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Sample records for thick-restart lanczos method

  1. Thick-Restart Lanczos Method for Electronic Structure Calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simon, Horst D.; Wang, L.-W.; Wu, Kesheng

    1999-01-01

    This paper describes two recent innovations related to the classic Lanczos method for eigenvalue problems, namely the thick-restart technique and dynamic restarting schemes. Combining these two new techniques we are able to implement an efficient eigenvalue problem solver. This paper will demonstrate its effectiveness on one particular class of problems for which this method is well suited: linear eigenvalue problems generated from non-self-consistent electronic structure calculations

  2. Thick restarting of the Davidson method: An extension to implicit restarting

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stathopoulos, A.; Yousef Saad; Wu, Kesheng [Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)

    1996-12-31

    The solution of the large, sparse, eigenvalue problem Ax = {lambda}x, for a few eigenpairs is central to many scientific applications. The Arnoldi method, and its equivalent in the symmetric case the Lanczos method, have been the traditional approach to solving these problems. Preconditioning, through some shift-and-invert technique, is frequently employed, because of the difficulty of these problems. A different approach is followed by the Generalized Davidson (GD) method which is a popular preconditioned variant of the Lanczos iteration. Instead of using a three-term recurrence to build an orthonormal basis for the Krylov subspace, the GD algorithm obtains the next basis vector by explicitly orthogonalizing the preconditioned residual (M - {lambda}I){sup -1} (A - {lambda}I)x against the existing basis. A straightforward extension to the non-symmetric case has also been studied in. The GD method can be regarded as a way of improving convergence and robustness at the expense of a more complicated step.

  3. Hybrid Lanczos-type product methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ressel, K.J. [Swiss Center for Scientific Computing, Zuerich (Switzerland)

    1996-12-31

    A general framework is proposed to construct hybrid iterative methods for the solution of large nonsymmetric systems of linear equations. This framework is based on Lanczos-type product methods, whose iteration polynomial consists of the Lanczos polynomial multiplied by some other arbitrary, {open_quotes}shadow{close_quotes} polynomial. By using for the shadow polynomial Chebyshev (more general Faber) polynomials or L{sup 2}-optimal polynomials, hybrid (Chebyshev-like) methods are incorporated into Lanczos-type product methods. In addition, to acquire spectral information on the system matrix, which is required for such a choice of shadow polynomials, the Lanczos-process can be employed either directly or in an QMR-like approach. The QMR like approach allows the cheap computation of the roots of the B-orthogonal polynomials and the residual polynomials associated with the QMR iteration. These roots can be used as a good approximation for the spectrum of the system matrix. Different choices for the shadow polynomials and their construction are analyzed. The resulting hybrid methods are compared with standard Lanczos-type product methods, like BiOStab, BiOStab({ell}) and BiOS.

  4. Look-ahead procedures for Lanczos-type product methods based on three-term recurrences

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gutknecht, M.H.; Ressel, K.J. [Swiss Center for Scientific Computing, Zuerich (Switzerland)

    1996-12-31

    Lanczos-type product methods for the solution of large sparse non-Hermitian linear systems either square the Lanczos process or combine it with a local minimization of the residual. They inherit from the underlying Lanczos process the danger of breakdown. For various Lanczos-type product methods that are based on the Lanczos three-term recurrence, look-ahead versions are presented, which avoid such breakdowns or near breakdowns with a small computational overhead. Different look-ahead strategies are discussed and their efficiency is demonstrated in several numerical examples.

  5. On a connection between Lanczos and Householder methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sau, J.

    1979-01-01

    It is shown that the Householder method can be considered as a Lanczos method, with the same properties for the convergence of the eigenvalues. An application to a shell-model calculation is then performed

  6. Applications of implicit restarting in optimization and control Dan Sorensen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sorensen, D. [Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)

    1996-12-31

    Implicit restarting is a technique for combining the implicitly shifted QR mechanism with a k-step Arnoldi or Lanczos factorization to obtain a truncated form of the implicitly shifted QR-iteration suitable for large scale eigenvalue problems. The software package ARPACK based upon this technique has been successfully used to solve large scale symmetric and nonsymmetric (generalized) eigenvalue problems arising from a variety of applications.

  7. The Lanczos method in lattice gauge theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barbour, I.M.; Behilil, N.E.; Gibbs, P.E.; Teper, M.; Schierholz, G.

    1984-09-01

    We present a modified version of the Lanczos algorithm as a computational method for tridiagonalising large sparse matrices, which avoids the requirement for large amounts of storage space. It can be applied as a first step in calculating eigenvalues and eigenvectors or for obtaining the inverse of a matrix row by row. Here we describe the method and apply it to various problems in lattice gauge theories. We have found it to have excellent convergence properties. In particular it enables us to do lattice calculations at small and even zero quark mass. (orig.)

  8. A complex guided spectral transform Lanczos method for studying quantum resonance states

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu, Hua-Gen

    2014-01-01

    A complex guided spectral transform Lanczos (cGSTL) algorithm is proposed to compute both bound and resonance states including energies, widths and wavefunctions. The algorithm comprises of two layers of complex-symmetric Lanczos iterations. A short inner layer iteration produces a set of complex formally orthogonal Lanczos (cFOL) polynomials. They are used to span the guided spectral transform function determined by a retarded Green operator. An outer layer iteration is then carried out with the transform function to compute the eigen-pairs of the system. The guided spectral transform function is designed to have the same wavefunctions as the eigenstates of the original Hamiltonian in the spectral range of interest. Therefore the energies and/or widths of bound or resonance states can be easily computed with their wavefunctions or by using a root-searching method from the guided spectral transform surface. The new cGSTL algorithm is applied to bound and resonance states of HO, and compared to previous calculations

  9. Seismic analysis of structures of nuclear power plants by Lanczos mode superposition method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coutinho, A.L.G.A.; Alves, J.L.D.; Landau, L.; Lima, E.C.P. de; Ebecken, N.F.F.

    1986-01-01

    The Lanczos Mode Superposition Method is applied in the seismic analysis of nuclear power plants. The coordinate transformation matrix is generated by the Lanczos algorithm. It is shown that, through a convenient choice of the starting vector of the algorithm, modes with participation factors are automatically selected. It is performed the Response Spectra analysis of a typical reactor building. The obtained results are compared with those determined by the classical aproach stressing the remarkable computer effectiveness of the proposed methodology. (Author) [pt

  10. A numerical method for eigenvalue problems in modeling liquid crystals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baglama, J.; Farrell, P.A.; Reichel, L.; Ruttan, A. [Kent State Univ., OH (United States); Calvetti, D. [Stevens Inst. of Technology, Hoboken, NJ (United States)

    1996-12-31

    Equilibrium configurations of liquid crystals in finite containments are minimizers of the thermodynamic free energy of the system. It is important to be able to track the equilibrium configurations as the temperature of the liquid crystals decreases. The path of the minimal energy configuration at bifurcation points can be computed from the null space of a large sparse symmetric matrix. We describe a new variant of the implicitly restarted Lanczos method that is well suited for the computation of extreme eigenvalues of a large sparse symmetric matrix, and we use this method to determine the desired null space. Our implicitly restarted Lanczos method determines adoptively a polynomial filter by using Leja shifts, and does not require factorization of the matrix. The storage requirement of the method is small, and this makes it attractive to use for the present application.

  11. Projection preconditioning for Lanczos-type methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bielawski, S.S.; Mulyarchik, S.G.; Popov, A.V. [Belarusian State Univ., Minsk (Belarus)

    1996-12-31

    We show how auxiliary subspaces and related projectors may be used for preconditioning nonsymmetric system of linear equations. It is shown that preconditioned in such a way (or projected) system is better conditioned than original system (at least if the coefficient matrix of the system to be solved is symmetrizable). Two approaches for solving projected system are outlined. The first one implies straightforward computation of the projected matrix and consequent using some direct or iterative method. The second approach is the projection preconditioning of conjugate gradient-type solver. The latter approach is developed here in context with biconjugate gradient iteration and some related Lanczos-type algorithms. Some possible particular choices of auxiliary subspaces are discussed. It is shown that one of them is equivalent to using colorings. Some results of numerical experiments are reported.

  12. Moment methods and Lanczos methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Whitehead, R.R.

    1980-01-01

    In contrast to many of the speakers at this conference I am less interested in average properties of nuclei than in detailed spectroscopy. I will try to show, however, that the two are very closely connected and that shell-model calculations may be used to give a great deal of information not normally associated with the shell-model. It has been demonstrated clearly to us that the level spacing fluctuations in nuclear spectra convey very little physical information. This is true when the fluctuations are averaged over the entire spectrum but not if one's interest is in the lowest few states, whose spacings are relatively large. If one wishes to calculate a ground state (say) accurately, that is with an error much smaller than the excitation energy of the first excited state, very high moments, μ/sub n/, n approx. 200, are needed. As I shall show, we use such moments as a matter of course, albeit without actually calculating them; in fact I will try to show that, if at all possible, the actual calculations of moments is to be avoided like the plague. At the heart of the new shell-model methods embodied in the Glasgow shell-model program and one or two similar ones is the so-called Lanczos method and this, it turns out, has many deep and subtle connections with the mathematical theory of moments. It is these connections that I will explore here

  13. Krylov-Schur-Type restarts for the two-sided arnoldi method

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zwaan, I.N.; Hochstenbach, M.E.

    2017-01-01

    We consider the two-sided Arnoldi method and propose a two-sided Krylov-Schurtype restarting method. We discuss the restart for standard Rayleigh-Ritz extraction as well as harmonic Rayleigh-Ritz extraction. Additionally, we provide error bounds for Ritz values and Ritz vectors in the context of

  14. Accuracy of the microcanonical Lanczos method to compute real-frequency dynamical spectral functions of quantum models at finite temperatures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okamoto, Satoshi; Alvarez, Gonzalo; Dagotto, Elbio; Tohyama, Takami

    2018-04-01

    We examine the accuracy of the microcanonical Lanczos method (MCLM) developed by Long et al. [Phys. Rev. B 68, 235106 (2003), 10.1103/PhysRevB.68.235106] to compute dynamical spectral functions of interacting quantum models at finite temperatures. The MCLM is based on the microcanonical ensemble, which becomes exact in the thermodynamic limit. To apply the microcanonical ensemble at a fixed temperature, one has to find energy eigenstates with the energy eigenvalue corresponding to the internal energy in the canonical ensemble. Here, we propose to use thermal pure quantum state methods by Sugiura and Shimizu [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 010401 (2013), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.010401] to obtain the internal energy. After obtaining the energy eigenstates using the Lanczos diagonalization method, dynamical quantities are computed via a continued fraction expansion, a standard procedure for Lanczos-based numerical methods. Using one-dimensional antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains with S =1 /2 , we demonstrate that the proposed procedure is reasonably accurate, even for relatively small systems.

  15. Lanczos-Lovelock gravity from a thermodynamic perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chakraborty, Sumanta

    2015-01-01

    The deep connection between gravitational dynamics and horizon thermodynamics leads to several intriguing features both in general relativity and in Lanczos-Lovelock theories of gravity. Recently in http://arxiv.org/abs/1312.3253 several additional results strengthening the above connection have been established within the framework of general relativity. In this work we provide a generalization of the above setup to Lanczos-Lovelock gravity as well. To our expectation it turns out that most of the results obtained in the context of general relativity generalize to Lanczos-Lovelock gravity in a straightforward but non-trivial manner. First, we provide an alternative and more general derivation of the connection between Noether charge for a specific time evolution vector field and gravitational heat density of the boundary surface. This will lead to holographic equipartition for static spacetimes in Lanczos-Lovelock gravity as well. Taking a cue from this, we have introduced naturally defined four-momentum current associated with gravity and matter energy momentum tensor for both Lanczos-Lovelock Lagrangian and its quadratic part. Then, we consider the concepts of Noether charge for null boundaries in Lanczos-Lovelock gravity by providing a direct generalization of previous results derived in the context of general relativity. Another very interesting feature for gravity is that gravitational field equations for arbitrary static and spherically symmetric spacetimes with horizon can be written as a thermodynamic identity in the near horizon limit. This result holds in both general relativity and in Lanczos-Lovelock gravity as well. In a previous work [http://arxiv.org/abs/1505.05297] we have shown that, for an arbitrary spacetime, the gravitational field equations near any null surface generically leads to a thermodynamic identity. In this work, we have also generalized this result to Lanczos-Lovelock gravity by showing that gravitational field equations for Lanczos

  16. Accuracy of the microcanonical Lanczos method to compute real-frequency dynamical spectral functions of quantum models at finite temperatures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okamoto, Satoshi; Alvarez, Gonzalo; Dagotto, Elbio; Tohyama, Takami

    2018-04-01

    We examine the accuracy of the microcanonical Lanczos method (MCLM) developed by Long et al. [Phys. Rev. B 68, 235106 (2003)PRBMDO0163-182910.1103/PhysRevB.68.235106] to compute dynamical spectral functions of interacting quantum models at finite temperatures. The MCLM is based on the microcanonical ensemble, which becomes exact in the thermodynamic limit. To apply the microcanonical ensemble at a fixed temperature, one has to find energy eigenstates with the energy eigenvalue corresponding to the internal energy in the canonical ensemble. Here, we propose to use thermal pure quantum state methods by Sugiura and Shimizu [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 010401 (2013)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.111.010401] to obtain the internal energy. After obtaining the energy eigenstates using the Lanczos diagonalization method, dynamical quantities are computed via a continued fraction expansion, a standard procedure for Lanczos-based numerical methods. Using one-dimensional antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains with S=1/2, we demonstrate that the proposed procedure is reasonably accurate, even for relatively small systems.

  17. Cucheb: A GPU implementation of the filtered Lanczos procedure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aurentz, Jared L.; Kalantzis, Vassilis; Saad, Yousef

    2017-11-01

    This paper describes the software package Cucheb, a GPU implementation of the filtered Lanczos procedure for the solution of large sparse symmetric eigenvalue problems. The filtered Lanczos procedure uses a carefully chosen polynomial spectral transformation to accelerate convergence of the Lanczos method when computing eigenvalues within a desired interval. This method has proven particularly effective for eigenvalue problems that arise in electronic structure calculations and density functional theory. We compare our implementation against an equivalent CPU implementation and show that using the GPU can reduce the computation time by more than a factor of 10. Program Summary Program title: Cucheb Program Files doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/rjr9tzchmh.1 Licensing provisions: MIT Programming language: CUDA C/C++ Nature of problem: Electronic structure calculations require the computation of all eigenvalue-eigenvector pairs of a symmetric matrix that lie inside a user-defined real interval. Solution method: To compute all the eigenvalues within a given interval a polynomial spectral transformation is constructed that maps the desired eigenvalues of the original matrix to the exterior of the spectrum of the transformed matrix. The Lanczos method is then used to compute the desired eigenvectors of the transformed matrix, which are then used to recover the desired eigenvalues of the original matrix. The bulk of the operations are executed in parallel using a graphics processing unit (GPU). Runtime: Variable, depending on the number of eigenvalues sought and the size and sparsity of the matrix. Additional comments: Cucheb is compatible with CUDA Toolkit v7.0 or greater.

  18. Two aspects of black hole entropy in Lanczos-Lovelock models of gravity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolekar, Sanved; Kothawala, Dawood; Padmanabhan, T.

    2012-03-01

    We consider two specific approaches to evaluate the black hole entropy which are known to produce correct results in the case of Einstein’s theory and generalize them to Lanczos-Lovelock models. In the first approach (which could be called extrinsic), we use a procedure motivated by earlier work by Pretorius, Vollick, and Israel, and by Oppenheim, and evaluate the entropy of a configuration of densely packed gravitating shells on the verge of forming a black hole in Lanczos-Lovelock theories of gravity. We find that this matter entropy is not equal to (it is less than) Wald entropy, except in the case of Einstein theory, where they are equal. The matter entropy is proportional to the Wald entropy if we consider a specific mth-order Lanczos-Lovelock model, with the proportionality constant depending on the spacetime dimensions D and the order m of the Lanczos-Lovelock theory as (D-2m)/(D-2). Since the proportionality constant depends on m, the proportionality between matter entropy and Wald entropy breaks down when we consider a sum of Lanczos-Lovelock actions involving different m. In the second approach (which could be called intrinsic), we generalize a procedure, previously introduced by Padmanabhan in the context of general relativity, to study off-shell entropy of a class of metrics with horizon using a path integral method. We consider the Euclidean action of Lanczos-Lovelock models for a class of metrics off shell and interpret it as a partition function. We show that in the case of spherically symmetric metrics, one can interpret the Euclidean action as the free energy and read off both the entropy and energy of a black hole spacetime. Surprisingly enough, this leads to exactly the Wald entropy and the energy of the spacetime in Lanczos-Lovelock models obtained by other methods. We comment on possible implications of the result.

  19. A structure preserving Lanczos algorithm for computing the optical absorption spectrum

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shao, Meiyue [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Computational Research Div.; Jornada, Felipe H. da [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Science Div.; Lin, Lin [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Computational Research Div.; Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Mathematics; Yang, Chao [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Computational Research Div.; Deslippe, Jack [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); Louie, Steven G. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Science Div.

    2016-11-16

    We present a new structure preserving Lanczos algorithm for approximating the optical absorption spectrum in the context of solving full Bethe-Salpeter equation without Tamm-Dancoff approximation. The new algorithm is based on a structure preserving Lanczos procedure, which exploits the special block structure of Bethe-Salpeter Hamiltonian matrices. A recently developed technique of generalized averaged Gauss quadrature is incorporated to accelerate the convergence. We also establish the connection between our structure preserving Lanczos procedure with several existing Lanczos procedures developed in different contexts. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of our Lanczos algorithm.

  20. Eigenvalue routines in NASTRAN: A comparison with the Block Lanczos method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tischler, V. A.; Venkayya, Vipperla B.

    1993-01-01

    The NASA STRuctural ANalysis (NASTRAN) program is one of the most extensively used engineering applications software in the world. It contains a wealth of matrix operations and numerical solution techniques, and they were used to construct efficient eigenvalue routines. The purpose of this paper is to examine the current eigenvalue routines in NASTRAN and to make efficiency comparisons with a more recent implementation of the Block Lanczos algorithm by Boeing Computer Services (BCS). This eigenvalue routine is now available in the BCS mathematics library as well as in several commercial versions of NASTRAN. In addition, CRAY maintains a modified version of this routine on their network. Several example problems, with a varying number of degrees of freedom, were selected primarily for efficiency bench-marking. Accuracy is not an issue, because they all gave comparable results. The Block Lanczos algorithm was found to be extremely efficient, in particular, for very large size problems.

  1. Extending the eigCG algorithm to nonsymmetric Lanczos for linear systems with multiple right-hand sides

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abdel-Rehim, A M; Stathopoulos, Andreas; Orginos, Kostas

    2014-08-01

    The technique that was used to build the EigCG algorithm for sparse symmetric linear systems is extended to the nonsymmetric case using the BiCG algorithm. We show that, similarly to the symmetric case, we can build an algorithm that is capable of computing a few smallest magnitude eigenvalues and their corresponding left and right eigenvectors of a nonsymmetric matrix using only a small window of the BiCG residuals while simultaneously solving a linear system with that matrix. For a system with multiple right-hand sides, we give an algorithm that computes incrementally more eigenvalues while solving the first few systems and then uses the computed eigenvectors to deflate BiCGStab for the remaining systems. Our experiments on various test problems, including Lattice QCD, show the remarkable ability of EigBiCG to compute spectral approximations with accuracy comparable to that of the unrestarted, nonsymmetric Lanczos. Furthermore, our incremental EigBiCG followed by appropriately restarted and deflated BiCGStab provides a competitive method for systems with multiple right-hand sides.

  2. Multi-layer Lanczos iteration approach to calculations of vibrational energies and dipole transition intensities for polyatomic molecules

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu, Hua-Gen

    2015-01-01

    We report a rigorous full dimensional quantum dynamics algorithm, the multi-layer Lanczos method, for computing vibrational energies and dipole transition intensities of polyatomic molecules without any dynamics approximation. The multi-layer Lanczos method is developed by using a few advanced techniques including the guided spectral transform Lanczos method, multi-layer Lanczos iteration approach, recursive residue generation method, and dipole-wavefunction contraction. The quantum molecular Hamiltonian at the total angular momentum J = 0 is represented in a set of orthogonal polyspherical coordinates so that the large amplitude motions of vibrations are naturally described. In particular, the algorithm is general and problem-independent. An application is illustrated by calculating the infrared vibrational dipole transition spectrum of CH based on the ab initio T8 potential energy surface of Schwenke and Partridge and the low-order truncated ab initio dipole moment surfaces of Yurchenko and co-workers. A comparison with experiments is made. The algorithm is also applicable for Raman polarizability active spectra

  3. The coupled-channel T-matrix: its lowest-order Born + Lanczos approximants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Znojil, M.

    1995-01-01

    Three iterative methods of solution of the Lippmann-Schwinger equations (viz., the method of continued fractions by J.Horacek and T.Sasakawa), its Born-remainder modification and a coupled-channel matrix-continued-fraction generalization are all interpreted as special cases of a common iterative matrix prescription. Firstly, in terms of certain asymmetric projectors P≠P + , we re-derive the three particular older methods as different realizations of the well-known Lanczos inversion. Then, a generalized iteration method is proposed as a Born-like re-arrangement of any intermediate Lanczos iteration step. A maximal flexibility is achieved in the formalism which might compete with the standard Pade re-summations in practice. Its first few truncations are listed, therefore. 26 refs., 1 tab

  4. Multi-Grid Lanczos

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, M. A.; Jung, Chulwoo; Lehner, Christoph

    2018-03-01

    We present a Lanczos algorithm utilizing multiple grids that reduces the memory requirements both on disk and in working memory by one order of magnitude for RBC/UKQCD's 48I and 64I ensembles at the physical pion mass. The precision of the resulting eigenvectors is on par with exact deflation.

  5. Multi-Grid Lanczos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clark M. A.

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available We present a Lanczos algorithm utilizing multiple grids that reduces the memory requirements both on disk and in working memory by one order of magnitude for RBC/UKQCD’s 48I and 64I ensembles at the physical pion mass. The precision of the resulting eigenvectors is on par with exact deflation.

  6. A look-ahead variant of the Lanczos algorithm and its application to the quasi-minimal residual method for non-Hermitian linear systems. Ph.D. Thesis - Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, Aug. 1991

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nachtigal, Noel M.

    1991-01-01

    The Lanczos algorithm can be used both for eigenvalue problems and to solve linear systems. However, when applied to non-Hermitian matrices, the classical Lanczos algorithm is susceptible to breakdowns and potential instabilities. In addition, the biconjugate gradient (BCG) algorithm, which is the natural generalization of the conjugate gradient algorithm to non-Hermitian linear systems, has a second source of breakdowns, independent of the Lanczos breakdowns. Here, we present two new results. We propose an implementation of a look-ahead variant of the Lanczos algorithm which overcomes the breakdowns by skipping over those steps where a breakdown or a near-breakdown would occur. The new algorithm can handle look-ahead steps of any length and requires the same number of matrix-vector products and inner products per step as the classical Lanczos algorithm without look-ahead. Based on the proposed look-ahead Lanczos algorithm, we then present a novel BCG-like approach, the quasi-minimal residual (QMR) method, which avoids the second source of breakdowns in the BCG algorithm. We present details of the new method and discuss some of its properties. In particular, we discuss the relationship between QMR and BCG, showing how one can recover the BCG iterates, when they exist, from the QMR iterates. We also present convergence results for QMR, showing the connection between QMR and the generalized minimal residual (GMRES) algorithm, the optimal method in this class of methods. Finally, we give some numerical examples, both for eigenvalue computations and for non-Hermitian linear systems.

  7. Application of spectral Lanczos decomposition method to large scale problems arising geophysics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tamarchenko, T. [Western Atlas Logging Services, Houston, TX (United States)

    1996-12-31

    This paper presents an application of Spectral Lanczos Decomposition Method (SLDM) to numerical modeling of electromagnetic diffusion and elastic waves propagation in inhomogeneous media. SLDM approximates an action of a matrix function as a linear combination of basis vectors in Krylov subspace. I applied the method to model electromagnetic fields in three-dimensions and elastic waves in two dimensions. The finite-difference approximation of the spatial part of differential operator reduces the initial boundary-value problem to a system of ordinary differential equations with respect to time. The solution to this system requires calculating exponential and sine/cosine functions of the stiffness matrices. Large scale numerical examples are in a good agreement with the theoretical error bounds and stability estimates given by Druskin, Knizhnerman, 1987.

  8. The Lanczos and Conjugate Gradient Algorithms in Finite Precision Arithmetic

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Meurant, G.; Strakoš, Zdeněk

    2006-01-01

    Roč. 15, - (2006), s. 471-542 ISSN 0962-4929 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR 1ET400300415 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : Lanczos method * conjugate gradient method * finite precision arithmetic * numerical stability * iterative methods Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics

  9. The Physical Interpretation of the Lanczos Tensor

    OpenAIRE

    Roberts, Mark D.

    1999-01-01

    The field equations of general relativity can be written as first order differential equations in the Weyl tensor, the Weyl tensor in turn can be written as a first order differential equation in a three index tensor called the Lanczos tensor. The Lanczos tensor plays a similar role in general relativity to that of the vector potential in electro-magnetic theory. The Aharonov-Bohm effect shows that when quantum mechanics is applied to electro-magnetic theory the vector potential is dynamicall...

  10. The Lanczos algorithm for extensive many-body systems in the thermodynamic limit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Witte, N.S.; Bessis, D.

    1999-01-01

    We establish rigorously the scaling properties of the Lanczos process applied to an arbitrary extensive Many-Body System which is carried to convergence n → ∞ and the thermodynamic limit N → ∞ taken. In this limit the solution for the limiting Lanczos coefficients are found exactly and generally through two equivalent sets of equations, given initial knowledge of the exact cumulant generating function. The measure and the Orthogonal Polynomial System associated with the Lanczos process in this regime are also given explicitly. Some important representations of these Lanczos functions are provided, including Taylor series expansions, and the theorems controlling their general properties are proven. (authors)

  11. On a new implementation of the Lanczos algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caurier, E.; Zuker, A.P.; Poves, A.

    1991-01-01

    The new implementation proposed is based on a block labelling scheme described in detail. Time reversal, f-projection, sum rule pivots and strength functions are discussed by the aid of the new implementation of the Lanczos algorithm. Energetics and magnetic dipole behaviour of 48 Ti are studied as examples illustrating the applications of the method. (G.P.) 9 refs.; 4 figs.; 1 tab

  12. ESP – Data from Restarted Life Tests of Various Silicon Materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schneider, Jim

    2010-10-06

    Current funding has allowed the restart of testing of various silicone materials placed in Life Tests or Aging Studies from past efforts. Some of these materials have been in test since 1982, with no testing for approximately 10 years, until funding allowed the restart in FY97. Charts for the various materials at different thickness, compression, and temperature combinations illustrate trends for the load-bearing properties of the materials.

  13. On the entrance distribution in RESTART simulation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Garvels, M.J.J.; Kroese, Dirk

    The RESTART method is a widely applicable simulation technique for the estimation of rare event probabilities. The method is based on the idea to restart the simulation at certain intermediate stages, in order to generate more occurrences of the rare event. In many cases we are interested in the

  14. Inversion of the fermion matrix and the equivalence of the conjugate gradient and Lanczos algorithms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burkitt, A.N.; Irving, A.C.

    1990-01-01

    The Lanczos and conjugate gradient algorithms are widely used in lattice QCD calculations. The previously known close relationship between the two methods is explored and two commonly used implementations are shown to give identically the same results at each iteration, in exact arithmetic, for matrix inversion. The identities between the coefficients of the two algorithms are given, and many of the features of the two algorithms can now be combined. The effects of finite arithmetic are investigated and the particular Lanczos formulation is found to be most stable with respect to rounding errors. (orig.)

  15. Lanczos Tridiagonalization and Core Problems

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hnětynková, Iveta; Strakoš, Zdeněk

    2007-01-01

    Roč. 421, č. 2-3 (2007), s. 243-251 ISSN 0024-3795 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR 1ET400300415 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : linear approximation problem * orthogonal transformation * core problem * Golub-Kahan bidiagonalization * Lanczos tridiagonalization * Jacobi matrix Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.702, year: 2007

  16. Advanced RESTART method for the estimation of the probability of failure of highly reliable hybrid dynamic systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turati, Pietro; Pedroni, Nicola; Zio, Enrico

    2016-01-01

    The efficient estimation of system reliability characteristics is of paramount importance for many engineering applications. Real world system reliability modeling calls for the capability of treating systems that are: i) dynamic, ii) complex, iii) hybrid and iv) highly reliable. Advanced Monte Carlo (MC) methods offer a way to solve these types of problems, which are feasible according to the potentially high computational costs. In this paper, the REpetitive Simulation Trials After Reaching Thresholds (RESTART) method is employed, extending it to hybrid systems for the first time (to the authors’ knowledge). The estimation accuracy and precision of RESTART highly depend on the choice of the Importance Function (IF) indicating how close the system is to failure: in this respect, proper IFs are here originally proposed to improve the performance of RESTART for the analysis of hybrid systems. The resulting overall simulation approach is applied to estimate the probability of failure of the control system of a liquid hold-up tank and of a pump-valve subsystem subject to degradation induced by fatigue. The results are compared to those obtained by standard MC simulation and by RESTART with classical IFs available in the literature. The comparison shows the improvement in the performance obtained by our approach. - Highlights: • We consider the issue of estimating small failure probabilities in dynamic systems. • We employ the RESTART method to estimate the failure probabilities. • New Importance Functions (IFs) are introduced to increase the method performance. • We adopt two dynamic, hybrid, highly reliable systems as case studies. • A comparison with literature IFs proves the effectiveness of the new IFs.

  17. Use of Lanczos vectors in fluid/structure interaction problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeans, R.; Mathews, I.C.

