin barrier functions. However, to measure the water content, especially the water concentration depth profile, within stratum corneum is very difficult. Opto-thermal emission radiometry, or OTTER, is a promising technique that can be used for such measurements. In this paper, a study on stratum corneum hydration depth profiling by using a genetic algorithm (GA) is presented. The pros and cons of a GA compared against other inverse algorithms such as neural networks, maximum entropy, conjugate gradient, and singular value decomposition will be discussed first. Then, it will be shown how to use existing knowledge to optimize a GA for analyzing the opto-thermal signals. Finally, these latest GA results on hydration depth profiling of stratum corneum under different conditions, as well as on the penetration profiles of externally applied solvents, will be shown.

  14. Comparative performance analysis of the artificial-intelligence-based thermal control algorithms for the double-skin building

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moon, Jin Woo

    2015-01-01

    This study aimed at developing artificial-intelligence-(AI)-theory-based optimal control algorithms for improving the indoor temperature conditions and heating energy efficiency of the double-skin buildings. For this, one conventional rule-based and four AI-based algorithms were developed, including artificial neural network (ANN), fuzzy logic (FL), and adaptive neuro fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS), for operating the surface openings of the double skin and the heating system. A numerical computer simulation method incorporating the matrix laboratory (MATLAB) and the transient systems simulation (TRNSYS) software was used for the comparative performance tests. The analysis results revealed that advanced thermal-environment comfort and stability can be provided by the AI-based algorithms. In particular, the FL and ANFIS algorithms were superior to the ANN algorithm in terms of providing better thermal conditions. The ANN-based algorithm, however, proved its potential to be the most energy-efficient and stable strategy among the four AI-based algorithms. It can be concluded that the optimal algorithm can be differently determined according to the major focus of the strategy. If comfortable thermal condition is the principal interest, then the FL or ANFIS algorithm could be the proper solution, and if energy saving for space heating and system operation stability is the main concerns, then the ANN-based algorithm may be applicable. - Highlights: • Integrated control algorithms were developed for the heating system and surface openings. • AI theories were applied to the control algorithms. • ANN, FL, and ANFIS were the applied AI theories. • Comparative performance tests were conducted using computer simulation. • AI algorithms presented superior temperature environment.

  15. DURABILITY AND TRIBOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF THERMALLY SPRAYED WC CERMET COATING IN LUBRICATED ROLLING WITH SLIDING CONTACT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Ali

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Durability and tribological properties of thermally sprayed WC-Cr-Ni cermet coating were investigated experimentally in lubricated rolling with sliding contact conditions. By means of the high energy type flame spraying (Hi-HVOF method, the coating was formed onto the axially ground and circumferentially ground roller specimens made of a thermally refined carbon steel. In the experiments, the WC cermet coated steel roller was mated with the carburized hardened steel roller without coating in line contact condition. The coated roller was mated with the smooth non-coated roller under a contact pressure of 1.0 or 1.2 GPa, and it was mated with the rough non-coated roller under a contact pressure of 0.6 or 0.8 GPa. As a result, it was found that in general, the coating on the circumferentially ground substrate shows a lower durability compared with that on the axially ground substrate and this difference appears more distinctly for the higher contact pressure for both smooth mating surface and rough mating surface. It was also found that there are significant differences in the tribological properties of WC cermet coating depending on the contact pressure. In addition, depending on the smooth or rough mating surface, remarkable differences in the tribological properties were found.

  16. Rate and State Friction Relation for Nanoscale Contacts: Thermally Activated Prandtl-Tomlinson Model with Chemical Aging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Kaiwen; Goldsby, David L.; Carpick, Robert W.

    2018-05-01

    Rate and state friction (RSF) laws are widely used empirical relationships that describe macroscale to microscale frictional behavior. They entail a linear combination of the direct effect (the increase of friction with sliding velocity due to the reduced influence of thermal excitations) and the evolution effect (the change in friction with changes in contact "state," such as the real contact area or the degree of interfacial chemical bonds). Recent atomic force microscope (AFM) experiments and simulations found that nanoscale single-asperity amorphous silica-silica contacts exhibit logarithmic aging (increasing friction with time) over several decades of contact time, due to the formation of interfacial chemical bonds. Here we establish a physically based RSF relation for such contacts by combining the thermally activated Prandtl-Tomlinson (PTT) model with an evolution effect based on the physics of chemical aging. This thermally activated Prandtl-Tomlinson model with chemical aging (PTTCA), like the PTT model, uses the loading point velocity for describing the direct effect, not the tip velocity (as in conventional RSF laws). Also, in the PTTCA model, the combination of the evolution and direct effects may be nonlinear. We present AFM data consistent with the PTTCA model whereby in aging tests, for a given hold time, static friction increases with the logarithm of the loading point velocity. Kinetic friction also increases with the logarithm of the loading point velocity at sufficiently high velocities, but at a different increasing rate. The discrepancy between the rates of increase of static and kinetic friction with velocity arises from the fact that appreciable aging during static contact changes the energy landscape. Our approach extends the PTT model, originally used for crystalline substrates, to amorphous materials. It also establishes how conventional RSF laws can be modified for nanoscale single-asperity contacts to provide a physically based friction

  17. Non-Contact Measurement of Thermal Diffusivity in Ion-Implanted Nuclear Materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hofmann, F.; Mason, D. R.; Eliason, J. K.; Maznev, A. A.; Nelson, K. A.; Dudarev, S. L.

    2015-11-01

    Knowledge of mechanical and physical property evolution due to irradiation damage is essential for the development of future fission and fusion reactors. Ion-irradiation provides an excellent proxy for studying irradiation damage, allowing high damage doses without sample activation. Limited ion-penetration-depth means that only few-micron-thick damaged layers are produced. Substantial effort has been devoted to probing the mechanical properties of these thin implanted layers. Yet, whilst key to reactor design, their thermal transport properties remain largely unexplored due to a lack of suitable measurement techniques. Here we demonstrate non-contact thermal diffusivity measurements in ion-implanted tungsten for nuclear fusion armour. Alloying with transmutation elements and the interaction of retained gas with implantation-induced defects both lead to dramatic reductions in thermal diffusivity. These changes are well captured by our modelling approaches. Our observations have important implications for the design of future fusion power plants.

  18. Non-Contact Measurement of Thermal Diffusivity in Ion-Implanted Nuclear Materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hofmann, F.; Mason, D. R.; Eliason, J. K.; Maznev, A. A.; Nelson, K. A.; Dudarev, S. L.

    2015-01-01

    Knowledge of mechanical and physical property evolution due to irradiation damage is essential for the development of future fission and fusion reactors. Ion-irradiation provides an excellent proxy for studying irradiation damage, allowing high damage doses without sample activation. Limited ion-penetration-depth means that only few-micron-thick damaged layers are produced. Substantial effort has been devoted to probing the mechanical properties of these thin implanted layers. Yet, whilst key to reactor design, their thermal transport properties remain largely unexplored due to a lack of suitable measurement techniques. Here we demonstrate non-contact thermal diffusivity measurements in ion-implanted tungsten for nuclear fusion armour. Alloying with transmutation elements and the interaction of retained gas with implantation-induced defects both lead to dramatic reductions in thermal diffusivity. These changes are well captured by our modelling approaches. Our observations have important implications for the design of future fusion power plants

  19. Adaptive Algorithm For Identification Of The Environment Parameters In Contact Tasks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tuneski, Atanasko; Babunski, Darko [Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, ' St. Cyril and Methodius' University, Skopje (Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of)

    2003-07-01

    An adaptive algorithm for identification of the unknown parameters of the dynamic environment in contact tasks is proposed in this paper using the augmented least square estimation method. An approximate environment digital simulator for the continuous environment dynamics is derived, i.e. a discrete transfer function which has the approximately the same characteristics as the continuous environment dynamics is found. For solving this task a method named hold equivalence is used. The general model of the environment dynamics is given and the case when the environment dynamics is represented by second order models with parameter uncertainties is considered. (Author)

  20. Adaptive Algorithm For Identification Of The Environment Parameters In Contact Tasks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tuneski, Atanasko; Babunski, Darko

    2003-01-01

    An adaptive algorithm for identification of the unknown parameters of the dynamic environment in contact tasks is proposed in this paper using the augmented least square estimation method. An approximate environment digital simulator for the continuous environment dynamics is derived, i.e. a discrete transfer function which has the approximately the same characteristics as the continuous environment dynamics is found. For solving this task a method named hold equivalence is used. The general model of the environment dynamics is given and the case when the environment dynamics is represented by second order models with parameter uncertainties is considered. (Author)

  1. Structural and Contact Analysis of a 3-Dimensional Disc-Pad Model with and without Thermal Effects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Belhocine

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The motivation of this work is to identify thermal effects on the structural and contact behaviour of a disc-pad assembly using a finite element approach. The first analysis is performed on the disc-pad model without the presence of thermal properties. Structural performance of the disc-pad model such as deformation and Von Mises stress is predicted. Next, thermomechanical analysis is performed on the same disc-pad model with the inclusion of convection, adiabatic and heat flux elements. The prediction results of temperature distribution, deformation, stress and contact pressure are presented. Comparison of the structural performance between the two analyses (mechanical and thermomechanical is also made. From this study, it can assist brake engineers to choose a suitable analysis in order to critically evaluate structural and contact behaviour of the disc brake assembly.

  2. Automated real-time search and analysis algorithms for a non-contact 3D profiling system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haynes, Mark; Wu, Chih-Hang John; Beck, B. Terry; Peterman, Robert J.

    2013-04-01

    The purpose of this research is to develop a new means of identifying and extracting geometrical feature statistics from a non-contact precision-measurement 3D profilometer. Autonomous algorithms have been developed to search through large-scale Cartesian point clouds to identify and extract geometrical features. These algorithms are developed with the intent of providing real-time production quality control of cold-rolled steel wires. The steel wires in question are prestressing steel reinforcement wires for concrete members. The geometry of the wire is critical in the performance of the overall concrete structure. For this research a custom 3D non-contact profilometry system has been developed that utilizes laser displacement sensors for submicron resolution surface profiling. Optimizations in the control and sensory system allow for data points to be collected at up to an approximate 400,000 points per second. In order to achieve geometrical feature extraction and tolerancing with this large volume of data, the algorithms employed are optimized for parsing large data quantities. The methods used provide a unique means of maintaining high resolution data of the surface profiles while keeping algorithm running times within practical bounds for industrial application. By a combination of regional sampling, iterative search, spatial filtering, frequency filtering, spatial clustering, and template matching a robust feature identification method has been developed. These algorithms provide an autonomous means of verifying tolerances in geometrical features. The key method of identifying the features is through a combination of downhill simplex and geometrical feature templates. By performing downhill simplex through several procedural programming layers of different search and filtering techniques, very specific geometrical features can be identified within the point cloud and analyzed for proper tolerancing. Being able to perform this quality control in real time

  3. Wettability Control of Gold Surfaces Modified with Benzenethiol Derivatives: Water Contact Angle and Thermal Stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tatara, Shingo; Kuzumoto, Yasutaka; Kitamura, Masatoshi

    2016-04-01

    The water wettability of Au surfaces has been controlled using various benzenethiol derivatives including 4-methylbenzenethiol, pentafluorobenzenethiol, 4-flubrobenzenethiol, 4-methoxy-benzenethiol, 4-nitrobenzenethiol, and 4-hydroxybenzenethiol. The water contact angle of the Au surface modified with the benzenethiol derivative was found to vary in the wide range of 30.9° to 88.3°. The contact angle of the modified Au films annealed was also measured in order to investigate their thermal stability. The change in the contact angle indicated that the modified surface is stable at temperatures below about 400 K. Meanwhile, the activation energy of desorption from the modified surface was estimated from the change in the contact angle. The modified Au surface was also examined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

  4. The Variations of Thermal Contact Resistance and Heat Transfer Rate of the AlN Film Compositing with PCM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huann-Ming Chou

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The electrical industries have been fast developing over the past decades. Moreover, the trend of microelements and packed division multiplex is obviously for the electrical industry. Hence, the high heat dissipative and the electrical insulating device have been popular and necessary. The thermal conduct coefficient of aluminum nitride (i.e., AlN is many times larger than the other materials. Moreover, the green technology of composite with phase change materials (i.e., PCMs is worked as a constant temperature cooler. Therefore, PCMs have been used frequently for saving energy and the green environment. Based on the above statements, it does show great potential in heat dissipative for the AlN film compositing with PCM. Therefore, this paper is focused on the research of thermal contact resistance and heat transfer between the AlN/PCM pairs. According to the experimental results, the heat transfer decreases and the thermal contact resistance increases under the melting process of PCM. However, the suitable parameters such as contact pressures can be used to improve the above defects.

  5. Application of an enriched FEM technique in thermo-mechanical contact problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khoei, A. R.; Bahmani, B.

    2018-02-01

    In this paper, an enriched FEM technique is employed for thermo-mechanical contact problem based on the extended finite element method. A fully coupled thermo-mechanical contact formulation is presented in the framework of X-FEM technique that takes into account the deformable continuum mechanics and the transient heat transfer analysis. The Coulomb frictional law is applied for the mechanical contact problem and a pressure dependent thermal contact model is employed through an explicit formulation in the weak form of X-FEM method. The equilibrium equations are discretized by the Newmark time splitting method and the final set of non-linear equations are solved based on the Newton-Raphson method using a staggered algorithm. Finally, in order to illustrate the capability of the proposed computational model several numerical examples are solved and the results are compared with those reported in literature.

  6. Improved Ohmic-contact to AlGaN/GaN using Ohmic region recesses by self-terminating thermal oxidation assisted wet etching technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, J.; Wang, J.; Wang, H.; Zhu, L.; Wu, W.

    2017-06-01

    Lower Ti/Al/Ni/Au Ohmic contact resistance on AlGaN/GaN with wider rapid thermal annealing (RTA) temperature window was achieved using recessed Ohmic contact structure based on self-terminating thermal oxidation assisted wet etching technique (STOAWET), in comparison with conventional Ohmic contacts. Even at lower temperature such as 650°C, recessed structure by STOAWET could still obtain Ohmic contact with contact resistance of 1.97Ω·mm, while conventional Ohmic structure mainly featured as Schottky contact. Actually, both Ohmic contact recess and mesa isolation processes could be accomplished by STOAWET in one process step and the process window of STOAWET is wide, simplifying AlGaN/GaN HEMT device process. Our experiment shows that the isolation leakage current by STOAWET is about one order of magnitude lower than that by inductivity coupled plasma (ICP) performed on the same wafer.

  7. Development and evaluation of thermal model reduction algorithms for spacecraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deiml, Michael; Suderland, Martin; Reiss, Philipp; Czupalla, Markus

    2015-05-01

    This paper is concerned with the topic of the reduction of thermal models of spacecraft. The work presented here has been conducted in cooperation with the company OHB AG, formerly Kayser-Threde GmbH, and the Institute of Astronautics at Technische Universität München with the goal to shorten and automatize the time-consuming and manual process of thermal model reduction. The reduction of thermal models can be divided into the simplification of the geometry model for calculation of external heat flows and radiative couplings and into the reduction of the underlying mathematical model. For simplification a method has been developed which approximates the reduced geometry model with the help of an optimization algorithm. Different linear and nonlinear model reduction techniques have been evaluated for their applicability in reduction of the mathematical model. Thereby the compatibility with the thermal analysis tool ESATAN-TMS is of major concern, which restricts the useful application of these methods. Additional model reduction methods have been developed, which account to these constraints. The Matrix Reduction method allows the approximation of the differential equation to reference values exactly expect for numerical errors. The summation method enables a useful, applicable reduction of thermal models that can be used in industry. In this work a framework for model reduction of thermal models has been created, which can be used together with a newly developed graphical user interface for the reduction of thermal models in industry.

  8. Thermal conductivity of a graphite bipolar plate (BPP) and its thermal contact resistance with fuel cell gas diffusion layers: Effect of compression, PTFE, micro porous layer (MPL), BPP out-of-flatness and cyclic load

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadeghifar, Hamidreza; Djilali, Ned; Bahrami, Majid

    2015-01-01

    This paper reports on measurements of thermal conductivity of a graphite bipolar plate (BPP) as a function of temperature and its thermal contact resistance (TCR) with treated and untreated gas diffusion layers (GDLs). The thermal conductivity of the BPP decreases with temperature and its thermal contact resistance with GDLs, which has been overlooked in the literature, is found to be dominant over a relatively wide range of compression. The effects of PTFE loading, micro porous layer (MPL), compression, and BPP out-of-flatness are also investigated experimentally. It is found that high PTFE loadings, MPL and even small BPP out-of-flatness increase the BPP-GDL thermal contact resistance dramatically. The paper also presents the effect of cyclic load on the total resistance of a GDL-BPP assembly, which sheds light on the behavior of these materials under operating conditions in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

  9. Thermal effect on the thermomechanical behavior of contacts in a Traveling Wave Tube

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chbiki Mounir

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available A new elasto-plastic study of the contact between the helix and the rods of the delay line of Traveling Waves Tubes (TWT was realized. Our study is focused on the analysis of the hot lines shrinking phenomenon. In the studied case, unlike brazed configuration, the contact areas are not perfect, resulting in a diminution of the heat transfer process. In order to maximize the contact area and to homogenize the contact pressure, a soft thermal conductive material is coated on the helix: copper was chosen for this study. In the present work, an analytical model is used to identify the properties of the copper coating at a given temperature. We focused on the mechanical properties in order to improve the assembly process with a better numerical study. Experimental method have been made to validate the proposed model. The first comparison results seem to indicate that the model represents the reality with a good agreement. It is very clearly shown that the temperature decreases the mechanical properties. (Young’s modulus, yield strength, tensile strength…. And the thickness of the coating increases the contact area. This last point is less important at room temperature (6% of increase than at 140°C (22%.

  10. Thermal contact through a two-temperature kinetic Ising chain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauer, M.; Cornu, F.

    2018-05-01

    We consider a model for thermal contact through a diathermal interface between two macroscopic bodies at different temperatures: an Ising spin chain with nearest neighbor interactions is endowed with a Glauber dynamics with different temperatures and kinetic parameters on alternating sites. The inhomogeneity of the kinetic parameter is a novelty with respect to the model of Racz and Zia (1994 Phys. Rev. E 49 139), and we exhibit its influence upon the stationary non equilibrium values of the two-spin correlations at any distance. By mapping to the dynamics of spin domain walls and using free fermion techniques, we determine the scaled generating function for the cumulants of the exchanged heat amounts per unit of time in the long time limit.

  11. Research on the Compression Algorithm of the Infrared Thermal Image Sequence Based on Differential Evolution and Double Exponential Decay Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jin-Yu; Meng, Xiang-Bing; Xu, Wei; Zhang, Wei; Zhang, Yong

    2014-01-01

    This paper has proposed a new thermal wave image sequence compression algorithm by combining double exponential decay fitting model and differential evolution algorithm. This study benchmarked fitting compression results and precision of the proposed method was benchmarked to that of the traditional methods via experiment; it investigated the fitting compression performance under the long time series and improved model and validated the algorithm by practical thermal image sequence compression and reconstruction. The results show that the proposed algorithm is a fast and highly precise infrared image data processing method. PMID:24696649

  12. Research on the Compression Algorithm of the Infrared Thermal Image Sequence Based on Differential Evolution and Double Exponential Decay Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin-Yu Zhang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper has proposed a new thermal wave image sequence compression algorithm by combining double exponential decay fitting model and differential evolution algorithm. This study benchmarked fitting compression results and precision of the proposed method was benchmarked to that of the traditional methods via experiment; it investigated the fitting compression performance under the long time series and improved model and validated the algorithm by practical thermal image sequence compression and reconstruction. The results show that the proposed algorithm is a fast and highly precise infrared image data processing method.

  13. Thermal management of next-generation contact-cooled synchrotron x-ray mirrors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khounsary, A.

    1999-10-29

    In the past decade, several third-generation synchrotrons x-ray sources have been constructed and commissioned around the world. Many of the major problems in the development and design of the optical components capable of handling the extremely high heat loads of the generated x-ray beams have been resolved. It is expected, however, that in the next few years even more powerful x-ray beams will be produced at these facilities, for example, by increasing the particle beam current. In this paper, the design of a next generation of synchrotron x-ray mirrors is discussed. The author shows that the design of contact-cooled mirrors capable of handing x-ray beam heat fluxes in excess of 500 W/mm{sup 2} - or more than three times the present level - is well within reach, and the limiting factor is the thermal stress rather then thermally induced slope error.

  14. Thermal stability of TaN Schottky contacts on n-GaN

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hayes, J.R.; Kim, D-W.; Meidia, H.; Mahajan, S

    2003-02-07

    The thermal stability and electrical characteristics of tantalum-nitrogen alloy Schottky contacts on n-GaN were investigated. Non-stoichiometric {delta}-phase (40 atomic percent nitrogen) tantalum nitride contacts exhibited good electrical properties up to an annealing temperature of 600 deg. C. However, they degrade rapidly above this temperature due to outward diffusion of Ga and presumably nitrogen into the {delta}-phase tantalum nitride. It is surmised that excess Ta reacts with N at the GaN surface, freeing Ga which then diffuses into the TaN layer. Stoichiometric TaN Schottky contacts were stable at temperatures as high as 800 deg. C and had far superior electrical performance. This stems from the thermodynamic stability of the stoichiometric TaN/GaN interface. {delta}-phase TaN had I-V and C-V barrier heights of 0.55 eV and 0.8 eV respectively. On the other hand, TaN had an I-V barrier height near 0.7 eV and a C-V barrier height near 1.2 eV. The ideality factors for both {delta}-phase TaN and TaN were above 1.8 at all annealing temperatures, suggesting tunneling contributes significantly to current transport.

  15. Thermal impedance at the interface of contacting bodies: 1-D examples solved by semi-derivatives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hristov Jordan

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Simple 1-D semi-infinite heat conduction problems enable to demonstrate the potential of the fractional calculus in determination of transient thermal impedances of two bodies with different initial temperatures contacting at the interface ( x = 0 at t = 0 . The approach is purely analytic and uses only semi-derivatives (half-time and semi-integrals in the Riemann-Liouville sense. The example solved clearly reveals that the fractional calculus is more effective in calculation the thermal resistances than the entire domain solutions.

  16. Random walks in nanotube composites: Improved algorithms and the role of thermal boundary resistance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duong, Hai M.; Papavassiliou, Dimitrios V.; Lee, Lloyd L.; Mullen, Kieran J.

    2005-01-01

    Random walk simulations of thermal walkers are used to study the effect of interfacial resistance on heat flow in randomly dispersed carbon nanotube composites. The adopted algorithm effectively makes the thermal conductivity of the nanotubes themselves infinite. The probability that a walker colliding with a matrix-nanotube interface reflects back into the matrix phase or crosses into the carbon nanotube phase is determined by the thermal boundary (Kapitza) resistance. The use of 'cold' and 'hot' walkers produces a steady state temperature profile that allows accurate determination of the thermal conductivity. The effects of the carbon nanotube orientation, aspect ratio, volume fraction, and Kapitza resistance on the composite effective conductivity are quantified

  17. A comparison of thermal algorithms of fuel rod performance code systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, C. J.; Park, J. H.; Kang, K. H.; Ryu, H. J.; Moon, J. S.; Jeong, I. H.; Lee, C. Y.; Song, K. C.

    2003-11-01

    The goal of the fuel rod performance is to identify the robustness of a fuel rod with cladding material. Computer simulation of the fuel rod performance becomes one of important parts to designed and evaluate new nuclear fuels and claddings. To construct a computing code system for the fuel rod performance, several algorithms of the existing fuel rod performance code systems are compared and are summarized as a preliminary work. Among several code systems, FRAPCON, and FEMAXI for LWR, ELESTRES for CANDU reactor, and LIFE for fast reactor are reviewed. Thermal algorithms of the above codes are investigated including methodologies and subroutines. This work will be utilized to construct a computing code system for dry process fuel rod performance

  18. A comparison of thermal algorithms of fuel rod performance code systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, C. J.; Park, J. H.; Kang, K. H.; Ryu, H. J.; Moon, J. S.; Jeong, I. H.; Lee, C. Y.; Song, K. C

    2003-11-01

    The goal of the fuel rod performance is to identify the robustness of a fuel rod with cladding material. Computer simulation of the fuel rod performance becomes one of important parts to designed and evaluate new nuclear fuels and claddings. To construct a computing code system for the fuel rod performance, several algorithms of the existing fuel rod performance code systems are compared and are summarized as a preliminary work. Among several code systems, FRAPCON, and FEMAXI for LWR, ELESTRES for CANDU reactor, and LIFE for fast reactor are reviewed. Thermal algorithms of the above codes are investigated including methodologies and subroutines. This work will be utilized to construct a computing code system for dry process fuel rod performance.

  19. Coupled electrochemical thermal modelling of a novel Li-ion battery pack thermal management system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Basu, Suman; Hariharan, Krishnan S.; Kolake, Subramanya Mayya; Song, Taewon; Sohn, Dong Kee; Yeo, Taejung

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Three-dimensional electrochemical thermal model of Li-ion battery pack using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). • Novel pack design for compact liquid cooling based thermal management system. • Simple temperature estimation algorithm for the cells in the pack using the results from the model. • Sensitivity of the thermal performance to contact resistance has been investigated. - Abstract: Thermal management system is of critical importance for a Li-ion battery pack, as high performance and long battery pack life can be simultaneously achieved when operated within a narrow range of temperature around the room temperature. An efficient thermal management system is required to keep the battery temperature in this range, despite widely varying operating conditions. A novel liquid coolant based thermal management system, for 18,650 battery pack has been introduced herein. This system is designed to be compact and economical without compromising safety. A coupled three-dimensional (3D) electrochemical thermal model is constructed for the proposed Li-ion battery pack. The model is used to evaluate the effects of different operating conditions like coolant flow-rate and discharge current on the pack temperature. Contact resistance is found to have the strongest impact on the thermal performance of the pack. From the numerical solution, a simple and novel temperature correlation of predicting the temperatures of all the individual cells given the temperature measurement of one cell is devised and validated with experimental results. Such coefficients have great potential of reducing the sensor requirement and complexity in a large Li-ion battery pack, typical of an electric vehicle.

  20. An Investigation of a New Social Networks Contact Suggestion Based on Face Recognition Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan Zelinka

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Automated comparison of faces in the photographs is a well established discipline. The main aim of this paper is to describe an approach whereby face recognition can be used in suggestion of a new contacts. The new contact suggestion is a common technique used across all main social networks. Our approach uses a freely available face comparison called "Betaface" together with our automated processig of the user´s Facebook profile. The research´s main point of interest is the comparison of friend´s facial images in a social network itself, how to process such a great amount of photos and what additional sources of data should be used. In this approach we used our automated processing algorithm Betaface in the social network Facebook and for the additional data, the Flickr social network was used. The results and their quality are discussed at the end.

  1. Photothermal radiometry applied to characterization and control of thermal contact resistance of crimped metals; Radiometrie photothermique appliquee a la caracterisation et au controle de la resistance thermique de contact de metaux sertis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van Schel, Etienne

    1989-11-15

    Modulated photothermal radiometry is used to study the thermal contact between two metals. At first, two models using a bidimensional axisymmetric geometry are proposed to describe the interface: the first one deals with thermal contact resistance, the second one with an equivalent layer. A thorough calculation of the photothermal signal taking into account the nature of the sample and the detection is here presented. Theoretical simulations show the influence of several parameters (frequency. dimensions of the excitation and the detection) on the sensitivity of the method applied to the detection of the thermal resistance. The comparison, with a three layer-model justifies the use of thermal resistance in periodical regime, for air layers between metals. Then, we present an experimental device that is used to validate the model. The results, obtained on duralumin-copper samples, show the sensitivity of the method and lead us to propose values of thermal contact resistance for different crimpings. At last an industrial testing equipment is described. The results, obtained on laboratory samples, are confirmed. Heat exchanger pipes, including voluntary defects are tested. Thanks to this device, we are able to make an in situ crimping control that can also be applied to other types of contacts. [French] La radiometrie photothermique est utilisee pour etudier le contact thermique entre deux metaux. Tout d'abord, deux modeles utilisant une geometrie bidimensionnelle axisymetrique sont proposes pour decrire l'interface: le premier utilise une resistance thermique de contact, le second un milieu equivalent Un calcul complet du signal photothermique, prenant en compte la nature de l'echantillon et de la detection, est presente. Des simulations theoriques montrent l'influence de quelques parametres (frequence, dimensions de l'excitation et de la detection) sur la sensibilite de la methode a la detection de la resistance thermique. La comparaison, avec un modele a trois

  2. A social activity and physical contact-based routing algorithm in mobile opportunistic networks for emergency response to sudden disasters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaoming; Lin, Yaguang; Zhang, Shanshan; Cai, Zhipeng

    2017-05-01

    Sudden disasters such as earthquake, flood and hurricane necessitate the employment of communication networks to carry out emergency response activities. Routing has a significant impact on the functionality, performance and flexibility of communication networks. In this article, the routing problem is studied considering the delivery ratio of messages, the overhead ratio of messages and the average delay of messages in mobile opportunistic networks (MONs) for enterprise-level emergency response communications in sudden disaster scenarios. Unlike the traditional routing methods for MONS, this article presents a new two-stage spreading and forwarding dynamic routing algorithm based on the proposed social activity degree and physical contact factor for mobile customers. A new modelling method for describing a dynamic evolving process of the topology structure of a MON is first proposed. Then a multi-copy spreading strategy based on the social activity degree of nodes and a single-copy forwarding strategy based on the physical contact factor between nodes are designed. Compared with the most relevant routing algorithms such as Epidemic, Prophet, Labelled-sim, Dlife-comm and Distribute-sim, the proposed routing algorithm can significantly increase the delivery ratio of messages, and decrease the overhead ratio and average delay of messages.

  3. Discrimination of unitary transformations in the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm: Implications for thermal-equilibrium-ensemble implementations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Collins, David

    2010-01-01

    A general framework for regarding oracle-assisted quantum algorithms as tools for discriminating among unitary transformations is described. This framework is applied to the Deutsch-Jozsa problem and all possible quantum algorithms which solve the problem with certainty using oracle unitaries in a particular form are derived. It is also used to show that any quantum algorithm that solves the Deutsch-Jozsa problem starting with a quantum system in a particular class of initial, thermal equilibrium-based states of the type encountered in solution-state NMR can only succeed with greater probability than a classical algorithm when the problem size n exceeds ∼10 5 .

  4. Electro-thermal analysis of contact resistance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pandey, Nitin; Jain, Ishant; Reddy, Sudhakar; Gulhane, Nitin P.

    2018-05-01

    Electro-Mechanical characterization over copper samples are performed at the macroscopic level to understand the dependence of electrical contact resistance and temperature on surface roughness and contact pressure. For two different surface roughness levels of samples, six levels of load are selected and varied to capture the bulk temperature rise and electrical contact resistance. Accordingly, the copper samples are modelled and analysed using COMSOLTM as a simulation package and the results are validated by the experiments. The interface temperature during simulation is obtained using Mikic-Elastic correlation and by directly entering experimental contact resistance value. The load values are varied and then reversed in a similar fashion to capture the hysteresis losses. The governing equations & assumptions underlying these models and their significance are examined & possible justification for the observed variations are discussed. Equivalent Greenwood model is also predicted by mapping the results of the experiment.

  5. Efficiency maximization and performance evaluation of hybrid dual channel semitransparent photovoltaic thermal module using fuzzyfied genetic algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Sonveer; Agrawal, Sanjay

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Thermal modeling of novel dual channel semitransparent photovoltaic thermal hybrid module. • Efficiency maximization and performance evaluation of dual channel photovoltaic thermal module. • Annual performance has been evaluated for Srinagar, Jodhpur, Bangalore and New Delhi (India). • There are improvements in results for optimized system as compared to un-optimized system. - Abstract: The work has been carried out in two steps; firstly the parameters of hybrid dual channel semitransparent photovoltaic thermal module has been optimized using a fuzzyfied genetic algorithm. During the course of optimization, overall exergy efficiency is considered as an objective function and different design parameters of the proposed module have been optimized. Fuzzy controller is used to improve the performance of genetic algorithms and the approach is called as a fuzzyfied genetic algorithm. In the second step, the performance of the module has been analyzed for four cities of India such as Srinagar, Bangalore, Jodhpur and New Delhi. The performance of the module has been evaluated for daytime 08:00 AM to 05:00 PM and annually from January to December. It is to be noted that, an average improvement occurs in electrical efficiency of the optimized module, simultaneously there is also a reduction in solar cell temperature as compared to un-optimized module.

  6. A modified gravitational search algorithm based on a non-dominated sorting genetic approach for hydro-thermal-wind economic emission dispatching

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Fang; Zhou, Jianzhong; Wang, Chao; Li, Chunlong; Lu, Peng

    2017-01-01

    Wind power is a type of clean and renewable energy, and reasonable utilization of wind power is beneficial to environmental protection and economic development. Therefore, a short-term hydro-thermal-wind economic emission dispatching (SHTW-EED) problem is presented in this paper. The proposed problem aims to distribute the load among hydro, thermal and wind power units to simultaneously minimize economic cost and pollutant emission. To solve the SHTW-EED problem with complex constraints, a modified gravitational search algorithm based on the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-III (MGSA-NSGA-III) is proposed. In the proposed MGSA-NSGA-III, a non-dominated sorting approach, reference-point based selection mechanism and chaotic mutation strategy are applied to improve the evolutionary process of the original gravitational search algorithm (GSA) and maintain the distribution diversity of Pareto optimal solutions. Moreover, a parallel computing strategy is introduced to improve the computational efficiency. Finally, the proposed MGSA-NSGA-III is applied to a typical hydro-thermal-wind system to verify its feasibility and effectiveness. The simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm can obtain low economic cost and small pollutant emission when dealing with the SHTW-EED problem. - Highlights: • A hybrid algorithm is proposed to handle hydro-thermal-wind power dispatching. • Several improvement strategies are applied to the algorithm. • A parallel computing strategy is applied to improve computational efficiency. • Two cases are analyzed to verify the efficiency of the optimize mode.

  7. Transport mechanisms in low-resistance ohmic contacts to p-InP formed by rapid thermal annealing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Clausen, Thomas; Leistiko, Otto

    1993-01-01

    process is related to interdiffusion and compound formation between the metal elements and the InP. The onset of low specific contact resistance is characterized by a change in the dominant transport mechanism; from predominantly a combination of thermionic emission and field emission to purely thermionic......Thermionic emission across a very small effective Schottky barrier (0-0.2 eV) are reported as being the dominant transport process mechanism in very low-resistance ohmic contacts for conventional AuZn(Ni) metallization systems top-InP formed by rapid thermal annealing. The barrier modulation...

  8. Electrical Thermal Network for Direct Contact Membrane Distillation Modeling and Analysis

    KAUST Repository

    Karam, Ayman M.

    2015-02-04

    Membrane distillation is an emerging water distillation technology that offers several advantages compared to conventional water desalination processes. Although progress has been made to model and understand the physics of the process, many studies are based on steady-state assumptions or are computationally not appropriate for real time control. This paper presents the derivation of a novel dynamical model, based on analogy between electrical and thermal systems, for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). The proposed model captures the dynamics of temperature distribution and distilled water flux. To demonstrate the adequacy of the proposed model, validation with transient and steady-state experimental data is presented.

  9. An integrated algorithm for hypersonic fluid-thermal-structural numerical simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jia-Wei; Wang, Jiang-Feng

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, a fluid-structural-thermal integrated method is presented based on finite volume method. A unified integral equations system is developed as the control equations for physical process of aero-heating and structural heat transfer. The whole physical field is discretized by using an up-wind finite volume method. To demonstrate its capability, the numerical simulation of Mach 6.47 flow over stainless steel cylinder shows a good agreement with measured values, and this method dynamically simulates the objective physical processes. Thus, the integrated algorithm proves to be efficient and reliable.

  10. Contact area measurements on structured surfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kücükyildiz, Ömer Can; Jensen, Sebastian Hoppe Nesgaard; De Chiffre, Leonardo

    In connection with the use of brass specimens featuring structured surfaces in a tribology test, an algorithm was developed for automatic measurement of the contact area by optical means.......In connection with the use of brass specimens featuring structured surfaces in a tribology test, an algorithm was developed for automatic measurement of the contact area by optical means....

  11. Monte Carlo simulation methods in moment-based scale-bridging algorithms for thermal radiative-transfer problems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Densmore, J.D., E-mail: jeffery.densmore@unnpp.gov [Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, P.O. Box 79, West Mifflin, PA 15122 (United States); Park, H., E-mail: hkpark@lanl.gov [Fluid Dynamics and Solid Mechanics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, MS B216, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Wollaber, A.B., E-mail: wollaber@lanl.gov [Computational Physics and Methods Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, MS D409, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Rauenzahn, R.M., E-mail: rick@lanl.gov [Fluid Dynamics and Solid Mechanics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, MS B216, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Knoll, D.A., E-mail: nol@lanl.gov [Fluid Dynamics and Solid Mechanics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, MS B216, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States)

    2015-03-01

    We present a moment-based acceleration algorithm applied to Monte Carlo simulation of thermal radiative-transfer problems. Our acceleration algorithm employs a continuum system of moments to accelerate convergence of stiff absorption–emission physics. The combination of energy-conserving tallies and the use of an asymptotic approximation in optically thick regions remedy the difficulties of local energy conservation and mitigation of statistical noise in such regions. We demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the developed method. We also compare directly to the standard linearization-based method of Fleck and Cummings [1]. A factor of 40 reduction in total computational time is achieved with the new algorithm for an equivalent (or more accurate) solution as compared with the Fleck–Cummings algorithm.

  12. Monte Carlo simulation methods in moment-based scale-bridging algorithms for thermal radiative-transfer problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Densmore, J.D.; Park, H.; Wollaber, A.B.; Rauenzahn, R.M.; Knoll, D.A.

    2015-01-01

    We present a moment-based acceleration algorithm applied to Monte Carlo simulation of thermal radiative-transfer problems. Our acceleration algorithm employs a continuum system of moments to accelerate convergence of stiff absorption–emission physics. The combination of energy-conserving tallies and the use of an asymptotic approximation in optically thick regions remedy the difficulties of local energy conservation and mitigation of statistical noise in such regions. We demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the developed method. We also compare directly to the standard linearization-based method of Fleck and Cummings [1]. A factor of 40 reduction in total computational time is achieved with the new algorithm for an equivalent (or more accurate) solution as compared with the Fleck–Cummings algorithm

  13. Effective thermal conductivity estimate of heterogenous media by a lattice Boltzmann method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arab, M.R.; Pateyron, B.; El Ganaoui, M.; Labbe, J.C. [Limoges Univ., Limoges (France). Science des Procedes Ceramiques et de Traitements de Surface

    2009-07-01

    Statistical lattice Boltzmann methods (LBM) are often used to simulate isothermal fluid flow for problems with complex geometry or porous structures. This study used an LBM algorithm to evaluate the effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of simple 2-D configurations. The LBM algorithm was also used to estimate the ECT of a porous structure. The Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook approximation was used to determine the discrete form of the Boltzmann equation for a single phase flow. A comparison with the finite element method (FEM) was also conducted. Results of the study demonstrated that the LBM algorithm accurately simulates the phenomena of heat and mass transfer for both the simple 2-D configurations as well as the porous media. The tool will be used to determine the influence of thermal contact resistance on heat transfer. 6 refs., 1 tab., 7 figs.

  14. Analysis of heat transfer in the water meniscus at the tip-sample contact in scanning thermal microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Assy, Ali; Lefèvre, Stéphane; Chapuis, Pierre-Olivier; Gomès, Séverine

    2014-01-01

    Quantitative measurements of local nanometer-scale thermal measurements are difficult to achieve because heat flux may be transferred from the heated sensor to the cold sample through various elusive mixed thermal channels. This paper addresses one of these channels, the water meniscus at the nano-contact between a heated atomic force microscopy probe and a hydrophilic sample. This heat transfer mechanism is found to depend strongly on the probe temperature. The analysis of the pull-off forces as a function of temperature indicates that the water film almost vanishes above a probe mean temperature between 120 and 150 ºC. In particular, a methodology that allows for correlating the thermal conductance of the water meniscus to the capillary forces is applied. In the case of the standard scanning thermal microscopy Wollaston probe, values of this thermal conductance show that the water meniscus mechanism is not dominant in the thermal interaction between the probe and the sample, regardless of probe temperature. (fast track communication)

  15. Ex-reactor determination of thermal gap and contact conductance between uranium dioxide: zircaloy-4 interfaces. Stage I: low gas pressure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garnier, J.E.; Begej, S.

    1979-04-01

    A study of thermal gap and contact conductance between depleted uranium dioxide (UO 2 ) and Zircaloy-4 (Zr4) has been made utilizing two measurement apparatuses developed as part of this program. The Modified Pulse Design (MPD) apparatus is a transient technique employing a heat pulse (laser) and a signal detector to monitor the thermal energy transmitted through a UO 2 /Zr4 sample pair which are either physically separated or in contact. The Modified Longitudinal Design (MLD) apparatus is a steady-state technique based on a modified cylindrical column design with a self-guarding sample geometry. Description of the MPD and MLD apparatus, data acquisition, reduction and error analysis is presented along with information on specimen preparation, thermal property and surface characterization. A technique using an optical height gauge to determine the average mean-plane of separation between the simple pairs is also presented

  16. Thermal contact conductance of metallic coated BiCaSrCuO superconductor/copper interfaces at cryogenic temperatures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ochterbeck, J.M.; Peterson, G.P.; Fletcher, L.S.

    1992-01-01

    The effects of vapor deposited coatings on the thermal contact conductance of cold pressed, normal state BiCaSrCuO superconductor/oxygen-free copper interfaces were experimentally investigated over a pressure range of 200 to 2,000 kPa. Using traditional vapor deposition processes, thin coatings of indium or lead were applied to the superconductor material to determine the effect on the heat transfer occurring at the interface. The test data indicate that the contact conductance can be enhanced using these coatings, with indium providing the greater enhancement. The experimental program revealed the need for a better understanding and control of the vapor deposition process when using soft metallic coatings. Also, the temperature-dependent microhardness of copper was experimentally determined and found to increase by approximately 35 percent as the temperature decreased from 300 to 85 K. An empirical model was developed to predict the effect of soft coatings on the thermal contact conductance of the superconductor/copper interfaces. When applied, the model agreed well with the data obtained in this investigation at low coating thicknesses but overpredicted the data as the thickness increased. In addition, the model agreed very well with data obtained in a previous investigation for silvercoated nickel substrates at all coating thicknesses

  17. Effects of chemical intermixing on electrical and thermal contact conductances at metallized bismuth and antimony telluride interfaces

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Devender,; Mehta, Rutvik J.; Ramanath, Ganpati, E-mail: Ramanath@rpi.edu [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180 (United States); Lofgreen, Kelly; Mahajan, Ravi [Intel Corporation, Assembly Test and Technology Development, Chandler, Arizona 85226 (United States); Yamaguchi, Masashi [Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180 (United States); Borca-Tasciuc, Theodorian [Department of Mechanical Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180 (United States)

    2015-03-15

    Tailoring electrical and thermal contact conductivities (Σ{sub c} and Γ{sub c}) across metallized pnictogen chalcogenide interfaces is key for realizing efficient thermoelectric devices. The authors report that Cu, Ni, Ti, and Ta diffusion and interfacial telluride formation with n-Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} and p-Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3} influence both Σ{sub c} and Γ{sub c}. Cu metallization yields the highest Γ{sub c} and the lowest Σ{sub c}, correlating with maximal metal diffusion and copper telluride formation. Ni diffuses less and yields the highest Σ{sub c} with Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3} due to p-type nickel telluride formation, which diminishes Σ{sub c} improvement with n-Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} interfaces. Ta and Ti contacts yield the lowest properties similar to that in Ni-metallized structures. These correlations between interfacial diffusion and phase formation on electronic and thermal transport properties will be important for devising suitable metallization for thermoelectric devices.

  18. Experimental Characterization and Modeling of Thermal Contact Resistance of Electric Machine Stator-to-Cooling Jacket Interface Under Interference Fit Loading

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cousineau, Justine E [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bennion, Kevin S [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Chieduko, Victor [UQM Technologies, Inc.; Lall, Rajiv [UQM Technologies, Inc.; Gilbert, Alan [UQM Technologies, Inc.

    2018-05-08

    Cooling of electric machines is a key to increasing power density and improving reliability. This paper focuses on the design of a machine using a cooling jacket wrapped around the stator. The thermal contact resistance (TCR) between the electric machine stator and cooling jacket is a significant factor in overall performance and is not well characterized. This interface is typically an interference fit subject to compressive pressure exceeding 5 MPa. An experimental investigation of this interface was carried out using a thermal transmittance setup using pressures between 5 and 10 MPa. The results were compared to currently available models for contact resistance, and one model was adapted for prediction of TCR in future motor designs.

  19. A review on the effects of different parameters on contact heat transfer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdollahi, H.; Shahraki, S.; Motahari-Nezhad, M.

    2017-07-01

    In this paper, a complete literature review for thermal contact between fixed and periodic contacting surfaces and also thermal contact between exhaust valve and its seat in internal combustion engines is presented. Furthermore, the effects of some parameters such as contact pressure, contact frequency, the contacting surfaces topography and roughness, curvature radius of surfaces, loading-unloading cycles, gas gap conductance and properties, interface interstitial material properties, surfaces coatings and surfaces temperature on thermal contact conductance are investigated according to the papers presented in this field. The reviewed papers and studies included theoretical/ analytical/experimental and numerical studies on thermal contact conductance. In studying the thermal contact between exhaust valve and its seat, most of the experimental studies include two axial rods as the exhaust valve, and seat and the one ends of both rods are considered at constant and different temperatures. In the experimental methods, the temperatures of multi-points on rods are measured in different conditions, and thermal contact conductance is estimated using them.

  20. An algorithm for variational data assimilation of contact concentration measurements for atmospheric chemistry models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Penenko, Alexey; Penenko, Vladimir

    2014-05-01

    Contact concentration measurement data assimilation problem is considered for convection-diffusion-reaction models originating from the atmospheric chemistry study. High dimensionality of models imposes strict requirements on the computational efficiency of the algorithms. Data assimilation is carried out within the variation approach on a single time step of the approximated model. A control function is introduced into the source term of the model to provide flexibility for data assimilation. This function is evaluated as the minimum of the target functional that connects its norm to a misfit between measured and model-simulated data. In the case mathematical model acts as a natural Tikhonov regularizer for the ill-posed measurement data inversion problem. This provides flow-dependent and physically-plausible structure of the resulting analysis and reduces a need to calculate model error covariance matrices that are sought within conventional approach to data assimilation. The advantage comes at the cost of the adjoint problem solution. This issue is solved within the frameworks of splitting-based realization of the basic convection-diffusion-reaction model. The model is split with respect to physical processes and spatial variables. A contact measurement data is assimilated on each one-dimensional convection-diffusion splitting stage. In this case a computationally-efficient direct scheme for both direct and adjoint problem solution can be constructed based on the matrix sweep method. Data assimilation (or regularization) parameter that regulates ratio between model and data in the resulting analysis is obtained with Morozov discrepancy principle. For the proper performance the algorithm takes measurement noise estimation. In the case of Gaussian errors the probability that the used Chi-squared-based estimate is the upper one acts as the assimilation parameter. A solution obtained can be used as the initial guess for data assimilation algorithms that assimilate

  1. Investigation of a ceramic vane with a metal disk thermal and mechanical contact in a gas turbine impeller

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Resnick S.V.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Promising directions of a new generation gas turbine engines development include using in gas turbines ceramic materials blades with high strength, thermal and chemical stability. One of the serious problems in developing such motors is insufficient knowledge of contact phenomena occurring in ceramic and metal details connection nodes. This work presents the numerical modeling results of thermal processes on ceramic and metal details rough boundaries. The investigation results are used in conducting experimental researches in conditions reproducing operating.

  2. Electrical equivalent thermal network for direct contact membrane distillation modeling and analysis

    KAUST Repository

    Karam, Ayman M.

    2016-09-19

    Membrane distillation (MD) is an emerging water desalination technology that offers several advantages compared to conventional desalination methods. Although progress has been made to model the physics of the process, there are two common limitations of existing models. Firstly, many of the models are based on the steady-state analysis of the process and secondly, some of the models are based on partial differential equations, which when discretized introduce many states which are not accessible in practice. This paper presents the derivation of a novel dynamic model, based on the analogy between electrical and thermal systems, for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). An analogous electrical thermal network is constructed and its elements are parameterized such that the response of the network models the DCMD process. The proposed model captures the spatial and temporal responses of the temperature distribution along the flow direction and is able to accurately predict the distilled water flux output. To demonstrate the adequacy of the proposed model, validation with time varying and steady-state experimental data is presented. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Non-contact acquisition of respiration and heart rates using Doppler radar with time domain peak-detection algorithm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiaofeng Yang; Guanghao Sun; Ishibashi, Koichiro

    2017-07-01

    The non-contact measurement of the respiration rate (RR) and heart rate (HR) using a Doppler radar has attracted more attention in the field of home healthcare monitoring, due to the extremely low burden on patients, unconsciousness and unconstraint. Most of the previous studies have performed the frequency-domain analysis of radar signals to detect the respiration and heartbeat frequency. However, these procedures required long period time (approximately 30 s) windows to obtain a high-resolution spectrum. In this study, we propose a time-domain peak detection algorithm for the fast acquisition of the RR and HR within a breathing cycle (approximately 5 s), including inhalation and exhalation. Signal pre-processing using an analog band-pass filter (BPF) that extracts respiration and heartbeat signals was performed. Thereafter, the HR and RR were calculated using a peak position detection method, which was carried out via LABVIEW. To evaluate the measurement accuracy, we measured the HR and RR of seven subjects in the laboratory. As a reference of HR and RR, the persons wore contact sensors i.e., an electrocardiograph (ECG) and a respiration band. The time domain peak-detection algorithm, based on the Doppler radar, exhibited a significant correlation coefficient of HR of 0.92 and a correlation coefficient of RR of 0.99, between the ECG and respiration band, respectively.

  4. Design, materials and R and D issues of innovative thermal contact joints for high heat flux applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Federici, G.; Haines, J.; Tillack, M.S.; Ulrickson, M.

    1995-01-01

    Plasma facing components in fusion machines are designed with a layer of sacrificial armour material facing the plasma and a high-conductivity material in contact with the coolant. One of the most critical issues associated with making the proposed design concept work, from a power handling point of view, is achieving the necessary contact conductance between the armour and the heat sink.This paper presents a novel idea for the interface joint between the sacrificial armour and the actively cooled permanent heat sink. It consists of a thermal bond layer of a binary or more complex alloy, treated in the semi-solid region in such a way as to lead to a fine dispersion of a globular solid phase into a liquid matrix (rheocast process). The alloy in this ''mushy state'' exhibits a time-dependent, shear rate-dependent viscosity, which is maintained reversibly when the material is solidified and heated again in the semi-solid state. The function of the thermal bond layer is to facilitate heat transfer between the replaceable armour and the permanent heat sink without building up excessive thermal stresses, as in conventional brazed joints, and allow an easy replacement whenever needed without disturbing the coolant system. No contact pressure is required in this case to provide the desired heat transfer conductance, and the reversible thixotropic properties of the rheocast material should guarantee the stability of the layer in the semi-solid conditions.Key design, material and testing issues are identified and discussed in this paper with emphasis on specific needs for future research and development work. Examples of suitable material options which are being considered are reported together with some initial heat transfer analysis results. (orig.)

  5. Thermal Diffusion Processes in Metal-Tip-Surface Interactions: Contact Formation and Adatom Mobility

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Mads Reinholdt; Jacobsen, Karsten Wedel; Jonsson, Hannes

    1996-01-01

    and the surface can occur by a sequence of atomic hop and exchange processes which become active on a millisecond time scale when the tip is about 3-5 Angstrom from the surface. Adatoms on the surface are stabilized by the presence of the tip and energy barriers for diffusion processes in the region under the tip......We have carried out computer simulations to identify and characterize various thermally activated atomic scale processes that can play an important role in room temperature experiments where a metal tip is brought close to a metal surface. We find that contact formation between the tip...

  6. Contact with turf algae alters the coral microbiome: contact versus systemic impacts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pratte, Zoe A.; Longo, Guilherme O.; Burns, Andrew S.; Hay, Mark E.; Stewart, Frank J.

    2018-03-01

    Coral reefs are degrading to algae-dominated reefs worldwide, with alterations of coral microbiomes commonly co-occurring with reef demise. The severe thermal anomaly during the 2016 El Niño event in the South Pacific killed many corals and stressed others. We examined the microbiome of turf algae and of the coral Porites sp. in contact with turf during this thermal event to investigate algal turf effects on the coral microbiome during a period of environmental stress. The microbial composition of turf did not differ between coral-contacted and non-contacted turfs. However, microbiomes of corals in direct contact with turf were similar to those of the turf microbiome, but differed significantly from coral portions 5 cm from the point of turf/coral contact and from portions of the coral that looked most healthy, regardless of location. Although the majority of significant differences occurred in coral samples at the point of contact, a small subset of microbial taxa was enriched in coral tissues taken 5 cm from turf contact compared to all other sample types, including samples from areas of the coral that appeared most healthy. These results suggest that the coral microbiome is susceptible to colonization by microbes from turf, but not vice versa. Results also suggest that algal contact elicits a subtle shift in the coral microbiome just beyond the contact site. The combination of turf microbiome stability and coral microbiome vulnerability at areas of contact may contribute to the continued decline in coral cover and increase in algal cover associated with coral-algae phase shifts.

  7. Simulation study of multi-step model algorithmic control of the nuclear reactor thermal power tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shi Xiaoping; Xu Tianshu

    2001-01-01

    The classical control method is usually hard to ensure the thermal power tracking accuracy, because the nuclear reactor system is a complex nonlinear system with uncertain parameters and disturbances. A sort of non-parameter model is constructed with the open-loop impulse response of the system. Furthermore, a sort of thermal power tracking digital control law is presented using the multi-step model algorithmic control principle. The control method presented had good tracking performance and robustness. It can work despite the existence of unmeasurable disturbances. The simulation experiment testifies the correctness and effectiveness of the method. The high accuracy matching between the thermal power and the referenced load is achieved

  8. Contact Estimation in Robot Interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Filippo D'Ippolito

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available In the paper, safety issues are examined in a scenario in which a robot manipulator and a human perform the same task in the same workspace. During the task execution, the human should be able to physically interact with the robot, and in this case an estimation algorithm for both interaction forces and a contact point is proposed in order to guarantee safety conditions. The method, starting from residual joint torque estimation, allows both direct and adaptive computation of the contact point and force, based on a principle of equivalence of the contact forces. At the same time, all the unintended contacts must be avoided, and a suitable post-collision strategy is considered to move the robot away from the collision area or else to reduce impact effects. Proper experimental tests have demonstrated the applicability in practice of both the post-impact strategy and the estimation algorithms; furthermore, experiments demonstrate the different behaviour resulting from the adaptation of the contact point as opposed to direct calculation.