    1992-01-01

    The goals of any numerical computational technique used for the solution of structural acoustics problems in the exterior infinite domain should be of accuracy with rapid convergence, robustness, and computational efficiency. A computer program has been developed to achieve each of these three goals. Accuracy and robustness in the numerical representation of the integral equations used to represent the infinite fluid was attained through the use of boundary element implementations of the surface Helmholtz integral equations. The computational efficiency was resolved through the use of Lanczos vectors to model the deformation characteristics of the structure. The authors have developed collocation and variational techniques to overcome the difficulties previously encountered in the numerical implementation of the hypersingular integral operator. The Cauchy singularity present in the integral formulation is made numerically amenable through the use of tangential derivatives in both the collocation and variational techniques. The variational approach has the advantage that the resulting added fluid mass term is symmetric and combines efficiently with a finite element approximation of the structural elastic response. Several different strategies making use of the Lanczos vectors have been investigated. The first involved the use of Lanczos vectors solely to characterize the structural response. This reduced form of the structural dynamical matrix was then substituted back into a Burton and Miller formulation of the acoustic problem. The second strategy investigated involved forming the complex Lanzcos vectors of the dynamical matrix formed from the addition of a symmetrical added fluid matrix to the structural mass matrix. The size of resultant matrix equation set solved at each frequency for this strategy is determined by the number of Lanczos vectors used. 19 refs., 10 figs., 2 tabs

  18. Resolving the issue of branched Hamiltonian in modified Lanczos-Lovelock gravity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruz, Soumendranath; Mandal, Ranajit; Debnath, Subhra; Sanyal, Abhik Kumar

    2016-07-01

    The Hamiltonian constraint H_c = N{H} = 0, defines a diffeomorphic structure on spatial manifolds by the lapse function N in general theory of relativity. However, it is not manifest in Lanczos-Lovelock gravity, since the expression for velocity in terms of the momentum is multivalued. Thus the Hamiltonian is a branch function of momentum. Here we propose an extended theory of Lanczos-Lovelock gravity to construct a unique Hamiltonian in its minisuperspace version, which results in manifest diffeomorphic invariance and canonical quantization.

  19. Recursion relations for the overlap of a Morse continuum state with a Lanczos basis state

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lutrus, C.K.; Suck Salk, S.H.

    1988-01-01

    In the resonant reactive scattering theory of Mundel, Berman, and Domcke [Phys. Rev. A 32, 181 (1985)], the overlap of a Morse continuum state and a Lanczos basis state appears in the expression of transition amplitude. In their study, recursion relations for Green's functions in the Lanczos basis were used for computational efficiency. In this paper we derive new recursion relations specifically for the evaluation of overlap between the Morse continuum wave and Lanczos basis state that appears in the transition amplitude of resonant scattering. They are found to be simple to use with great accuracy

  20. Realization of preconditioned Lanczos and conjugate gradient algorithms on optical linear algebra processors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, A

    1988-08-01

    Lanczos and conjugate gradient algorithms are important in computational linear algebra. In this paper, a parallel pipelined realization of these algorithms on a ring of optical linear algebra processors is described. The flow of data is designed to minimize the idle times of the optical multiprocessor and the redundancy of computations. The effects of optical round-off errors on the solutions obtained by the optical Lanczos and conjugate gradient algorithms are analyzed, and it is shown that optical preconditioning can improve the accuracy of these algorithms substantially. Algorithms for optical preconditioning and results of numerical experiments on solving linear systems of equations arising from partial differential equations are discussed. Since the Lanczos algorithm is used mostly with sparse matrices, a folded storage scheme to represent sparse matrices on spatial light modulators is also described.

  1. Journal of Earth System Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Determining the optimum cell size of digital elevation model for hydrologic ... Efficient two-dimensional magnetotellurics modelling using implicitly restarted Lanczos method ... A small isolated mafic body occurs to the south of Sirohi near village Daba .... Carbon isotopic composition of fossil leaves from the Early Cretaceous ...

  2. Restarts in Conversation and Literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Person, Raymond F., Jr.

    1996-01-01

    Analyzes restarts, a common feature of conversation, in literary discourse. The term "restart" refers to the repetition of a word or words within an utterance by the same speaker. Restarts in literary discourse are of two types: (1) those produced by the characters in their "real" narrative world and (2) those produced by the narrators themselves.…

  3. Japan: Sendai, first reactor to restart. Sendai restart: how does it work? Japan: restart will be 'progressive'. 2015: which role for nuclear energy in Japan?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Le Ngoc, Boris; Jouette, Isabelle

    2015-01-01

    A set of articles addresses the restart of nuclear plants in Japan. The first one presents the Sendai nuclear plant, evokes the commitment of the Japanese nuclear safety authority (the NRA) at each step of the restart process, the agreement of local populations, the loading of the nuclear fuel, a successful crisis exercise, and the benefits expected from this restart. The second article addresses the restart process with its administrative aspects, the implication of local authorities, its technical aspects, and investments made to improve nuclear safety. The third article proposes an interview of the nuclear expert of the French embassy in Tokyo. He outlines that the restart of nuclear plants will be progressive, comments how Sendai restart has been commented in the Japanese press, evokes how this restart is part of the Japanese Prime Minister's policy, evokes the role and challenges of nuclear energy in Japan for the years to come, and the role France may play. The last article discusses the role of nuclear energy in Japan in 2015: importance of the old 3E policy (Energy, Environment, Economy) which is put into question again by the Fukushima accident, creation of a new nuclear safety authority as a first step before restarting nuclear reactors

  4. Projective block Lanczos algorithm for dense, Hermitian eigensystems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Webster, F.; Lo, G.C.

    1996-01-01

    Projection operators are used to effect open-quotes deflation by restrictionclose quotes and it is argued that this is an optimal Lanczos algorithm for memory minimization. Algorithmic optimization is constrained to dense, Hermitian eigensystems where a significant number of the extreme eigenvectors must be obtained reliably and completely. The defining constraints are operator algebra without a matrix representation and semi-orthogonalization without storage of Krylov vectors. other semi-orthogonalization strategies for Lanczos algorithms and conjugate gradient techniques are evaluated within these constraints. Large scale, sparse, complex numerical experiments are performed on clusters of magnetic dipoles, a quantum many-body system that is not block-diagonalizable. Plane-wave, density functional theory of beryllium clusters provides examples of dense complex eigensystems. Use of preconditioners and spectral transformations is evaluated in a preprocessor prior to a high accuracy self-consistent field calculation. 25 refs., 3 figs., 5 tabs

  5. A novel derivation of the boundary term for the action in Lanczos-Lovelock gravity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty, Sumanta; Parattu, Krishnamohan; Padmanabhan, T.

    2017-09-01

    We present a novel derivation of the boundary term for the action in Lanczos-Lovelock gravity, starting from the boundary contribution in the variation of the Lanczos-Lovelock action. The derivation presented here is straightforward, i.e., one starts from the Lanczos-Lovelock action principle and the action itself dictates the boundary structure and hence the boundary term one needs to add to the action to make it well-posed. It also gives the full structure of the contribution at the boundary of the complete action, enabling us to read off the degrees of freedom to be fixed at the boundary, their corresponding conjugate momenta and the total derivative contribution on the boundary. We also provide a separate derivation of the Gauss-Bonnet case.

  6. The implicit restarted Arnoldi method, an efficient alternative to solve the neutron diffusion equation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Verdu, G.; Miro, R. [Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica y Nuclear, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Valencia (Spain); Ginestar, D. [Departamento de Matematica Aplicada, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Valencia (Spain); Vidal, V. [Departamento de Sistemas Informaticos y Computacion, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Valencia (Spain)

    1999-05-01

    To calculate the neutronic steady state of a nuclear power reactor core and its subcritical modes, it is necessary to solve a partial eigenvalue problem. In this paper, an implicit restarted Arnoldi method is presented as an advantageous alternative to classical methods as the Power Iteration method and the Subspace Iteration method. The efficiency of these methods, has been compared calculating the dominant Lambda modes of several configurations of the Three Mile Island reactor core.

  7. The Bach-Lanczos Lagrangian in matrix relativity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maluf, J.W.

    1987-01-01

    The author examines the generalisation of the Bach-Lanczos Lagrangian in matrix relativity where it is no longer a topological invariant, and find that for certain structures of the matrix affine connection a Yang-Mills type Lagrangian is obtained. Thus the possibility is considered of interpreting non-Abelian gauge fields as arising from an otherwise topological invariant. (author)

  8. The Non–Symmetric s–Step Lanczos Algorithm: Derivation of Efficient Recurrences and Synchronization–Reducing Variants of BiCG and QMR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feuerriegel Stefan

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The Lanczos algorithm is among the most frequently used iterative techniques for computing a few dominant eigenvalues of a large sparse non-symmetric matrix. At the same time, it serves as a building block within biconjugate gradient (BiCG and quasi-minimal residual (QMR methods for solving large sparse non-symmetric systems of linear equations. It is well known that, when implemented on distributed-memory computers with a huge number of processes, the synchronization time spent on computing dot products increasingly limits the parallel scalability. Therefore, we propose synchronization-reducing variants of the Lanczos, as well as BiCG and QMR methods, in an attempt to mitigate these negative performance effects. These so-called s-step algorithms are based on grouping dot products for joint execution and replacing time-consuming matrix operations by efficient vector recurrences. The purpose of this paper is to provide a rigorous derivation of the recurrences for the s-step Lanczos algorithm, introduce s-step BiCG and QMR variants, and compare the parallel performance of these new s-step versions with previous algorithms.

  9. The intrinsic nature of things the life and science of Cornelius Lanczos

    CERN Document Server

    Gellai, Barbara

    2010-01-01

    This book recounts the extraordinary personal journey and scientific story of Hungarian-born mathematician and physicist Cornelius Lanczos. His life and his mathematical accomplishments are inextricably linked, reflecting the social upheavals and historical events that shaped his odyssey in 20th-century Hungary, Germany, the United States, and Ireland. In his life Lanczos demonstrated a remarkable ability to be at the right place, or work with the right person, at the right time. At the start of his scientific career in Germany he worked as Einstein's assistant for one year and stayed in touch

  10. An asynchronous writing method for restart files in the gysela code in prevision of exascale systems*

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomine O.

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The present work deals with an optimization procedure developed in the full-f global GYrokinetic SEmi-LAgrangian code (GYSELA. Optimizing the writing of the restart files is necessary to reduce the computing impact of crashes. These files require a very large memory space, and particularly so for very large mesh sizes. The limited bandwidth of the data pipe between the comput- ing nodes and the storage system induces a non-scalable part in the GYSELA code, which increases with the mesh size. Indeed the transfer time of RAM to data depends linearly on the files size. The necessity of non synchronized writing-in-file procedure is therefore crucial. A new GYSELA module has been developed. This asynchronous procedure allows the frequent writ- ing of the restart files, whilst preventing a severe slowing down due to the limited writing bandwidth. This method has been improved to generate a checksum control of the restart files, and automatically rerun the code in case of a crash for any cause.

  11. Some uses of the symmetric Lanczos algorithm - and why it works!

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Druskin, V.L. [Schlumberger-Doll Research, Ridgefield, CT (United States); Greenbaum, A. [Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York, NY (United States); Knizhnerman, L.A. [Central Geophysical Expedition, Moscow (Russian Federation)

    1996-12-31

    The Lanczos algorithm uses a three-term recurrence to construct an orthonormal basis for the Krylov space corresponding to a symmetric matrix A and a starting vector q{sub 1}. The vectors and recurrence coefficients produced by this algorithm can be used for a number of purposes, including solving linear systems Au = {var_phi} and computing the matrix exponential e{sup -tA}{var_phi}. Although the vectors produced in finite precision arithmetic are not orthogonal, we show why they can still be used effectively for these purposes. The reason is that the 2-norm of the residual is essentially determined by the tridiagonal matrix and the next recurrence coefficient produced by the finite precision Lanczos computation. It follows that if the same tridiagonal matrix and recurrence coefficient are produced by the exact Lanczos algorithm applied to some other problem, then exact arithmetic bounds on the residual for that problem will hold for the finite precision computation. In order to establish exact arithmetic bounds for the different problem, it is necessary to have some information about the eigenvalues of the new coefficient matrix. Here we make use of information already established in the literature, and we also prove a new result for indefinite matrices.

  12. An application of the discrete-time Toda lattice to the progressive algorithm by Lanczos and related problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakamura, Yoshimasa; Sekido, Hiroto

    2018-04-01

    The finite or the semi-infinite discrete-time Toda lattice has many applications to various areas in applied mathematics. The purpose of this paper is to review how the Toda lattice appears in the Lanczos algorithm through the quotient-difference algorithm and its progressive form (pqd). Then a multistep progressive algorithm (MPA) for solving linear systems is presented. The extended Lanczos parameters can be given not by computing inner products of the extended Lanczos vectors but by using the pqd algorithm with highly relative accuracy in a lower cost. The asymptotic behavior of the pqd algorithm brings us some applications of MPA related to eigenvectors.

  13. Markov Renewal Methods in Restart Problems in Complex Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Asmussen, Søren; Lipsky, Lester; Thompson, Stephen

    A task with ideal execution time L such as the execution of a computer program or the transmission of a file on a data link may fail, and the task then needs to be restarted. The task is handled by a complex system with features similar to the ones in classical reliability: failures may...

  14. LBAS: Lanczos Bidiagonalization with Subspace Augmentation for Discrete Inverse Problems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Per Christian; Abe, Kyniyoshi

    The regularizing properties of Lanczos bidiagonalization are powerful when the underlying Krylov subspace captures the dominating components of the solution. In some applications the regularized solution can be further improved by augmenting the Krylov subspace with a low-dimensional subspace tha...

  15. Lanczos potentials and a definition of gravitational entropy for perturbed Friedman-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker spacetimes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mena, Filipe C; Tod, Paul

    2007-01-01

    We give a prescription for constructing a Lanczos potential for a cosmological model which is a purely gravitational perturbation of a Friedman-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker spacetime. For the radiation equation of state, we find the Lanczos potential explicitly via Fourier transforms. As an application, we follow up a suggestion of Penrose (1979 Singularities and time-asymmetry General Relativity: An Einstein Centenary Survey ed S W Hawking and W Israel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)) and propose a definition of gravitational entropy for these cosmologies. With this definition, the gravitational entropy initially is finite if and only if the initial Weyl tensor is finite

  16. Algoritmo de lanczos na variedade de grassmann

    OpenAIRE

    Lopes, Ana Paula Ferreira Fernandes; Viamonte, Ana Júlia; Pascoal, António José

    2008-01-01

    O problema do cálculo de valores próprios, vectores próprios e subespaços invariantes está presente em áreas tão diversas como Engenharia, Física, Ciências de Computação e Matemática. Considerando a importância deste problema em tantas aplicações práticas, não é de surpreender que tenha sido e continue a ser objecto de intensa investigação, dando corpo a uma literatura muito vasta. Desenvolvemos um novo algoritmo de Lanczos na variedade de Grassmann. Este trabalho surgiu na ...

  17. Restarting Automata with Auxiliary Symbols and Small Lookahead

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schluter, Natalie Elaine

    2012-01-01

    We present a study on lookahead hierarchies for restarting automata with auxiliary symbols and small lookahead. In particular, we show that there are just two different classes of languages recognised by RRWW automata, through the restriction of lookahead size. We also show that the respective...... (left-) monotone restarting automaton models characterise the context-free languages and that the respective right-left-monotone restarting automata characterise the linear languages both with just lookahead length 2....

  18. Estimation and calibration of observation impact signals using the Lanczos method in NOAA/NCEP data assimilation system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Wei

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in data assimilation (DA methodology, observing systems that reduce observation errors, and model improvements that reduce background errors, the analyses produced by the best available DA systems are still different from the truth. Analysis error and error covariance are important since they describe the accuracy of the analyses, and are directly related to the future forecast errors, i.e., the forecast quality. In addition, analysis error covariance is critically important in building an efficient ensemble forecast system (EFS.

    Estimating analysis error covariance in an ensemble-based Kalman filter DA is straightforward, but it is challenging in variational DA systems, which have been in operation at most NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction centers. In this study, we use the Lanczos method in the NCEP (the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI DA system to look into other important aspects and properties of this method that were not exploited before. We apply this method to estimate the observation impact signals (OIS, which are directly related to the analysis error variances. It is found that the smallest eigenvalue of the transformed Hessian matrix converges to one as the number of minimization iterations increases. When more observations are assimilated, the convergence becomes slower and more eigenvectors are needed to retrieve the observation impacts. It is also found that the OIS over data-rich regions can be represented by the eigenvectors with dominant eigenvalues.

    Since only a limited number of eigenvectors can be computed due to computational expense, the OIS is severely underestimated, and the analysis error variance is consequently overestimated. It is found that the mean OIS values for temperature and wind components at typical model levels are increased by about 1.5 times when the number of eigenvectors is doubled

  19. 2D XXZ model ground state properties using an analytic Lanczos expansion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Witte, N.S.; Hollenberg, L.C.L.; Weihong Zheng

    1997-01-01

    A formalism was developed for calculating arbitrary expectation values for any extensive lattice Hamiltonian system using a new analytic Lanczos expansion, or plaquette expansion, and a recently proved exact theorem for ground state energies. The ground state energy, staggered magnetisation and the excited state gap of the 2D anisotropic antiferromagnetic Heisenberg Model are then calculated using this expansion for a range of anisotropy parameters and compared to other moment based techniques, such as the t-expansion, and spin-wave theory and series expansion methods. It was found that far from the isotropic point all moment methods give essentially very similar results, but near the isotopic point the plaquette expansion is generally better than the others. 20 refs., 6 tabs

  20. Environmental consequences of alternatives to L Reactor restart

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1983-01-01

    Alternatives to renewed L-Reactor operation for increased production of nuclear materials are: restart of R Reactor, construction and operation of a New Production Reactor (NPR), increased throughput of SRP reactors C, K, and P and N Reactor at Hanford, restart of K Reactors at Hanford, and no action - standby ready state for L Reactor. This report compares the environmental consequences from the proposed L-Reactor restart and these alternatives. The environmental consequences considered are radiological releases, radiocesium remobilization, nonradiological releases, ecological impacts and transportation

  1. Risk perception in an interest group context: an examination of the TMI restart issue

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soderstrom, E.J.; Sorensen, J.H.; Copenhaver, E.D.; Carnes, S.A.

    1984-01-01

    Human response to environmental hazards and risks has been the subject of considerable research by social scientists. Work has traditionally focused on either individual response to the risks of an ongoing or future threat (hazards research), or group and organizational response to a specific disaster event (disaster research). As part of a larger investigation of the restart of the Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island (TMI), the response of interest groups active in the restart issue to the continued threat of TMI and to future risks due to restart was examined. After reviewing the restart issue in general, the local dimensions of the restart issue from interest group perspectives are discussed. A method for defining appropriate issues at the community level is reviewed. Differences in the perceived local impacts of alternative decisions, and systems of beliefs associated with differing perceptions are discussed. Finally, the implications of interest group versus individual perceptions of local issues for decision making about TMI, in particular, and about technological hazards management, in general, are discussed. Associated implications for determining socially acceptable risk levels are identified

  2. Restart of K-Reactor, Savannah River Site: Safety evaluation report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1991-04-01

    This Safety Evaluation Report (SER) focuses on those issues required to support the restart of the K-Reactor at the Savannah River Plant. This SER provides the safety criteria for restart and documents the results of the staff reviews of the DOE and operating contractor activities to meet these criteria. To develop the restart criteria for the issues discussed in this SER, the Savannah River Restart Office and Savannah River Special Projects Office staffs relied, when possible, on commercial industry codes and standards and on NRC requirements and guidelines for the commercial nuclear industry. However, because of the age and uniqueness of the Savannah River reactors, criteria for the commercial plants were not always applicable. In these cases, alternate criteria were developed. The restart criteria applicable to each of the issues are identified in the safety evaluations for each issue. The restart criteria identified in this report are intended to apply only to restart of the Savannah River reactors. Following the development of the acceptance criteria, the DOE staff and their support contractors evaluated the results of the DOE and operating contractor (WSRC) activities to meet these criteria. The results of those evaluations are documented in this report. Deviations or failures to meet the requirements are either justified in the report or carried as open or confirmatory items to be completed and evaluated in supplements to this report before restart. 62 refs., 1 fig.

  3. Restart of K-Reactor, Savannah River Site: Safety evaluation report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-04-01

    This Safety Evaluation Report (SER) focuses on those issues required to support the restart of the K-Reactor at the Savannah River Plant. This SER provides the safety criteria for restart and documents the results of the staff reviews of the DOE and operating contractor activities to meet these criteria. To develop the restart criteria for the issues discussed in this SER, the Savannah River Restart Office and Savannah River Special Projects Office staffs relied, when possible, on commercial industry codes and standards and on NRC requirements and guidelines for the commercial nuclear industry. However, because of the age and uniqueness of the Savannah River reactors, criteria for the commercial plants were not always applicable. In these cases, alternate criteria were developed. The restart criteria applicable to each of the issues are identified in the safety evaluations for each issue. The restart criteria identified in this report are intended to apply only to restart of the Savannah River reactors. Following the development of the acceptance criteria, the DOE staff and their support contractors evaluated the results of the DOE and operating contractor (WSRC) activities to meet these criteria. The results of those evaluations are documented in this report. Deviations or failures to meet the requirements are either justified in the report or carried as open or confirmatory items to be completed and evaluated in supplements to this report before restart. 62 refs., 1 fig

  4. Mechanisms of bacterial DNA replication restart

    Science.gov (United States)

    Windgassen, Tricia A; Wessel, Sarah R; Bhattacharyya, Basudeb

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Multi-protein DNA replication complexes called replisomes perform the essential process of copying cellular genetic information prior to cell division. Under ideal conditions, replisomes dissociate only after the entire genome has been duplicated. However, DNA replication rarely occurs without interruptions that can dislodge replisomes from DNA. Such events produce incompletely replicated chromosomes that, if left unrepaired, prevent the segregation of full genomes to daughter cells. To mitigate this threat, cells have evolved ‘DNA replication restart’ pathways that have been best defined in bacteria. Replication restart requires recognition and remodeling of abandoned replication forks by DNA replication restart proteins followed by reloading of the replicative DNA helicase, which subsequently directs assembly of the remaining replisome subunits. This review summarizes our current understanding of the mechanisms underlying replication restart and the proteins that drive the process in Escherichia coli (PriA, PriB, PriC and DnaT). PMID:29202195

  5. Operational readiness reviews for restart of L reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Finley, R.H.

    1984-01-01

    The L Reactor at the Savannah River Plant is being restarted after being in a standby status since 1968. Operational Readiness Reviews (ORRs) were conducted by DOE-SR and contractor personnel concurrent with the restart activity. This paper summarizes the ORR activity

  6. Preconditioned Krylov subspace methods for eigenvalue problems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Kesheng; Saad, Y.; Stathopoulos, A. [Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)

    1996-12-31

    Lanczos algorithm is a commonly used method for finding a few extreme eigenvalues of symmetric matrices. It is effective if the wanted eigenvalues have large relative separations. If separations are small, several alternatives are often used, including the shift-invert Lanczos method, the preconditioned Lanczos method, and Davidson method. The shift-invert Lanczos method requires direct factorization of the matrix, which is often impractical if the matrix is large. In these cases preconditioned schemes are preferred. Many applications require solution of hundreds or thousands of eigenvalues of large sparse matrices, which pose serious challenges for both iterative eigenvalue solver and preconditioner. In this paper we will explore several preconditioned eigenvalue solvers and identify the ones suited for finding large number of eigenvalues. Methods discussed in this paper make up the core of a preconditioned eigenvalue toolkit under construction.

  7. Los Alamos National Laboratory Omega West Reactor restart

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1993-01-01

    This report is a critical evaluation of the effort for the restart of the Omega West reactor. It is divided into the following areas: progress made; difficulties in restart effort; current needs; and suggested detailed steps for improvement. A brief discussion is given for each area of study

  8. Identity of the conjugate gradient and Lanczos algorithms for matrix inversion in lattice fermion calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burkitt, A.N.; Irving, A.C.

    1988-01-01

    Two of the methods that are widely used in lattice gauge theory calculations requiring inversion of the fermion matrix are the Lanczos and the conjugate gradient algorithms. Those algorithms are already known to be closely related. In fact for matrix inversion, in exact arithmetic, they give identical results at each iteration and are just alternative formulations of a single algorithm. This equivalence survives rounding errors. We give the identities between the coefficients of the two formulations, enabling many of the best features of them to be combined. (orig.)

  9. Total photoionization cross-sections of excited electronic states by the algebraic diagrammatic construction-Stieltjes-Lanczos method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruberti, M; Yun, R; Gokhberg, K; Kopelke, S; Cederbaum, L S; Tarantelli, F; Averbukh, V

    2014-05-14

    Here, we extend the L2 ab initio method for molecular photoionization cross-sections introduced in Gokhberg et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 130, 064104 (2009)] and benchmarked in Ruberti et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 139, 144107 (2013)] to the calculation of total photoionization cross-sections of molecules in electronically excited states. The method is based on the ab initio description of molecular electronic states within the many-electron Green's function approach, known as algebraic diagrammatic construction (ADC), and on the application of Stieltjes-Chebyshev moment theory to Lanczos pseudospectra of the ADC electronic Hamiltonian. The intermediate state representation of the dipole operator in the ADC basis is used to compute the transition moments between the excited states of the molecule. We compare the results obtained using different levels of the many-body theory, i.e., ADC(1), ADC(2), and ADC(2)x for the first two excited states of CO, N2, and H2O both at the ground state and the excited state equilibrium or saddle point geometries. We find that the single excitation ADC(1) method is not adequate even at the qualitative level and that the inclusion of double electronic excitations for description of excited state photoionization is essential. Moreover, we show that the use of the extended ADC(2)x method leads to a substantial systematic difference from the strictly second-order ADC(2). Our calculations demonstrate that a theoretical modelling of photoionization of excited states requires an intrinsically double excitation theory with respect to the ground state and cannot be achieved by the standard single excitation methods with the ground state as a reference.

  10. Implementation of the Lanczos algorithm for the Hubbard model on the Connection Machine system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leung, P.W.; Oppenheimer, P.E.

    1992-01-01

    An implementation of the Lanczos algorithm for the exact diagonalization of the two dimensional Hubbard model on a 4x4 square lattice on the Connection Machine CM-2 system is described. The CM-2 is a massively parallel machine with distributed memory. The program is written in C/PARIS. This implementation minimizes memory usage by generating the matrix elements as needed instead of storing them. The Lanczos vectors are stored across the local memory of the processors. Using translational symmetry only, the dimension of the Hilbert space at half filling is more than 10 million. A speed of about 2.4 min per iteration is achieved on a 64K CM-2. This implementation is scalable. Running it on a bigger machine with more processors speeds up the process. The performance analysis of this implementation is shown and discuss its advantages and disadvantages are discussed

  11. Safety Evaluation Report Restart of K-Reactor Savannah River Site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-10-01

    In April 1991, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued DOE/DP-0084T, ''Safety Evaluation Report Restart of K-Reactor Savannah River Site.'' The Safety Evaluation Report (SER) documents the results of DOE reviews and evaluations of the programmatic aspects of a large number of issues necessary to be satisfactorily addressed before restart. The issues were evaluated for compliance with the restart criteria included in the SER. The results of those evaluations determined that the restart criteria had been satisfied for some of the issues. However, for most of the issues at least part of the applicable restart criteria had not been found to be satisfied at the time the evaluations were prepared. For those issues, open or confirmatory items were identified that required resolution. In August 1991, DOE issued DOE/DP-0090T, ''Safety Evaluation Report Restart of K-Reactor Savannah River Site Supplement 1.'' That document was the first Supplement to the April 1991 SER, and documented the resolution of 62 of the open items identified in the SER. This document is the second Supplement to the April 1991 SER. This second SER Supplement documents the resolution of additional open times identified in the SER, and includes a complete list of all remaining SER open items. The resolution of those remaining open items will be documented in future SER Supplements. Resolution of all open items for an issue indicates that its associated restart criteria have been satisfied, and that DOE concludes that the programmatic aspects of the issue have been satisfactorily addressed

  12. Shape coexistence, Lanczos techniques, and large-basis shell-model calculations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haxton, W C [Washington Univ., Seattle, WA (United States). Dept. of Physics

    1992-08-01

    I discuss numerical many-body techniques based on the Lanczos algorithm and their applications to nuclear structure problems. Examples include shape coexistence, inclusive response functions, and weak interaction rates in {sup 16}O; weak-coupling descriptions of the O{sup +} bands in isotopes of Ge and Se; and the evaluation of the nuclear Green`s functions that arise in two-neutrino {beta}{beta} decay and in nuclear anapole and electric dipole moment calculations. (author). 11 refs., 2 tabs., 4 figs.

  13. Friction Stir Weld Restart+Reweld Repair Allowables

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clifton, Andrew

    2008-01-01

    A friction stir weld (FSW) repair method has been developed and successfully implemented on Al 2195 plate material for the Space Shuttle External Fuel Tank (ET). The method includes restarting the friction stir weld in the termination hole of the original weld followed by two reweld passes. Room temperature and cryogenic temperature mechanical properties exceeded minimum FSW design strength and compared well with the development data. Simulated service test results also compared closely to historical data for initial FSW, confirming no change to the critical flaw size or inspection requirements for the repaired weld. Testing of VPPA fusion/FSW intersection weld specimens exhibited acceptable strength and exceeded the minimum design value. Porosity, when present at the intersection was on the root side toe of the fusion weld, the "worst case" being 0.7 inch long. While such porosity may be removed by sanding, this "worst case" porosity condition was tested "as is" and demonstrated that porosity did not negatively affect the strength of the intersection weld. Large, 15-inch "wide panels" FSW repair welds were tested to demonstrate strength and evaluate residual stresses using photo stress analysis. All results exceeded design minimums, and photo stress analysis showed no significant stress gradients due to the presence of the restart and multi-pass FSW repair weld.

  14. Correlation between fuel rack sticking and unintentional re-starting of EDG

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Young Cheol; Chung, Woo geun; Kang, Seung Hee; Kim, Myeong hoon [KHNP CRI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-10-15

    The Emergency Diesel Generator (EDG) was being tested after overhaul maintenance. While the EDG was running at the rated speed (450 rpm), an operator pressed the manual stop button. But the EDG failed to stop and unintentionally started again. After the unintentional re-start, the EDG maintained running speed of 340 rpm. In the category of a governing system, this paper analyzes the cause of unintentional restart of the EDG that unintentionally re-started and maintained a speed at 340 rpm. The results of the analysis were then verified by a test run. Finally, we identified a correlation between fuel rack sticking and unintentional re-starting of the EDG. An analysis was conducted to confirm the cause of an EDG which was unintentionally restarting and running at 340rpm (rated speed is 450 rpm). Through a test run, it was confirmed that the results of the analysis are correct. The cause of the EDG unintentionally restarting was that it still rotated at 55 rpm over the minimum starting speed at the moment when the shutdown cylinder stopped blocking the fuel, because of a stuck fuel rack at the R7 cylinder. At the same time, the fuel that had been supplied into the cylinders (combustion chamber) by the governing system exploded and the EDG restarted unintentionally.

  15. Bruce A restart (execution and lessons-learned)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soini, J.

    2011-01-01

    Lessons learned with the Bruce Units 3 and 4 restart have been incorporated into the current refurbishment of Units 1 and 2. In addition, lessons learned on the lead unit (U2) are aggressively applied on the lagging unit (U1) to maximize efficiency and productivity. There will be a discussion on how this internal OPEX, along with external lessons learned, are used to continuously improve all aspects of the Bruce A Restart project management cycle, from scope selection, through planning and scheduling, to execution.

  16. Waxy crude oil flow restart ability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sierra, Andre Gaona; Varges, Priscilla Ribeiro; Mendes, Paulo Roberto de Souza [Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)], e-mails: prvarges@puc-rio.br, pmendes@puc-rio.br; Ziglio, Claudio [PETROBRAS S.A, R.J., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)], e-mail: ziglio@petrobras.com.br

    2010-07-01

    Under the hot reservoir conditions, waxy crudes behave like Newtonian fluids but once they experience very cold temperatures on the sea floor, the heavy paraffin's begin to precipitate from the solution impacting non- Newtonian flow behavior to the crude (Chang 2000, Lee 2009, Davidson 2004) and begin to deposit on the pipe wall leave blocked of pipeline. This gel cannot be broken with the original steady state flow operating pressure applied before gelation (Chang 1998). Restarting waxy crude oil flows in pipelines is a difficult issue because of the complex rheological behavior of the gelled oil. Indeed, below the WAT, the gelled oil exhibits viscoplastic, thixotropic, temperature-dependent, and compressible properties due to the interlocking gel-like structure formed by the crystallized paraffin compounds and the thermal shrinkage of the oil. The main objective of this work is to determine the minimal pressure to restart the flow, and the relationship between the fluid rheology , pipe geometry and the restart pressure of the flow. Experiments will be performed to investigate the displacement of carbopol aqueous solutions (viscoplastic fluid without thixotropic effects) by Newtonian oil flowing through a strait pipe to validate the experimental apparatus. Therefore, tests will be made with different fluids, like Laponite and waxy crude oils. (author)

  17. Operational Readiness Review Final Report For F-Canyon Restart. Phase 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McFarlane, A.F.; Spangler, J.B.

    1995-04-05

    An independent WSRC Operational Readiness Review was performed for the restart of Phase 1 processing in F-Canyon, Building 221-F. Readiness to restart the Second Plutonium Cycle process and solvent recovery was assessed. The ORR was conducted by an ORR board of ten members with the support of a subject matter expert. The chairman and four members were drawn from the Operational Safety Evaluation Department, ESH& QA Division; additional members were drawn from other WSRC divisions, independent of the F-Canyon operating division (NMPD). Based on the results of the readiness verification assessments performed according to the ORR plan and the validation of pre-restart corrective actions, the WSRC independent ORR Board has concluded that the facility has achieved the state of readiness committed to in the Restart Plan. Also, based on the scope of the ORR, it is the opinion of the board that F-Canyon Phase 1 processes can be restarted without undue risk to the safety of the public and onsite workers and without undue risk to the environment.

  18. Operational Readiness Review Final Report For F-Canyon Restart. Phase 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McFarlane, A.F.; Spangler, J.B.

    1995-01-01

    An independent WSRC Operational Readiness Review was performed for the restart of Phase 1 processing in F-Canyon, Building 221-F. Readiness to restart the Second Plutonium Cycle process and solvent recovery was assessed. The ORR was conducted by an ORR board of ten members with the support of a subject matter expert. The chairman and four members were drawn from the Operational Safety Evaluation Department, ESH ampersand QA Division; additional members were drawn from other WSRC divisions, independent of the F-Canyon operating division (NMPD). Based on the results of the readiness verification assessments performed according to the ORR plan and the validation of pre-restart corrective actions, the WSRC independent ORR Board has concluded that the facility has achieved the state of readiness committed to in the Restart Plan. Also, based on the scope of the ORR, it is the opinion of the board that F-Canyon Phase 1 processes can be restarted without undue risk to the safety of the public and onsite workers and without undue risk to the environment

  19. Restarting TMI unit one: social and psychological impacts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sorensen, J.; Soderstrom, J.; Bolin, R.; Copenhaver, E.; Carnes, S.

    1983-12-01

    A technical background is provided for preparing an environmental assessment of the social and psychological impacts of restarting the undamaged reactor at Three Mile Island (TMI). Its purpose is to define the factors that may cause impacts, to define what those impacts might be, and to make a preliminary assessment of how impacts could be mitigated. It does not attempt to predict or project the magnitude of impacts. Four major research activities were undertaken: a literature review, focus-group discussions, community profiling, and community surveys. As much as possible, impacts of the accident at Unit 2 were differentiated from the possible impacts of restarting Unit 1. It is concluded that restart will generate social conflict in the TMI vicinity which could lead to adverse effects. Furthermore, between 30 and 50 percent of the population possess characteristics which are associated with vulnerability to experiencing negative impacts. Adverse effects, however, can be reduced with a community-based mitigation strategy

  20. Restarting TMI unit one: social and psychological impacts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sorensen, J.; Soderstrom, J.; Bolin, R.; Copenhaver, E.; Carnes, S.

    1983-12-01

    A technical background is provided for preparing an environmental assessment of the social and psychological impacts of restarting the undamaged reactor at Three Mile Island (TMI). Its purpose is to define the factors that may cause impacts, to define what those impacts might be, and to make a preliminary assessment of how impacts could be mitigated. It does not attempt to predict or project the magnitude of impacts. Four major research activities were undertaken: a literature review, focus-group discussions, community profiling, and community surveys. As much as possible, impacts of the accident at Unit 2 were differentiated from the possible impacts of restarting Unit 1. It is concluded that restart will generate social conflict in the TMI vicinity which could lead to adverse effects. Furthermore, between 30 and 50 percent of the population possess characteristics which are associated with vulnerability to experiencing negative impacts. Adverse effects, however, can be reduced with a community-based mitigation strategy.

  1. Mental health effects of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor restart.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dew, M A; Bromet, E J; Schulberg, H C; Dunn, L O; Parkinson, D K

    1987-08-01

    Controversy over potential mental health effects of the Three Mile Island Unit-1 restart led the authors to examine prospectively the pattern of psychiatric symptoms in a sample of Three Mile Island area mothers of young children. Symptom levels after restart were elevated over previous levels; a sizable subcohort of the sample reported relatively serious degrees of postrestart distress. History of diagnosable major depression and generalized anxiety following the Three Mile Island accident, plus symptoms and beliefs about personal risk prior to the restart, best predicted postrestart symptoms.

  2. Mental health effects of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor restart

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dew, M.A.; Bromet, E.J.; Schulberg, H.C.; Dunn, L.O.; Parkinson, D.K.

    1987-01-01

    Controversy over potential mental health effects of the Three Mile Island Unit-1 restart led the authors to examine prospectively the pattern of psychiatric symptoms in a sample of Three Mile Island area mothers of young children. Symptom levels after restart were elevated over previous levels; a sizable subcohort of the sample reported relatively serious degrees of postrestart distress. History of diagnosable major depression and generalized anxiety following the Three Mile Island accident, plus symptoms and beliefs about personal risk prior to the restart, best predicted postrestart symptoms

  3. Overlapping domain decomposition preconditioners for the generalized Davidson method for the eigenvalue problem

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stathopoulos, A.; Fischer, C.F. [Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States); Saad, Y.

    1994-12-31

    The solution of the large, sparse, symmetric eigenvalue problem, Ax = {lambda}x, is central to many scientific applications. Among many iterative methods that attempt to solve this problem, the Lanczos and the Generalized Davidson (GD) are the most widely used methods. The Lanczos method builds an orthogonal basis for the Krylov subspace, from which the required eigenvectors are approximated through a Rayleigh-Ritz procedure. Each Lanczos iteration is economical to compute but the number of iterations may grow significantly for difficult problems. The GD method can be considered a preconditioned version of Lanczos. In each step the Rayleigh-Ritz procedure is solved and explicit orthogonalization of the preconditioned residual ((M {minus} {lambda}I){sup {minus}1}(A {minus} {lambda}I)x) is performed. Therefore, the GD method attempts to improve convergence and robustness at the expense of a more complicated step.

  4. Safety Evaluation Report: Restart of K-Reactor, Savannah River Site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-08-01

    In April 1991, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued DOE/DP-0084T, ''Safety Evaluation Report Restart of K-Reactor Savannah River Site.'' The Safety Evaluation Report (SER) documents the results of DOE reviews and evaluations of the programmatic aspects of a large number of issues which need to be satisfactorily addressed before restart. The issues were evaluated for compliance with the restart criteria included in the SER. The results of those evaluations determined that the restart criteria had been satisfied for some of the issues. However, for most of the issues at least part of the applicable restart criteria had not been found to be satisfied a the time the evaluations were prepared. For those issues, open or confirmatory items were identified that required resolution. This document supplements the April 1991 SER. The SER Supplement documents the resolution of several of the open items identified in the SER. Only those issues (sections) for which at least one open item identified in the SER has now been closed are addressed in this Supplement. Additionally, some SER sections had no open items identified. Therefore, this Supplement does not include all sections that were addressed in the SER. If there are any open items remaining to be resolved for the sections included in this Supplement, that is so identified at the end of the section. The resolution of those remaining open times, and all remaining open items for those SER sections not included in this first Supplement, will be documented in future SER Supplements. Resolution of all open items for an issue indicates that its associated restart criteria have been satisfied, and that DOE concludes that the programmatic aspects of the issue have been satisfactorily addressed

  5. Validation of DRAGON side-step method for Bruce-A restart Phase-B physics tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, W.; Ngo-Trong, C.; Davis, R.S.

    2004-01-01

    The DRAGON side-step method, developed at AECL, has a number of advantages over the all-DRAGON method that was used before. It is now the qualified method for reactivity-device calculations. Although the side-step-method-generated incremental cross sections have been validated against those previously calculated with the all-DRAGON method, it is highly desirable to validate the side-step method against device-worth measurements in power reactors directly. In this paper, the DRAGON side-step method was validated by comparison with the device-calibration measurements made in Bruce-A NGS Unit 4 restart Phase-B commissioning in 2003. The validation exercise showed excellent results, with the DRAGON code overestimating the measured ZCR worth by ∼5%. A sensitivity study was also performed in this paper to assess the effect of various DRAGON modelling techniques on the incremental cross sections. The assessment shows that the refinement of meshes in 3-D and the use of the side-step method are two major reasons contributing to the improved agreement between the calculated ZCR worths and the measurements. Use of different DRAGON versions, DRAGON libraries, local-parameter core conditions, and weighting techniques for the homogenization of tube clusters inside the ZCR have a very small effect on the ZCR incremental thermal absorption cross section and ZCR reactivity worth. (author)

  6. LHC Report: Restart preparations continue

    CERN Multimedia

    Katy Foraz for the LHC team and Julia Trummer for the RP Group

    2012-01-01

    Maintenance and consolidation work has been progressing well in both the machine and the experiments in preparation for the March restart.   A sample material is attached to the LHC (the white bag taped to the green line), to measure the radiation doses. Additional work was required around Point 5 due to the discovery and repair of a problem with the RF fingers at the connection of two beam vacuum chambers in CMS. The repair has been completed successfully and the sector is now under vacuum. In order to avoid rushing the delicate final operations required for closing the detector, the restart of the machine has been postponed by one week, from 7 March to 14 March. In the machine, the first cool-down to 1.9 K has started in several sectors ,and the cool-down of the whole machine is still planned to be finished by 21 February. The time window between 22 February and 14 March will be dedicated to powering and cryogenic tests. Since 12 December, the Radiation Protection (RP) group has been deep...

  7. LHC Report: Rocky re-start

    CERN Multimedia

    Barbara Holzer for the LHC Team

    2012-01-01

    A rocky re-start with beam followed a successful machine development period and the first technical stop of 2012. Today, Friday 11 May, the machine began running again with 1380 bunches.   A short, two-day machine development period was successfully completed on 21-22 April. It focused on topics relevant for the 2012 physics beam operation. This was then followed by a five-day technical stop, the first of the year. The technical stop finished on time on Friday 26 April. The re-start with beam was somewhat tortuous and hampered by an unlucky succession of technical faults leading to extended periods of downtime. The planned intensity increase was put on hold for three days with the machine operating with 1092 bunches and a moderate bunch intensity of 1.3x1011 protons. This delivered a reasonable peak luminosity of 3.6x1033 cm-2s-1 to ATLAS and CMS. Higher than usual beam losses were observed in the ramp and squeeze, and time was required to investigate the causes and to implement mitigati...

  8. Initialization and Restart in Stochastic Local Search: Computing a Most Probable Explanation in Bayesian Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mengshoel, Ole J.; Wilkins, David C.; Roth, Dan

    2010-01-01

    For hard computational problems, stochastic local search has proven to be a competitive approach to finding optimal or approximately optimal problem solutions. Two key research questions for stochastic local search algorithms are: Which algorithms are effective for initialization? When should the search process be restarted? In the present work we investigate these research questions in the context of approximate computation of most probable explanations (MPEs) in Bayesian networks (BNs). We introduce a novel approach, based on the Viterbi algorithm, to explanation initialization in BNs. While the Viterbi algorithm works on sequences and trees, our approach works on BNs with arbitrary topologies. We also give a novel formalization of stochastic local search, with focus on initialization and restart, using probability theory and mixture models. Experimentally, we apply our methods to the problem of MPE computation, using a stochastic local search algorithm known as Stochastic Greedy Search. By carefully optimizing both initialization and restart, we reduce the MPE search time for application BNs by several orders of magnitude compared to using uniform at random initialization without restart. On several BNs from applications, the performance of Stochastic Greedy Search is competitive with clique tree clustering, a state-of-the-art exact algorithm used for MPE computation in BNs.

  9. Documentation of a restart option for the U.S. Geological Survey coupled Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow (GSFLOW) model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Regan, R. Steve; Niswonger, Richard G.; Markstrom, Steven L.; Barlow, Paul M.

    2015-10-02

    A new option to write and read antecedent conditions (also referred to as initial conditions) has been developed for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow (GSFLOW) numerical, hydrologic simulation code. GSFLOW is an integration of the USGS Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and USGS Modular Groundwater-Flow Model (MODFLOW), and provides three simulation modes: MODFLOW-only, PRMS-only, and GSFLOW (or coupled). The new capability, referred to as the restart option, can be used for all three simulation modes, such that the results from a pair (or set) of spin-up and restart simulations are nearly identical to results produced from a continuous simulation for the same time period. The restart option writes all results to files at the end of a spin-up simulation that are required to initialize a subsequent restart simulation. Previous versions of GSFLOW have had some capability to save model results for use as antecedent condiitions in subsequent simulations; however, the existing capabilities were not comprehensive or easy to use. The new restart option supersedes the previous methods. The restart option was developed in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service as part of the Integrated Water Resources Science and Services Partnership. The primary focus for the development of the restart option was to support medium-range (7- to 14-day) forecasts of low streamflow conditions made by the National Weather Service for critical water-supply basins in which groundwater plays an important role.

  10. The dynamic storage and restart facilities in MABEL-2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nye, M.T.S.

    1983-12-01

    MABEL-2 is a FORTRAN program for calculating clad ballooning in a PWR during a LOCA. Originally written with fixed array storage, the use of the code has been extended by including dynamic storage. The lengths of the arrays in the program are set at execution time, varying from run to run. This allows much greater freedom in the choice of mesh and the size of case run. The use of computer memory is also more efficient. In addition a restart facility has been included which allows the user to break off and restart execution of the program (once or many times) during a transient. By using this facility much longer calculations can be run. Should an error in either input data or program become apparent late in a transient, the case need only be re-run from the last dump because some input data can be altered at restart. The use of these new facilities and the coding changes are described. (author)

  11. Asymptotic optimality of RESTART estimators in highly dependable systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Villén-Altamirano, J.

    2014-01-01

    We consider a wide class of models that includes the highly reliable Markovian systems (HRMS) often used to represent the evolution of multi-component systems in reliability settings. Repair times and component lifetimes are random variables that follow a general distribution, and the repair service adopts a priority repair rule based on system failure risk. Since crude simulation has proved to be inefficient for highly-dependable systems, the RESTART method is used for the estimation of steady-state unavailability and other reliability measures. In this method, a number of simulation retrials are performed when the process enters regions of the state space where the chance of occurrence of a rare event (e.g., a system failure) is higher. The main difficulty involved in applying this method is finding a suitable function, called the importance function, to define the regions. In this paper we introduce an importance function which, for unbalanced systems, represents a great improvement over the importance function used in previous papers. We also demonstrate the asymptotic optimality of RESTART estimators in these models. Several examples are presented to show the effectiveness of the new approach, and probabilities up to the order of 10 −42 are accurately estimated with little computational effort. - Highlights: • Rare event probabilities of highly reliable systems are estimated by simulation. • The asymptotic optimality of the application is proved. • A better importance function for highly reliable systems is provided in the paper

  12. Keeping checkpoint/restart viable for exascale systems.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Riesen, Rolf E.; Bridges, Patrick G. (IBM Research, Ireland, Mulhuddart, Dublin); Stearley, Jon R.; Laros, James H., III; Oldfield, Ron A.; Arnold, Dorian (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM); Pedretti, Kevin Thomas Tauke; Ferreira, Kurt Brian; Brightwell, Ronald Brian

    2011-09-01

    Next-generation exascale systems, those capable of performing a quintillion (10{sup 18}) operations per second, are expected to be delivered in the next 8-10 years. These systems, which will be 1,000 times faster than current systems, will be of unprecedented scale. As these systems continue to grow in size, faults will become increasingly common, even over the course of small calculations. Therefore, issues such as fault tolerance and reliability will limit application scalability. Current techniques to ensure progress across faults like checkpoint/restart, the dominant fault tolerance mechanism for the last 25 years, are increasingly problematic at the scales of future systems due to their excessive overheads. In this work, we evaluate a number of techniques to decrease the overhead of checkpoint/restart and keep this method viable for future exascale systems. More specifically, this work evaluates state-machine replication to dramatically increase the checkpoint interval (the time between successive checkpoint) and hash-based, probabilistic incremental checkpointing using graphics processing units to decrease the checkpoint commit time (the time to save one checkpoint). Using a combination of empirical analysis, modeling, and simulation, we study the costs and benefits of these approaches on a wide range of parameters. These results, which cover of number of high-performance computing capability workloads, different failure distributions, hardware mean time to failures, and I/O bandwidths, show the potential benefits of these techniques for meeting the reliability demands of future exascale platforms.

  13. Checkpoint-dependent RNR induction promotes fork restart after replicative stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morafraile, Esther C; Diffley, John F X; Tercero, José Antonio; Segurado, Mónica

    2015-01-20

    The checkpoint kinase Rad53 is crucial to regulate DNA replication in the presence of replicative stress. Under conditions that interfere with the progression of replication forks, Rad53 prevents Exo1-dependent fork degradation. However, although EXO1 deletion avoids fork degradation in rad53 mutants, it does not suppress their sensitivity to the ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) inhibitor hydroxyurea (HU). In this case, the inability to restart stalled forks is likely to account for the lethality of rad53 mutant cells after replication blocks. Here we show that Rad53 regulates replication restart through the checkpoint-dependent transcriptional response, and more specifically, through RNR induction. Thus, in addition to preventing fork degradation, Rad53 prevents cell death in the presence of HU by regulating RNR-expression and localization. When RNR is induced in the absence of Exo1 and RNR negative regulators, cell viability of rad53 mutants treated with HU is increased and the ability of replication forks to restart after replicative stress is restored.

  14. Failure Recovery via RESTART: Wallclock Models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Asmussen, Søren; Rønn-Nielsen, Anders

    A task such as the execution of a computer program or the transfer of a file on a communications link may fail and then needs to be restarted. Let the ideal task time be a constant $\\ell$ and the actual task time $X$, a random variable. Tail asymptotics for $\\mathbb{P}(X>x)$ is given under three ...

  15. LHC Experiments: refinements for the restart

    CERN Multimedia

    2009-01-01

    As the LHC restart draws closer, the Bulletin will be taking a look at how the six LHC experiments are preparing and what they have been up to since last September. In this issue we start with a roundup of the past 10 months of activity at CMS and ATLAS, both technical work and outreach activities.

  16. Beleaguered LHC gears up for restart

    CERN Multimedia

    Cartwright, Jon

    2009-01-01

    "The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is finally set to restart in mid-November following last year's accident. Initially it will collide protons at an energy of only 3.5 TeV per beam, and staff at Cern will have to wait until late next year before trying to run the collider at its maximum energy" (0.75 page)

  17. Stuck fermentation: development of a synthetic stuck wine and study of a restart procedure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maisonnave, Pierre; Sanchez, Isabelle; Moine, Virginie; Dequin, Sylvie; Galeote, Virginie

    2013-05-15

    Stuck fermentation is a major problem in winemaking, resulting in large losses in the wine industry. Specific starter yeasts are used to restart stuck fermentations in conditions determined essentially on the basis of empirical know-how. We have developed a model synthetic stuck wine and an industrial process-based procedure for restarting fermentations, for studies of the conditions required to restart stuck fermentations. We used a basic medium containing 13.5% v/v ethanol and 16 g/L fructose, pH 3.3, to test the effect of various nutrients (vitamins, amino acids, minerals, oligoelements), with the aim of developing a representative and discriminative stuck fermentation model. Cell growth appeared to be a key factor for the efficient restarting of stuck fermentations. Micronutrients, such as vitamins, also strongly affected the efficiency of the restart procedure. For the validation of this medium, we compared the performances of three wine yeast strains in the synthetic stuck fermentation and three naturally stuck wine fermentations. Strain performance was ranked similar in the synthetic medium and in the "Malbec" and "Sauvignon" natural stuck wines. However, two strains were ranked differently in the "Gros Manseng" stuck wine. Nutrient content seemed to be a crucial factor in fermentation restart conditions, generating differences between yeast strains. However, the specific sensitivity of yeast strains to the composition of the wine may also have had an effect. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. RESTART simulation of non-Markov consecutive-k-out-of-n: F repairable systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Villen-Altamirano, Jose

    2010-01-01

    The reliability of consecutive-k-out-of-n: F repairable systems and (k-1)-step Markov dependence is studied. The model analyzed in this paper is more general than those of previous studies given that repair time and component lifetimes are random variables that follow a general distribution. The system has one repair service which adopts a priority repair rule based on system failure risk. Since crude simulation has proved to be inefficient for highly dependable systems, the RESTART method was used for the estimation of steady-state unavailability, MTBF and unreliability. Probabilities up to the order of 10 -16 have been accurately estimated with little computational effort. In this method, a number of simulation retrials are performed when the process enters regions of the state space where the chance of occurrence of a rare event (e.g., a system failure) is higher. The main difficulty for the application of this method is to find a suitable function, called the importance function, to define the regions. Given the simplicity involved in changing some model assumptions with RESTART, the importance function used in this paper could be useful for dependability estimation of many systems.

  19. Photoionization cross section by Stieltjes imaging applied to coupled cluster Lanczos pseudo-spectra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cukras, Janusz; Coriani, Sonia; Decleva, Piero; Christiansen, Ove; Norman, Patrick

    2013-09-01

    A recently implemented asymmetric Lanczos algorithm for computing (complex) linear response functions within the coupled cluster singles (CCS), coupled cluster singles and iterative approximate doubles (CC2), and coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) is coupled to a Stieltjes imaging technique in order to describe the photoionization cross section of atoms and molecules, in the spirit of a similar procedure recently proposed by Averbukh and co-workers within the Algebraic Diagrammatic Construction approach. Pilot results are reported for the atoms He, Ne, and Ar and for the molecules H2, H2O, NH3, HF, CO, and CO2.

  20. Photoionization cross section by Stieltjes imaging applied to coupled cluster Lanczos pseudo-spectra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cukras, Janusz; Coriani, Sonia; Decleva, Piero; Christiansen, Ove; Norman, Patrick

    2013-01-01

    A recently implemented asymmetric Lanczos algorithm for computing (complex) linear response functions within the coupled cluster singles (CCS), coupled cluster singles and iterative approximate doubles (CC2), and coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) is coupled to a Stieltjes imaging technique in order to describe the photoionization cross section of atoms and molecules, in the spirit of a similar procedure recently proposed by Averbukh and co-workers within the Algebraic Diagrammatic Construction approach. Pilot results are reported for the atoms He, Ne, and Ar and for the molecules H 2 , H 2 O, NH 3 , HF, CO, and CO 2

  1. Restart of the LHC in 2009

    CERN Multimedia

    Corinne Pralavorio

    The restart of the LHC during the summer 2009 has been confirmed today, the 5 December. An updated report on the incident which damaged sector 3-4 has just been published. It gives details on the damage caused by the incident and explains the ongoing repairs and the new systems being put into place to reinforce the safety of the machine. Click here to see the report.

  2. The analytic Lanczos method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Witte, N.S.

    1998-01-01

    The classical formalism of the Moment Problem has been combined with a cumulant approach and applied to the extensive many-body problem. This has yielded many new exact results for many-body systems in the thermodynamic limit - for the ground state energy, for excited state gaps, and for arbitrary ground state averages. The method applies to any extensive Hamiltonian system, for any phase or symmetry arising in the model, whether on a lattice or in the continuum, and for any dimensionality. The theorems are of a nonperturbative nature with respect to any couplings occuring in the model. (Copyright (1998) World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd)

  3. Public communication toward Monju restart

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aoki, Tadao

    2001-01-01

    Five years have gone by since the sodium leak took place at a prototype FBR Monju. Looking back upon that time, one journalist said, The Monju accident was technically far from the serious one as being reported in the media. Had it not been for the infamous 'accident cover-up', an uproar must have calmed down in a month. But an unexpectedly large negative public reaction has kept Monju idle all these years. What had really happened? There was a false report on the time of first entry to the piping room or the sodium-leak spot. Contrary to the fact that five staffs did enter the room at 2:00 am, PNC failed to mention it at a first press conference held at 8:30 am. Instead, PNC created a fictitious time of entry at 10:00 am and reported it to the authorities in a formal document. Another mishap was a video cover-up operation. A year and three months later, an explosion accident took place at PNC's Tokai Reprocessing Facility and similar mishap was repeated then, causing a fatal damage to the PNC's reputation. Public opinion polls taken by mass media have concluded that PNC is 'bureaucratic, closed, slow in coping with situation and untrustworthy'. PNC struggle began - struggle to regain public trust. A series of mishaps at PNC have created an anxiety and distrust about nuclear energy among the nation. In order to restore the trust of the nation, STA, a government agency supervising PNC, decided that PNC be reorganised to make a new start as Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) on October 1, 1998. In the start of the new organisation, JNC is expected to carry out operations placing priority on the locality of its facilities. The most precious lesson learned from the Monju accident is the importance of public communication. Currently undertaking activities toward Monju restart are; 1) public opinion monitoring, 2) social meetings, 3) strengthening publicity activities, 4) dialogue with local administration officials and opinion leaders, 5) 'open meeting

  4. Photoionization cross section by Stieltjes imaging applied to coupled cluster Lanczos pseudo-spectra

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cukras, Janusz; Coriani, Sonia; Decleva, Piero [Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Trieste, via L. Giorgieri 1, I-34127 Trieste (Italy); Christiansen, Ove [Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C (Denmark); Norman, Patrick [Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping (Sweden)

    2013-09-07

    A recently implemented asymmetric Lanczos algorithm for computing (complex) linear response functions within the coupled cluster singles (CCS), coupled cluster singles and iterative approximate doubles (CC2), and coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) is coupled to a Stieltjes imaging technique in order to describe the photoionization cross section of atoms and molecules, in the spirit of a similar procedure recently proposed by Averbukh and co-workers within the Algebraic Diagrammatic Construction approach. Pilot results are reported for the atoms He, Ne, and Ar and for the molecules H{sub 2}, H{sub 2}O, NH{sub 3}, HF, CO, and CO{sub 2}.

  5. The Efficacy of a Restart Break for Recycling with Optimal Performance Depends Critically on Circadian Timing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Dongen, Hans P.A.; Belenky, Gregory; Vila, Bryan J.

    2011-01-01

    Objectives: Under simulated shift-work conditions, we investigated the efficacy of a restart break for maintaining neurobehavioral functioning across consecutive duty cycles, as a function of the circadian timing of the duty periods. Design: As part of a 14-day experiment, subjects underwent two cycles of five simulated daytime or nighttime duty days, separated by a 34-hour restart break. Cognitive functioning and high-fidelity driving simulator performance were tested 4 times per day during the two duty cycles. Lapses on a psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) served as the primary outcome variable. Selected sleep periods were recorded polysomnographically. Setting: The experiment was conducted under standardized, controlled laboratory conditions with continuous monitoring. Participants: Twenty-seven healthy adults (13 men, 14 women; aged 22–39 years) participated in the study. Interventions: Subjects were randomly assigned to a nighttime duty (experimental) condition or a daytime duty (control) condition. The efficacy of the 34-hour restart break for maintaining neurobehavioral functioning from the pre-restart duty cycle to the post-restart duty cycle was compared between these two conditions. Results: Relative to the daytime duty condition, the nighttime duty condition was associated with reduced amounts of sleep, whereas sleep latencies were shortened and slow-wave sleep appeared to be conserved. Neurobehavioral performance measures ranging from lapses of attention on the PVT to calculated fuel consumption on the driving simulators remained optimal across time of day in the daytime duty schedule, but degraded across time of night in the nighttime duty schedule. The 34-hour restart break was efficacious for maintaining PVT performance and other objective neurobehavioral functioning profiles from one duty cycle to the next in the daytime duty condition, but not in the nighttime duty condition. Subjective sleepiness did not reliably track objective neurobehavioral

  6. Japan: The institute for the economy of energy recommends a quick re-start of nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    2014-01-01

    The Japanese Institute for the Economy of the Energy (IEEJ) considers that the sooner the nuclear reactors will re-start, the better the Japanese economy and environment will be. The 48 Japanese reactors were stopped after the Fukushima accident and their restart is linked to the implementation of new measures for reinforcing safety. Until now only 2 reactors Sendai 1 and Sendai 2 have been allowed to re-start. The procedure for the safety assessment of the reactors is slower than expected. A study shows that only 7 reactors may be allowed to re-start before march 2015 and a total of 19 units may be operating in march 2016. In this scenario 2% of the electricity will come from nuclear energy in 2014 and 15% in 2015, natural gas imports will still be necessary for the production of electricity and their global cost is estimated to reach 56 billions euros while Japan's rate of energy independence will drop by 4.6%. (A.C.)