  9. Evaluation of optimal dual axis concentrated photovoltaic thermal system with active ventilation using Frog Leap algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gholami, H.; Sarwat, A.I.; Hosseinian, H.; Khalilnejad, A.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Electro-thermal performance of open-loop controlled dual axis CPVT is investigated. • For using the absorbed heat, active ventilation with a heat storage tank is used. • Economic optimization of the system is performed, using Frog Leap algorithm. • Detailed model of all sections is simulated with their characteristics evaluation. • Triple-junction photovoltaic cells, which are the most recent technology, are used. - Abstract: In this study, design and optimization of a concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) system considering electrical, mechanical, and economical aspects is investigated. For this purpose, each section of the system is simulated in MATLAB, in detail. Triple-junction photovoltaic cells, which are the most recent technology, are used in this study. They are more efficient in comparison to conventional photovoltaic cells. Unlike ordinary procedures, in this work active ventilation is used for absorbing the thermal power of radiation, using heat storage tanks, which not only results in increasing the electrical efficiency of the system through decreasing the temperature, but also leads to storing and managing produced thermal energy and increasing the total efficiency of the system up to 85 percent. The operation of the CPVT system is investigated for total hours of the year, considering the needed thermal load, meteorological conditions, and hourly radiation of Khuznin, a city in Qazvin province, Iran. Finally, the collector used for this system is optimized economically, using frog leap algorithm, which resulted in the cost of 13.4 $/m"2 for a collector with the optimal distance between tubes of 6.34 cm.

  10. Ex-reactor determination of thermal gap and contact conductance between uranium dioxide: zircaloy-4 interfaces. Stage I: low gas pressure. [PWR; BWR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garnier, J.E.; Begej, S.

    1979-04-01

    A study of thermal gap and contact conductance between depleted uranium dioxide (UO/sub 2/) and Zircaloy-4 (Zr4) has been made utilizing two measurement apparatuses developed as part of this program. The Modified Pulse Design (MPD) apparatus is a transient technique employing a heat pulse (laser) and a signal detector to monitor the thermal energy transmitted through a UO/sub 2//Zr4 sample pair which are either physically separated or in contact. The Modified Longitudinal Design (MLD) apparatus is a steady-state technique based on a modified cylindrical column design with a self-guarding sample geometry. Description of the MPD and MLD apparatus, data acquisition, reduction and error analysis is presented along with information on specimen preparation, thermal property and surface characterization. A technique using an optical height gauge to determine the average mean-plane of separation between the simple pairs is also presented.

  11. Role of Firing Temperature, Sheet Resistance, and Contact Area in Contact Formation on Screen-Printed Metal Contact of Silicon Solar Cell

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Samir Mahmmod; Leong, Cheow Siu; Sopian, K.; Zaidi, Saleem H.

    2018-03-01

    Formation of an Ohmic contact requires a suitable firing temperature, appropriate doping profile, and contact dimensions within resolution limits of the screen-printing process. In this study, the role of the peak firing temperature in standard rapid thermal annealing (RTA) six-zone conveyor belt furnace (CBF) and two inexpensive alternate RTA systems [a custom-designed, three-zone, 5″-diameter quartz tube furnace (QTF) and a tabletop, 3″-diameter rapid thermal processing (RTP)] has been investigated. In addition, the role of sheet resistance and contact area in achieving low-resistance ohmic contacts has been examined. Electrical measurements of ohmic contacts between silver paste/ n +-emitter layer with varying sheet resistances and aluminum paste/ p-doped wafer were carried out in transmission line method configuration. Experimental measurements of the contact resistivity ( ρ c) exhibited the lowest values for CBF at 0.14 mΩ cm2 for Ag and 100 mΩ cm2 for Al at a peak firing temperature of 870°C. For the QTF configuration, lowest measured contact resistivities were 3.1 mΩ cm2 for Ag and 74.1 mΩ cm2 for Al at a peak firing temperature of 925°C. Finally, for the RTP configuration, lowest measured contact resistivities were 1.2 mΩ cm2 for Ag and 68.5 mΩ cm2 for Al at a peak firing temperature of 780°C. The measured contact resistivity exhibits strong linear dependence on sheet resistance. The contact resistivity for Ag decreases with contact area, while for Al the opposite behavior is observed.

  12. THERMAL AND SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYSES OF CAUSTIC SIDE SOLVENT EXTRACTION SOLVENT CONTACTED WITH 16 MOLAR AND 8 MOLAR NITRIC ACID

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fondeur, F; David Hobbs, D; Samuel Fink, S

    2007-01-01

    Thermal and spectroscopic analyses were performed on multiple layers formed from contacting Caustic Side Solvent Extraction (CSSX) solvent with 1 M or 3 M nitric acid. A slow chemical reaction occurs (i.e., over several weeks) between the solvent and 1 M or 3 M nitric acid as evidenced by color changes and the detection of nitro groups in the infrared spectrum of the aged samples. Thermal analysis revealed that decomposition of the resulting mixture does not meet the definition of explosive or deflagrating material

  13. Thermal stability study of Cr/Au contact formed on n-type Ga-polar GaN, N-polar GaN, and wet-etched N-polar GaN surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Yunju; Kim, Yangsoo; Ahn, Kwang-Soon; Kim, Hyunsoo

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • The Cr/Au contact on n-type Ga-polar (0 0 0 1) GaN, N-polar (0 0 0 −1) GaN, and wet-etched N-polar GaN were investigated. • Thermal annealing led to a significant degradation of contact formed on N-polar n-GaN samples. • Contact degradation was shown to be closely related to the increase in the electrical resistivity of n-GaN. • Out-diffusion of Ga and N atoms was clearly observed in N-polar samples. - Abstract: The electrical characteristics and thermal stability of a Cr/Au contact formed on n-type Ga-polar (0 0 0 1) GaN, N-polar GaN, and wet-etched N-polar GaN were investigated. As-deposited Cr/Au showed a nearly ohmic contact behavior for all samples, i.e., the specific contact resistance was 3.2 × 10 −3 , 4.3 × 10 −4 , and 1.1 × 10 −3 Ω cm 2 for the Ga-polar, flat N-polar, and roughened N-polar samples, respectively. However, thermal annealing performed at 250 °C for 1 min in a N 2 ambient led to a significant degradation of contact, i.e., the contact resistance increased by 186, 3260, and 2030% after annealing for Ga-polar, flat N-polar, and roughened N-polar samples, respectively. This could be due to the different disruption degree of Cr/Au and GaN interface after annealing, i.e., the insignificant interfacial reaction occurred in the Ga-polar sample, while out-diffusion of Ga and N atoms was clearly observed in N-polar samples

  14. Thermal stability study of Cr/Au contact formed on n-type Ga-polar GaN, N-polar GaN, and wet-etched N-polar GaN surfaces

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choi, Yunju [School of Semiconductor and Chemical Engineering, Semiconductor Physics Research Center, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756 (Korea, Republic of); Suncheon Center, Korea Basic Science Institute, Suncheon 540-742 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Yangsoo [Suncheon Center, Korea Basic Science Institute, Suncheon 540-742 (Korea, Republic of); Ahn, Kwang-Soon, E-mail: kstheory@ynu.ac.kr [School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk 712-749 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hyunsoo, E-mail: hskim7@jbnu.ac.kr [School of Semiconductor and Chemical Engineering, Semiconductor Physics Research Center, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756 (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-10-30

    Highlights: • The Cr/Au contact on n-type Ga-polar (0 0 0 1) GaN, N-polar (0 0 0 −1) GaN, and wet-etched N-polar GaN were investigated. • Thermal annealing led to a significant degradation of contact formed on N-polar n-GaN samples. • Contact degradation was shown to be closely related to the increase in the electrical resistivity of n-GaN. • Out-diffusion of Ga and N atoms was clearly observed in N-polar samples. - Abstract: The electrical characteristics and thermal stability of a Cr/Au contact formed on n-type Ga-polar (0 0 0 1) GaN, N-polar GaN, and wet-etched N-polar GaN were investigated. As-deposited Cr/Au showed a nearly ohmic contact behavior for all samples, i.e., the specific contact resistance was 3.2 × 10{sup −3}, 4.3 × 10{sup −4}, and 1.1 × 10{sup −3} Ω cm{sup 2} for the Ga-polar, flat N-polar, and roughened N-polar samples, respectively. However, thermal annealing performed at 250 °C for 1 min in a N{sub 2} ambient led to a significant degradation of contact, i.e., the contact resistance increased by 186, 3260, and 2030% after annealing for Ga-polar, flat N-polar, and roughened N-polar samples, respectively. This could be due to the different disruption degree of Cr/Au and GaN interface after annealing, i.e., the insignificant interfacial reaction occurred in the Ga-polar sample, while out-diffusion of Ga and N atoms was clearly observed in N-polar samples.

  15. An Improved Mono-Window Algorithm for Land Surface Temperature Retrieval from Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fei Wang

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The successful launch of the Landsat 8 satellite with two thermal infrared bands on February 11, 2013, for continuous Earth observation provided another opportunity for remote sensing of land surface temperature (LST. However, calibration notices issued by the United States Geological Survey (USGS indicated that data from the Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS Band 11 have large uncertainty and suggested using TIRS Band 10 data as a single spectral band for LST estimation. In this study, we presented an improved mono-window (IMW algorithm for LST retrieval from the Landsat 8 TIRS Band 10 data. Three essential parameters (ground emissivity, atmospheric transmittance and effective mean atmospheric temperature were required for the IMW algorithm to retrieve LST. A new method was proposed to estimate the parameter of effective mean atmospheric temperature from local meteorological data. The other two essential parameters could be both estimated through the so-called land cover approach. Sensitivity analysis conducted for the IMW algorithm revealed that the possible error in estimating the required atmospheric water vapor content has the most significant impact on the probable LST estimation error. Under moderate errors in both water vapor content and ground emissivity, the algorithm had an accuracy of ~1.4 K for LST retrieval. Validation of the IMW algorithm using the simulated datasets for various situations indicated that the LST difference between the retrieved and the simulated ones was 0.67 K on average, with an RMSE of 0.43 K. Comparison of our IMW algorithm with the single-channel (SC algorithm for three main atmosphere profiles indicated that the average error and RMSE of the IMW algorithm were −0.05 K and 0.84 K, respectively, which were less than the −2.86 K and 1.05 K of the SC algorithm. Application of the IMW algorithm to Nanjing and its vicinity in east China resulted in a reasonable LST estimation for the region. Spatial

  16. Thermal contact resistance measurement of conduction cooled binary current lead joint block in cryocooler based self field I-V characterization facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kundu, Ananya, E-mail: ananya@ipr.res.in; Das, Subrat Kumar; Agarwal, Anees Bano Pooja; Pradhan, Subrata [Institute for Plasma Research, Bhat, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382428 (India)

    2016-05-23

    In the present study thermal resistance of conduction cooled current lead joint block employing two different interfacial material namely AlN sheet and Kapton Film have been studied in the temperature range 5K-35K. In each case, the performance of different interlayer materials e.g. Indium foil for moderately pressurized contacts (contact pressure <1 MPa), and Apiezon N Grease, GE varnish for low pressurized contact (contact pressure <1 MPa) is studied. The performances of AlN joint with Indium foil and with Apeizon N Grease are studied and it is observed that the contact resistance reduces more with indium foil as compared to greased contact. The contact resistance measurements of Kapton film with Apiezon N grease and with GE varnish were also carried out in the same temperature range. A comparative study of AlN joint with Indium foil and Kapton with GE varnish as filler material is carried out to demonstrate better candidate material among Kapton and AlN for a particular filler material in the same temperature range.

  17. Automatic segmentation of thermal images of diabetic-at-risk feet using the snakes algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Etehadtavakol, Mahnaz; Ng, E. Y. K.; Kaabouch, Naima

    2017-11-01

    Diabetes is a disease with multi-systemic problems. It is a leading cause of death, medical costs, and loss of productivity. Foot ulcers are one generally known problem of uncontrolled diabetes that can lead to amputation signs of foot ulcers are not always obvious. Sometimes, symptoms won't even show up until ulcer is infected. Hence, identification of pre-ulceration of the plantar surface of the foot in diabetics is beneficial. Thermography has the potential to identify regions of the plantar with no evidence of ulcer but yet risk. Thermography is a technique that is safe, easy, non-invasive, with no contact, and repeatable. In this study, 59 thermographic images of the plantar foot of patients with diabetic neuropathy are implemented using the snakes algorithm to separate two feet from background automatically and separating the right foot from the left on each image. The snakes algorithm both separates the right and left foot into segmented different clusters according to their temperatures. The hottest regions will have the highest risk of ulceration for each foot. This algorithm also worked perfectly for all the current images.

  18. Solution of wind integrated thermal generation system for environmental optimal power flow using hybrid algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ambarish Panda

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available A new evolutionary hybrid algorithm (HA has been proposed in this work for environmental optimal power flow (EOPF problem. The EOPF problem has been formulated in a nonlinear constrained multi objective optimization framework. Considering the intermittency of available wind power a cost model of the wind and thermal generation system is developed. Suitably formed objective function considering the operational cost, cost of emission, real power loss and cost of installation of FACTS devices for maintaining a stable voltage in the system has been optimized with HA and compared with particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSOA to prove its effectiveness. All the simulations are carried out in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment taking IEEE30 bus as the test system.

  19. Thermal weapon sights with integrated fire control computers: algorithms and experiences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothe, Hendrik; Graswald, Markus; Breiter, Rainer

    2008-04-01

    The HuntIR long range thermal weapon sight of AIM is deployed in various out of area missions since 2004 as a part of the German Future Infantryman system (IdZ). In 2007 AIM fielded RangIR as upgrade with integrated laser Range finder (LRF), digital magnetic compass (DMC) and fire control unit (FCU). RangIR fills the capability gaps of day/night fire control for grenade machine guns (GMG) and the enhanced system of the IdZ. Due to proven expertise and proprietary methods in fire control, fast access to military trials for optimisation loops and similar hardware platforms, AIM and the University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg (HSU) decided to team for the development of suitable fire control algorithms. The pronounced ballistic trajectory of the 40mm GMG requires most accurate FCU-solutions specifically for air burst ammunition (ABM) and is most sensitive to faint effects like levelling or firing up/downhill. This weapon was therefore selected to validate the quality of the FCU hard- and software under relevant military conditions. For exterior ballistics the modified point mass model according to STANAG 4355 is used. The differential equations of motions are solved numerically, the two point boundary value problem is solved iteratively. Computing time varies according to the precision needed and is typical in the range from 0.1 - 0.5 seconds. RangIR provided outstanding hit accuracy including ABM fuze timing in various trials of the German Army and allied partners in 2007 and is now ready for series production. This paper deals mainly with the fundamentals of the fire control algorithms and shows how to implement them in combination with any DSP-equipped thermal weapon sights (TWS) in a variety of light supporting weapon systems.

  20. Research on optimization of combustion efficiency of thermal power unit based on genetic algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Qiongyang

    2018-04-01

    In order to improve the economic performance and reduce pollutant emissions of thermal power units, the characteristics of neural network in establishing boiler combustion model are analyzed based on the analysis of the main factors affecting boiler efficiency by using orthogonal method. In addition, on the basis of this model, the genetic algorithm is used to find the best control amount of the furnace combustion in a certain working condition. Through the genetic algorithm based on real number encoding and roulette selection is concluded: the best control quantity at a condition of furnace combustion can be combined with the boiler combustion system model for neural network training. The precision of the neural network model is further improved, and the basic work is laid for the research of the whole boiler combustion optimization system.

  1. Thermal singularity and droplet motion in one-component fluids on solid substrates with thermal gradients

    KAUST Repository

    Xu, Xinpeng

    2012-06-26

    Using a continuum model capable of describing the one-component liquid-gas hydrodynamics down to the contact line scale, we carry out numerical simulation and physical analysis for the droplet motion driven by thermal singularity. For liquid droplets in one-component fluids on heated or cooled substrates, the liquid-gas interface is nearly isothermal. Consequently, a thermal singularity occurs at the contact line and the Marangoni effect due to temperature gradient is suppressed. Through evaporation or condensation in the vicinity of the contact line, the thermal singularity makes the contact angle increase with the increasing substrate temperature. This effect on the contact angle can be used to move the droplets on substrates with thermal gradients. Our numerical results for this kind of droplet motion are explained by a simple fluid dynamical model at the droplet length scale. Since the mechanism for droplet motion is based on the change of contact angle, a separation of length scales is exhibited through a comparison between the droplet motion induced by a wettability gradient and that by a thermal gradient. It is shown that the flow field at the droplet length scale is independent of the statics or dynamics at the contact line scale.

  2. Thermal singularity and droplet motion in one-component fluids on solid substrates with thermal gradients

    KAUST Repository

    Xu, Xinpeng; Qian, Tiezheng

    2012-01-01

    Using a continuum model capable of describing the one-component liquid-gas hydrodynamics down to the contact line scale, we carry out numerical simulation and physical analysis for the droplet motion driven by thermal singularity. For liquid droplets in one-component fluids on heated or cooled substrates, the liquid-gas interface is nearly isothermal. Consequently, a thermal singularity occurs at the contact line and the Marangoni effect due to temperature gradient is suppressed. Through evaporation or condensation in the vicinity of the contact line, the thermal singularity makes the contact angle increase with the increasing substrate temperature. This effect on the contact angle can be used to move the droplets on substrates with thermal gradients. Our numerical results for this kind of droplet motion are explained by a simple fluid dynamical model at the droplet length scale. Since the mechanism for droplet motion is based on the change of contact angle, a separation of length scales is exhibited through a comparison between the droplet motion induced by a wettability gradient and that by a thermal gradient. It is shown that the flow field at the droplet length scale is independent of the statics or dynamics at the contact line scale.

  3. Thermal degradation of ohmic contacts on semipolar (11-22) GaN films grown on m-plane (1-100) sapphire substrates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Doo Soo; Kim, Deuk Young; Seo, Yong Gon; Kim, Ji Hoon; Hwang, Sung Min; Baik, Kwang Hyeon

    2012-01-01

    Semipolar (11-22) GaN films were grown on m-plane (1-100) sapphire substrates by using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The line widths of the omega rocking curves of the semipolar GaN films were 498 arcsec along the [11-23] GaN direction and 908 arcsec along the [10-10] GaN direction. The properties of the Ti/Al/Ni/Au metal contact were investigated using transmission-line-method patterns oriented in both the [11-23] GaN and the [10-10] GaN directions of semipolar (11-22) GaN. The minimum specific contact resistance of ∼3.6 x 10 -4 Ω·cm -2 was obtained on as-deposited metal contacts. The Ohmic contact properties of semipolar (11-22) GaN became degraded with increasing annealing temperature above 400 .deg. C. The thermal degradation of the metal contacts may be attributed to the surface property of N-polarity on the semipolar (11-22) GaN films. Also, the semipolar (11-22) GaN films did not show clear anisotropic behavior of the electrical properties for different azimuthal angles.

  4. An enhanced artificial bee colony algorithm (EABC) for solving dispatching of hydro-thermal system (DHTS) problem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Yi; Wu, Yonggang; Hu, Binqi; Liu, Xinglong

    2018-01-01

    The dispatching of hydro-thermal system is a nonlinear programming problem with multiple constraints and high dimensions and the solution techniques of the model have been a hotspot in research. Based on the advantage of that the artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC) can efficiently solve the high-dimensional problem, an improved artificial bee colony algorithm has been proposed to solve DHTS problem in this paper. The improvements of the proposed algorithm include two aspects. On one hand, local search can be guided in efficiency by the information of the global optimal solution and its gradient in each generation. The global optimal solution improves the search efficiency of the algorithm but loses diversity, while the gradient can weaken the loss of diversity caused by the global optimal solution. On the other hand, inspired by genetic algorithm, the nectar resource which has not been updated in limit generation is transformed to a new one by using selection, crossover and mutation, which can ensure individual diversity and make full use of prior information for improving the global search ability of the algorithm. The two improvements of ABC algorithm are proved to be effective via a classical numeral example at last. Among which the genetic operator for the promotion of the ABC algorithm's performance is significant. The results are also compared with those of other state-of-the-art algorithms, the enhanced ABC algorithm has general advantages in minimum cost, average cost and maximum cost which shows its usability and effectiveness. The achievements in this paper provide a new method for solving the DHTS problems, and also offer a novel reference for the improvement of mechanism and the application of algorithms.

  5. Reducing Contact Resistance Errors In Measuring Thermal ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Values of thermal conductivity (k) of glass beads, quartz sand, stone dust and clay were determined using a thermal probe with and without heat sink compounds (arctic silver grease (ASG) and white grease (WG)) at different water contents, bulk densities and particle sizes. The heat sink compounds (HSC) increased k at ...

  6. A Learning Based Precool Algorithm for Utilization of Foodstuff as Thermal Energy Storage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vinther, Kasper; Rasmussen, Henrik; Izadi-Zamanabadi, Roozbeh

    2013-01-01

    Maintaining foodstuff within predefined temperature thresholds is important due to legislative requirements and to sustain high foodstuff quality. This is achieved using a refrigeration system. However, these systems might not be dimensioned for hot summer days or possible component performance...... degradation. A learning based algorithm is proposed in this paper, which precools the foodstuff in an anticipatory manner based on the saturation level in the system on recent days. The method is evaluated using a simulation model of a supermarket refrigeration system and simulations show that thermal energy...

  7. Improved adaptive genetic algorithm with sparsity constraint applied to thermal neutron CT reconstruction of two-phase flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Mingfei; Hu, Huasi; Otake, Yoshie; Taketani, Atsushi; Wakabayashi, Yasuo; Yanagimachi, Shinzo; Wang, Sheng; Pan, Ziheng; Hu, Guang

    2018-05-01

    Thermal neutron computer tomography (CT) is a useful tool for visualizing two-phase flow due to its high imaging contrast and strong penetrability of neutrons for tube walls constructed with metallic material. A novel approach for two-phase flow CT reconstruction based on an improved adaptive genetic algorithm with sparsity constraint (IAGA-SC) is proposed in this paper. In the algorithm, the neighborhood mutation operator is used to ensure the continuity of the reconstructed object. The adaptive crossover probability P c and mutation probability P m are improved to help the adaptive genetic algorithm (AGA) achieve the global optimum. The reconstructed results for projection data, obtained from Monte Carlo simulation, indicate that the comprehensive performance of the IAGA-SC algorithm exceeds the adaptive steepest descent-projection onto convex sets (ASD-POCS) algorithm in restoring typical and complex flow regimes. It especially shows great advantages in restoring the simply connected flow regimes and the shape of object. In addition, the CT experiment for two-phase flow phantoms was conducted on the accelerator-driven neutron source to verify the performance of the developed IAGA-SC algorithm.

  8. Segmental equivalent temperature determined by means of a thermal manikin: A method for correcting errors due to incomplete contact of the body with a surface

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Melikov, Arsen Krikor; Janieas, N.R.D.J.; Silva, M.C.G.

    2004-01-01

    of the thermal manikins used at present is not as flexible as the human body and is divided into body segments with a surface area that differs from that of the human body in contact with a surface. The area of the segment in contact with a surface will depend on the shape and flexibility of the surface...

  9. Laser-annealed GaP OHMIC contacts for high-temperature devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eknoyan, O.; Van der Hoeven, W.; Richardson, T.; Porter, W.A.; Coquat, J.A.

    1980-01-01

    The results of successful Nd:YAG laser annealed ohmic contacts on n-type GaP are reported. Comparisons on identical laser and thermal annealed contacts on the same substrates are performed. Aging investigations are also studied. The results indicate that laser annealed contacts have far superior electrical characteristics, much better surface morphology and are substantially more stable with aging than the same but thermally alloyed ones

  10. Mechanical design of thin-film diamond crystal mounting apparatus with optimized thermal contact and crystal strain for coherence preservation x-ray optics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shu, Deming; Shvydko, Yury; Stoupin, Stanislav; Kim, Kwang-Je

    2018-05-08

    A method and mechanical design for a thin-film diamond crystal mounting apparatus for coherence preservation x-ray optics with optimized thermal contact and minimized crystal strain are provided. The novel thin-film diamond crystal mounting apparatus mounts a thin-film diamond crystal supported by a thick chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond film spacer with a thickness slightly thicker than the thin-film diamond crystal, and two groups of thin film thermal conductors, such as thin CVD diamond film thermal conductor groups separated by the thick CVD diamond spacer. The two groups of thin CVD film thermal conductors provide thermal conducting interface media with the thin-film diamond crystal. A piezoelectric actuator is integrated into a flexural clamping mechanism generating clamping force from zero to an optimal level.

  11. Assessing the accuracy of different simplified frictional rolling contact algorithms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vollebregt, E. A. H.; Iwnicki, S. D.; Xie, G.; Shackleton, P.

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents an approach for assessing the accuracy of different frictional rolling contact theories. The main characteristic of the approach is that it takes a statistically oriented view. This yields a better insight into the behaviour of the methods in diverse circumstances (varying contact patch ellipticities, mixed longitudinal, lateral and spin creepages) than is obtained when only a small number of (basic) circumstances are used in the comparison. The range of contact parameters that occur for realistic vehicles and tracks are assessed using simulations with the Vampire vehicle system dynamics (VSD) package. This shows that larger values for the spin creepage occur rather frequently. Based on this, our approach is applied to typical cases for which railway VSD packages are used. The results show that particularly the USETAB approach but also FASTSIM give considerably better results than the linear theory, Vermeulen-Johnson, Shen-Hedrick-Elkins and Polach methods, when compared with the 'complete theory' of the CONTACT program.

  12. THE NUMERICAL ALGORITHM FOR CALCULATING TEMPERATURE FIELDS OF THE PNEUMATIC TIRES DURING VULCANIZATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. G. Tikhomirov

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In the article discussed the mathematical formulation and numerical algorithm for solving the problem of calculating the temperature field in the process vulcanizing of the product, whose the thermal characteristics are depended on the temperature. As a mathematical model considered the system of differential equations of heat conduction, taking into account the change in the coefficients of thermal conductivity and heat density in multilayer product of the temperature. The system of equations is solved for a given initial distribution of temperature and for a given (time-dependent temperatures on the border of the product to the press-mold and to the diaphragm. On the border of the contacts of adjacent layers are given the condition of continuity of temperature and heat flux. Change of the thermal conductivity from the time is approximated by linear functions. The activation energy of the vulcanization process is determined on the basis of experimental data obtained in the control test samples using a reometer. Considering the function representing the corresponding integrals of the thermal conductivity, the original system of differential equations is transformed to an equivalent system of differential equations convenient for constructing numerical algorithms for solving the problem. The resulting system of partial differential equations derived using the method of finite-difference approximation is replaced by a system of algebraic equations. Solution of the system of algebraic equations is carried out under the scheme explicit difference approximation. In the article calculated the temperature field for the tire at given initial and boundary conditions. Stability and accuracy of the numerical algorithm for solving the problem is demonstrated by the calculations performed with different sampling step along the time and space coordinates. Assessment of the degree of completion of the process is carried out by calculated equivalent time for

  13. Mathematical Modeling of Contact Problems of Elasticity Theory with Continuous Unilateral Contact

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. V. Stankevich

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The work [1] presents the formulation and numerical solution of the problem concerning the unilateral discrete contact interaction of an elastic body and a rigid half-space. However, many parts and components of engineering structures have a pronounced continuous contact within a given surface [2, 3]. In this paper we consider a special case of this option of contact interaction when, the elastic body of finite size, subjected to external forces, is based on a rigid half-space. Contact occurs through a dedicated contact surface, which in general can change their sizes.Developed to solve this problem, a numerical algorithm is a further adaptation and development of the approaches described in [1]. The paper shows results of solving the model problem of the elasticity theory with and without taking friction into account. In the latter case, were additionally obtained numerical data characterizing the convergence of the solution.

  14. Contact resistance and stability study for Au, Ti, Hf and Ni contacts on thin-film Mg2Si

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Bo

    2016-12-28

    We present a detailed study of post-deposition annealing effects on contact resistance of Au, Ti, Hf and Ni electrodes on Mg2Si thin films. Thin-film Mg2Si and metal contacts were deposited using magnetron sputtering. Various post-annealing temperatures were studied to determine the thermal stability of each contact metal. The specific contact resistivity (SCR) was determined using the Cross Bridge Kelvin Resistor (CBKR) method. Ni contacts exhibits the best thermal stability, maintaining stability up to 400 °C, with a SCR of approximately 10−2 Ω-cm2 after annealing. The increased SCR after high temperature annealing is correlated with the formation of a Mg-Si-Ni mixture identified by cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) characterization, X-ray diffraction characterization (XRD) and other elemental analyses. The formation of this Mg-Si-Ni mixture is attributed to Ni diffusion and its reaction with the Mg2Si film.

  15. Assessment and optimization of thermal and fluidity properties of high strength concrete via genetic algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barış Şimşek

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a Response Surface Methodology (RSM based Genetic Algorithm (GA using MATLAB® to assess and optimize the thermal and fluidity of high strength concrete (HSC. The overall heat transfer coefficient, slump-spread flow and T50 time was defined as thermal and fluidity properties of high strength concrete. In addition to above mentioned properties, a 28-day compressive strength of HSC was also determined. Water to binder ratio, fine aggregate to total aggregate ratio and the percentage of super-plasticizer content was determined as effective factors on thermal and fluidity properties of HSC. GA based multi-objective optimization method was carried out by obtaining quadratic models using RSM. Having excessive or low ratio of water to binder provides lower overall heat transfer coefficient. Moreover, T50 time of high strength concrete decreased with the increasing of water to binder ratio and the percentage of superplasticizer content. Results show that RSM based GA is effective in determining optimal mixture ratios of HSC.

  16. An enhanced artificial bee colony algorithm (EABC for solving dispatching of hydro-thermal system (DHTS problem.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Yu

    Full Text Available The dispatching of hydro-thermal system is a nonlinear programming problem with multiple constraints and high dimensions and the solution techniques of the model have been a hotspot in research. Based on the advantage of that the artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC can efficiently solve the high-dimensional problem, an improved artificial bee colony algorithm has been proposed to solve DHTS problem in this paper. The improvements of the proposed algorithm include two aspects. On one hand, local search can be guided in efficiency by the information of the global optimal solution and its gradient in each generation. The global optimal solution improves the search efficiency of the algorithm but loses diversity, while the gradient can weaken the loss of diversity caused by the global optimal solution. On the other hand, inspired by genetic algorithm, the nectar resource which has not been updated in limit generation is transformed to a new one by using selection, crossover and mutation, which can ensure individual diversity and make full use of prior information for improving the global search ability of the algorithm. The two improvements of ABC algorithm are proved to be effective via a classical numeral example at last. Among which the genetic operator for the promotion of the ABC algorithm's performance is significant. The results are also compared with those of other state-of-the-art algorithms, the enhanced ABC algorithm has general advantages in minimum cost, average cost and maximum cost which shows its usability and effectiveness. The achievements in this paper provide a new method for solving the DHTS problems, and also offer a novel reference for the improvement of mechanism and the application of algorithms.

  17. No-contact method of determining average working-surface temperature of plate-type radiation-absorbing thermal exchange panels of flat solar collectors for heating heat-transfer fluid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Avezova, N.R.; Avezov, R.R.

    2015-01-01

    A brand new no-contact method of determining the average working-surface temperature of plate-type radiation-absorbing thermal exchange panels (RATEPs) of flat solar collectors (FSCs) for heating a heat-transfer fluid (HTF) is suggested on the basis of the results of thermal tests in full-scale quasistationary conditions. (authors)

  18. Implementation of a conjugate gradient algorithm for thermal diffusivity identification in a moving boundaries system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perez, L; Autrique, L; Gillet, M

    2008-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to investigate the thermal diffusivity identification of a multilayered material dedicated to fire protection. In a military framework, fire protection needs to meet specific requirements, and operational protective systems must be constantly improved in order to keep up with the development of new weapons. In the specific domain of passive fire protections, intumescent coatings can be an effective solution on the battlefield. Intumescent materials have the ability to swell up when they are heated, building a thick multi-layered coating which provides efficient thermal insulation to the underlying material. Due to the heat aggressions (fire or explosion) leading to the intumescent phenomena, high temperatures are considered and prevent from linearization of the mathematical model describing the system state evolution. Previous sensitivity analysis has shown that the thermal diffusivity of the multilayered intumescent coating is a key parameter in order to validate the predictive numerical tool and therefore for thermal protection optimisation. A conjugate gradient method is implemented in order to minimise the quadratic cost function related to the error between predicted temperature and measured temperature. This regularisation algorithm is well adapted for a large number of unknown parameters.

  19. Automatic contact in DYNA3D for vehicle crashworthiness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Whirley, R.G.; Engelmann, B.E.

    1994-01-01

    This paper presents a new formulation for the automatic definition and treatment of mechanical contact in explicit, nonlinear, finite element analysis. Automatic contact offers the benefits of significantly reduced model construction time and fewer opportunities for user error, but faces significant challenges in reliability and computational costs. The authors have used a new four-step automatic contact algorithm. Key aspects of the proposed method include (1) automatic identification of adjacent and opposite surfaces in the global search phase, and (2) the use of a smoothly varying surface normal that allows a consistent treatment of shell intersection and corner contact conditions without ad hoc rules. Three examples are given to illustrate the performance of the newly proposed algorithm in the public DYNA3D code

  20. Numerical simulations of rough contacts between viscoelastic materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spinu, S.; Cerlinca, D.

    2017-08-01

    The durability of the mechanical contact is often plagued by surface-related phenomena like rolling contact fatigue, wear or crack propagation, which are linked to the important gradients of stress arising in the contacting bodies due to interaction at the asperity level. The semi-analytical computational approach adopted in this paper is based on a previously reported algorithm capable of simulating the contact between bodies with arbitrary limiting surfaces and viscoelastic behaviour, which is enhanced and adapted for the contact of real surfaces with microtopography. As steep slopes at the asperity level inevitably lead to localized plastic deformation at the tip of the asperities that are first brought into contact, the viscoelastic behaviour is amended by limiting the maximum value of the pressure on the contact area to that of the material hardness, according to the Tabor equation. In this manner, plasticity is considered in a simplified manner that assures the knowledge of the contact area and of the pressure distribution without estimation of the residual state. The main advantage of this approach is the preservation of the algorithmic complexity, allowing the simulation of very fine meshes capable of capturing particular features of the investigated contacting surface. The newly advanced model is expected to predict the contact specifics of rough surfaces as resulting from various manufacturing processes, thus assisting the design of durable machine elements using elastomers or rubbers.

  1. Rapid, non-destructive and non-contact inspection of solid foods by means of photothermal radiometry; thermal effusivity and initial heating coefficient

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gijsbertsen, A.; Bicanic, D.; Gielen, J. L. W.; Chirtoc, M.

    2004-03-01

    CO 2-laser photothermal radiometry (PTR) was demonstrated to be suitable for the non-destructive and non-contact characterization (both optical and thermal) of solid phase agricultural commodities (fresh vegetables, fruits) and confectionery products (candy). Proper interpretation of PTR signals enable one to calculate two parameters, i.e. the well known thermal effusivity e ( e= λρc p, where λ and ρcp are the thermal conductivity and the volume specific heat, respectively) and a newly introduced physical quantity termed 'initial heating coefficient' chi ( χ= β/( ρcp), β is the absorption coefficient). Obtained values for e are in a good agreement with data reported in the literature. PTR enables one to rapidly determine e via a single measurement. As opposed to this, the knowledge of two out of three thermophysical parameters (thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity and volume specific heat) is a condition sine qua non for determining effusivity in the conventional manner.

  2. A new solution method for wheel/rail rolling contact.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jian; Song, Hua; Fu, Lihua; Wang, Meng; Li, Wei

    2016-01-01

    To solve the problem of wheel/rail rolling contact of nonlinear steady-state curving, a three-dimensional transient finite element (FE) model is developed by the explicit software ANSYS/LS-DYNA. To improve the solving speed and efficiency, an explicit-explicit order solution method is put forward based on analysis of the features of implicit and explicit algorithm. The solution method was first applied to calculate the pre-loading of wheel/rail rolling contact with explicit algorithm, and then the results became the initial conditions in solving the dynamic process of wheel/rail rolling contact with explicit algorithm as well. Simultaneously, the common implicit-explicit order solution method is used to solve the FE model. Results show that the explicit-explicit order solution method has faster operation speed and higher efficiency than the implicit-explicit order solution method while the solution accuracy is almost the same. Hence, the explicit-explicit order solution method is more suitable for the wheel/rail rolling contact model with large scale and high nonlinearity.

  3. Hydro-thermal analysis of the sudden contact of two molten materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elbeshbeshy, R.A.

    1982-01-01

    High pressure pulses can be generated when extremely hot molten material comes into contact with relatively cold molten material. Such high pressure is attributed to the rapid heat transfer rate between the two materials as a result of a fragmentation process of the hot material. A new mechanism of fragmentation is introduced based on a cavitation mechanism within the hot molten material. Cavitation in a liquid can occur either as a result of superheating the liquid or as a result of a negative pressure (hydrostatic tension) within the liquid. The results of the one-dimensional model in the present study indicates a large negative pressure pulse traveling away from the interface of the two molten materials. It is proposed that this negative pressure can be the driving mechanism for initiating the fragmentation process. This will then lead to an increase in the rate of heat transfer between the two materials, and to an explosion which is thermal in nature. A specific example of UO 2 -Na interactions is discussed

  4. Ti/Al Ohmic Contacts to n-Type GaN Nanowires

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gangfeng Ye

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Titanium/aluminum ohmic contacts to tapered n-type GaN nanowires with triangular cross-sections were studied. To extract the specific contact resistance, the commonly used transmission line model was adapted to the particular nanowire geometry. The most Al-rich composition of the contact provided a low specific contact resistance (mid 10−8 Ωcm2 upon annealing at 600 °C for 15 s, but it exhibited poor thermal stability due to oxidation of excess elemental Al remaining after annealing, as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. On the other hand, less Al-rich contacts required higher annealing temperatures (850 or 900 °C to reach a minimum specific contact resistance but exhibited better thermal stability. A spread in the specific contact resistance from contact to contact was tentatively attributed to the different facets that were contacted on the GaN nanowires with a triangular cross-section.

  5. The vectorized pinball contact impact routine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Belytschko, T.B.; Neal, M.O.

    1989-01-01

    When simulating the impact-penetration of two bodies with explicit finite element methods, some type of interaction or contact algorithm must be included. These algorithms, often called slideline algorithms, must enforce the constraint that the two bodies cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Lagrange multiplier, penalty, and projection techniques have all been proposed to enforce this added constraint. For problems which include large relative motions between the two bodies and erosion of elements, it becomes difficult and time consuming to keep track of which elements of the bodies should be involved in the impact calculations. This computational expense is magnified by the fact that these slideline algorithms have many branches which are not amenable to vectorization. In dynamic finite element simulations with explicit time integration, many of the element and nodal calculations can be vectorized and the slideline calculations can require a considerable percentage of the total computation time. The thrust of the pinball algorithm discussed in this paper is to allow vectorization of as much of the slideline calculations as possible. This is accomplished by greatly simplifying both the search for the elements involved in the impact and in the enforcement of impenetrability with the use of spheres, or pinballs, for each element in the slideline calculations. In this way, the search requires a simple check on the distances between elements to determine if contact has been made. Once the contacting pairs of elements have been determined with a single global search of the two slidelines, the impenetrability condition is enforced with the use of a penalty type formulation which can be completely vectorized

  6. Multi-objective hybrid PSO-APO algorithm based security constrained optimal power flow with wind and thermal generators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kiran Teeparthi

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a new low level with teamwork heterogeneous hybrid particle swarm optimization and artificial physics optimization (HPSO-APO algorithm is proposed to solve the multi-objective security constrained optimal power flow (MO-SCOPF problem. Being engaged with the environmental and total production cost concerns, wind energy is highly penetrating to the main grid. The total production cost, active power losses and security index are considered as the objective functions. These are simultaneously optimized using the proposed algorithm for base case and contingency cases. Though PSO algorithm exhibits good convergence characteristic, fails to give near optimal solution. On the other hand, the APO algorithm shows the capability of improving diversity in search space and also to reach a near global optimum point, whereas, APO is prone to premature convergence. The proposed hybrid HPSO-APO algorithm combines both individual algorithm strengths, to get balance between global and local search capability. The APO algorithm is improving diversity in the search space of the PSO algorithm. The hybrid optimization algorithm is employed to alleviate the line overloads by generator rescheduling during contingencies. The standard IEEE 30-bus and Indian 75-bus practical test systems are considered to evaluate the robustness of the proposed method. The simulation results reveal that the proposed HPSO-APO method is more efficient and robust than the standard PSO and APO methods in terms of getting diverse Pareto optimal solutions. Hence, the proposed hybrid method can be used for the large interconnected power system to solve MO-SCOPF problem with integration of wind and thermal generators.

  7. The influence of thermal annealing on the characteristics of Au/Ni Schottky contacts on n-type 4 H-SiC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omotoso, E.; Auret, F. D.; Igumbor, E.; Tunhuma, S. M.; Danga, H. T.; Ngoepe, P. N. M.; Taleatu, B. A.; Meyer, W. E.

    2018-05-01

    The effects of isochronal annealing on the electrical, morphological and structural characteristics of Au/Ni/4 H-SiC Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) have been studied. Current-voltage ( I- V), capacitance-voltage ( C- V), deep-level transient spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction measurements were employed to study the thermal effect on the characteristics of the SBDs. Prior to thermal annealing of Schottky contacts, the I- V measurements results confirmed the good rectification behaviour with ideality factor of 1.06, Schottky barrier height of 1.20 eV and series resistance of 7 Ω. The rectification properties after annealing was maintained up to an annealing temperature of 500 °C, but deviated slightly above 500 °C. The uncompensated ionized donor concentration decreased with annealing temperature, which could be attributed to out-diffusion of the 4 H-SiC into the Au/Ni contacts and decrease in bonding due to formation of nickel silicides. We observed the presence of four deep-level defects with energies 0.09, 0.11, 0.16 and 0.65 eV below the conduction band before and after the isochronal annealing up to 600 °C. The conclusion drawn was that annealing did not affect the number of deep-level defects present in Au/Ni/4 H-SiC contacts. The variations in electrical properties of the devices were attributed to the phase transformations and interfacial reactions that occurred after isochronal annealing.

  8. THERMAL CONDUCTANCE IN AQUATIC BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE DEGREE OF WATER CONTACT, BODY-MASS, AND BODY-FAT - ENERGETIC IMPLICATIONS OF LIVING IN A STRONG COOLING ENVIRONMENT

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    DEVRIES, J; VANEERDEN, MR

    1995-01-01

    Thermal conductance of carcasses of 14 aquatic bird species was determined by the warming constant technique. The effect on thermal conductance of body mass, age sex, fat deposits, and the degree of contact with water were studied. Only body mass and the degree of submergence in water had an effect.

  9. Design and Construction of a Thermal Contact Resistance and Thermal Conductivity Measurement System

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-09-01

    thank my Mom, Dad , Allison, Jessica, and father-in-law, Tom, for always being there to listen and encourage me. xxiv THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY...thermal conductivity is temperature measurement inaccuracies. A probe constructed of a poor thermally conductive material when inserted into a hot...interface- resistance-measurement-using-a-transient-method/ [26] H. Fukushima, L. T. Drzal, B. P. Rook and M. J. Rich , “Thermal conductivity of exfoliated

  10. Morphological study of polymer surfaces exposed to non-thermal plasma based on contact angle and the use of scaling laws

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Felix, T., E-mail: tsfelix81@gmail.com [Chemistry Department, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, 88040-900 Florianópolis, SC (Brazil); Cassini, F.A.; Benetoli, L.O.B. [Chemistry Department, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, 88040-900 Florianópolis, SC (Brazil); Dotto, M.E.R. [Physics Department, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, 88040-900 Florianópolis, SC (Brazil); Debacher, N.A. [Chemistry Department, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, 88040-900 Florianópolis, SC (Brazil)

    2017-05-01

    Highlights: • Polymeric surfaces were etched using non-thermal plasma at different intensities. • Polymers of low mechanical hardness reached the saturation level faster. • A mathematical model based on scaling laws was proposed. - Abstract: The experiments presented in this communication have the purpose to elaborate an explanation for the morphological evolution of the growth of polymeric surfaces provided by the treatment of non-thermal plasma. According to the roughness analysis and the model proposed by scaling laws it is possible relate to a predictable or merely random effect. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and poly(etherether)ketone (PEEK) samples were exposed to a non-thermal plasma discharge and the resulting surfaces roughness were analyzed based on the measurements from contact angle, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy coupled with scaling laws analysis which can help to describe and understand the dynamic of formation of a wide variety of rough surfaces. The roughness, R{sub RMS} (RMS- Root Mean Square) values for polymer surface range between 19.8 nm and 110.9 nm. The contact angle and the AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) measurements as a function of the plasma exposure time were in agreement with both polar and dispersive components according to the surface roughness and also with the morphology evaluated described by Wolf-Villain model, with proximate values of α between 0.91{sub (PET)} and 0.88{sub (PEEK)}, β = 0.25{sub (PET)} and z = 3,64{sub (PET)}.

  11. Morphological study of polymer surfaces exposed to non-thermal plasma based on contact angle and the use of scaling laws

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Felix, T.; Cassini, F.A.; Benetoli, L.O.B.; Dotto, M.E.R.; Debacher, N.A.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Polymeric surfaces were etched using non-thermal plasma at different intensities. • Polymers of low mechanical hardness reached the saturation level faster. • A mathematical model based on scaling laws was proposed. - Abstract: The experiments presented in this communication have the purpose to elaborate an explanation for the morphological evolution of the growth of polymeric surfaces provided by the treatment of non-thermal plasma. According to the roughness analysis and the model proposed by scaling laws it is possible relate to a predictable or merely random effect. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and poly(etherether)ketone (PEEK) samples were exposed to a non-thermal plasma discharge and the resulting surfaces roughness were analyzed based on the measurements from contact angle, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy coupled with scaling laws analysis which can help to describe and understand the dynamic of formation of a wide variety of rough surfaces. The roughness, R_R_M_S (RMS- Root Mean Square) values for polymer surface range between 19.8 nm and 110.9 nm. The contact angle and the AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) measurements as a function of the plasma exposure time were in agreement with both polar and dispersive components according to the surface roughness and also with the morphology evaluated described by Wolf-Villain model, with proximate values of α between 0.91_(_P_E_T_) and 0.88_(_P_E_E_K_), β = 0.25_(_P_E_T_) and z = 3,64_(_P_E_T_).

  12. The steady-state tangential contact problem for a falling drop type of contact area on corrugated rail by simplified theory of rolling contact

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piotrowski, Jerzy

    1991-10-01

    Investigation of contact mechanical nonlinearities of a mathematical model of corrugation revealed that the typical shape of contact patch resembles a falling drop of water. A contact patch of that shape was approximated with a figure composed of two parts of ellipses with different eccentricities. The contact pressure distribution was assumed as a smoothing ensemble of two paraboloidal distributions. The description of a general case of double half elliptical contact area was given but a special case of double half elliptical contact is more interesting as it possesses some Hertzian properties. It was shown how three geometrical parameters of double half elliptical contact can be chosen when actual, non-Hertzian contact is known. A linear theory was written which indicates that the lateral vibrations of the rail may be excited only due to shape variation on corrugation even if any other cause for these vibrations does not exist. For nonlinear theory a computer program, based on FASTSIM algorithm by Kalker, was written. The aim is to calculate the creep forces and frictional power density distribution over the contact area. Also, a graphic program visualizing the solution was written. Numerical results are not provided; unattended and unsolved problems relevant for this type of contact are listed.

  13. Nanoscale roughness contact in a slider-disk interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hua, Wei; Liu, Bo; Yu, Shengkai; Zhou, Weidong

    2009-07-15

    The nanoscale roughness contact between molecularly smooth surfaces of a slider-disk interface in a hard disk drive is analyzed, and the lubricant behavior at very high shear rate is presented. A new contact model is developed to study the nanoscale roughness contact behavior by classifying various forms of contact into slider-lubricant contact, slider-disk elastic contact and plastic contact. The contact pressure and the contact probabilities of the three types of contact are investigated. The new contact model is employed to explain and provide insight to an interesting experimental result found in a thermal protrusion slider. The protrusion budget for head surfing in the lubricant, which is the ideal state for contact recording, is also discussed.

  14. Nanoscale roughness contact in a slider-disk interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hua Wei; Liu Bo; Yu Shengkai; Zhou Weidong

    2009-01-01

    The nanoscale roughness contact between molecularly smooth surfaces of a slider-disk interface in a hard disk drive is analyzed, and the lubricant behavior at very high shear rate is presented. A new contact model is developed to study the nanoscale roughness contact behavior by classifying various forms of contact into slider-lubricant contact, slider-disk elastic contact and plastic contact. The contact pressure and the contact probabilities of the three types of contact are investigated. The new contact model is employed to explain and provide insight to an interesting experimental result found in a thermal protrusion slider. The protrusion budget for head surfing in the lubricant, which is the ideal state for contact recording, is also discussed.

  15. Influence of Thermal Effects During Blade-Casing Contact Experiments

    OpenAIRE

    Millecamps , Antoine; Brunel , Jean-François; Dufrenoy , Philippe; Garcin , François; Nucci , Marco

    2009-01-01

    International audience; In rotating machinery, notably in modern high efficiency compressors, a critical requirement for optimal performance consists in minimizing radial clearances between the rotating bladed disk and the casing. This solution significantly increases the risks of contact between rotating bladed disk and casing and may lead in specific conditions to catastrophic behavior (component failure, etc.). The physical phenomena and mechanisms involved in blade-casing contact interact...

  16. An alternative to FASTSIM for tangential solution of the wheel-rail contact

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sichani, Matin Sh.; Enblom, Roger; Berg, Mats

    2016-06-01

    In most rail vehicle dynamics simulation packages, tangential solution of the wheel-rail contact is gained by means of Kalker's FASTSIM algorithm. While 5-25% error is expected for creep force estimation, the errors of shear stress distribution, needed for wheel-rail damage analysis, may rise above 30% due to the parabolic traction bound. Therefore, a novel algorithm named FaStrip is proposed as an alternative to FASTSIM. It is based on the strip theory which extends the two-dimensional rolling contact solution to three-dimensional contacts. To form FaStrip, the original strip theory is amended to obtain accurate estimations for any contact ellipse size and it is combined by a numerical algorithm to handle spin. The comparison between the two algorithms shows that using FaStrip improves the accuracy of the estimated shear stress distribution and the creep force estimation in all studied cases. In combined lateral creepage and spin cases, for instance, the error in force estimation reduces from 18% to less than 2%. The estimation of the slip velocities in the slip zone, needed for wear analysis, is also studied. Since FaStrip is as fast as FASTSIM, it can be an alternative for tangential solution of the wheel-rail contact in simulation packages.

  17. High throughput integrated thermal characterization with non-contact optical calorimetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Sichao; Huo, Ruiqing; Su, Ming

    2017-10-01

    Commonly used thermal analysis tools such as calorimeter and thermal conductivity meter are separated instruments and limited by low throughput, where only one sample is examined each time. This work reports an infrared based optical calorimetry with its theoretical foundation, which is able to provide an integrated solution to characterize thermal properties of materials with high throughput. By taking time domain temperature information of spatially distributed samples, this method allows a single device (infrared camera) to determine the thermal properties of both phase change systems (melting temperature and latent heat of fusion) and non-phase change systems (thermal conductivity and heat capacity). This method further allows these thermal properties of multiple samples to be determined rapidly, remotely, and simultaneously. In this proof-of-concept experiment, the thermal properties of a panel of 16 samples including melting temperatures, latent heats of fusion, heat capacities, and thermal conductivities have been determined in 2 min with high accuracy. Given the high thermal, spatial, and temporal resolutions of the advanced infrared camera, this method has the potential to revolutionize the thermal characterization of materials by providing an integrated solution with high throughput, high sensitivity, and short analysis time.

  18. Stable and low contact resistance electrical contacts for high temperature SiGe thermoelectric generators

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Bo

    2018-04-14

    The thermal stability and contact resistance of TaAlN thin films as electrical contacts to SiGe thermoelectric elements are reported. We demonstrate that a sharp interface is maintained after the device annealed at 800°C for over 100h, indicating that no interdiffusion takes place between TaAlN and SiGe. A specific contact resistivity of (2.1±1.3)×10−6Ω-cm2 for p-type SiGe and (2.8±1.6)×10−5 Ω-cm2 for n-type SiGe is demonstrated after the high temperature annealing. These results show that TaAlN is a promising contact material for high temperature thermoelectrics such as SiGe.

  19. Identification of black-box linear models : the case of thermal periodic contact of exhaust valves in internal combustion engines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shojaeefard, M.H.; Fazelpour, M. [Iran Univ. of Science and Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of). Dept. of Automotive Engineering; Goudarzi, K. [Iran Univ. of Science and Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

    2009-07-01

    In internal combustion engines, hot exhaust gases that pass through the exhaust valve lead to high temperatures in the exhaust valve and the valve seat. Heat must be transferred from the exhaust valve to valve seat as they come in contact with each other during the opening and closing cycle in order to avoid damaging the exhaust valve. The heat transfer rate from the valve to valve seat is a function of many factors, including the thermal contact conductance (TCC) between the valve and valve seat. The objective of this study was to experimentally calculate the TCC for six different frequencies in the quasi-steady-state condition and also to obtain a transfer function to estimate the exhaust valve temperature by using black-box models of system identification. Periodic contact was taken into consideration in the study. The paper presented the experimental setup including the loading system, heat and cooling system, temperature measurement system, specimens properties, and data acquisition system. The paper also described the test procedure and experimental results. System identification was also described. It was concluded that the TCC decreased as the frequency of contact increased. The temperature transfer function was calculated by using the system identification method and having the temperatures at both sides of the contact surface. By knowing the temperature of one rod, the temperature of the other rod was estimated with high accuracy. 16 refs., 4 tabs., 7 figs.