  7. Berkeley lab checkpoint/restart (BLCR) for Linux clusters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hargrove, Paul H; Duell, Jason C

    2006-01-01

    This article describes the motivation, design and implementation of Berkeley Lab Checkpoint/Restart (BLCR), a system-level checkpoint/restart implementation for Linux clusters that targets the space of typical High Performance Computing applications, including MPI. Application-level solutions, including both checkpointing and fault-tolerant algorithms, are recognized as more time and space efficient than system-level checkpoints, which cannot make use of any application-specific knowledge. However, system-level checkpointing allows for preemption, making it suitable for responding to ''fault precursors'' (for instance, elevated error rates from ECC memory or network CRCs, or elevated temperature from sensors). Preemption can also increase the efficiency of batch scheduling; for instance reducing idle cycles (by allowing for shutdown without any queue draining period or reallocation of resources to eliminate idle nodes when better fitting jobs are queued), and reducing the average queued time (by limiting large jobs to running during off-peak hours, without the need to limit the length of such jobs). Each of these potential uses makes BLCR a valuable tool for efficient resource management in Linux clusters

  8. Final Report for the Restart of the Waste Characterization, Reduction and Repackaging Facility (WCRRF) Contractor Readiness Assessment (CRA)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stephens, Gregory Mark [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2017-02-22

    The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL or Laboratory) Contractor Readiness Assessment (CRA) required for restart of the Technical Area (TA) 50 Waste Characterization, Reduction, and Repackaging Facility (WCRRF) for remediated nitrate salt (RNS) waste operations was performed in compliance with the requirements of Department of Energy (DOE) Order (O) 425.1D, Verification of Readiness to Start Up or Restart Nuclear Facilities, and LANL procedure FSD-115-001, Verification of Readiness to Start Up or Restart LANL Nuclear Facilities, Activities, and Operations.

  9. Reconstruction for limited-projection fluorescence molecular tomography based on projected restarted conjugate gradient normal residual.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Xu; Zhang, Bin; Liu, Fei; Wang, Xin; Bai, Jing

    2011-12-01

    Limited-projection fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) can greatly reduce the acquisition time, which is suitable for resolving fast biology processes in vivo but suffers from severe ill-posedness because of the reconstruction using only limited projections. To overcome the severe ill-posedness, we report a reconstruction method based on the projected restarted conjugate gradient normal residual. The reconstruction results of two phantom experiments demonstrate that the proposed method is feasible for limited-projection FMT. © 2011 Optical Society of America

  10. Re-starting an Arnoldi iteration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lehoucq, R.B. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)

    1996-12-31

    The Arnoldi iteration is an efficient procedure for approximating a subset of the eigensystem of a large sparse n x n matrix A. The iteration produces a partial orthogonal reduction of A into an upper Hessenberg matrix H{sub m} of order m. The eigenvalues of this small matrix H{sub m} are used to approximate a subset of the eigenvalues of the large matrix A. The eigenvalues of H{sub m} improve as estimates to those of A as m increases. Unfortunately, so does the cost and storage of the reduction. The idea of re-starting the Arnoldi iteration is motivated by the prohibitive cost associated with building a large factorization.

  11. Restart plan for the prototype vertical denitration calciner

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    SUTTER, C.S.

    1999-09-01

    Testing activities on the Prototype Vertical Denitration Calciner at PFP were suspended in January 1997 due to the hold on fissile material handling in the facility. The Restart Plan will govern the transition of the test program from the completion of the activity based startup review; through equipment checkout and surrogate material runs; to resumption of the testing program and transition to unrestricted testing.

  12. Restart plan for the prototype vertical denitration calciner

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    SUTTER, C.S.

    1999-01-01

    Testing activities on the Prototype Vertical Denitration Calciner at PFP were suspended in January 1997 due to the hold on fissile material handling in the facility. The Restart Plan will govern the transition of the test program from the completion of the activity based startup review; through equipment checkout and surrogate material runs; to resumption of the testing program and transition to unrestricted testing

  13. Lanczos-driven coupled-cluster damped linear response theory for molecules in polarizable environments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    List, Nanna Holmgaard; Coriani, Sonia; Kongsted, Jacob

    2014-01-01

    are specifically motivated by a twofold aim: (i) computation of core excitations in realistic surroundings and (ii) examination of the effect of the differential response of the environment upon excitation solely related to the CC multipliers (herein denoted the J matrix) in computations of excitation energies......We present an extension of a previously reported implementation of a Lanczos-driven coupled-cluster (CC) damped linear response approach to molecules in condensed phases, where the effects of a surrounding environment are incorporated by means of the polarizable embedding formalism. We...... and transition moments of polarizable-embedded molecules. Numerical calculations demonstrate that the differential polarization of the environment due to the first-order CC multipliers provides only minor contributions to the solvatochromic shift for all transitions considered. We thus complement previous works...

  14. Thickness and fit of mouthguards according to heating methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mizuhashi, Fumi; Koide, Kaoru; Takahashi, Mutsumi

    2014-02-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the difference in the thickness and fit of mouthguards made by four different heating methods of the mouthguard sheet material. A Sports Mouthguard(®) of 3.8-mm thickness was used in this study. Four heating methods were performed. In one method, the sheet was heated only one side. In the other methods, one side of the sheet was heated first until the center of the sheet was displaced by 0.5 cm, 1.0 cm, and 1.5 cm from the baseline, and then turned upside down and heated. The sheets were adapted using a vacuum former when the heated sheets hung 1.5 cm from the baseline. We measured the thickness and fit of the mouthguard at the areas of the central incisor and first molar. The difference in thickness at the central incisor and first molar regions was analyzed by two-way anova. The difference in fit with different heating methods was analyzed by one-way anova. The results showed that the thickness of the mouthguard differed in the central incisor and first molar areas (P heating methods. The fit of the mouthguard at the central incisor and first molar areas was significantly different among the heating methods (P heated surface of the sheet contacted the surface of the working model. This finding may help to fabricate accurate mouthguards. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Restart Testing Program for piping following steam generator replacement at North Anna Unit 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bain, R.A.; Bayer, R.K.

    1993-01-01

    In order to provide assurance that the effects of performing steam generator replacement (SGR) at North Anna unit 1 had no adverse impact on plant piping systems, a cold functional verification restart testing program was developed. This restart testing program was implemented in lieu of a hot functional testing program normally used during the initial startup of a nuclear plant. A review of North Anna plant-specific and generic U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements for restart testing was performed to ensure that no mandatory hot functional testing was required. This was determined to be the case, and the development of a cold functional test program was initiated. The cold functional test had inherent advantages as compared to the hot functional testing, while still providing assurance of piping system adequacy. The advantages of the cold verification program included reducing risk to personnel from hot piping, increasing the accuracy of measurements with the improvement in work conditions, eliminating engineering activities during the heatup process, and being able to record measurements as construction work was completed allowing for rework or repair of components if required. To ensure the effectiveness of the cold verification program, a project procedure was generated to identify the personnel, equipment, and measurement requirements. An engineering calculation was issued to document the scope of the restart test program, and an additional calculation was developed to provide acceptance criteria for the critical commodity measurements

  16. Modeling of the re-starting of waxy crude oil flows in pipelines; Modelisation du redemarrage des ecoulements de bruts paraffiniques dans les conduites petrolieres

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vinay, G.

    2005-11-15

    Pipelining crude oils that contain large proportions of paraffins can cause many specific difficulties. These oils, known as waxy crude oils, usually exhibit high 'pour point', where this temperature is higher than the external temperature conditions surrounding the pipeline. During the shutdown, since the temperature decreases in the pipeline, the gel-like structure builds up and the main difficulty concerns the issue of restarting. This PhD attempts to improve waxy crude oil behaviour understanding thanks to experiment, modelling and numerical simulation in order to predict more accurately time and pressure required to restart the flow. Using various contributions to the literature, waxy crude oils are described as viscoplastic, thixotropic and compressible fluid. Strong temperature history dependence plays a prevailing role in the whole shutdown and restart process. Thus, waxy crude oils under flowing conditions correspond to the non-isothermal flow of a viscoplastic material with temperature-dependent rheological properties. Besides, the restart of a waxy crude oil is simulated by the isothermal transient flow of a weakly compressible thixotropic fluid in axisymmetric pipe geometry. We retain the Houska model to describe the thixotropic/viscoplastic feature of the fluid and compressibility is introduced in the continuity equation. The viscoplastic constitutive equation is involved using an augmented Lagrangian method and the resulting equivalent saddle-point problem is solved thanks to an Uzawa-like algorithm. Governing equations are discretized using a Finite Volume method and the convection terms are treated thanks to a TVD (Total Variation Diminishing) scheme. The Lagrangian functional technique usually used for incompressible viscoplastic flows, is adapted to compressible situations. Several numerical results attest the good convergence properties of the proposed transient algorithm. The non-isothermal results highlight the strong sensitivity of

  17. Economic evaluation of strategies for restarting anticoagulation therapy after a first event of unprovoked venous thromboembolism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monahan, M; Ensor, J; Moore, D; Fitzmaurice, D; Jowett, S

    2017-08-01

    Essentials Correct duration of treatment after a first unprovoked venous thromboembolism (VTE) is unknown. We assessed when restarting anticoagulation was worthwhile based on patient risk of recurrent VTE. When the risk over a one-year period is 17.5%, restarting is cost-effective. However, sensitivity analyses indicate large uncertainty in the estimates. Background Following at least 3 months of anticoagulation therapy after a first unprovoked venous thromboembolism (VTE), there is uncertainty about the duration of therapy. Further anticoagulation therapy reduces the risk of having a potentially fatal recurrent VTE but at the expense of a higher risk of bleeding, which can also be fatal. Objective An economic evaluation sought to estimate the long-term cost-effectiveness of using a decision rule for restarting anticoagulation therapy vs. no extension of therapy in patients based on their risk of a further unprovoked VTE. Methods A Markov patient-level simulation model was developed, which adopted a lifetime time horizon with monthly time cycles and was from a UK National Health Service (NHS)/Personal Social Services (PSS) perspective. Results Base-case model results suggest that treating patients with a predicted 1 year VTE risk of 17.5% or higher may be cost-effective if decision makers are willing to pay up to £20 000 per quality adjusted life year (QALY) gained. However, probabilistic sensitivity analysis shows that the model was highly sensitive to overall parameter uncertainty and caution is warranted in selecting the optimal decision rule on cost-effectiveness grounds. Univariate sensitivity analyses indicate variables such as anticoagulation therapy disutility and mortality risks were very influential in driving model results. Conclusion This represents the first economic model to consider the use of a decision rule for restarting therapy for unprovoked VTE patients. Better data are required to predict long-term bleeding risks during therapy in this

  18. Commentary: restarting NTD programme activities after the Ebola outbreak in Liberia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Brent C; Kollie, Karsor; Koudou, Benjamin; Mackenzie, Charles

    2017-05-01

    It is widely known that the recent Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa caused a serious disruption to the national health system, with many of ongoing disease focused programmes, such as mass drug administration (MDA) for onchocerciasis (ONC), lymphatic filariasis (LF) and schistosomiasis (SCH), being suspended or scaled-down. As these MDA programmes attempt to restart post-EVD it is important to understand the challenges that may be encountered. This commentary addresses the opinions of the major health sectors involved, as well as those of community members, regarding logistic needs and challenges faced as these important public health programmes consider restarting. There appears to be a strong desire by the communities to resume NTD programme activities, although it is clear that some important challenges remain, the most prominent being those resulting from the severe loss of trained staff.

  19. Brown-York quasilocal energy in Lanczos-Lovelock gravity and black hole horizons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty, Sumanta; Dadhich, Naresh

    2015-12-01

    A standard candidate for quasilocal energy in general relativity is the Brown-York energy, which is essentially a two dimensional surface integral of the extrinsic curvature on the two-boundary of a spacelike hypersurface referenced to flat spacetime. Several years back one of us had conjectured that the black hole horizon is defined by equipartition of gravitational and non-gravitational energy. By employing the above definition of quasilocal Brown-York energy, we have verified the equipartition conjecture for static charged and charged axi-symmetric black holes in general relativity. We have further generalized the Brown-York formalism to all orders in Lanczos-Lovelock theories of gravity and have verified the conjecture for pure Lovelock charged black hole in all even d = 2 m + 2 dimensions, where m is the degree of Lovelock action. It turns out that the equipartition conjecture works only for pure Lovelock, and not for Einstein-Lovelock black holes.

  20. Brown-York quasilocal energy in Lanczos-Lovelock gravity and black hole horizons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chakraborty, Sumanta; Dadhich, Naresh

    2015-01-01

    A standard candidate for quasilocal energy in general relativity is the Brown-York energy, which is essentially a two dimensional surface integral of the extrinsic curvature on the two-boundary of a spacelike hypersurface referenced to flat spacetime. Several years back one of us had conjectured that the black hole horizon is defined by equipartition of gravitational and non-gravitational energy. By employing the above definition of quasilocal Brown-York energy, we have verified the equipartition conjecture for static charged and charged axi-symmetric black holes in general relativity. We have further generalized the Brown-York formalism to all orders in Lanczos-Lovelock theories of gravity and have verified the conjecture for pure Lovelock charged black hole in all even d=2m+2 dimensions, where m is the degree of Lovelock action. It turns out that the equipartition conjecture works only for pure Lovelock, and not for Einstein-Lovelock black holes.

  1. The pros and cons about restarting and awareness about nuclear power generation. Further findings from INSS's analysis of the opinion survey answers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kitada, Atsuko

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, the pros and cons and the awareness of their background on the restart of nuclear power plants (NPPs) were analyzed based on the data of opinion polls conducted by news organizations and INSS. The results were as follows: (1) Although opposition to restart has been nearly 60% in the case when the question has only 2 choices of pros and cons, the 60% includes many people who “cannot say either way”. (2) For approval of restarting, it is necessary to have the attitude to tolerate the use of nuclear power generation (NPG), and it is extremely important that people think “safety has been confirmed,” but it does not seem to be enough reason to hesitate in the restart. (3) From the open-ended question about the influences of long-term shutdown of NPPs on the respondents and Japanese society, 50% of the respondents said there was no influence. 20% said they felt safe or easy because no accident could occur. Only 20% described economic influence, such as a real increase in electricity cost, especially among men or the people who were in favor of restarting. (4) When the above-described influences, people's recognition of the utility of NPG (or thinking about the problems that occur when reducing NPG) and people's criteria for selecting an electric power generation method were organized in terms of the 3Es (Energy security, Economic efficiency, Environment), there was quite a difference from the idea of energy policy that emphasizes a good balance among these 3Es. People's recognition of the utility of NPG has been declining. This was considered to be the reason that neither the present influences nor the importance of the invisible influence at a macro-level had been recognized. For restarting to be supported by many people, there is a need for appropriate information about not only the safety, but also the importance from the viewpoints of the 3Es and the benefits of NPG in the 3Es. (author)

  2. Film thickness determining method of the silicon isotope superlattices by SIMS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takano, Akio; Shimizu, Yasuo; Itoh, Kohei M.

    2008-01-01

    It is becoming important to evaluate silicon self-diffusion with progress of a silicon semiconductor industry. In order to evaluate the self-diffusion of silicon, silicon isotope superlattices (SLs) is the only marker. For this reason, it is important to correctly evaluate a film thickness and a depth distribution of isotope SLs by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). As for film thickness, it is difficult to estimate the thicknesses correctly if the cycles of SLs are short. In this work, first, we report the determination of the film thickness for short-period SLs using mixing roughness-information (MRI) analysis to SIMS profile. Next, the uncertainty of the conventional method to determine the film thicknesses of SLs is determined. It was found that the conventional methods cannot correctly determine film thickness of short-period-isotope SLs where film thickness differs for every layer

  3. RDEL: Restart Differential Evolution algorithm with Local Search Mutation for global numerical optimization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Wagdy Mohamed

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a novel version of Differential Evolution (DE algorithm based on a couple of local search mutation and a restart mechanism for solving global numerical optimization problems over continuous space is presented. The proposed algorithm is named as Restart Differential Evolution algorithm with Local Search Mutation (RDEL. In RDEL, inspired by Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO, a novel local mutation rule based on the position of the best and the worst individuals among the entire population of a particular generation is introduced. The novel local mutation scheme is joined with the basic mutation rule through a linear decreasing function. The proposed local mutation scheme is proven to enhance local search tendency of the basic DE and speed up the convergence. Furthermore, a restart mechanism based on random mutation scheme and a modified Breeder Genetic Algorithm (BGA mutation scheme is combined to avoid stagnation and/or premature convergence. Additionally, an exponent increased crossover probability rule and a uniform scaling factors of DE are introduced to promote the diversity of the population and to improve the search process, respectively. The performance of RDEL is investigated and compared with basic differential evolution, and state-of-the-art parameter adaptive differential evolution variants. It is discovered that the proposed modifications significantly improve the performance of DE in terms of quality of solution, efficiency and robustness.

  4. Solution structure of the N-terminal domain of a replication restart primosome factor, PriC, in Escherichia coli

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aramaki, Takahiko; Abe, Yoshito; Katayama, Tsutomu; Ueda, Tadashi

    2013-01-01

    In eubacterial organisms, the oriC-independent primosome plays an essential role in replication restart after the dissociation of the replication DNA-protein complex by DNA damage. PriC is a key protein component in the replication restart primosome. Our recent study suggested that PriC is divided into two domains: an N-terminal and a C-terminal domain. In the present study, we determined the solution structure of the N-terminal domain, whose structure and function have remained unknown until now. The revealed structure was composed of three helices and one extended loop. We also observed chemical shift changes in the heteronuclear NMR spectrum and oligomerization in the presence of ssDNA. These abilities may contribute to the PriC-ssDNA complex, which is important for the replication restart primosome. PMID:23868391

  5. RELAP5-3D Resolution of Known Restart/Backup Issues

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mesina, George L. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Anderson, Nolan A. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2014-12-01

    The state-of-the-art nuclear reactor system safety analysis computer program developed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), RELAP5-3D, continues to adapt to changes in computer hardware and software and to develop to meet the ever-expanding needs of the nuclear industry. To continue at the forefront, code testing must evolve with both code and industry developments, and it must work correctly. To best ensure this, the processes of Software Verification and Validation (V&V) are applied. Verification compares coding against its documented algorithms and equations and compares its calculations against analytical solutions and the method of manufactured solutions. A form of this, sequential verification, checks code specifications against coding only when originally written then applies regression testing which compares code calculations between consecutive updates or versions on a set of test cases to check that the performance does not change. A sequential verification testing system was specially constructed for RELAP5-3D to both detect errors with extreme accuracy and cover all nuclear-plant-relevant code features. Detection is provided through a “verification file” that records double precision sums of key variables. Coverage is provided by a test suite of input decks that exercise code features and capabilities necessary to model a nuclear power plant. A matrix of test features and short-running cases that exercise them is presented. This testing system is used to test base cases (called null testing) as well as restart and backup cases. It can test RELAP5-3D performance in both standalone and coupled (through PVM to other codes) runs. Application of verification testing revealed numerous restart and backup issues in both standalone and couple modes. This document reports the resolution of these issues.

  6. Feasibility study to restart the research reactor RA with a converted core

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matausek, M.V.; Plecas, I.; Marinkovic, N.

    1999-01-01

    Main options are specified for the future status of the 6.5 MW heavy water research reactor RA. Arguments pro and contra restarting the reactor are presented. When considering the option to restart the RA reactor, possibilities to improve its neutronic parameters, such as neutron flux values and irradiation capabilities, are discussed, as well as the compliance with the worldwide activities of Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) program. Possibility of core conversion is examined. Detailed reactor physics design calculations are performed for different fuel types and uranium loading. For different fuel management schemes results are presented for the effective multiplication factor, power distribution, fuel burnup and consumption. It is shown that, as far as reactor core parameters are considered, conversion to lower enrichment fuel could be easily accomplished. However, conversion to the lower enrichment could only be justified if combined with improvement of some other reactor attributes. (author)

  7. Practicable methods for histological section thickness measurement in quantitative stereological analyses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matenaers, Cyrill; Popper, Bastian; Rieger, Alexandra; Wanke, Rüdiger; Blutke, Andreas

    2018-01-01

    The accuracy of quantitative stereological analysis tools such as the (physical) disector method substantially depends on the precise determination of the thickness of the analyzed histological sections. One conventional method for measurement of histological section thickness is to re-embed the section of interest vertically to its original section plane. The section thickness is then measured in a subsequently prepared histological section of this orthogonally re-embedded sample. However, the orthogonal re-embedding (ORE) technique is quite work- and time-intensive and may produce inaccurate section thickness measurement values due to unintentional slightly oblique (non-orthogonal) positioning of the re-embedded sample-section. Here, an improved ORE method is presented, allowing for determination of the factual section plane angle of the re-embedded section, and correction of measured section thickness values for oblique (non-orthogonal) sectioning. For this, the analyzed section is mounted flat on a foil of known thickness (calibration foil) and both the section and the calibration foil are then vertically (re-)embedded. The section angle of the re-embedded section is then calculated from the deviation of the measured section thickness of the calibration foil and its factual thickness, using basic geometry. To find a practicable, fast, and accurate alternative to ORE, the suitability of spectral reflectance (SR) measurement for determination of plastic section thicknesses was evaluated. Using a commercially available optical reflectometer (F20, Filmetrics®, USA), the thicknesses of 0.5 μm thick semi-thin Epon (glycid ether)-sections and of 1-3 μm thick plastic sections (glycolmethacrylate/ methylmethacrylate, GMA/MMA), as regularly used in physical disector analyses, could precisely be measured within few seconds. Compared to the measured section thicknesses determined by ORE, SR measures displayed less than 1% deviation. Our results prove the applicability

  8. Highly accurate adaptive TOF determination method for ultrasonic thickness measurement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Lianjie; Liu, Haibo; Lian, Meng; Ying, Yangwei; Li, Te; Wang, Yongqing

    2018-04-01

    Determining the time of flight (TOF) is very critical for precise ultrasonic thickness measurement. However, the relatively low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the received signals would induce significant TOF determination errors. In this paper, an adaptive time delay estimation method has been developed to improve the TOF determination’s accuracy. An improved variable step size adaptive algorithm with comprehensive step size control function is proposed. Meanwhile, a cubic spline fitting approach is also employed to alleviate the restriction of finite sampling interval. Simulation experiments under different SNR conditions were conducted for performance analysis. Simulation results manifested the performance advantage of proposed TOF determination method over existing TOF determination methods. When comparing with the conventional fixed step size, and Kwong and Aboulnasr algorithms, the steady state mean square deviation of the proposed algorithm was generally lower, which makes the proposed algorithm more suitable for TOF determination. Further, ultrasonic thickness measurement experiments were performed on aluminum alloy plates with various thicknesses. They indicated that the proposed TOF determination method was more robust even under low SNR conditions, and the ultrasonic thickness measurement accuracy could be significantly improved.

  9. Restart of R reactor at SRP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McDonell, W.R.

    1983-01-01

    Restart of the Savannah River R-Reactor is an alternative to L-Reactor operation for increased production of defense nuclear material. R-Reactor was shut down in 1964 after 11-years operation and has been on standby for 19 years. This report presents a description of R-Reactor operation to serve as a basis for analysis of environmental impacts after restoration to meet current SRP performance standards. R-Reactor operation would differ from L-Reactor operation principally in discharge and recycle of effluent cooling water to Par Pond, rather than direct discharge to the Savannah River by way of Steel Creek. Significant differences in environmental effects could result. A costly renovation program would be required to restore R-Reactor to operability, and the reactor could not contribute to material production before about 1989

  10. APPLICATION OF RESTART COVARIANCE MATRIX ADAPTATION EVOLUTION STRATEGY (RCMA-ES TO GENERATION EXPANSION PLANNING PROBLEM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Karthikeyan

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the application of an evolutionary algorithm, Restart Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy (RCMA-ES to the Generation Expansion Planning (GEP problem. RCMA-ES is a class of continuous Evolutionary Algorithm (EA derived from the concept of self-adaptation in evolution strategies, which adapts the covariance matrix of a multivariate normal search distribution. The original GEP problem is modified by incorporating Virtual Mapping Procedure (VMP. The GEP problem of a synthetic test systems for 6-year, 14-year and 24-year planning horizons having five types of candidate units is considered. Two different constraint-handling methods are incorporated and impact of each method has been compared. In addition, comparison and validation has also made with dynamic programming method.

  11. Method for determining thickness and composition of foils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roessiger, V.

    1984-01-01

    Subject of the invention is a radiometric method for simultaneous determination of the thickness or mass per unit area and the chemical composition of foils consisting of two or more components. The method is based on the measurement of the attenuation of several components of a suitable polychromatic radiation

  12. A semi-automated method for measuring thickness and white matter ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A semi-automated method for measuring thickness and white matter integrity of the corpus callosum. ... and interhemispheric differences. Future research will determine normal values for age and compare CC thickness with peripheral white matter volume loss in large groups of patients, using the semiautomated technique.

  13. Investigation of the Section Thickness Measurement in Tomosynthesis by Thin Metal Plate Edge Method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikeno, Kaoru; Akita, Tsunemichi; Hanai, Kozo; Muramatsu, Yoshihisa

    When performing tomosynthesis, the section thickness needs to be set depending on a radiographic part and its diagnostic purpose. However, the section thickness in tomosynthesis has not been clearly defined and its measurement method has not been established yet. In this study, we devised the alternative measurement method to diagnose the section thickness using an edge of thin metal plate, and compared with the simulation results, the wire and bead method reported in the previous papers. The tomographic image of the thin metal plate positioned on the table top inclining 30 degrees, which showed the edge spread function (ESF) of each tomographic height, was taken, and then the line spread function (LSF) was obtained by differentiating the ESF image. For the next, a profile curve was plotted by maximum values of LSF of each tomographic height, and a section thickness was calculated using the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the profile curve. The edge method derived the section thickness close to the simulation results than the other methods. Further, the section thickness depends on the thickness of the metal plate and not the material. The thickness of the metal plate suitable for the evaluation of section thickness is 0.3 mm that is equivalent to pixel size of the flat panel detector (FPD). We conducted quantitative verification to establish the measurement method of the section thickness. The edge method is a useful technique as well as the wire and bead method for grasping basic characteristics of an imaging system.

  14. Kinematics and simulation methods to determine the target thickness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosales, P.; Aguilar, E.F.; Martinez Q, E.

    2001-01-01

    Making use of the kinematics and of the particles energy loss two methods for calculating the thickness of a target are described. Through a computer program and other of simulation in which parameters obtained experimentally are used. Several values for a 12 C target thickness were obtained. It is presented a comparison of the obtained values with each one of the used programs. (Author)

  15. Savannah River Site peer evaluator standards: Operator assessment for restart

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-01-01

    Savannah River Site has implemented a Peer Evaluator program for the assessment of certified Central Control Room Operators, Central Control Room Supervisors and Shift Technical Engineers prior to restart. This program is modeled after the nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) Examiner Standard, ES-601, for the requalification of licensed operators in the commercial utility industry. It has been tailored to reflect the unique differences between Savannah River production reactors and commercial power reactors

  16. IAEA issues recommendations regarding temporary restart of Dutch reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-01-01

    Full text: An IAEA-led international team of nuclear reactor safety experts completed a safety review mission on 18 February at the High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten, in the Netherlands. The mission was conducted at the request of the Government of the Netherlands to review a set of previous evaluations made by the Dutch regulatory authority regarding the reactor's safety. The IAEA mission made a series of recommendations to enhance the safety of the year-long temporary restart. The recommendations included: - Performance of the monitoring system for leaks should be rigorously checked during the interim year of operation; - Temporary operation of the HFR cannot be extended beyond 1 March 2010; and - In case of any detected leakage from the coolant pipes, the reactor should be shut down immediately and repaired before restarting. The international team was composed of one IAEA staff member and five external experts from Argentina, Canada, France, India and South Africa. The IAEA's main conclusions and recommendations were presented in The Hague to the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment and several other ministries. The team also provided a summary of its findings to the Netherlands Regulatory Authority. The team's final report will be submitted within two weeks. The HFR at Petten is one of five research reactors in the world that produces radioactive medical isotopes, used an estimated 40 million times annually for cancer treatment and the diagnosis of heart attacks. Prolonged outages at any of these five reactors have a far-reaching impact on medical treatments and diagnoses for patients around the globe. Since August 2008, the HFR reactor has been in shut-down status due to corrosion of pipes in its primary cooling circuit. The Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG), the operating organization for Petten, proposed a one-year restart of the HFR reactor, which was approved by the Dutch regulatory body. The reactor then resumed operation

  17. An X-ray fluorescence method for the determination of metals thicknesses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vazquez, Cristina; Leyt, D.V. de; Riveros, J.A.

    1987-01-01

    An absolute method for the determination of the thickness of a metal film deposited on a metallic substrate is described. The method is based on the measurement of fluorescent intensity ratios for two lines from the substrate element. Additionally, the proposed method can be employed to determine the density of the deposited material or the incident angle of primary radiation and take off angle, if the metal film thickness is known. (Author) [es

  18. Removal of floating organic in Hanford Waste Tank 241-C-103 restart plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilson, T.R.; Hanson, C.

    1994-01-01

    The decision whether or not to remove the organic layer from Waste Tank 241-C-103 was deferred until May, 1995. The following restart plan was prepared for removal of the organic if the decision is to remove the organic from the waste tank 241-C-103

  19. Removal of floating organic in Hanford Waste Tank 241-C-103 restart plan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wilson, T.R.; Hanson, C.

    1994-10-03

    The decision whether or not to remove the organic layer from Waste Tank 241-C-103 was deferred until May, 1995. The following restart plan was prepared for removal of the organic if the decision is to remove the organic from the waste tank 241-C-103.

  20. Preparing for the re-start

    CERN Multimedia

    2009-01-01

    The end of a Council week is a good opportunity to bring you up to date with the status of the LHC, and I’m pleased to say that we had a good deal of positive news to report to the delegations today. The bottom line is that we remain on course to restart the LHC safely this year, albeit currently about 2-3 weeks later than we’d hoped at Chamonix. This Council week has seen many important developments for our future. I am particularly pleased that Council approved the Medium Term Plan and budget for 2010 as presented by the management. This is a strong vote of confidence in all of you. The President of Council is reporting on Council business in this issue of the Bulletin, so I will focus on the status of the LHC. A tremendous amount of work has been done to understand fully the splices in the LHC’s superconducting cable and copper stabilizers. One of these splices was the root cause of the incident last September that brought ...

  1. LHC Report: A tough restart

    CERN Multimedia

    Jan Uythoven for the LHC team

    2012-01-01

    The third LHC Technical Stop of five days took place in the week of September 17. Getting back to normal operation after a technical stop  can sometimes be difficult, with debugging, testing and requalification required on the systems that have seen interventions. Folding in a selection of other problems can make for a frustrating time.   The new injector magnet is transported to the LHC. Photo: TE/ABT group. The restart experienced over the last days was one of the tougher ones. Many problems occurred, both small and large, one after the other; in the end it took until Sunday afternoon, 9 days after the end of the technical stop, to have a physics fill in the machine that delivered an initial luminosity similar to those before the technical stop. Most problems encountered were, in fact, not related to the technical stop. The technical stop consisted of the usual maintenance and consolidation of the various systems, but two items stand out: the replacement of the mirrors an...

  2. A new measurement method of coatings thickness based on lock-in thermography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jin-Yu; Meng, Xiang-bin; Ma, Yong-chao

    2016-05-01

    Coatings have been widely used in modern industry and it plays an important role. Coatings thickness is directly related to the performance of the functional coatings, therefore, rapid and accurate coatings thickness inspection has great significance. Existing coatings thickness measurement method is difficult to achieve fast and accurate on-site non-destructive coatings inspection due to cost, accuracy, destruction during inspection and other reasons. This paper starts from the introduction of the principle of lock-in thermography, and then performs an in-depth study on the application of lock-in thermography in coatings inspection through numerical modeling and analysis. The numerical analysis helps explore the relationship between coatings thickness and phase, and the relationship lays the foundation for accurate calculation of coatings thickness. The author sets up a lock-in thermography inspection system and uses thermal barrier coatings specimens to conduct an experiment. The specimen coatings thickness is measured and calibrated to verify the quantitative inspection. Experiment results show that the lock-in thermography method can perform fast coatings inspection and the inspection accuracy is about 95%. Therefore, the method can meet the field testing requirements for engineering projects.

  3. Development of design method of thick rubber bearings for three-dimensional base isolation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yabana, Shuichi; Matuda, Akihiro

    2000-01-01

    Thick rubber bearings as 3-dimensional base isolators have been developed to reduce both horizontal and vertical seismic loads especially for equipment in Fast Breeder Reactors. In this report, a design method of thick rubber bearings is presented. To consider nonlinearity of vertical stiffness affected by vertical stress in the design of thick rubber bearings, Lindley's evaluation method of vertical stiffness is modified as an explicit form of vertical stress. We confirm that the presented method is efficient for design of the thick rubber bearings from comparing between test results and predicted values. Furthermore, rubber bearing tests are conducted with 1/3 scale models to evaluate mechanical properties of thick rubber bearings including ultimate limits. In the tests, horizontal and vertical characteristics of 1/3 scale model are compared with those of 1/6 scale model to discuss scale effect of test specimen. Ultimate limits such as failure shear strain of thick rubber bearings are obtained under various loading conditions. From the test results, we confirm that full scale thick rubber bearing to satisfy requirements is feasible. (author)

  4. Restart oversight assessment of Hanford 242-A evaporator: Summary report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-08-01

    This report summarizes a January 17--28, 1994, oversight assessment of restart activities for the 242-A Evaporator at the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Hanford Site about 25 miles northeast of Hanford, Washington. The assessment was conducted by qualified staff and consultants from the DOE Office of Environment, Safety and Health (EH). Its focus was the readiness of the facility for the resumption of safe operations, in particular those operations involved in the treatment and disposal of condensate from the evaporation of liquid radioactive waste, a key element of the tank waste remediation project administered by the DOE Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL). Overall, the assessment yielded eight programmatic concerns, supported by 38 individual findings. Of the concerns, four have already been closed, and the other four have been resolved. Results pointed up strengths in management and engineering design, as well as effective support of facility training programs by the management and operating contractor, Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC). Weaknesses were evident, however, in conduct of operations, maintenance, and radiological practices. Furthermore, problems in the submittal and approval of Compliance Schedule Approvals--that is, WHC documentation of the status of compliance with DOE orders--were indicative of a programmatic breakdown in the DOE Order compliance process. According to the results of this assessment, there are no safety and health issues that would preclude or delay restart of the evaporator

  5. Analysis of reactivity worth for xenon poisoning during restart-up of reactor in iodine pit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Xaofeng; Chen Wenzhen; Zhu Qian; Xu Guojun

    2009-01-01

    The reactivity worth of xenon poisoning and the densities of 135 I and 135 Xe were derived when the reactor was restarted up in iodine pit. Through the expressions obtained we can find the physics characteristics of reactor restarted up in iodine pit comprehensively and essentially. The results were analyzed and discussed. The reactor power before shutdown, the start-up power, the position where the reactor starts up in iodine pit, and so on, all have effect on the reactivity worth of xenon poisoning, and the different conditions can lead to totally different physics characteristics. In addition, the time when the reactor starts up in iodine pit is a very important factor for nuclear reactors safety. The conclusions are very important to the maneuverability and operation safety of ship nuclear reactors. (authors)

  6. Choose of standard materials in the method of β-testing new materials' mass thickness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Zhong

    2007-01-01

    To make sure of the standard mass thickness in beta radials testing mass thickness, this paper calculate using M. C. method and get the result of the relations between the beta radials' transmission rate of different energies and mass thickness in different materials. This result prove that in method of beta test mass thickness choosing materials whose elements are close as standard materials are viable. (authors)

  7. Replication restart in UV-irradiated Escherichia coli involving pols II, III, V, PriA, RecA and RecFOR proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangarajan, Savithri; Woodgate, Roger; Goodman, Myron F

    2002-02-01

    In Escherichia coli, UV-irradiated cells resume DNA synthesis after a transient inhibition by a process called replication restart. To elucidate the role of several key proteins involved in this process, we have analysed the time dependence of replication restart in strains carrying a combination of mutations in lexA, recA, polB (pol II), umuDC (pol V), priA, dnaC, recF, recO or recR. We find that both pol II and the origin-independent primosome-assembling function of PriA are essential for the immediate recovery of DNA synthesis after UV irradiation. In their absence, translesion replication or 'replication readthrough' occurs approximately 50 min after UV and is pol V-dependent. In a wild-type, lexA+ background, mutations in recF, recO or recR block both pathways. Similar results were obtained with a lexA(Def) recF strain. However, lexA(Def) recO or lexA(Def) recR strains, although unable to facilitate PriA-pol II-dependent restart, were able to perform pol V-dependent readthrough. The defects in restart attributed to mutations in recF, recO or recR were suppressed in a recA730 lexA(Def) strain expressing constitutively activated RecA (RecA*). Our data suggest that in a wild-type background, RecF, O and R are important for the induction of the SOS response and the formation of RecA*-dependent recombination intermediates necessary for PriA/Pol II-dependent replication restart. In con-trast, only RecF is required for the activation of RecA that leads to the formation of pol V (UmuD'2C) and facilitates replication readthrough.

  8. ALICE & LHCb: refinements for the restart

    CERN Multimedia

    2009-01-01

    Following the previous issue, the Bulletin continues its series to find out what the six LHC experiments have been up to since last September, and how they are preparing for the restart. Previously we looked at CMS and ATLAS; this issue we will round up the past 10 months of activity at ALICE and LHCb. LHCb The cavern of the LHCb experiment. This year has given LHCb the chance to install the 5th and final plane of muon chambers, which will improve the triggering at nominal luminosity. This is the final piece of the experiment to be installed. "Now the detector looks exactly as it does in the technical design report," confirms Andrei Golutvin, LHCb Spokesperson. "We also took advantage of this shutdown to make several improvements. For example, we modified the high voltage system of the electromagnetic calorimeter to reduce noise further to a negligible level. We also took some measures to improve ...

  9. 78 FR 69367 - Golden Valley Electric Association: Healy Power Plant Unit #2 Restart

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-19

    ... of Decision. SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) has issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for the... financing from RUS to facilitate the restart of Unit 2 and for improvements to the Healy Plant, which... DOE and AIDEA. The decision documented in RUS's ROD is that RUS agrees to consider, subject to...

  10. Investigation of methods to prepare carbon foils and to determine their thicknesses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Guoji; Guan Shouren; Luo Xinghua; Meng Xiangjin

    1988-01-01

    The development and study of methods to prepare carbon foils and to determine their thicknesses are described. The methods of making carbon foils consist of carbon-arc evaporation, resistance heating, electron bombardment, cracking ethylene and centrifugal precipitation. Weighing, α-particle measurement, Rutherford backscattering and spectrophotometer are used to determine the thickness of carbon foils

  11. The design and implementation of Berkeley Lab's linuxcheckpoint/restart

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Duell, Jason

    2005-04-30

    This paper describes Berkeley Linux Checkpoint/Restart (BLCR), a linux kernel module that allows system-level checkpoints on a variety of Linux systems. BLCR can be used either as a stand alone system for checkpointing applications on a single machine, or as a component by a scheduling system or parallel communication library for checkpointing and restoring parallel jobs running on multiple machines. Integration with Message Passing Interface (MPI) and other parallel systems is described.

  12. Status of High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) post-restart safety analysis and documentation upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cook, D.H.; Radcliff, T.D.; Rothrock, R.B.; Schreiber, R.E.

    1990-01-01

    The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), an experimental reactor located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and operated for the US Department of Energy by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, was shut down in November, 1986 after the discovery of unexpected neutron embrittlement of the reactor vessel. The reactor was restarted in April, 1989, following an extensive review by DOE and ORNL of the HFIR design, safety, operation, maintenance and management, and the implementation of several upgrades to HFIR safety-related hardware, analyses, documents and procedures. This included establishing new operating conditions to provide added margin against pressure vessel failure, as well as the addition, or upgrading, of specific safety-related hardware. This paper summarizes the status of some of the follow-on (post-restart) activities which are currently in progress, and which will result in a comprehensive set of safety analyses and documentation for the HFIR, comparable with current practice in commercial nuclear power plants. 8 refs

  13. Full reflector thickness and isolation thickness on neutron transport

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sakai, Tomohiro; Naito, Yoshitaka; Komuro, Yuichi.

    1988-08-01

    A method to determine ''full reflector thickness'' and ''isolation thickness'', which is utilized for criticality safety evaluation on nuclear fuel facilities, was proposed in this paper. Firstly, a calculation was tryed to obtain the two kinds of thicknesses from the result of criticality calculations for a specific case. Then, two simple equations which calculates the two kinds of thicknesses were made from the relation between reflector (or isolator) thickness and k eff , and one-group diffusion theory. Finally, we proposed a new method to determine the thicknesses. From the method we proposed, ''full reflector thickness'' and ''isolation thickness'' can be obtain using the equations and migration length of the reflector (or isolator) and infinite and effective multiplication factor of the fuel. (author)

  14. Method of accurate thickness measurement of boron carbide coating on copper foil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lacy, Jeffrey L.; Regmi, Murari

    2017-11-07

    A method is disclosed of measuring the thickness of a thin coating on a substrate comprising dissolving the coating and substrate in a reagent and using the post-dissolution concentration of the coating in the reagent to calculate an effective thickness of the coating. The preferred method includes measuring non-conducting films on flexible and rough substrates, but other kinds of thin films can be measure by matching a reliable film-substrate dissolution technique. One preferred method includes determining the thickness of Boron Carbide films deposited on copper foil. The preferred method uses a standard technique known as inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICPOES) to measure boron concentration in a liquid sample prepared by dissolving boron carbide films and the Copper substrates, preferably using a chemical etch known as ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN). Measured boron concentration values can then be calculated.

  15. Additional information for impact response of the restart safety rods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yau, W.W.F.

    1991-01-01

    WSRC-RP-91-677 studied the structural response of the safety rods under the conditions of brake failure and accidental release. It was concluded that the maximum impact loading to the safety rod is 6020 pounds based on conservative considerations that energy dissipation attributable to fluid resistance and reactor superstructure flexibility. The staffers of the Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board reviewed the results and inquired about the extent of conservatism. By request of the RESTART team, I reassessed the impact force due to these conservative assumptions. This memorandum reports these assessments

  16. Modification of the laser triangulation method for measuring the thickness of optical layers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khramov, V. N.; Adamov, A. A.

    2018-04-01

    The problem of determining the thickness of thin films by the method of laser triangulation is considered. An expression is derived for the film thickness and the distance between the focused beams on the photo detector. The possibility of applying the chosen method for measuring thickness is in the range [0.1; 1] mm. We could resolve 2 individual light marks for a minimum film thickness of 0.23 mm. We resolved with the help of computer processing of photos with a resolution of 0.10 mm. The obtained results can be used in ophthalmology for express diagnostics during surgical operations on the corneal layer.

  17. A method to measure the mean thickness and non-uniformity of non-uniform thin film by alpha-ray thickness gauge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miyahara, Hiroshi; Yoshida, Makoto; Watanabe, Tamaki

    1977-01-01

    The α-ray thickness gauge is used to measure non-destructively the thicknesses of thin films, and up to the present day, a thin film with uniform thickness is only taken up as the object of α-ray thickness gauge. When the thickness is determined from the displacement between the absorption curves in the presence and absence of thin film, the absorption curve must be displaced in parallel. When many uniform particles were dispersed as sample, the shape of the absorption curve was calculated as the sum of many absorption curves corresponding to the thin films with different thicknesses. By the comparison of the calculated and measured absorption curves, the number of particles, or the mean superficial density can be determined. This means the extension of thickness measurement from uniform to non-uniform films. Furthermore, these particle models being applied to non-uniform thin film, the possibility of measuring the mean thickness and non-uniformity was discussed. As the result, if the maximum difference of the thickness was more than 0.2 mg/cm 2 , the nonuniformity was considered to distinguish by the usual equipment. In this paper, an α-ray thickness gauge using the absorption curve method was treated, but one can apply this easily to an α-ray thickness gauge using α-ray energy spectra before and after the penetration of thin film. (auth.)

  18. Effect of PWR Re-start ramp rate on pellet-cladding interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yagnik, S.K.; Chang, B.C.; Sunderland, D.J.

    2005-01-01

    To mitigate pellet-cladding interaction (PCI) leading to fuel rod failures, fuel suppliers specify reactor power ramp rate limitations during reactor start-up after an outage. Typical re-start ramp rates are restricted and range between 3-4% per hour of full reactor power above a threshold power level. Relaxation of threshold power and ramp rate restrictions has the potential to improve plant economics. The paper will compare known re-start power ascension procedures employed in the US, German, French and Korean PWRs after a refuelling outage. A technical basis for optimising power ascension procedures during reactor start-up can be developed using analytical modelling. The main objective of the modelling is to determine the potential for PCI failure for various combinations of threshold power levels and ramp rate levels. A key element of our analysis is to estimate the decrease in margin to cladding failure by ISCC based on a time-temperature-stress failure criterion fashioned Act a cumulative cladding damage index. The analysis approach and the cladding damage model will be described and the results from three case studies based on the FALCON fuel rod behaviour code will be reported. We conclude that the PCI behaviour is more affected by ramp rate and threshold power than by the fuel design and that the fuel power history is the most important parameter. (authors)

  19. TMI-1 restart: an evaluation of the licensee's management integrity as it affects restart of Three Mile Island Nuclear Station (Unit 1 Docket 50-289). Supplement 5

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1984-07-01

    Supplement 5 to the Safety Evaluation Report (SER) on TMI-1 Restart documents the review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff of nine investigations conducted by the NRC Office of Investigations into matters identified as relevant and material to an evaluation of the licensee's management integrity. The staff has included, as part of its evaluation, materials from its review of the GPU v. B and W lawsuit record (NUREG-1020LD, GPU, v. B and W Lawsuit Review and Its Effect on TMI-1) as well as other relevant materials developed since the close of the record in the TMI-1 Restart proceeding. In developing its position on General Public Utilities Nuclear Corporation's character (i.e., management integrity), the staff evaluated matters that cast doubt on the licensee's character, individually and collectively; considered the remedial actions taken by the licensee; and balanced past improper conduct of the licensee against its subsequent record of remedial actions and performance and record of current senior management of the licensee. The staff concluded that, while the past improper conduct was grave, the remedial actions taken, the subsequent record of performance, and the record of current senior management support a finding that GPUN can and will operate TMI-1 without undue risk to the health and safety of the public

  20. A method for reducing the sloughing of thick blood films for malaria diagnosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norgan, Andrew P; Arguello, Heather E; Sloan, Lynne M; Fernholz, Emily C; Pritt, Bobbi S

    2013-07-08

    The gold standard for malaria diagnosis is the examination of thick and thin blood films. Thick films contain 10 to 20 times more blood than thin films, correspondingly providing increased sensitivity for malaria screening. A potential complication of thick film preparations is sloughing of the blood droplet from the slide during staining or rinsing, resulting in the loss of sample. In this work, two methods for improving thick film slide adherence ('scratch' (SCM) and 'acetone dip' (ADM) methods) were compared to the 'standard method' (SM) of thick film preparation. Standardized blood droplets from 26 previously examined EDTA whole blood specimens (22 positive and four negative) were concurrently spread on glass slides using the SM, ADM, and SCM. For the SM and ADM prepared slides, the droplet was gently spread to an approximate 22 millimeters in diameter spot on the slide using the edge of a second glass slide. For the SCM, the droplet was spread by carefully grinding (or scratching) it into the slide with the point of a second glass slide. Slides were dried for one hour in a laminar flow hood. For the ADM, slides were dipped once in an acetone filled Coplin jar and allowed to air dry. All slides were then Giemsa-stained and examined in a blinded manner. Adherence was assessed by blinded reviewers. No significant or severe defects were observed for slides prepared with the SCM. In contrast, 8 slides prepared by the ADM and 3 prepared using the SM displayed significant or severe defects. Thick films prepared by the three methods were microscopically indistinguishable and concordant results (positive or negative) were obtained for the three methods. Estimated parasitaemia of the blood samples ranged from 25 to 429,169 parasites/μL of blood. The SCM is an inexpensive, rapid, and simple method that improves the adherence of thick blood films to standard glass slides without altering general slide preparation, microscopic appearance or interpretability. Using the SCM

  1. A semi-empirical method for measuring thickness of pipe-wall using gamma scattering technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vo Hoang Nguyen; Hua Tuyet Le; Le Dinh Minh Quan; Hoang Duc Tam; Le Bao Tran; Tran Thien Thanh; Tran Nguyen Thuy Ngan; Chau Van Tao; VNUHCM-University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City; Huynh Dinh Chuong

    2016-01-01

    In this work, we propose a semi-empirical method for determining the thickness of pipe-wall, of which the determination is performed by combining the experimental and Monte Carlo simulation data. The testing measurements show that this is an efficient method to measure the thickness of pipe-wall. In addition, this work also shows that it could use a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector and a low activity source to measure the thickness of pipe-wall, which is simple, quick and high accuracy method. (author)

  2. Press Conference: LHC Restart, Season 2

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2015-01-01

    PRESS BRIEFING ON THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER (LHC) RE-START, SEASON 2 AT CERN, GLOBE OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION Where :   http://cern.ch/directions   at the Globe of Science and Innovation When : Thursday, 12 March from 2.30 to 3.30pm - Open seating as from 2.15pm Speakers : CERN’s Director General, Rolf Heuer and Director of Accelerators, Frédérick Bordry, and representatives of the LHC experiments Webcast : https://webcast.web.cern.ch/webcast/ Dear Journalists, CERN is pleased to invite you to the above press briefing which will take place on Thursday 12 March, in the Globe of Science and Innovation, 1st floor, from 2.30 to 3.30pm. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is ready to start up for its second three-year run. The 27km LHC is the largest and most powerful particle accelerator in the world operating at a temperature of -217 degrees Centigrade and powered to a current of 11,000 amps. Run 2 of the LHC follows a two-year technical s...

  3. Promoting Recruitment using Information Management Efficiently (PRIME): a stepped-wedge, cluster randomised trial of a complex recruitment intervention embedded within the REstart or Stop Antithrombotics Randomised Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maxwell, Amy E; Parker, Richard A; Drever, Jonathan; Rudd, Anthony; Dennis, Martin S; Weir, Christopher J; Al-Shahi Salman, Rustam

    2017-12-28

    Few interventions are proven to increase recruitment in clinical trials. Recruitment to RESTART, a randomised controlled trial of secondary prevention after stroke due to intracerebral haemorrhage, has been slower than expected. Therefore, we sought to investigate an intervention to boost recruitment to RESTART. We conducted a stepped-wedge, cluster randomised trial of a complex intervention to increase recruitment, embedded within the RESTART trial. The primary objective was to investigate if the PRIME complex intervention (a recruitment co-ordinator who conducts a recruitment review, provides access to bespoke stroke audit data exports, and conducts a follow-up review after 6 months) increases the recruitment rate to RESTART. We included 72 hospital sites located in England, Wales, or Scotland that were active in RESTART in June 2015. All sites began in the control state and were allocated using block randomisation stratified by hospital location (Scotland versus England/Wales) to start the complex intervention in one of 12 different months. The primary outcome was the number of patients randomised into RESTART per month per site. We quantified the effect of the complex intervention on the primary outcome using a negative binomial, mixed model adjusting for site, December/January months, site location, and background time trends in recruitment rate. We recruited and randomised 72 sites and recorded their monthly recruitment to RESTART over 24 months (March 2015 to February 2017 inclusive), providing 1728 site-months of observations for the primary analysis. The adjusted rate ratio for the number of patients randomised per month after allocation to the PRIME complex intervention versus control time before allocation to the PRIME complex intervention was 1.06 (95% confidence interval 0.55 to 2.03, p = 0.87). Although two thirds of respondents to the 6-month follow-up questionnaire agreed that the audit reports were useful, only six patients were reported to

  4. Stop and Restart Effects on Modern Vehicle Starting System Components

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Windover, Paul R. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Owens, Russell J. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Levinson, Terry M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Laughlin, Michael [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Gaines, Linda [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

    2015-01-01

    Many drivers of personal and commercial vehicles believe that turning the vehicle off and on frequently instead of idling will cause premature wear of the starter system (starter motor and starter battery). As a result, they are concerned that the replacement cost of the starter motor and/or battery due to increased manual engine cycling would be more than the cumulative cost of the fuel saved by not idling unnecessarily. A number of variables play a role in addressing this complex concern, including the number of starting cycles per day, the time between starting cycles, the intended design life of the starting system, the amount of fuel used to restart an engine, and the cumulative cost of the saved fuel. Qualitative and quantitative information from a variety of sources was used to develop a life-cycle economic model to evaluate the cost and quantify the realistic factors that are related to the permissible frequency of starter motor cycles for the average vehicle to economically minimize engine idle time. Annual cost savings can be calculated depending on shutdown duration and the number of shutdown cycles per day. Analysis shows that cost savings are realized by eliminating idling exceeding one minute by shutting down the engine and restarting it. For a typical motorist, the damage to starting system components resulting from additional daily start cycles will be negligible. Overall, it was found that starter life is mostly dependent on the total number of start cycles, while battery life is more dependent on ensuring a full charge between start events.

  5. Using the MDCT thick slab MinIP method for the follow-up of pulmonary emphysema.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lan, Hai; Nishitani, Hiromu; Nishihara, Sadamitsu; Ueno, Junji; Takao, Shoichiro; Iwamoto, Seiji; Kawanaka, Takashi; Mahmut, Mawlan; Qingge, Si

    2011-08-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of thick slab minimum intensity projection (MinIP) as a follow-up method in patients with pulmonary emphysema. This method was used to determine the presence or absence of changes over time in the lung field based on multi-detector-row CT (MDCT) data. Among patients diagnosed with pulmonary emphysema who underwent 16-MDCT (slice thickness, 1 mm) twice at an interval of 6 months or more, 12 patients without changes in the lung field and 14 with clear changes in the lung field were selected as subjects. An image interpretation experiment was performed by five image interpreters. Pulmonary emphysema was followed up using two types of thick slab MinIP (thick slab MinIP 1 and 2) and multi-planar reformation (MPR), and the results of image interpretation were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. In addition, the time required for image interpretation was compared among the three follow-up methods. The area under the ROC curve (Az) was 0.794 for thick slab MinIP 1, 0.778 for the thick slab MinIP 2, and 0.759 for MPR, showing no significant differences among the three methods. Individual differences in each item were significantly more marked for MPR than for thick slab MinIP. The time required for image interpretation was around 18 seconds for thick slab MinIP 1, 11 seconds for thick slab MinIP 2, and approximately 127 seconds for MPR, showing significant differences among the three methods. There were no significant differences in the results of image interpretation regarding the presence or absence of changes in the lung fields between thick slab MinIP and MPR. However, thick slab MinIP showed a shorter image interpretation time and smaller individual differences in the results among image interpreters than MPR, suggesting the usefulness of this method for determining the presence or absence of changes with time in the lung fields of patients with pulmonary emphysema.

  6. Restart of the chemical preparation process for the fabrication of ZnO varistors for ferroelectric neutron generator power supplies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lockwood, Steven John

    2005-01-01

    To date, all varistors used in ferroelectric neutron generators have been supplied from a single, proprietary source, General Electric Corporate Research and Development (GE CR and D). To protect against the vulnerability of a single source, Sandia initiated a program in the early 1980's to develop a second source for this material. A chemical preparation process for making homogeneous, high purity ZnO-based varistor powder was generated, scaled to production quantities, and transferred to external suppliers. In 1992, the chem-prep varistor program was suspended when it appeared there was sufficient inventory of GE CR and D material to supply ferroelectric neutron generator production for many years. In 1999, neutron generator production schedules increased substantially, resulting in a predicted exhaustion of the existing supply of varistor material within five years. The chem-prep program was restarted in January, 2000. The goals of the program were to (1) duplicate the chem-prep powder synthesis process that had been qualified for WR production, (2) demonstrate sintered billets from the chem-prep powder met requirements, (3) develop a process for rod fabrication and demonstrate that all component specifications could be met, and (4) optimize the process from powder synthesis through component fabrication for full-scale production. The first three of these goals have been met and are discussed in this report. A facility for the fabrication of production quantities of chem-prep powder has been established. All batches since the restart have met compositional requirements, but differences in sintering behavior between the original process and the restarted process were noted. Investigation into the equipment, precipitant stoichiometry, and powder processing procedures were not able to resolve the discrepancies. It was determined that the restarted process, which incorporated Na doping for electrical stability (a process that was not introduced until the end of the

  7. On factoring RSA modulus using random-restart hill-climbing algorithm and Pollard’s rho algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Budiman, M. A.; Rachmawati, D.

    2017-12-01

    The security of the widely-used RSA public key cryptography algorithm depends on the difficulty of factoring a big integer into two large prime numbers. For many years, the integer factorization problem has been intensively and extensively studied in the field of number theory. As a result, a lot of deterministic algorithms such as Euler’s algorithm, Kraitchik’s, and variants of Pollard’s algorithms have been researched comprehensively. Our study takes a rather uncommon approach: rather than making use of intensive number theories, we attempt to factorize RSA modulus n by using random-restart hill-climbing algorithm, which belongs the class of metaheuristic algorithms. The factorization time of RSA moduli with different lengths is recorded and compared with the factorization time of Pollard’s rho algorithm, which is a deterministic algorithm. Our experimental results indicates that while random-restart hill-climbing algorithm is an acceptable candidate to factorize smaller RSA moduli, the factorization speed is much slower than that of Pollard’s rho algorithm.

  8. The application of modern safety criteria to restarting and operating the USDOE K-Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dimenna, R.A.; Taylor, G.A.; Brandyberry, M.D.

    1993-01-01

    The United States Department of Energy's (USDOE's) K-reactor, a defense production reactor located at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina, was shut down in the summer of 1988 for safety upgrades to bring it into conformance with modern safety standards prior to restart. Over the course of the succeeding four years, all aspects of the 35-year old reactor, including hardware, operations, and analysis, were upgraded to ensure that the reactor could operate safely according to standards similar to those applied to modern nuclear reactors. This paper describes the decision making processes by which issues were identified, priorities assigned, and analysis improved to enhance reactor safety. Special emphasis is given to the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) decision making processes used to quantify the risks and consequences of operating the K-reactor, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) used to identify key phenomena, and modifications made to the RELAP5 computer code to make it applicable to K-reactor analysis. The success of the project was demonstrated when the K-reactor was restarted in the summer of 1992

  9. The ISRN has stated on the CABRI reactor restarting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents the different issues examined by the ISRN (the French Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety) for the restarting of the pool type research CABRI reactor which is briefly described in appendix. These issues are: the design, realisation and monitoring of the new pressurised water test loop, the reassessment of the protection system limiting the reactivity injection during tests, inspection of fuel pencil condition, reassessment of safety studies, inspection of the condition of existing equipment which are essential for safety, reassessment of the seismic risk and of the fire risk, reassessment of operation conditions (personal radioprotection, human and organisational factors). An appendix contains the report by the Permanent Group of Experts for Nuclear Reactors with its recommendations

  10. TOTEM and LHCf: refinements for the restart

    CERN Multimedia

    2009-01-01

    Following the previous two issues, the Bulletin continues its series to find out what the six LHC experiments have been up to since last September, and how they are preparing for the restart. We covered CMS, ATLAS, LHCb and ALICE in previous issues. In this issue we will round up the past 10 months of activity at TOTEM and LHCf. Roman Pots of the TOTEM experiment.TOTEM The past 10 months at TOTEM have been amongst the busiest since the project’s inception. The delay in the LHC startup has certainly had a silver lining for the TOTEM collaboration - not only has it given them a much-needed opportunity to test and install many crucial new detector parts, but also the lower energy range that the LHC will initially operate at in 2009 is perfect for TOTEM physics. "In fact, the LHC almost seems to be following the schedule of TOTEM!" jokes Karsten Eggert, TOTEM spokesperson. TOTEM is made up of three different detectors spread out...