  20. Slow Growth of a Crack with Contacting Faces in a Viscoelastic Body

    Science.gov (United States)

    Selivanov, M. F.

    2017-11-01

    An algorithm for solving the problem of slow growth of a mode I crack with a zone of partial contact of the faces is proposed. The algorithm is based on a crack model with a cohesive zone, an iterative method of finding a solution for the elastic opening displacement, and elasto-viscoelastic analogy, which makes it possible to describe the time-dependent opening displacement in Boltzmann-Volterra form. A deformation criterion with a constant critical opening displacement and cohesive strength during quasistatic crack growth is used. The algorithm was numerically illustrated for tensile loading at infinity and two concentrated forces symmetric about the crack line that cause the crack faces to contact. When the crack propagates, the contact zone disappears and its dynamic growth begins.

  1. Parameter optimization of thermal-model-oriented control law for PEM fuel cell stack via novel genetic algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Xi; Deng Zhonghua; Wei Dong; Xu Chunshan; Cao Guangyi

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: →We build up the thermal expressions of PEMFC stack. → The expressions are converted into the affine state space control-oriented model for the VSC strategy. → The NGA is developed to optimize the parameter of thermal-model-oriented control law. → Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness and rationality of the method proposed. - Abstract: It is critical to understand and manage the thermal effects in optimizing the performance and durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack. And building up the control-oriented thermal model of PEMFC stack is necessary. The thermal model, a set of differential equations, is established according to the conservation equations of mass and energy, which can be used to reflect truly the actual temperature response of PEMFC stack, however, the expressions of the model are too complicated to be used in the design of control. For this reason, the expressions are converted into the affine state space control-oriented model in detail for the variable structure control (VSC) strategy. Meanwhile, the accurate model must be established for the VSC and the parameters of VSC laws should be optimized. Consequently, a novel genetic algorithm (NGA) is developed to optimize the parameter of thermal-model-oriented control law for PEMFC stack. Finally, numerical test results demonstrate the effectiveness and rationality of the method proposed in this paper. It lays the foundation for the realization of online thermal management of PEMFC stack based on VSC.

  2. Contact replacement for NMR resonance assignment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiong, Fei; Pandurangan, Gopal; Bailey-Kellogg, Chris

    2008-07-01

    Complementing its traditional role in structural studies of proteins, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is playing an increasingly important role in functional studies. NMR dynamics experiments characterize motions involved in target recognition, ligand binding, etc., while NMR chemical shift perturbation experiments identify and localize protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions. The key bottleneck in these studies is to determine the backbone resonance assignment, which allows spectral peaks to be mapped to specific atoms. This article develops a novel approach to address that bottleneck, exploiting an available X-ray structure or homology model to assign the entire backbone from a set of relatively fast and cheap NMR experiments. We formulate contact replacement for resonance assignment as the problem of computing correspondences between a contact graph representing the structure and an NMR graph representing the data; the NMR graph is a significantly corrupted, ambiguous version of the contact graph. We first show that by combining connectivity and amino acid type information, and exploiting the random structure of the noise, one can provably determine unique correspondences in polynomial time with high probability, even in the presence of significant noise (a constant number of noisy edges per vertex). We then detail an efficient randomized algorithm and show that, over a variety of experimental and synthetic datasets, it is robust to typical levels of structural variation (1-2 AA), noise (250-600%) and missings (10-40%). Our algorithm achieves very good overall assignment accuracy, above 80% in alpha-helices, 70% in beta-sheets and 60% in loop regions. Our contact replacement algorithm is implemented in platform-independent Python code. The software can be freely obtained for academic use by request from the authors.

  3. Development of a novel non-contact inspection technique to detect micro cracks under the surface of a glass substrate by thermal stress-induced light scattering method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakata, Yoshitaro; Terasaki, Nao; Nonaka, Kazuhiro

    2017-05-01

    Fine polishing techniques, such as a chemical mechanical polishing treatment, are important techniques in glass substrate manufacturing. However, these techniques may cause micro cracks under the surface of glass substrates because they used mechanical friction. A stress-induced light scattering method (SILSM), which was combined with light scattering method and mechanical stress effects, was proposed for inspecting surfaces to detect polishing-induced micro cracks. However, in the conventional SILSM, samples need to be loaded with physical contact, and the loading point is invisible in transparent materials. Here, we introduced a novel non-contact SILSM using a heating device. A glass substrate was heated first, and then the light scattering intensity of micro cracks was detected by a cooled charge-couple device camera during the natural cooling process. Results clearly showed during the decreasing surface temperature of a glass substrate, appropriate thermal stress is generated for detecting micro cracks by using the SILSM and light scattering intensity from micro cracks changes. We confirmed that non-contact thermal SILSM (T-SILSM) can detect micro cracks under the surface of transparent materials.

  4. Optimizing Thermal-Elastic Properties of C/C–SiC Composites Using a Hybrid Approach and PSO Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yingjie; Gao, Tian

    2016-01-01

    Carbon fiber-reinforced multi-layered pyrocarbon–silicon carbide matrix (C/C–SiC) composites are widely used in aerospace structures. The complicated spatial architecture and material heterogeneity of C/C–SiC composites constitute the challenge for tailoring their properties. Thus, discovering the intrinsic relations between the properties and the microstructures and sequentially optimizing the microstructures to obtain composites with the best performances becomes the key for practical applications. The objective of this work is to optimize the thermal-elastic properties of unidirectional C/C–SiC composites by controlling the multi-layered matrix thicknesses. A hybrid approach based on micromechanical modeling and back propagation (BP) neural network is proposed to predict the thermal-elastic properties of composites. Then, a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is interfaced with this hybrid model to achieve the optimal design for minimizing the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of composites with the constraint of elastic modulus. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid model and optimization method. PMID:28773343

  5. Properties predictive modeling through the concept of a hybrid interphase existing between phases in contact

    Science.gov (United States)

    Portan, D. V.; Papanicolaou, G. C.

    2018-02-01

    From practical point of view, predictive modeling based on the physics of composite material behavior is wealth generating; by guiding material system selection and process choices, by cutting down on experimentation and associated costs; and by speeding up the time frame from the research stage to the market place. The presence of areas with different properties and the existence of an interphase between them have a pronounced influence on the behavior of a composite system. The Viscoelastic Hybrid Interphase Model (VHIM), considers the existence of a non-homogeneous viscoelastic and anisotropic interphase having properties depended on the degree of adhesion between the two phases in contact. The model applies for any physical/mechanical property (e.g. mechanical, thermal, electrical and/or biomechanical). Knowing the interphasial variation of a specific property one can predict the corresponding macroscopic behavior of the composite. Moreover, the model acts as an algorithm and a two-way approach can be used: (i) phases in contact may be chosen to get the desired properties of the final composite system or (ii) the initial phases in contact determine the final behavior of the composite system, that can be approximately predicted. The VHIM has been proven, amongst others, to be extremely useful in biomaterial designing for improved contact with human tissues.

  6. Morphological study of polymer surfaces exposed to non-thermal plasma based on contact angle and the use of scaling laws

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felix, T.; Cassini, F. A.; Benetoli, L. O. B.; Dotto, M. E. R.; Debacher, N. A.

    2017-05-01

    The experiments presented in this communication have the purpose to elaborate an explanation for the morphological evolution of the growth of polymeric surfaces provided by the treatment of non-thermal plasma. According to the roughness analysis and the model proposed by scaling laws it is possible relate to a predictable or merely random effect. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and poly(etherether)ketone (PEEK) samples were exposed to a non-thermal plasma discharge and the resulting surfaces roughness were analyzed based on the measurements from contact angle, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy coupled with scaling laws analysis which can help to describe and understand the dynamic of formation of a wide variety of rough surfaces. The roughness, RRMS (RMS- Root Mean Square) values for polymer surface range between 19.8 nm and 110.9 nm. The contact angle and the AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) measurements as a function of the plasma exposure time were in agreement with both polar and dispersive components according to the surface roughness and also with the morphology evaluated described by Wolf-Villain model, with proximate values of α between 0.91(PET) and 0.88(PEEK), β = 0.25(PET) and z = 3,64(PET).

  7. Comparison of four-probe thermal and thermoelectric transport measurements of thin films and nanostructures with microfabricated electro-thermal transducers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jaehyun; Fleming, Evan; Zhou, Yuanyuan; Shi, Li

    2018-03-01

    Two different four-probe thermal and thermoelectric measurement methods have been reported for measuring the thermal conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and electrical conductivity of suspended thin films and nanostructures with microfabricated electro-thermal transducers. The thermal contact resistance was extracted from the measured thermoelectric voltage drop at the contacts in the earlier four-probe method based on the assumption of constant thermal and thermoelectric properties along the sample. In comparison, the latter four-probe method can directly obtain the contact thermal resistance together with the intrinsic sample thermal resistance without making this assumption. Here, the measurement theory and data reduction processes of the latter four-probe measurement method are re-examined and improved. The measured thermal conductivity result of this improved method on representative thin film samples are found to agree with those obtained from the earlier four-probe method, which has obtained similar Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity as those measured with a different method for a supported thin film. The agreement provides further validation of the latest four-probe thermal transport measurement method of thin films and nanostructures.

  8. Tailoring the contact thermal resistance at metal-carbon nanotube interface

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Firkowska, Izabela; Boden, Andre; Vogt, Anna-Maria; Reich, Stephanie [Department of Physics, Freie Universitaet, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin (Germany)

    2011-11-15

    Copper-decorated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized and used as conductive filler to improve the heat transport capabilities of copper matrix. Thermal properties, i.e., thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity, of copper composite were measured and compared with those containing pristine and functionalized CNTs. Experimental results revealed that composites enriched with nanohybrids where Cu nanoparticles were covalently bonded to CNTs had thermal conductivity four times higher than those containing the same content of pristine CNTs. Evaluation of thermal interface resistance in copper-CNTs composites by means of the flash method. (Copyright copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  9. Effect of rapid thermal annealing on the composition of Au/Ti/Al/Ti ohmic contacts for GaN-based microdevices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Redondo-Cubero, A.; Ynsa, M.D.; Romero, M.F.; Alves, L.C.; Muñoz, E.

    2013-01-01

    The homogeneity of Au/Ti/Al/Ti ohmic contacts for AlGaN/GaN devices was analyzed as a function of the thickness of the Ti barrier (30 nm 50 nm, although several compositional deficiencies were identified in the distribution maps obtained with the ion microprobe, including the formation of craters. A clear interplay between Ti and Au was found, suggesting the relevance of lateral flows during the rapid thermal annealing

  10. The non-contact biometric identified bio signal measurement sensor and algorithms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Chan-Il; Lee, Jong-Ha

    2018-04-25

    In these days, wearable devices have been developed for effectively measuring biological data. However, these devices have tissue allege and noise problem. To solve these problems, biometric measurement based on a non-contact method, such as face image sequencing is developed. This makes it possible to measure biometric data without any operation and side effects. However, it is impossible for a remote center to identify the person whose data are measured by the novel methods. In this paper, we propose the novel non-contact heart rate and blood pressure imaging system, Deep Health Eye. This system has authentication process at the same time as measuring bio signals, through non-contact method. In the future, this system can be convenient home bio signal monitoring system by combined with smart mirror.

  11. Shape memory thermal conduction switch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaidyanathan, Rajan (Inventor); Krishnan, Vinu (Inventor); Notardonato, William U. (Inventor)

    2010-01-01

    A thermal conduction switch includes a thermally-conductive first member having a first thermal contacting structure for securing the first member as a stationary member to a thermally regulated body or a body requiring thermal regulation. A movable thermally-conductive second member has a second thermal contacting surface. A thermally conductive coupler is interposed between the first member and the second member for thermally coupling the first member to the second member. At least one control spring is coupled between the first member and the second member. The control spring includes a NiTiFe comprising shape memory (SM) material that provides a phase change temperature <273 K, a transformation range <40 K, and a hysteresis of <10 K. A bias spring is between the first member and the second member. At the phase change the switch provides a distance change (displacement) between first and second member by at least 1 mm, such as 2 to 4 mm.

  12. Multivariable optimization of an auto-thermal ammonia synthesis reactor using genetic algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anh-Nga, Nguyen T.; Tuan-Anh, Nguyen; Tien-Dung, Vu; Kim-Trung, Nguyen

    2017-09-01

    The ammonia synthesis system is an important chemical process used in the manufacture of fertilizers, chemicals, explosives, fibers, plastics, refrigeration. In the literature, many works approaching the modeling, simulation and optimization of an auto-thermal ammonia synthesis reactor can be found. However, they just focus on the optimization of the reactor length while keeping the others parameters constant. In this study, the other parameters are also considered in the optimization problem such as the temperature of feed gas enters the catalyst zone. The optimal problem requires the maximization of a multivariable objective function which subjects to a number of equality constraints involving the solution of coupled differential equations and also inequality constraints. The solution of an optimization problem can be found through, among others, deterministic or stochastic approaches. The stochastic methods, such as evolutionary algorithm (EA), which is based on natural phenomenon, can overcome the drawbacks such as the requirement of the derivatives of the objective function and/or constraints, or being not efficient in non-differentiable or discontinuous problems. Genetic algorithm (GA) which is a class of EA, exceptionally simple, robust at numerical optimization and is more likely to find a true global optimum. In this study, the genetic algorithm is employed to find the optimum profit of the process. The inequality constraints were treated using penalty method. The coupled differential equations system was solved using Runge-Kutta 4th order method. The results showed that the presented numerical method could be applied to model the ammonia synthesis reactor. The optimum economic profit obtained from this study are also compared to the results from the literature. It suggests that the process should be operated at higher temperature of feed gas in catalyst zone and the reactor length is slightly longer.

  13. Carbon nanotube thermal interfaces and related applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodson, Stephen L.

    The development of thermal interface materials (TIMs) is necessitated by the temperature drop across interfacing materials arising from macro and microscopic irregularities of their surfaces that constricts heat through small contact regions as well as mismatches in their thermal properties. Similar to other types of TIMs, CNT TIMs alleviate the thermal resistance across the interface by thermally bridging two materials together with cylindrical, high-aspect ratio, and nominally vertical conducting elements. Within the community of TIM engineers, the vision driving the development of CNT TIMs was born from measurements that revealed impressively high thermal conductivities of individual CNTs. This vision was then projected to efforts focused on packing many individual CNTs on a single substrate that efficiently conduct heat in parallel and ultimately through many contact regions at CNT-to-substrate contacts. This thesis encompasses a comprehensive investigation of the viability of carbon nanotube based thermal interface materials (CNT TIMs) to efficiently conduct heat across two contacting materials. The efforts in this work were initially devoted to engaging CNT TIMs with an opposing substrate using two bonding techniques. Using palladium hexadecanethiolate, Pd(SC16H35)2 the CNT ends were bonded to an opposing substrate (one-sided interface) or opposing CNT array (two-sided interface) to enhance contact conductance while maintaining a compliant joint. The palladium weld is particularly attractive for its mechanical stability at high temperatures. The engagement of CNT TIMs with an opposing substrate was also achieved by inserting a solder foil between the CNT TIM and opposing substrate and subsequently raising the temperature of the interface above the eutectic point of the solder foil. This bonding technique creates a strong weld that not only reduces the thermal resistance significantly but also minimizes the change in thermal resistance with an applied

  14. Dynamics of the Molten Contact Line

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sonin, Ain A.; Duthaler, Gregg; Liu, Michael; Torresola, Javier; Qiu, Taiqing

    1999-01-01

    materials- molten wax on solid wax, water on ice, and mercury on frozen mercury- which between them span a considerable range of the deposition/solidification similarity parameters. Correlations are obtained for the spreading velocity, spreading time scales, the spreading factor (i.e. ratio of deposited drop's final footprint radius and the drop's initial radius), post-spreading liquid oscillation amplitudes and time scales, and bulk solidification time scales. Duthaler carried out an experimental and theoretical investigation of the relationship between the liquid's apparent contact angle and the Capillary number Ca=mu U/sigma based on contact line speed, for molten materials spreading over subcooled solids. This relationship is required for modeling of melt spreading. We have adapted Voinov's methodology to the molten contact line and formulated a theoretical model for the Ca vs. contact angle relationship, based Schiaffino and Sonin#s (1997a,b) wedge-like solidification front model. With the solidification front angle taken from Schiaffino and Sonin, the model is in good agreement with the experimental results for Ca vs. contact angle. Duthaler also extended the experimental investigation of droplet deposition and contact line freezing to more materials, including solder on glass, solder on solder, water on ice, and molten microcrystalline wax on wax. The latter also included tests on inclined targets. Deposition tests have also been done with molten octacosane (C28H58) on various targets. An important objective of our program has been the development of micron-scale sensors for measuring the transient temperature at a point on the substrate surface as a molten contact line moves over it. The expectation is that this temperature history will yield a better understanding of the thermal process in the contact line region. The sensors are of the thermistor type, either 2.5 microns or 1.5 microns square, microfabricated with silicon-based technology on either pure silicon or

  15. Contact metallurgy optimization for ohmic contacts to InP

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Clausen, Thomas; Pedersen, Arne Skyggebjerg; Leistiko, Otto

    1991-01-01

    AuGeNi and AuZnNi metallizations to n- and p-InP were studied as a function of the annealing temperature in a Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) system. For n-InP (S:8×1018cm-3) a broad minimum existed from 385°C to 500°C, in which the specific contact resistance, rc, was about 10-7 ¿cm2. The lowe...

  16. The effect of thermal annealing on pentacene thin film transistor with micro contact printing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Hong-Sik; Yun, Ho-Jin; Baek, Kyu-Ha; Ham, Yong-Hyun; Park, Kun-Sik; Kim, Dong-Pyo; Lee, Ga-Won; Lee, Hi-Deok; Lee, Kijun; Do, Lee-Mi

    2012-07-01

    We used micro contact printing (micro-CP) to fabricate inverted coplanar pentacene thin film transistors (TFTs) with 1-microm channels. The patterning of micro-scale source/drain electrodes without etch process was successfully achieved using Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer stamp. We used the Ag nano particle ink as an electrode material, and the sheet resistance and surface roughness of the Ag electrodes were effectively reduced with the 2-step thermal annealing on a hotplate, which improved the mobility, the on-off ratio, and the subthreshold slope (SS) of the pentacene TFTs. In addition, the device annealing on a hotplate in a N2 atmosphere for 30 sec can enhance the off-current and the mobility properties of OTFTs without damaging the pentacene thin films and increase the adhesion between pentacene and dielectric layer (SiO2), which was investigated with the pentacene films phase change of the XRD spectrum after device annealing.

  17. Testing and Modeling of Contact Problems in Resistance Welding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Song, Quanfeng

    together two or three cylindrical parts as well as disc-ring pairs of dissimilar metals. The tests have demonstrated the effectiveness of the model. A theoretical and experimental study is performed on the contact resistance aiming at a more reliable model for numerical simulation of resistance welding......As a part of the efforts towards a professional and reliable numerical tool for resistance welding engineers, this Ph.D. project is dedicated to refining the numerical models related to the interface behavior. An FE algorithm for the contact problems in resistance welding has been developed...... for the formulation, and the interfaces are treated in a symmetric pattern. The frictional sliding contact is also solved employing the constant friction model. The algorithm is incorporated into the finite element code. Verification is carried out in some numerical tests as well as experiments such as upsetting...

  18. Optimized programming algorithm for cylindrical and directional deep brain stimulation electrodes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Daria Nesterovich; Osting, Braxton; Vorwerk, Johannes; Dorval, Alan D; Butson, Christopher R

    2018-04-01

    Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a growing treatment option for movement and psychiatric disorders. As DBS technology moves toward directional leads with increased numbers of smaller electrode contacts, trial-and-error methods of manual DBS programming are becoming too time-consuming for clinical feasibility. We propose an algorithm to automate DBS programming in near real-time for a wide range of DBS lead designs. Magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging are used to build finite element models that include anisotropic conductivity. The algorithm maximizes activation of target tissue and utilizes the Hessian matrix of the electric potential to approximate activation of neurons in all directions. We demonstrate our algorithm's ability in an example programming case that targets the subthalamic nucleus (STN) for the treatment of Parkinson's disease for three lead designs: the Medtronic 3389 (four cylindrical contacts), the direct STNAcute (two cylindrical contacts, six directional contacts), and the Medtronic-Sapiens lead (40 directional contacts). The optimization algorithm returns patient-specific contact configurations in near real-time-less than 10 s for even the most complex leads. When the lead was placed centrally in the target STN, the directional leads were able to activate over 50% of the region, whereas the Medtronic 3389 could activate only 40%. When the lead was placed 2 mm lateral to the target, the directional leads performed as well as they did in the central position, but the Medtronic 3389 activated only 2.9% of the STN. This DBS programming algorithm can be applied to cylindrical electrodes as well as novel directional leads that are too complex with modern technology to be manually programmed. This algorithm may reduce clinical programming time and encourage the use of directional leads, since they activate a larger volume of the target area than cylindrical electrodes in central and off-target lead placements.

  19. PID-controller with predictor and auto-tuning algorithm: study of efficiency for thermal plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuzishchin, V. F.; Merzlikina, E. I.; Hoang, Van Va

    2017-09-01

    The problem of efficiency estimation of an automatic control system (ACS) with a Smith predictor and PID-algorithm for thermal plants is considered. In order to use the predictor, it is proposed to include an auto-tuning module (ATC) into the controller; the module calculates parameters for a second-order plant module with a time delay. The study was conducted using programmable logical controllers (PLC), one of which performed control, ATC, and predictor functions. A simulation model was used as a control plant, and there were two variants of the model: one of them was built on the basis of a separate PLC, and the other was a physical model of a thermal plant in the form of an electrical heater. Analysis of the efficiency of the ACS with the predictor was carried out for several variants of the second order plant model with time delay, and the analysis was performed on the basis of the comparison of transient processes in the system when the set point was changed and when a disturbance influenced the control plant. The recommendations are given on correction of the PID-algorithm parameters when the predictor is used by means of using the correcting coefficient k for the PID parameters. It is shown that, when the set point is changed, the use of the predictor is effective taking into account the parameters correction with k = 2. When the disturbances influence the plant, the use of the predictor is doubtful, because the transient process is too long. The reason for this is that, in the neighborhood of the zero frequency, the amplitude-frequency characteristic (AFC) of the system with the predictor has an ascent in comparison with the AFC of the system without the predictor.

  20. Simulation of unilateral contact problems departing from the classical boundary problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frey, S.L.; Sampaio, R.; Gama, R.M.S. da.

    1989-08-01

    A numerical algorithm is proposed for simulating unilateral contact problems under the classical elasticity point of view. This simple algorithm may be employed by engineers with a minimum knowledge on classical elasticity. (A.C.A.S.) [pt

  1. Head-disk interface nanotribology for Tbit/inch2 recording densities: near-contact and contact recording

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vakis, Antonis I.; Polycarpou, Andreas A.

    2010-06-01

    In the effort to achieve Tbit/inch2 recording densities, thermal fly-height control (TFC) nanotechnology was developed to effectively reduce the clearance (which is of the order of a few nanometres) at the head-disk interface (HDI) of hard-disk drives. In this work, we present a model of the HDI that can predict the dynamic flying and nanotribological contacting behaviour, allowing for accurate predictions and characterization of the operating regime as a function of TFC actuation. A geometric model for TFC is presented and an improved definition of contact at the interface is developed in the presence of nanoscale topographical roughness and dynamic microwaviness. A new methodology is proposed for the calculation of the nominal area of contact, which affects both near- and at-contact behaviour, while the stiffening of the air bearing force with TFC actuation is also accounted for. Slider behaviour is analysed by quantifying the approach, jump-to-contact, lubricant and solid contact regimes of operation and identifying the critical and optimum TFC actuations. The feasibility of near-contact, light molecularly thin lubricant contact versus solid contact recording is explored under the effect of the interfacial forces and stresses present at the HDI. The clearance and the state of vibrations are analysed and design guidelines are proposed for improved performance.

  2. Head-disk interface nanotribology for Tbit/inch2 recording densities: near-contact and contact recording

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vakis, Antonis I; Polycarpou, Andreas A

    2010-01-01

    In the effort to achieve Tbit/inch 2 recording densities, thermal fly-height control (TFC) nanotechnology was developed to effectively reduce the clearance (which is of the order of a few nanometres) at the head-disk interface (HDI) of hard-disk drives. In this work, we present a model of the HDI that can predict the dynamic flying and nanotribological contacting behaviour, allowing for accurate predictions and characterization of the operating regime as a function of TFC actuation. A geometric model for TFC is presented and an improved definition of contact at the interface is developed in the presence of nanoscale topographical roughness and dynamic microwaviness. A new methodology is proposed for the calculation of the nominal area of contact, which affects both near- and at-contact behaviour, while the stiffening of the air bearing force with TFC actuation is also accounted for. Slider behaviour is analysed by quantifying the approach, jump-to-contact, lubricant and solid contact regimes of operation and identifying the critical and optimum TFC actuations. The feasibility of near-contact, light molecularly thin lubricant contact versus solid contact recording is explored under the effect of the interfacial forces and stresses present at the HDI. The clearance and the state of vibrations are analysed and design guidelines are proposed for improved performance.

  3. Radial lip seals, thermal aspects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stakenborg, M.J.L.; van Ostaijen, R.A.J.; Dowson, D.

    1989-01-01

    In this paper the influence of temperature on tne seal-snarc contact is studied, using coupled temperature-stress FEH analysis. A thermal network model is used to calculate the seal-shaft contact temperature for steady-state and transient conditions. Contact temperatures were measured under the seal

  4. Improved numerical algorithm and experimental validation of a system thermal-hydraulic/CFD coupling method for multi-scale transient simulations of pool-type reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toti, A.; Vierendeels, J.; Belloni, F.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • A system thermal-hydraulic/CFD coupling methodology is proposed for high-fidelity transient flow analyses. • The method is based on domain decomposition and implicit numerical scheme. • A novel interface Quasi-Newton algorithm is implemented to improve stability and convergence rate. • Preliminary validation analyses on the TALL-3D experiment. - Abstract: The paper describes the development and validation of a coupling methodology between the best-estimate system thermal-hydraulic code RELAP5-3D and the CFD code FLUENT, conceived for high fidelity plant-scale safety analyses of pool-type reactors. The computational tool is developed to assess the impact of three-dimensional phenomena occurring in accidental transients such as loss of flow (LOF) in the research reactor MYRRHA, currently in the design phase at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, SCK• CEN. A partitioned, implicit domain decomposition coupling algorithm is implemented, in which the coupled domains exchange thermal-hydraulics variables at coupling boundary interfaces. Numerical stability and interface convergence rates are improved by a novel interface Quasi-Newton algorithm, which is compared in this paper with previously tested numerical schemes. The developed computational method has been assessed for validation purposes against the experiment performed at the test facility TALL-3D, operated by the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden. This paper details the results of the simulation of a loss of forced convection test, showing the capability of the developed methodology to predict transients influenced by local three-dimensional phenomena.

  5. A four-probe thermal transport measurement method for nanostructures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jaehyun; Ou, Eric; Sellan, Daniel P.; Shi, Li, E-mail: lishi@mail.utexas.edu [Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)

    2015-04-15

    Several experimental techniques reported in recent years have enabled the measurement of thermal transport properties of nanostructures. However, eliminating the contact thermal resistance error from the measurement results has remained a critical challenge. Here, we report a different four-probe measurement method that can separately obtain both the intrinsic thermal conductance and the contact thermal resistance of individual nanostructures. The measurement device consists of four microfabricated, suspended metal lines that act as resistive heaters and thermometers, across which the nanostructure sample is assembled. The method takes advantage of the variation in the heat flow along the suspended nanostructure and across its contacts to the four suspended heater and thermometer lines, and uses sixteen sets of temperature and heat flow measurements to obtain nine of the thermal resistances in the measurement device and the nanostructure sample, including the intrinsic thermal resistance and the two contact thermal resistances to the middle suspended segment of the nanostructure. Two single crystalline Si nanowires with different cross sections are measured in this work to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. This four-probe thermal transport measurement method can lead to future discoveries of unique size-dependent thermal transport phenomena in nanostructures and low-dimensional materials, in addition to providing reliable experimental data for calibrating theoretical models.

  6. A four-probe thermal transport measurement method for nanostructures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jaehyun; Ou, Eric; Sellan, Daniel P.; Shi, Li

    2015-01-01

    Several experimental techniques reported in recent years have enabled the measurement of thermal transport properties of nanostructures. However, eliminating the contact thermal resistance error from the measurement results has remained a critical challenge. Here, we report a different four-probe measurement method that can separately obtain both the intrinsic thermal conductance and the contact thermal resistance of individual nanostructures. The measurement device consists of four microfabricated, suspended metal lines that act as resistive heaters and thermometers, across which the nanostructure sample is assembled. The method takes advantage of the variation in the heat flow along the suspended nanostructure and across its contacts to the four suspended heater and thermometer lines, and uses sixteen sets of temperature and heat flow measurements to obtain nine of the thermal resistances in the measurement device and the nanostructure sample, including the intrinsic thermal resistance and the two contact thermal resistances to the middle suspended segment of the nanostructure. Two single crystalline Si nanowires with different cross sections are measured in this work to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. This four-probe thermal transport measurement method can lead to future discoveries of unique size-dependent thermal transport phenomena in nanostructures and low-dimensional materials, in addition to providing reliable experimental data for calibrating theoretical models

  7. Comparison Spatial Pattern of Land Surface Temperature with Mono Window Algorithm and Split Window Algorithm: A Case Study in South Tangerang, Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bunai, Tasya; Rokhmatuloh; Wibowo, Adi

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, two methods to retrieve the Land Surface Temperature (LST) from thermal infrared data supplied by band 10 and 11 of the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) onboard the Landsat 8 is compared. The first is mono window algorithm developed by Qin et al. and the second is split window algorithm by Rozenstein et al. The purpose of this study is to perform the spatial distribution of land surface temperature, as well as to determine more accurate algorithm for retrieving land surface temperature by calculated root mean square error (RMSE). Finally, we present comparison the spatial distribution of land surface temperature by both of algorithm, and more accurate algorithm is split window algorithm refers to the root mean square error (RMSE) is 7.69° C.

  8. Evolutionary algorithms for multi-objective energetic and economic optimization in thermal system design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toffolo, A.; Lazzaretto, A.

    2002-01-01

    Thermoeconomic analyses in thermal system design are always focused on the economic objective. However, knowledge of only the economic minimum may not be sufficient in the decision making process, since solutions with a higher thermodynamic efficiency, in spite of small increases in total costs, may result in much more interesting designs due to changes in energy market prices or in energy policies. This paper suggests how to perform a multi-objective optimization in order to find solutions that simultaneously satisfy exergetic and economic objectives. This corresponds to a search for the set of Pareto optimal solutions with respect to the two competing objectives. The optimization process is carried out by an evolutionary algorithm, that features a new diversity preserving mechanism using as a test case the well-known CGAM problem. (author)

  9. Influence of thermal stress on the relative permittivity of the AlGaN barrier layer in an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure Schottky contacts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lü Yuan-Jie; Lin Zhao-Jun; Zhang Yu; Meng Ling-Guo; Cao Zhi-Fang; Luan Chong-Biao; Chen Hong; Wang Zhan-Guo

    2011-01-01

    Ni Schottky contacts on AlGaN/GaN heterostructures were fabricated. Some samples were thermally treated in a furnace with N 2 ambience at 600 °C for different times (0.5 h, 4.5 h, 10.5 h, 18 h, 33 h, 48 h, and 72 h), the others were thermally treated for 0.5 h at different temperatures (500 °C, 600 °C, 700 °C, and 800 °C). With the measured current—voltage (I—V) and capacitance—voltage (C—V) curves and by self-consistently solving Schrodinger's and Poisson's equations, we found that the relative permittivity of the AlGaN barrier layer was related to the piezoelectric and the spontaneous polarization of the AlGaN barrier layer. The relative permittivity was in proportion to the strain of the AlGaN barrier layer. The relative permittivity and the strain reduced with the increased thermal stress time until the AlGaN barrier totally relaxed (after 18 h at 600 °C in the current study), and then the relative permittivity was almost a constant with the increased thermal stress time. When the sample was treated at 800 °C for 0.5 h, the relative permittivity was less than the constant due to the huge diffusion of the contact metal atoms. Considering the relation between the relative permittivity of the AlGaN barrier layer and the converse piezoelectric effect, the conclusion can be made that a moderate thermal stress can restrain the converse piezoelectric effect and can improve the stability of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure devices. (condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties)

  10. DUPIC fuel irradiation test and performance evaluation; the performance analysis of pellet-cladding contact fuel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ho, K. I.; Kim, H. M.; Yang, K. B.; Choi, S. J. [Suwon University, Whasung (Korea)

    2002-04-01

    Thermal and mechanical models were reviewed, and selected for the analysis of nuclear fuel performance in reactor. 2 dimensional FEM software was developed. Thermal models-gap conductances, thermal conductivity of pellets, fission gas release, temperature distribution-were set and packaged into a software. Both thermal and mechanical models were interrelated to each other, and the final results, fuel performance during irradiation is obtained by iteration calculation. Also, the contact phenomena between pellet and cladding was analysed by mechanical computer software which was developed during this work. dimensional FEM program was developed which estimate the mechanical behavior and the thermal behaviors of nuclear fuel during irradiation. Since there is a importance during the mechanical deformation analysis in describing pellet-cladding contact phenomena, simplified 2 dimensional calculation method is used after the contact. The estimation of thermal fuel behavior during irradiation was compared with the results of other. 8 refs., 17 figs. (Author)

  11. A comparative study of the electrical properties of Pd/ZnO Schottky contacts fabricated using electron beam deposition and resistive/thermal evaporation techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mtangi, W.; Auret, F. D.; Janse van Rensburg, P. J.; Coelho, S. M. M.; Legodi, M. J.; Nel, J. M.; Meyer, W. E.; Chawanda, A.

    2011-01-01

    A systematic investigation to check the quality of Pd Schottky contacts deposited on ZnO has been performed on electron beam (e-beam) deposited and resistively/thermally evaporated samples using current-voltage, IV, and conventional deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements. Room temperature IV measurements reveal the dominance of pure thermionic emission on the resistively evaporated contacts, while the e-beam deposited contacts show the dominance of generation recombination at low voltages, -10 A at a reverse voltage of 1.0 V whereas the e-beam deposited contacts have reverse currents of the order of 10 -6 A at 1.0 V. Average ideality factors have been determined as (1.43 ± 0.01) and (1.66 ± 0.02) for the resistively evaporated contacts and e-beam deposited contacts, respectively. The IV barrier heights have been calculated as (0.721 ± 0.002) eV and (0.624 ± 0.005) eV for the resistively evaporated and e-beam deposited contacts, respectively. Conventional DLTS measurements reveal the presence of three prominent defects in both the resistive and e-beam contacts. Two extra peaks with energy levels of 0.60 and 0.81 eV below the conduction band minimum have been observed in the e-beam deposited contacts. These have been explained as contributing to the generation recombination current that dominates at low voltages and high leakage currents. Based on the reverse current at 1.0 V, the degree of rectification, the dominant current transport mechanism and the observed defects, we conclude that the resistive evaporation technique yields better quality Schottky contacts for use in solar cells and ultraviolet detectors compared to the e-beam deposition technique. The 0.60 eV has been identified as possibly related to the unoccupied level for the doubly charged oxygen vacancy, V o 2+ .

  12. An Algorithmic Comparison of the Hyper-Reduction and the Discrete Empirical Interpolation Method for a Nonlinear Thermal Problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felix Fritzen

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available A novel algorithmic discussion of the methodological and numerical differences of competing parametric model reduction techniques for nonlinear problems is presented. First, the Galerkin reduced basis (RB formulation is presented, which fails at providing significant gains with respect to the computational efficiency for nonlinear problems. Renowned methods for the reduction of the computing time of nonlinear reduced order models are the Hyper-Reduction and the (Discrete Empirical Interpolation Method (EIM, DEIM. An algorithmic description and a methodological comparison of both methods are provided. The accuracy of the predictions of the hyper-reduced model and the (DEIM in comparison to the Galerkin RB is investigated. All three approaches are applied to a simple uncertainty quantification of a planar nonlinear thermal conduction problem. The results are compared to computationally intense finite element simulations.

  13. Kriging-based algorithm for nuclear reactor neutronic design optimization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kempf, Stephanie; Forget, Benoit; Hu, Lin-Wen

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► A Kriging-based algorithm was selected to guide research reactor optimization. ► We examined impacts of parameter values upon the algorithm. ► The best parameter values were incorporated into a set of best practices. ► Algorithm with best practices used to optimize thermal flux of concept. ► Final design produces thermal flux 30% higher than other 5 MW reactors. - Abstract: Kriging, a geospatial interpolation technique, has been used in the present work to drive a search-and-optimization algorithm which produces the optimum geometric parameters for a 5 MW research reactor design. The technique has been demonstrated to produce an optimal neutronic solution after a relatively small number of core calculations. It has additionally been successful in producing a design which significantly improves thermal neutron fluxes by 30% over existing reactors of the same power rating. Best practices for use of this algorithm in reactor design were identified and indicated the importance of selecting proper correlation functions.

  14. Effect of Temperature and Vibration on Electrical Connectors with Different Number of Contact Cores

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Song W. L.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we presented the results from three related analysis performed by adopting the failure models, which provided an explanation of performance influencing factors caused by different number of contact cores, for the purpose of measuring the temperature change and deformation value, which were the factors causing contact failure. The failures were localized in contact parts of the connectors. Performed investigations included thermal analysis, modal analysis, harmonic response analysis and contact failure analysis. From the results of these simulations, related temperature and vibration analysis nephograms were got respectively. And the correctness of results of thermal analysis was verified by Fourier law. The research results of this paper provide a reference for thermal analysis and vibration analysis of electrical connectors, which is important for ensuring the reliability and safety of electrical connectors.

  15. Thermal-economic optimisation of a CHP gas turbine system by applying a fit-problem genetic algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreira, Ana C. M.; Teixeira, Senhorinha F. C. F.; Silva, Rui G.; Silva, Ângela M.

    2018-04-01

    Cogeneration allows the optimal use of the primary energy sources and significant reductions in carbon emissions. Its use has great potential for applications in the residential sector. This study aims to develop a methodology for thermal-economic optimisation of small-scale micro-gas turbine for cogeneration purposes, able to fulfil domestic energy needs with a thermal power out of 125 kW. A constrained non-linear optimisation model was built. The objective function is the maximisation of the annual worth from the combined heat and power, representing the balance between the annual incomes and the expenditures subject to physical and economic constraints. A genetic algorithm coded in the java programming language was developed. An optimal micro-gas turbine able to produce 103.5 kW of electrical power with a positive annual profit (i.e. 11,925 €/year) was disclosed. The investment can be recovered in 4 years and 9 months, which is less than half of system lifetime expectancy.

  16. Contact stress sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotovsky, Jack [Oakland, CA

    2012-02-07

    A contact stress sensor includes one or more MEMS fabricated sensor elements, where each sensor element of includes a thin non-recessed portion, a recessed portion and a pressure sensitive element adjacent to the recessed portion. An electric circuit is connected to the pressure sensitive element. The circuit includes a thermal compensator and a pressure signal circuit element configured to provide a signal upon movement of the pressure sensitive element.

  17. Effect of the post-annealing temperature on the thermal-decomposed NiOx hole contact layer for perovskite solar cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuxiao Guo

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available A hysteresis-less inverted perovskite solar cell (PSC with power conversion efficiency (PCE of 13.57% was successfully achieved based on the thermal-decomposed NiOx hole contact layer, possessing better electron blocking and hole extraction properties for its suitable work function and high-conduction band edge position. Herein, the transparent and high-crystalline NiOx film is prepared by thermal-decomposing of the solution-derived Ni(OH2 film in our study, which is then employed as hole transport layer (HTL of the organic–inorganic hybrid PSCs. Reasonably, the post-annealing treatment, especially for the annealing temperature, could greatly affect the Ni(OH2 decomposition process and the quality of decomposed NiOx nanoparticles. The vital NiOx HTLs with discrepant morphology, crystallinity and transmission certainly lead to a wide range of device performance. As a result, an annealing process of 400∘C/2h significantly promotes the photovoltaic properties of the NiOx layer and the further device performance.

  18. Design of an optimal SMES for automatic generation control of two-area thermal power system using Cuckoo search algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabita Chaine

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available This work presents a methodology adopted in order to tune the controller parameters of superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES system in the automatic generation control (AGC of a two-area thermal power system. The gains of integral controllers of AGC loop, proportional controller of SMES loop and gains of the current feedback loop of the inductor in SMES are optimized simultaneously in order to achieve a desired performance. Recently proposed intelligent technique based algorithm known as Cuckoo search algorithm (CSA is applied for optimization. Sensitivity and robustness of the tuned gains tested at different operating conditions prove the effectiveness of fast acting energy storage devices like SMES in damping out oscillations in power system when their controllers are properly tuned.

  19. Optimization of single channel glazed photovoltaic thermal (PVT) array using Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) and carbon credit earned by the optimized array

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Sonveer; Agrawal, Sanjay; Gadh, Rajit

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Optimization of SCGPVT array using Evolutionary Algorithm. • The overall exergy gain is maximized with an Evolutionary Algorithm. • Annual Performance has been evaluated for New Delhi (India). • There are improvement in results than the model given in literature. • Carbon credit analysis has been done. - Abstract: In this paper, work is carried out in three steps. In the first step, optimization of single channel glazed photovoltaic thermal (SCGPVT) array has been done with an Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) keeping the overall exergy gain is an objective function of the SCGPVT array. For maximization of overall exergy gain, total seven design variables have been optimized such as length of the channel (L), mass flow rate of flowing fluid (m_F), velocity of flowing fluid (V_F), convective heat transfer coefficient through the tedlar (U_T), overall heat transfer coefficient between solar cell to ambient through glass cover (U_S_C_A_G), overall back loss heat transfer coefficient from flowing fluid to ambient (U_F_A) and convective heat transfer coefficient of tedlar (h_T). It has been observed that the instant overall exergy gain obtained from optimized system is 1.42 kW h, which is 87.86% more than the overall exergy gain of a un-optimized system given in literature. In the second step, overall exergy gain and overall thermal gain of SCGPVT array has been evaluated annually and there are 69.52% and 88.05% improvement in annual overall exergy gain and annual overall thermal gain respectively than the un-optimized system for the same input irradiance and ambient temperature. In the third step, carbon credit earned by the optimized SCGPVT array has also been evaluated as per norms of Kyoto Protocol Bangalore climatic conditions.

  20. Numerical Modeling of Electrical Contact Conductance of Rough Bodies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. V. Murashov

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Since the beginning of the 20th century to the present time, efforts have been made to develop a model of the electrical contact conductance. The development of micro- and nanotechnologies make contact conductance problem more essential. To conduct borrowing from a welldeveloped thermal contact conductance models on the basis of thermal and electrical conductivity analogy is often not possible due to a number of fundamental differences. While some 3Dmodels of rough bodies deformation have been developed in one way or another, a 3D-model of the electrical conductance through rough bodies contact is still not. A spatial model of electrical contact of rough bodies is proposed, allows one to calculate the electrical contact conductance as a function of the contact pressure. Representative elements of the bodies are parallelepipeds with deterministic roughness on the contacting surfaces. First the non-linear elastic-plastic deformation of rough surface under external pressure is solved using the finite element software ANSYS. Then the solution of electrostatic problem goes on the same finite element mesh. Aluminum AD1 is used as the material of the contacting bodies with properties that account for cold work hardening of the surface. The numerical model is built within the continuum mechanics and nanoscale effects are not taken into account. The electrical contact conductance was calculated on the basis of the concept of electrical resistance of the model as the sum of the electrical resistances of the contacting bodies and the contact itself. It was assumed that there is no air in the gap between the bodies. The dependence of the electrical contact conductance on the contact pressure is calculated as well as voltage and current density distributions in the contact bodies. It is determined that the multi-asperity contact mode, adequate to real roughness, is achieved at pressures higher than 3MPa, while results within the single contact spot are

  1. High efficiency algorithm for 3D transient thermo-elasto-plastic contact problem in reactor pressure vessel sealing system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Mingyu; Lin Tengjiao; Li Runfang; Du Xuesong; Li Shuian; Yang Yu

    2005-01-01

    There are some complex operating cases such as high temperature and high pressure during the operating process of nuclear reactor pressure vessel. It is necessary to carry out mechanical analysis and experimental investigation for its sealing ability. On the basis of the self-developed program for 3-D transient sealing analysis for nuclear reactor pressure vessel, some specific measures are presented to enhance the calculation efficiency in several aspects such as the non-linear solution of elasto-plastic problem, the mixed solution algorithm for contact problem as well as contract heat transfer problem and linear equation set solver. The 3-D transient sealing analysis program is amended and complemented, with which the sealing analysis result of the pressure vessel model can be obtained. The calculation results have good regularity and the calculation efficiency is twice more than before. (authors)

  2. Study of non-contact measurement of the thermal expansion coefficients of materials based on laser feedback interferometry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zheng, Fasong [The State Key Lab of Precision Measurement Technology and Instrument, Department of Precision Instruments, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Departments of Physics, College of Science, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029 (China); Tan, Yidong; Zhang, Shulian, E-mail: zsl-dpi@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn [The State Key Lab of Precision Measurement Technology and Instrument, Department of Precision Instruments, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Lin, Jing; Ding, Yingchun [Departments of Physics, College of Science, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029 (China)

    2015-04-15

    The noncooperative and ultrahigh sensitive length measurement approach is of great significance to the study of a high-precision thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) determination of materials at a wide temperature range. The novel approach is presented in this paper based on the Nd:YAG microchip laser feedback interferometry with 1064 nm wavelength, the beam frequency of which is shifted by a pair of acousto-optic modulators and then the heterodyne phase measurement technique is used. The sample is placed in a muffle furnace with two coaxial holes opened on the opposite furnace walls. The measurement beams are perpendicular and coaxial on each surface of the sample, the configuration which can not only achieve the length measurement of sample but also eliminate the influence of the distortion of the sample supporter. The reference beams inject on the reference mirrors which are put as possible as near the holes, respectively, to eliminate the air disturbances and the influence of thermal lens effect out of the furnace chamber. For validation, the thermal expansion coefficients of aluminum and steel 45 samples are measured from room temperature to 748 K, which proved measurement repeatability of TECs is better than 0.6 × 10{sup −6}(K{sup −1}) at the range of 298 K–598 K and the high-sensitive non-contact measurement of the low reflectivity surface induced by the oxidization of the samples at the range of 598 K–748 K.

  3. Rapid thermal processing by stamping

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stradins, Pauls; Wang, Qi

    2013-03-05

    A rapid thermal processing device and methods are provided for thermal processing of samples such as semiconductor wafers. The device has components including a stamp (35) having a stamping surface and a heater or cooler (40) to bring it to a selected processing temperature, a sample holder (20) for holding a sample (10) in position for intimate contact with the stamping surface; and positioning components (25) for moving the stamping surface and the stamp (35) in and away from intimate, substantially non-pressured contact. Methods for using and making such devices are also provided. These devices and methods allow inexpensive, efficient, easily controllable thermal processing.

  4. Multifunctional Thermal Structures Using Cellular Contact-Aided Complaint Mechanisms

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-10-31

    that it transfers heat away from (or insulates) the electronics modules in order to ensure that the electronics do not overheat (or become too cold...conventional active thermal control systems whenever possible. The basic aim of a passive thermal control system is to control heat transfer from...electronic devices to a radiating exterior surface. Heat may need to be retained when the devices generate little heat , and high heat transfer

  5. Toward automated face detection in thermal and polarimetric thermal imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, Christopher; Acosta, Mark; Short, Nathan; Hu, Shuowen; Chan, Alex L.

    2016-05-01

    Visible spectrum face detection algorithms perform pretty reliably under controlled lighting conditions. However, variations in illumination and application of cosmetics can distort the features used by common face detectors, thereby degrade their detection performance. Thermal and polarimetric thermal facial imaging are relatively invariant to illumination and robust to the application of makeup, due to their measurement of emitted radiation instead of reflected light signals. The objective of this work is to evaluate a government off-the-shelf wavelet based naïve-Bayes face detection algorithm and a commercial off-the-shelf Viola-Jones cascade face detection algorithm on face imagery acquired in different spectral bands. New classifiers were trained using the Viola-Jones cascade object detection framework with preprocessed facial imagery. Preprocessing using Difference of Gaussians (DoG) filtering reduces the modality gap between facial signatures across the different spectral bands, thus enabling more correlated histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) features to be extracted from the preprocessed thermal and visible face images. Since the availability of training data is much more limited in the thermal spectrum than in the visible spectrum, it is not feasible to train a robust multi-modal face detector using thermal imagery alone. A large training dataset was constituted with DoG filtered visible and thermal imagery, which was subsequently used to generate a custom trained Viola-Jones detector. A 40% increase in face detection rate was achieved on a testing dataset, as compared to the performance of a pre-trained/baseline face detector. Insights gained in this research are valuable in the development of more robust multi-modal face detectors.

  6. Cryogenic cooler thermal coupler

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Green, K.E.; Talbourdet, J.A.

    1984-01-01

    A thermal coupler assembly mounted to the coldfinger of a cryogenic cooler which provides improved thermal transfer between the coldfinger and the detector assembly mounted on the dewar endwell. The thermal coupler design comprises a stud and spring-loaded cap mounted on the coldfinger assembly. Thermal transfer is made primarily through the air space between the cap and coldwell walls along the radial surfaces. The cap is spring loaded to provide thermal contact between the cap and endwell end surfaces

  7. Fourier diffraction theorem for diffusion-based thermal tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baddour, Natalie

    2006-01-01

    There has been much recent interest in thermal imaging as a method of non-destructive testing and for non-invasive medical imaging. The basic idea of applying heat or cold to an area and observing the resulting temperature change with an infrared camera has led to the development of rapid and relatively inexpensive inspection systems. However, the main drawback to date has been that such an approach provides mainly qualitative results. In order to advance the quantitative results that are possible via thermal imaging, there is interest in applying techniques and algorithms from conventional tomography. Many tomography algorithms are based on the Fourier diffraction theorem, which is inapplicable to thermal imaging without suitable modification to account for the attenuative nature of thermal waves. In this paper, the Fourier diffraction theorem for thermal tomography is derived and discussed. The intent is for this thermal-diffusion based Fourier diffraction theorem to form the basis of tomographic reconstruction algorithms for quantitative thermal imaging

  8. Optimization of Indoor Thermal Comfort Parameters with the Adaptive Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System and Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Li

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The goal of this study is to improve thermal comfort and indoor air quality with the adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS model and improved particle swarm optimization (PSO algorithm. A method to optimize air conditioning parameters and installation distance is proposed. The methodology is demonstrated through a prototype case, which corresponds to a typical laboratory in colleges and universities. A laboratory model is established, and simulated flow field information is obtained with the CFD software. Subsequently, the ANFIS model is employed instead of the CFD model to predict indoor flow parameters, and the CFD database is utilized to train ANN input-output “metamodels” for the subsequent optimization. With the improved PSO algorithm and the stratified sequence method, the objective functions are optimized. The functions comprise PMV, PPD, and mean age of air. The optimal installation distance is determined with the hemisphere model. Results show that most of the staff obtain a satisfactory degree of thermal comfort and that the proposed method can significantly reduce the cost of building an experimental device. The proposed methodology can be used to determine appropriate air supply parameters and air conditioner installation position for a pleasant and healthy indoor environment.

  9. Thermal expansion of doped lanthanum gallates

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Administrator

    Since the components are in intimate mechanical contact, any stress generated due to their thermal expansion mis- match during thermal cycling could lead to catastrophic failure of the cell. The functional materials must have similar thermal expansions to avoid mechanical stresses. Hence it is useful to study the thermal ...

  10. Electron Barrier Formation at the Organic-Back Contact Interface is the First Step in Thermal Degradation of Polymer Solar Cells

    KAUST Repository

    Sachs-Quintana, I. T.

    2014-03-24

    Long-term stability of polymer solar cells is determined by many factors, one of which is thermal stability. Although many thermal stability studies occur far beyond the operating temperature of a solar cell which is almost always less than 65 °C, thermal degradation is studied at temperatures that the solar cell would encounter in real-world operating conditions. At these temperatures, movement of the polymer and fullerenes, along with adhesion of the polymer to the back contact, creates a barrier for electron extraction. The polymer barrier can be removed and the performance can be restored by peeling off the electrode and depositing a new one. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements reveal a larger amount of polymer adhered to electrodes peeled from aged devices than electrodes peeled from fresh devices. The degradation caused by hole-transporting polymer adhering to the electrode can be suppressed by using an inverted device where instead of electrons, holes are extracted at the back metal electrode. The problem can be ultimately eliminated by choosing a polymer with a high glass transition temperature. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  11. Current contact device for a superconducting magnet coil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hieronymus, H.

    1987-01-01

    The invention concerns a current supply device for a superconducting magnet coil to be shortcircuited, with a separating device per coil end, which contains a fixed cooled contact and a moving contact connected to a power supply device and a mechanical actuating device for closing and opening the contacts. When closing the heated contact on to the cooled contact, relatively large quantities of heat can be transferred to the cooled contact and therefore to the connected superconducting coil end and can cause normal conduction there. The invention therefore provides that the mass ratio of the cooled contact to the moving contact is at least 5:1, preferably at least 10:1, and that the cooled contact part is provided, at the end away from the contact area, with means for increasing the area, for example cooling fins and is connected to the coil end has a thermal resistance between the contact area and the coil end of at least 0.2 k/W, preferably at least 0.5 k/W per 1000 A of current to be transmitted. (orig.) [de

  12. Estimation of thermal neutron cross sections from K, U, Th concentrations for rock samples using neural network algorithms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Loskiewicz, J.; Swakon, J.

    1992-01-01

    In the paper present the results of the use of the neural network algorithms to find a function Σ a =f(K, U, Th,...). The easily measurable parameters (K, U, Th concentrations, lithology) were used to estimate the thermal neutron absorption cross-section Σ a , which is difficult to measure in the borehole conditions. This paper is suggesting a possible solution to the problem. This method may have an important application in the well-logging data treatment. (author). 6 refs, 9 tabs

  13. Contact angle measurement with a smartphone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, H; Muros-Cobos, Jesus L; Amirfazli, A

    2018-03-01

    In this study, a smartphone-based contact angle measurement instrument was developed. Compared with the traditional measurement instruments, this instrument has the advantage of simplicity, compact size, and portability. An automatic contact point detection algorithm was developed to allow the instrument to correctly detect the drop contact points. Two different contact angle calculation methods, Young-Laplace and polynomial fitting methods, were implemented in this instrument. The performance of this instrument was tested first with ideal synthetic drop profiles. It was shown that the accuracy of the new system with ideal synthetic drop profiles can reach 0.01% with both Young-Laplace and polynomial fitting methods. Conducting experiments to measure both static and dynamic (advancing and receding) contact angles with the developed instrument, we found that the smartphone-based instrument can provide accurate and practical measurement results as the traditional commercial instruments. The successful demonstration of use of a smartphone (mobile phone) to conduct contact angle measurement is a significant advancement in the field as it breaks the dominate mold of use of a computer and a bench bound setup for such systems since their appearance in 1980s.