  11. Measurement of thickness of thin films by the X-ray diffraction method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Srinivasan, C.; Balasingh, C.; Singh, A.K.

    1979-07-01

    X-ray diffraction method can be used to measure the thickness of thin films (coatings). The principle and the experimental details of the x-ray diffraction methods are described. The intensities of the diffracted beams are derived assuming a random orientation of the crystallites in the diffracting medium. Consequently, the expressions are not valid when the sample has preferred orientation. To check the performance of the method, thicknesses of nickel deposits on mild steel plates were determined by the x-ray diffraction method and the results compared with those obtained by the weighing method and metallographic examination. The weighing method which gives an accuracy of +- 0.1 micron is taken as the standard. The x-ray diffraction methods and the metallographic examinations give values within +- 1 micron of the value obtained by the weighing method. (author)

  12. A study on people's awareness about the restarting and decommissioning of nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goto, Manabu; Sakai, Yukimi

    2015-01-01

    In this study, we conducted two questionnaire surveys targeting a total of 918 respondents living in the cities of Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe, in order to elucidate people's awareness of three things: 1) restart of nuclear power plants; 2) extension of the operation period of aging plants; and 3) decommissioning. The results are as follows: 1) People who think that electrical power companies voluntarily take higher safety measures trust the power companies and do not oppose the restart of the nuclear power plants, as compared to people who think that power companies only meet the requirements set by the nuclear regulatory agency. 2) When people were given information about aging measures and conforming to new regulatory standards, their anxiety toward the operation of aging plants was reduced. 3) People thought that decommissioning work was important for society. However, a small number of people thought it was a job worthwhile doing. (author)

  13. A convenient method for X-ray analysis in TEM that measures mass thickness and composition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Statham, P.; Sagar, J.; Holland, J.; Pinard, P.; Lozano-Perez, S.

    2018-01-01

    We consider a new approach for quantitative analysis in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) that offers the same convenience as single-standard quantitative analysis in scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Instead of a bulk standard, a thin film with known mass thickness is used as a reference. The procedure involves recording an X-ray spectrum from the reference film for each session of acquisitions on real specimens. There is no need to measure the beam current; the current only needs to be stable for the duration of the session. A new reference standard with a large (1 mm x 1 mm) area of uniform thickness of 100 nm silicon nitride is used to reveal regions of X-ray detector occlusion that would give misleading results for any X-ray method that measures thickness. Unlike previous methods, the new X-ray method does not require an accurate beam current monitor but delivers equivalent accuracy in mass thickness measurement. Quantitative compositional results are also automatically corrected for specimen self-absorption. The new method is tested using a wedge specimen of Inconel 600 that is used to calibrate the high angle angular dark field (HAADF) signal to provide a thickness reference and results are compared with electron energy-loss spectrometry (EELS) measurements. For the new X-ray method, element composition results are consistent with the expected composition for the alloy and the mass thickness measurement is shown to provide an accurate alternative to EELS for thickness determination in TEM without the uncertainty associated with mean free path estimates.

  14. Rheology and FTIR studies of model waxy crude oils with relevance to gelled pipeline restart

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Magda, J.J.; Guimeraes, K.; Deo, M.D. [Utah Univ., Salt Lake City, UT (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering; Venkatesan, R.; Montesi, A. [Chevron Energy Technology Co., Houston, TX (United States)

    2008-07-01

    Gels composed of wax crystals may sometimes form when crude oils are transported in pipelines when ambient temperatures are low. The gels may stop the pipe flow, making it difficult or even impossible to restart the flow without breaking the pipe. Rheology and FTIR techniques were used to study the problem and to characterize transparent model waxy crude oils in pipeline flow experiments. These model oils were formulated without any highly volatile components to enhance the reproducibility of the rheology tests. Results were presented for the time- and temperature-dependent rheology of the model waxy crude oils as obtained in linear oscillatory shear and in creep-recovery experiments. The model oils were shown to exhibit many of the rheological features reported for real crude oils, such as 3 distinct apparent yield stresses, notably static yield stress, dynamic yield stress, and elastic-limit yield stress. It was concluded that of the 3, the static yield stress value, particularly its time dependence, can best be used to predict the restart behaviour observed for the same gel in model pipelines.

  15. Neutron methods for the direct determination of the magnetic induction in thick films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kozhevnikov, S.V., E-mail: kozhevn@nf.jinr.ru [Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 Dubna (Russian Federation); Ott, F. [CEA, IRAMIS, Laboratoire Léon Brillouin, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette (France); CNRS, IRAMIS, Laboratoire Léon Brillouin, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette (France); Radu, F. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Albert-Einstein Strasse 15, D-12489 Berlin (Germany)

    2016-03-15

    We review different neutron methods which allow extracting directly the value of the magnetic induction in thick films: Larmor precession, Zeeman spatial beam-splitting and neutron spin resonance. Resulting parameters obtained by the neutron methods and standard magnetometry technique are presented and compared. The possibilities and specificities of the neutron methods are discussed. - Highlights: • We present neutron methods for investigations of the thick magnetic films. • It is the methods for the direct determination of the magnetic induction. • Magnetic induction in bulk, at single interface and in a single domain. • It is Larmor precession, Zeeman spatial beam-splitting and neutron spin resonance. • These methods are complementary to polarized neutron reflectometry.

  16. Restart Plan for the Prototype Vertical Denitration Calciner [SD Coversheet has Incorrect Document Number

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    SUTTER, C.S.

    1999-07-26

    Testing activities on the Prototype Vertical Denitration Calciner at PFP were suspended in January 1997 due to the hold on fissile material handling in the facility. The Restart Plan will govern the transition of the test program from the completion of the activity based startup review; through equipment checkout and surrogate material runs; to resumption of the testing program and transition to unrestricted testing.

  17. The accuracy evaluation according to dose delivery interruption and restart for volumetric modulated arc therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Dong Hyung; Bae, Sun Myung; Kwak, Jung Won; Kang, Tae Young; Bck, Geum Mun [Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Asan Medical Center, Seoul(Korea, Republic of)

    2013-03-15

    The accurate movement of gantry rotation, collimator and correct application of dose rate are very important to approach the successful performance of Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT), because it is tightly interlocked with a complex treatment plan. The interruption and restart of dose delivery, however, are able to occur on treatment by various factors of a treatment machine and treatment plan. If unexpected problems of a treat machine or a patient interrupt the VMAT, the movement of treatment machine for delivering the remaining dose will be restarted at the start point. In this investigation, We would like to know the effect of interruptions and restart regarding dose delivery at VMAT. Treatment plans of 10 patients who had been treated at our center were used to measure and compare the dose distribution of each VMAT after converting to a form of digital image and communications in Medicine (DICOM) with treatment planning system (Eclipse V 10.0, Varian, USA). We selected the 6 MV photon energy of Trilogy (Varian, USA) and used OmniPro I'mRT system (V 1.7b, IBA dosimetry, Germany) to analyze the data that were acquired through this measurement with two types of interruptions four times for each case. The door interlock and the beam-off were used to stop and then to restart the dose delivery of VMAT. The gamma index in OmniPro I'mRT system and T-test in Microsoft Excel 2007 were used to evaluate the result of this investigation. The deviations of average gamma index in cases with door interlock, beam-off and without interruption on VMAT are 0.141, 0.128 and 0.1. The standard deviations of acquired gamma values are 0.099, 0.091, 0.071 and The maximum gamma value in each case is 0.413, 0.379, 0.286, respectively. This analysis has a 95-percent confidence level and the P-value of T-test is under 0.05. Gamma pass rate (3%, 3 mm) is acceptable in all of measurements. As a result, We could make sure that the interruption of this investgation are not

  18. Psychological adaptation among residents following restart of Three Mile Island.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prince-Embury, S; Rooney, J F

    1995-01-01

    Psychological adaptation is examined in a sample of residents who remained in the vicinity of Three Mile Island following the restart of the nuclear generating facility which had been shut down since the 1979 accident. Findings indicate a lowering of psychological symptoms between 1985 and 1989 in spite of increased lack of control, less faith in experts and increased fear of developing cancer. The suggestion is made that reduced stress might have been related to a process of adaptation whereby a cognition of emergency preparedness was integrated by some of these residents as a modulating cognitive element. Findings also indicate that "loss of faith in experts" is a persistently salient cognition consistent with the "shattered assumptions" theory of victimization.

  19. A practical method for in-situ thickness determination using energy distribution of beta particles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yalcin, S.; Gurler, O.; Gundogdu, O.; Bradley, D.A.

    2012-01-01

    This paper discusses a method to determine the thickness of an absorber using the energy distribution of beta particles. An empirical relationship was obtained between the absorber thickness and the energy distribution of beta particles transmitted through. The thickness of a polyethylene radioactive source cover was determined by exploiting this relationship, which has largely been left unexploited allowing us to determine the in-situ cover thickness of beta sources in a fast, cheap and non-destructive way. - Highlights: ► A practical and in-situ unknown cover thickness determination ► Cheap and readily available compared to other techniques. ► Beta energy spectrum.

  20. A practical method for in-situ thickness determination using energy distribution of beta particles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yalcin, S., E-mail: syalcin@kastamonu.edu.tr [Kastamonu University, Education Faculty, 37200 Kastamonu (Turkey); Gurler, O. [Physics Department, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Uludag University, Gorukle Campus, 16059 Bursa (Turkey); Gundogdu, O. [Kocaeli University, Umuttepe Campus, 41380 Kocaeli (Turkey); Bradley, D.A. [CNRP, Department of Physics, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH (United Kingdom)

    2012-01-15

    This paper discusses a method to determine the thickness of an absorber using the energy distribution of beta particles. An empirical relationship was obtained between the absorber thickness and the energy distribution of beta particles transmitted through. The thickness of a polyethylene radioactive source cover was determined by exploiting this relationship, which has largely been left unexploited allowing us to determine the in-situ cover thickness of beta sources in a fast, cheap and non-destructive way. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A practical and in-situ unknown cover thickness determination Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Cheap and readily available compared to other techniques. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Beta energy spectrum.

  1. Extended methods using thick-targets for nuclear reaction data of radioactive isotopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebata, Shuichiro; Aikawa, Masayuki; Imai, Shotaro

    2017-09-01

    The nuclear transmutation is a technology to dispose of radioactive wastes. However, we do not have enough basic data for its developments, such as thick-target yields (TTY) and the interaction cross sections for radioactive material. We suggest two methods to estimate the TTY using inverse kinematics and to obtain the excitation function of the interaction cross sections which is named the thick-target transmission (T3) method. We deduce the energy-dependent conversion relation between the TTYs of the original system and its inverse kinematics, which can be replaced to a constant coefficient in the high energy region. Furthermore we show the usefulness of the T3 method to investigate the excitation function of the 12C + 27Al reaction in the simulation.

  2. Methods To Determine the Silicone Oil Layer Thickness in Sprayed-On Siliconized Syringes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loosli, Viviane; Germershaus, Oliver; Steinberg, Henrik; Dreher, Sascha; Grauschopf, Ulla; Funke, Stefanie

    2018-01-01

    The silicone lubricant layer in prefilled syringes has been investigated with regards to siliconization process performance, prefilled syringe functionality, and drug product attributes, such as subvisible particle levels, in several studies in the past. However, adequate methods to characterize the silicone oil layer thickness and distribution are limited, and systematic evaluation is missing. In this study, white light interferometry was evaluated to close this gap in method understanding. White light interferometry demonstrated a good accuracy of 93-99% for MgF 2 coated, curved standards covering a thickness range of 115-473 nm. Thickness measurements for sprayed-on siliconized prefilled syringes with different representative silicone oil distribution patterns (homogeneous, pronounced siliconization at flange or needle side, respectively) showed high instrument (0.5%) and analyst precision (4.1%). Different white light interferometry instrument parameters (autofocus, protective shield, syringe barrel dimensions input, type of non-siliconized syringe used as base reference) had no significant impact on the measured average layer thickness. The obtained values from white light interferometry applying a fully developed method (12 radial lines, 50 mm measurement distance, 50 measurements points) were in agreement with orthogonal results from combined white and laser interferometry and 3D-laser scanning microscopy. The investigated syringe batches (lot A and B) exhibited comparable longitudinal silicone oil layer thicknesses ranging from 170-190 nm to 90-100 nm from flange to tip and homogeneously distributed silicone layers over the syringe barrel circumference (110- 135 nm). Empty break-loose (4-4.5 N) and gliding forces (2-2.5 N) were comparably low for both analyzed syringe lots. A silicone oil layer thickness of 100-200 nm was thus sufficient for adequate functionality in this particular study. Filling the syringe with a surrogate solution including short

  3. A method of detection to the grinding wheel layer thickness based on computer vision

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Yuchen; Fu, Luhua; Yang, Dujuan; Wang, Lei; Liu, Changjie; Wang, Zhong

    2018-01-01

    This paper proposed a method of detection to the grinding wheel layer thickness based on computer vision. A camera is used to capture images of grinding wheel layer on the whole circle. Forward lighting and back lighting are used to enables a clear image to be acquired. Image processing is then executed on the images captured, which consists of image preprocessing, binarization and subpixel subdivision. The aim of binarization is to help the location of a chord and the corresponding ring width. After subpixel subdivision, the thickness of the grinding layer can be calculated finally. Compared with methods usually used to detect grinding wheel wear, method in this paper can directly and quickly get the information of thickness. Also, the eccentric error and the error of pixel equivalent are discussed in this paper.

  4. Tundish Cover Flux Thickness Measurement Method and Instrumentation Based on Computer Vision in Continuous Casting Tundish

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meng Lu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Thickness of tundish cover flux (TCF plays an important role in continuous casting (CC steelmaking process. Traditional measurement method of TCF thickness is single/double wire methods, which have several problems such as personal security, easily affected by operators, and poor repeatability. To solve all these problems, in this paper, we specifically designed and built an instrumentation and presented a novel method to measure the TCF thickness. The instrumentation was composed of a measurement bar, a mechanical device, a high-definition industrial camera, a Siemens S7-200 programmable logic controller (PLC, and a computer. Our measurement method was based on the computer vision algorithms, including image denoising method, monocular range measurement method, scale invariant feature transform (SIFT, and image gray gradient detection method. Using the present instrumentation and method, images in the CC tundish can be collected by camera and transferred to computer to do imaging processing. Experiments showed that our instrumentation and method worked well at scene of steel plants, can accurately measure the thickness of TCF, and overcome the disadvantages of traditional measurement methods, or even replace the traditional ones.

  5. Analysis of differential method for compensating fluctuations in product thickness when radiometric testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pokrovskij, A.V.; Kvasnitsa, M.S.

    1979-01-01

    Given are the estimates of information capabilities of the differential method for measuring radiation flux in radiation defectoscopy as well as efficiency of application of automatic radiation facilities to control taking into account the statistical regularities of product thickness fluctuations. Dependences of signal to noise ratio on the regularities of product thickness fluctuations have been found and optimization, on this basis, of the design and parameters of processing instrumentation was carried out. It is shown, that with 60-80 mm interval of product thickness fluctuations correlation (welded joints) it is expedient to use two radiation beams with their crossing on a mean product plane. When the interval of correlation of thickness fluctuations is great it is effective to use the geometry of radioscopy with parallel radiation beams. This permits to use only one radiation source without significant reducing the compensation efficiency, that in most cases simplifies the development and application of radiometric systems. Thus the efficiency of applying the differential method for radiation beam detection to compensate product thickness fluctuations is primarily determined by statistical regularities of the given fluctuations. The account of the regularities in the development of the processing instrumentation results in the most complete extraction of useful information, containing in the radiation beams being detected

  6. Comparing electron tomography and HRTEM slicing methods as tools to measure the thickness of nanoparticles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alloyeau, D., E-mail: alloyeau.damien@gmail.com [Laboratoire Materiaux et Phenomenes Quantiques, Universite Paris 7/CNRS, UMR 7162, 2 Place Jussieu, 75251 Paris (France); Laboratoire d' Etude des Microstructures - ONERA/CNRS, UMR 104, B.P. 72, 92322 Chatillon (France); Ricolleau, C. [Laboratoire Materiaux et Phenomenes Quantiques, Universite Paris 7/CNRS, UMR 7162, 2 Place Jussieu, 75251 Paris (France); Oikawa, T. [Laboratoire Materiaux et Phenomenes Quantiques, Universite Paris 7/CNRS, UMR 7162, 2 Place Jussieu, 75251 Paris (France); JEOL (Europe) SAS, Espace Claude Monet, 1 Allee de Giverny, 78290 Croissy-sur-Seine (France); Langlois, C. [Laboratoire Materiaux et Phenomenes Quantiques, Universite Paris 7/CNRS, UMR 7162, 2 Place Jussieu, 75251 Paris (France); Le Bouar, Y.; Loiseau, A. [Laboratoire d' Etude des Microstructures - ONERA/CNRS, UMR 104, B.P. 72, 92322 Chatillon (France)

    2009-06-15

    Nanoparticles' morphology is a key parameter in the understanding of their thermodynamical, optical, magnetic and catalytic properties. In general, nanoparticles, observed in transmission electron microscopy (TEM), are viewed in projection so that the determination of their thickness (along the projection direction) with respect to their projected lateral size is highly questionable. To date, the widely used methods to measure nanoparticles thickness in a transmission electron microscope are to use cross-section images or focal series in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging (HRTEM 'slicing'). In this paper, we compare the focal series method with the electron tomography method to show that both techniques yield similar particle thickness in a range of size from 1 to 5 nm, but the electron tomography method provides better statistics since more particles can be analyzed at one time. For this purpose, we have compared, on the same samples, the nanoparticles thickness measurements obtained from focal series with the ones determined from cross-section profiles of tomograms (tomogram slicing) perpendicular to the plane of the substrate supporting the nanoparticles. The methodology is finally applied to the comparison of CoPt nanoparticles annealed ex situ at two different temperatures to illustrate the accuracy of the techniques in detecting small particle thickness changes.

  7. Simulated annealing with restart strategy for the blood pickup routing problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, V. F.; Iswari, T.; Normasari, N. M. E.; Asih, A. M. S.; Ting, H.

    2018-04-01

    This study develops a simulated annealing heuristic with restart strategy (SA_RS) for solving the blood pickup routing problem (BPRP). BPRP minimizes the total length of the routes for blood bag collection between a blood bank and a set of donation sites, each associated with a time window constraint that must be observed. The proposed SA_RS is implemented in C++ and tested on benchmark instances of the vehicle routing problem with time windows to verify its performance. The algorithm is then tested on some newly generated BPRP instances and the results are compared with those obtained by CPLEX. Experimental results show that the proposed SA_RS heuristic effectively solves BPRP.

  8. Axisymmetric buckling analysis of laterally restrained thick annular plates using a hybrid numerical method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Malekzadeh, P. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr 75168 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Center of Excellence for Computational Mechanics, Shiraz University, Shiraz (Iran, Islamic Republic of)], E-mail: malekzadeh@pgu.ac.ir; Ouji, A. [Department of Civil Engineering, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr 75168 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Islamic Azad University, Larestan Branch, Larestan (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2008-11-15

    The buckling analysis of annular thick plates with lateral supports such as two-parameter elastic foundations or ring supports is investigated using an elasticity based hybrid numerical method. For this purpose, firstly, the displacement components are perturbed around the pre-buckling state, which is located using the elasticity theory. Then, by decomposing the plate into a set of sub-domain in the form of co-axial annular plates, the buckling equations are discretized through the radial direction using global interpolation functions in conjunction with the principle of virtual work. The resulting differential equations are solved using the differential quadrature method. The method has the capability of modeling the arbitrary boundary conditions either at the inner and outer edges of thin-to-thick plates and with different types of lateral restraints. The fast rate of convergence of the method is demonstrated and comparison studies are carried out to establish its accuracy and versatility for thin-to-thick plates.

  9. Comparison of different methods for measuring the passive film thickness on metals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benoit, Marie; Bataillon, Christian; Gwinner, Benoit; Miserque, Frédéric; Orazem, Mark E.; Sánchez-Sánchez, Carlos M.; Tribollet, Bernard; Vivier, Vincent

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • In situ EIS and ex situ XPS were used for the characterization of zirconium oxide films. • The film thicknesses can be obtained from the analysis of a single EIS diagram. • A convenient graphical method to extract film properties is proposed. - Abstract: In situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements on electrogenerated zirconium oxide films on zirconium (Zr/ZrO_2) were used to quantify the oxide film thickness and resistivity profiles through the oxide. The EIS analysis presented here takes advantage of the high-frequency domain at which the constant-phase element (CPE) behavior of the oxide film reverts to a capacitive response and the Cole-Cole representations of the complex capacitance to extract the high-frequency capacitance of the oxide film without reference to the nature of the time-constant distribution within the oxide film. The film thickness of the ZrO_2 samples measured from the high-frequency capacitance of EIS were in good agreement with the thickness obtained from XPS. Moreover, the EIS analysis presented is based on the use of the integral solution of the power law model, which allows to obtain in one single EIS experiment, both the film thickness and the resistivity profile in the ZrO_2 film. This work suggests a convenient graphical method to extract film properties and serves to validate a key assumption of the power-law model for interpretation of CPE parameters in terms of physical properties.

  10. Review of Savannah River Site K Reactor inservice inspection and testing restart program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, M.T.; Hartley, R.S.; Kido, C.

    1992-09-01

    Inservice inspection (ISI) and inservice testing (IST) programs are used at commercial nuclear power plants to monitor the pressure boundary integrity and operability of components in important safety-related systems. The Department of Energy (DOE) - Office of Defense Programs (DP) operates a Category A (> 20 MW thermal) production reactor at the Savannah River Site (SRS). This report represents an evaluation of the ISI and IST practices proposed for restart of SRS K Reactor as compared, where applicable, to current ISI/IST activities of commercial nuclear power facilities

  11. Calculation of shielding thickness by combining the LTSN and Decomposition methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borges, Volnei; Vilhena, Marco T. de

    1997-01-01

    A combination of the LTS N and Decomposition methods is reported to shielding thickness calculation. The angular flux is evaluated solving a transport problem in planar geometry considering the S N approximation, anisotropic scattering and one-group of energy. The Laplace transform is applied in the set of S N equations. The transformed angular flux is then obtained solving a transcendental equation and the angular flux is restored by the Heaviside expansion technique. The scalar flux is attained integrating the angular flux by Gaussian quadrature scheme. On the other hand, the scalar flux is linearly related to the dose rate through the mass and energy absorption coefficient. The shielding thickness is obtained solving a transcendental equation resulting from the application of the LTS N approach by the Decomposition methods. Numerical simulations are reported. (author). 6 refs., 3 tabs

  12. Comparison of Measured Residual Stress in an Extra Thick Multi-pass Weld Using Neutron Diffraction Method and Inherent Strain Method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, JeongUng; An, GyuBaek; Woo, Wan Chuck

    2015-01-01

    With the increase of large-scale containership, a large amount of high-strength steels with extra thick plates is being extensively used. The welding stress existing in the extra thick welded plates has a significant effect on the integrity of the component in terms of brittle fracture and fatigue behavior. It has been reported that welding residual stress distribution in an extra thick plate can affect the propagation path of the crack. Therefore, it is important to measure the distribution of welding residual stresses for the reliable design of the welded structures. So far various researches have been carried out for the determination of residual stresses on the surface of steels. In this paper, the total residual stresses in the 70 mm thick multipass FACW butt joint were measured by integrating initial stress into ISM. Concretely, two methods named as initial stress integrated ISM and initial inherent strain integrated ISM were employed to determine the total residual stresses. Furthermore, the distributions of residual stresses were compared with the results of the Neutron Diffraction Method(NDM). In order to measure the three dimensional residual stresses in the welded joint with initial stresses existing before welding, initial stress integrated ISM and initial inherent strain integrated ISM were developed. The residual stresses in 70 mm-thick butt joint by flux cored arc welding were carried out with a good accuracy using the two developed methods. The residual stresses in welded joint using both initial stress integrated ISM and initial inherent strain integrated ISM agreed well with the results measured by Neutron Diffraction Method. This suggests that the integrated ISM is a reliable method for residual stress measurement if initial stress existed

  13. Development of a metrology method for composition and thickness of barium strontium titanate thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Remmel, Thomas; Werho, Dennis; Liu, Ran; Chu, Peir

    1998-01-01

    Thin films of barium strontium titanate (BST) are being investigated as the charge storage dielectric in advanced memory devices, due to their promise for high dielectric constant. Since the capacitance of BST films is a function of both stoichiometry and thickness, implementation into manufacturing requires precise metrology methods to monitor both of these properties. This is no small challenge, considering the BST film thicknesses are 60 nm or less. A metrology method was developed based on X-ray Fluorescence and applied to the measurement of stoichiometry and thickness of BST thin films in a variety of applications

  14. Importance of Entrepreneurs’ Knowledge for Business Restarts of Micro and Small Enterprises

    OpenAIRE

    Ropęga, Jarosław

    2013-01-01

    Przedstawiona publikacja jest poświęcona charakterystyce i znaczeniu restartów jako następstw niepowodzeń gospodarczych. Zjawisko to staje się coraz częściej wymieniane w kategorii badawczej. Jest ona wynikiem dostrzeżenia potrzeby dyskusji nad postawami osób, które po wcześniejszych doświadczeniach zakończonych niepowodzeniem biznesu chcą ponownie rozpocząć nową działalność gospodarczą. W pierwszej części artykułu omówiono pojęcie oraz skalę tego zjawiska, wskazując na jego ...

  15. Manual versus automatic bladder wall thickness measurements: a method comparison study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oelke, M.; Mamoulakis, C.; Ubbink, D.T.; de la Rosette, J.J.; Wijkstra, H.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose To compare repeatability and agreement of conventional ultrasound bladder wall thickness (BWT) measurements with automatically obtained BWT measurements by the BVM 6500 device. Methods Adult patients with lower urinary tract symptoms, urinary incontinence, or postvoid residual urine were

  16. Runge-Kutta methods with minimum storage implementations

    KAUST Repository

    Ketcheson, David I.

    2010-03-01

    Solution of partial differential equations by the method of lines requires the integration of large numbers of ordinary differential equations (ODEs). In such computations, storage requirements are typically one of the main considerations, especially if a high order ODE solver is required. We investigate Runge-Kutta methods that require only two storage locations per ODE. Existing methods of this type require additional memory if an error estimate or the ability to restart a step is required. We present a new, more general class of methods that provide error estimates and/or the ability to restart a step while still employing the minimum possible number of memory registers. Examples of such methods are found to have good properties. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Determination of abdominal fat thickness using dual electrode separation in the focused impedance method (FIM)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Surovy, Nusrat Jahan; Billah, Md Masum; Haowlader, Salahuddin; Al-Quaderi, Golam Dastegir; Rabbani, K Siddique-e

    2012-01-01

    Subcutaneous fat layer thickness in the abdomen is a risk indicator of several diseases and disorders like diabetes and heart problems and could be used as a measure of fitness. Skinfold measurement using mechanical calipers is simple but prone to error. Ultrasound scanning techniques are yet to be established as accurate methods for this purpose. magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans can provide the answer but are expensive and not available widely. Some initiatives were made earlier to use electrical impedance to this end, but had inadequacies. In the first part of this paper, a 4-electrode focused impedance method (FIM) with different electrode separations has been studied for its possible use in the determination of abdominal fat thickness in a localized region. For this, a saline phantom was designed to provide different electrode separations and different layers of resistive materials adjacent to the electrodes. The background saline simulated the internal organs having low impedance while the resistive layers simulated the subcutaneous fat. The plot of the measured impedance with electrode separation had different ‘slopes’ for different thicknesses of resistive layers, which offered a method to obtain an unknown thickness of subcutaneous fat layer. In the second part, measurements were performed on seven human subjects using two electrode separations. Fat layer thickness was measured using mechanical calipers. A plot of the above ‘slope’ against fat thickness could be fitted using a straight line with an R 2 of 0.93. Then this could be used as a calibration curve for the determination of unknown fat thickness. Further work using more accurate CT and MRI measurements would give a better calibration curve for practical use of this non-invasive and low-cost technique in abdominal fat thickness measurement. (paper)

  18. Current status of JMTR for restart

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takemoto, Noriyuki; Kimura, Nobuaki; Ooka, Makoto

    2013-01-01

    After the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake on March 11, 2011, JMTR has been challenging to the inspection of facility equipment, seismic soundness evaluation through earthquake response analysis, repair of facilities, correspondence to the report matters stipulated by laws and regulations, and improvement of irradiation facilities, and based on these, it have formulated the operation schedule from FY2013. In the future, JMTR will explain the soundness of the facilities to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and receive the facility's regular inspection after the completion of piping updating work related to the report matters stipulated by laws and regulations. After obtaining the understanding of local municipalities, it aims to restart the facilities in August 2013. After the reoperation, it will make efforts to safely and stably operate the facilities with a target of the operating rate of world top class. In addition, the following challenges are planned: (1) improvement of the facilities based on external funds for expanding utilization, (2) human resource development in the nuclear field by utilizing JMTR, and (3) development of an advanced monitoring system for improving the safety of nuclear power plants by utilizing the irradiation technology that has been accumulated in JMTR. With the aim for JMTR becoming the international hub, JMTR will continue aggressive activities. (A.O.)

  19. A proposal on restart rule of nuclear power plants with piping having local wall thinning subjected to an earthquake. Former part. Aiming at further application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Urabe, Yoshio

    2011-01-01

    Restart rule of nuclear power plants (NPPs) with piping having local wall thinning subjected to an earthquake was proposed taking account of local wall thinning, seismic effects and restart of NPPs with applicability of 'Guidelines for NPP Response to an Earthquake (EPRI NP-6695)' in Japan. Japan Earthquake Damage Intensity Scale (JEDIS) and Earthquake Ground Motion Level (EGML) were introduced. JEDIS was classified into four scales obtained from damage level of components and structures of NPPs subjected to an earthquake, while EGML was divided into four levels by safe shutdown earthquake ground motion (So), elastic design earthquake ground motion (Sd) and design earthquake ground motion (Ss). Combination of JEDIS and EGML formulated 4 x 4 matrix and determined detailed conditions of restart of NPPs. As a response to an earthquake, operator walk inspections and evaluation of earthquake ground motion were conducted to know the level of JEDIS. JEDIS level requested respective allowable conditions of restart of NPP, which were scale level dependent and consisted of weighted combination of damage inspection (operator walk inspections, focused inspections/tests and expanded inspections), integrity evaluation and repair/replacement. If JEDIS were assigned greater than 3 with expanded inspections, inspection of piping with local wall thinning, its integrity evaluation and repair/replacement if necessary were requested. Inspection and evaluation of piping with local wall thinning was performed based on JSME or ASME codes. Detailed work flow charts were presented. Carbon steel piping and elbow was chosen for evaluation. (T. Tanaka)

  20. A method for quantitative analysis of clump thickness in cervical cytology slides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Yilun; Bradley, Andrew P

    2016-01-01

    Knowledge of the spatial distribution and thickness of cytology specimens is critical to the development of digital slide acquisition techniques that minimise both scan times and image file size. In this paper, we evaluate a novel method to achieve this goal utilising an exhaustive high-resolution scan, an over-complete wavelet transform across multi-focal planes and a clump segmentation of all cellular materials on the slide. The method is demonstrated with a quantitative analysis of ten normal, but difficult to scan Pap stained, Thin-prep, cervical cytology slides. We show that with this method the top and bottom of the specimen can be estimated to an accuracy of 1 μm in 88% and 97% of the fields of view respectively. Overall, cellular material can be over 30 μm thick and the distribution of cells is skewed towards the cover-slip (top of the slide). However, the median clump thickness is 10 μm and only 31% of clumps contain more than three nuclei. Therefore, by finding a focal map of the specimen the number of 1 μm spaced focal planes that are required to be scanned to acquire 95% of the in-focus material can be reduced from 25.4 to 21.4 on average. In addition, we show that by considering the thickness of the specimen, an improved focal map can be produced which further reduces the required number of 1 μm spaced focal planes to 18.6. This has the potential to reduce scan times and raw image data by over 25%. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Restart oversight assessment of Hanford 242-A evaporator: Technical report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lagdon, R.; Lasky, R.

    1994-08-01

    An assessment team from the Office of Environment, Safety and Health (EH), US Department of Energy (DOE), conducted an independent assessment of the 242-A Evaporator at the Hanford Site during January 17--28, 1994. An EH team member remained on-site following the assessment to track corrective actions and resolve prestart findings. The primary objective of this assessment was independent assurance that the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM), the DOE Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL), and Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) can safely restart the evaporator. Another objective of the EH team was to assess EM's Operational Readiness Evaluation (ORE) to determine if the programs, procedures, and management systems implemented for operation of the 241-A Evaporator ensure the protection of worker safety and health. The following section of this report provides background information on the 242-A Evaporator and Operational Readiness Review (ORR) activities conducted to date. The next chapter is divided into sections that address the results of discrete assessment activities. Each section includes a brief statement of conclusions for the functional area in question, descriptions of the review bases and methods, and a detailed discussion of the results. Concerns identified during the assessment are listed for the section to which they apply, and the specific findings upon which the concern is based can be found immediately thereafter

  2. Enhanced spatial resolution in fluorescence molecular tomography using restarted L1-regularized nonlinear conjugate gradient algorithm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Junwei; Liu, Fei; Zhang, Guanglei; Luo, Jianwen; Bai, Jing

    2014-04-01

    Owing to the high degree of scattering of light through tissues, the ill-posedness of fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) inverse problem causes relatively low spatial resolution in the reconstruction results. Unlike L2 regularization, L1 regularization can preserve the details and reduce the noise effectively. Reconstruction is obtained through a restarted L1 regularization-based nonlinear conjugate gradient (re-L1-NCG) algorithm, which has been proven to be able to increase the computational speed with low memory consumption. The algorithm consists of inner and outer iterations. In the inner iteration, L1-NCG is used to obtain the L1-regularized results. In the outer iteration, the restarted strategy is used to increase the convergence speed of L1-NCG. To demonstrate the performance of re-L1-NCG in terms of spatial resolution, simulation and physical phantom studies with fluorescent targets located with different edge-to-edge distances were carried out. The reconstruction results show that the re-L1-NCG algorithm has the ability to resolve targets with an edge-to-edge distance of 0.1 cm at a depth of 1.5 cm, which is a significant improvement for FMT.

  3. Methods for determining the wall thickness variation of tubular heaters used in thermalhydraulic studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cubizolles, G.; Garnier, J.; Groeneveld, D.; Tanase, A.

    2009-01-01

    Fuel bundle simulators used in thermalhydraulic studies typically consist of bundles of directly heated tubes. It is usually assumed that the heater tubes have a uniform circumferential heat flux distribution. In practice, this heat flux distribution is never exactly uniform because of wall thickness variations and bore eccentricity. Ignoring the non-uniformity in wall thickness can lead to under-estimating the local heat transfer coefficients. During nucleate boiling tests in a 5x5 PWR-type bundle subassembly at CEA-Grenoble, a sinusoidal temperature distribution was observed around the inside circumference of the heater rods. These heater rods were equipped with high-accuracy sliding thermocouple probes that permit the detailed measurement of the internal wall temperature distribution, both axially and circumferentially. The sinusoidal temperature distribution strongly suggests a variation in wall thickness. A methodology was subsequently derived to determine the circumferential wall thickness variation. The method is based on the principle that for directly heated fuel-element simulators, the nucleate boiling wall superheat at high pressures is nearly uniform around the heater rod circumference. The results show wall thickness variations of up to ±4% which was confirmed by subsequent ultrasonic wall-thickness measurements performed after bundle disassembly. Non-uniformities in circumferential temperature distributions were also observed during parallel thermalhydraulic tests at the University of Ottawa (UofO) on an electrically heated tube cooled internally by R-134a and equipped with fixed thermocouples on the outside. From the measured wall temperatures and knowledge of the inside heat transfer coefficient or wall temperature distribution, the variations in wall thickness and surface heat flux to the coolant were evaluated by solving conduction equations using three separate sets of data (1) single phase heat transfer data, (2) nucleate boiling data, and (3

  4. Variable scaling method and Stark effect in hydrogen atom

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choudhury, R.K.R.; Ghosh, B.

    1983-09-01

    By relating the Stark effect problem in hydrogen-like atoms to that of the spherical anharmonic oscillator we have found simple formulas for energy eigenvalues for the Stark effect. Matrix elements have been calculated using 0(2,1) algebra technique after Armstrong and then the variable scaling method has been used to find optimal solutions. Our numerical results are compared with those of Hioe and Yoo and also with the results obtained by Lanczos. (author)

  5. Thick-target method in the measurement of inner-shell ionization cross-sections by low-energy electron impact

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    An, Z.; Wu, Y.; Liu, M.T.; Duan, Y.M.; Tang, C.H.

    2006-01-01

    In this paper, we have studied the thick-target method for the measurements of atomic inner-shell ionization cross-section or X-ray production cross-section by keV electron impact. We find that in the processes of electron impact on the thick targets, the ratios of the characteristic X-ray yields of photoelectric ionization by bremsstrahlung to the total characteristic X-ray yields are Z-dependent and shell-dependent, and the ratios also show the weak energy-dependence. In addition, in the lower incident energy region (i.e. U < 5-6), the contribution from the rediffusion effect and the secondary electrons can be negligible. In general, the thick-target method can be appropriately applied to the measurements of atomic inner-shell ionization cross-sections or X-ray production cross-sections by electron impact for low and medium Z elements in the lower incident electron energy (i.e. U < 5-6). The experimental accuracies by the thick-target method can reach to the level equivalent or superior to the accuracies of experimental data based on the thin-target method. This thick-target method has been applied to the measurement of K-shell ionization cross-sections of Ni element by electron impact in this paper

  6. A method for quantitative mapping of thick oil spills using imaging spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Roger N.; Swayze, Gregg A.; Leifer, Ira; Livo, K. Eric; Kokaly, Raymond F.; Hoefen, Todd; Lundeen, Sarah; Eastwood, Michael; Green, Robert O.; Pearson, Neil; Sarture, Charles; McCubbin, Ian; Roberts, Dar; Bradley, Eliza; Steele, Denis; Ryan, Thomas; Dominguez, Roseanne; ,

    2010-01-01

    In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a method of near-infrared imaging spectroscopic analysis was developed to map the locations of thick oil floating on water. Specifically, this method can be used to derive, in each image pixel, the oil-to-water ratio in oil emulsions, the sub-pixel areal fraction, and its thicknesses and volume within the limits of light penetration into the oil (up to a few millimeters). The method uses the shape of near-infrared (NIR) absorption features and the variations in the spectral continuum due to organic compounds found in oil to identify different oil chemistries, including its weathering state and thickness. The method is insensitive to complicating conditions such as moderate aerosol scattering and reflectance level changes from other conditions, including moderate sun glint. Data for this analysis were collected by the NASA Airborne Visual Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) instrument, which was flown over the oil spill on May 17, 2010. Because of the large extent of the spill, AVIRIS flight lines could cover only a portion of the spill on this relatively calm, nearly cloud-free day. Derived lower limits for oil volumes within the top few millimeters of the ocean surface directly probed with the near-infrared light detected in the AVIRIS scenes were 19,000 (conservative assumptions) to 34,000 (aggressive assumptions) barrels of oil. AVIRIS covered about 30 percent of the core spill area, which consisted of emulsion plumes and oil sheens. Areas of oil sheen but lacking oil emulsion plumes outside of the core spill were not evaluated for oil volume in this study. If the core spill areas not covered by flight lines contained similar amounts of oil and oil-water emulsions, then extrapolation to the entire core spill area defined by a MODIS (Terra) image collected on the same day indicates a minimum of 66,000 to 120,000 barrels of oil was floating on the surface. These estimates are preliminary and

  7. Fast parallel MR image reconstruction via B1-based, adaptive restart, iterative soft thresholding algorithms (BARISTA).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muckley, Matthew J; Noll, Douglas C; Fessler, Jeffrey A

    2015-02-01

    Sparsity-promoting regularization is useful for combining compressed sensing assumptions with parallel MRI for reducing scan time while preserving image quality. Variable splitting algorithms are the current state-of-the-art algorithms for SENSE-type MR image reconstruction with sparsity-promoting regularization. These methods are very general and have been observed to work with almost any regularizer; however, the tuning of associated convergence parameters is a commonly-cited hindrance in their adoption. Conversely, majorize-minimize algorithms based on a single Lipschitz constant have been observed to be slow in shift-variant applications such as SENSE-type MR image reconstruction since the associated Lipschitz constants are loose bounds for the shift-variant behavior. This paper bridges the gap between the Lipschitz constant and the shift-variant aspects of SENSE-type MR imaging by introducing majorizing matrices in the range of the regularizer matrix. The proposed majorize-minimize methods (called BARISTA) converge faster than state-of-the-art variable splitting algorithms when combined with momentum acceleration and adaptive momentum restarting. Furthermore, the tuning parameters associated with the proposed methods are unitless convergence tolerances that are easier to choose than the constraint penalty parameters required by variable splitting algorithms.

  8. Analysis and Comparison of Thickness and Bending Measurements from Fabric Touch Tester (FTT and Standard Methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Musa Atiyyah Binti Haji

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Fabric Touch Tester (FTT is a relatively new device from SDL Atlas to determine touch properties of fabrics. It simultaneously measures 13 touch-related fabric physical properties in four modules that include bending and thickness measurements. This study aims to comparatively analyze the thickness and bending measurements made by the FTT and the common standard methods used in the textile industry. The results obtained with the FTT for 11 different fabrics were compared with that of standard methods. Despite the different measurement principle, a good correlation was found between the two methods used for the assessment of thickness and bending. As FTT is a new tool for textile comfort measurement and no standard yet exists, these findings are essential to determine the reliability of the measurements and how they relate to the well-established standard methods.

  9. DMTO – a method for Discrete Material and Thickness Optimization of laminated composite structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Søren Nørgaard; Sørensen, Rene; Lund, Erik

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents a gradient based topology optimization method for Discrete Material and Thickness Optimization of laminated composite structures, labelled the DMTOmethod. The capabilities of the proposed method are demonstrated on mass minimization, subject to constraints on the structural...... criteria; buckling load factors, eigenfrequencies, and limited displacements. Furthermore, common design guidelines or rules, referred to as manufacturing constraints, are included explicitly in the optimization problem as series of linear inequalities. The material selection and thickness variation...... to manufacturability. The results will thus give insight into the relation between potential weight saving and design complexity. The results show that the DMTO method is capable of solving the problems robustly with only few intermediate valued design variables....

  10. Effect of hydraulic retention time on deterioration/restarting of sludge anaerobic digestion: Extracellular polymeric substances and microbial response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Liangliang; An, Xiaoyan; Wang, Sheng; Xue, Chonghua; Jiang, Junqiu; Zhao, Qingliang; Kabutey, Felix Tetteh; Wang, Kun

    2017-11-01

    In this study, the transformation of the sludge-related extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) during mesophilic anaerobic digestion was characterized to assess the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on reactor deterioration/restarting. Experimental HRT variations from 20 to 15 and 10d was implemented for deterioration, and from 10 to 20d for restarting. Long-term digestion at the lowest HRT (10d) resulted in significant accumulation of hydrolyzed hydrophobic materials and volatile fatty acids in the supernatants. Moreover, less efficient hydrolysis of sludge EPS, especially of proteins related substances which contributed to the deterioration of digester. Aceticlastic species of Methanosaetaceae decreased from 36.3% to 27.6% with decreasing HRT (20-10d), while hydrogenotrophic methanogens (Methanomicrobiales and Methanobacteriales) increased from 30.4% to 38.3%. Proteins and soluble microbial byproducts related fluorophores in feed sludge for the anaerobic digester changed insignificantly at high HRT, whereas the fluorescent intensity of fulvic acid-like components declined sharply once the digestion deteriorated. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Evaluation of methods to determine the spectral variations of aerosol optical thickness

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Suresh, T.; Talaulikar, M.; Rodrigues, A.; Desa, E.; Chauhan, P.

    The methods used to derive spectral variations of aerosol optical thickness, AOT are evaluated. For our analysis we have used the AOT measured using a hand held sunphotometer at the coastal station on the west coast of India, Dona-Paula, Goa...

  12. Anticipated transport of Cs-137 from Steel Creek following L-Area restart

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hayes, D.W.

    1982-01-01

    Heat exchanger cooling water, spent fuel storage basin effluents, and process water from P and L-Reactor Areas were discharged to Steel Creek beginning in 1954. Cs-137 was the most significant radionuclide discharged to the environs. Once the Cs-137 was discharged from P and L-Area reactors to Steel Creek, it became associated with silt and clay in the Steel Creek system. After its association with the silt and clay, the Cs-137 becomes part of the sediment transport process and undergoes continual deposition-resuspension in the stream system. This report discusses the expected fate and transport of Cs-137 currently present in the Steel Creek system after L-Reactor restart

  13. Through thickness property variations in a thick plate AA7050 friction stir welded joint

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Canaday, Clinton T.; Moore, Matthew A.; Tang, Wei; Reynolds, A.P.

    2013-01-01

    In this study, moderately thick (32 mm) AA7050 plates were joined by friction stir welding (FSW). Various methods were used to characterize the welded joints, including nugget grain size measurements at different locations through the thickness, micro-hardness indentation through nugget, thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ), and heat affected zone (HAZ) at different cross section heights, and residual stress measurement using the cut compliance method with full thickness and partial thickness specimens. All testing results are consistent with the presence of a strong gradient in peak temperature through the plate thickness during FSW.

  14. Three-dimensional magnetotelluric modeling using SLDM method; Supekutoru bunkai wo fukashita ranchosu process ni motozuku MT ho sanjigen keisan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yamane, K; Takasugi, S [GERD Geothermal Energy Research and Development Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

    1996-10-01

    For 3-D magnetotelluric (MT) modeling, spectral Lanczos decomposition method (SLDM) was applied as high-speed high- accuracy modeling algorithm. SLDM was developed by Druskin to reduce computational time considerably by obtaining responses in the whole frequency domain all at once. The computational time of 3-D modeling was reduced by introducing Maxwell`s equation and Lanczos matrix as transformation matrix. The computation was carried out on the 1km{times}2km{times}2km low resistivity model body of 5 ohm{center_dot}m supposed in the uniform ground of 100 ohm{center_dot}m using 43{times}43{times}31 nodes at 17 frequencies ranging from 0.01Hz to 100Hz. Apparent resistivity at lower frequency decreased with approach to the low resistivity body. The computational time amounted to 6 hours 14 minutes. The 3-D MT modeling using SLDM method was independent of frequency, and its algorithm was superior in computational speed, however, it was inferior in computational time as the number of measuring nodes increased. 2 refs., 3 figs.

  15. A direct recursive residue generation method: application to photoionization of hydrogen in static electric fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karlsson, H.O.; Goscinski, O.

    1994-01-01

    In studies of hydrogenic systems via the recursive residue generation method (RRGM) the major bottleneck is the matrix vector product HC, between the Hamiltonian matrix H and a Lanczos vector C. For highly excited states and/or strong perturbations the size of H grows fast leading to storage problems. By making use of direct methods, i.e. avoidance of explicit construction of large Hamiltonian matrices, such problems can be overcome. Utilizing the underlying analytical properties of the Laguerre basis e -λr L k 2l+2 (2λr) a direct RRGM (D-RRGM) for the unperturbed hydrogenic Hamiltonian is derived, changing the storage needs from scaling as N 2 to 4N where N is the number of radial functions for each factorized H o (l,m) block with the possibility of parallel processing. A further computational simplification is introduced by putting the expression for the photoionization (PI) cross section in the rational form conventionally used in the representation of density of states (DOS). This allows the construction of the PI cross section directly from the tridiagonal Lanczos matrix avoiding the explicit calculation of individual eigen values and eigenvectors. (Author)

  16. Getting to First Flight: Equipping Space Engineers to Break the Start-Stop-Restart Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singer, Christopher E.; Dumbacher, Daniel L.

    2010-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration s (NASA s) history is built on a foundation of can-do strength, while pointing to the Saturn/Apollo Moon missions in the 1960s and 1970s as its apex a sentiment that often overshadows the potential that lies ahead. The chronicle of America s civil space agenda is scattered with programs that got off to good starts with adequate resources and vocal political support but that never made it past a certain milestone review, General Accountability Office report, or Congressional budget appropriation. Over the decades since the fielding of the Space Shuttle in the early 1980s, a start-stop-restart cycle has intervened due to many forces. Despite this impediment, the workforce has delivered engineering feats such as the International Space Station and numerous Shuttle and science missions, which reflect a trend in the early days of the Exploration Age that called for massive infrastructure and matching capital allocations. In the new millennium, the aerospace industry must respond to transforming economic climates, the public will, national agendas, and international possibilities relative to scientific exploration beyond Earth s orbit. Two pressing issues - workforce transition and mission success - are intertwined. As this paper will address, U.S. aerospace must confront related workforce development and industrial base issues head on to take space exploration to the next level. This paper also will formulate specific strategies to equip space engineers to move beyond the seemingly constant start-stop-restart mentality to plan and execute flight projects that actually fly.

  17. Comparative study of the optimal ratio of biogas production from various organic wastes and weeds for digester/restarted digester

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ugochukwu C. Okonkwo

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This study carried out a comparative analysis of the rates of production of biogas from various organic wastes and weeds which enabled the determination of optimal ratio of poultry droppings to domestic wastes. Digester was prepared for the anaerobic fermentation of the domestic wastes and weeds. The gas production did not begin until the 7th day and increased steadily at first, and then increased sharply until it reached its peak on the 18th day before declining. The total gas produced within the 22 days of experimentation was 1771 cm3. The maximum volume of gas amounting to 809 cm3 was produced by the sample containing 50% poultry dropping and 50% weeds. This indicates that this sample possesses the best C/N ratio of all the samples prepared. For restarted digester, gas production began on the 2nd day as against the 7th day with no restarted digester and the gas production peaked earlier. Keywords: Digester, Optimal ratio, Biogas production, Organic wastes, C/N ratio

  18. Behaviors of overlying strata in extra-thick coal seams using top-coal caving method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Yu

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Accidents such as support failure and excessive deformation of roadways due to drastic changes in strata behaviors are frequently reported when mining the extra-thick coal seams Nos. 3–5 in Datong coal mine with top-coal caving method, which significantly hampers the mine's normal production. To understand the mechanism of strata failure, this paper presented a structure evolution model with respect to strata behaviors. Then the behaviors of strata overlying the extra-thick coal seams were studied with the combined method of theoretical analysis, physical simulation, and field measurement. The results show that the key strata, which are usually thick-hard strata, play an important role in overlying movement and may influence the mining-induced strata behaviors in the working face using top-coal caving method. The structural model of far-field key strata presents a “masonry beam” type structure when “horizontal O-X” breakage type happens. The rotational motion of the block imposed radial compressive stress on the surrounding rock mass of the roadway. This can induce excessive deformation of roadway near the goaf. Besides, this paper proposed a pre-control technology for the hard roof based on fracture holes and underground roof pre-splitting. It could effectively reduce stress concentration and release the accumulated energy of the strata, when mining underground coal resources with top-coal caving method.

  19. A Method for Qualitative Mapping of Thick Oil Spills Using Imaging Spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Roger N.; Swayze, Gregg A.; Leifer, Ira; Livo, K. Eric; Lundeen, Sarah; Eastwood, Michael; Green, Robert O.; Kokaly, Raymond F.; Hoefen, Todd; Sarture, Charles; McCubbin, Ian; Roberts, Dar; Steele, Denis; Ryan, Thomas; Dominguez, Roseanne; Pearson, Neil; ,

    2010-01-01

    A method is described to create qualitative images of thick oil in oil spills on water using near-infrared imaging spectroscopy data. The method uses simple 'three-point-band depths' computed for each pixel in an imaging spectrometer image cube using the organic absorption features due to chemical bonds in aliphatic hydrocarbons at 1.2, 1.7, and 2.3 microns. The method is not quantitative because sub-pixel mixing and layering effects are not considered, which are necessary to make a quantitative volume estimate of oil.

  20. Fast Inbound Top-K Query for Random Walk with Restart.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Chao; Jiang, Shan; Chen, Yucheng; Sun, Yidan; Han, Jiawei

    2015-09-01

    Random walk with restart (RWR) is widely recognized as one of the most important node proximity measures for graphs, as it captures the holistic graph structure and is robust to noise in the graph. In this paper, we study a novel query based on the RWR measure, called the inbound top-k (Ink) query. Given a query node q and a number k , the Ink query aims at retrieving k nodes in the graph that have the largest weighted RWR scores to q . Ink queries can be highly useful for various applications such as traffic scheduling, disease treatment, and targeted advertising. Nevertheless, none of the existing RWR computation techniques can accurately and efficiently process the Ink query in large graphs. We propose two algorithms, namely Squeeze and Ripple, both of which can accurately answer the Ink query in a fast and incremental manner. To identify the top- k nodes, Squeeze iteratively performs matrix-vector multiplication and estimates the lower and upper bounds for all the nodes in the graph. Ripple employs a more aggressive strategy by only estimating the RWR scores for the nodes falling in the vicinity of q , the nodes outside the vicinity do not need to be evaluated because their RWR scores are propagated from the boundary of the vicinity and thus upper bounded. Ripple incrementally expands the vicinity until the top- k result set can be obtained. Our extensive experiments on real-life graph data sets show that Ink queries can retrieve interesting results, and the proposed algorithms are orders of magnitude faster than state-of-the-art method.

  1. The application of the barrier-type anodic oxidation method to thickness testing of aluminum films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jianwen; Yao, Manwen; Xiao, Ruihua; Yang, Pengfei; Hu, Baofu; Yao, Xi

    2014-09-01

    The thickness of the active metal oxide film formed from a barrier-type anodizing process is directly proportional to its formation voltage. The thickness of the consumed portion of the metal film is also corresponding to the formation voltage. This principle can be applied to the thickness test of the metal films. If the metal film is growing on a dielectric substrate, when the metal film is exhausted in an anodizing process, because of the high electrical resistance of the formed oxide film, a sudden increase of the recorded voltage during the anodizing process would occur. Then, the thickness of the metal film can be determined from this voltage. As an example, aluminum films are tested and discussed in this work. This method is quite simple and is easy to perform with high precision.

  2. Study on optimizing ultrasonic irradiation period for thick polycrystalline PZT film by hydrothermal method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohta, Kanako; Isobe, Gaku; Bornmann, Peter; Hemsel, Tobias; Morita, Takeshi

    2013-04-01

    The hydrothermal method utilizes a solution-based chemical reaction to synthesize piezoelectric thin films and powders. This method has a number of advantages, such as low-temperature synthesis, and high purity and high quality of the product. In order to promote hydrothermal reactions, we developed an ultrasonic assisted hydrothermal method and confirmed that it produces dense and thick lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) films. In the hydrothermal method, a crystal growth process follows the nucleation process. In this study, we verified that ultrasonic irradiation is effective for the nucleation process, and there is an optimum irradiation period to obtain thicker PZT films. With this optimization, a 9.2-μm-thick PZT polycrystalline film was obtained in a single deposition process. For this film, ultrasonic irradiation was carried out from the beginning of the reaction for 18 h, followed by a 6 h deposition without ultrasonic irradiation. These results indicate that the ultrasonic irradiation mainly promotes the nucleation process. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Accelerating atomistic calculations of quantum energy eigenstates on graphic cards

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodrigues, Walter; Pecchia, A.; Lopez, M.; Auf der Maur, M.; Di Carlo, A.

    2014-10-01

    Electronic properties of nanoscale materials require the calculation of eigenvalues and eigenvectors of large matrices. This bottleneck can be overcome by parallel computing techniques or the introduction of faster algorithms. In this paper we report a custom implementation of the Lanczos algorithm with simple restart, optimized for graphical processing units (GPUs). The whole algorithm has been developed using CUDA and runs entirely on the GPU, with a specialized implementation that spares memory and reduces at most machine-to-device data transfers. Furthermore parallel distribution over several GPUs has been attained using the standard message passing interface (MPI). Benchmark calculations performed on a GaN/AlGaN wurtzite quantum dot with up to 600,000 atoms are presented. The empirical tight-binding (ETB) model with an sp3d5s∗+spin-orbit parametrization has been used to build the system Hamiltonian (H).

  4. Thickness filters for gradient based multi-material and thickness optimization of laminated composite structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Rene; Lund, Erik

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents a new gradient based method for performing discrete material and thickness optimization of laminated composite structures. The novelty in the new method lies in the application of so-called casting constraints, or thickness filters in this context, to control the thickness...... variation throughout the laminate. The filters replace the layerwise density variables with a single continuous through-the-thickness design variable. Consequently, the filters eliminate the need for having explicit constraints for preventing intermediate void through the thickness of the laminate....... Therefore, the filters reduce both the number of constraints and design variables in the optimization problem. Based upon a continuous approximation of a unit step function, the thickness filters are capable of projecting discrete 0/1 values to the underlying layerwise or ”physical” density variables which...

  5. Bruce A units 1 and 2 restart project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Routledge, K.

    2006-01-01

    This presentation provides an overview of the Bruce A Units 1 and 2 Restart project from the vantage point of the Project Management Contractor (PMC). The presentation will highlight the unique structure of the project, which has been designed to maximize project efficiencies while minimizing the impact to the Bruce Power operational reactors. Efficiency improvements covered in the presentation includes: support services provided to the direct work contractors, radiation protection, worker protection, engineering, field execution, maintenance and facilities. The presentation focusses on the roles of the PMC in helping to ensure the successful outcome of this ambitious reactor refurbishment project. In addition, the Construction Island concept that has been implemented on the project will be presented, with some of the innovative thinking that has gone into its creation. The organization of the PMC and an overview of the project schedule is also presented. AMEC NCL is a privately held consultancy in the Canadian nuclear industry which provides experienced and flexible multi-disciplined resources to support full project management, engineering solutions and safety consultancy services throughout the life cycle of nuclear facilities in Canada, and for customers in related markets in North America and overseas. AMEC NCL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMEC plc

  6. Vibrations And Deformations Of Moderately Thick Plates In Stochastic Finite Element Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grzywiński Maksym

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with some chosen aspects of stochastic dynamical analysis of moderately thick plates. The discretization of the governing equations is described by the finite element method. The main aim of the study is to provide the generalized stochastic perturbation technique based on classical Taylor expansion with a single random variable.

  7. A method for thickness determination of thin films of amalgamable metals by total-reflection X-ray fluorescence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bennun, L.; Greaves, E.D.; Barros, H.; Diaz-Valdes, J.

    2009-01-01

    A method for thickness determination of thin amalgamable metallic films by total-reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) is presented. The peak's intensity in TXRF spectra are directly related to the surface density of the sample, i.e. to its thickness in a homogeneous film. Performing a traditional TXRF analysis on a thin film of an amalgamated metal, and determining the relative peak intensity of a specific metal line, the layer thickness can be precisely obtained. In the case of gold thickness determination, mercury and gold peaks overlap, hence we have developed a general data processing scheme to achieve the most precise results.