  14. Contact angle measurement with a smartphone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, H.; Muros-Cobos, Jesus L.; Amirfazli, A.

    2018-03-01

    In this study, a smartphone-based contact angle measurement instrument was developed. Compared with the traditional measurement instruments, this instrument has the advantage of simplicity, compact size, and portability. An automatic contact point detection algorithm was developed to allow the instrument to correctly detect the drop contact points. Two different contact angle calculation methods, Young-Laplace and polynomial fitting methods, were implemented in this instrument. The performance of this instrument was tested first with ideal synthetic drop profiles. It was shown that the accuracy of the new system with ideal synthetic drop profiles can reach 0.01% with both Young-Laplace and polynomial fitting methods. Conducting experiments to measure both static and dynamic (advancing and receding) contact angles with the developed instrument, we found that the smartphone-based instrument can provide accurate and practical measurement results as the traditional commercial instruments. The successful demonstration of use of a smartphone (mobile phone) to conduct contact angle measurement is a significant advancement in the field as it breaks the dominate mold of use of a computer and a bench bound setup for such systems since their appearance in 1980s.

  15. Non-linear scalable TFETI domain decomposition based contact algorithm

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Dobiáš, Jiří; Pták, Svatopluk; Dostál, Z.; Vondrák, V.; Kozubek, T.

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 10, č. 1 (2010), s. 1-10 ISSN 1757-8981. [World Congress on Computational Mechanics/9./. Sydney, 19.07.2010 - 23.07.2010] R&D Projects: GA ČR GA101/08/0574 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20760514 Keywords : finite element method * domain decomposition method * contact Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics http://iopscience.iop.org/1757-899X/10/1/012161/pdf/1757-899X_10_1_012161.pdf

  16. Some computational challenges of developing efficient parallel algorithms for data-dependent computations in thermal-hydraulics supercomputer applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Woodruff, S.B.

    1992-01-01

    The Transient Reactor Analysis Code (TRAC), which features a two- fluid treatment of thermal-hydraulics, is designed to model transients in water reactors and related facilities. One of the major computational costs associated with TRAC and similar codes is calculating constitutive coefficients. Although the formulations for these coefficients are local the costs are flow-regime- or data-dependent; i.e., the computations needed for a given spatial node often vary widely as a function of time. Consequently, poor load balancing will degrade efficiency on either vector or data parallel architectures when the data are organized according to spatial location. Unfortunately, a general automatic solution to the load-balancing problem associated with data-dependent computations is not yet available for massively parallel architectures. This document discusses why developers algorithms, such as a neural net representation, that do not exhibit algorithms, such as a neural net representation, that do not exhibit load-balancing problems

  17. Evaluating the SEVIRI Fire Thermal Anomaly Detection Algorithm across the Central African Republic Using the MODIS Active Fire Product

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrick H. Freeborn

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Satellite-based remote sensing of active fires is the only practical way to consistently and continuously monitor diurnal fluctuations in biomass burning from regional, to continental, to global scales. Failure to understand, quantify, and communicate the performance of an active fire detection algorithm, however, can lead to improper interpretations of the spatiotemporal distribution of biomass burning, and flawed estimates of fuel consumption and trace gas and aerosol emissions. This work evaluates the performance of the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI Fire Thermal Anomaly (FTA detection algorithm using seven months of active fire pixels detected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS across the Central African Republic (CAR. Results indicate that the omission rate of the SEVIRI FTA detection algorithm relative to MODIS varies spatially across the CAR, ranging from 25% in the south to 74% in the east. In the absence of confounding artifacts such as sunglint, uncertainties in the background thermal characterization, and cloud cover, the regional variation in SEVIRI’s omission rate can be attributed to a coupling between SEVIRI’s low spatial resolution detection bias (i.e., the inability to detect fires below a certain size and intensity and a strong geographic gradient in active fire characteristics across the CAR. SEVIRI’s commission rate relative to MODIS increases from 9% when evaluated near MODIS nadir to 53% near the MODIS scene edges, indicating that SEVIRI errors of commission at the MODIS scene edges may not be false alarms but rather true fires that MODIS failed to detect as a result of larger pixel sizes at extreme MODIS scan angles. Results from this work are expected to facilitate (i future improvements to the SEVIRI FTA detection algorithm; (ii the assimilation of the SEVIRI and MODIS active fire products; and (iii the potential inclusion of SEVIRI into a network of geostationary

  18. Stress analysis of disconnected structures in contact through finite element gaps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stadter, J.T.; Weiss, R.O.

    1976-07-01

    A numerical procedure is presented for analyzing thermal stress problems of disconnected structures in contact across separations or gaps. The new procedure is called SAASGAPS, an adaptation of the basic SAAS III computer program. The SAAS program uses the finite element method and allows analyses of plane and axisymmetric bodies with temperature dependent material properties, subject to thermal and mechanical loads. A secant modulus approach with a bilinear stress-strain curve is used for elastic-plastic problems. The SAASGAPS version contains all of the features of the original SAAS program. A special gap element is used together with a stress invariance principle to model the contact process. The iterative procedure implemented in SAASGAPS is described. Results are discussed for five problems involving frictionless contact. Two of these problems are associated with the thermal stress analysis of the heat shield for the Multi-Hundred Watt Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. Input instructions for the program are described in an appendix

  19. Fast algorithm for Morphological Filters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lou Shan; Jiang Xiangqian; Scott, Paul J

    2011-01-01

    In surface metrology, morphological filters, which evolved from the envelope filtering system (E-system) work well for functional prediction of surface finish in the analysis of surfaces in contact. The naive algorithms are time consuming, especially for areal data, and not generally adopted in real practice. A fast algorithm is proposed based on the alpha shape. The hull obtained by rolling the alpha ball is equivalent to the morphological opening/closing in theory. The algorithm depends on Delaunay triangulation with time complexity O(nlogn). In comparison to the naive algorithms it generates the opening and closing envelope without combining dilation and erosion. Edge distortion is corrected by reflective padding for open profiles/surfaces. Spikes in the sample data are detected and points interpolated to prevent singularities. The proposed algorithm works well both for morphological profile and area filters. Examples are presented to demonstrate the validity and superiority on efficiency of this algorithm over the naive algorithm.

  20. Photothermal depth profiling: Comparison between genetic algorithms and thermal wave backscattering (abstract)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li Voti, R.; Sibilia, C.; Bertolotti, M.

    2003-01-01

    Photothermal depth profiling has been the subject of many papers in the last years. Inverse problems on different kinds of materials have been identified, classified, and solved. A first classification has been done according to the type of depth profile: the physical quantity to be reconstructed is the optical absorption in the problems of type I, the thermal effusivity for type II, and both of them for type III. Another classification may be done depending on the time scale of the pump beam heating (frequency scan, time scan), or on its geometrical symmetry (one- or three-dimensional). In this work we want to discuss two different approaches, the genetic algorithms (GA) [R. Li Voti, C. Melchiorri, C. Sibilia, and M. Bertolotti, Anal. Sci. 17, 410 (2001); R. Li Voti, Proceedings, IV Int. Workshop on Advances in Signal Processing for Non-Destructive Evaluation of Materials, Quebec, August 2001] and the thermal wave backscattering (TWBS) [R. Li Voti, G. L. Liakhou, S. Paoloni, C. Sibilia, and M. Bertolotti, Anal. Sci. 17, 414 (2001); J. C. Krapez and R. Li Voti, Anal. Sci. 17, 417 (2001)], showing their performances and limits of validity for several kinds of photothermal depth profiling problems: The two approaches are based on different mechanisms and exhibit obviously different features. GA may be implemented on the exact heat diffusion equation as follows: one chromosome is associated to each profile. The genetic evolution of the chromosome allows one to find better and better profiles, eventually converging towards the solution of the inverse problem. The main advantage is that GA may be applied to any arbitrary profile, but several disadvantages exist; for example, the complexity of the algorithm, the slow convergence, and consequently the computer time consumed. On the contrary, TWBS uses a simplified theoretical model of heat diffusion in inhomogeneous materials. According to such a model, the photothermal signal depends linearly on the thermal effusivity

  1. HOW MANY HIPPOS (HOMHIP: ALGORITHM FOR AUTOMATIC COUNTS OF ANIMALS WITH INFRA-RED THERMAL IMAGERY FROM UAV

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Lhoest

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius L. is part of the animal species endangered because of multiple human pressures. Monitoring of species for conservation is then essential, and the development of census protocols has to be chased. UAV technology is considering as one of the new perspectives for wildlife survey. Indeed, this technique has many advantages but its main drawback is the generation of a huge amount of data to handle. This study aims at developing an algorithm for automatic count of hippos, by exploiting thermal infrared aerial images acquired from UAV. This attempt is the first known for automatic detection of this species. Images taken at several flight heights can be used as inputs of the algorithm, ranging from 38 to 155 meters above ground level. A Graphical User Interface has been created in order to facilitate the use of the application. Three categories of animals have been defined following their position in water. The mean error of automatic counts compared with manual delineations is +2.3% and shows that the estimation is unbiased. Those results show great perspectives for the use of the algorithm in populations monitoring after some technical improvements and the elaboration of statistically robust inventories protocols.

  2. Thermal particle image velocity estimation of fire plume flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiangyang Zhou; Lulu Sun; Shankar Mahalingam; David R. Weise

    2003-01-01

    For the purpose of studying wildfire spread in living vegetation such as chaparral in California, a thermal particle image velocity (TPIV) algorithm for nonintrusively measuring flame gas velocities through thermal infrared (IR) imagery was developed. By tracing thermal particles in successive digital IR images, the TPIV algorithm can estimate the velocity field in a...

  3. Improving the Penetration of Wind Power with Dynamic Thermal Rating System, Static VAR Compensator and Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiashen Teh

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The integration of renewable energy sources, especially wind energy, has been on the rise throughout power systems worldwide. Due to this relatively new introduction, the integration of wind energy is often not optimized. Moreover, owing to the technical constraints and transmission congestions of the power network, most of the wind energy has to be curtailed. Due to various factors that influence the connectivity of wind energy, this paper proposes a well-organized posterior multi-objective (MO optimization algorithm for maximizing the connections of wind energy. In this regard, the dynamic thermal rating (DTR system and the static VAR compensator (SVC have been identified as effective tools for improving the loadability of the network. The propose MO algorithm in this paper aims to minimize: (1 wind energy curtailment, (2 operation cost of the network considering all investments and operations, also known as the total social cost, and (3 SVC operation cost. The proposed MO problem was solved using the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA II and it was tested on the modified IEEE reliability test system (IEEE-RTS. The results demonstrate the applicability of the proposed algorithm in aiding power system enhancement planning for integrating wind energy.

  4. 5th Contact Mechanics International Symposium

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    Contact mechanics is an active research area with deep theoretical and numerical roots. The links between nonsmooth analysis and optimization with mechanics have been investigated intensively during the last decades, especially in Europe. The study of complementarity problems, variational -, quasivariational- and hemivariational inequalities arising in contact mechanics and beyond is a hot topic for interdisciplinary research and cooperation. The needs of industry for robust solution algorithms suitable for large scale applications and the regular updates of the respective elements in major commercial computational mechanics codes, demonstrate that this interaction is not restricted to the academic environment. The contributions of this book have been selected from the participants of the CMIS 2009 international conference which took place in Crete and continued a successful series of specialized contact mechanics conferences.

  5. On contact modelling in isogeometric analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardoso, R. P. R.; Adetoro, O. B.

    2017-11-01

    IsoGeometric Analysis (IGA) has proved to be a reliable numerical tool for the simulation of structural behaviour and fluid mechanics. The main reasons for this popularity are essentially due to: (i) the possibility of using higher order polynomials for the basis functions; (ii) the high convergence rates possible to achieve; (iii) the possibility to operate directly on CAD geometry without the need to resort to a mesh of elements. The major drawback of IGA is the non-interpolatory characteristic of the basis functions, which adds a difficulty in handling essential boundary conditions and makes it particularly challenging for contact analysis. In this work, the IGA is expanded to include frictionless contact procedures for sheet metal forming analyses. Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) are going to be used for the modelling of rigid tools as well as for the modelling of the deformable blank sheet. The contact methods developed are based on a two-step contact search scheme, where during the first step a global search algorithm is used for the allocation of contact knots into potential contact faces and a second (local) contact search scheme where point inversion techniques are used for the calculation of the contact penetration gap. For completeness, elastoplastic procedures are also included for a proper description of the entire IGA of sheet metal forming processes.

  6. Categorization of fragrance contact allergens for prioritization of preventive measures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Uter, Wolfgang; Johansen, Jeanne D; Börje, Anna

    2013-01-01

    Contact allergy to fragrances is still relatively common, affecting ∼ 16% of patients patch tested for suspected allergic contact dermatitis, considering all current screening allergens. The objective of the review is to systematically retrieve, evaluate and classify evidence on contact allergy...... to fragrances, in order to arrive at recommendations for targeting of primary and secondary prevention. Besides published evidence on contact allergy in humans, animal data (local lymph node assay), annual use volumes and structure-activity relationships (SARs) were considered for an algorithmic categorization...... are considered to be of special concern, owing to the high absolute number of reported cases of contact allergy (> 100). Additionally, 18 single substances and one natural mixture are categorized as established contact allergens in animals. SARs, combined with limited human evidence, contributed...

  7. Schottky contact analysis of photovoltaic chalcopyrite thin film absorbers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schlenker, E.; Mertens, V.; Parisi, J.; Reineke-Koch, R.; Koentges, M.

    2007-01-01

    Current-voltage and capacitance-voltage measurements serve to analyze thermally evaporated Al Schottky contacts on Cu(In, Ga)Se 2 based photovoltaic thin film devices, either taken as grown or etched in a bromine-methanol solution. The characteristics of the Schottky contacts on the as-grown films give evidence for some dielectric layer developing between the metal and the semiconductor. Etching the semiconductor surface prior to evaporation of the Al front contact yields a pure metal-semiconductor behavior, including effects that can be attributed to an additional diode at the Mo contact. Simulations confirm the experimental results

  8. Contact lens surface by electron beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shin, Jung Hyuck; Lee, Suk Ju; Hwang, Kwang Ha; Jeon Jin

    2011-01-01

    Contact lens materials needs good biocompatibility, high refractive index, high optical transparency, high water content etc. Surface treat method by using plasma and radiation can modify the physical and/or chemical properties of the contact lens surface. Radiation technology such as electron beam irradiation can apply to polymerization reaction and enhance the functionality of the polymer.The purpose of this study is to modify of contact lens surface by using Eb irradiation technology. Electron beam was irradiated to the contact lens surface which was synthesized thermal polymerization method and commercial contact lens to modify physical and chemical properties. Ft-IR, XP, UV-vis spectrophotometer, water content, oxygen trans-metastability were used to characterize the surface state, physicochemical, and optical property of the contact lens treated with Eb. The water content and oxygen transmissibility of the contact lens treated with Eb were increased due to increase in the hydrophilic group such as O-C=O and OH group on the contact lens surface which could be produced by possible reaction between carbon and oxygen during the Eb irradiation. All of the lenses showed the high optical transmittance above 90%. In this case of B/Es, TES, Ti contact lens, the optical transmittance decreased about 5% with increasing Eb dose in the wavelength of UV-B region. The contact lens modified by Eb irradiation could improve the physical properties of the contact lens such as water content and oxygen transmissibility

  9. Low-Thermal-Resistance Baseplate Mounting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perreault, W. T.

    1984-01-01

    Low-thermal-resistance mounting achieved by preloading baseplate to slight convexity with screws threaded through beam. As mounting bolts around edge of base-place tightened, baseplate and cold plate contact first in center, with region of intimate contact spreading outward as bolts tightened.

  10. Operation of ohmic Ti/Al/Pt/Au multilayer contacts to GaN at 600 °C in air

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Minmin; Senesky, Debbie G.

    2014-08-01

    The high-temperature characteristics (at 600 °C) of Ti/Al/Pt/Au multilayer contacts to gallium nitride (GaN) in air are reported. Microfabricated circular-transfer-line-method test structures were subject to 10 h of thermal storage at 600 °C. Intermittent electrical characterization during thermal storage showed minimal variation in the contact resistance after 2 h and that the specific contact resistivity remained on the order of 10-5 Ω-cm2. In addition, the thermally stored multilayer contacts to GaN showed ohmic I-V characteristics when electrically probed at 600 °C. The microstructural analysis with atomic force microscopy showed minimal changes in surface roughness after thermal storage. Observations of the thermochemical reactions after thermal storage using Auger electron spectroscopy chemical depth profiling showed diffusion of Pt and minimal additional Al oxidation. The results support the use of Ti/Al/Pt/Au multilayer metallization for GaN-based sensors and electronic devices that will operate within a high-temperature and oxidizing ambient.

  11. Thermal modeling of pluton emplacement and associated contact metamorphism:Parashi stock emplacement in the Serranía de Jarara (Alta Guajira, Colombia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zuluaga C. Carlos A.

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available

    In the northernmost portion of the Serrania de Jarara (Alta Guajira, Colombia, low - medium grade metamorphic rocks from the Etpana Metamorphic Suite were thermally affected by emplacement of a small calc-alkaline intrusion (Parashi Stock. Detailed petrographic analysis in collected rock samples across the NE and NW plutonic contacts show occurrences of textural and mineralogical changes in the country rock fabric that evidence contact metamorphism overprinting regional metamorphism of the Etpana Suite. These changes include growth of andalusite (chiastolite, calcic clinopyroxeneand amphibole porphyroblast crosscutting Sn+1 metamorphicfoliation. Hornblende-plagioclase barometry (ca. 3.1 kbar and cooling models for the stock show maximum time temperature evolution in the country rock at the interpreted depth of intrusion (ca. 11 km and help to evaluate the behavior of the country rock with the changing local geotherm.

  12. Novel hybrid drilling protocol: evaluation for the implant healing--thermal changes, crestal bone loss, and bone-to-implant contact.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calvo-Guirado, José Luis; Delgado-Peña, Jorge; Maté-Sánchez, Jose E; Mareque Bueno, Javier; Delgado-Ruiz, Rafael Arcesio; Romanos, Georgios E

    2015-07-01

    To evaluate a new hybrid drilling protocol, by the analysis of thermal changes in vitro, and their effects in the crestal bone loss and bone-to-implant contact in vivo. Temperature changes during simulated osteotomies with a hybrid drilling technique (biologic plus simplified) (test) versus an incremental drilling technique (control) were investigated. One hundred and twenty random osteotomies were performed (60 by group) in pig ribs up to 3.75-mm-diameter drill to a depth of 10 mm. Thermal changes and time were recorded by paired thermocouples. In a parallel experiment, bilateral mandibular premolars P2, P3, P4, and first molar M1 were extracted from six dogs. After 2-month healing, implant sites were randomly prepared using either of the drilling techniques. Forty eight implants of 3.75 mm diameter and 10 mm length were inserted. The dogs were euthanized at 30 and 90 days, and crestal bone loss (CBL) and bone-to-implant contact (BIC) were evaluated. The control group showed maximum temperatures of 35.3 °C ± 1.8 °C, ΔT of 10.4 °C, and a mean time of 100 s/procedure; meanwhile, the test group showed maximum temperatures of 36.7 °C ± 1.2 °C, ΔT of 8.1 °C, and a mean time of 240 s/procedure. After 30 days, CBL values for both groups (test: 1.168 ± 0.194 mm; control: 1.181 ± 0.113 mm) and BIC values (test: 43 ± 2.8%; control: 45 ± 1.3%) were similar, without significant differences (P > 0.05). After 90 days, CBL (test: 1.173 ± 0.187 mm; control: 1.205 ± 0.122 mm) and BIC (test: 64 ± 3.3%; control: 64 ± 2.4%) values were similar, without significant differences (P > 0.05). The BIC values were increased at 90 days in both groups compared with the 30-day period (P drilling procedure in vitro. Crestal bone loss and bone-to-implant contact in the hybrid drilling protocol are comparable with the conventional drilling protocol and do not affect the osseointegration process in vivo. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Perspectives on setting limits for RF contact currents: a commentary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tell, Richard A; Tell, Christopher A

    2018-01-15

    Limits for exposure to radiofrequency (RF) contact currents are specified in the two dominant RF safety standards and guidelines developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). These limits are intended to prevent RF burns when contacting RF energized objects caused by high local tissue current densities. We explain what contact currents are and review some history of the relevant limits with an emphasis on so-called "touch" contacts, i.e., contact between a person and a contact current source during touch via a very small contact area. Contact current limits were originally set on the basis of controlling the specific absorption rate resulting from the current flowing through regions of small conductive cross section within the body, such as the wrist or ankle. More recently, contact currents have been based on thresholds of perceived heating. In the latest standard from the IEEE developed for NATO, contact currents have been based on two research studies in which thresholds for perception of thermal warmth or thermal pain have been measured. Importantly, these studies maximized conductive contact between the subject and the contact current source. This factor was found to dominate the response to heating wherein high resistance contact, such as from dry skin, can result in local heating many times that from a highly conductive contact. Other factors such as electrode size and shape, frequency of the current and the physical force associated with contact are found to introduce uncertainty in threshold values when comparing data across multiple studies. Relying on studies in which the contact current is minimized for a given threshold does not result in conservative protection limits. Future efforts to develop limits on contact currents should include consideration of (1) the basis for the limits (perception, pain, tissue damage); (2) understanding of the

  14. Stability analysis of rough surfaces in adhesive normal contact

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rey, Valentine; Bleyer, Jeremy

    2018-03-01

    This paper deals with adhesive frictionless normal contact between one elastic flat solid and one stiff solid with rough surface. After computation of the equilibrium solution of the energy minimization principle and respecting the contact constraints, we aim at studying the stability of this equilibrium solution. This study of stability implies solving an eigenvalue problem with inequality constraints. To achieve this goal, we propose a proximal algorithm which enables qualifying the solution as stable or unstable and that gives the instability modes. This method has a low computational cost since no linear system inversion is required and is also suitable for parallel implementation. Illustrations are given for the Hertzian contact and for rough contact.

  15. Development of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission Cloud Cover Assessment Algorithms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scaramuzza, Pat; Bouchard, M.A.; Dwyer, John L.

    2012-01-01

    The upcoming launch of the Operational Land Imager (OLI) will start the next era of the Landsat program. However, the Automated Cloud-Cover Assessment (CCA) (ACCA) algorithm used on Landsat 7 requires a thermal band and is thus not suited for OLI. There will be a thermal instrument on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM)-the Thermal Infrared Sensor-which may not be available during all OLI collections. This illustrates a need for CCA for LDCM in the absence of thermal data. To research possibilities for full-resolution OLI cloud assessment, a global data set of 207 Landsat 7 scenes with manually generated cloud masks was created. It was used to evaluate the ACCA algorithm, showing that the algorithm correctly classified 79.9% of a standard test subset of 3.95 109 pixels. The data set was also used to develop and validate two successor algorithms for use with OLI data-one derived from an off-the-shelf machine learning package and one based on ACCA but enhanced by a simple neural network. These comprehensive CCA algorithms were shown to correctly classify pixels as cloudy or clear 88.5% and 89.7% of the time, respectively.

  16. TIGER: Development of Thermal Gradient Compensation Algorithms and Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hereford, James; Parker, Peter A.; Rhew, Ray D.

    2004-01-01

    In a wind tunnel facility, the direct measurement of forces and moments induced on the model are performed by a force measurement balance. The measurement balance is a precision-machined device that has strain gages at strategic locations to measure the strain (i.e., deformations) due to applied forces and moments. The strain gages convert the strain (and hence the applied force) to an electrical voltage that is measured by external instruments. To address the problem of thermal gradients on the force measurement balance NASA-LaRC has initiated a research program called TIGER - Thermally-Induced Gradients Effects Research. The ultimate goals of the TIGER program are to: (a) understand the physics of the thermally-induced strain and its subsequent impact on load measurements and (b) develop a robust thermal gradient compensation technique. This paper will discuss the impact of thermal gradients on force measurement balances, specific aspects of the TIGER program (the design of a special-purpose balance, data acquisition and data analysis challenges), and give an overall summary.

  17. Contact-free palm-vein recognition based on local invariant features.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenxiong Kang

    Full Text Available Contact-free palm-vein recognition is one of the most challenging and promising areas in hand biometrics. In view of the existing problems in contact-free palm-vein imaging, including projection transformation, uneven illumination and difficulty in extracting exact ROIs, this paper presents a novel recognition approach for contact-free palm-vein recognition that performs feature extraction and matching on all vein textures distributed over the palm surface, including finger veins and palm veins, to minimize the loss of feature information. First, a hierarchical enhancement algorithm, which combines a DOG filter and histogram equalization, is adopted to alleviate uneven illumination and to highlight vein textures. Second, RootSIFT, a more stable local invariant feature extraction method in comparison to SIFT, is adopted to overcome the projection transformation in contact-free mode. Subsequently, a novel hierarchical mismatching removal algorithm based on neighborhood searching and LBP histograms is adopted to improve the accuracy of feature matching. Finally, we rigorously evaluated the proposed approach using two different databases and obtained 0.996% and 3.112% Equal Error Rates (EERs, respectively, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

  18. Contact-free palm-vein recognition based on local invariant features.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Wenxiong; Liu, Yang; Wu, Qiuxia; Yue, Xishun

    2014-01-01

    Contact-free palm-vein recognition is one of the most challenging and promising areas in hand biometrics. In view of the existing problems in contact-free palm-vein imaging, including projection transformation, uneven illumination and difficulty in extracting exact ROIs, this paper presents a novel recognition approach for contact-free palm-vein recognition that performs feature extraction and matching on all vein textures distributed over the palm surface, including finger veins and palm veins, to minimize the loss of feature information. First, a hierarchical enhancement algorithm, which combines a DOG filter and histogram equalization, is adopted to alleviate uneven illumination and to highlight vein textures. Second, RootSIFT, a more stable local invariant feature extraction method in comparison to SIFT, is adopted to overcome the projection transformation in contact-free mode. Subsequently, a novel hierarchical mismatching removal algorithm based on neighborhood searching and LBP histograms is adopted to improve the accuracy of feature matching. Finally, we rigorously evaluated the proposed approach using two different databases and obtained 0.996% and 3.112% Equal Error Rates (EERs), respectively, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

  19. Thermal characterization of radiation processed contact lens material

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Varshney, L.; Choughule, S.V.

    1998-01-01

    Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermomechanical analysis (TMA) and thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) were used to characterize radiation processed contact lens gel material of 2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate(HEMA). DSC revealed two types of water in the gels. DSC and TGA in combination were used to quantitate the percentage of different types of the water in the gel material. Temperature expansion coefficients values indicate more dimensions stability in the radiation processed lenses of similar water contents. (author)

  20. Mapping Thermal Habitat of Ectotherms Based on Behavioral Thermoregulation in a Controlled Thermal Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fei, T.; Skidmore, A.; Liu, Y.

    2012-07-01

    Thermal environment is especially important to ectotherm because a lot of physiological functions rely on the body temperature such as thermoregulation. The so-called behavioural thermoregulation function made use of the heterogeneity of the thermal properties within an individual's habitat to sustain the animal's physiological processes. This function links the spatial utilization and distribution of individual ectotherm with the thermal properties of habitat (thermal habitat). In this study we modelled the relationship between the two by a spatial explicit model that simulates the movements of a lizard in a controlled environment. The model incorporates a lizard's transient body temperatures with a cellular automaton algorithm as a way to link the physiology knowledge of the animal with the spatial utilization of its microhabitat. On a larger spatial scale, 'thermal roughness' of the habitat was defined and used to predict the habitat occupancy of the target species. The results showed the habitat occupancy can be modelled by the cellular automaton based algorithm at a smaller scale, and can be modelled by the thermal roughness index at a larger scale.

  1. Ohmic contacts to semiconducting diamond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeidler, James R.; Taylor, M. J.; Zeisse, Carl R.; Hewett, C. A.; Delahoussaye, Paul R.

    1990-10-01

    Work was carried out to improve the electron beam evaporation system in order to achieve better deposited films. The basic system is an ion pumped vacuum chamber, with a three-hearth, single-gun e-beam evaporator. Four improvements were made to the system. The system was thoroughly cleaned and new ion pump elements, an e-gun beam adjust unit, and a more accurate crystal monitor were installed. The system now has a base pressure of 3 X 10(exp -9) Torr, and can easily deposit high-melting-temperature metals such as Ta with an accurately controlled thickness. Improved shadow masks were also fabricated for better alignment and control of corner contacts for electrical transport measurements. Appendices include: A Thermally Activated Solid State Reaction Process for Fabricating Ohmic Contacts to Semiconducting Diamond; Tantalum Ohmic Contacts to Diamond by a Solid State Reaction Process; Metallization of Semiconducting Diamond: Mo, Mo/Au, and Mo/Ni/Au; Specific Contact Resistance Measurements of Ohmic Contracts to Diamond; and Electrical Activation of Boron Implanted into Diamond.

  2. Thermal-mechanical deformation modelling of soft tissues for thermal ablation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xin; Zhong, Yongmin; Jazar, Reza; Subic, Aleksandar

    2014-01-01

    Modeling of thermal-induced mechanical behaviors of soft tissues is of great importance for thermal ablation. This paper presents a method by integrating the heating process with thermal-induced mechanical deformations of soft tissues for simulation and analysis of the thermal ablation process. This method combines bio-heat transfer theories, constitutive elastic material law under thermal loads as well as non-rigid motion dynamics to predict and analyze thermal-mechanical deformations of soft tissues. The 3D governing equations of thermal-mechanical soft tissue deformation are discretized by using the finite difference scheme and are subsequently solved by numerical algorithms. Experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively predict the thermal-induced mechanical behaviors of soft tissues, and can be used for the thermal ablation therapy to effectively control the delivered heat energy for cancer treatment.

  3. Analysis of Heat Transfer in Power Split Device for Hybrid Electric Vehicle Using Thermal Network Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jixin Wang

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a rational prediction of temperature field on the differential hybrid system (DHS based on the thermal network method (TNM. The whole thermal network model is built by considering both the contact thermal resistance between gasket and planet gear and the temperature effect on the physical property parameters of lubricant. The contact thermal resistance is obtained by using the concept of contact branch thermal resistance and G-W elastic model. By building an elaborate thermal network model and computing models for power losses and thermal resistances between components, the whole temperature field of DHS under typical operating condition is predicted. Results show that thermal network method can be effectively used to predict the temperature distribution and the rule of temperature variation, the surface roughness significantly affects contact thermal conduction, and the decrease in the thermal resistance of the natural convection between air and DHS housing can effectively improve the thermal environment of DHS.

  4. Formation and Evolution of Contact Binaries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter P. Eggleton

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available describe a series of processes, including hierarchical fragmentation, gravitational scattering, Kozai cycles within triple systems, tidal friction and magnetic braking, that I believe are responsible for producing the modest but significant fraction of stars that are observed as contact binaries. I also discuss further processes, namely heat transport, mass transport, nuclear evolution, thermal relaxation oscillations, and further magnetic braking with tidal friction, that influence the evolution during contact. The endpoint, for contact, is that the two components merge into a single star, as recently was observed in the remarkable system V1309 Sco. The single star probably throws off some mass and rotates rapidly at first, and then slows by magnetic braking to become a rather inconspicuous but normal dwarf or subgiant. If however the contact binary was part of a triple system originally–as I suggested above was rather likely–then the result could be a widish binary with apparently non-coeval components. There are several such known.

  5. Under Water Thermal Cutting of the Moderator Vessel and Thermal Shield

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Loeb, A.; Sokcic-Kostic, M.; Eisenmann, B.; Prechtl, E.

    2007-01-01

    This paper presents the segmentation of the in 8 meter depth of water and for cutting through super alloyed moderator vessel and of the thermal shield of the MZFR stainless steel up to 130 mm wall thickness. Depending on the research reactor by means of under water plasma and contact arc metal cutting. The moderator vessel and the thermal shield are the most essential parts of the MZFR reactor vessel internals. These components have been segmented in 2005 by means of remotely controlled under water cutting utilizing a special manipulator system, a plasma torch and CAMC (Contact Arc Metal Cutting) as cutting tools. The engineered equipment used is a highly advanced design developed in a two years R and D program. It was qualified to cut through steel walls of more than 100 mm thickness in 8 meters water depth. Both the moderator vessel and the thermal shield had to be cut into such size that the segments could afterwards be packed into shielded waste containers each with a volume of roughly 1 m 3 . Segmentation of the moderator vessel and of the thermal shield was performed within 15 months. (author)

  6. Parallel thermal radiation transport in two dimensions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smedley-Stevenson, R.P.; Ball, S.R.

    2003-01-01

    This paper describes the distributed memory parallel implementation of a deterministic thermal radiation transport algorithm in a 2-dimensional ALE hydrodynamics code. The parallel algorithm consists of a variety of components which are combined in order to produce a state of the art computational capability, capable of solving large thermal radiation transport problems using Blue-Oak, the 3 Tera-Flop MPP (massive parallel processors) computing facility at AWE (United Kingdom). Particular aspects of the parallel algorithm are described together with examples of the performance on some challenging applications. (author)

  7. Parallel thermal radiation transport in two dimensions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smedley-Stevenson, R.P.; Ball, S.R. [AWE Aldermaston (United Kingdom)

    2003-07-01

    This paper describes the distributed memory parallel implementation of a deterministic thermal radiation transport algorithm in a 2-dimensional ALE hydrodynamics code. The parallel algorithm consists of a variety of components which are combined in order to produce a state of the art computational capability, capable of solving large thermal radiation transport problems using Blue-Oak, the 3 Tera-Flop MPP (massive parallel processors) computing facility at AWE (United Kingdom). Particular aspects of the parallel algorithm are described together with examples of the performance on some challenging applications. (author)

  8. Computational and experimental research on infrared trace by human being contact

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xiong Zonglong; Yang Kuntao; Ding Wenxiu; Zhang Nanyangsheng; Zheng Wenheng

    2010-06-20

    The indoor detection of the human body's thermal trace plays an important role in the fields of infrared detecting, scouting, infrared camouflage, and infrared rescuing and tracking. Currently, quantitative description and analysis for this technology are lacking due to the absence of human infrared radiation analysis. To solve this problem, we study the heating and cooling process by observing body contact and removal on an object, respectively. Through finite-element simulation and carefully designed experiments, an analytical model of the infrared trace of body contact is developed based on infrared physics and heat transfer theory. Using this model, the impact of body temperature on material thermal parameters is investigated. The sensitivity of material thermal parameters, the thermal distribution, and the changes of the thermograph's contrast are then found and analyzed. Excellent matching results achieved between the simulation and the experiments demonstrate the strong impact of temperature on material thermal parameters. Conclusively, the new model, simulation, and experimental results are beneficial to the future development and implementation of infrared trace technology.

  9. Computational and experimental research on infrared trace by human being contact

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiong Zonglong; Yang Kuntao; Ding Wenxiu; Zhang Nanyangsheng; Zheng Wenheng

    2010-01-01

    The indoor detection of the human body's thermal trace plays an important role in the fields of infrared detecting, scouting, infrared camouflage, and infrared rescuing and tracking. Currently, quantitative description and analysis for this technology are lacking due to the absence of human infrared radiation analysis. To solve this problem, we study the heating and cooling process by observing body contact and removal on an object, respectively. Through finite-element simulation and carefully designed experiments, an analytical model of the infrared trace of body contact is developed based on infrared physics and heat transfer theory. Using this model, the impact of body temperature on material thermal parameters is investigated. The sensitivity of material thermal parameters, the thermal distribution, and the changes of the thermograph's contrast are then found and analyzed. Excellent matching results achieved between the simulation and the experiments demonstrate the strong impact of temperature on material thermal parameters. Conclusively, the new model, simulation, and experimental results are beneficial to the future development and implementation of infrared trace technology.

  10. Impact of the shape of geological contact on mining losses in the process of near-contact zone development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Г. С. Курчин

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available In Russia development of mineral resources is carried out on a truly grand scale, and mining industry is in its essence a basic sector, supporting and facilitating the development of national economy. It predetermines the need of safe and responsible attitude towards riches of our subsoil – mineral resources. With this in mind, one of the key requirements to extraction technologies is minimization of mining losses and ore dilution.The biggest ore losses in the mining block take place in the process of development of contact areas between the ore body and surrounding rocks, due to differences between development pattern and surface of geological contact. Complexity of the contact between ore and surrounding rocks is traditionally characterized by so called «stochastic contact zone». Technological difficulty of extracting ore from the ore – wallrock contact is determined by volatility of geometric parameters in «stochastic contact zone» in the plane of geological contact.Current paper focuses on the issues of standard-setting for mining losses and ore dilution in the process of near-contact zone development. A method is suggested to estimate standard values of losses and ore dilution in stochastic zones. Authors have developed an algorithm of defining the shape of the contact. In the stochastic zone the contact can have a rectangular, sinusoidal, serrate and straight-line shapes. Research has established a relation between the contact shape and amounts of mining losses and ore dilution, formulas to calculate standard values are presented. Using suggested method, standard values for contact ore losses can be obtained in a quicker and more reliable way.

  11. Characterization of Deposited Platinum Contacts onto Discrete Graphene Flakes for Electrical Devices

    KAUST Repository

    Holguin Lerma, Jorge A.

    2016-05-03

    For years, electron beam induced deposition has been used to fabricate electrical contacts for micro and nanostructures. The role of the contact resistance is key to achieve high performance and efficiency in electrical devices. The present thesis reports on the electrical, structural and chemical characterization of electron beam deposited platinum electrodes that are exposed to different steps of thermal annealing and how they are used in four-probe devices of ultrathin graphite (uG) flakes (<100nm thickness). The device integration of liquid phase exfoliated uG is demonstrated, and its performance compared to devices made with analogous mechanically exfoliated uG. For both devices, similar contact resistances of ~2kΩ were obtained. The electrical measurements confirm a 99.5% reduction in contact resistance after vacuum thermal annealing at 300 °C. Parallel to this, Raman characterization confirms the formation of a nanocrystalline carbon structure over the electrode. While this could suggest an enhancement of the electrical transport in the device, an additional thermal annealing step in air at 300 °C, promoted the oxidation and removal of the carbon shell and confirmed that the contact resistance remained the same. Overall this shows that the carbon shell along the electrode has no significant role in the contact resistance. Finally, the challenges based on topographical analysis of the deposited electrodes are discussed. Reduction of the electrode’s height down to one-third of the initial value, increased surface roughness, formation of voids along the electrodes and the onset of platinum nanoparticles near the area of deposition, represent a challenge for future work.

  12. Effects of Brass (Cu3Zn2) as High Thermal Expansion Material on Shrink Disc Performance During High Thermal Loading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazlan, MIS; Mohd, SA; Bahar, ND; Aziz, SAA

    2018-03-01

    This research work is focused on shrink disc operation at high temperature. Geometrical and material design selections have been done by taking into consideration the existing shrink disc operating at high temperature condition. The existing shrink disc confronted slip between shaft and shaft sleeve during thermal loading condition. The assessment has been obtained through virtual experiment by using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) -Thermal Transient Stress for 900 seconds with 300 °C of thermal loading. This investigation consists of the current and improved version of shrink disc, where identical geometries and material properties were utilized. High Thermal Expansion (HTE) material has been introduced to overcome the current design of the shrink disc. Brass (Cu3Zn2) has been selected as the HTE material in the improved shrink disc design due to its high thermal expansion properties. The HTE has shown a significant improvement on the total contact area and contact pressure on the shaft and the shaft sleeve. The improved shrink disc embedded with HTE during thermal loading exhibit a minimum of 1244.1 mm2 of the total area on shaft and shaft sleeve which uninfluenced the total contact area at normal condition which is 1254.3 mm2. Meanwhile, the total pressure of improved shrink disc had an increment of 108.1 MPa while existing shrink disc total pressure has lost 17.2 MPa during thermal loading.

  13. Short-term hydro-thermal-wind complementary scheduling considering uncertainty of wind power using an enhanced multi-objective bee colony optimization algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou, Jianzhong; Lu, Peng; Li, Yuanzheng; Wang, Chao; Yuan, Liu; Mo, Li

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • HTWCS system is established while considering uncertainty of wind power. • An enhanced multi-objective bee colony optimization algorithm is proposed. • Some heuristic repairing strategies are designed to handle various constraints. • HTWCS problem with economic/environment objectives is solved by EMOBCO. - Abstract: This paper presents a short-term economic/environmental hydro-thermal-wind complementary scheduling (HTWCS) system considering uncertainty of wind power, as well as various complicated non-linear constraints. HTWCS system is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem to optimize conflictive objectives, i.e., economic and environmental criteria. Then an enhanced multi-objective bee colony optimization algorithm (EMOBCO) is proposed to solve this problem, which adopts Elite archive set, adaptive mutation/selection mechanism and local searching strategy to improve global searching ability of standard bee colony optimization (BCO). Especially, a novel constraints-repairing strategy with compressing decision space and a violation-adjustment method are used to handle various hydraulic and electric constraints. Finally, a daily scheduling simulation case of hydro-thermal-wind system is conducted to verify feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed EMOBCO in solving HTWCS problem. The simulation results indicate that the proposed EMOBCO can provide lower economic cost and smaller pollutant emission than other method established recently while considering various complex constraints in HTWCS problem.

  14. Parallel-vector algorithms for particle simulations on shared-memory multiprocessors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishiura, Daisuke; Sakaguchi, Hide

    2011-01-01

    Over the last few decades, the computational demands of massive particle-based simulations for both scientific and industrial purposes have been continuously increasing. Hence, considerable efforts are being made to develop parallel computing techniques on various platforms. In such simulations, particles freely move within a given space, and so on a distributed-memory system, load balancing, i.e., assigning an equal number of particles to each processor, is not guaranteed. However, shared-memory systems achieve better load balancing for particle models, but suffer from the intrinsic drawback of memory access competition, particularly during (1) paring of contact candidates from among neighboring particles and (2) force summation for each particle. Here, novel algorithms are proposed to overcome these two problems. For the first problem, the key is a pre-conditioning process during which particle labels are sorted by a cell label in the domain to which the particles belong. Then, a list of contact candidates is constructed by pairing the sorted particle labels. For the latter problem, a table comprising the list indexes of the contact candidate pairs is created and used to sum the contact forces acting on each particle for all contacts according to Newton's third law. With just these methods, memory access competition is avoided without additional redundant procedures. The parallel efficiency and compatibility of these two algorithms were evaluated in discrete element method (DEM) simulations on four types of shared-memory parallel computers: a multicore multiprocessor computer, scalar supercomputer, vector supercomputer, and graphics processing unit. The computational efficiency of a DEM code was found to be drastically improved with our algorithms on all but the scalar supercomputer. Thus, the developed parallel algorithms are useful on shared-memory parallel computers with sufficient memory bandwidth.

  15. Degradation Characterization of Thermal Interface Greases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

    2018-02-12

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

  16. A Langevin model for fluctuating contact angle behaviour parametrised using molecular dynamics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, E R; Müller, E A; Craster, R V; Matar, O K

    2016-12-06

    Molecular dynamics simulations are employed to develop a theoretical model to predict the fluid-solid contact angle as a function of wall-sliding speed incorporating thermal fluctuations. A liquid bridge between counter-sliding walls is studied, with liquid-vapour interface-tracking, to explore the impact of wall-sliding speed on contact angle. The behaviour of the macroscopic contact angle varies linearly over a range of capillary numbers beyond which the liquid bridge pinches off, a behaviour supported by experimental results. Nonetheless, the liquid bridge provides an ideal test case to study molecular scale thermal fluctuations, which are shown to be well described by Gaussian distributions. A Langevin model for contact angle is parametrised to incorporate the mean, fluctuation and auto-correlations over a range of sliding speeds and temperatures. The resulting equations can be used as a proxy for the fully-detailed molecular dynamics simulation allowing them to be integrated within a continuum-scale solver.

  17. Optimization-based motion generation for multiped robots in contact scenarios

    OpenAIRE

    Herzog, Alexander

    2017-01-01

    The introduction of legged robots into society has the potential to impact many aspects of our lives. The versatile morphology of robots with arms and legs, or multipeds, allows them to operate in a broad spectrum of environments. For example, legged robots could assist at construction sites or locomote in rocky terrain under persistent interaction with the environment through contact. These behaviors require algorithms that translate high level operator commands into movement and contact int...

  18. Multiobjective Optimization of Irreversible Thermal Engine Using Mutable Smart Bee Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Gorji-Bandpy

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available A new method called mutable smart bee (MSB algorithm proposed for cooperative optimizing of the maximum power output (MPO and minimum entropy generation (MEG of an Atkinson cycle as a multiobjective, multi-modal mechanical problem. This method utilizes mutable smart bee instead of classical bees. The results have been checked with some of the most common optimizing algorithms like Karaboga’s original artificial bee colony, bees algorithm (BA, improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO, Lukasik firefly algorithm (LFFA, and self-adaptive penalty function genetic algorithm (SAPF-GA. According to obtained results, it can be concluded that Mutable Smart Bee (MSB is capable to maintain its historical memory for the location and quality of food sources and also a little chance of mutation is considered for this bee. These features were found as strong elements for mining data in constraint areas and the results will prove this claim.

  19. Remarks on the thermal stability of an Ohmic-heated nanowire

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timsit, Roland S.

    2018-05-01

    The rise in temperature of a wire made from specific materials, due to ohmic heating by a DC electrical current, may lead to uncontrollable thermal runaway with ensuing melting. Thermal runaway stems from a steep decrease with increasing temperature of the thermal conductivity of the conducting material and subsequent trapping of the ohmic heat in the wire, i.e., from the inability of the wire to dissipate the heat sufficiently quickly by conduction to the cooler ends of the wire. In this paper, we show that the theory used to evaluate the temperature of contacting surfaces in a bulk electrical contact may be applied to calculate the conditions for thermal runaway in a nanowire. Implications of this effect for electrical contacts are addressed. A possible implication for memory devices using ohmic-heated nanofilms or nanowires is also discussed.

  20. Modeling the thermal absorption factor of photovoltaic/thermal combi-panels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santbergen, R.; Zolingen, R.J.Ch. van

    2006-01-01

    In a photovoltaic/thermal combi-panel solar cells generate electricity while residual heat is extracted to be used for tap water heating or room heating. In such a panel the entire solar spectrum can be used in principle. Unfortunately long wavelength solar irradiance is poorly absorbed by the semiconductor material in standard solar cells. A computer model was developed to determine the thermal absorption factor of crystalline silicon solar cells. It was found that for a standard untextured solar cell with a silver back contact a relatively large amount of long wavelength irradiance is lost by reflection resulting in an absorption factor of only 74%. The model was then used to investigate ways to increase this absorption factor. One way is absorbing long wavelength irradiance in a second absorber behind a semi-transparent solar cell. According to the model this will increase the total absorption factor to 87%. The second way is to absorb irradiance in the back contact of the solar cell by using rough interfaces in combination with a non-standard metal as back contact. Theoretically the absorption factor can then be increased to 85%

  1. An improved algorithm for calculating cloud radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yuan Guibin; Sun Xiaogang; Dai Jingmin

    2005-01-01

    Clouds radiation characteristic is very important in cloud scene simulation, weather forecasting, pattern recognition, and other fields. In order to detect missiles against cloud backgrounds, to enhance the fidelity of simulation, it is critical to understand a cloud's thermal radiation model. Firstly, the definition of cloud layer infrared emittance is given. Secondly, the discrimination conditions of judging a pixel of focal plane on a satellite in daytime or night time are shown and equations are given. Radiance such as reflected solar radiance, solar scattering, diffuse solar radiance, solar and thermal sky shine, solar and thermal path radiance, cloud blackbody and background radiance are taken into account. Thirdly, the computing methods of background radiance for daytime and night time are given. Through simulations and comparison, this algorithm is proved to be an effective calculating algorithm for cloud radiation

  2. Feasibility on Ultrasonic Velocity using Contact and Non-Contact Nondestructive Techniques for Carbon/Carbon Composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Im, K. H.; Chang, M.; Hsu, D. K.; Song, S. J.; Cho, H.; Park, J. W.; Kweon, Y. S.; Sim, J. K.; Yang, I. Y.

    2007-03-01

    Advanced materials are to be required to have specific functions associated with extremely environments. One of them is carbon/carbon(C/C) composite material, which has obvious advantages over conventional materials. The C/Cs have become to be utilized as parts of aerospace applications and its low density, high thermal conductivity and excellent mechanical properties at elevated temperatures make it an ideal material for aircraft brake disks. Because of permeation of coupling medium such as water, it is desirable to perform contact-less nondestructive evaluation to assess material properties and part homogeneity. In this work, a C/C composite material was characterized with non-contact and contact ultrasonic methods using a scanner with automatic-data acquisition function. Also through transmission mode was performed because of the main limitation for air-coupled transducers, which is the acoustic impedance mismatch between most materials and air. Especially ultrasonic images and velocities for C/C composite disk brake were compared and found to be consistent to some degree with the non-contact and contact ultrasonic measurement methods. Low frequency through-transmission scans based on both amplitude of the ultrasonic pulse was used for mapping out the material property inhomogeneity. Measured results were compared with those obtained by the dry-coupling ultrasonic UT system and through transmission method in immersion. Finally, feasibility has been found to measure and compare ultrasonic velocities of C/C composites with using the contact/noncontact peak-delay measurement method based on the pulse overlap method.

  3. Thermal Fluctuations in Smooth Dissipative Particle Dynamics simulation of mesoscopic thermal systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gatsonis, Nikolaos; Yang, Jun

    2013-11-01

    The SDPD-DV is implemented in our work for arbitrary 3D wall bounded geometries. The particle position and momentum equations are integrated with a velocity-Verlet algorithm and the entropy equation is integrated with a Runge-Kutta algorithm. Simulations of nitrogen gas are performed to evaluate the effects of timestep and particle scale on temperature, self-diffusion coefficient and shear viscosity. The hydrodynamic fluctuations in temperature, density, pressure and velocity from the SDPD-DV simulations are evaluated and compared with theoretical predictions. Steady planar thermal Couette flows are simulated and compared with analytical solutions. Simulations cover the hydrodynamic and mesocopic regime and show thermal fluctuations and their dependence on particle size.

  4. Effect of rapid thermal annealing on the Mo back contact properties for Cu_2ZnSnSe_4 solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Placidi, Marcel; Espindola-Rodriguez, Moises; Lopez-Marino, Simon; Sanchez, Yudania; Giraldo, Sergio; Acebo, Laura; Neuschitzer, Markus; Alcobé, Xavier; Pérez-Rodríguez, Alejandro; Saucedo, Edgardo

    2016-01-01

    The effect of a rapid thermal process (RTP) on the molybdenum (Mo) back contact for Cu_2ZnSnSe_4 (CZTSe) solar cells is here investigated. It is shown that the annealing of the Mo layer during 5 min at 550 °C, not only improves the crystalline quality of the back contact (avoiding the absorber decomposition at this region because Mo becomes more resistant to the selenization), but also helps achieving higher crystalline quality of the absorber with bigger grains, reducing the current leakage through the heterojunction. We demonstrate that this is related to the relaxation of the compressive stress of the CZTSe absorber, when synthesized on the RTP annealed substrates. CZTSe solar cells prepared on annealed Mo films exhibited higher short circuit current densities and higher open circuit voltages, resulting in 10% and 33% higher fill factors and efficiencies. - Highlights: • An RTP annealing applied for the first time on Mo for CZTSe solar cells. • Clear improvement of the efficiency from 5.7 to 7.6% with RTP treatment. • Discussion of this improvement with adequate material/device characterizations. • Stress-induced defects responsible of the electrical leakage are revealed.

  5. A sonification algorithm for developing the off-roads models for driving simulators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiroiu, Veturia; Brişan, Cornel; Dumitriu, Dan; Munteanu, Ligia

    2018-01-01

    In this paper, a sonification algorithm for developing the off-road models for driving simulators, is proposed. The aim of this algorithm is to overcome difficulties of heuristics identification which are best suited to a particular off-road profile built by measurements. The sonification algorithm is based on the stochastic polynomial chaos analysis suitable in solving equations with random input data. The fluctuations are generated by incomplete measurements leading to inhomogeneities of the cross-sectional curves of off-roads before and after deformation, the unstable contact between the tire and the road and the unreal distribution of contact and friction forces in the unknown contact domains. The approach is exercised on two particular problems and results compare favorably to existing analytical and numerical solutions. The sonification technique represents a useful multiscale analysis able to build a low-cost virtual reality environment with increased degrees of realism for driving simulators and higher user flexibility.

  6. Thermal Tracking of Sports Players

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gade, Rikke; Moeslund, Thomas B.

    2014-01-01

    We present here a real-time tracking algorithm for thermal video from a sports game. Robust detection of people includes routines for handling occlusions and noise before tracking each detected person with a Kalman filter. This online tracking algorithm is compared with a state-of-the-art offline...

  7. Enhanced Contact Graph Routing (ECGR) MACHETE Simulation Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Segui, John S.; Jennings, Esther H.; Clare, Loren P.

    2013-01-01

    Contact Graph Routing (CGR) for Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) space-based networks makes use of the predictable nature of node contacts to make real-time routing decisions given unpredictable traffic patterns. The contact graph will have been disseminated to all nodes before the start of route computation. CGR was designed for space-based networking environments where future contact plans are known or are independently computable (e.g., using known orbital dynamics). For each data item (known as a bundle in DTN), a node independently performs route selection by examining possible paths to the destination. Route computation could conceivably run thousands of times a second, so computational load is important. This work refers to the simulation software model of Enhanced Contact Graph Routing (ECGR) for DTN Bundle Protocol in JPL's MACHETE simulation tool. The simulation model was used for performance analysis of CGR and led to several performance enhancements. The simulation model was used to demonstrate the improvements of ECGR over CGR as well as other routing methods in space network scenarios. ECGR moved to using earliest arrival time because it is a global monotonically increasing metric that guarantees the safety properties needed for the solution's correctness since route re-computation occurs at each node to accommodate unpredicted changes (e.g., traffic pattern, link quality). Furthermore, using earliest arrival time enabled the use of the standard Dijkstra algorithm for path selection. The Dijkstra algorithm for path selection has a well-known inexpensive computational cost. These enhancements have been integrated into the open source CGR implementation. The ECGR model is also useful for route metric experimentation and comparisons with other DTN routing protocols particularly when combined with MACHETE's space networking models and Delay Tolerant Link State Routing (DTLSR) model.

  8. Systems-on-chip approach for real-time simulation of wheel-rail contact laws

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mei, T. X.; Zhou, Y. J.

    2013-04-01

    This paper presents the development of a systems-on-chip approach to speed up the simulation of wheel-rail contact laws, which can be used to reduce the requirement for high-performance computers and enable simulation in real time for the use of hardware-in-loop for experimental studies of the latest vehicle dynamic and control technologies. The wheel-rail contact laws are implemented using a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device with a design that substantially outperforms modern general-purpose PC platforms or fixed architecture digital signal processor devices in terms of processing time, configuration flexibility and cost. In order to utilise the FPGA's parallel-processing capability, the operations in the contact laws algorithms are arranged in a parallel manner and multi-contact patches are tackled simultaneously in the design. The interface between the FPGA device and the host PC is achieved by using a high-throughput and low-latency Ethernet link. The development is based on FASTSIM algorithms, although the design can be adapted and expanded for even more computationally demanding tasks.

  9. Two-Dimensional Steady-State Boundary Shape Inversion of CGM-SPSO Algorithm on Temperature Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shoubin Wang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Addressing the problem of two-dimensional steady-state thermal boundary recognition, a hybrid algorithm of conjugate gradient method and social particle swarm optimization (CGM-SPSO algorithm is proposed. The global search ability of particle swarm optimization algorithm and local search ability of gradient algorithm are effectively combined, which overcomes the shortcoming that the conjugate gradient method tends to converge to the local solution and relies heavily on the initial approximation of the iterative process. The hybrid algorithm also avoids the problem that the particle swarm optimization algorithm requires a large number of iterative steps and a lot of time. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is feasible and effective in solving the problem of two-dimensional steady-state thermal boundary shape.

  10. Contact mechanics: contact area and interfacial separation from small contact to full contact

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, C; Persson, B N J

    2008-01-01

    We present a molecular dynamics study of the contact between a rigid solid with a randomly rough surface and an elastic block with a flat surface. The numerical calculations mainly focus on the contact area and the interfacial separation from small contact (low load) to full contact (high load). For a small load the contact area varies linearly with the load and the interfacial separation depends logarithmically on the load. For a high load the contact area approaches the nominal contact area (i.e. complete contact), and the interfacial separation approaches zero. The numerical results have been compared with analytical theory and experimental results. They are in good agreement with each other. The present findings may be very important for soft solids, e.g. rubber, or for very smooth surfaces, where complete contact can be reached at moderately high loads without plastic deformation of the solids

  11. Contact assembly of cell-laden hollow microtubes through automated micromanipulator tip locating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Huaping; Shi, Qing; Guo, Yanan; Li, Yanan; Sun, Tao; Huang, Qiang; Fukuda, Toshio

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents an automated contact assembly method to fabricate a cell-laden microtube based on accurate locating of the micromanipulator tip. Essential for delivering nutrients in thick engineered tissues, a vessel-mimetic microtube can be precisely assembled through microrobotic contact biomanipulation. The biomanipulation is a technique to spatially order and immobilize cellular targets with high precision. However, due to image occlusion during contact, it is challenging to locate the micromanipulator tip for fully automated assembly. To achieve pixel-wise tracking and locating of the tip in contact, a particle filter algorithm integrated with a determined level set model is employed here. The model ensures precise convergence of the micromanipulator’s contour during occlusion. With the converged active contour, the algorithm is able to pixel-wisely separate the micromanipulator from the low-contrast background and precisely locate the tip with error around 1 pixel (2 µ m at 4  ×  magnification). As a result, the cell-laden microtube is automatically assembled at six layers/min, which is effective enough to fabricate vessel-mimetic constructs for vascularization in tissue engineering. (paper)

  12. Josephson Thermal Memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guarcello, Claudio; Solinas, Paolo; Braggio, Alessandro; Di Ventra, Massimiliano; Giazotto, Francesco

    2018-01-01

    We propose a superconducting thermal memory device that exploits the thermal hysteresis in a flux-controlled temperature-biased superconducting quantum-interference device (SQUID). This system reveals a flux-controllable temperature bistability, which can be used to define two well-distinguishable thermal logic states. We discuss a suitable writing-reading procedure for these memory states. The time of the memory writing operation is expected to be on the order of approximately 0.2 ns for a Nb-based SQUID in thermal contact with a phonon bath at 4.2 K. We suggest a noninvasive readout scheme for the memory states based on the measurement of the effective resonance frequency of a tank circuit inductively coupled to the SQUID. The proposed device paves the way for a practical implementation of thermal logic and computation. The advantage of this proposal is that it represents also an example of harvesting thermal energy in superconducting circuits.

  13. Carbon nanotube thermal interfaces and related applications

    OpenAIRE

    Hodson, Stephen L

    2016-01-01

    The development of thermal interface materials (TIMs) is necessitated by the temperature drop across interfacing materials arising from macro and microscopic irregularities of their surfaces that constricts heat through small contact regions as well as mismatches in their thermal properties. Similar to other types of TIMs, CNT TIMs alleviate the thermal resistance across the interface by thermally bridging two materials together with cylindrical, high-aspect ratio, and nominally vertical cond...

  14. Degradation Characterization of Thermal Interface Greases: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

    2017-08-03

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

  15. Defining an essence of structure determining residue contacts in proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sathyapriya, R; Duarte, Jose M; Stehr, Henning; Filippis, Ioannis; Lappe, Michael

    2009-12-01

    The network of native non-covalent residue contacts determines the three-dimensional structure of a protein. However, not all contacts are of equal structural significance, and little knowledge exists about a minimal, yet sufficient, subset required to define the global features of a protein. Characterisation of this "structural essence" has remained elusive so far: no algorithmic strategy has been devised to-date that could outperform a random selection in terms of 3D reconstruction accuracy (measured as the Ca RMSD). It is not only of theoretical interest (i.e., for design of advanced statistical potentials) to identify the number and nature of essential native contacts-such a subset of spatial constraints is very useful in a number of novel experimental methods (like EPR) which rely heavily on constraint-based protein modelling. To derive accurate three-dimensional models from distance constraints, we implemented a reconstruction pipeline using distance geometry. We selected a test-set of 12 protein structures from the four major SCOP fold classes and performed our reconstruction analysis. As a reference set, series of random subsets (ranging from 10% to 90% of native contacts) are generated for each protein, and the reconstruction accuracy is computed for each subset. We have developed a rational strategy, termed "cone-peeling" that combines sequence features and network descriptors to select minimal subsets that outperform the reference sets. We present, for the first time, a rational strategy to derive a structural essence of residue contacts and provide an estimate of the size of this minimal subset. Our algorithm computes sparse subsets capable of determining the tertiary structure at approximately 4.8 A Ca RMSD with as little as 8% of the native contacts (Ca-Ca and Cb-Cb). At the same time, a randomly chosen subset of native contacts needs about twice as many contacts to reach the same level of accuracy. This "structural essence" opens new avenues in the

  16. Characterization of Contact and Bulk Thermal Resistance of Laminations for Electric Machines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cousineau, J. Emily [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bennion, Kevin [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); DeVoto, Doug [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Mihalic, Mark [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Narumanchi, Sreekant [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2015-06-30

    The ability to remove heat from an electric machine depends on the passive stack thermal resistances within the machine and the convective cooling performance of the selected cooling technology. This report focuses on the passive thermal design, specifically properties of the stator and rotor lamination stacks. Orthotropic thermal conductivity, specific heat, and density are reported. Four materials commonly used in electric machines were tested, including M19 (29 and 26 gauge), HF10, and Arnon 7 materials.

  17. Investigation of Thermal Interface Materials Using Phase-Sensitive Transient Thermoreflectance Technique: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feng, X.; King, C.; DeVoto, D.; Mihalic, M.; Narumanchi, S.

    2014-08-01

    With increasing power density in electronics packages/modules, thermal resistances at multiple interfaces are a bottleneck to efficient heat removal from the package. In this work, the performance of thermal interface materials such as grease, thermoplastic adhesives and diffusion-bonded interfaces are characterized using the phase-sensitive transient thermoreflectance technique. A multi-layer heat conduction model was constructed and theoretical solutions were derived to obtain the relation between phase lag and the thermal/physical properties. This technique enables simultaneous extraction of the contact resistance and bulk thermal conductivity of the TIMs. With the measurements, the bulk thermal conductivity of Dow TC-5022 thermal grease (70 to 75 um bondline thickness) was 3 to 5 W/(m-K) and the contact resistance was 5 to 10 mm2-K/W. For the Btech thermoplastic material (45 to 80 μm bondline thickness), the bulk thermal conductivity was 20 to 50 W/(m-K) and the contact resistance was 2 to 5 mm2-K/W. Measurements were also conducted to quantify the thermal performance of diffusion-bonded interface for power electronics applications. Results with the diffusion-bonded sample showed that the interfacial thermal resistance is more than one order of magnitude lower than those of traditional TIMs, suggesting potential pathways to efficient thermal management.

  18. Time series analysis of infrared satellite data for detecting thermal anomalies: a hybrid approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koeppen, W. C.; Pilger, E.; Wright, R.

    2011-07-01

    We developed and tested an automated algorithm that analyzes thermal infrared satellite time series data to detect and quantify the excess energy radiated from thermal anomalies such as active volcanoes. Our algorithm enhances the previously developed MODVOLC approach, a simple point operation, by adding a more complex time series component based on the methods of the Robust Satellite Techniques (RST) algorithm. Using test sites at Anatahan and Kīlauea volcanoes, the hybrid time series approach detected ~15% more thermal anomalies than MODVOLC with very few, if any, known false detections. We also tested gas flares in the Cantarell oil field in the Gulf of Mexico as an end-member scenario representing very persistent thermal anomalies. At Cantarell, the hybrid algorithm showed only a slight improvement, but it did identify flares that were undetected by MODVOLC. We estimate that at least 80 MODIS images for each calendar month are required to create good reference images necessary for the time series analysis of the hybrid algorithm. The improved performance of the new algorithm over MODVOLC will result in the detection of low temperature thermal anomalies that will be useful in improving our ability to document Earth's volcanic eruptions, as well as detecting low temperature thermal precursors to larger eruptions.

  19. Solar thermal aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, Charles L.

    2007-09-18

    A solar thermal powered aircraft powered by heat energy from the sun. A heat engine, such as a Stirling engine, is carried by the aircraft body for producing power for a propulsion mechanism, such as a propeller. The heat engine has a thermal battery in thermal contact with it so that heat is supplied from the thermal battery. A solar concentrator, such as reflective parabolic trough, is movably connected to an optically transparent section of the aircraft body for receiving and concentrating solar energy from within the aircraft. Concentrated solar energy is collected by a heat collection and transport conduit, and heat transported to the thermal battery. A solar tracker includes a heliostat for determining optimal alignment with the sun, and a drive motor actuating the solar concentrator into optimal alignment with the sun based on a determination by the heliostat.

  20. Robust and general method for determining surface fluid flow boundary conditions in articular cartilage contact mechanics modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pawaskar, Sainath Shrikant; Fisher, John; Jin, Zhongmin

    2010-03-01

    Contact detection in cartilage contact mechanics is an important feature of any analytical or computational modeling investigation when the biphasic nature of cartilage and the corresponding tribology are taken into account. The fluid flow boundary conditions will change based on whether the surface is in contact or not, which will affect the interstitial fluid pressurization. This in turn will increase or decrease the load sustained by the fluid phase, with a direct effect on friction, wear, and lubrication. In laboratory experiments or clinical hemiarthroplasty, when a rigid indenter or metallic prosthesis is used to apply load to the cartilage, there will not be any fluid flow normal to the surface in the contact region due to the impermeable nature of the indenter/prosthesis. In the natural joint, on the other hand, where two cartilage surfaces interact, flow will depend on the pressure difference across the interface. Furthermore, in both these cases, the fluid would flow freely in non-contacting regions. However, it should be pointed out that the contact area is generally unknown in advance in both cases and can only be determined as part of the solution. In the present finite element study, a general and robust algorithm was proposed to decide nodes in contact on the cartilage surface and, accordingly, impose the fluid flow boundary conditions. The algorithm was first tested for a rigid indenter against cartilage model. The algorithm worked well for two-dimensional four-noded and eight-noded axisymmetric element models as well as three-dimensional models. It was then extended to include two cartilages in contact. The results were in excellent agreement with the previous studies reported in the literature.

  1. Time Dependent Frictional Changes in Ice due to Contact Area Changes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sevostianov, V.; Lipovsky, B. P.; Rubinstein, S.; Dillavou, S.

    2017-12-01

    Sliding processes along the ice-bed interface of Earth's great ice sheets are the largest contributor to our uncertainty in future sea level rise. Laboratory experiments that have probed sliding processes have ubiquitously shown that ice-rock interfaces strengthen while in stationary contact (Schulson and Fortt, 2013; Zoet et al., 2013; McCarthy et al., 2017). This so-called frictional ageing effect may have profound consequences for ice sheet dynamics because it introduces the possibility of basal strength hysteresis. Furthermore this effect is quite strong in ice-rock interfaces (more than an order of magnitude more pronounced than in rock-rock sliding) and can double in frictional strength in a matter of minutes, much faster than most frictional aging (Dieterich, 1972; Baumberger and Caroli, 2006). Despite this importance, the underling physics of frictional ageing of ice remain poorly understood. Here we conduct laboratory experiments to image the microscopic points of contact along an ice-glass interface. We optically measure changes in the real area of contact over time using measurements of this reflected optical light intensity. We show that contact area increases with time of stationary contact. This result suggests that thermally enhanced creep of microscopic icy contacts is responsible for the much larger frictional ageing observed in ice-rock versus rock-rock interfaces. Furthermore, this supports a more physically detailed description of the thermal dependence of basal sliding than that used in the current generation of large scale ice sheet models.

  2. Modelling of thermal conductance during microthermal machining with scanning thermal microscope using an inverse methodology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Yuching; Chang Winjin; Fang Tehua; Fang Shihchung

    2008-01-01

    In this study, a general methodology for determining the thermal conductance between the probe tip and the workpiece during microthermal machining using Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM) has been proposed. The processing system was considered as an inverse heat conduction problem with an unknown thermal conductance. Temperature dependence for the material properties and thermal conductance in the analysis of heat conduction is taken into account. The conjugate gradient method is used to solve the inverse problem. Furthermore, this methodology can also be applied to estimate the thermal contact conductance in other transient heat conduction problems, like metal casting process, injection molding process, and electronic circuit systems

  3. Existence of negative differential thermal conductance in one-dimensional diffusive thermal transport

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Jiuning; Chen, Yong P.

    2013-06-01

    We show that in a finite one-dimensional (1D) system with diffusive thermal transport described by the Fourier's law, negative differential thermal conductance (NDTC) cannot occur when the temperature at one end is fixed and there are no abrupt junctions. We demonstrate that NDTC in this case requires the presence of junction(s) with temperature-dependent thermal contact resistance (TCR). We derive a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of NDTC in terms of the properties of the TCR for systems with a single junction. We show that under certain circumstances we even could have infinite (negative or positive) differential thermal conductance in the presence of the TCR. Our predictions provide theoretical basis for constructing NDTC-based devices, such as thermal amplifiers, oscillators, and logic devices.

  4. Characterization of Deposited Platinum Contacts onto Discrete Graphene Flakes for Electrical Devices

    KAUST Repository

    Holguin Lerma, Jorge Alberto

    2016-01-01

    The electrical measurements confirm a 99.5% reduction in contact resistance after vacuum thermal annealing at 300 °C. Parallel to this, Raman characterization confirms the formation of a nanocrystalline carbon structure over the electrode. While this could suggest an enhancement of the electrical transport in the device, an additional thermal annealing step in air at 300 °C, promoted the oxidation and removal of the carbon shell and confirmed that the contact resistance remained the same. Overall this shows that the carbon shell along the electrode has no significant role in the contact resistance. Finally, the challenges based on topographical analysis of the deposited electrodes are discussed. Reduction of the electrode’s height down to one-third of the initial value, increased surface roughness, formation of voids along the electrodes and the onset of platinum nanoparticles near the area of deposition, represent a challenge for future work.

  5. Thermal response of Ru electrodes in contact with SiO2 and Hf-based high-k gate dielectrics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wen, H.-C.; Lysaght, P.; Alshareef, H.N.; Huffman, C.; Harris, H.R.; Choi, K.; Senzaki, Y.; Luan, H.; Majhi, P.; Lee, B.H.; Campin, M. J.; Foran, B.; Lian, G.D.; Kwong, D.-L.

    2005-01-01

    A systematic experimental evaluation of the thermal stability of Ru metal gate electrodes in direct contact with SiO 2 and Hf-based dielectric layers was performed and correlated with electrical device measurements. The distinctly different interfacial reactions in the Ru/SiO 2 , Ru/HfO 2 , and Ru/HfSiO x film systems were observed through cross-sectional high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy with electron-energy-loss spectra, and energy dispersive x-ray spectra analysis. Ru interacted with SiO 2 , but remained stable on HfO 2 at 1000 deg. C. The onset of Ru/SiO 2 interfacial interactions is identified via silicon substrate pitting possibly from Ru diffusion into the dielectric in samples exposed to a 900 deg. C/10-s anneal. The dependence of capacitor device degradation with decreasing SiO 2 thickness suggests Ru diffuses through SiO 2 , followed by an abrupt, rapid, nonuniform interaction of ruthenium silicide as Ru contacts the Si substrate. Local interdiffusion detected on Ru/HfSiO x samples may be due to phase separation of HfSiO x into HfO 2 grains within a SiO 2 matrix, suggesting that SiO 2 provides a diffusion pathway for Ru. Detailed evidence consistent with a dual reaction mechanism for the Ru/SiO 2 system at 1000 deg. C is presented

  6. Role of copper oxides in contact killing of bacteria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hans, Michael; Erbe, Andreas; Mathews, Salima; Chen, Ying; Solioz, Marc; Mücklich, Frank

    2013-12-31

    The potential of metallic copper as an intrinsically antibacterial material is gaining increasing attention in the face of growing antibiotics resistance of bacteria. However, the mechanism of the so-called "contact killing" of bacteria by copper surfaces is poorly understood and requires further investigation. In particular, the influences of bacteria-metal interaction, media composition, and copper surface chemistry on contact killing are not fully understood. In this study, copper oxide formation on copper during standard antimicrobial testing was measured in situ by spectroscopic ellipsometry. In parallel, contact killing under these conditions was assessed with bacteria in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) or Tris-Cl. For comparison, defined Cu2O and CuO layers were thermally generated and characterized by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. The antibacterial properties of these copper oxides were tested under the conditions used above. Finally, copper ion release was recorded for both buffer systems by inductively coupled plasma atomic absorption spectroscopy, and exposed copper samples were analyzed for topographical surface alterations. It was found that there was a fairly even growth of CuO under wet plating conditions, reaching 4-10 nm in 300 min, but no measurable Cu2O was formed during this time. CuO was found to significantly inhibit contact killing, compared to pure copper. In contrast, thermally generated Cu2O was essentially as effective in contact killing as pure copper. Copper ion release from the different surfaces roughly correlated with their antibacterial efficacy and was highest for pure copper, followed by Cu2O and CuO. Tris-Cl induced a 10-50-fold faster copper ion release compared to PBS. Since the Cu2O that primarily forms on copper under ambient conditions is as active in contact killing as pure copper, antimicrobial objects will retain their antimicrobial properties even after oxide formation.

  7. Computational plasticity algorithm for particle dynamics simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krabbenhoft, K.; Lyamin, A. V.; Vignes, C.

    2018-01-01

    The problem of particle dynamics simulation is interpreted in the framework of computational plasticity leading to an algorithm which is mathematically indistinguishable from the common implicit scheme widely used in the finite element analysis of elastoplastic boundary value problems. This algorithm provides somewhat of a unification of two particle methods, the discrete element method and the contact dynamics method, which usually are thought of as being quite disparate. In particular, it is shown that the former appears as the special case where the time stepping is explicit while the use of implicit time stepping leads to the kind of schemes usually labelled contact dynamics methods. The framing of particle dynamics simulation within computational plasticity paves the way for new approaches similar (or identical) to those frequently employed in nonlinear finite element analysis. These include mixed implicit-explicit time stepping, dynamic relaxation and domain decomposition schemes.

  8. An improved contrast enhancement algorithm for infrared images based on adaptive double plateaus histogram equalization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shuo; Jin, Weiqi; Li, Li; Li, Yiyang

    2018-05-01

    Infrared thermal images can reflect the thermal-radiation distribution of a particular scene. However, the contrast of the infrared images is usually low. Hence, it is generally necessary to enhance the contrast of infrared images in advance to facilitate subsequent recognition and analysis. Based on the adaptive double plateaus histogram equalization, this paper presents an improved contrast enhancement algorithm for infrared thermal images. In the proposed algorithm, the normalized coefficient of variation of the histogram, which characterizes the level of contrast enhancement, is introduced as feedback information to adjust the upper and lower plateau thresholds. The experiments on actual infrared images show that compared to the three typical contrast-enhancement algorithms, the proposed algorithm has better scene adaptability and yields better contrast-enhancement results for infrared images with more dark areas or a higher dynamic range. Hence, it has high application value in contrast enhancement, dynamic range compression, and digital detail enhancement for infrared thermal images.

  9. ConKit: a python interface to contact predictions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simkovic, Felix; Thomas, Jens M H; Rigden, Daniel J

    2017-07-15

    Recent advances in protein residue contact prediction algorithms have led to the emergence of many new methods and a variety of file formats. We present ConKit , an open source, modular and extensible Python interface which allows facile conversion between formats and provides an interface to analyses of sequence alignments and sets of contact predictions. ConKit is available via the Python Package Index. The documentation can be found at http://www.conkit.org . ConKit is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause. hlfsimko@liverpool.ac.uk or drigden@liverpool.ac.uk. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

  10. Temperature dependence of contact resistance at metal/MWNT interface

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Sang-Eui; Moon, Kyoung-Seok; Sohn, Yoonchul, E-mail: yoonchul.son@samsung.com [Materials Research Center, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Samsung Electronics, Suwon 443-803 (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-07-11

    Although contact resistance of carbon nanotube (CNT) is one of the most important factors for practical application of electronic devices, a study regarding temperature dependence on contact resistance of CNTs with metal electrodes has not been found. Here, we report an investigation of contact resistance at multiwalled nanotube (MWNT)/Ag interface as a function of temperature, using MWNT/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite. Electrical resistance of MWNT/PDMS composite revealed negative temperature coefficient (NTC). Excluding the contact resistance with Ag electrode, the NTC effect became less pronounced, showing lower intrinsic resistivity with the activation energy of 0.019 eV. Activation energy of the contact resistance of MWNT/Ag interface was determined to be 0.04 eV, two times larger than that of MWNT-MWNT network. The increase in the thermal fluctuation assisted electron tunneling is attributed to conductivity enhancement at both MWNT/MWNT and MWNT/Ag interfaces with increasing temperature.

  11. The Communication System using One Communication Line during a Physical Contact

    OpenAIRE

    平田, 隆幸; 大場, 公隆

    2009-01-01

    The communication system during a physical contact for swarm robots was modified. An algorithm for the contact communication system using one communication line was proposed. Although we don't aim to make the perfect communication system free from a miss in data transmission, the success rate of communication is an important factor for the design of communication system. We tested the performance of of our modified communication system. The success rate of communication was considerably impro...

  12. Radiation influence on heterogenous processes in stainless steel contact with sea-water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agayev, T.N.; Garibov, A.A.; Velibekova, G.Z.; Aliyev, A.Q.; Aliyev, S.M.

    2005-01-01

    Full text: Austenitic stainless steel (s.s.) with Cr content 16 %, Ni - 15 % is widely used in nuclear reactors as construction material, for fuel cladding production and also is used in oil and gas production and transportation. They possess comparatively large section of slow neutron capture and as a result high corrosion resistance. In real exploitation condition of nuclear reactors s.s. are exposed to ionizing radiation influence in contact of different media. That's why during their corrosion and destruction processes the surface defect formation processes and further heterogenous processes with their participation are of great importance. The research results of mechanism during radiation-heterogenous processes in nuclear reactor stainless steel contact with sea-water under the influence of γ-radiation in temperature interval 300-1074 K are represented in the given work. Radiolytic processes in water are comprehensively studied and therefore it was taken as model system for dating the surface defects and secondary electrons emitted from metal. The same model system was applied also in sea-water radiolysis processes. It's been established that radiation processes in s.s. lead to molecular hydrogen yield increase and at T=300 K up to 6.5 molec./100 eV. With the temperature increase molecular hydrogen yield increase up to 25.3 molec./100 eV at T≤773 K. During the further temperature increase up to 1073 K radiation constituent of radiation-thermal process in comparison with thermal becomes unnoticeable and W T (H 2 )≅W p (H 2 ). The kinetics of oxide phase formation of investigated sample surface in the result of thermal and radiation-thermal processes in their contact with sea-water has been studied. At that it's been shown that radiation leads to protective oxidation process rate increase and promotes the beginning of stainless steel destruction oxidation in contact with sea-water. At T≥573 K insoluble oxide phase is formed on metal surface that promotes

  13. Single-sweep spectral analysis of contact heat evoked potentials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Tine M; Graversen, Carina; Frøkjaer, Jens B

    2015-01-01

    AIMS: The cortical response to nociceptive thermal stimuli recorded as contact heat evoked potentials (CHEPs) may be altered by morphine. However, previous studies have averaged CHEPs over multiple stimuli, which are confounded by jitter between sweeps. Thus, the aim was to assess single-sweep ch......AIMS: The cortical response to nociceptive thermal stimuli recorded as contact heat evoked potentials (CHEPs) may be altered by morphine. However, previous studies have averaged CHEPs over multiple stimuli, which are confounded by jitter between sweeps. Thus, the aim was to assess single...... by 13% (P = 0.04) and 9% (P = 0.007), while the beta and gamma bands were increased by 10% (P = 0.006) and 24% (P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The decreases in the delta and theta band are suggested to represent a decrease in the pain specific morphology of the CHEPs, which indicates a diminished pain response...

  14. Estimating single molecule conductance from spontaneous evolution of a molecular contact

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gil, M.; Malinowski, T.; Iazykov, M.; Klein, H. R.

    2018-03-01

    We present an original method to estimate the conductivity of a single molecule anchored to nanometric-sized metallic electrodes, using a Mechanically Controlled Break Junction operated at room temperature in the liquid. We record the conductance through the metal/molecules/metal nanocontact while keeping the metallic electrodes at a fixed distance. Taking advantage of thermal diffusion and electromigration, we let the contact naturally explore the more stable configurations around a chosen conductance value. The conductance of a single molecule is estimated from a statistical analysis of raw conductance and conductance standard deviation data for molecular contacts containing up to 14 molecules. The single molecule conductance values are interpreted as time-averaged conductance of an ensemble of conformers at thermal equilibrium.

  15. Navigation Strategy by Contact Sensing Interaction for a Biped Humanoid Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanafiah Yussof

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available This report presents a basic contact interaction-based navigation strategy for a biped humanoid robot to support current visual-based navigation. The robot's arms were equipped with force sensors to detect physical contact with objects. We proposed a motion algorithm consisting of searching tasks, self-localization tasks, correction of locomotion direction tasks and obstacle avoidance tasks. Priority was given to right-side direction to navigate the robot locomotion. Analysis of trajectory generation, biped gait pattern, and biped walking characteristics was performed to define an efficient navigation strategy in a biped walking humanoid robot. The proposed algorithm is evaluated in an experiment with a 21-dofs humanoid robot operating in a room with walls and obstacles. The experimental results reveal good robot performance when recognizing objects by touching, grasping, and continuously generating suitable trajectories to correct direction and avoid collisions.

  16. Effects of Power Tracking Algorithms on Lifetime of Power Electronic Devices Used in Solar Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Canras Batunlu

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available In photovoltaic solar energy systems, power management algorithms (PMAs, usually called maximum power point tracking (MPPT algorithms, are widely used for extracting maximum available power at every point in time. However, tracking the maximum power has negative effects on the availability of solar energy systems. This is due, mainly, to the created disturbances and thermal stresses on the associated power electronic converters (PECs. This work investigates the effects of PMA on the lifetime consumption, thermal stresses and failures on DC-DC converters used in solar systems. Firstly theoretical analysis and modelling of photovoltaic solar systems including converter’s electro thermal characteristics were developed. Subsequently, experiments on photovoltaic solar systems were carried out using two different PMAs, namely, perturb and observe (P&O and incremental conductance (IC. Real-time data was collected, under different operating conditions, including thermal behavior using thermal imaging camera and dSPACE. Converters’ thermal cycling was found to be approximately 3 °C higher with the IC algorithm. The steady state temperature was 52.7 °C, for the IC while it was 42.6 °C for P&O. Although IC algorithm offers more accurate power management tool, it causes more severe thermal stresses which, in this study, has led to approximately 1.4 times greater life consumption compared to P&O.

  17. Transient thermal-mechanical coupling behavior analysis of mechanical seals during start-up operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, B. C.; Meng, X. K.; Shen, M. X.; Peng, X. D.

    2016-05-01

    A transient thermal-mechanical coupling model for a contacting mechanical seal during start-up has been developed. It takes into consideration the coupling relationship among thermal-mechanical deformation, film thickness, temperature and heat generation. The finite element method and multi-iteration technology are applied to solve the temperature distribution and thermal-mechanical deformation as well as their evolution behavior. Results show that the seal gap transforms from negative coning to positive coning and the contact area of the mechanical seal gradually decreases during start-up. The location of the maximum temperature and maximum contact pressure move from the outer diameter to inside diameter. The heat generation and the friction torque increase sharply at first and then decrease. Meanwhile, the contact force decreases and the fluid film force and leakage rate increase.

  18. iCub Whole-body Control through Force Regulation on Rigid Noncoplanar Contacts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco eNori

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper details the implementation on the humanoid robot iCub of state-of-the-art algorithms for whole-body control. We regulate the forces between the robot and its surrounding environment to stabilize a desired robot posture. We assume that the forces and torques are exerted on rigid contacts. The validity of this assumption is guaranteed by constraining the contact forces and torques, e.g. the contact forces must belong to the associated friction cones. The implementation of this control strategy requires to estimate the external forces acting on the robot, and the internal joint torques. We then detail algorithms to obtain these estimations when using a robot with an iCub-like sensor set, i.e. distributed six-axis force-torque sensors and whole-body tactile sensors. A general theory for identifying the robot inertial parameters is also presented. From an actuation standpoint, we show how to implement a joint torque control in the case of DC brushless motors. In addition, the coupling mechanism of the iCub torso is investigated. The soundness of the entire control architecture is validated in a real scenario involving the robot iCub balancing and making contacts at both arms.

  19. Diminution of contact angle hysteresis under the influence of an oscillating force.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manor, Ofer

    2014-06-17

    We suggest a simple quantitative model for the diminution of contact angle hysteresis under the influence of an oscillatory force invoked by thermal fluctuations, substrate vibrations, acoustic waves, or oscillating electric fields. Employing force balance rather than the usual description of contact angle hysteresis in terms of Gibbs energy, we highlight that a wetting system, such as a sessile drop or a bubble adhered to a solid substrate, appears at long times to be partially or fully independent of contact angle hysteresis and thus independent of static friction forces, as a result of contact line pinning. We verify this theory by studying several well-known experimental observations such as the approach of an arbitrary contact angle toward the Young contact angle and the apparent decrease (or increase) in an advancing (or a receding) contact angle under the influence of an external oscillating force.

  20. Analysis of the thermal response of a BWR Mark-I containment shell to direct contact by molten core materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kress, T.S.; Cleveland, J.C.

    1988-01-01

    This study was undertaken to evaluate the thermal response of a BWR Mark-I containment shell in the event of an accident severe enough for molten core materials to fall into the cavity beneath the rector vessel and eventually come into direct contact with the shell. An existing ORNL three-dimensional transient heat transport computer code, HEATING-6, was used for a specific 2-D case (and variations) for which representative melt/shell boundary conditions required as input were available from other studies. In addition to the use of HEATING-6, a simplified analytical steady-state correlation was developed and given the name BWR Liner Analysis Program (BWRLAP). BWRLAP was ''benchmarked'' by comparison with HEATING-6 and was then used to make a number of parametric calculations to investigate the sensitivities of the results to the inputs. 5 refs., 11 figs., 2 tabs

  1. Short-term hydro-thermal scheduling using particle swarm optimization method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu, Binghui; Yuan, Xiaohui; Wang, Jinwen

    2007-01-01

    The approaches based on different particle swarm optimization (PSO) techniques are applied to solve the short-term hydro-thermal scheduling problem. In the proposed methods, many constraints of the hydro-thermal system, such as power balance, water balance, reservoir volume limits and the operation limits of hydro and thermal plants, are considered. The feasibility of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through an example system, and the results are compared with the results of a genetic algorithm and evolutionary programming approaches. The experimental results show that all the PSO algorithms have the ability to achieve nearly global solutions, but a local version of PSO with inertia weight appears to be the best amongst all the PSOs in terms of high quality solution

  2. Quantitative Method to Measure Thermal Conductivity of One-Dimensional Nanostructures Based on Scanning Thermal Wave Microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Kyung Bae; Chung, Jae Hun; Hwang, Gwang Seok; Jung, Eui Han; Kwon, Oh Myoung [Korea University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-12-15

    We present a method to quantitatively measure the thermal conductivity of one-dimensional nanostructures by utilizing scanning thermal wave microscopy (STWM) at a nanoscale spatial resolution. In this paper, we explain the principle for measuring the thermal diffusivity of one-dimensional nanostructures using STWM and the theoretical analysis procedure for quantifying the thermal diffusivity. The SWTM measurement method obtains the thermal conductivity by measuring the thermal diffusivity, which has only a phase lag relative to the distance corresponding to the transferred thermal wave. It is not affected by the thermal contact resistances between the heat source and nanostructure and between the nanostructure and probe. Thus, the heat flux applied to the nanostructure is accurately obtained. The proposed method provides a very simple and quantitative measurement relative to conventional measurement techniques.

  3. Hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm and its application in nuclear engineering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, C.Y.; Yan, C.Q.; Wang, J.J.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • We propose a hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm (HPSO). • Modified Nelder–Mead simplex search method is applied in HPSO. • The algorithm has a high search precision and rapidly calculation speed. • HPSO can be used in the nuclear engineering optimization design problems. - Abstract: A hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm with a feasibility-based rule for solving constrained optimization problems has been developed in this research. Firstly, the global optimal solution zone can be obtained through particle swarm optimization process, and then the refined search of the global optimal solution will be achieved through the modified Nelder–Mead simplex algorithm. Simulations based on two well-studied benchmark problems demonstrate the proposed algorithm will be an efficient alternative to solving constrained optimization problems. The vertical electrical heating pressurizer is one of the key components in reactor coolant system. The mathematical model of pressurizer has been established in steady state. The optimization design of pressurizer weight has been carried out through HPSO algorithm. The results show the pressurizer weight can be reduced by 16.92%. The thermal efficiencies of conventional PWR nuclear power plants are about 31–35% so far, which are much lower than fossil fueled plants based in a steam cycle as PWR. The thermal equilibrium mathematic model for nuclear power plant secondary loop has been established. An optimization case study has been conducted to improve the efficiency of the nuclear power plant with the proposed algorithm. The results show the thermal efficiency is improved by 0.5%

  4. Thermal conductivity of granular porous media: A pore scale modeling approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Askari

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Pore scale modeling method has been widely used in the petrophysical studies to estimate macroscopic properties (e.g. porosity, permeability, and electrical resistivity of porous media with respect to their micro structures. Although there is a sumptuous literature about the application of the method to study flow in porous media, there are fewer studies regarding its application to thermal conduction characterization, and the estimation of effective thermal conductivity, which is a salient parameter in many engineering surveys (e.g. geothermal resources and heavy oil recovery. By considering thermal contact resistance, we demonstrate the robustness of the method for predicting the effective thermal conductivity. According to our results obtained from Utah oil sand samples simulations, the simulation of thermal contact resistance is pivotal to grant reliable estimates of effective thermal conductivity. Our estimated effective thermal conductivities exhibit a better compatibility with the experimental data in companion with some famous experimental and analytical equations for the calculation of the effective thermal conductivity. In addition, we reconstruct a porous medium for an Alberta oil sand sample. By increasing roughness, we observe the effect of thermal contact resistance in the decrease of the effective thermal conductivity. However, the roughness effect becomes more noticeable when there is a higher thermal conductivity of solid to fluid ratio. Moreover, by considering the thermal resistance in porous media with different grains sizes, we find that the effective thermal conductivity augments with increased grain size. Our observation is in a reasonable accordance with experimental results. This demonstrates the usefulness of our modeling approach for further computational studies of heat transfer in porous media.

  5. Identification of residue pairing in interacting β-strands from a predicted residue contact map.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Wenzhi; Wang, Tong; Zhang, Wenxuan; Gong, Haipeng

    2018-04-19

    Despite the rapid progress of protein residue contact prediction, predicted residue contact maps frequently contain many errors. However, information of residue pairing in β strands could be extracted from a noisy contact map, due to the presence of characteristic contact patterns in β-β interactions. This information may benefit the tertiary structure prediction of mainly β proteins. In this work, we propose a novel ridge-detection-based β-β contact predictor to identify residue pairing in β strands from any predicted residue contact map. Our algorithm RDb 2 C adopts ridge detection, a well-developed technique in computer image processing, to capture consecutive residue contacts, and then utilizes a novel multi-stage random forest framework to integrate the ridge information and additional features for prediction. Starting from the predicted contact map of CCMpred, RDb 2 C remarkably outperforms all state-of-the-art methods on two conventional test sets of β proteins (BetaSheet916 and BetaSheet1452), and achieves F1-scores of ~ 62% and ~ 76% at the residue level and strand level, respectively. Taking the prediction of the more advanced RaptorX-Contact as input, RDb 2 C achieves impressively higher performance, with F1-scores reaching ~ 76% and ~ 86% at the residue level and strand level, respectively. In a test of structural modeling using the top 1 L predicted contacts as constraints, for 61 mainly β proteins, the average TM-score achieves 0.442 when using the raw RaptorX-Contact prediction, but increases to 0.506 when using the improved prediction by RDb 2 C. Our method can significantly improve the prediction of β-β contacts from any predicted residue contact maps. Prediction results of our algorithm could be directly applied to effectively facilitate the practical structure prediction of mainly β proteins. All source data and codes are available at http://166.111.152.91/Downloads.html or the GitHub address of https://github.com/wzmao/RDb2C .

  6. Thermal conductivity model for nanofiber networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Xinpeng; Huang, Congliang; Liu, Qingkun; Smalyukh, Ivan I.; Yang, Ronggui

    2018-02-01

    Understanding thermal transport in nanofiber networks is essential for their applications in thermal management, which are used extensively as mechanically sturdy thermal insulation or high thermal conductivity materials. In this study, using the statistical theory and Fourier's law of heat conduction while accounting for both the inter-fiber contact thermal resistance and the intrinsic thermal resistance of nanofibers, an analytical model is developed to predict the thermal conductivity of nanofiber networks as a function of their geometric and thermal properties. A scaling relation between the thermal conductivity and the geometric properties including volume fraction and nanofiber length of the network is revealed. This model agrees well with both numerical simulations and experimental measurements found in the literature. This model may prove useful in analyzing the experimental results and designing nanofiber networks for both high and low thermal conductivity applications.

  7. Thermal conductivity model for nanofiber networks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhao, Xinpeng [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA; Huang, Congliang [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA; School of Electrical and Power Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China; Liu, Qingkun [Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA; Smalyukh, Ivan I. [Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA; Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA; Yang, Ronggui [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA; Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA; Buildings and Thermal Systems Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA

    2018-02-28

    Understanding thermal transport in nanofiber networks is essential for their applications in thermal management, which are used extensively as mechanically sturdy thermal insulation or high thermal conductivity materials. In this study, using the statistical theory and Fourier's law of heat conduction while accounting for both the inter-fiber contact thermal resistance and the intrinsic thermal resistance of nanofibers, an analytical model is developed to predict the thermal conductivity of nanofiber networks as a function of their geometric and thermal properties. A scaling relation between the thermal conductivity and the geometric properties including volume fraction and nanofiber length of the network is revealed. This model agrees well with both numerical simulations and experimental measurements found in the literature. This model may prove useful in analyzing the experimental results and designing nanofiber networks for both high and low thermal conductivity applications.

  8. Modeling 3D conjugate heat and mass transfer for turbulent air drying of Chilean papaya in a direct contact dryer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemus-Mondaca, Roberto A.; Vega-Gálvez, Antonio; Zambra, Carlos E.; Moraga, Nelson O.

    2017-01-01

    A 3D model considering heat and mass transfer for food dehydration inside a direct contact dryer is studied. The k- ɛ model is used to describe turbulent air flow. The samples thermophysical properties as density, specific heat, and thermal conductivity are assumed to vary non-linearly with temperature. FVM, SIMPLE algorithm based on a FORTRAN code are used. Results unsteady velocity, temperature, moisture, kinetic energy and dissipation rate for the air flow are presented, whilst temperature and moisture values for the food also are presented. The validation procedure includes a comparison with experimental and numerical temperature and moisture content results obtained from experimental data, reaching a deviation 7-10 %. In addition, this turbulent k- ɛ model provided a better understanding of the transport phenomenon inside the dryer and sample.

  9. MODVOLC2: A Hybrid Time Series Analysis for Detecting Thermal Anomalies Applied to Thermal Infrared Satellite Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koeppen, W. C.; Wright, R.; Pilger, E.

    2009-12-01

    We developed and tested a new, automated algorithm, MODVOLC2, which analyzes thermal infrared satellite time series data to detect and quantify the excess energy radiated from thermal anomalies such as active volcanoes, fires, and gas flares. MODVOLC2 combines two previously developed algorithms, a simple point operation algorithm (MODVOLC) and a more complex time series analysis (Robust AVHRR Techniques, or RAT) to overcome the limitations of using each approach alone. MODVOLC2 has four main steps: (1) it uses the original MODVOLC algorithm to process the satellite data on a pixel-by-pixel basis and remove thermal outliers, (2) it uses the remaining data to calculate reference and variability images for each calendar month, (3) it compares the original satellite data and any newly acquired data to the reference images normalized by their variability, and it detects pixels that fall outside the envelope of normal thermal behavior, (4) it adds any pixels detected by MODVOLC to those detected in the time series analysis. Using test sites at Anatahan and Kilauea volcanoes, we show that MODVOLC2 was able to detect ~15% more thermal anomalies than using MODVOLC alone, with very few, if any, known false detections. Using gas flares from the Cantarell oil field in the Gulf of Mexico, we show that MODVOLC2 provided results that were unattainable using a time series-only approach. Some thermal anomalies (e.g., Cantarell oil field flares) are so persistent that an additional, semi-automated 12-µm correction must be applied in order to correctly estimate both the number of anomalies and the total excess radiance being emitted by them. Although all available data should be included to make the best possible reference and variability images necessary for the MODVOLC2, we estimate that at least 80 images per calendar month are required to generate relatively good statistics from which to run MODVOLC2, a condition now globally met by a decade of MODIS observations. We also found

  10. High performance Ω-gated Ge nanowire MOSFET with quasi-metallic source/drain contacts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burchhart, T; Zeiner, C; Hyun, Y J; Lugstein, A; Hochleitner, G; Bertagnolli, E

    2010-10-29

    Ge nanowires (NWs) about 2 µm long and 35 nm in diameter are grown heteroepitaxially on Si(111) substrates in a hot wall low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LP-CVD) system using Au as a catalyst and GeH(4) as precursor. Individual NWs are contacted to Cu pads via e-beam lithography, thermal evaporation and lift-off techniques. Self-aligned and atomically sharp quasi-metallic copper-germanide source/drain contacts are achieved by a thermal activated phase formation process. The Cu(3)Ge segments emerge from the Cu contact pads through axial diffusion of Cu which was controlled in situ by SEM, thus the active channel length of the MOSFET is adjusted without any restrictions from a lithographic process. Finally the conductivity of the channel is enhanced by Ga(+) implantation leading to a high performance Ω-gated Ge-NW MOSFET with saturation currents of a few microamperes.

  11. Thermal annealing behaviour of Pd Schottky contacts on melt-grown single crystal ZnO studied by IV and CV measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mtangi, W.; Auret, F.D.; Chawanda, A.; Janse van Rensburg, P.J.; Coelho, S.M.M.; Nel, J.M.; Diale, M.; Schalkwyk, L. van; Nyamhere, C.

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Highly rectifying Pd/ZnO contacts have been fabricated. ► The rectification behaviour decrease with annealing temperature. ► The surface donor concentration increases with increase in annealing temperature. ► The depletion layer width at a specific reverse voltage decreases with increase in annealing temperature. - Abstract: Current–voltage (IV) and capacitance–voltage (CV) measurement techniques have successfully been employed to study the effects of annealing highly rectifying Pd/ZnO Schottky contacts. IV results reveal a decrease in the contact quality with increasing annealing temperature as confirmed by a decrease in the zero bias barrier height and an increase in the reverse current measured at −1.5 V. An average barrier height of (0.77 ± 0.02) eV has been calculated by assuming pure thermionic emission for the as-deposited material and as (0.56 ± 0.03) eV after annealing at 550 °C. The reverse current has been measured as (2.10 ± 0.01) × 10 −10 A for the as-deposited and increases by 5 orders of magnitude after annealing at 550 °C to (1.56 ± 0.01) × 10 −5 A. The depletion layer width measured at −2.0 V has shown a strong dependence on thermal annealing as it decreases from 1.09 μm after annealing at 200 °C to 0.24 μm after annealing at 500 °C, resulting in the modification of the dopant concentration within the depletion region and hence the current flowing through the interface from pure thermionic emission to thermionic field emission with the donor concentrations increasing from 6.90 × 10 15 cm −3 at 200 °C to 6.06 × 10 16 cm −3 after annealing at 550 °C. This increase in the volume concentration has been explained as an effect of a conductive channel that shifts closer to the surface after sample annealing. The series resistance has been observed to decrease with increase in annealing temperature. The Pd contacts have shown high stability up to an annealing temperature of 250 °C as revealed by the IV

  12. Thermal annealing behaviour of Pd Schottky contacts on melt-grown single crystal ZnO studied by IV and CV measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mtangi, W., E-mail: wilbert.mtangi@up.ac.za [Department of Physics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028 (South Africa); Auret, F.D.; Chawanda, A.; Janse van Rensburg, P.J.; Coelho, S.M.M.; Nel, J.M.; Diale, M.; Schalkwyk, L. van [Department of Physics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028 (South Africa); Nyamhere, C. [Department of Physics, P.O. Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth 6031 (South Africa)

    2012-02-15

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Highly rectifying Pd/ZnO contacts have been fabricated. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The rectification behaviour decrease with annealing temperature. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The surface donor concentration increases with increase in annealing temperature. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The depletion layer width at a specific reverse voltage decreases with increase in annealing temperature. - Abstract: Current-voltage (IV) and capacitance-voltage (CV) measurement techniques have successfully been employed to study the effects of annealing highly rectifying Pd/ZnO Schottky contacts. IV results reveal a decrease in the contact quality with increasing annealing temperature as confirmed by a decrease in the zero bias barrier height and an increase in the reverse current measured at -1.5 V. An average barrier height of (0.77 {+-} 0.02) eV has been calculated by assuming pure thermionic emission for the as-deposited material and as (0.56 {+-} 0.03) eV after annealing at 550 Degree-Sign C. The reverse current has been measured as (2.10 {+-} 0.01) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -10} A for the as-deposited and increases by 5 orders of magnitude after annealing at 550 Degree-Sign C to (1.56 {+-} 0.01) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -5} A. The depletion layer width measured at -2.0 V has shown a strong dependence on thermal annealing as it decreases from 1.09 {mu}m after annealing at 200 Degree-Sign C to 0.24 {mu}m after annealing at 500 Degree-Sign C, resulting in the modification of the dopant concentration within the depletion region and hence the current flowing through the interface from pure thermionic emission to thermionic field emission with the donor concentrations increasing from 6.90 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 15} cm{sup -3} at 200 Degree-Sign C to 6.06 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 16} cm{sup -3} after annealing at 550 Degree-Sign C. This increase in the volume concentration has been explained as an effect of a conductive channel

  13. A novel washing algorithm for underarm stain removal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acikgoz Tufan, H.; Gocek, I.; Sahin, U. K.; Erdem, I.

    2017-10-01

    After contacting with human sweat which comprise around 27% sebum, anti-perspirants comprising aluminium chloride or its compounds form a jel-like structure whose solubility in water is very poor. In daily use, this jel-like structure closes sweat pores and hinders wetting of skin by sweat. However, when in contact with garments, they form yellowish stains at the underarm of the garments. These stains are very hard to remove with regular machine washing. In this study, first of all, we focused on understanding and simulating such stain formation on the garments. Two alternative procedures are offered to form jel-like structures. On both procedures, commercially available spray or deo-stick type anti-perspirants, standard acidic and basic sweat solutions and artificial sebum are used to form jel-like structures, and they are applied on fabric in order to get hard stains. Secondly, after simulation of the stain on the fabric, we put our efforts on developing a washing algorithm specifically designed for removal of underarm stains. Eight alternative washing algorithms are offered with varying washing temperature, amounts of detergent, and pre-stain removal procedures. Better algorithm is selected by comparison of Tristimulus Y values after washing.

  14. Er:YAG and CTH:YAG laser radiation: contact versus non-contact enamel ablation and sonic-activated bulk composite placement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buckova, M; Kasparova, M; Dostalova, T; Jelinkova, H; Sulc, J; Nemec, M; Fibrich, M; Bradna, P; Miyagi, M

    2013-01-01

    Laser radiation can be used for effective caries removal and cavity preparation without significant thermal effects, collateral damage of tooth structure, or patient discomfort. The aim of this study was to compare the quality of tissue after contact or non-contact Er:YAG and CTH:YAG laser radiation ablation. The second goal was to increase the sealing ability of hard dental tissues using sonic-activated bulk filling material with change in viscosity during processing. The artificial caries was prepared in intact teeth to simulate a demineralized surface and then the Er:YAG or CTH:YAG laser radiation was applied. The enamel artificial caries was gently removed by the laser radiation and sonic-activated composite fillings were inserted. A stereomicroscope and then a scanning electron microscope were used to evaluate the enamel surface. Er:YAG contact mode ablation in enamel was quick and precise; the cavity was smooth with a keyhole shaped prism and rod relief arrangement without a smear layer. The sonic-activated filling material was consistently regularly distributed; no cracks or microleakage in the enamel were observed. CTH:YAG irradiation was able to clean but not ablate the enamel surface; in contact and also in non-contact mode there was evidence of melting and fusing of the enamel. (paper)

  15. Er:YAG and CTH:YAG laser radiation: contact versus non-contact enamel ablation and sonic-activated bulk composite placement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckova, M.; Kasparova, M.; Dostalova, T.; Jelinkova, H.; Sulc, J.; Nemec, M.; Fibrich, M.; Bradna, P.; Miyagi, M.

    2013-05-01

    Laser radiation can be used for effective caries removal and cavity preparation without significant thermal effects, collateral damage of tooth structure, or patient discomfort. The aim of this study was to compare the quality of tissue after contact or non-contact Er:YAG and CTH:YAG laser radiation ablation. The second goal was to increase the sealing ability of hard dental tissues using sonic-activated bulk filling material with change in viscosity during processing. The artificial caries was prepared in intact teeth to simulate a demineralized surface and then the Er:YAG or CTH:YAG laser radiation was applied. The enamel artificial caries was gently removed by the laser radiation and sonic-activated composite fillings were inserted. A stereomicroscope and then a scanning electron microscope were used to evaluate the enamel surface. Er:YAG contact mode ablation in enamel was quick and precise; the cavity was smooth with a keyhole shaped prism and rod relief arrangement without a smear layer. The sonic-activated filling material was consistently regularly distributed; no cracks or microleakage in the enamel were observed. CTH:YAG irradiation was able to clean but not ablate the enamel surface; in contact and also in non-contact mode there was evidence of melting and fusing of the enamel.

  16. Effect of rapid thermal annealing on the Mo back contact properties for Cu{sub 2}ZnSnSe{sub 4} solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Placidi, Marcel, E-mail: mplacidi@irec.cat [Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Jardins de les Dones de Negre 1, pl.2, 08930 St Adrià del Besòs, Barcelona (Spain); Espindola-Rodriguez, Moises; Lopez-Marino, Simon; Sanchez, Yudania; Giraldo, Sergio; Acebo, Laura; Neuschitzer, Markus [Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Jardins de les Dones de Negre 1, pl.2, 08930 St Adrià del Besòs, Barcelona (Spain); Alcobé, Xavier [Centres Científics i Tecnològics (CCiTUB), Lluis Solé i Sabarís 1, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Pérez-Rodríguez, Alejandro [Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Jardins de les Dones de Negre 1, pl.2, 08930 St Adrià del Besòs, Barcelona (Spain); IN2UB, Departament d’Electrònica, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Saucedo, Edgardo [Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Jardins de les Dones de Negre 1, pl.2, 08930 St Adrià del Besòs, Barcelona (Spain)

    2016-08-05

    The effect of a rapid thermal process (RTP) on the molybdenum (Mo) back contact for Cu{sub 2}ZnSnSe{sub 4} (CZTSe) solar cells is here investigated. It is shown that the annealing of the Mo layer during 5 min at 550 °C, not only improves the crystalline quality of the back contact (avoiding the absorber decomposition at this region because Mo becomes more resistant to the selenization), but also helps achieving higher crystalline quality of the absorber with bigger grains, reducing the current leakage through the heterojunction. We demonstrate that this is related to the relaxation of the compressive stress of the CZTSe absorber, when synthesized on the RTP annealed substrates. CZTSe solar cells prepared on annealed Mo films exhibited higher short circuit current densities and higher open circuit voltages, resulting in 10% and 33% higher fill factors and efficiencies. - Highlights: • An RTP annealing applied for the first time on Mo for CZTSe solar cells. • Clear improvement of the efficiency from 5.7 to 7.6% with RTP treatment. • Discussion of this improvement with adequate material/device characterizations. • Stress-induced defects responsible of the electrical leakage are revealed.

  17. Thermal Effect on Fracture Integrity in Enhanced Geothermal Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, C.; Deng, W.; Wu, C.; Insall, M.

    2017-12-01

    In enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), cold fluid is injected to be heated up for electricity generation purpose, and pre-existing fractures are the major conduits for fluid transport. Due to the relative cold fluid injection, the rock-fluid temperature difference will induce thermal stress along the fracture wall. Such large thermal stress could cause the failure of self-propping asperities and therefore change the fracture integrity, which could affect the heat recovery efficiency and fluid recycling. To study the thermal effect on fracture integrity, two mechanisms pertinent to thermal stress are proposed to cause asperity contact failure: (1) the crushing between two pairing asperities leads to the failure at contact area, and (2) the thermal spalling expedites this process. Finite element modeling is utilized to investigate both failure mechanisms by idealizing the asperities as hemispheres. In the numerical analysis, we have implemented meso-scale damage model to investigate coupled failure mechanism induced by thermomechanical stress field and original overburden pressure at the vicinity of contact point. Our results have shown that both the overburden pressure and a critical temperature determine the threshold of asperity failure. Since the overburden pressure implies the depth of fractures in EGS and the critical temperature implies the distance of fractures to the injection well, our ultimate goal is to locate a region of EGS where the fracture integrity is vulnerable to such thermal effect and estimate the influences.

  18. 21 CFR 870.5900 - Thermal regulating system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... system. (a) Identification. A thermal regulating system is an external system consisting of a device that is placed in contact with the patient and a temperature controller for the device. The system is used... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Thermal regulating system. 870.5900 Section 870...

  19. Modeling Thermal Ignition of Energetic Materials

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Gerri, Norman J; Berning, Ellen

    2004-01-01

    This report documents an attempt to computationally simulate the mechanics and thermal regimes created when a threat perforates an armor envelope and comes in contact with stowed energetic material...

  20. Mechanisms of current flow in metal-semiconductor ohmic contacts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blank, T. V.; Gol'dberg, Yu. A.

    2007-01-01

    Published data on the properties of metal-semiconductor ohmic contacts and mechanisms of current flow in these contacts (thermionic emission, field emission, thermal-field emission, and also current flow through metal shunts) are reviewed. Theoretical dependences of the resistance of an ohmic contact on temperature and the charge-carrier concentration in a semiconductor were compared with experimental data on ohmic contacts to II-VI semiconductors (ZnSe, ZnO), III-V semiconductors (GaN, AlN, InN, GaAs, GaP, InP), Group IV semiconductors (SiC, diamond), and alloys of these semiconductors. In ohmic contacts based on lightly doped semiconductors, the main mechanism of current flow is thermionic emission with the metal-semiconductor potential barrier height equal to 0.1-0.2 eV. In ohmic contacts based on heavily doped semiconductors, the current flow is effected owing to the field emission, while the metal-semiconductor potential barrier height is equal to 0.3-0.5 eV. In alloyed In contacts to GaP and GaN, a mechanism of current flow that is not characteristic of Schottky diodes (current flow through metal shunts formed by deposition of metal atoms onto dislocations or other imperfections in semiconductors) is observed

  1. Ohmic Contacts for Technology for Frequency Agile Digitally Synthesized Transmitters

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Mohney, Suzanne E

    2007-01-01

    ... bipolar transistors to smaller sizes. For p-type InAs, the combination of modest contact resistance and good thermal stability at 250 0 C was achieved with metallizations that had thin Pd layers deposited first, fol lowed by W or Ti/Pt...

  2. Non-contact finger vein acquisition system using NIR laser

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jiman; Kong, Hyoun-Joong; Park, Sangyun; Noh, SeungWoo; Lee, Seung-Rae; Kim, Taejeong; Kim, Hee Chan

    2009-02-01

    Authentication using finger vein pattern has substantial advantage than other biometrics. Because human vein patterns are hidden inside the skin and tissue, it is hard to forge vein structure. But conventional system using NIR LED array has two drawbacks. First, direct contact with LED array raise sanitary problem. Second, because of discreteness of LEDs, non-uniform illumination exists. We propose non-contact finger vein acquisition system using NIR laser and Laser line generator lens. Laser line generator lens makes evenly distributed line laser from focused laser light. Line laser is aimed on the finger longitudinally. NIR camera was used for image acquisition. 200 index finger vein images from 20 candidates are collected. Same finger vein pattern extraction algorithm was used to evaluate two sets of images. Acquired images from proposed non-contact system do not show any non-uniform illumination in contrary with conventional system. Also results of matching are comparable to conventional system. We developed Non-contact finger vein acquisition system. It can prevent potential cross contamination of skin diseases. Also the system can produce uniformly illuminated images unlike conventional system. With the benefit of non-contact, proposed system shows almost equivalent performance compared with conventional system.

  3. All-dry transferred single- and few-layer MoS2 field effect transistor with enhanced performance by thermal annealing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Islam, Arnob; Lee, Jaesung; Feng, Philip X.-L.

    2018-01-01

    We report on the experimental demonstration of all-dry stamp transferred single- and few-layer (1L to 3L) molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) field effect transistors (FETs), with a significant enhancement of device performance by employing thermal annealing in moderate vacuum. Three orders of magnitude reduction in both contact and channel resistances have been attained via thermal annealing. We obtain a low contact resistance of 22 kΩ μm after thermal annealing of 1L MoS2 FETs stamp-transferred onto gold (Au) contact electrodes. Furthermore, nearly two orders of magnitude enhancement of field effect mobility are also observed after thermal annealing. Finally, we employ Raman and photoluminescence measurements to reveal the phenomena of alloying or hybridization between 1L MoS2 and its contacting electrodes during annealing, which is responsible for attaining the low contact resistance.

  4. Experimental methodology of contact edge roughness on sub-100-nm pattern

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Tae Yong; Ihm, Dongchul; Kang, Hyo Chun; Lee, Jun Bum; Lee, Byoung-Ho; Chin, Soo-Bok; Cho, Do-Hyun; Kim, Yang Hyong; Yang, Ho Dong; Yang, Kyoung Mo

    2004-05-01

    The measurement of edge roughness has become a hot issue in the semiconductor industry. Major vendors offer a variety of features to measure the edge roughness in their CD-SEMs. However, most of the features are limited by the applicable pattern types. For the line and space patterns, features such as Line Edge Roughness (LER) and Line Width Roughness (LWR) are available in current CD-SEMs. The edge roughness is more critical in contact process. However the measurement of contact edge roughness (CER) or contact space roughness (CSR) is more complicated than that of LER or LWR. So far, no formal standard measurement algorithm or definition of contact roughness measurement exists. In this article, currently available features are investigated to assess their representability for CER or CSR. Some new ideas to quantify CER and CSR were also suggested with preliminary experimental results.

  5. Cloud detection algorithm comparison and validation for operational Landsat data products

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foga, Steven Curtis; Scaramuzza, Pat; Guo, Song; Zhu, Zhe; Dilley, Ronald; Beckmann, Tim; Schmidt, Gail L.; Dwyer, John L.; Hughes, MJ; Laue, Brady

    2017-01-01

    Clouds are a pervasive and unavoidable issue in satellite-borne optical imagery. Accurate, well-documented, and automated cloud detection algorithms are necessary to effectively leverage large collections of remotely sensed data. The Landsat project is uniquely suited for comparative validation of cloud assessment algorithms because the modular architecture of the Landsat ground system allows for quick evaluation of new code, and because Landsat has the most comprehensive manual truth masks of any current satellite data archive. Currently, the Landsat Level-1 Product Generation System (LPGS) uses separate algorithms for determining clouds, cirrus clouds, and snow and/or ice probability on a per-pixel basis. With more bands onboard the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI)/Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) satellite, and a greater number of cloud masking algorithms, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is replacing the current cloud masking workflow with a more robust algorithm that is capable of working across multiple Landsat sensors with minimal modification. Because of the inherent error from stray light and intermittent data availability of TIRS, these algorithms need to operate both with and without thermal data. In this study, we created a workflow to evaluate cloud and cloud shadow masking algorithms using cloud validation masks manually derived from both Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM +) and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS data. We created a new validation dataset consisting of 96 Landsat 8 scenes, representing different biomes and proportions of cloud cover. We evaluated algorithm performance by overall accuracy, omission error, and commission error for both cloud and cloud shadow. We found that CFMask, C code based on the Function of Mask (Fmask) algorithm, and its confidence bands have the best overall accuracy among the many algorithms tested using our validation data. The Artificial Thermal-Automated Cloud Cover Algorithm (AT-ACCA) is the most accurate

  6. Improved core protection calculator system algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoon, Tae Young; Park, Young Ho; In, Wang Kee; Bae, Jong Sik; Baeg, Seung Yeob

    2009-01-01

    Core Protection Calculator System (CPCS) is a digitized core protection system which provides core protection functions based on two reactor core operation parameters, Departure from Nucleate Boiling Ratio (DNBR) and Local Power Density (LPD). It generates a reactor trip signal when the core condition exceeds the DNBR or LPD design limit. It consists of four independent channels which adapted a two out of four trip logic. CPCS algorithm improvement for the newly designed core protection calculator system, RCOPS (Reactor COre Protection System), is described in this paper. New features include the improvement of DNBR algorithm for thermal margin, the addition of pre trip alarm generation for auxiliary trip function, VOPT (Variable Over Power Trip) prevention during RPCS (Reactor Power Cutback System) actuation and the improvement of CEA (Control Element Assembly) signal checking algorithm. To verify the improved CPCS algorithm, CPCS algorithm verification tests, 'Module Test' and 'Unit Test', would be performed on RCOPS single channel facility. It is expected that the improved CPCS algorithm will increase DNBR margin and enhance the plant availability by reducing unnecessary reactor trips

  7. Routing algorithms in networks-on-chip

    CERN Document Server

    Daneshtalab, Masoud

    2014-01-01

    This book provides a single-source reference to routing algorithms for Networks-on-Chip (NoCs), as well as in-depth discussions of advanced solutions applied to current and next generation, many core NoC-based Systems-on-Chip (SoCs). After a basic introduction to the NoC design paradigm and architectures, routing algorithms for NoC architectures are presented and discussed at all abstraction levels, from the algorithmic level to actual implementation.  Coverage emphasizes the role played by the routing algorithm and is organized around key problems affecting current and next generation, many-core SoCs. A selection of routing algorithms is included, specifically designed to address key issues faced by designers in the ultra-deep sub-micron (UDSM) era, including performance improvement, power, energy, and thermal issues, fault tolerance and reliability.   ·         Provides a comprehensive overview of routing algorithms for Networks-on-Chip and NoC-based, manycore systems; ·         Describe...

  8. On the Frictional Heating in Single Summit Contacts: Towards Failure at Asperity Level in Lubricated Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Heide, Emile; Schipper, Dirk J.

    2004-01-01

    The influence of surface roughness and thermal conductivity on seizure in lubricated contacts is described in this work by quantifying the action of individual asperities in relation to local surface temperature rise. Application of the model to a contact situation in metal forming of stainless

  9. Ballooning of CANDU pressure tube in local thermal transients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mihalache, Maria; Ionescu, Viorel

    2008-01-01

    In certain LOCA scenarios for the CANDU fuel channel, the ballooning of the pressure tube and contact with the calandria tube can occur. After the contact moment, a radial heat transfer from cooling fluid to moderator takes place through the contact area. If the temperature of channel walls increases, the contact area is drying and the heat transfer becomes inefficiently. In INR-Pitesti the DELOCA code was developed to simulate the mechanical behaviour of pressure tube during pre-contact transition, and mechanical and thermal behaviour of pressure tube and calandria tube after occurrence of the contact between the two tubes. The code contains few models: thermal creep of Zr-2.5%Nb alloy, the heat transfer by conduction through the cylindrical walls, channel failure criteria and calculus of heat transfer at the calandria tube - moderator interface. This code evaluates the contact and channel failure moments. This paper gives a DELOCA code description and the fuel channel behaviour analysis, in transient temperature conditions of the pressure tube, using the materials properties, time and temperature dependencies of these properties as obtained in the different laboratories of the world and in the INR - Pitesti in the last years. DELOCA computer code simulated the fuel channel response to the constant heating rates of inside pressure tube surface. The paper presents contact temperature and time dependencies on the heating rate, and the appropriate fitting functions. (authors)

  10. Teaching learning based optimization algorithm and its engineering applications

    CERN Document Server

    Rao, R Venkata

    2016-01-01

    Describing a new optimization algorithm, the “Teaching-Learning-Based Optimization (TLBO),” in a clear and lucid style, this book maximizes reader insights into how the TLBO algorithm can be used to solve continuous and discrete optimization problems involving single or multiple objectives. As the algorithm operates on the principle of teaching and learning, where teachers influence the quality of learners’ results, the elitist version of TLBO algorithm (ETLBO) is described along with applications of the TLBO algorithm in the fields of electrical engineering, mechanical design, thermal engineering, manufacturing engineering, civil engineering, structural engineering, computer engineering, electronics engineering, physics and biotechnology. The book offers a valuable resource for scientists, engineers and practitioners involved in the development and usage of advanced optimization algorithms.

  11. Genetic Algorithm Based Economic Dispatch with Valve Point Effect

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Jong Nam; Park, Kyung Won; Kim, Ji Hong; Kim, Jin O [Hanyang University (Korea, Republic of)

    1999-03-01

    This paper presents a new approach on genetic algorithm to economic dispatch problem for valve point discontinuities. Proposed approach in this paper on genetic algorithms improves the performance to solve economic dispatch problem for valve point discontinuities through improved death penalty method, generation-apart elitism, atavism and sexual selection with sexual distinction. Numerical results on a test system consisting of 13 thermal units show that the proposed approach is faster, more robust and powerful than conventional genetic algorithms. (author). 8 refs., 10 figs.

  12. CD-SEM metrology of spike detection on sub-40 nm contact holes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Momonoi, Yoshinori; Osabe, Taro; Yamaguchi, Atsuko; Mclellan Martin, Erin; Koyanagi, Hajime; Colburn, Matthew E.; Torii, Kazuyoshi

    2010-03-01

    In this work, for the purpose of contact-hole process control, new metrics for contact-hole edge roughness (CER) are being proposed. The metrics are correlated to lithographic process variation which result in increased electric fields; a primary driver of time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB). Electric field strength at the tip of spoke-shaped CER has been simulated; and new hole-feature metrics have been introduced. An algorithm for defining critical features like spoke angle, spoke length, etc has been defined. In addition, a method for identifying at-risk holes has been demonstrated. The number of spike holes can determine slight defocus conditions that are not detected though the conventional CER metrics. The newly proposed metrics can identify contact holes with a propensity for increased electric field concentration and are expected to improve contact-hole reliability in the sub-40-nm contact-hole process.

  13. Clustering of contacts relevant to the spread of infectious disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Xiong; van Hoek, Albert Jan; Kenward, Michael G; Melegaro, Alessia; Jit, Mark

    2016-12-01

    Infectious disease spread depends on contact rates between infectious and susceptible individuals. Transmission models are commonly informed using empirically collected contact data, but the relevance of different contact types to transmission is still not well understood. Some studies select contacts based on a single characteristic such as proximity (physical/non-physical), location, duration or frequency. This study aimed to explore whether clusters of contacts similar to each other across multiple characteristics could better explain disease transmission. Individual contact data from the POLYMOD survey in Poland, Great Britain, Belgium, Finland and Italy were grouped into clusters by the k medoids clustering algorithm with a Manhattan distance metric to stratify contacts using all four characteristics. Contact clusters were then used to fit a transmission model to sero-epidemiological data for varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in each country. Across the five countries, 9-15 clusters were found to optimise both quality of clustering (measured using average silhouette width) and quality of fit (measured using several information criteria). Of these, 2-3 clusters were most relevant to VZV transmission, characterised by (i) 1-2 clusters of age-assortative contacts in schools, (ii) a cluster of less age-assortative contacts in non-school settings. Quality of fit was similar to using contacts stratified by a single characteristic, providing validation that single stratifications are appropriate. However, using clustering to stratify contacts using multiple characteristics provided insight into the structures underlying infection transmission, particularly the role of age-assortative contacts, involving school age children, for VZV transmission between households. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Thermal test options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koski, J.A.; Keltner, N.R.; Sobolik, K.B.

    1993-02-01

    Shipping containers for radioactive materials must be qualified to meet a thermal accident environment specified in regulations, such at Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 71. Aimed primarily at the shipping container design, this report discusses the thermal testing options available for meeting the regulatory requirements, and states the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. The principal options considered are testing with radiant heat, furnaces, and open pool fires. The report also identifies some of the facilities available and current contacts. Finally, the report makes some recommendations on the appropriate use of these different testing methods

  15. A finite element-based algorithm for rubbing induced vibration prediction in rotors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behzad, Mehdi; Alvandi, Mehdi; Mba, David; Jamali, Jalil

    2013-10-01

    In this paper, an algorithm is developed for more realistic investigation of rotor-to-stator rubbing vibration, based on finite element theory with unilateral contact and friction conditions. To model the rotor, cross sections are assumed to be radially rigid. A finite element discretization based on traditional beam theories which sufficiently accounts for axial and transversal flexibility of the rotor is used. A general finite element discretization model considering inertial and viscoelastic characteristics of the stator is used for modeling the stator. Therefore, for contact analysis, only the boundary of the stator is discretized. The contact problem is defined as the contact between the circular rigid cross section of the rotor and “nodes” of the stator only. Next, Gap function and contact conditions are described for the contact problem. Two finite element models of the rotor and the stator are coupled via the Lagrange multipliers method in order to obtain the constrained equation of motion. A case study of the partial rubbing is simulated using the algorithm. The synchronous and subsynchronous responses of the partial rubbing are obtained for different rotational speeds. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is carried out with respect to the initial clearance, the stator stiffness, the damping parameter, and the coefficient of friction. There is a good agreement between the result of this research and the experimental result in the literature.

  16. Optimization of Pressurizer Based on Genetic-Simplex Algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Cheng; Yan, Chang Qi; Wang, Jian Jun

    2014-01-01

    Pressurizer is one of key components in nuclear power system. It's important to control the dimension in the design of pressurizer through optimization techniques. In this work, a mathematic model of a vertical electric heating pressurizer was established. A new Genetic-Simplex Algorithm (GSA) that combines genetic algorithm and simplex algorithm was developed to enhance the searching ability, and the comparison among modified and original algorithms is conducted by calculating the benchmark function. Furthermore, the optimization design of pressurizer, taking minimization of volume and net weight as objectives, was carried out considering thermal-hydraulic and geometric constraints through GSA. The results indicate that the mathematical model is agreeable for the pressurizer and the new algorithm is more effective than the traditional genetic algorithm. The optimization design shows obvious validity and can provide guidance for real engineering design

  17. Contact materials for thermostable resistors on the base of Ni-Re alloy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yusipov, H.Yu.; Glasman, L.I.; Arskaya, E.P.; Lazarev, Eh.M.; Korotkov, N.A.

    1979-01-01

    Given are the electron diffraction analysis results and the operational characteristics of the contact materials, used in the heat-resistant thin-filmed resistors (TFR), made on the basis of the Ni-Re system alloy. The results are compared with the pure nickel. Operational tests of the thin-filmed resistors, having (NR10-VP) alloy contacts, showed that the departure of the resistors nominals is almost twice as small as that for the resistors, having pure nickel contacts. The use of this alloy permits to increase the thermal stability and durability of the TFRs, if they are used under extreme conditions

  18. Amorphous germanium as an electron or hole blocking contact on high-purity germanium detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansen, W.L.; Haller, E.E.

    1976-10-01

    Experiments were performed in an attempt to make thin n + contacts on high-purity germanium by the solid phase/sup 1)/ epitaxial regrowth of arsenic doped amorphous germanium. After cleaning the crystal surface with argon sputtering and trying many combinations of layers, it was not found possible to induce recrystallization below 400 0 C. However, it was found that simple thermally evaporated amorphous Ge made fairly good electron or hole blocking contacts. Excellent spectrometers have been made with amorphous Ge replacing the n + contact. As presently produced, the amorphous Ge contact diodes show a large variation in high-voltage leakage current

  19. Optical Thermal Characterization Enables High-Performance Electronics Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2016-02-01

    NREL developed a modeling and experimental strategy to characterize thermal performance of materials. The technique provides critical data on thermal properties with relevance for electronics packaging applications. Thermal contact resistance and bulk thermal conductivity were characterized for new high-performance materials such as thermoplastics, boron-nitride nanosheets, copper nanowires, and atomically bonded layers. The technique is an important tool for developing designs and materials that enable power electronics packaging with small footprint, high power density, and low cost for numerous applications.

  20. Mosaic crystal algorithm for Monte Carlo simulations

    CERN Document Server

    Seeger, P A

    2002-01-01

    An algorithm is presented for calculating reflectivity, absorption, and scattering of mosaic crystals in Monte Carlo simulations of neutron instruments. The algorithm uses multi-step transport through the crystal with an exact solution of the Darwin equations at each step. It relies on the kinematical model for Bragg reflection (with parameters adjusted to reproduce experimental data). For computation of thermal effects (the Debye-Waller factor and coherent inelastic scattering), an expansion of the Debye integral as a rapidly converging series of exponential terms is also presented. Any crystal geometry and plane orientation may be treated. The algorithm has been incorporated into the neutron instrument simulation package NISP. (orig.)

  1. Contact heating of water products of combustion of natural gas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aronov, I Z

    1978-01-01

    The USSR's NIIST examined the processes and equipment for heating water by submerged combustion using natural gas. Written for engineers involved with the design and application of thermal engineering equipment operating with natural gas, the book emphasizes equipment, test results, and methods of calculating heat transfer for contact gas economizers developed by Scientific Research Institute of Sanitary Engineering and other Soviet organizations. The economic effectiveness of submerged-combustion heating depends on several factors, including equipment design. Recommendations cover cost-effective designs and applications of contact economizers and boilers.

  2. Optimal electricity dispatch on isolated mini-grids using a demand response strategy for thermal storage backup with genetic algorithms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neves, Diana; Silva, Carlos A.

    2015-01-01

    The present study uses the DHW (domestic hot water) electric backup from solar thermal systems to optimize the total electricity dispatch of an isolated mini-grid. The proposed approach estimates the hourly DHW load, and proposes and simulates different DR (demand response) strategies, from the supply side, to minimize the dispatch costs of an energy system. The case study consists on optimizing the electricity load, in a representative day with low solar radiation, in Corvo Island, Azores. The DHW backup is induced by three different demand patterns. The study compares different DR strategies: backup at demand (no strategy), pre-scheduled backup using two different imposed schedules, a strategy based on linear programming, and finally two strategies using genetic algorithms, with different formulations for DHW backup – one that assigns number of systems and another that assigns energy demand. It is concluded that pre-determined DR strategies may increase the generation costs, but DR strategies based on optimization algorithms are able to decrease generation costs. In particular, linear programming is the strategy that presents the lowest increase on dispatch costs, but the strategy based on genetic algorithms is the one that best minimizes both daily operation costs and total energy demand, of the system. - Highlights: • Integrated hourly model of DHW electric impact and electricity dispatch of isolated grid. • Proposal and comparison of different DR (demand response) strategies for DHW backup. • LP strategy presents 12% increase on total electric load, plus 5% on dispatch costs. • GA strategy presents 7% increase on total electric load, plus 8% on dispatch costs

  3. Evaluation of the thermal comfort of ceramic floor tiles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carmeane Effting

    2007-09-01

    Full Text Available In places where people are bare feet, the thermal sensation of cold or hot depends on the environmental conditions and material properties including its microstructure and crustiness surface. The uncomforting can be characterized by heated floor surfaces in external environments which are exposed to sun radiation (swimming polls areas or by cold floor surfaces in internal environments (bed rooms, path rooms. The property named thermal effusivity which defines the interface temperature when two semi-infinite solids are putted in perfect contact. The introduction of the crustiness surface on the ceramic tiles interferes in the contact temperature and also it can be a strategy to obtain ceramic tiles more comfortable. Materials with low conductivities and densities can be obtained by porous inclusion are due particularly to the processing conditions usually employed. However, the presence of pores generally involves low mechanical strength. This work has the objective to evaluate the thermal comfort of ceramics floor obtained by incorporation of refractory raw materials (residue of the polishing of the porcelanato in industrial atomized ceramic powder, through the thermal and mechanical properties. The theoretical and experimental results show that the porosity and crustiness surface increases; there is sensitive improvement in the comfort by contact.

  4. An Efficient Algorithm for Server Thermal Fault Diagnosis Based on Infrared Image

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hang; Xie, Ting; Ran, Jian; Gao, Shan

    2017-10-01

    It is essential for a data center to maintain server security and stability. Long-time overload operation or high room temperature may cause service disruption even a server crash, which would result in great economic loss for business. Currently, the methods to avoid server outages are monitoring and forecasting. Thermal camera can provide fine texture information for monitoring and intelligent thermal management in large data center. This paper presents an efficient method for server thermal fault monitoring and diagnosis based on infrared image. Initially thermal distribution of server is standardized and the interest regions of the image are segmented manually. Then the texture feature, Hu moments feature as well as modified entropy feature are extracted from the segmented regions. These characteristics are applied to analyze and classify thermal faults, and then make efficient energy-saving thermal management decisions such as job migration. For the larger feature space, the principal component analysis is employed to reduce the feature dimensions, and guarantee high processing speed without losing the fault feature information. Finally, different feature vectors are taken as input for SVM training, and do the thermal fault diagnosis after getting the optimized SVM classifier. This method supports suggestions for optimizing data center management, it can improve air conditioning efficiency and reduce the energy consumption of the data center. The experimental results show that the maximum detection accuracy is 81.5%.

  5. A new modified artificial bee colony algorithm for the economic dispatch problem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Secui, Dinu Calin

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A new modified ABC algorithm (MABC) is proposed to solve the EcD/EmD problem. • Valve-point effects, ramp-rate limits, POZ, transmission losses were considered. • The algorithm is tested on four systems having 6, 13, 40 and 52 thermal units. • MABC algorithm outperforms several optimization techniques. - Abstract: In this paper a new modified artificial bee colony algorithm (MABC) is proposed to solve the economic dispatch problem by taking into account the valve-point effects, the emission pollutions and various operating constraints of the generating units. The MABC algorithm introduces a new relation to update the solutions within the search space, in order to increase the algorithm ability to avoid premature convergence and to find stable and high quality solutions. Moreover, to strengthen the MABC algorithm performance, it is endowed with a chaotic sequence generated by both a cat map and a logistic map. The MABC algorithm behavior is investigated for several combinations resulting from three generating modalities of the chaotic sequences and two selection schemes of the solutions. The performance of the MABC variants is tested on four systems having six units, thirteen units, forty units and fifty-two thermal generating units. The comparison of the results shows that the MABC variants have a better performance than the classical ABC algorithm and other optimization techniques

  6. Development of method for experimental determination of wheel–rail contact forces and contact point position by using instrumented wheelset

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bižić, Milan B; Petrović, Dragan Z; Tomić, Miloš C; Djinović, Zoran V

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents the development of a unique method for experimental determination of wheel–rail contact forces and contact point position by using the instrumented wheelset (IWS). Solutions of key problems in the development of IWS are proposed, such as the determination of optimal locations, layout, number and way of connecting strain gauges as well as the development of an inverse identification algorithm (IIA). The base for the solution of these problems is the wheel model and results of FEM calculations, while IIA is based on the method of blind source separation using independent component analysis. In the first phase, the developed method was tested on a wheel model and a high accuracy was obtained (deviations of parameters obtained with IIA and really applied parameters in the model are less than 2%). In the second phase, experimental tests on the real object or IWS were carried out. The signal-to-noise ratio was identified as the main influential parameter on the measurement accuracy. Тhе obtained results have shown that the developed method enables measurement of vertical and lateral wheel–rail contact forces Q and Y and their ratio Y / Q with estimated errors of less than 10%, while the estimated measurement error of contact point position is less than 15%. At flange contact and higher values of ratio Y / Q or Y force, the measurement errors are reduced, which is extremely important for the reliability and quality of experimental tests of safety against derailment of railway vehicles according to the standards UIC 518 and EN 14363. The obtained results have shown that the proposed method can be successfully applied in solving the problem of high accuracy measurement of wheel–rail contact forces and contact point position using IWS. (paper)

  7. Positive predictive value of a register-based algorithm using the Danish National Registries to identify suicidal events.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gasse, Christiane; Danielsen, Andreas Aalkjaer; Pedersen, Marianne Giørtz; Pedersen, Carsten Bøcker; Mors, Ole; Christensen, Jakob

    2018-04-17

    It is not possible to fully assess intention of self-harm and suicidal events using information from administrative databases. We conducted a validation study of intention of suicide attempts/self-harm contacts identified by a commonly applied Danish register-based algorithm (DK-algorithm) based on hospital discharge diagnosis and emergency room contacts. Of all 101 530 people identified with an incident suicide attempt/self-harm contact at Danish hospitals between 1995 and 2012 using the DK-algorithm, we selected a random sample of 475 people. We validated the DK-algorithm against medical records applying the definitions and terminology of the Columbia Classification Algorithm of Suicide Assessment of suicidal events, nonsuicidal events, and indeterminate or potentially suicidal events. We calculated positive predictive values (PPVs) of the DK-algorithm to identify suicidal events overall, by gender, age groups, and calendar time. We retrieved medical records for 357 (75%) people. The PPV of the DK-algorithm to identify suicidal events was 51.5% (95% CI: 46.4-56.7) overall, 42.7% (95% CI: 35.2-50.5) in males, and 58.5% (95% CI: 51.6-65.1) in females. The PPV varied further across age groups and calendar time. After excluding cases identified via the DK-algorithm by unspecific codes of intoxications and injury, the PPV improved slightly (56.8% [95% CI: 50.0-63.4]). The DK-algorithm can reliably identify self-harm with suicidal intention in 52% of the identified cases of suicide attempts/self-harm. The PPVs could be used for quantitative bias analysis and implemented as weights in future studies to estimate the proportion of suicidal events among cases identified via the DK-algorithm. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  8. The features of modelling semiconductor lasers with a wide contact

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rzhanov Alexey

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The aspects of calculating the dynamics and statics of powerful semiconductor laser diodes radiation are investigated. It takes into account the main physical mechanisms influencing power, spectral composition, far and near field of laser radiation. It outlines a dynamic distributed model of a semiconductor laser with a wide contact and possible algorithms for its implementation.

  9. A non-Hertzian method for solving wheel-rail normal contact problem taking into account the effect of yaw

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Binbin; Bruni, Stefano; Vollebregt, Edwin

    2016-09-01

    A novel approach is proposed in this paper to deal with non-Hertzian normal contact in wheel-rail interface, extending the widely used Kik-Piotrowski method. The new approach is able to consider the effect of the yaw angle of the wheelset against the rail on the shape of the contact patch and on pressure distribution. Furthermore, the method considers the variation of profile curvature across the contact patch, enhancing the correspondence to CONTACT for highly non-Hertzian contact conditions. The simulation results show that the proposed method can provide more accurate estimation than the original algorithm compared to Kalker's CONTACT, and that the influence of yaw on the contact results is significant under certain circumstances.

  10. Application of Advanced Particle Swarm Optimization Techniques to Wind-thermal Coordination

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Singh, Sri Niwas; Østergaard, Jacob; Yadagiri, J.

    2009-01-01

    wind-thermal coordination algorithm is necessary to determine the optimal proportion of wind and thermal generator capacity that can be integrated into the system. In this paper, four versions of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) techniques are proposed for solving wind-thermal coordination problem...

  11. Entropic sampling of simple polymer models within Wang-Landau algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vorontsov-Velyaminov, P N; Volkov, N A; Yurchenko, A A

    2004-01-01

    In this paper we apply a new simulation technique proposed in Wang and Landau (WL) (2001 Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 2050) to sampling of three-dimensional lattice and continuous models of polymer chains. Distributions obtained by homogeneous (unconditional) random walks are compared with results of entropic sampling (ES) within the WL algorithm. While homogeneous sampling gives reliable results typically in the range of 4-5 orders of magnitude, the WL entropic sampling yields them in the range of 20-30 orders and even larger with comparable computer effort. A combination of homogeneous and WL sampling provides reliable data for events with probabilities down to 10 -35 . For the lattice model we consider both the athermal case (self-avoiding walks, SAWs) and the thermal case when an energy is attributed to each contact between nonbonded monomers in a self-avoiding walk. For short chains the simulation results are checked by comparison with the exact data. In WL calculations for chain lengths up to N = 300 scaling relations for SAWs are well reproduced. In the thermal case distribution over the number of contacts is obtained in the N-range up to N = 100 and the canonical averages - internal energy, heat capacity, excess canonical entropy, mean square end-to-end distance - are calculated as a result in a wide temperature range. The continuous model is studied in the athermal case. By sorting conformations of a continuous phantom freely joined N-bonded chain with a unit bond length over a stochastic variable, the minimum distance between nonbonded beads, we determine the probability distribution for the N-bonded chain with hard sphere monomer units over its diameter a in the complete diameter range, 0 ≤ a ≤ 2, within a single ES run. This distribution provides us with excess specific entropy for a set of diameters a in this range. Calculations were made for chain lengths up to N = 100 and results were extrapolated to N → ∞ for a in the range 0 ≤ a ≤ 1.25

  12. Physical mechanisms related to the degradation of LPCVD tungsten contacts at elevated temperatures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shenai, K.; Lewis, N.; Smith, G.A.; McConnell, M.D.; Burrell, M.

    1990-01-01

    The thermal stability of LPCVD (low pressure chemical vapor deposition) tungsten contacts to n-type silicon is studied at elevated temperatures in excess of 650 degrees C. The process variants studied include silicon doping, tungsten thickness, and post tungsten deposition dielectric stress temperatures. Detailed measurements of Kelvin contact resistance were made at room temperature as well as at elevated temperatures up to 165 degrees C. The tungsten contact resistance degradation at elevated stress temperatures is correlated with worm hole formation in silicon and the formation and diffusion of tungsten silicide. Extensive analytical measurements were used to characterize the material transformation at elevated stress temperatures to understand the physical mechanisms causing contact degradation

  13. Thermal Tracking of Sports Players

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rikke Gade

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available We present here a real-time tracking algorithm for thermal video from a sports game. Robust detection of people includes routines for handling occlusions and noise before tracking each detected person with a Kalman filter. This online tracking algorithm is compared with a state-of-the-art offline multi-target tracking algorithm. Experiments are performed on a manually annotated 2-minutes video sequence of a real soccer game. The Kalman filter shows a very promising result on this rather challenging sequence with a tracking accuracy above 70% and is superior compared with the offline tracking approach. Furthermore, the combined detection and tracking algorithm runs in real time at 33 fps, even with large image sizes of 1920 × 480 pixels.

  14. Thermal tracking of sports players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gade, Rikke; Moeslund, Thomas B

    2014-07-29

    We present here a real-time tracking algorithm for thermal video from a sports game. Robust detection of people includes routines for handling occlusions and noise before tracking each detected person with a Kalman filter. This online tracking algorithm is compared with a state-of-the-art offline multi-target tracking algorithm. Experiments are performed on a manually annotated 2-minutes video sequence of a real soccer game. The Kalman filter shows a very promising result on this rather challenging sequence with a tracking accuracy above 70% and is superior compared with the offline tracking approach. Furthermore, the combined detection and tracking algorithm runs in real time at 33 fps, even with large image sizes of 1920 × 480 pixels.

  15. Performance of fusion algorithms for computer-aided detection and classification of mines in very shallow water obtained from testing in navy Fleet Battle Exercise-Hotel 2000

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciany, Charles M.; Zurawski, William; Kerfoot, Ian

    2001-10-01

    The performance of Computer Aided Detection/Computer Aided Classification (CAD/CAC) Fusion algorithms on side-scan sonar images was evaluated using data taken at the Navy's's Fleet Battle Exercise-Hotel held in Panama City, Florida, in August 2000. A 2-of-3 binary fusion algorithm is shown to provide robust performance. The algorithm accepts the classification decisions and associated contact locations form three different CAD/CAC algorithms, clusters the contacts based on Euclidian distance, and then declares a valid target when a clustered contact is declared by at least 2 of the 3 individual algorithms. This simple binary fusion provided a 96 percent probability of correct classification at a false alarm rate of 0.14 false alarms per image per side. The performance represented a 3.8:1 reduction in false alarms over the best performing single CAD/CAC algorithm, with no loss in probability of correct classification.

  16. A transient divided-bar method for simultaneous measurements of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bording, Thue Sylvester; Nielsen, Søren Bom; Balling, Niels

    2016-01-01

    and volumetric heat capacity, and thereby also thermal diffusivity, are measured simultaneously. As the density of samples is easily determined independently, specific heat capacity may also be determined. Finite element formulation provides a flexible forward solution for heat transfer across the bar...... and thermal properties are estimated by inverse Monte Carlo modelling. This methodology enables a proper quantification of experimental uncertainties on measured thermal properties. The developed methodology was applied to laboratory measurements of various materials, including a standard ceramic material......-3 %, and for diffusivity uncertainty may be reduced to about 3-5 %. The main uncertainty originates from the presence of thermal contact resistance associated with the internal interfaces of the bar. They are not resolved during inversion, and it is highly important that they are minimized by careful sample preparation....

  17. Large area optical mapping of surface contact angle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dutra, Guilherme; Canning, John; Padden, Whayne; Martelli, Cicero; Dligatch, Svetlana

    2017-09-04

    Top-down contact angle measurements have been validated and confirmed to be as good if not more reliable than side-based measurements. A range of samples, including industrially relevant materials for roofing and printing, has been compared. Using the top-down approach, mapping in both 1-D and 2-D has been demonstrated. The method was applied to study the change in contact angle as a function of change in silver (Ag) nanoparticle size controlled by thermal evaporation. Large area mapping reveals good uniformity for commercial Aspen paper coated with black laser printer ink. A demonstration of the forensic and chemical analysis potential in 2-D is shown by uncovering the hidden CsF initials made with mineral oil on the coated Aspen paper. The method promises to revolutionize nanoscale characterization and industrial monitoring as well as chemical analyses by allowing rapid contact angle measurements over large areas or large numbers of samples in ways and times that have not been possible before.

  18. Non-Contact Acousto-Thermal Signatures of Plastic Deformation in TI-6AL-4V

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welter, J. T.; Malott, G.; Schehl, N.; Sathish, S.; Jata, K. V.; Blodgett, M. P.

    2010-02-01

    Plastic deformation introduces changes in a material which include increases in: dislocations, strains, residual stress, and yield stress. However, these changes have a very small impact on the material properties such as elastic modulus, conductivity and ultrasonic wave speed. This is due to the fact that interatomic forces govern these properties, and they are not affected by plastic deformation to any large degree. This is evident from the fact that the changes in electrical resistance and ultrasonic velocity in plastically deformed and virgin samples are very small and can only be determined by highly controlled experiments. Except for X-ray diffraction, there are no direct nondestructive methods for measuring strain and the residual stress. This paper presents an application of the non-contact acousto-thermal signature (NCATS) NDE methodology to detect plastic deformation in flat dog bone Ti-6Al-4V samples. Results of the NCATS measurements on samples subjected to incremental amounts of plastic deformation are presented. The maximum temperature attained by the sample due to acoustic excitation is found to be sensitive to the amount of plastic strain. It is observed that the temperature induced by acoustic excitation increases to a peak followed by a decrease to failure. The maximum temperature peak occurs at plastic strains of 12-14%. It is observed that there is a correlation between the peak in maximum temperature rise and the strain at the experimentally determined ultimate tensile strength. A microstructural based explanation for this will be presented. The results are discussed in reference to utilizing this technique for detection and evaluation of plastic deformation.

  19. A linear programming algorithm to test for jamming in hard-sphere packings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Donev, Aleksandar; Torquato, Salvatore.; Stillinger, Frank H.; Connelly, Robert

    2004-01-01

    Jamming in hard-particle packings has been the subject of considerable interest in recent years. In a paper by Torquato and Stillinger [J. Phys. Chem. B 105 (2001)], a classification scheme of jammed packings into hierarchical categories of locally, collectively and strictly jammed configurations has been proposed. They suggest that these jamming categories can be tested using numerical algorithms that analyze an equivalent contact network of the packing under applied displacements, but leave the design of such algorithms as a future task. In this work, we present a rigorous and practical algorithm to assess whether an ideal hard-sphere packing in two or three dimensions is jammed according to the aforementioned categories. The algorithm is based on linear programming and is applicable to regular as well as random packings of finite size with hard-wall and periodic boundary conditions. If the packing is not jammed, the algorithm yields representative multi-particle unjamming motions. Furthermore, we extend the jamming categories and the testing algorithm to packings with significant interparticle gaps. We describe in detail two variants of the proposed randomized linear programming approach to test for jamming in hard-sphere packings. The first algorithm treats ideal packings in which particles form perfect contacts. Another algorithm treats the case of jamming in packings with significant interparticle gaps. This extended algorithm allows one to explore more fully the nature of the feasible particle displacements. We have implemented the algorithms and applied them to ordered as well as random packings of circular disks and spheres with periodic boundary conditions. Some representative results for large disordered disk and sphere packings are given, but more robust and efficient implementations as well as further applications (e.g., non-spherical particles) are anticipated for the future

  20. Coherent gradient sensing method for measuring thermal stress field of thermal barrier coating structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kang Ma

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Coherent gradient sensing (CGS method can be used to measure the slope of a reflective surface, and has the merits of full-field, non-contact, and real-time measurement. In this study, the thermal stress field of thermal barrier coating (TBC structures is measured by CGS method. Two kinds of powders were sprayed onto Ni-based alloy using a plasma spraying method to obtain two groups of film–substrate specimens. The specimens were then heated with an oxy-acetylene flame. The resulting thermal mismatch between the film and substrate led to out-of-plane deformation of the specimen. The deformation was measured by the reflective CGS method and the thermal stress field of the structure was obtained through calibration with the help of finite element analysis. Both the experiment and numerical results showed that the thermal stress field of TBC structures can be successfully measured by CGS method.

  1. ALGORITHMIC FACILITIES AND SOFTWARE FOR VIRTUAL DESIGN OF ANTI-BLOCK AND COUNTER-SLIPPING SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. N. Hurski

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper considers algorithms of designing a roadway covering for virtual test of mobile machine movement dynamics; an algorithm of forming actual values of forces/moments in «road–wheel–car» contact and their derivatives, and also a software for virtual designing of mobile machine dynamics.

  2. Mechanistic modeling of heat transfer process governing pressure tube-to-calandria tube contact and fuel channel failure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luxat, J.C.

    2002-01-01

    Heat transfer behaviour and phenomena associated with ballooning deformation of a pressure tube into contact with a calandria tube have been analyzed and mechanistic models have been developed to describe the heat transfer and thermal-mechanical processes. These mechanistic models are applied to analyze experiments performed in various COG funded Contact Boiling Test series. Particular attention is given in the modeling to characterization of the conditions for which fuel channel failure may occur. Mechanistic models describing the governing heat transfer and thermal-mechanical processes are presented. The technical basis for characterizing parameters of the models from the general heat transfer literature is described. The validity of the models is demonstrated by comparison with experimental data. Fuel channel integrity criteria are proposed which are based upon three necessary and sequential mechanisms: Onset of CHF and local drypatch formation at contact; sustained film boiling in the post-contact period; and creep strain to failure of the calandria tube while in sustained film boiling. (author)

  3. Numerical study on the thermal behavior of graphene nanoplatelets/epoxy composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Wenkai; Zhai, Xian; Ma, Pengfei; Fan, Taotao; Li, Xiaotuo

    2018-06-01

    A three-dimensional computational model was developed using the finite element method (FEM) to evaluate the thermal behavior of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs)/epoxy composites based on continuum mechanics. The model was validated with experimental data. The effects of the ratio of radius to thickness (Rrt) of GNPs, the interfacial thermal conductivity between GNPs and the matrix (Cgm), the contact thermal conductivity between GNPs (Cgg) and the agglomeration degree of GNPs on the thermal conductivity of composites (Kc) were quantified using this model. The results show that a larger Rrt is beneficial to Kc. GNPs could increase Kc only when the Cgm is greater than a critical value. A percolation phenomenon will occur when Cgg is larger than 1.0E8 W/(m2k) in randomly distributed GNPs/epoxy composites. The percolation effects become more obvious with the increase of Cgg and the volume fraction of GNPs. The agglomeration of GNPs has negative effects on the Kc. The higher the agglomeration degree of GNPs is, the lower Kc is. This is attributed to less beneficial interfacial areas, more inefficient contact areas, smaller Rrt and less effective connection/contact between GNPs.

  4. D Surface Generation from Aerial Thermal Imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khodaei, B.; Samadzadegan, F.; Dadras Javan, F.; Hasani, H.

    2015-12-01

    Aerial thermal imagery has been recently applied to quantitative analysis of several scenes. For the mapping purpose based on aerial thermal imagery, high accuracy photogrammetric process is necessary. However, due to low geometric resolution and low contrast of thermal imaging sensors, there are some challenges in precise 3D measurement of objects. In this paper the potential of thermal video in 3D surface generation is evaluated. In the pre-processing step, thermal camera is geometrically calibrated using a calibration grid based on emissivity differences between the background and the targets. Then, Digital Surface Model (DSM) generation from thermal video imagery is performed in four steps. Initially, frames are extracted from video, then tie points are generated by Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm. Bundle adjustment is then applied and the camera position and orientation parameters are determined. Finally, multi-resolution dense image matching algorithm is used to create 3D point cloud of the scene. Potential of the proposed method is evaluated based on thermal imaging cover an industrial area. The thermal camera has 640×480 Uncooled Focal Plane Array (UFPA) sensor, equipped with a 25 mm lens which mounted in the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The obtained results show the comparable accuracy of 3D model generated based on thermal images with respect to DSM generated from visible images, however thermal based DSM is somehow smoother with lower level of texture. Comparing the generated DSM with the 9 measured GCPs in the area shows the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) value is smaller than 5 decimetres in both X and Y directions and 1.6 meters for the Z direction.

  5. Drop shape visualization and contact angle measurement on curved surfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guilizzoni, Manfredo

    2011-12-01

    The shape and contact angles of drops on curved surfaces is experimentally investigated. Image processing, spline fitting and numerical integration are used to extract the drop contour in a number of cross-sections. The three-dimensional surfaces which describe the surface-air and drop-air interfaces can be visualized and a simple procedure to determine the equilibrium contact angle starting from measurements on curved surfaces is proposed. Contact angles on flat surfaces serve as a reference term and a procedure to measure them is proposed. Such procedure is not as accurate as the axisymmetric drop shape analysis algorithms, but it has the advantage of requiring only a side view of the drop-surface couple and no further information. It can therefore be used also for fluids with unknown surface tension and there is no need to measure the drop volume. Examples of application of the proposed techniques for distilled water drops on gemstones confirm that they can be useful for drop shape analysis and contact angle measurement on three-dimensional sculptured surfaces. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Numerical Study for a Large Volume Droplet on the Dual-rough Surface: Apparent Contact Angle, Contact Angle Hysteresis and Transition Barrier.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Jian; Jin, Yanli; Dong, He; Liu, Jiawei; Ye, Senbin

    2018-06-14

    The profile, apparent contact angle (ACA), contact angle hysteresis (CAH) and wetting state transmission energy barrier (WSTEB) are important static and dynamic properties of a large volume droplet on the hierarchical surface. Understanding them can provide us with important insights to functional surfaces and promote the application in corresponding areas. In this paper, we established three theoretical models (Model 1, Model 2 and Model 3) and corresponding numerical methods, which were obtained by the free energy minimization and the nonlinear optimization algorithm, to predict the profile, ACA, CAH and WSTEB of a large volume droplet on the horizontal regular dual-rough surface. In consideration of the gravity, the energy barrier on the contact circle, the dual heterogenous structures and their roughness on the surface, the models are more universal and accurate than previous models. It showed that the predictions of the models were in good agreement with the results from the experiment or literature. The models are promising to become novel design approaches of functional surfaces, which are frequently applied in microfluidic chips, water self-catchment system and dropwise condensation heat transfer system.

  7. Covalently Bonded Graphene-Carbon Nanotube Hybrid for High-Performance Thermal Interfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chen, Jie; Walther, Jens H.; Koumoutsakos, Petros

    2015-01-01

    The remarkable thermal properties of graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been the subject of intensive investigations for the thermal management of integrated circuits. However, the small contact area of CNTs and the large anisotropic heat conduction of graphene have hindered...... their applications as effective thermal interface materials (TIMs). Here, a covalently bonded graphene–CNT (G-CNT) hybrid is presented that multiplies the axial heat transfer capability of individual CNTs through their parallel arrangement, while at the same time it provides a large contact area for efficient heat...... extraction. Through computer simulations, it is demonstrated that the G-CNT outperforms few-layer graphene by more than 2 orders of magnitude for the c-axis heat transfer, while its thermal resistance is 3 orders of magnitude lower than the state-of-the-art TIMs. We show that heat can be removed from the G...

  8. Concurrent design of composite materials and structures considering thermal conductivity constraints

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, J.; Cheng, W.; Long, K.

    2017-08-01

    This article introduces thermal conductivity constraints into concurrent design. The influence of thermal conductivity on macrostructure and orthotropic composite material is extensively investigated using the minimum mean compliance as the objective function. To simultaneously control the amounts of different phase materials, a given mass fraction is applied in the optimization algorithm. Two phase materials are assumed to compete with each other to be distributed during the process of maximizing stiffness and thermal conductivity when the mass fraction constraint is small, where phase 1 has superior stiffness and thermal conductivity whereas phase 2 has a superior ratio of stiffness to density. The effective properties of the material microstructure are computed by a numerical homogenization technique, in which the effective elasticity matrix is applied to macrostructural analyses and the effective thermal conductivity matrix is applied to the thermal conductivity constraint. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization algorithm, several three-dimensional illustrative examples are provided and the features under different boundary conditions are analysed.

  9. MODELLING OF THERMOELASTIC TRANSIENT CONTACT INTERACTION FOR BINARY BEARING TAKING INTO ACCOUNT CONVECTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Igor KOLESNIKOV

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Serviceability of metal-polymeric "dry-friction" sliding bearings depends on many parameters, including the rotational speed, friction coefficient, thermal and mechanical properties of the bearing system and, as a result, the value of contact temperature. The objective of this study is to develop a computational model for the metallic-polymer bearing, determination on the basis of this model temperature distribution, equivalent and contact stresses for elements of the bearing arrangement and selection of the optimal parameters for the bearing system to achieve thermal balance. Static problem for the combined sliding bearing with the account of heat generation due to friction has been studied in [1]; the dynamic thermoelastic problem of the shaft rotation in a single and double layer bronze bearings were investigated in [2, 3].

  10. Occupational contact urticaria and protein contact dermatitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doutre, Marie-Sylvie

    2005-01-01

    Irritant dermatitis and eczema are the most prevalent occupational skin diseases. Less common are immediate contact reactions such as contact urticaria and protein contact dermatitis. Occupational contact urticaria can be subdivided into two categories, immunological and non immunological. However, some agents can induce these two types of reactions. Contact urticaria to natural rubber latex is particularly frequent among health care personnel, but contact urticaria to a wide variety of other substances occurs in many other occupations. Among those at risk are cooks, bakers, butchers, restaurant personnel, veterinarians, hairdressers, florists, gardeners, and forestry workers. Protein contact dermatitis in some of these occupations is caused principally by proteins of animal or plant origin, especially among individuals with a history of atopic dermatitis. Diagnosis requires careful interrogation, clinical examination and skin tests (open tests and prick tests with immediate lecture) to identify a particular contact allergen.

  11. Research on Debonding Defects in Thermal Barrier Coatings Structure by Thermal-Wave Radar Imaging (TWRI)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Fei; Liu, Junyan; Mohummad, Oliullah; Wang, Yang

    2018-06-01

    In this paper, thermal-wave radar imaging (TWRI) is introduced to detect debonding defects in SiC-coated Ni-based superalloy plates. Linear frequency modulation signal (chirp) is used as the excitation signal which has a large time-bandwidth product. Artificial debonding defects in SiC coating are excited by the laser beam with the light intensity modulated by a chirp signal. Cross-correlation algorithm and chirp lock-in algorithm are introduced to extract the thermal-wave signal characteristic. The comparative experiment between TWRI reflection mode and transmission mode was carried out. Experiments are conducted to investigate the influence of laser power density, chirp period, and excitation frequency. Experimental results illustrate that chirp lock-in phase has a better detection capability than other characteristic parameters. TWRI can effectively detect simulated debonding defects of SiC-coated Ni-based superalloy plates.

  12. A thermal, thermoelastic, and wear analysis of high-energy disk brakes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennedy, F. E., Jr.; Wu, J. J.; Ling, F. F.

    1974-01-01

    A thermomechanical investigation of the sliding contact problem encountered in high-energy disk brakes is described. The analysis includes a modelling, using the finite element method of the thermoelastic instabilities that cause transient changes in contact area to occur on the friction surface. In order to include the effect of wear at the contact surface, a wear criterion is proposed that results in the prediction of wear rates for disk brakes that are quite close to experimentally determined wear rates. The thermal analysis shows that the transient temperature distribution in a disk brake assembly can be determined more accurately by use of this thermomechanical analysis than by a more conventional analysis that assumes constant contact conditions. It also shows that lower, more desirable, temperatures in disk brakes can be attained by increasing the volume, the thermal conductivity, and, especially, the heat capacity of the brake components.

  13. Epidemic spreading in annealed directed networks: susceptible-infected-susceptible model and contact process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Sungchul; Kim, Yup

    2013-01-01

    We investigate epidemic spreading in annealed directed scale-free networks with the in-degree (k) distribution P(in)(k)~k(-γ(in)) and the out-degree (ℓ) distribution, P(out)(ℓ)~ℓ(-γ(out)). The correlation of each node on the networks is controlled by the probability r(0≤r≤1) in two different algorithms, the so-called k and ℓ algorithms. For r=1, the k algorithm gives =, whereas the ℓ algorithm gives =. For r=0, = for both algorithms. As the prototype of epidemic spreading, the susceptible-infected-susceptible model and contact process on the networks are analyzed using the heterogeneous mean-field theory and Monte Carlo simulations. The directedness of links and the correlation of the network are found to play important roles in the spreading, so that critical behaviors of both models are distinct from those on undirected scale-free networks.

  14. Autonomous Locator of Thermals (ALOFT) Autonomous Soaring Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-04-03

    thermal identification, a sliding window of past data is used. Only data stored in the queues is remembered; after the time length of the queue...53) Each queue is cut down to ensure that data is only stored for the correct window of queue time length, tmax. This starts with...determination are handed back to the calling function. 2D Nonlinear Regression This nonlinear regression is the heart and soul of the ALOFT

  15. Active Cooling and Thermal Management of a Downhole Tool Electronics Section

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Soprani, Stefano; Engelbrecht, Kurt; Just Nørgaard, Anders

    2015-01-01

    combines active and passive cooling techniques, aiming at an efficient thermal management, preserving the tool compactness and avoiding the use of moving parts. Thermoelectric coolers were used to transfer the dissipated heat from the temperature-sensitive electronics to the external environment. Thermal...... contact resistances were minimized and thermally insulating foam protected the refrigerated microenvironment from the hot surroundings....

  16. Implementation on Landsat Data of a Simple Cloud Mask Algorithm Developed for MODIS Land Bands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oreopoulos, Lazaros; Wilson, Michael J.; Varnai, Tamas

    2010-01-01

    This letter assesses the performance on Landsat-7 images of a modified version of a cloud masking algorithm originally developed for clear-sky compositing of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images at northern mid-latitudes. While data from recent Landsat missions include measurements at thermal wavelengths, and such measurements are also planned for the next mission, thermal tests are not included in the suggested algorithm in its present form to maintain greater versatility and ease of use. To evaluate the masking algorithm we take advantage of the availability of manual (visual) cloud masks developed at USGS for the collection of Landsat scenes used here. As part of our evaluation we also include the Automated Cloud Cover Assesment (ACCA) algorithm that includes thermal tests and is used operationally by the Landsat-7 mission to provide scene cloud fractions, but no cloud masks. We show that the suggested algorithm can perform about as well as ACCA both in terms of scene cloud fraction and pixel-level cloud identification. Specifically, we find that the algorithm gives an error of 1.3% for the scene cloud fraction of 156 scenes, and a root mean square error of 7.2%, while it agrees with the manual mask for 93% of the pixels, figures very similar to those from ACCA (1.2%, 7.1%, 93.7%).

  17. EVAPORATIVE DROPLETS IN ONE-COMPONENT FLUIDS DRIVEN BY THERMAL GRADIENTS ON SOLID SUBSTRATES

    KAUST Repository

    Xu, Xinpeng; Qian, Tiezheng

    2013-01-01

    A continuum hydrodynamic model is presented for one-component liquid-gas flows on nonisothermal solid substrates. Numerical simulations are carried out for evaporative droplets moving on substrates with thermal gradients. For droplets in one-component fluids on heated/cooled substrates, the free liquid-gas interfaces are nearly isothermal. Consequently, a thermal singularity occurs at the contact line while the Marangoni effect due to interfacial temperature variation is suppressed. Through evaporation/condensation near the contact line, the thermal singularity makes the contact angle increase with the increasing substrate temperature. Due to this effect, droplets will move toward the cold end on substrates with thermal gradients. The droplet migration velocity is found to be proportional to the change of substrate temperature across the droplet. It follows that for two droplets of different sizes on a substrate with temperature gradient, the larger droplet moves faster and will catch up with the smaller droplet ahead. As soon as they touch, they coalesce rapidly into an even larger droplet that will move even faster. © 2013 World Scientific Publishing Company.

  18. EVAPORATIVE DROPLETS IN ONE-COMPONENT FLUIDS DRIVEN BY THERMAL GRADIENTS ON SOLID SUBSTRATES

    KAUST Repository

    Xu, Xinpeng

    2013-03-20

    A continuum hydrodynamic model is presented for one-component liquid-gas flows on nonisothermal solid substrates. Numerical simulations are carried out for evaporative droplets moving on substrates with thermal gradients. For droplets in one-component fluids on heated/cooled substrates, the free liquid-gas interfaces are nearly isothermal. Consequently, a thermal singularity occurs at the contact line while the Marangoni effect due to interfacial temperature variation is suppressed. Through evaporation/condensation near the contact line, the thermal singularity makes the contact angle increase with the increasing substrate temperature. Due to this effect, droplets will move toward the cold end on substrates with thermal gradients. The droplet migration velocity is found to be proportional to the change of substrate temperature across the droplet. It follows that for two droplets of different sizes on a substrate with temperature gradient, the larger droplet moves faster and will catch up with the smaller droplet ahead. As soon as they touch, they coalesce rapidly into an even larger droplet that will move even faster. © 2013 World Scientific Publishing Company.

  19. Transient Thermal Analysis of 3-D Integrated Circuits Packages by the DGTD Method

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Ping

    2017-03-11

    Since accurate thermal analysis plays a critical role in the thermal design and management of the 3-D system-level integration, in this paper, a discontinuous Galerkin time-domain (DGTD) algorithm is proposed to achieve this purpose. Such as the parabolic partial differential equation (PDE), the transient thermal equation cannot be directly solved by the DGTD method. To address this issue, the heat flux, as an auxiliary variable, is introduced to reduce the Laplace operator to a divergence operator. The resulting PDE is hyperbolic, which can be further written into a conservative form. By properly choosing the definition of the numerical flux used for the information exchange between neighboring elements, the hyperbolic thermal PDE can be solved by the DGTD together with the auxiliary differential equation. The proposed algorithm is a kind of element-level domain decomposition method, which is suitable to deal with multiscale geometries in 3-D integrated systems. To verify the accuracy and robustness of the developed DGTD algorithm, several representative examples are benchmarked.

  20. Fabrication of zero contact angle ultra-super hydrophilic surfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jothi Prakash, C G; Clement Raj, C; Prasanth, R

    2017-06-15

    Zero contact angle surfaces have been created with the combined effect of nanostructure and UV illumination. The contact angle of titanium surface has been optimized to 3.25°±1°. with nanotubular structures through electrochemical surface modification. The porosity and surface energy of tubular TiO 2 layer play critical role over the surface wettability and the hydrophilicity of the surface. The surface free energy has been enhanced from 23.72mJ/m 2 (bare titanium surface) to 87.11mJ/m 2 (nanotubular surface). Similar surface with TiO 2 nanoparticles coating shows superhydrophilicity with contact angle up to 5.63°±0.95°. This implies liquid imbibition and surface curvature play a crucial role in surface hydrophilicity. The contact angle has been further reduced to 0°±0.86° by illuminating the surface with UV radiation. Results shows that by tuning the nanotube morphology, highly porous surfaces can be fabricated to reduce contact angle and enhance wettability. This study provides an insight into the inter-relationship between surface structural factors and ultra-superhydrophilic surfaces which can help to optimize thermal hydraulic and self cleaning surfaces. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  1. Dynamic Harmony Search with Polynomial Mutation Algorithm for Valve-Point Economic Load Dispatch

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Karthikeyan

    2015-01-01

    mutation (DHSPM algorithm to solve ORPD problem. In DHSPM algorithm the key parameters of HS algorithm like harmony memory considering rate (HMCR and pitch adjusting rate (PAR are changed dynamically and there is no need to predefine these parameters. Additionally polynomial mutation is inserted in the updating step of HS algorithm to favor exploration and exploitation of the search space. The DHSPM algorithm is tested with three power system cases consisting of 3, 13, and 40 thermal units. The computational results show that the DHSPM algorithm is more effective in finding better solutions than other computational intelligence based methods.

  2. Surface-restrained growth of vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays with excellent thermal transport performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ping, Linquan; Hou, Peng-Xiang; Liu, Chang; Li, Jincheng; Zhao, Yang; Zhang, Feng; Ma, Chaoqun; Tai, Kaiping; Cong, Hongtao; Cheng, Hui-Ming

    2017-06-22

    A vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) array is a promising candidate for a high-performance thermal interface material in high-power microprocessors due to its excellent thermal transport property. However, its rough and entangled free tips always cause poor interfacial contact, which results in serious contact resistance dominating the total thermal resistance. Here, we employed a thin carbon cover to restrain the disorderly growth of the free tips of a VACNT array. As a result, all the free tips are seamlessly connected by this thin carbon cover and the top surface of the array is smoothed. This unique structure guarantees the participation of all the carbon nanotubes in the array in the heat transport. Consequently the VACNT array grown on a Cu substrate shows a record low thermal resistance of 0.8 mm 2 K W -1 including the two-sided contact resistances, which is 4 times lower than the best result previously reported. Remarkably, the VACNT array can be easily peeled away from the Cu substrate and act as a thermal pad with excellent flexibility, adhesive ability and heat transport capability. As a result the CNT array with a thin carbon cover shows great potential for use as a high-performance flexible thermal interface material.

  3. Temperature field in concrete when in contact with hot liquids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andrade Lima, F.R. de.

    1981-09-01

    In an HCDA (Hypothetical Core Disruptive Accident) it is postulated that liquid metal coolants and core materials come in contact with the retaining concrete structure. A mathematical model and an associated computer program was previously developed to describle the transient heat and mass transfer in the concrete. Implementations on the original program-USINT- are included to consider the variations of the thermal conductivity as a function of the temperature. Also a subroutine - PLOTTI - is incorporated to the program for the plotting of the results. The new program - USINTG - is used to calculate the temperature and pressure fields and the water released from concrete structures during a sodium leak simulation and with the concrete structures in contact with liquid sodium. No consideration about chemical reactions involving the sodium when in contact with concrete is considered. (Author) [pt

  4. French studies on the thermal effluents of electric power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dezes-Cadiere, H.

    1976-01-01

    This report presents a synthesis of studies made in France in the thermal effluent field: thermal power plant cooling systems, transfer and dispersion of thermal effluents in the receptive media, effects of thermal effluents on water physicochemistry and biochemistry, effects of thermal effluents on aquatic ecosystems, and, possibilities of waste heat recovery with the view of utilization in agriculture, aquaculture and district heating. A catalogue of French organizations working or having data on thermal effluents is presented, as also an alphabetical list of the contacted persons. A bibliography of French documents concerning the previously mentioned studies is finally given (193 refs.) [fr

  5. Scanning thermal microscopy based on a quartz tuning fork and a micro-thermocouple in active mode (2ω method)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bontempi, Alexia; Nguyen, Tran Phong; Salut, Roland; Thiery, Laurent; Teyssieux, Damien; Vairac, Pascal

    2016-01-01

    A novel probe for scanning thermal microscope using a micro-thermocouple probe placed on a Quartz Tuning Fork (QTF) is presented. Instead of using an external deflection with a cantilever beam for contact detection, an original combination of piezoelectric resonator and thermal probe is employed. Due to a non-contact photothermal excitation principle, the high quality factor of the QTF allows the probe-to-surface contact detection. Topographic and thermal scanning images obtained on a specific sample points out the interest of our system as an alternative to cantilevered resistive probe systems which are the most spread.

  6. Scanning thermal microscopy based on a quartz tuning fork and a micro-thermocouple in active mode (2ω method).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bontempi, Alexia; Nguyen, Tran Phong; Salut, Roland; Thiery, Laurent; Teyssieux, Damien; Vairac, Pascal

    2016-06-01

    A novel probe for scanning thermal microscope using a micro-thermocouple probe placed on a Quartz Tuning Fork (QTF) is presented. Instead of using an external deflection with a cantilever beam for contact detection, an original combination of piezoelectric resonator and thermal probe is employed. Due to a non-contact photothermal excitation principle, the high quality factor of the QTF allows the probe-to-surface contact detection. Topographic and thermal scanning images obtained on a specific sample points out the interest of our system as an alternative to cantilevered resistive probe systems which are the most spread.

  7. Scanning thermal microscopy based on a quartz tuning fork and a micro-thermocouple in active mode (2ω method)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bontempi, Alexia; Nguyen, Tran Phong; Salut, Roland; Thiery, Laurent; Teyssieux, Damien; Vairac, Pascal [FEMTO-ST Institute UMR 6174, Université de Franche-Comté, CNRS, ENSMM, UTBM, 15B Avenue des Montboucons, F-25030 Besançon (France)

    2016-06-15

    A novel probe for scanning thermal microscope using a micro-thermocouple probe placed on a Quartz Tuning Fork (QTF) is presented. Instead of using an external deflection with a cantilever beam for contact detection, an original combination of piezoelectric resonator and thermal probe is employed. Due to a non-contact photothermal excitation principle, the high quality factor of the QTF allows the probe-to-surface contact detection. Topographic and thermal scanning images obtained on a specific sample points out the interest of our system as an alternative to cantilevered resistive probe systems which are the most spread.

  8. Millisecond photo-thermal process on significant improvement of supercapacitor’s performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Kui; Wang, Jixiao; Wu, Ying; Zhao, Song; Wang, Zhi; Wang, Shichang

    2016-01-01

    Graphical abstract: A high way for charge transfer is created by a millisecond photo-thermal process which could decrease contact resistance among nanomaterials and improve the electrochemical performances. - Highlights: • Improve conductivity among nanomaterials with a millisecond photo-thermal process. • The specific capacitance can increase about 25% with an photo-thermal process. • The circle stability and rate capability can be improved above 10% with photo-thermal process. • Provide a new way that create electron path to improve electrochemical performance. - Abstract: Supercapacitors fabricated with nanomaterials usually have high specific capacitance and excellent performance. However, the small size of nanomaterials renders a considerable limitation of the contact area among nanomaterials, which is harmful to charge carrier transfer. This fact may hinder the development and application of nanomaterials in electrochemical storage systems. Here, a millisecond photo-thermal process was introduced to create a charge carries transfer path to decrease the contact resistance among nanomaterials, and enhance the electrochemical performance of supercapacitors. Polyaniline (PANI) nanowire, as a model nanomaterial, was used to modify electrodes under different photo-thermal process conditions. The modified electrodes were characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and the results were analysed by equivalent circuit simulation. These results demonstrate that the photo-thermal process can alter the morphology of PANI nanowires, lower the charge transfer resistances and thus improve the performance of electrodes. The specific capacitance increase of the modified electrodes is about 25%. The improvement of the circle stability and rate capability are above 10%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt on research the effect of photo-thermal process on the conductivity

  9. Allergic Contact Dermatitis Due to Paraphenylenediamine: An Update.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Encabo Durán, B; Romero-Pérez, D; Silvestre Salvador, J F

    2018-02-26

    Paraphenylenediamine (PPD) is an amine that is mainly used as an ingredient in hair dyes and henna tattoos. The incidence of allergic contact dermatitis to PPD is increasing, particularly in younger patients. In this article, we review the main sources of PPD and the substances with which it can interact and present a practical algorithm for diagnosing and treating suspected cases of PPD allergy. Copyright © 2018 AEDV. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  10. Studying the TEM response of a 3-D conductor at a geological contact using the FDTD method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, T.; Tripp, A.C.; Hohmann, G.W. [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States). Dept. of Geology and Geophysics

    1995-07-01

    Many mineral targets are located near contact zones. Since the change of resistivity across the contact can distort or obscure the transient electromagnetic (TEM) response of the target, it is important to understand the possible effects. Previous investigators have examined similar problems using scale models. For example, Spies and Parker (1984) studied the TEM responses of fixed-loop and moving-loop configurations to geological contacts with lateral resistivity variations. More recently, Wilt (1991) systematically studied TEM soundings near a geological contact and observed that different survey systems respond to the contact in different ways. This paper will illustrate the use of the finite-difference, time-domain (FDTD) algorithm of Wang and Hohmann (1993) for calculating the TEM response of a 3-D conductive body at a geological contact. The algorithm is based on the Yee staggered grid FDTD method for solving the transient electrical nonmagnetic field responses of a 3-D model. On a suitable computer, a wide range of model responses can be readily calculated, a versatility that scale modeling does not share. This study uses a fixed transmitter loop, roving-receiver configuration. Many other configurations can be regarded as special cases of this survey. It is commonly employed, for instance, by the Newmont EMP (Body and Wiles, 1984), UTEM (West et al., 1984), and Geonics EM37 systems. The configuration also facilitates finite-difference, time-domain modeling because it does not require frequent movement of the source.

  11. Filler-depletion layer adjacent to interface impacts performance of thermal interface material

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susumu Yada

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available When installing thermal interface material (TIM between heat source and sink to reduce contact thermal resistance, the interfacial thermal resistance (ITR between the TIM and heat source/sink may become important, especially when the TIM thickness becomes smaller in the next-generation device integration. To this end, we have investigated ITR between TIM and aluminum surface by using the time-domain thermoreflectance method. The measurements reveal large ITR attributed to the depletion of filler particles in TIM adjacent to the aluminum surface. The thickness of the depletion layer is estimated to be about 100 nm. As a consequence, the fraction of ITR to the total contact thermal resistance becomes about 20% when the TIM thickness is about 50 μm (current thickness, and it exceeds 50% when the thickness is smaller than 10 μm (next-generation thickness.

  12. Thermal methodology: recent developments; Methodologie thermique: developpements recents

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jumel, J.; Lepoutre, F.; Balageas, D. [Office National d' Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales (ONERA), 75 - Paris (France)]|[Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 75 - Paris (France)]|[CEA Le Ripault, 37 - Tours (France)] [and others

    2001-07-01

    This conference day organized by the French society of thermal engineering (SFT) was devoted to the recent advances in thermal instrumentation. Eight papers were presented and were dealing with: the measurement of the microscopic thermal properties of C/C and C/C-SiC composite materials; the metrology of the local probe thermal microscopy (analysis of the probe-sample thermal interaction); the emission factor of semi-transparent materials at high temperature (2000 deg.C); the study of the tungsten-rhenium couples between 1000 and 2000 deg.C; the theoretical aspects of thermocouple instrumentation in the estimation of surface or interface thermal conditions; the microscale thermo-physical characterisation of metal coatings; the thermal microscopy measurement of the contact resistance of a metal inclusion in a thermoplastic matrix; and the application of laser-induced fluorescence in thermal metrology (from turbulence to combustion). (J.S.)

  13. Prospective multicenter survey on the clinical management of pediatric contact dermatitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruggiero, Giuseppe; Carnevale, Claudia; Diociaiuti, Andrea; Arcangeli, Fabio; El Hachem, May

    2016-12-01

    Contact dermatitis can be defined as an inflammatory process affecting the skin surface and induced by contact with chemical, physical and/or biotic agents in the environment. It causes lesions to skin, mucosae and semi-mucosae by means of allergic and irritant pathogenic mechanisms. Among the main triggers of contact dermatitis in the pediatric age are chemical or physical agents, which cause irritant contact dermatitis (ICD), and sensitizers, which cause a tissue damage through an allergic mechanism (allergic contact dermatitis [ACD]). A prospective, multicenter, observational study was carried out in 204 children affected by contact dermatitis, aged up to 14 years, and enrolled by pediatricians from 7 different Italian provinces. The diagnosis of contact dermatitis was based on the pediatrician's clinical evaluation. The data were collected through a series of simple and multiple choice questions, anonymously filled out by pediatricians. In 90% of cases (184 of 204 patients), there was complete remission of contact dermatitis, with no cases of worsening. No adverse events were observed, either. The effectiveness of the therapy was rated as "very effective" by 84.4% of the parents and 86.8% of the pediatricians. In only 10 patients a new therapy had to be prescribed. Contact dermatitis is a heterogeneous inflammatory skin disease induced by contact with different kinds of environmental agents. Cutaneous manifestations are highly variable and depend on the modality of contact, on the causative agent and on the pathogenesis. This Italian experience of a clinical approach to contact dermatitis stresses the need of daily skin care through different therapeutic strategies, based on the diagnosis, the clinical severity and the parents and children compliance. The first therapeutic measure to be implemented is prevention, through the removal of the causative agent and the use of protective devices. Indeed, preserving the skin's barrier function is an important goal and

  14. Computational Contact Mechanics Geometrically Exact Theory for Arbitrary Shaped Bodies

    CERN Document Server

    Konyukhov, Alexander

    2013-01-01

    This book contains a systematical analysis of geometrical situations  leading to  contact pairs -- point-to-surface, surface-to-surface, point-to-curve, curve-to-curve and curve-to-surface.  Each contact pair  is inherited with a special coordinate system based on its geometrical properties such as a Gaussian surface coordinate system or a Serret-Frenet curve coordinate system.  The formulation in a covariant form allows in a straightforward fashion to consider various constitutive relations for a  certain pair such as anisotropy for both frictional and structural parts. Then standard methods well known in computational contact mechanics such as penalty, Lagrange multiplier methods, combination of both and others  are formulated in these coordinate systems. Such formulations require then the powerful apparatus of differential geometry of surfaces and curves as well as of convex analysis. The final goals of such transformations are  then ready-for-implementation numerical algorithms within the finite e...

  15. Advanced Signal Processing for Thermal Flaw Detection; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    VALLEY, MICHAEL T.; HANSCHE, BRUCE D.; PAEZ, THOMAS L.; URBINA, ANGEL; ASHBAUGH, DENNIS M.

    2001-01-01

    Dynamic thermography is a promising technology for inspecting metallic and composite structures used in high-consequence industries. However, the reliability and inspection sensitivity of this technology has historically been limited by the need for extensive operator experience and the use of human judgment and visual acuity to detect flaws in the large volume of infrared image data collected. To overcome these limitations new automated data analysis algorithms and software is needed. The primary objectives of this research effort were to develop a data processing methodology that is tied to the underlying physics, which reduces or removes the data interpretation requirements, and which eliminates the need to look at significant numbers of data frames to determine if a flaw is present. Considering the strengths and weakness of previous research efforts, this research elected to couple both the temporal and spatial attributes of the surface temperature. Of the possible algorithms investigated, the best performing was a radiance weighted root mean square Laplacian metric that included a multiplicative surface effect correction factor and a novel spatio-temporal parametric model for data smoothing. This metric demonstrated the potential for detecting flaws smaller than 0.075 inch in inspection areas on the order of one square foot. Included in this report is the development of a thermal imaging model, a weighted least squares thermal data smoothing algorithm, simulation and experimental flaw detection results, and an overview of the ATAC (Automated Thermal Analysis Code) software that was developed to analyze thermal inspection data

  16. Thermal-Aware Scheduling for Future Chip Multiprocessors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pedro Trancoso

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available The increased complexity and operating frequency in current single chip microprocessors is resulting in a decrease in the performance improvements. Consequently, major manufacturers offer chip multiprocessor (CMP architectures in order to keep up with the expected performance gains. This architecture is successfully being introduced in many markets including that of the embedded systems. Nevertheless, the integration of several cores onto the same chip may lead to increased heat dissipation and consequently additional costs for cooling, higher power consumption, decrease of the reliability, and thermal-induced performance loss, among others. In this paper, we analyze the evolution of the thermal issues for the future chip multiprocessor architectures and show that as the number of on-chip cores increases, the thermal-induced problems will worsen. In addition, we present several scenarios that result in excessive thermal stress to the CMP chip or significant performance loss. In order to minimize or even eliminate these problems, we propose thermal-aware scheduler (TAS algorithms. When assigning processes to cores, TAS takes their temperature and cooling ability into account in order to avoid thermal stress and at the same time improve the performance. Experimental results have shown that a TAS algorithm that considers also the temperatures of neighboring cores is able to significantly reduce the temperature-induced performance loss while at the same time, decrease the chip's temperature across many different operation and configuration scenarios.

  17. Diagnosis of Constant Faults in Read-Once Contact Networks over Finite Bases using Decision Trees

    KAUST Repository

    Busbait, Monther I.

    2014-05-01

    We study the depth of decision trees for diagnosis of constant faults in read-once contact networks over finite bases. This includes diagnosis of 0-1 faults, 0 faults and 1 faults. For any finite basis, we prove a linear upper bound on the minimum depth of decision tree for diagnosis of constant faults depending on the number of edges in a contact network over that basis. Also, we obtain asymptotic bounds on the depth of decision trees for diagnosis of each type of constant faults depending on the number of edges in contact networks in the worst case per basis. We study the set of indecomposable contact networks with up to 10 edges and obtain sharp coefficients for the linear upper bound for diagnosis of constant faults in contact networks over bases of these indecomposable contact networks. We use a set of algorithms, including one that we create, to obtain the sharp coefficients.

  18. Non-steady state modelling of wheel-rail contact problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guiral, A.; Alonso, A.; Baeza, L.; Giménez, J. G.

    2013-01-01

    Among all the algorithms to solve the wheel-rail contact problem, Kalker's FastSim has become the most useful computation tool since it combines a low computational cost and enough precision for most of the typical railway dynamics problems. However, some types of dynamic problems require the use of a non-steady state analysis. Alonso and Giménez developed a non-stationary method based on FastSim, which provides both, sufficiently accurate results and a low computational cost. However, it presents some limitations; the method is developed for one time-dependent creepage and its accuracy for varying normal forces has not been checked. This article presents the required changes in order to deal with both problems and compares its results with those given by Kalker's Variational Method for rolling contact.

  19. Contact Angle of Drops Measured on Nontransparent Surfaces and Capillary Flow Visualized

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chao, David F.; Zhang, Nengli

    2003-01-01

    The spreading of a liquid on a solid surface is important for various practical processes, and contact-angle measurements provide an elegant method to characterize the interfacial properties of the liquid with the solid substrates. The complex physical processes occurring when a liquid contacts a solid play an important role in determining the performance of chemical processes and materials. Applications for these processes are in printing, coating, gluing, textile dyeing, and adhesives and in the pharmaceutical industry, biomedical research, adhesives, flat panel display manufacturing, surfactant chemistry, and thermal engineering.

  20. Estimation of respiratory rate from thermal videos of preterm infants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Carina Barbosa; Heimann, Konrad; Venema, Boudewijn; Blazek, Vladimir; Czaplik, Michael; Leonhardt, Steffen

    2017-07-01

    Studies have demonstrated that respiratory rate (RR) is a good predictor of the patient condition as well as an early marker of patient deterioration and physiological distress. However, it is also referred as "the neglected vital parameter". This is mainly due to shortcoming of current monitoring techniques. Moreover, in preterm infants, the removal of adhesive electrodes cause epidermal stripping, skin disruption, and with it pain. This paper proposes a new algorithm for estimation of RR in thermal videos of moderate preterm infants. It uses the temperature modulation around the nostrils over the respiratory cycle to extract this vital parameter. To compensate movement artifacts the approach incorporates a tracking algorithm. In addition, a new reliable and accurate algorithm for robust estimation of local (breath-to-breath) intervals was included. To evaluate the performance of this approach, thermal recordings of four moderate preterm infants were acquired. Results were compared with RR derived from body surface electrocardiography. The results showed an excellent agreement between thermal imaging and gold standard. On average, the relative error between both monitoring techniques was 3.42%. In summary, infrared thermography may be a clinically relevant alternative to conventional sensors, due to its high thermal resolution and outstanding characteristics.

  1. A contact method of determination of thermophysical properties of rocks from core samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gavril'ev, R.I.

    1995-01-01

    The zone of the action of thermal disturbances around a circular heat source on the surface of a semi-infinite body is estimated with the aim of using contact methods of determination of thermophysical properties of materials from core samples

  2. Quantitative assessment of contact and non-contact lateral force calibration methods for atomic force microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tran Khac, Bien Cuong; Chung, Koo-Hyun, E-mail: khchung@ulsan.ac.kr

    2016-02-15

    Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has been widely used for measuring friction force at the nano-scale. However, one of the key challenges faced by AFM researchers is to calibrate an AFM system to interpret a lateral force signal as a quantifiable force. In this study, five rectangular cantilevers were used to quantitatively compare three different lateral force calibration methods to demonstrate the legitimacy and to establish confidence in the quantitative integrity of the proposed methods. The Flat-Wedge method is based on a variation of the lateral output on a surface with flat and changing slopes, the Multi-Load Pivot method is based on taking pivot measurements at several locations along the cantilever length, and the Lateral AFM Thermal-Sader method is based on determining the optical lever sensitivity from the thermal noise spectrum of the first torsional mode with a known torsional spring constant from the Sader method. The results of the calibration using the Flat-Wedge and Multi-Load Pivot methods were found to be consistent within experimental uncertainties, and the experimental uncertainties of the two methods were found to be less than 15%. However, the lateral force sensitivity determined by the Lateral AFM Thermal-Sader method was found to be 8–29% smaller than those obtained from the other two methods. This discrepancy decreased to 3–19% when the torsional mode correction factor for an ideal cantilever was used, which suggests that the torsional mode correction should be taken into account to establish confidence in Lateral AFM Thermal-Sader method. - Highlights: • Quantitative assessment of three lateral force calibration methods for AFM. • Advantages and disadvantages of three different lateral force calibration method. • Implementation of Multi-Load Pivot method as non-contact calibration technique. • The torsional mode correction for Lateral AFM Thermal-Sader method.

  3. Quantitative assessment of contact and non-contact lateral force calibration methods for atomic force microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tran Khac, Bien Cuong; Chung, Koo-Hyun

    2016-01-01

    Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has been widely used for measuring friction force at the nano-scale. However, one of the key challenges faced by AFM researchers is to calibrate an AFM system to interpret a lateral force signal as a quantifiable force. In this study, five rectangular cantilevers were used to quantitatively compare three different lateral force calibration methods to demonstrate the legitimacy and to establish confidence in the quantitative integrity of the proposed methods. The Flat-Wedge method is based on a variation of the lateral output on a surface with flat and changing slopes, the Multi-Load Pivot method is based on taking pivot measurements at several locations along the cantilever length, and the Lateral AFM Thermal-Sader method is based on determining the optical lever sensitivity from the thermal noise spectrum of the first torsional mode with a known torsional spring constant from the Sader method. The results of the calibration using the Flat-Wedge and Multi-Load Pivot methods were found to be consistent within experimental uncertainties, and the experimental uncertainties of the two methods were found to be less than 15%. However, the lateral force sensitivity determined by the Lateral AFM Thermal-Sader method was found to be 8–29% smaller than those obtained from the other two methods. This discrepancy decreased to 3–19% when the torsional mode correction factor for an ideal cantilever was used, which suggests that the torsional mode correction should be taken into account to establish confidence in Lateral AFM Thermal-Sader method. - Highlights: • Quantitative assessment of three lateral force calibration methods for AFM. • Advantages and disadvantages of three different lateral force calibration method. • Implementation of Multi-Load Pivot method as non-contact calibration technique. • The torsional mode correction for Lateral AFM Thermal-Sader method.

  4. Thermal simulation of the magnesium thermal of metallic uranium reduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borges, W.A.; Saliba-Silva, A.M.

    2008-01-01

    Metallic uranium production is vital to fabricate fuel elements for nuclear research reactors and to produce radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals. Metallic uranium is got via magnesiothermal reduction of UF 4 . This reaction is carried out inside a closed graphite crucible inserted in a metallic reactor adequately sealed without any outside contact. The assembled set is gradually heated up inside a pit furnace up to reach the reaction ignition temperature (between 600-650 deg C). The optimization of the reactive system depends on the mathematical modeling using simulation by finite elements and computational calculation with specialized programs. In this way, the reactants' thermal behavior is forecast until they reach the ignition temperature. The optimization of the uranium production reaction is based on minimization of thermal losses using better the exo thermal reaction heat. As lower the thermal losses, as higher would be the heat amount to raise the temperature of reaction products. This promotes the adequate melting of uranium and slag, so allowing better metal/slag separation with higher metallic yield. This work shows how the mathematical simulation is made and supplies some preliminary results. (author)

  5. Molecular dynamics study of contact mechanics: contact area and interfacial separation from small to full contact

    OpenAIRE

    Yang, C.; Persson, B. N. J.

    2007-01-01

    We report a molecular dynamics study of the contact between a rigid solid with a randomly rough surface and an elastic block with a flat surface. We study the contact area and the interfacial separation from small contact (low load) to full contact (high load). For small load the contact area varies linearly with the load and the interfacial separation depends logarithmically on the load. For high load the contact area approaches to the nominal contact area (i.e., complete contact), and the i...

  6. Semi-Smooth Newton Method for Solving 2D Contact Problems with Tresca and Coulomb Friction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristina Motyckova

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The contribution deals with contact problems for two elastic bodies with friction. After the description of the problem we present its discretization based on linear or bilinear finite elements. The semi--smooth Newton method is used to find the solution, from which we derive active sets algorithms. Finally, we arrive at the globally convergent dual implementation of the algorithms in terms of the Langrange multipliers for the Tresca problem. Numerical experiments conclude the paper.

  7. Development of contact failure analysis technology - first year(2000) report -

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

    2001-01-01

    Contact tractions are affected by the geometry of contacting bodies. In the present research, square punch, wedge and cylinders are considered as the geometry. Among the geometry, a square punch with rounded corners is basically used. Normal traction profile is obtained in the case of the rounded punch, and shear tractions are evaluated under the partial slip regime by using the influence function method. Multiplication of the shear traction and slip displacement in the slip region of the contact provides the friction energy dissipation from the contact. Since the trace of the shear force influences the amount of the dissipated energy, a desirable trace of the shear force may be supposed to reduce the energy dissipation. Internal stresses are evaluated from the contact normal and shear tractions, which are to be used for calculating the stress intensity factors of a surface breaking crack emanated from the contact surface. The stress intensity factors, K{sub I} and K{sub II}, are investigated during the cyclic shear. It is found that a period of crack opening exists during a shear cycle, which is effective for crack growing. So, to reduce the period can be a method for restraining the cracking failure. On the other hand, there can exist a desirable shape of the contacting body, which can restrain the cracking failure. In the experiment, fretting wear tester is used with the specially designed specimen. Wear of the contact surface are observed in detail, which shows typical shape following the partial and gross slip regimes. An algorithm for evaluating the wear volume is newly developed using the signal processing technique and the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)

  8. Development of contact failure analysis technology - first year(2000) report -

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

    2001-01-01

    Contact tractions are affected by the geometry of contacting bodies. In the present research, square punch, wedge and cylinders are considered as the geometry. Among the geometry, a square punch with rounded corners is basically used. Normal traction profile is obtained in the case of the rounded punch, and shear tractions are evaluated under the partial slip regime by using the influence function method. Multiplication of the shear traction and slip displacement in the slip region of the contact provides the friction energy dissipation from the contact. Since the trace of the shear force influences the amount of the dissipated energy, a desirable trace of the shear force may be supposed to reduce the energy dissipation. Internal stresses are evaluated from the contact normal and shear tractions, which are to be used for calculating the stress intensity factors of a surface breaking crack emanated from the contact surface. The stress intensity factors, K I and K II , are investigated during the cyclic shear. It is found that a period of crack opening exists during a shear cycle, which is effective for crack growing. So, to reduce the period can be a method for restraining the cracking failure. On the other hand, there can exist a desirable shape of the contacting body, which can restrain the cracking failure. In the experiment, fretting wear tester is used with the specially designed specimen. Wear of the contact surface are observed in detail, which shows typical shape following the partial and gross slip regimes. An algorithm for evaluating the wear volume is newly developed using the signal processing technique and the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)

  9. Optimal contact definition for reconstruction of Contact Maps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stehr Henning

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Contact maps have been extensively used as a simplified representation of protein structures. They capture most important features of a protein's fold, being preferred by a number of researchers for the description and study of protein structures. Inspired by the model's simplicity many groups have dedicated a considerable amount of effort towards contact prediction as a proxy for protein structure prediction. However a contact map's biological interest is subject to the availability of reliable methods for the 3-dimensional reconstruction of the structure. Results We use an implementation of the well-known distance geometry protocol to build realistic protein 3-dimensional models from contact maps, performing an extensive exploration of many of the parameters involved in the reconstruction process. We try to address the questions: a to what accuracy does a contact map represent its corresponding 3D structure, b what is the best contact map representation with regard to reconstructability and c what is the effect of partial or inaccurate contact information on the 3D structure recovery. Our results suggest that contact maps derived from the application of a distance cutoff of 9 to 11Å around the Cβ atoms constitute the most accurate representation of the 3D structure. The reconstruction process does not provide a single solution to the problem but rather an ensemble of conformations that are within 2Å RMSD of the crystal structure and with lower values for the pairwise average ensemble RMSD. Interestingly it is still possible to recover a structure with partial contact information, although wrong contacts can lead to dramatic loss in reconstruction fidelity. Conclusions Thus contact maps represent a valid approximation to the structures with an accuracy comparable to that of experimental methods. The optimal contact definitions constitute key guidelines for methods based on contact maps such as structure prediction through

  10. Visualization of direct contact heat transfer between water and molten alloy by neutron radiography. 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishi, Yoshihisa; Furuya, Masahiro; Kinoshita, Izumi; Takenaka, Nobuyuki; Matsubayashi, Masahito.

    1997-01-01

    Design of an innovative Steam Generator (SG) for Liquid Metal Fast Reactors (LMFRs) using liquid-liquid direct contact heat transfer has been developing. In this concept, the SG shell is filled with a molten alloy, which is heated by primary sodium. Water is fed into the high-temperature, molten alloy, and evaporates by direct contact heating. In order to obtain the fundamental information needed to discuss the heat transfer mechanisms of direct contact between the water and molten alloy, this phenomenon was observed by neutron radiography. JRR-3M thermal neutron radiography at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute was used. This paper deals with the results of visualization of direct contact heat exchange in the molten alloy. (author)

  11. A frictional contact problem with wear involving elastic-viscoplastic materials with damage and thermal effects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdelmoumene Djabi

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available We consider a mathematical problem for quasistatic contact between a thermo-elastic-viscoplastic body with damage and an obstacle. The contact is frictional and bilateral with a moving rigid foundation which results in the wear of the contacting surface. We employ the thermo-elasticviscoplastic with damage constitutive law for the material. The damage of the material caused by elastic deformations. The evolution of the damage is described by an inclusion of parabolic type. The problem is formulated as a coupled system of an elliptic variational inequality for the displacement, a parabolic variational inequality for the damage and the heat equation for the temperature. We establish a variational formulation for the model and we prove the existence of a unique weak solution to the problem. The proof is based on a classical existence and uniqueness result on parabolic inequalities, differential equations and fixed point arguments.

  12. Investigation of Thermostressed State of Coating Formation at Electric Contact Surfacing of “Shaft” Type Parts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olena V. Berezshnaya

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The forming of coating at electric contact surfacing is considered. The mathematical model of the coating formation is developed. The method of numerical recurrent solution of the finite-difference form of static equilibrium conditions of the selected elementary volume of coating is used. This model considers distribution of thermal properties and geometric parameters along the thermal deformation zone during the process of electric contact surfacing by compact material. It is found that the change of value of speed asymmetry factor leads to increasing of the friction coefficient in zone of surfacing. This provides the forming of the coating of higher quality. The limitation of the technological capabilities of equipment for electric contact surfacing is related to the size of recoverable parts and application of high electromechanical powers. The regulation of the speed asymmetry factor allows for expanding the technological capabilities of equipment for electric contact surfacing. The nomograms for determination of the stress on the roller electrode and the finite thickness of the coating as the function of the initial thickness of the compact material and the deformation degree are shown.

  13. General Retarded Contact Self-energies in and beyond the Non-equilibrium Green's Functions Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kubis, Tillmann; He, Yu; Andrawis, Robert; Klimeck, Gerhard

    2016-03-01

    Retarded contact self-energies in the framework of nonequilibrium Green's functions allow to model the impact of lead structures on the device without explicitly including the leads in the actual device calculation. Most of the contact self-energy algorithms are limited to homogeneous or periodic, semi-infinite lead structures. In this work, the complex absorbing potential method is extended to solve retarded contact self-energies for arbitrary lead structures, including irregular and randomly disordered leads. This method is verified for regular leads against common approaches and on physically equivalent, but numerically different irregular leads. Transmission results on randomly alloyed In0.5Ga0.5As structures show the importance of disorder in the leads. The concept of retarded contact self-energies is expanded to model passivation of atomically resolved surfaces without explicitly increasing the device's Hamiltonian.

  14. Adaptation of manipulation skills in physical contact with the environment to reference force profiles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Abu-Dakka, Fares J.; Nemec, Bojan; Jørgensen, Jimmy A.

    2015-01-01

    We propose a new methodology for learning and adaption of manipulation skills that involve physical contact with the environment. Pure position control is unsuitable for such tasks because even small errors in the desired trajectory can cause significant deviations from the desired forces...... and torques. The proposed algorithm takes a reference Cartesian trajectory and force/torque profile as input and adapts the movement so that the resulting forces and torques match the reference profiles. The learning algorithm is based on dynamic movement primitives and quaternion representation...

  15. Effects of Thermal Resistance on One-Dimensional Thermal Analysis of the Epidermal Flexible Electronic Devices Integrated with Human Skin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, He; Cui, Yun

    2017-12-01

    Nowadays, flexible electronic devices are increasingly used in direct contact with human skin to monitor the real-time health of human body. Based on the Fourier heat conduction equation and Pennes bio-heat transfer equation, this paper deduces the analytical solutions of one - dimensional heat transfer for flexible electronic devices integrated with human skin under the condition of a constant power. The influence of contact thermal resistance between devices and skin is considered as well. The corresponding finite element model is established to verify the correctness of analytical solutions. The results show that the finite element analysis agrees well with the analytical solution. With bigger thermal resistance, temperature increase of skin surface will decrease. This result can provide guidance for the design of flexible electronic devices to reduce the negative impact that exceeding temperature leave on human skin.

  16. Peltier Coefficient and Photon-Assisted Tunnelling in Quantum Point Contact

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arafa, H. Aly

    2008-01-01

    We present the Peltier coefficient and thermal transport in quantum point contact (QPC), under the influence of external fields and different temperatures. Also we obtain the oscillations of the Peltier coefficient in external fields. Numerical calculations of the Peltier coefficient are performed at different applied voltages, amplitudes and temperatures. The obtained results are consistent with the experimental data in the literature

  17. Contact angle and local wetting at contact line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ri; Shan, Yanguang

    2012-11-06

    This theoretical study was motivated by recent experiments and theoretical work that had suggested the dependence of the static contact angle on the local wetting at the triple-phase contact line. We revisit this topic because the static contact angle as a local wetting parameter is still not widely understood and clearly known. To further clarify the relationship of the static contact angle with wetting, two approaches are applied to derive a general equation for the static contact angle of a droplet on a composite surface composed of heterogeneous components. A global approach based on the free surface energy of a thermodynamic system containing the droplet and solid surface shows the static contact angle as a function of local surface chemistry and local wetting state at the contact line. A local approach, in which only local forces acting on the contact line are considered, results in the same equation. The fact that the local approach agrees with the global approach further demonstrates the static contact angle as a local wetting parameter. Additionally, the study also suggests that the wetting described by the Wenzel and Cassie equations is also the local wetting of the contact line rather than the global wetting of the droplet.

  18. [Sport injuries in full contact and semi-contact karate].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greier, K; Riechelmann, H; Ziemska, J

    2014-03-01

    Karate enjoys great popularity both in professional and recreational sports and can be classified into full, half and low contact styles. The aim of this study was the analysis of sports injuries in Kyokushinkai (full contact) and traditional Karate (semi-contact). In a retrospective study design, 215 active amateur karateka (114 full contact, 101 semi-contact) were interviewed by means of a standardised questionnaire regarding typical sport injuries during the last 36 months. Injuries were categorised into severity grade I (not requiring medical treatment), grade II (single medical treatment), grade III (several outpatient medical treatments) and grade IV (requiring hospitalisation). In total, 217 injuries were reported in detail. 125 injuries (58%) occurred in full contact and 92 (42%) in semi-contact karate. The time related injury rate of full contact karateka was 1.9/1000 h compared to 1.3/1000 h of semi-contact karateka (p injuries were musculoskeletal contusions (33% full contact, 20% semi-contact), followed by articular sprains with 19% and 16%. The lower extremity was affected twice as often in full contact (40%) as in semi-contact (20%) karate. Training injuries were reported by 80% of the full contact and 77% of the semi-contact karateka. Most injuries, both in training and competition, occurred in kumite. 75% of the reported injuries of full contact and 70% of semi-contact karateka were classified as low grade (I or II). The high rate of injuries during training and kumite (sparring) points to specific prevention goals. The emphasis should be put on proprioceptive training and consistent warm-up. In the actual competition the referees play a vital role regarding prevention. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  19. Effect of deformation on the thermal conductivity of granular porous media with rough grain surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Askari, Roohollah; Hejazi, S. Hossein; Sahimi, Muhammad

    2017-08-01

    Heat transfer in granular porous media is an important phenomenon that is relevant to a wide variety of problems, including geothermal reservoirs and enhanced oil recovery by thermal methods. Resistance to flow of heat in the contact area between the grains strongly influences the effective thermal conductivity of such porous media. Extensive experiments have indicated that the roughness of the grains' surface follows self-affine fractal stochastic functions, and thus, the contact resistance cannot be accounted for by models based on smooth surfaces. Despite the significance of rough contact area, the resistance has been accounted for by a fitting parameter in the models of heat transfer. In this Letter we report on a study of conduction in a packing of particles that contains a fluid of a given conductivity, with each grain having a rough self-affine surface, and is under an external compressive pressure. The deformation of the contact area depends on the fractal dimension that characterizes the grains' rough surface, as well as their Young's modulus. Excellent qualitative agreement is obtained with experimental data. Deformation of granular porous media with grains that have rough self-affine fractal surface is simulated. Thermal contact resistance between grains with rough surfaces is incorporated into the numerical simulation of heat conduction under compressive pressure. By increasing compressive pressure, thermal conductivity is enhanced more in the grains with smoother surfaces and lower Young's modulus. Excellent qualitative agreement is obtained with the experimental data.

  20. Thermal protection system gap analysis using a loosely coupled fluid-structural thermal numerical method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Jie; Li, Piao; Yao, Weixing

    2018-05-01

    A loosely coupled fluid-structural thermal numerical method is introduced for the thermal protection system (TPS) gap thermal control analysis in this paper. The aerodynamic heating and structural thermal are analyzed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and numerical heat transfer (NHT) methods respectively. An interpolation algorithm based on the control surface is adopted for the data exchanges on the coupled surface. In order to verify the analysis precision of the loosely coupled method, a circular tube example was analyzed, and the wall temperature agrees well with the test result. TPS gap thermal control performance was studied by the loosely coupled method successfully. The gap heat flux is mainly distributed in the small region at the top of the gap which is the high temperature region. Besides, TPS gap temperature and the power of the active cooling system (CCS) calculated by the traditional uncoupled method are higher than that calculated by the coupled method obviously. The reason is that the uncoupled method doesn't consider the coupled effect between the aerodynamic heating and structural thermal, however the coupled method considers it, so TPS gap thermal control performance can be analyzed more accurately by the coupled method.

  1. Optimization of transition-metal dichalcogenides based field-effecttransistors via contact engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perera, Meeghage Madusanka

    Layered transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) have demonstrated a wide range of remarkable properties for applications in next generation nano-electronics. These systems have displayed many "graphene-like" properties including a relatively high carrier mobility, mechanical flexibility, chemical and thermal stability, and moreover offer the significant advantage of a substantial band gap. However, the fabrication of high performance field-effect transistors (FETs) of TMDs is challenging mainly due to the formation of a significant Schottky barrier at metal/TMD interface in most cases. The main goal of this study is to develop novel contact engineering strategies to achieve low-resistance Ohmic contacts. Our first approach is to use Ionic Liquid (IL) gating of metal contacted MoS2 FETs to achieve highly transparent tunneling contacts due to the strong band banding at metal/MoS2 interface. The substantially reduced contact resistance in ionic-liquid-gated bilayer and few-layer MoS 2 FETs results in an ambipolar behavior with high ON/OFF ratios, a near-ideal subthreshold swing, and significantly improved field-effect mobility. Remarkably, the mobility of a 3-nm-thick MoS2 FET with an IL gate was found to increase from ˜ 100 cm2V-1s-1 to ˜ 220 cm2V-1s-1 as the temperature decreased from 180 K to 77 K. This finding is in quantitative agreement with the true channel mobility measured by four-terminal measurement, suggesting that the mobility is predominantly limited by phonon-scattering. To further improve the contacts of TMD devices, graphene was used as work function tunable electrodes. In order to achieve low Schottky barrier height, both IL gating and surface charge transfer doping were used to tune the work function of graphene electrodes close to the conduction band edge of MoS 2. As a result, the performance of our graphene contacted MoS2 FETs is limited by the channel rather than contacts, which is further verified by four-terminal measurements. Finally

  2. Experimental study of contact edge roughness on sub-100 nm various circular shapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Tae Y.; Ihm, Dongchul; Kang, Hyo C.; Lee, Jum B.; Lee, Byoung H.; Chin, Soo B.; Cho, Do H.; Song, Chang L.

    2005-05-01

    The measurement of edge roughness has become a hot issue in the semiconductor industry. Especially the contact roughness is being more critical as design rule shrinks. Major vendors offer a variety of features to measure the edge roughness in their CD-SEMs. For the line and space patterns, features such as Line Edge Roughness (LER) and Line Width Roughness (LWR) are available in current CD-SEMs. However the features currently available in commercial CD-SEM cannot provide a proper solution in monitoring the contact roughness. We had introduced a new parameter R, measurement algorithm and definition of contact edge roughness to quantify CER and CSR in previous paper. The parameter, R could provide an alternative solution to monitor contact or island pattern roughness. In this paper, we investigated to assess optimum number of CD measurement (1-D) and fitting method for CER or CSR. The study was based on a circular contact shape. Some new ideas to quantify CER or CSR were also suggested with preliminary experimental results.

  3. Dynamic Head-Disk Interface Instabilities With Friction for Light Contact (Surfing) Recording

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vakis, Antonis I.; Lee, Sung-Chang; Polycarpou, Andreas A.

    2009-01-01

    Recent advances in hard-disk drive technology involve the use of a thermal fly-height control (TFC) pole tip protrusion to bring the read/write recording elements of the slider closer to the disk surface and thus achieve Terabit per square inch recording densities. A dynamic, contact mechanics-based

  4. Evaluation of focused ultrasound algorithms: Issues for reducing pre-focal heating and treatment time.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yiannakou, Marinos; Trimikliniotis, Michael; Yiallouras, Christos; Damianou, Christakis

    2016-02-01

    Due to the heating in the pre-focal field the delay between successive movements in high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) are sometimes as long as 60s, resulting to treatment time in the order of 2-3h. Because there is generally a requirement to reduce treatment time, we were motivated to explore alternative transducer motion algorithms in order to reduce pre-focal heating and treatment time. A 1 MHz single element transducer with 4 cm diameter and 10 cm focal length was used. A simulation model was developed that estimates the temperature, thermal dose and lesion development in the pre-focal field. The simulated temperature history that was combined with the motion algorithms produced thermal maps in the pre-focal region. Polyacrylimde gel phantom was used to evaluate the induced pre-focal heating for each motion algorithm used, and also was used to assess the accuracy of the simulation model. Three out of the six algorithms having successive steps close to each other, exhibited severe heating in the pre-focal field. Minimal heating was produced with the algorithms having successive steps apart from each other (square, square spiral and random). The last three algorithms were improved further (with small cost in time), thus eliminating completely the pre-focal heating and reducing substantially the treatment time as compared to traditional algorithms. Out of the six algorithms, 3 were successful in eliminating the pre-focal heating completely. Because these 3 algorithms required no delay between successive movements (except in the last part of the motion), the treatment time was reduced by 93%. Therefore, it will be possible in the future, to achieve treatment time of focused ultrasound therapies shorter than 30 min. The rate of ablated volume achieved with one of the proposed algorithms was 71 cm(3)/h. The intention of this pilot study was to demonstrate that the navigation algorithms play the most important role in reducing pre-focal heating. By evaluating in

  5. Joint energy demand and thermal comfort optimization in photovoltaic-equipped interconnected microgrids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baldi, Simone; Karagevrekis, Athanasios; Michailidis, Iakovos T.; Kosmatopoulos, Elias B.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Energy efficient operation of photovoltaic-equipped interconnected microgrids. • Optimized energy demand for a block of heterogeneous buildings with different sizes. • Multiobjective optimization: matching demand and supply taking into account thermal comfort. • Intelligent control mechanism for heating, ventilating, and air conditioning units. • Optimization of energy consumption and thermal comfort at the aggregate microgrid level. - Abstract: Electrical smart microgrids equipped with small-scale renewable-energy generation systems are emerging progressively as an alternative or an enhancement to the central electrical grid: due to the intermittent nature of the renewable energy sources, appropriate algorithms are required to integrate these two typologies of grids and, in particular, to perform efficiently dynamic energy demand and distributed generation management, while guaranteeing satisfactory thermal comfort for the occupants. This paper presents a novel control algorithm for joint energy demand and thermal comfort optimization in photovoltaic-equipped interconnected microgrids. Energy demand shaping is achieved via an intelligent control mechanism for heating, ventilating, and air conditioning units. The intelligent control mechanism takes into account the available solar energy, the building dynamics and the thermal comfort of the buildings’ occupants. The control design is accomplished in a simulation-based fashion using an energy simulation model, developed in EnergyPlus, of an interconnected microgrid. Rather than focusing only on how each building behaves individually, the optimization algorithm employs a central controller that allows interaction among the buildings of the microgrid. The control objective is to optimize the aggregate microgrid performance. Simulation results demonstrate that the optimization algorithm efficiently integrates the microgrid with the photovoltaic system that provides free electric energy: in

  6. Contact and Non-contact Measurements of Grinding Pins

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magdziak Marek

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the results of contact and non-contact measurements of external profiles of selected grinding pins. The measurements were conducted in order to choose the appropriate measuring technique in the case of the considered measurement task. In the case of contact measurements the coordinate measuring machine ACCURA II was applied. The used coordinate measuring machine was equipped with the contact scanning probe VAST XT and the Calypso inspection software. Contact coordinate measurements were performed by using of different measurement strategies. The applied strategies included different scanning velocities and distances between measured points. Non-contact measurements were conducted by means of the tool presetter produced by the Mahr company. On the basis of gained results the guidelines concerning measurements of grinding pins were formulated. The measurements of analyzed grinding pins performed by means of the non-contact measuring system are characterized by higher reproducibility than the contact measurements. The low reproducibility of contact measurements may be connected with the inaccuracy of the selected coordinate measuring machine and the measuring probe, the measurement parameters and environmental conditions in the laboratory where the coordinate measuring machine is located. Moreover, the paper presents the possible application of results of conducted investigations. The results of non-contact measurements can be used in the simulation studies of grinding processes. The simulations may reduce the costs of machining processes.

  7. Prognostics Approach for Power MOSFET Under Thermal-Stress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galvan, Jose Ramon Celaya; Saxena, Abhinav; Kulkarni, Chetan S.; Saha, Sankalita; Goebel, Kai

    2012-01-01

    The prognostic technique for a power MOSFET presented in this paper is based on accelerated aging of MOSFET IRF520Npbf in a TO-220 package. The methodology utilizes thermal and power cycling to accelerate the life of the devices. The major failure mechanism for the stress conditions is dieattachment degradation, typical for discrete devices with leadfree solder die attachment. It has been determined that dieattach degradation results in an increase in ON-state resistance due to its dependence on junction temperature. Increasing resistance, thus, can be used as a precursor of failure for the die-attach failure mechanism under thermal stress. A feature based on normalized ON-resistance is computed from in-situ measurements of the electro-thermal response. An Extended Kalman filter is used as a model-based prognostics techniques based on the Bayesian tracking framework. The proposed prognostics technique reports on preliminary work that serves as a case study on the prediction of remaining life of power MOSFETs and builds upon the work presented in [1]. The algorithm considered in this study had been used as prognostics algorithm in different applications and is regarded as suitable candidate for component level prognostics. This work attempts to further the validation of such algorithm by presenting it with real degradation data including measurements from real sensors, which include all the complications (noise, bias, etc.) that are regularly not captured on simulated degradation data. The algorithm is developed and tested on the accelerated aging test timescale. In real world operation, the timescale of the degradation process and therefore the RUL predictions will be considerable larger. It is hypothesized that even though the timescale will be larger, it remains constant through the degradation process and the algorithm and model would still apply under the slower degradation process. By using accelerated aging data with actual device measurements and real

  8. A High-Speed Vision-Based Sensor for Dynamic Vibration Analysis Using Fast Motion Extraction Algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dashan Zhang

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The development of image sensor and optics enables the application of vision-based techniques to the non-contact dynamic vibration analysis of large-scale structures. As an emerging technology, a vision-based approach allows for remote measuring and does not bring any additional mass to the measuring object compared with traditional contact measurements. In this study, a high-speed vision-based sensor system is developed to extract structure vibration signals in real time. A fast motion extraction algorithm is required for this system because the maximum sampling frequency of the charge-coupled device (CCD sensor can reach up to 1000 Hz. Two efficient subpixel level motion extraction algorithms, namely the modified Taylor approximation refinement algorithm and the localization refinement algorithm, are integrated into the proposed vision sensor. Quantitative analysis shows that both of the two modified algorithms are at least five times faster than conventional upsampled cross-correlation approaches and achieve satisfactory error performance. The practicability of the developed sensor is evaluated by an experiment in a laboratory environment and a field test. Experimental results indicate that the developed high-speed vision-based sensor system can extract accurate dynamic structure vibration signals by tracking either artificial targets or natural features.

  9. LFQC: a lossless compression algorithm for FASTQ files

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicolae, Marius; Pathak, Sudipta; Rajasekaran, Sanguthevar

    2015-01-01

    Motivation: Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies have revolutionized genomic research by reducing the cost of whole genome sequencing. One of the biggest challenges posed by modern sequencing technology is economic storage of NGS data. Storing raw data is infeasible because of its enormous size and high redundancy. In this article, we address the problem of storage and transmission of large FASTQ files using innovative compression techniques. Results: We introduce a new lossless non-reference based FASTQ compression algorithm named Lossless FASTQ Compressor. We have compared our algorithm with other state of the art big data compression algorithms namely gzip, bzip2, fastqz (Bonfield and Mahoney, 2013), fqzcomp (Bonfield and Mahoney, 2013), Quip (Jones et al., 2012), DSRC2 (Roguski and Deorowicz, 2014). This comparison reveals that our algorithm achieves better compression ratios on LS454 and SOLiD datasets. Availability and implementation: The implementations are freely available for non-commercial purposes. They can be downloaded from http://engr.uconn.edu/rajasek/lfqc-v1.1.zip. Contact: rajasek@engr.uconn.edu PMID:26093148

  10. Contact planarization of ensemble nanowires

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chia, A. C. E.; LaPierre, R. R.

    2011-06-01

    The viability of four organic polymers (S1808, SC200, SU8 and Cyclotene) as filling materials to achieve planarization of ensemble nanowire arrays is reported. Analysis of the porosity, surface roughness and thermal stability of each filling material was performed. Sonication was used as an effective method to remove the tops of the nanowires (NWs) to achieve complete planarization. Ensemble nanowire devices were fully fabricated and I-V measurements confirmed that Cyclotene effectively planarizes the NWs while still serving the role as an insulating layer between the top and bottom contacts. These processes and analysis can be easily implemented into future characterization and fabrication of ensemble NWs for optoelectronic device applications.

  11. A reconstruction of Maxwell model for effective thermal conductivity of composite materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, J.Z.; Gao, B.Z.; Kang, F.Y.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Deficiencies were found in classical Maxwell model for effective thermal conductivity. • Maxwell model was reconstructed based on potential mean-field theory. • Reconstructed Maxwell model was extended with particle–particle contact resistance. • Predictions by reconstructed Maxwell model agree excellently with experimental data. - Abstract: Composite materials consisting of high thermal conductive fillers and polymer matrix are often used as thermal interface materials to dissipate heat generated from mechanical and electronic devices. The prediction of effective thermal conductivity of composites remains as a critical issue due to its dependence on considerably factors. Most models for prediction are based on the analog between electric potential and temperature that satisfy the Laplace equation under steady condition. Maxwell was the first to derive the effective electric resistivity of composites by examining the far-field spherical harmonic solution of Laplace equation perturbed by a sphere of different resistivity, and his model was considered as classical. However, a close review of Maxwell’s derivation reveals that there exist several controversial issues (deficiencies) inherent in his model. In this study, we reconstruct the Maxwell model based on a potential mean-field theory to resolve these issues. For composites made of continuum matrix and particle fillers, the contact resistance among particles was introduced in the reconstruction of Maxwell model. The newly reconstructed Maxwell model with contact resistivity as a fitting parameter is shown to fit excellently to experimental data over wide ranges of particle concentration and mean particle diameter. The scope of applicability of the reconstructed Maxwell model is also discussed using the contact resistivity as a parameter.

  12. The measurement of neutral beam thermal profiles on 'V'-shaped calorimeters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kamperschroer, J.H.; Lagin, L.J.; Silber, K.

    1995-01-01

    It is customary in high power neutral beam systems to use a V-shaped calorimeter to stop and measure the beam. With proper instrumentation, it is possible to determine both the neutral beam power and divergence. By utilizing a near-grazing angle of incidence, the area over which the beam is in contact with the surface is increased, thereby decreasing the power density over the case of normal incidence. Thermocouples on the back of the calorimeter, in conjunction with real time fitting algorithms, are used to deduce the divergence from the thermal profile. This measurement implicitly assumes that the measured profile corresponds to that of the incident beam. It is shown that such is not the case. Energetic particle reflection at near-grazing angle causes the thermal profile on the calorimeter to be more peaked than the incident distribution. The implications of this on the non-linear multiple regression technique of determining the divergence are discussed. With the aid of a reflection model, developed and applied to the beam from a typical TFTR ion source, it is shown that a peaked power density can be modelled. Neural networks are being studied as a means of supplanting the older regression technique of measuring divergence. Y-direction divergences have been successfully derived using a one-dimensional neural network

  13. Experimental investigation and characterization of micro resistance welding with an electro-thermal actuator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Chun-Wei; Yeh, Cheng-Chi; Hsu Wensyang

    2009-01-01

    Resistance welding is a common scheme of assembly on the macro scale by pressing together two workpieces with current passing through them to generate joule heating at the contact region due to high contact resistance. However, micro assembly by resistance welding is seldom reported. Here, resistance welding with an electro-thermal microactuator to assemble micro Ni structures is experimentally investigated and characterized. The bent-beam electro-thermal microactuator is designed to provide the necessary displacements and pressing forces. The two-mask metal-based surface micromachining process is adopted to fabricate the micro Ni structures. The calibrated initial contact resistance is shown to decrease with increasing contact pressure. Furthermore, stronger welding strength is achieved at a smaller initial contact resistance, which indicates that a larger clamping force would enhance the welding strength as large as 3.09 MPa (74.4 µN) at a contact resistance of 2.7 Ω here. The input welding energy is also found to be a critical factor. In our tests, when welding energy is below the threshold limit of 0.05 J, the welding trials all fail. For the energy between 0.05 J and 1 J, there is a transition from a lower yield of 33.3% to a higher yield of 58.3%. At high welding energy, between 1 and 10 J, 100% yield is achieved. With the demonstration and characterization of micro resistance welding by the electro-thermal microactuator, the scheme proposed here would be helpful in the automation of micro assembly

  14. Thermal separation of soil particles from thermal conductivity measurement under various air pressures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Sen; Ren, Tusheng; Lu, Yili; Meng, Ping; Zhang, Jinsong

    2017-01-05

    The thermal conductivity of dry soils is related closely to air pressure and the contact areas between solid particles. In this study, the thermal conductivity of two-phase soil systems was determined under reduced and increased air pressures. The thermal separation of soil particles, i.e., the characteristic dimension of the pore space (d), was then estimated based on the relationship between soil thermal conductivity and air pressure. Results showed that under both reduced and increased air pressures, d estimations were significantly larger than the geometrical mean separation of solid particles (D), which suggested that conductive heat transfer through solid particles dominated heat transfer in dry soils. The increased air pressure approach gave d values lower than that of the reduced air pressure method. With increasing air pressure, more collisions between gas molecules and solid surface occurred in micro-pores and intra-aggregate pores due to the reduction of mean free path of air molecules. Compared to the reduced air pressure approach, the increased air pressure approach expressed more micro-pore structure attributes in heat transfer. We concluded that measuring thermal conductivity under increased air pressure procedures gave better-quality d values, and improved soil micro-pore structure estimation.

  15. Non-steady state modeling of wheel-rail contact problem

    OpenAIRE

    Guiral, A.; Alonso, A.; Baeza González, Luis Miguel; Giménez, J.G.

    2013-01-01

    Among all the algorithms to solve the wheel–rail contact problem, Kalker's FastSim has become the most useful computation tool since it combines a low computational cost and enough precision for most of the typical railway dynamics problems. However, some types of dynamic problems require the use of a non-steady state analysis. Alonso and Giménez developed a non-stationary method based on FastSim, which provides both, sufficiently accurate results and a low computational cost. However, it pre...

  16. Ground Contact Analysis for Korea’s Fictitious Lunar Orbiter Mission

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Young-Joo Song

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In this research, the ground contact opportunity for the fictitious low lunar orbiter is analyzed to prepare for a future Korean lunar orbiter mission. The ground contact opportunity is basically derived from geometrical relations between the typical ground stations at the Earth, the relative positions of the Earth and Moon, and finally, the lunar orbiter itself. Both the cut-off angle and the orbiter’s Line of Sight (LOS conditions (weather orbiter is located at near or far side of the Moon seen from the Earth are considered to determine the ground contact opportunities. Four KOMPSAT Ground Stations (KGSs are assumed to be Korea’s future Near Earth Networks (NENs to support lunar missions, and world-wide separated Deep Space Networks (DSNs are also included during the contact availability analysis. As a result, it is concluded that about 138 times of contact will be made between the orbiter and the Daejeon station during 27.3 days of prediction time span. If these contact times are converted into contact duration, the duration is found to be about 8.55 days, about 31.31% of 27.3 days. It is discovered that selected four KGSs cannot provide continuous tracking of the lunar orbiter, meaning that international collaboration is necessary to track Korea’s future lunar orbiter effectively. Possible combinations of world-wide separated DSNs are also suggested to compensate for the lack of contact availability with only four KGSs, as with primary and backup station concepts. The provided algorithm can be easily modified to support any type of orbit around the Moon, and therefore, the presented results could aid further progress in the design field of Korea’s lunar orbiter missions.

  17. Inversion of Land Surface Temperature (LST Using Terra ASTER Data: A Comparison of Three Algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milton Isaya Ndossi

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Land Surface Temperature (LST is an important measurement in studies related to the Earth surface’s processes. The Advanced Space-borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER instrument onboard the Terra spacecraft is the currently available Thermal Infrared (TIR imaging sensor with the highest spatial resolution. This study involves the comparison of LSTs inverted from the sensor using the Split Window Algorithm (SWA, the Single Channel Algorithm (SCA and the Planck function. This study has used the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA data to model and compare the results from the three algorithms. The data from the sensor have been processed by the Python programming language in a free and open source software package (QGIS to enable users to make use of the algorithms. The study revealed that the three algorithms are suitable for LST inversion, whereby the Planck function showed the highest level of accuracy, the SWA had moderate level of accuracy and the SCA had the least accuracy. The algorithms produced results with Root Mean Square Errors (RMSE of 2.29 K, 3.77 K and 2.88 K for the Planck function, the SCA and SWA respectively.

  18. Thermal crosstalk in heated microcantilever arrays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Hoe Joon; Dai, Zhenting; King, William P

    2013-01-01

    We report on a detailed characterization and analysis of thermal crosstalk in a heated microcantilever array. The fabricated heated cantilever array consists of five identical independently controlled heated cantilevers. The temperature of each cantilever can be controlled over a large temperature range, up to 900 °C, by means of an integrated solid-state resistive heater. We analyze thermal crosstalk in steady and transient operating conditions when the heated cantilever array is either in contact with a substrate or freely suspended in air. The thermal conductance between neighboring cantilevers is as high as 0.61 µW °C −1 , resulting in non-negligible temperature increases in neighboring cantilevers, depending upon the operating conditions. By understanding and accounting for thermal crosstalk, it is possible to improve temperature control and temperature measurements with heated microcantilever arrays. (paper)

  19. Controlling infectious disease through the targeted manipulation of contact network structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Carolyn Gates

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Individuals in human and animal populations are linked through dynamic contact networks with characteristic structural features that drive the epidemiology of directly transmissible infectious diseases. Using animal movement data from the British cattle industry as an example, this analysis explores whether disease dynamics can be altered by placing targeted restrictions on contact formation to reconfigure network topology. This was accomplished using a simple network generation algorithm that combined configuration wiring with stochastic block modelling techniques to preserve the weighted in- and out-degree of individual nodes (farms as well as key demographic characteristics of the individual network connections (movement date, livestock market, and animal production type. We then tested a control strategy based on introducing additional constraints into the network generation algorithm to prevent farms with a high in-degree from selling cattle to farms with a high out-degree as these particular network connections are predicted to have a disproportionately strong role in spreading disease. Results from simple dynamic disease simulation models predicted significantly lower endemic disease prevalences on the trade restricted networks compared to the baseline generated networks. As expected, the relative magnitude of the predicted changes in endemic prevalence was greater for diseases with short infectious periods and low transmission probabilities. Overall, our study findings demonstrate that there is significant potential for controlling multiple infectious diseases simultaneously by manipulating networks to have more epidemiologically favourable topological configurations. Further research is needed to determine whether the economic and social benefits of controlling disease can justify the costs of restricting contact formation.

  20. Controlling infectious disease through the targeted manipulation of contact network structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gates, M. Carolyn; Woolhouse, Mark E.J.

    2015-01-01

    Individuals in human and animal populations are linked through dynamic contact networks with characteristic structural features that drive the epidemiology of directly transmissible infectious diseases. Using animal movement data from the British cattle industry as an example, this analysis explores whether disease dynamics can be altered by placing targeted restrictions on contact formation to reconfigure network topology. This was accomplished using a simple network generation algorithm that combined configuration wiring with stochastic block modelling techniques to preserve the weighted in- and out-degree of individual nodes (farms) as well as key demographic characteristics of the individual network connections (movement date, livestock market, and animal production type). We then tested a control strategy based on introducing additional constraints into the network generation algorithm to prevent farms with a high in-degree from selling cattle to farms with a high out-degree as these particular network connections are predicted to have a disproportionately strong role in spreading disease. Results from simple dynamic disease simulation models predicted significantly lower endemic disease prevalences on the trade restricted networks compared to the baseline generated networks. As expected, the relative magnitude of the predicted changes in endemic prevalence was greater for diseases with short infectious periods and low transmission probabilities. Overall, our study findings demonstrate that there is significant potential for controlling multiple infectious diseases simultaneously by manipulating networks to have more epidemiologically favourable topological configurations. Further research is needed to determine whether the economic and social benefits of controlling disease can justify the costs of restricting contact formation. PMID:26342238

  1. A prediction model for the effective thermal conductivity of mono-sized pebble beds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Xiaoliang; Zheng, Jie; Chen, Hongli, E-mail: hlchen1@ustc.edu.cn

    2016-02-15

    Highlights: • One new method to couple the contact area with bed strain is developed. • The constant coefficient to correlate the effect of gas flow is determined. • This model is valid for various cases, and its advantages are showed obviously. - Abstract: A model is presented here to predict the effective thermal conductivity of porous medium packed with mono-sized spherical pebbles, and it is valid when pebbles’ size is far less than the characteristic length of porous medium just like the fusion pebble beds. In this model, the influences of parameters such as properties of pebble and gas materials, bed porosity, pebble size, gas flow, contact area, thermal radiation, contact resistance, etc. are all taken into account, and one method to couple the contact areas with bed strains is also developed and implemented preliminarily. Compared with available theoretical models, CFD numerical simulations and experimental data, this model is verified to be successful to forecast the bed effective thermal conductivity in various cases and its advantages are also showed obviously. Especially, the convection in pebble beds is focused on and a constant coefficient C to correlate the effect of gas flow is determined for the fully developed region of beds by numerical simulation, which is close to some experimental data.

  2. Inspection of complex geometry pieces with an intelligent contact transducer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chatillon, S.; Roy, O.; Mahaut, St.

    2000-01-01

    A new multi-element contact transducer has been developed to improve the inspection of components with complex geometry. The emitting surface is flexible in order to optimize the contact with pieces. An algorithm, based on a simplified geometric model, has been used to determine the delays law which allows to control the focal characteristics of the transmitted field. Acquisition data lead in transmission with an articulated transducer validate the behavior provided by simulation. Thus the optimization of the delays law ensures the transmission of a beam which is homogeneous and controlled during the moving of the transducer. Inspections in echo-pulse mode are implemented on a sample simulating a component controlled on site. Results show that the dynamical adaptation of the delays law to the geometry of the piece leads to very good performances

  3. the simple mono-canal algorithm for the temperature estimating of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    30 juin 2010 ... the brightness temperature (Tb) at the sensor level. This algorithm ..... des attributs de textures et de la fusion de segmentations: application à la zone ... retreved from thermal infrared single channel remote sensing data. 2004 ...

  4. Wearable device for skin contact thermography: design, construction and testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giansanti, D.; Maccioni, G.

    2008-01-01

    The need for wearable devices for thermal monitoring is rising. These devices could be used to continuously monitor patients for breast cancer investigation or vascular, dermatological and rheumatic disorders, in viability studies, or during physical exercise. We designed and constructed a wearable device for skin-contact thermography that uses integrated silicon sensors. The device was validated using a phantom with a dynamic bench test. The thermal resolution was greater than 0.030'C, and the spatial resolution was equal to 1.6x10-5 m'2. We also investigated the device's performance on five clinical subjects. Results of these studies showed a maximal error of less than 0.10'C in each evaluation [it

  5. Color-gradient lattice Boltzmann model for simulating droplet motion with contact-angle hysteresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ba, Yan; Liu, Haihu; Sun, Jinju; Zheng, Rongye

    2013-10-01

    Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is an effective tool for simulating the contact-line motion due to the nature of its microscopic dynamics. In contact-line motion, contact-angle hysteresis is an inherent phenomenon, but it is neglected in most existing color-gradient based LBMs. In this paper, a color-gradient based multiphase LBM is developed to simulate the contact-line motion, particularly with the hysteresis of contact angle involved. In this model, the perturbation operator based on the continuum surface force concept is introduced to model the interfacial tension, and the recoloring operator proposed by Latva-Kokko and Rothman is used to produce phase segregation and resolve the lattice pinning problem. At the solid surface, the color-conserving wetting boundary condition [Hollis et al., IMA J. Appl. Math. 76, 726 (2011)] is applied to improve the accuracy of simulations and suppress spurious currents at the contact line. In particular, we present a numerical algorithm to allow for the effect of the contact-angle hysteresis, in which an iterative procedure is used to determine the dynamic contact angle. Numerical simulations are conducted to verify the developed model, including the droplet partial wetting process and droplet dynamical behavior in a simple shear flow. The obtained results are compared with theoretical solutions and experimental data, indicating that the model is able to predict the equilibrium droplet shape as well as the dynamic process of partial wetting and thus permits accurate prediction of contact-line motion with the consideration of contact-angle hysteresis.

  6. Improved Data Reduction Algorithm for the Needle Probe Method Applied to In-Situ Thermal Conductivity Measurements of Lunar and Planetary Regoliths

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagihara, S.; Hedlund, M.; Zacny, K.; Taylor, P. T.

    2013-01-01

    The needle probe method (also known as the' hot wire' or 'line heat source' method) is widely used for in-situ thermal conductivity measurements on soils and marine sediments on the earth. Variants of this method have also been used (or planned) for measuring regolith on the surfaces of extra-terrestrial bodies (e.g., the Moon, Mars, and comets). In the near-vacuum condition on the lunar and planetary surfaces, the measurement method used on the earth cannot be simply duplicated, because thermal conductivity of the regolith can be approximately 2 orders of magnitude lower. In addition, the planetary probes have much greater diameters, due to engineering requirements associated with the robotic deployment on extra-terrestrial bodies. All of these factors contribute to the planetary probes requiring much longer time of measurement, several tens of (if not over a hundred) hours, while a conventional terrestrial needle probe needs only 1 to 2 minutes. The long measurement time complicates the surface operation logistics of the lander. It also negatively affects accuracy of the thermal conductivity measurement, because the cumulative heat loss along the probe is no longer negligible. The present study improves the data reduction algorithm of the needle probe method by shortening the measurement time on planetary surfaces by an order of magnitude. The main difference between the new scheme and the conventional one is that the former uses the exact mathematical solution to the thermal model on which the needle probe measurement theory is based, while the latter uses an approximate solution that is valid only for large times. The present study demonstrates the benefit of the new data reduction technique by applying it to data from a series of needle probe experiments carried out in a vacuum chamber on JSC-1A lunar regolith stimulant. The use of the exact solution has some disadvantage, however, in requiring three additional parameters, but two of them (the diameter and the

  7. Thermal conductivity of a film of single walled carbon nanotubes measured with infrared thermal imager

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Ya; Inoue, Taiki; Xiang, Rong; Chiashi, Shohei; Maruyama, Shigeo

    Heat dissipation has restricted the modern miniaturization trend with the development of electronic devices. Theoretically proven to be with high axial thermal conductivity, single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) have long been expected to cool down the nanoscale world. Even though the tube-tube contact resistance limits the capability of heat transfer of the bulk film, the high intrinsic thermal conductivity of SWNT still glorify the application of films of SWNT network as a thermal interface material. In this work, we proposed a new method to straightly measure the thermal conductivity of SWNT film. We bridged two cantilevered Si thin plate with SWNT film, and kept a steady state heat flow in between. With the infrared camera to record the temperature distribution, the Si plates with known thermal conductivity can work as a reference to calculate the heat flux going through the SWNT film. Further, the thermal conductivity of the SWNT film can be obtained through Fourier's law after deducting the effect of thermal radiation. The sizes of the structure, the heating temperature, the vacuum degree and other crucial impact factors are carefully considered and analyzed. The author Y. F. was supported through the Advanced Integration Science Innovation Education and Research Consortium Program by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology.

  8. An elastic-plastic contact model for line contact structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Haibin; Zhao, Yingtao; He, Zhifeng; Zhang, Ruinan; Ma, Shaopeng

    2018-06-01

    Although numerical simulation tools are now very powerful, the development of analytical models is very important for the prediction of the mechanical behaviour of line contact structures for deeply understanding contact problems and engineering applications. For the line contact structures widely used in the engineering field, few analytical models are available for predicting the mechanical behaviour when the structures deform plastically, as the classic Hertz's theory would be invalid. Thus, the present study proposed an elastic-plastic model for line contact structures based on the understanding of the yield mechanism. A mathematical expression describing the global relationship between load history and contact width evolution of line contact structures was obtained. The proposed model was verified through an actual line contact test and a corresponding numerical simulation. The results confirmed that this model can be used to accurately predict the elastic-plastic mechanical behaviour of a line contact structure.

  9. A novel pulse compression algorithm for frequency modulated active thermography using band-pass filter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chatterjee, Krishnendu; Roy, Deboshree; Tuli, Suneet

    2017-05-01

    This paper proposes a novel pulse compression algorithm, in the context of frequency modulated thermal wave imaging. The compression filter is derived from a predefined reference pixel in a recorded video, which contains direct measurement of the excitation signal alongside the thermal image of a test piece. The filter causes all the phases of the constituent frequencies to be adjusted to nearly zero value, so that on reconstruction a pulse is obtained. Further, due to band-limited nature of the excitation, signal-to-noise ratio is improved by suppressing out-of-band noise. The result is similar to that of a pulsed thermography experiment, although the peak power is drastically reduced. The algorithm is successfully demonstrated on mild steel and carbon fibre reference samples. Objective comparisons of the proposed pulse compression algorithm with the existing techniques are presented.

  10. Equilibrium contact angle or the most-stable contact angle?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montes Ruiz-Cabello, F J; Rodríguez-Valverde, M A; Cabrerizo-Vílchez, M A

    2014-04-01

    It is well-established that the equilibrium contact angle in a thermodynamic framework is an "unattainable" contact angle. Instead, the most-stable contact angle obtained from mechanical stimuli of the system is indeed experimentally accessible. Monitoring the susceptibility of a sessile drop to a mechanical stimulus enables to identify the most stable drop configuration within the practical range of contact angle hysteresis. Two different stimuli may be used with sessile drops: mechanical vibration and tilting. The most stable drop against vibration should reveal the changeless contact angle but against the gravity force, it should reveal the highest resistance to slide down. After the corresponding mechanical stimulus, once the excited drop configuration is examined, the focus will be on the contact angle of the initial drop configuration. This methodology needs to map significantly the static drop configurations with different stable contact angles. The most-stable contact angle, together with the advancing and receding contact angles, completes the description of physically realizable configurations of a solid-liquid system. Since the most-stable contact angle is energetically significant, it may be used in the Wenzel, Cassie or Cassie-Baxter equations accordingly or for the surface energy evaluation. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Annealed Demon Algorithms Solving the Environmental / Economic Dispatch Problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aristidis VLACHOS

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an efficient and reliable Annealed Demon (AD algorithm for the Environmental/Economic Dispatch (EEB problem. The EED problem is a multi-objective non-linear optimization problem with constraints. This problem is one of the fundamentals issues in power system operation. The system of generation associates thermal generators and emissions which involves sulphur oxides (SO2 and nitrogen oxides (NOx. The aim is to minimize total fuel cost of the system and control emission. The proposed AD algorithm is applied for EED of a simple power system.

  12. Transient Thermal Analysis of 3-D Integrated Circuits Packages by the DGTD Method

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Ping; Dong, Yilin; Tang, Min; Mao, Junfa; Jiang, Li Jun; Bagci, Hakan

    2017-01-01

    Since accurate thermal analysis plays a critical role in the thermal design and management of the 3-D system-level integration, in this paper, a discontinuous Galerkin time-domain (DGTD) algorithm is proposed to achieve this purpose

  13. Contact Stress Analysis for Gears of Different Helix Angle Using Finite Element Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patil Santosh

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The gear contact stress problem has been a great point of interest for many years, but still an extensive research is required to understand the various parameters affecting this stress. Among such parameters, helix angle is one which has played a crucial role in variation of contact stress. Numerous studies have been carried out on spur gear for contact stress variation. Hence, the present work is an attempt to study the contact stresses among the helical gear pairs, under static conditions, by using a 3D finite element method. The helical gear pairs on which the analysis is carried are 0, 5, 15, 25 degree helical gear sets. The Lagrange multiplier algorithm has been used between the contacting pairs to determine the stresses. The helical gear contact stress is evaluated using FE model and results have also been found at different coefficient of friction, varying from 0.0 to 0.3. The FE results have been further compared with the analytical calculations. The analytical calculations are based upon Hertz and AGMA equations, which are modified to include helix angle. The commercial finite element software was used in the study and it was shown that this approach can be applied to gear design efficiently. The contact stress results have shown a decreasing trend, with increase in helix angle.

  14. Stainless steel in contact with food and bevarage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sveto Cvetkovski

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Stainless steels are probably the most important materials in the food and beverage industries. The main reason for such broad implementation of stainless steel in contact with food are excellent properties which they possess such as corrosion resistance, resistance to high and low temperatures, very good mechanical and physical properties, aesthetic appeal, inertness of surface, durability, easy cleaning and recycling. Low thermal conductivity of these steels produces steeper temperature coefficient provoking an increased distortion, shrinkage and stresses compared with carbon steel.

  15. Numerical simulation of thermal fracture in functionally graded

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Numerical simulation of thermal fracture in functionally graded materials using element-free ... Initially, the temperature distribution over the domain is obtained by solving the heat transfer problem. ... Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur 177005, India ... Contact | Site index.

  16. Nuclear grade cable thermal life model by time temperature superposition algorithm based on Matlab GUI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu Yanyun; Gu Shenjie; Lou Tianyang

    2014-01-01

    Background: As nuclear grade cable must endure harsh environment within design life, it is critical to predict cable thermal life accurately owing to thermal aging, which is one of dominant factors of aging mechanism. Purpose: Using time temperature superposition (TTS) method, the aim is to construct nuclear grade cable thermal life model, predict cable residual life and develop life model interactive interface under Matlab GUI. Methods: According to TTS, nuclear grade cable thermal life model can be constructed by shifting data groups at various temperatures to preset reference temperature with translation factor which is determined by non linear programming optimization. Interactive interface of cable thermal life model developed under Matlab GUI consists of superposition mode and standard mode which include features such as optimization of translation factor, calculation of activation energy, construction of thermal aging curve and analysis of aging mechanism., Results: With calculation result comparison between superposition and standard method, the result with TTS has better accuracy than that with standard method. Furthermore, confidence level of nuclear grade cable thermal life with TTS is higher than that with standard method. Conclusion: The results show that TTS methodology is applicable to thermal life prediction of nuclear grade cable. Interactive Interface under Matlab GUI achieves anticipated functionalities. (authors)

  17. Basic Theoretical Principles Pertaining to Thermal Protection of Oil Transformer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. G. Shirokov

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper contains formulation of basic theoretical principles pertaining to thermal protection of an oil transformer in accordance with classical theory of relay protection and theory of diagnostics with the purpose of unification of terminological and analytical information which is presently available in respect of this problem. Classification of abnormal thermal modes of an oil transformer and also algorithms and methods for operation of diagnostic thermal protection of a transformer have been proposed.

  18. Study thermal characteristics of millet grain, dried in the machine with the swirling flow of the coolant and the microwave energy supply

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. T. Antipov

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article discusses the problems of determining the thermal characteristics of millet. The choice of the research object. The paper presents the principle of operation of the plant and the parameters of the standard, organic glass for measurements. Method was to study millet grains and organic glass, which are brought into contact on a common plane. The heater is brought into contact with the product and passed the constant heat flow, which passed through a layer of millet grain at different speeds. As a result, the temperature in the contact plane of the changed and recorded on the chart of the potentiometer in the form of the curve, by which you can determine the time and temperature change. The thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity determined by empirical formulas obtained by solving a system of differential equations, made up for the system of two bodies, one of which includes the unknown thermal characteristics. Test two bodies in contact on a common plane, resulting in mathematical physics principles constitute two differential equations with uniform initial and boundary conditions of the first kind, due to the parameters of ongoing experience. It is a plot of thermal performance of the temperature and humidity. Revealed linear dependence of the physical thermal characteristics, showing that with increasing temperature the thermal diffusivity value decreases, and the thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity are increasing character. Revealed the equations describing the thermal characteristics of millet grain with a humidity in the range of 13.6–35.1% and the temperature range 293–373 K.

  19. A novel method for the determination of migration of contaminants from food contact materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thompson, D.; Parry, S.J.; Benzing, R.

    1996-01-01

    A neutron activation method has been developed for the analysis of high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate and polystyrene food contact plastics. The method provides determination of over 50 elements at concentrations below 1 mg kg -1 . This technique has now been extended to study migration from food contact materials into standard food simulants (olive oil, acetic acid, ethanol and water). Samples of plastic are irradiated in a thermal neutron flux to procedure radionuclides of the elements present in the plastic. (author). 5 refs., 7 tabs

  20. NASTRAN thermal analyzer: Theory and application including a guide to modeling engineering problems, volume 1. [thermal analyzer manual

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, H. P.

    1977-01-01

    The NASTRAN Thermal Analyzer Manual describes the fundamental and theoretical treatment of the finite element method, with emphasis on the derivations of the constituent matrices of different elements and solution algorithms. Necessary information and data relating to the practical applications of engineering modeling are included.

  1. Reducing contact resistance in graphene devices through contact area patterning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Joshua T; Franklin, Aaron D; Farmer, Damon B; Dimitrakopoulos, Christos D

    2013-04-23

    Performance of graphene electronics is limited by contact resistance associated with the metal-graphene (M-G) interface, where unique transport challenges arise as carriers are injected from a 3D metal into a 2D-graphene sheet. In this work, enhanced carrier injection is experimentally achieved in graphene devices by forming cuts in the graphene within the contact regions. These cuts are oriented normal to the channel and facilitate bonding between the contact metal and carbon atoms at the graphene cut edges, reproducibly maximizing "edge-contacted" injection. Despite the reduction in M-G contact area caused by these cuts, we find that a 32% reduction in contact resistance results in Cu-contacted, two-terminal devices, while a 22% reduction is achieved for top-gated graphene transistors with Pd contacts as compared to conventionally fabricated devices. The crucial role of contact annealing to facilitate this improvement is also elucidated. This simple approach provides a reliable and reproducible means of lowering contact resistance in graphene devices to bolster performance. Importantly, this enhancement requires no additional processing steps.

  2. Numerical thermal mathematical model correlation to thermal balance test using adaptive particle swarm optimization (APSO)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beck, T.; Bieler, A.; Thomas, N.

    2012-01-01

    We present structural and thermal model (STM) tests of the BepiColombo laser altimeter (BELA) receiver baffle with emphasis on the correlation of the data with a thermal mathematical model. The test unit is a part of the thermal and optical protection of the BELA instrument being tested under infrared and solar irradiation at University of Bern. An iterative optimization method known as particle swarm optimization has been adapted to adjust the model parameters, mainly the linear conductivity, in such a way that model and test results match. The thermal model reproduces the thermal tests to an accuracy of 4.2 °C ± 3.2 °C in a temperature range of 200 °C after using only 600 iteration steps of the correlation algorithm. The use of this method brings major benefits to the accuracy of the results as well as to the computational time required for the correlation. - Highlights: ► We present model correlations of the BELA receiver baffle to thermal balance tests. ► Adaptive particle swarm optimization has been adapted for the correlation. ► The method improves the accuracy of the correlation and the computational time.

  3. Report of NPSAT1 Battery Thermal Contact Resistance Testing, Modeling and Simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-01

    interface through use of the Siemens NX I-DEAS thermal model generator ( TMG ) software. Once the orbital parameters are defined, the appropriate interface...I-DEAS TMG software. For the case when the battery is mounted to the boundary condition plate an additional ‘null’ element was created to work

  4. Unit commitment solution using agglomerative and divisive cluster algorithm : an effective new methodology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reddy, N.M.; Reddy, K.R. [G. Narayanamma Inst. of Technology and Science, Hyderabad (India). Dept. of Electrical Engineering; Ramana, N.V. [JNTU College of Engineering, Jagityala (India). Dept. of Electrical Engineering

    2008-07-01

    Thermal power plants consist of several generating units with different generating capacities, fuel cost per MWH generated, minimum up/down times, and start-up or shut-down costs. The Unit Commitment (UC) problem in power systems involves determining the start-up and shut-down schedules of thermal generating units to meet forecasted load over a future short term for a period of one to seven days. This paper presented a new approach for the most complex UC problem using agglomerative and divisive hierarchical clustering. Euclidean costs, which are a measure of differences in fuel cost and start-up costs of any two units, were first calculated. Then, depending on the value of Euclidean costs, similar type of units were placed in a cluster. The proposed methodology has 2 individual algorithms. An agglomerative cluster algorithm is used while the load is increasing, and a divisive cluster algorithm is used when the load is decreasing. A search was conducted for an optimal solution for a minimal number of clusters and cluster data points. A standard ten-unit thermal unit power system was used to test and evaluate the performance of the method for a period of 24 hours. The new approach proved to be quite effective and satisfactory. 15 refs., 9 tabs., 5 figs.

  5. Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm for Transient Performance Augmentation of Grid Connected Distributed Generation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chatterjee, A.; Ghoshal, S. P.; Mukherjee, V.

    In this paper, a conventional thermal power system equipped with automatic voltage regulator, IEEE type dual input power system stabilizer (PSS) PSS3B and integral controlled automatic generation control loop is considered. A distributed generation (DG) system consisting of aqua electrolyzer, photovoltaic cells, diesel engine generator, and some other energy storage devices like flywheel energy storage system and battery energy storage system is modeled. This hybrid distributed system is connected to the grid. While integrating this DG with the onventional thermal power system, improved transient performance is noticed. Further improvement in the transient performance of this grid connected DG is observed with the usage of superconducting magnetic energy storage device. The different tunable parameters of the proposed hybrid power system model are optimized by artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm. The optimal solutions offered by the ABC algorithm are compared with those offered by genetic algorithm (GA). It is also revealed that the optimizing performance of the ABC is better than the GA for this specific application.

  6. Experiment study on the thermal properties of paraffin/kaolin thermal energy storage form-stable phase change materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lv, Peizhao; Liu, Chenzhen; Rao, Zhonghao

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Different particle sizes of kaolin were employed to load paraffin. • The effects and reasons of particle size on thermal conductivity were studied. • Thermal property and thermal stability of the composites were investigated. • The leakage and thermal storage and release rate of the composites were studied. • The effect of vacuum impregnation method on thermal conductivity was investigated. - Abstract: In this paper, different particle sizes of kaolin were employed to incorporate paraffin via vacuum impregnation method. The paraffin/kaolin composites were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) and Thermogravimetry (TG). The results showed that the paraffin/kaolin composite with the largest particle size of kaolin (K4) has the highest thermal conductivity (0.413 W/(m K) at 20 °C) among the diverse composites. The latent heat capacity of paraffin/K4 is 119.49 J/g and the phase change temperature is 62.4 °C. In addition, the thermal properties and thermal conductivities of paraffin/K4 with different mass fraction of K4 (0–60%) were investigated. The thermal conductivities of the composites were explained in microcosmic field. The phonon mean free path determines the thermal conductivity, and it can be significantly affected by temperature and the contact surface area. The leaks, thermal storage and release properties of pure paraffin and paraffin/kaolin composites were investigated and the composites presented good thermal stabilities.

  7. Computer Simulation in Problems of Thermal Strength

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga I. Chelyapina

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available This article discusses informative technology of using graphical programming environment LabVIEW 2009 when calculating and predicting the thermal strength of materials with an inhomogeneous structure. Algorithm for processing the experimental data was developed as part of the problem.

  8. Simultaneous reconstruction of thermal degradation properties for anisotropic scattering fibrous insulation after high temperature thermal exposures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, Shuyuan; Zhang, Wenjiao; He, Xiaodong; Li, Jianjun; Yao, Yongtao; Lin, Xiu

    2015-01-01

    To probe thermal degradation behavior of fibrous insulation for long-term service, an inverse analysis model was developed to simultaneously reconstruct thermal degradation properties of fibers after thermal exposures from the experimental thermal response data, by using the measured infrared spectral transmittance and X-ray phase analysis data as direct inputs. To take into account the possible influence of fibers degradation after thermal exposure on the conduction heat transfer, we introduced a new parameter in the thermal conductivity model. The effect of microstructures on the thermal degradation parameters was evaluated. It was found that after high temperature thermal exposure the decay rate of the radiation intensity passing through the material was weakened, and the probability of being scattered decreased during the photons traveling in the medium. The fibrous medium scattered more radiation into the forward directions. The shortened heat transfer path due to possible mechanical degradation, along with the enhancement of mean free path of phonon scattering as devitrification after severe heat treatment, made the coupled solid/gas thermal conductivities increase with the rise of heat treatment temperature. - Highlights: • A new model is developed to probe conductive and radiative properties degradation of fibers. • To characterize mechanical degradation, a new parameter is introduced in the model. • Thermal degradation properties are reconstructed from experiments by L–M algorithm. • The effect of microstructures on the thermal degradation parameters is evaluated. • The analysis provides a powerful tool to quantify thermal degradation of fiber medium

  9. General Retarded Contact Self-energies in and beyond the Non-equilibrium Green's Functions Method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubis, Tillmann; He, Yu; Andrawis, Robert; Klimeck, Gerhard

    2016-01-01

    Retarded contact self-energies in the framework of nonequilibrium Green's functions allow to model the impact of lead structures on the device without explicitly including the leads in the actual device calculation. Most of the contact self-energy algorithms are limited to homogeneous or periodic, semi-infinite lead structures. In this work, the complex absorbing potential method is extended to solve retarded contact self-energies for arbitrary lead structures, including irregular and randomly disordered leads. This method is verified for regular leads against common approaches and on physically equivalent, but numerically different irregular leads. Transmission results on randomly alloyed In 0.5 Ga 0.5 As structures show the importance of disorder in the leads. The concept of retarded contact self-energies is expanded to model passivation of atomically resolved surfaces without explicitly increasing the device's Hamiltonian. (paper)

  10. Thermometry in dielectrophoresis chips for contact-free cell handling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaeger, M S; Mueller, T; Schnelle, T

    2007-01-01

    Cell biology applications, protocols in immunology and stem cell research, require that individual cells are handled under strict control of their contacts to other cells or synthetic surfaces. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) in microfluidic chips is an established technique to investigate, group, wash, cultivate and sort cells contact-free under physiological conditions: microelectrode octode cages, versatile dielectrophoretic elements energized with radio frequency electric fields, stably trap single cells or cellular aggregates. For medical applications and cell cultivation, possible side effects of the dielectrophoretic manipulation, such as membrane polarization and Joule heating, have to be quantified. Therefore, we characterized the electric field-induced warming in dielectrophoretic cages using ohmic resistance measurements, fluorometry, liquid crystal beads, infra-red thermography and bubble size thermometry. We compare the results of these techniques with respect to the influences of voltage, electric conductivity of buffer, frequency, cage size and electrode surface. We conclude that in the culture medium thermal effects may be neglected if low voltages and an electric field-reducing phase pattern are used. Our experimental results provide explicit values for estimating the thermal effect on dielectrophoretically caged cells and show that Joule heating is best minimized by optimizing the cage geometry and reducing the buffer conductivity. The results may additionally serve to evaluate and improve theoretical predictions on field-induced effects. Based on present-day chip processing possibilities, DEP is well suited for the manipulation of cells

  11. Printable, flexible and stretchable diamond for thermal management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, John A; Kim, Tae Ho; Choi, Won Mook; Kim, Dae Hyeong; Meitl, Matthew; Menard, Etienne; Carlisle, John

    2013-06-25

    Various heat-sinked components and methods of making heat-sinked components are disclosed where diamond in thermal contact with one or more heat-generating components are capable of dissipating heat, thereby providing thermally-regulated components. Thermally conductive diamond is provided in patterns capable of providing efficient and maximum heat transfer away from components that may be susceptible to damage by elevated temperatures. The devices and methods are used to cool flexible electronics, integrated circuits and other complex electronics that tend to generate significant heat. Also provided are methods of making printable diamond patterns that can be used in a range of devices and device components.

  12. Prioritized Contact Transport Stream

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, Walter Lee, Jr. (Inventor)

    2015-01-01

    A detection process, contact recognition process, classification process, and identification process are applied to raw sensor data to produce an identified contact record set containing one or more identified contact records. A prioritization process is applied to the identified contact record set to assign a contact priority to each contact record in the identified contact record set. Data are removed from the contact records in the identified contact record set based on the contact priorities assigned to those contact records. A first contact stream is produced from the resulting contact records. The first contact stream is streamed in a contact transport stream. The contact transport stream may include and stream additional contact streams. The contact transport stream may be varied dynamically over time based on parameters such as available bandwidth, contact priority, presence/absence of contacts, system state, and configuration parameters.

  13. Controlling infectious disease through the targeted manipulation of contact network structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gates, M Carolyn; Woolhouse, Mark E J

    2015-09-01

    Individuals in human and animal populations are linked through dynamic contact networks with characteristic structural features that drive the epidemiology of directly transmissible infectious diseases. Using animal movement data from the British cattle industry as an example, this analysis explores whether disease dynamics can be altered by placing targeted restrictions on contact formation to reconfigure network topology. This was accomplished using a simple network generation algorithm that combined configuration wiring with stochastic block modelling techniques to preserve the weighted in- and out-degree of individual nodes (farms) as well as key demographic characteristics of the individual network connections (movement date, livestock market, and animal production type). We then tested a control strategy based on introducing additional constraints into the network generation algorithm to prevent farms with a high in-degree from selling cattle to farms with a high out-degree as these particular network connections are predicted to have a disproportionately strong role in spreading disease. Results from simple dynamic disease simulation models predicted significantly lower endemic disease prevalences on the trade restricted networks compared to the baseline generated networks. As expected, the relative magnitude of the predicted changes in endemic prevalence was greater for diseases with short infectious periods and low transmission probabilities. Overall, our study findings demonstrate that there is significant potential for controlling multiple infectious diseases simultaneously by manipulating networks to have more epidemiologically favourable topological configurations. Further research is needed to determine whether the economic and social benefits of controlling disease can justify the costs of restricting contact formation. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. American Contact Dermatitis Society Contact Allergy Management Program: An Epidemiologic Tool to Determine Relative Prevalence of Contact Allergens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheman, Andrew; Severson, David

    2016-01-01

    Data on the prevalence of contact allergy in North America are currently reported by groups of academic contact allergy specialists at select academic centers. Sampling of data from numerous centers across North America, including practices performing more limited patch testing, would provide a broader perspective of contact allergen prevalence in North America. The American Contact Dermatitis Society Contact Allergy Management Program is an ideal tool for collection of epidemiologic data regarding contact allergy prevalence in North America. The aim of the study was to identify the relative prevalence of contact allergy to common contact allergens in North America. Mapping of Contact Allergy Management Program (CAMP) data was performed to allow analysis of how frequently searches were performed for various contact allergens. The number of searches performed for specific allergens provides a measure of the relative prevalence of contact allergy to these allergens. The top 35 allergens for the period from November 18, 2012 to November 18, 2013 are reported. Although these data are useful, specific recommendations for minor alterations to CAMP are discussed, which will allow future CAMP data to be stratified and more powerful. With minor modifications, CAMP can provide a quantum leap in the reporting of contact allergy epidemiologic data in North America.

  15. Experiment on the effects of contact between the pressure tube and the fuel assembly

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Watanabe, Y; Fujii, Y [Electric Power Development Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Kato, K [Hitachi Ltd., Ibaraki (Japan). Hitachi Works

    1996-12-31

    The Advanced Thermal Reactor (ATR) is a pressure tube type reactor in which the fuel assembly is located close to the pressure tube. The ATR has a structure which is such that the thermal stretch of the fuel pin is not limited by the spacer if the fuel pin dries out. Accordingly. it is not thought that the fuel pin contacts the pressure tube due to large transformations around the Design Based Event (DBE). Nevertheless, the safety margin must be kept in case the over-DBE. We have confirmed in this experiment that the temperature of the pressure tube does not increase to the critical level when the fuel pin contacts the pressure tube and the functions of the pressure tube are maintained as a pressure boundary. Further, we analyzed the safety margin of the pressure tube using the data from this experiment and from code analysis. (author). 10 tabs., 32 figs.

  16. A new method of making ohmic contacts to p-GaN

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hernández-Gutierrez, C.A., E-mail: chernandez@fis.cinvestav.mx [DNyN, Cinvestav-IPN, México, DF, 07360 (Mexico); Kudriavtsev, Yu. [Departamento Ingeniería Eléctrica – SEES, Cinvestav-IPN, México, DF, 07360 (Mexico); Mota, Esteban [ESIME, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México, DF, 07738 (Mexico); Hernández, A.G.; Escobosa-Echavarría, A.; Sánchez-Resendiz, V. [Departamento Ingeniería Eléctrica – SEES, Cinvestav-IPN, México, DF, 07360 (Mexico); Casallas-Moreno, Y.L.; López-López, M. [Departamento Física, Cinvestav-IPN, México, DF, 07360 (Mexico)

    2016-12-01

    Highlights: • Low resistance Ohmic contacts preparation is based on low energy high dose In{sup +} ion implantation into Metal/p-GaN to achieve a thin layer of In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N just at the interface. • The specific ohmic contact was reduced from 10{sup −2} Ωcm{sup 2} to 2.5 × 10{sup −4} Ωcm{sup 2}. - Abstract: The structural, chemical, and electrical characteristics of In{sup +} ion-implanted Au/Ni, Au/Nb and Au/W ohmic contacts to p-GaN were investigated. After the preparation of Ni, Nb and W electrode on the surface of p-GaN, the metal/p-GaN contact interface was implanted by 30 keV In{sup +} ions with an implantation dose of 5 × 10{sup 15} ions/cm{sup 2} at room temperature to form a thin layer of In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N located at the metal-semiconductor interface, achieved to reduce the specific contact resistance due to the improving quantum tunneling transport trough to the structure. The characterization was carried out by high-resolution X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry to investigate the formation of ternary alloy, re-crystallization by rapid thermal annealing process after In{sup +} implantation, and the redistribution of elements. The specific contact resistance was extracted by current-voltage (I-V) curves using transmission line method; the lowest specific contact resistance of 2.5 × 10{sup −4} Ωcm{sup 2} was achieved for Au/Ni/p-In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N/p-GaN ohmic contacts.

  17. Geysers advanced direct contact condenser research

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Henderson, J.; Bahning, T.; Bharathan, D.

    1997-12-31

    The first geothermal application of the Advanced Direct Contact Condenser (ADCC) technology developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is now operational and is being tested at The Geysers Power Plant Unit 11. This major research effort is being supported through the combined efforts of NREL, The Department of Energy (DOE), and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). NREL and PG&E have entered into a Cooperative Research And Development Agreement (CRADA) for a project to improve the direct-contact condenser performance at The Geysers Power Plant. This project is the first geothermal adaptation of an advanced condenser design developed for the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) systems. PG&E expects this technology to improve power plant performance and to help extend the life of the steam field by using steam more efficiently. In accordance with the CRADA, no money is transferred between the contracting parties. In this case the Department of Energy is funding NREL for their efforts in this project and PG&E is contributing funds in kind. Successful application of this technology at The Geysers will provide a basis for NREL to continue to develop this technology for other geothermal and fossil power plant systems.

  18. Computation of the flash-temperature at the wheel-rail contact using a 3D finite element model and its comparison with analytical methods

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Naeimi, M.; Li, Z.; Dollevoet, R.P.B.J.; Wu, J.; Petrov, R.H.; Sietsma, J.

    2015-01-01

    The coupled mechanical–thermal behaviour of wheel and rail materials under rolling contact is studied to determine the temperature rise due to the frictional heat. The wheel–rail frictional rolling contact problem is solved using the three–dimensional finite element (FE) method. The FE model

  19. Effects of thermal efficiency in DCMD and the preparation of membranes with low thermal conductivity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Zhehao, E-mail: ccgri_lzh@163.com [Changchun Gold Research Institute, 130012 (China); Peng, Yuelian, E-mail: pyl@live.com.au [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124 (China); Dong, Yajun; Fan, Hongwei [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124 (China); Chen, Ping [The Research Institute of Environmental Protection, North China Pharmaceutical Group Corporation, 050015 (China); Qiu, Lin [Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); Jiang, Qi [National Major Science and Technology Program Management Office for Water Pollution Control and Treatment, MEP, 100029 (China)

    2014-10-30

    Highlights: • The effects on vapor flux and thermal efficiency were simulated. • The conditions favoring vapor flux also favored thermal efficiency. • Four microporous polymer membranes were compared. • The SiO{sub 2} aerogel coating reduced the thermal conductivity of polymer membranes. • A 3ω technique was used to measure the thermal conductivity of membranes. - Abstract: The effects of the membrane characteristics and operational conditions on the vapor flux and thermal efficiency in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process were studied with a mathematical simulation. The membrane temperature, driving force of vapor transfer, membrane distillation coefficient, etc. were used to analyze the effects. The operating conditions that increased the vapor flux improved the thermal efficiency. The membrane characteristics of four microporous membranes and their performances in DCMD were compared. A polysulfone (PSf) membrane prepared via vapor-induced phase separation exhibited the lowest thermal conductivity. The PSf and polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes were modified using SiO{sub 2} aerogel blending and coating to reduce the thermal conductivity of the membrane. The coating process was more effective than the blending process toward this end. The changes in the structure of the modified membrane were observed with a scanning electron microscope. Si was found on the modified membrane surface with an energy spectrometer. The PVDF composite and support membranes were tested during the DCMD process; the composite membrane had a higher vapor flux and a better thermal efficiency than the support. A new method based on a 3ω technique was used to measure the thermal conductivity of the membranes.

  20. Effects of thermal efficiency in DCMD and the preparation of membranes with low thermal conductivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Zhehao; Peng, Yuelian; Dong, Yajun; Fan, Hongwei; Chen, Ping; Qiu, Lin; Jiang, Qi

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • The effects on vapor flux and thermal efficiency were simulated. • The conditions favoring vapor flux also favored thermal efficiency. • Four microporous polymer membranes were compared. • The SiO 2 aerogel coating reduced the thermal conductivity of polymer membranes. • A 3ω technique was used to measure the thermal conductivity of membranes. - Abstract: The effects of the membrane characteristics and operational conditions on the vapor flux and thermal efficiency in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process were studied with a mathematical simulation. The membrane temperature, driving force of vapor transfer, membrane distillation coefficient, etc. were used to analyze the effects. The operating conditions that increased the vapor flux improved the thermal efficiency. The membrane characteristics of four microporous membranes and their performances in DCMD were compared. A polysulfone (PSf) membrane prepared via vapor-induced phase separation exhibited the lowest thermal conductivity. The PSf and polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes were modified using SiO 2 aerogel blending and coating to reduce the thermal conductivity of the membrane. The coating process was more effective than the blending process toward this end. The changes in the structure of the modified membrane were observed with a scanning electron microscope. Si was found on the modified membrane surface with an energy spectrometer. The PVDF composite and support membranes were tested during the DCMD process; the composite membrane had a higher vapor flux and a better thermal efficiency than the support. A new method based on a 3ω technique was used to measure the thermal conductivity of the membranes