  8. Antarctic ice sheet thickness estimation using the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio method with single-station seismic ambient noise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Yan

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available We report on a successful application of the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (H / V method, generally used to investigate the subsurface velocity structures of the shallow crust, to estimate the Antarctic ice sheet thickness for the first time. Using three-component, five-day long, seismic ambient noise records gathered from more than 60 temporary seismic stations located on the Antarctic ice sheet, the ice thickness measured at each station has comparable accuracy to the Bedmap2 database. Preliminary analysis revealed that 60 out of 65 seismic stations on the ice sheet obtained clear peak frequencies (f0 related to the ice sheet thickness in the H / V spectrum. Thus, assuming that the isotropic ice layer lies atop a high velocity half-space bedrock, the ice sheet thickness can be calculated by a simple approximation formula. About half of the calculated ice sheet thicknesses were consistent with the Bedmap2 ice thickness values. To further improve the reliability of ice thickness measurements, two-type models were built to fit the observed H / V spectrum through non-linear inversion. The two-type models represent the isotropic structures of single- and two-layer ice sheets, and the latter depicts the non-uniform, layered characteristics of the ice sheet widely distributed in Antarctica. The inversion results suggest that the ice thicknesses derived from the two-layer ice models were in good concurrence with the Bedmap2 ice thickness database, and that ice thickness differences between the two were within 300 m at almost all stations. Our results support previous finding that the Antarctic ice sheet is stratified. Extensive data processing indicates that the time length of seismic ambient noise records can be shortened to two hours for reliable ice sheet thickness estimation using the H / V method. This study extends the application fields of the H / V method and provides an effective and independent way to measure

  9. Implementation plan for the Waste Experimental Reduction Facility Restart Operational Readiness Review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1993-03-01

    The primary technical objective for the WERF Restart Project is to assess, upgrade where necessary, and implement management, documentation, safety, and operation control systems that enable the resumption and continued operation of waste treatment and storage operations in a manner that is compliant with all environment, safety, and quality requirements of the US Department of Energy and Federal and State regulatory agencies. Specific processes that will be resumed at WERF include compaction of low-level compatible waste; size reduction of LLW, metallic and wood waste; incineration of combustible LLW and MLLW; and solidification of low-level and mixed low-level incinerator bottom ash, baghouse fly ash, and compatible sludges and debris. WERF will also provide for the operation of the WWSB which includes storage of MLLW in accordance with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act requirements

  10. Freeze and restart of the DWPF Scale Glass Melter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, A.S.

    1989-01-01

    After over two years of successful demonstration of many design and operating concepts of the DWPF Melter system, the last Scale Glass Melter campaign was initiated on 6/9/88 and consisted of two parts; (1) simulation of noble metal buildup and (2) freeze and subsequent restart of the melter under various scenarios. The objectives were to simulate a prolonged power loss to major heating elements and to examine the characteristics of transient melter operations during a startup with a limited supply of lid heat. Experimental results indicate that in case of a total power loss to the lower electrodes such as due to noble metal deposition, spinel crystals will begin to form in the SRL 165 composite waste glass pool in 24 hours. The total lid heater power required to initiate joule heating was the same as that during slurry-feeding. Results of a radiative heat transfer analysis in the plenum indicate that under the identical operating conditions, the startup capabilities of the SGM and the DWPF Melter are quite similar, despite a greater lid heater to melt surface area ratio in the DWPF Melter

  11. Determination of oxide film thickness on aluminium using 14-MeV neutron activation and BET method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Foerster, H.

    1983-01-01

    A new method is described for the determination of the mean film thickness of aluminium oxides by 14-MeV neutron activation analysis of the oxygen and by BET measurement of the surface area. The mean film thickness obtained is independent of the surface roughness. Stable oxide films consisting of only a few atomic layers of oxygen are detected on aluminium. (author)

  12. Method of working thick beds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giezynski, A; Bialasik, A; Krawiec, A; Wylenzek, A

    1981-12-30

    The patented method of working thick coal beds in layers consists of creating in the collapsed rocks or from the fill material a bearing rock plate by strengthening these rocks with a hardening composition made of wastes of raw material, resin and water injected into the rock through wells. The difference in the suggestion is that through boreholes drilled in the lower part of the rock roofing on a previously calculated network, a solution is regularly injected which consists of dust wastes obtained in electric filters during production of clinker from mineral raw material in a quantity of 60-70% by volume, wastes of open-hearth production in a quantity of 15-20% and natural sand in a quantity of 15-20%, and water in a quantity of 35-55% of the volume of mineral components. In the second variant, the injected compostion contains: wastes from production of clinker 55-57%, open-hearth wastes 20-23%, natural sand 12-14%, asbestos fine particles 7-8% and water 38-45% of the volume of mineral components. In addition, the difference is that in the boreholes drilled in the coal block directly under the roofing, a composition is injected which consists of natural sand and catalyst in the form of powder and individually supplied liquid synthetic resin in a quantity of 3-5% by weight in relation to the sand. The hardening time with normal temperature is 1-1.5 h, after which strength is reached of 80 kg-f/cm/sup 2/.

  13. Thickness optimization of fiber reinforced laminated composites using the discrete material optimization method

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Søren Nørgaard; Lund, Erik

    2012-01-01

    This work concerns a novel large-scale multi-material topology optimization method for simultaneous determination of the optimum variable integer thickness and fiber orientation throughout laminate structures with fixed outer geometries while adhering to certain manufacturing constraints....... The conceptual combinatorial/integer problem is relaxed to a continuous problem and solved on basis of the so-called Discrete Material Optimization method, explicitly including the manufacturing constraints as linear constraints....

  14. New Parallel Algorithms for Structural Analysis and Design of Aerospace Structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Duc T.

    1998-01-01

    Subspace and Lanczos iterations have been developed, well documented, and widely accepted as efficient methods for obtaining p-lowest eigen-pair solutions of large-scale, practical engineering problems. The focus of this paper is to incorporate recent developments in vectorized sparse technologies in conjunction with Subspace and Lanczos iterative algorithms for computational enhancements. Numerical performance, in terms of accuracy and efficiency of the proposed sparse strategies for Subspace and Lanczos algorithm, is demonstrated by solving for the lowest frequencies and mode shapes of structural problems on the IBM-R6000/590 and SunSparc 20 workstations.

  15. Measurement of through-thickness thermal diffusivity of thermoplastics using thermal wave method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, R.; Mellinger, A.

    2015-04-01

    Thermo-physical properties, such as thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and specific heat are important quantities that are needed to interpret and characterize thermoplastic materials. Such characterization is necessary for many applications, ranging from aerospace engineering to food packaging, electrical and electronic industry and medical science. In this work, the thermal diffusivity of commercially available polymeric films is measured in the thickness direction at room temperature using thermal wave method. The results obtained with this method are in good agreement with theoretical and experimental values.

  16. A suggestion of a new method for the calculation of the coating thickness in continuous hot-dip galvanizing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jo, C. M.; Kwon, Y. D.; Kwon, S. B. [Kyungpook National University, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Kim, G. Y. [POSCO Technical Research laboratories, Gumgo-dong (Korea, Republic of)

    2011-11-15

    It is known that the distributions of the impinging pressure gradient and the shear stress at the strip surface play a decisive key role in the decision of the coating thickness in hot-dip galvanizing. So, to predict the exact coating thickness, it is essential that the distributions of the impinging wall jet pressure and the shear stress acting between the liquid film and jet stream are measured (or calculated) exactly for each specific coating condition. So far, to obtain the impinging wall jet pressure, it was assumed that the jet issuing from an air-knife is similar to the Hiemenz plane stagnation flow, and the wall shear stress could be predicted by an equation using the assumption of a non-negative Gaussian profile in impinging wall jet pressure in general, so that it cannot be reliable for some impinging wall jet regions and nozzle systems intrinsically. Nevertheless, one cannot find a suitable method to cope with the difficulties in measuring/calculating of the shear stress and the impinging wall jet pressure. Such a difficulty which will cause an inaccuracy in the coating thickness prediction. With these connections, in the present study, we suggest a new method named as a two-step calculation method to calculate the final coating thickness, which consists of the air jet analysis and coating thickness calculation. And, from the comparison of the results one may confirm the validation of the new suggested method.

  17. Thickness measurement by using cepstrum ultrasonic signal processing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Young Chul; Yoon, Chan Hoon; Choi, Heui Joo; Park, Jong Sun

    2014-01-01

    Ultrasonic thickness measurement is a non-destructive method to measure the local thickness of a solid element, based on the time taken for an ultrasound wave to return to the surface. When an element is very thin, it is difficult to measure thickness with the conventional ultrasonic thickness method. This is because the method measures the time delay by using the peak of a pulse, and the pulses overlap. To solve this problem, we propose a method for measuring thickness by using the power cepstrum and the minimum variance cepstrum. Because the cepstrums processing can divides the ultrasound into an impulse train and transfer function, where the period of the impulse train is the traversal time, the thickness can be measured exactly. To verify the proposed method, we performed experiments with steel and, acrylic plates of variable thickness. The conventional method is not able to estimate the thickness, because of the overlapping pulses. However, the cepstrum ultrasonic signal processing that divides a pulse into an impulse and a transfer function can measure the thickness exactly.

  18. Development of nondestructive hybrid measuring method for three-dimensional residual stress distribution of thick welded joint. Hybrid measuring method of inherent strain method and neutron diffraction method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakacho, Keiji; Kasahara, Norifumi; Tamura, Ryota

    2012-01-01

    The measuring methods of the residual stress are classified into destructive one and nondestructive one. The inherent strain method (ISM) is destructive one. The neutron diffraction method (NDM) is nondestructive one. But the measurable depth is limited within about 20 mm and the method cannot measure the weld zone, without destruction of the object. So, in this study, the hybrid measuring method has been developed, by combining the ISM and the NDM. The theory of the hybrid method is the same as the ISM. In the analysis, the strains measured by the NDM without destruction are used. This hybrid measuring method is a true nondestructive measuring method for a thick welded joint. The applicability of the hybrid method has been verified by simulation, using a butt welded joint of thick pipes. In the simulation, the reliable order of the strains measured by the present NDM is very important, and was considered as 10 micro. The measurable regions by the present NDM were assumed. Under the above conditions, the data (the residual elastic strains assumed to be measured by the NDM) were made, and used in the ISM. As a result of such simulation, it has been cleared that the estimated residual stress has very high accuracy, if enough data are used. The required number of data is less than the ISM. (author)

  19. Europe faces up to NSP restart and two new crackers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roberts, M.

    1993-01-01

    European cracker operators are hurting-most have not been covering cash costs for the past six months-and they are determined to ease the pain by boosting prices. But since olefins demand remains weak, price gains will have to come via lower production. That appears to be difficult, given the startup of two new world-scale crackers-BP Chemicals (London) 350,000-m.t./year expansion at Grangemouth, UK and EniChem's (Milan) 360,000-m.t./year plant at Brindisi, Italy - and the restart of North Sea Petrochemical's (NSP; Antwerp) 250,000-m.t./year propane dehydrogenation unit. Although the two new crackers have the potential to boost Europe's net olefins output by 4% in 1993, to 18.5 million m.t./year, according to Trichem Consultants (London), the increase will be smaller because EniChem and BP will reduce capacity at other plants as the new units come onstream. EniChem says that the startup of Brindisi will not have an effect on the market. We will not allow the startup to further depress prices

  20. Latest news from the YETS: all restarting except the LHC

    CERN Multimedia

    Antonella Del Rosso

    2016-01-01

    With the closure of the SPS at 3 p.m. on Friday, 19 February, maintenance work is now ongoing only at the LHC. All activities are on track for a smooth restart in a few weeks’ time.   At the LHC, all general maintenance activities are proceeding well and according to schedule. In particular, the electrical tests on the general emergency stops have been completed, while the cooling and ventilation maintenance, including leak repairs at various points, will be completed by the end of this week for the whole machine. By the end of next week, the teams will also have completed the bakeout and commissioning of all the collimators, while the installation of coaxial cable for clock distribution for CMS TOTEM has been postponed to the Extended Year-End Technical Stop (EYETS), scheduled to start in December. Following a recent decision, additional electrical tests of the circuits (ELQA and energy extraction insulation tests) for the whole machine have been added to the schedule. The SPS is currentl...

  1. Rapid Measurement of Nanoparticle Thickness Profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katz-Boon, Hadas; Rossouw, Chris J.; Dwyer, Christian; Etheridge, Joanne

    2013-01-01

    A method to measure the thickness of a single-crystal nanoparticle in the direction parallel to the incident beam from annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscope (ADF-STEM) images is reported, providing a map of thickness versus position across the nanoparticle—a ‘thickness profile’ image. The method is rapid and hence suitable for surveying large numbers of nanoparticles. The method measures the intensity scattered to a characterised ADF detector and compares this to the incident beam intensity, to obtain a normalized ADF image. The normalised intensity is then converted to thickness via dynamical ADF image simulations. The method is accurate within 10% and the precision is dominated primarily by ‘shot noise’. Merits and limitations of this method are discussed. A method to calibrate the response function of the ADF detector without external equipment is also described, which is applicable to the entire range of gain and background settings. -- Highlights: ► A method is developed to convert ADF-STEM images to ‘thickness profile’ images. ► It is applicable in particles survey, facets determination and discrete tomography. ► A method to calibrate the response of the ADF detector is described. ► The response in analysed across a range of conditions. ► Dynamical ADF image simulations are presented, demonstrating intensity vs. thickness dependence.

  2. Restart 2.0 of substrategic nuclear weapon disarmament? Negotiation approaches and models; Neustart 2.0 zur Abruestung substrategischer Nuklearwaffen? Verhandlungsansaetze und -modelle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Paul, Michael

    2011-05-15

    The author discusses the following topics with respect a possible restart of nuclear disarmament negotiations: nuclear disarmament versus nuclear deterrence; substrategic nuclear weapons; initial positions for the negotiations (American position, Russian position, German position); strategic and substrategic nuclear weapon disarmament (including the questions of transparency and verification); imponderables.

  3. SP-100 initial startup and restart control strategy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Halfen, F.J.; Wong, K.K.; Switick, D.M.; Shukla, J.N.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports that recent Generic Flight System (GFS) updates have necessitated revisions in the initial startup and restart control strategies. The design changes that have had the most impact on the control strategies are the addition of the Auxiliary Cooling and Thaw (ACT) system for preheating the lithium filled components, changes in the reactivity worths of the reflectors and safety-rods such that initial cold criticality is achieved with only a small amount of reflector movement following the withdrawal of the safety-rods, and the removal of the scram function from the reflectors. Revised control and operating strategies have been developed and tested using the SP-100 dynamic simulation model, ARIES-GFS. The change in the total reactivity worths of the reflectors and safety-rods has eliminated the need for the use of fast and slow reflector drive speeds during the initial on-orbit approach to criticality. The relatively fast removal of the safety-rods results in a near-critical condition so that the use of slow moving (single speed) reflector drives does not add significant time to achieve full power for the initial startup. The use of the ACT system (with its NaK trace-lines for preheating and auxiliary cooling) affects the main Thermoelectric Electro-Magnetic (TEM) pump startup and the time after a shutdown before freezing occurs in the main heat transfer systems

  4. HFBR restart activity A2.6: Review of FSAR and 60 MW addendum to assure consistency of operation at 40 MW

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rao, D.V.; Ross, S.B.; Darby, J.L.; Clark, R.A.

    1990-01-01

    The purpose of this task (HFBR Restart Activity A2.6) is to perform a review of the design basis accident (DBA) analyses sections of the 1964 HFBR-Final Safety Analysis Report; Volumes I and II, and the 1982 Addendum to the HFBR-FSAR for 60 MW operation to assure that operation at 40 MW will be consistent with these analyses. Additional documents utilized in the review included the Level 1 PRA for HFBR, HFBR-PDMs and HFBR-OPMs. The review indicates that the 1964 FSAR-DBA analysis in incomplete in the sense that it did not analyze some of the important initiators for 1-loop operation that include: Accidental throttling of primary flow control valves; seizure of primary pump; loss of secondary pump; accidental throttling of secondary flow control valves; rupture of secondary piping. The first three initiators were later studied in the 1982 addendum. The other two initiators have not been examined to-date for 1-loop operation. It is recommended that the impact of these initiators be assessed prior to the restart, if 1-loop operation is chosen for the restart. The review demonstrated that at 40 MW operation there are only a few accident initiators that will culminate in core damage (fuel melting and /or cladding failure) regardless of the availability of mitigating systems. For 1-loop Operation these accidents include: Fuel channel blockage, primary pump seizure, and large-large LOCA (a LOCA with effective break diameter > 2.81 in. is referred to as a large-large LOCA in this document as well as in PRA). Although all these accidents listed above could lead to core damage for 1-loop operation as well, the probability is expected be very low

  5. Asynchronous Checkpoint Migration with MRNet in the Scalable Checkpoint / Restart Library

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mohror, K; Moody, A; de Supinski, B R

    2012-03-20

    Applications running on today's supercomputers tolerate failures by periodically saving their state in checkpoint files on stable storage, such as a parallel file system. Although this approach is simple, the overhead of writing the checkpoints can be prohibitive, especially for large-scale jobs. In this paper, we present initial results of an enhancement to our Scalable Checkpoint/Restart Library (SCR). We employ MRNet, a tree-based overlay network library, to transfer checkpoints from the compute nodes to the parallel file system asynchronously. This enhancement increases application efficiency by removing the need for an application to block while checkpoints are transferred to the parallel file system. We show that the integration of SCR with MRNet can reduce the time spent in I/O operations by as much as 15x. However, our experiments exposed new scalability issues with our initial implementation. We discuss the sources of the scalability problems and our plans to address them.

  6. Method and apparatus for ultrasonic characterization through the thickness direction of a moving web

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Theodore; Hall, Maclin S.

    2001-01-01

    A method and apparatus for determining the caliper and/or the ultrasonic transit time through the thickness direction of a moving web of material using ultrasonic pulses generated by a rotatable wheel ultrasound apparatus. The apparatus includes a first liquid-filled tire and either a second liquid-filled tire forming a nip or a rotatable cylinder that supports a thin moving web of material such as a moving web of paper and forms a nip with the first liquid-filled tire. The components of ultrasonic transit time through the tires and fluid held within the tires may be resolved and separately employed to determine the separate contributions of the two tire thicknesses and the two fluid paths to the total path length that lies between two ultrasonic transducer surfaces contained within the tires in support of caliper measurements. The present invention provides the benefit of obtaining a transit time and caliper measurement at any point in time as a specimen passes through the nip of rotating tires and eliminates inaccuracies arising from nonuniform tire circumferential thickness by accurately retaining point-to-point specimen transit time and caliper variation information, rather than an average obtained through one or more tire rotations. Morever, ultrasonic transit time through the thickness direction of a moving web may be determined independent of small variations in the wheel axle spacing, tire thickness, and liquid and tire temperatures.

  7. Investigation of cooling methods and thickness considerations in the filter/window assembly for synchrotron radiation beamlines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Z.; Kuzay, T.M.; Hahn, U.

    1993-01-01

    Synchrotron x-ray windows are vacuum separators and are usually made of thin beryllium metal. Filters are provided upstream to absorb the soft x-rays so that the window can be protected from overheating, which could result in failure. The filters are made of thin carbon products or sometimes beryllium, the same material as the window. When the synchrotron x-rays pass through a filter or window, part of the photons will be absorbed by the filter or window. The absorbed photons cause heat to build up within the filter or window. Successful filter and window designs should effectively dissipate the heat generated by the absorbed photons and guarantee the safety of the filter and window. The cooling methods typically used in a filter or window design are conduction and radiation cooling or a combination of the two. The different cooling methods were first examined with regard to efficiency and effectiveness in different temperature ranges. Analysis results are presented for temperature distribution and corresponding thermal stresses in the filter and window. Another important issue to be resolved in designing a filter/window assembly is how to select the thickness of the filters and windows. This paper focuses on the criteria for choosing the thickness of a filter: whether it is better to use a few thick filters or a series of thin ones; how to determine the minimum/maximum thickness; and the difference in thickness considerations for the window versus the filter. Numerical investigations are presented

  8. Radioisotope albedo method for measuring thickness of polymers coatings on metal basis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kapranov, B.I.; Myakin'kova, L.V.; Shaverin, V.A.

    1986-01-01

    Theoretical analysis of albedo thickness measuring of polymer coating-metal composite has been made and experimental studies of the range of tested thicknesses of polymer coating when different metal bases and radiation sources are used have been conducted. It is shown that the thickness of polymer coating on metal can be measured using backscattered γ-radiation in the energy range of 20-120 keV at the error 0.15-0.8 mm, at that, for thickness up to 23 mm the use of 147 Pm isotope can be defined as the optimum one; for thicknesses up to 40 mm 241 Am should be used; at thicknesses up to 60 mm - 57 Co. The AGAT-1 albedo gamma thickness gage, designed for measuring thickness of fiber glass coating up to 20 mm on metal base, is described

  9. An analysis of the joints’ properties of thick-grained steel welded by the SAW and ESW methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krawczyk R.

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The article presents an analysis of properties of welded joints of thick-grained steel of P460NH type used more and more often in the modern constructions. A process of examining a technology of welding has been carried out on the thick-walled butt joints of sheet metal by two methods of welding namely submerged arc welding (SAW - 121 and electroslag (ESW - 722. The article deals with a topic of optimizing a process of welding thick-walled welded joints of fine-grained steel due to their mechanical properties and efficiency.

  10. EvArnoldi: A New Algorithm for Large-Scale Eigenvalue Problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tal-Ezer, Hillel

    2016-05-19

    Eigenvalues and eigenvectors are an essential theme in numerical linear algebra. Their study is mainly motivated by their high importance in a wide range of applications. Knowledge of eigenvalues is essential in quantum molecular science. Solutions of the Schrödinger equation for the electrons composing the molecule are the basis of electronic structure theory. Electronic eigenvalues compose the potential energy surfaces for nuclear motion. The eigenvectors allow calculation of diople transition matrix elements, the core of spectroscopy. The vibrational dynamics molecule also requires knowledge of the eigenvalues of the vibrational Hamiltonian. Typically in these problems, the dimension of Hilbert space is huge. Practically, only a small subset of eigenvalues is required. In this paper, we present a highly efficient algorithm, named EvArnoldi, for solving the large-scale eigenvalues problem. The algorithm, in its basic formulation, is mathematically equivalent to ARPACK ( Sorensen , D. C. Implicitly Restarted Arnoldi/Lanczos Methods for Large Scale Eigenvalue Calculations ; Springer , 1997 ; Lehoucq , R. B. ; Sorensen , D. C. SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications 1996 , 17 , 789 ; Calvetti , D. ; Reichel , L. ; Sorensen , D. C. Electronic Transactions on Numerical Analysis 1994 , 2 , 21 ) (or Eigs of Matlab) but significantly simpler.

  11. Elastic Stress Analysis of Rotating Functionally Graded Annular Disk of Variable Thickness Using Finite Difference Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Hadi Jalali

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Elastic stress analysis of rotating variable thickness annular disk made of functionally graded material (FGM is presented. Elasticity modulus, density, and thickness of the disk are assumed to vary radially according to a power-law function. Radial stress, circumferential stress, and radial deformation of the rotating FG annular disk of variable thickness with clamped-clamped (C-C, clamped-free (C-F, and free-free (F-F boundary conditions are obtained using the numerical finite difference method, and the effects of the graded index, thickness variation, and rotating speed on the stresses and deformation are evaluated. It is shown that using FG material could decrease the value of radial stress and increase the radial displacement in a rotating thin disk. It is also demonstrated that increasing the rotating speed can strongly increase the stress in the FG annular disk.

  12. A Simple Transmission Electron Microscopy Method for Fast Thickness Characterization of Suspended Graphene and Graphite Flakes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubino, Stefano; Akhtar, Sultan; Leifer, Klaus

    2016-02-01

    We present a simple, fast method for thickness characterization of suspended graphene/graphite flakes that is based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We derive an analytical expression for the intensity of the transmitted electron beam I 0(t), as a function of the specimen thickness t (tgraphite). We show that in thin graphite crystals the transmitted intensity is a linear function of t. Furthermore, high-resolution (HR) TEM simulations are performed to obtain λ for a 001 zone axis orientation, in a two-beam case and in a low symmetry orientation. Subsequently, HR (used to determine t) and bright-field (to measure I 0(0) and I 0(t)) images were acquired to experimentally determine λ. The experimental value measured in low symmetry orientation matches the calculated value (i.e., λ=225±9 nm). The simulations also show that the linear approximation is valid up to a sample thickness of 3-4 nm regardless of the orientation and up to several ten nanometers for a low symmetry orientation. When compared with standard techniques for thickness determination of graphene/graphite, the method we propose has the advantage of being simple and fast, requiring only the acquisition of bright-field images.

  13. Efficient L1 regularization-based reconstruction for fluorescent molecular tomography using restarted nonlinear conjugate gradient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Junwei; Zhang, Bin; Liu, Fei; Luo, Jianwen; Bai, Jing

    2013-09-15

    For the ill-posed fluorescent molecular tomography (FMT) inverse problem, the L1 regularization can protect the high-frequency information like edges while effectively reduce the image noise. However, the state-of-the-art L1 regularization-based algorithms for FMT reconstruction are expensive in memory, especially for large-scale problems. An efficient L1 regularization-based reconstruction algorithm based on nonlinear conjugate gradient with restarted strategy is proposed to increase the computational speed with low memory consumption. The reconstruction results from phantom experiments demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can obtain high spatial resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio, as well as high localization accuracy for fluorescence targets.

  14. Regression Methods for Virtual Metrology of Layer Thickness in Chemical Vapor Deposition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Purwins, Hendrik; Barak, Bernd; Nagi, Ahmed

    2014-01-01

    The quality of wafer production in semiconductor manufacturing cannot always be monitored by a costly physical measurement. Instead of measuring a quantity directly, it can be predicted by a regression method (Virtual Metrology). In this paper, a survey on regression methods is given to predict...... average Silicon Nitride cap layer thickness for the Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) dual-layer metal passivation stack process. Process and production equipment Fault Detection and Classification (FDC) data are used as predictor variables. Various variable sets are compared: one most...... algorithm, and Support Vector Regression (SVR). On a test set, SVR outperforms the other methods by a large margin, being more robust towards changes in the production conditions. The method performs better on high-dimensional multivariate input data than on the most predictive variables alone. Process...

  15. Choroidal thickness in Malaysian eyes with full-thickness macular holes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chew Y Tan

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available AIM: To compare choroidal thickness at the macula in eyes with unilateral idiopathic full-thickness macular holes(FTMHwith that of unaffected fellow eyes, and eyes of normal control patients.METHODS: Cross-sectional study. Thirty patients with unilateral idiopathic FTMH and thirty age, sex, and race-matched controls were recruited. Axial lengths were measured using laser interferometry. Enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography images were obtained using Heidelberg spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Choroidal thickness was measured at the fovea, and at 1 mm and 2 mm nasally, temporally, superiorly and inferiorly from the center of the fovea. Statistical analysis was performed using independent and paired t-tests, chi-square tests, and Pearson correlation tests(PRESULTS: The mean subfoveal choroidal thickness was 201.0±44.0 μm in the FTMH group, 225.3±51.4 μm in the fellow eye group and 262.3±70.3 μm in the control group. The choroid was thinner in FTMH eyes at all locations when compared to control eyes(PPP>0.05. Choroidal thickness was generally highest subfoveally and lowest nasally. Subfoveal choroidal thickness was negatively correlated with age(r=-0.278, P=0.032, and axial length(r=-0.328, P=0.011.CONCLUSION: Choroidal thickness is lower in both eyes of patients with unilateral FTMH compared to healthy control eyes.

  16. A new method to determine the skin thickness of asymmetric UF-membranes using colloidal gold particles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cuperus, Folkert Petrus; Bargeman, Derk; Smolders, C.A.

    1990-01-01

    In this paper a new method is presented for the determination of the skin thickness of asymmetric ultrafiltration membranes. The method is based on the use of well-defined, uniformly sized colloidal gold particles, permeated from the sublayer side of the membrane, combined with electron microscopic

  17. Development of liquid film thickness measurement technique by high-density multipoint electrodes method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arai, Takahiro; Furuya, Masahiro; Kanai, Taizo

    2010-01-01

    High-density multipoint electrode method was developed to measure a liquid film thickness transient on a curved surface. The devised method allows us to measure spatial distribution of liquid film with its conductance between electrodes. The sensor was designed and fabricated as a multilayer print circuit board, where electrode pairs were distributed in reticular pattern with narrow interval. In order to measure a lot of electrode pairs at a high sampling rate, signal-processing method used by the wire mesh sensor measurement system was applied. An electrochemical impedance spectrometry concludes that the sampling rate of 1000 slices/s is feasible without signal distortion by electric double layer. The method was validated with two experimental campaigns: (1) a droplet impingement on a flat film and (2) a jet impingement on a rod-shape sensor surface. In the former experiment, a water droplet having 4 mm in diameter impinged onto the 1 mm thick film layer. A visual observation study with high-speed video camera shows after the liquid impingement, the water layer thinning process was clearly demonstrated with the sensor. For the latter experiment, the flexible circuit board was bended to form a cylindrical shape to measure water film on a simulated fuel rod in bundle geometry. A water jet having 3 mm in diameter impinged onto the rod-shape sensor surface. The process of wetting area enlargement on the rod surface was demonstrated in the same manner that the video-frames showed. (author)

  18. An exact variational method to calculate rovibrational spectra of polyatomic molecules with large amplitude motion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, Hua-Gen, E-mail: hgy@bnl.gov [Division of Chemistry, Department of Energy and Photon Sciences, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973-5000 (United States)

    2016-08-28

    We report a new full-dimensional variational algorithm to calculate rovibrational spectra of polyatomic molecules using an exact quantum mechanical Hamiltonian. The rovibrational Hamiltonian of system is derived in a set of orthogonal polyspherical coordinates in the body-fixed frame. It is expressed in an explicitly Hermitian form. The Hamiltonian has a universal formulation regardless of the choice of orthogonal polyspherical coordinates and the number of atoms in molecule, which is suitable for developing a general program to study the spectra of many polyatomic systems. An efficient coupled-state approach is also proposed to solve the eigenvalue problem of the Hamiltonian using a multi-layer Lanczos iterative diagonalization approach via a set of direct product basis set in three coordinate groups: radial coordinates, angular variables, and overall rotational angles. A simple set of symmetric top rotational functions is used for the overall rotation whereas a potential-optimized discrete variable representation method is employed in radial coordinates. A set of contracted vibrationally diabatic basis functions is adopted in internal angular variables. Those diabatic functions are first computed using a neural network iterative diagonalization method based on a reduced-dimension Hamiltonian but only once. The final rovibrational energies are computed using a modified Lanczos method for a given total angular momentum J, which is usually fast. Two numerical applications to CH{sub 4} and H{sub 2}CO are given, together with a comparison with previous results.

  19. Technical Note: Cortical thickness and density estimation from clinical CT using a prior thickness-density relationship

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Humbert, Ludovic, E-mail: ludohumberto@gmail.com [Galgo Medical, Barcelona 08036 (Spain); Hazrati Marangalou, Javad; Rietbergen, Bert van [Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven 5600 MB (Netherlands); Río Barquero, Luis Miguel del [CETIR Centre Medic, Barcelona 08029 (Spain); Lenthe, G. Harry van [Biomechanics Section, KU Leuven–University of Leuven, Leuven 3001 (Belgium)

    2016-04-15

    Purpose: Cortical thickness and density are critical components in determining the strength of bony structures. Computed tomography (CT) is one possible modality for analyzing the cortex in 3D. In this paper, a model-based approach for measuring the cortical bone thickness and density from clinical CT images is proposed. Methods: Density variations across the cortex were modeled as a function of the cortical thickness and density, location of the cortex, density of surrounding tissues, and imaging blur. High resolution micro-CT data of cadaver proximal femurs were analyzed to determine a relationship between cortical thickness and density. This thickness-density relationship was used as prior information to be incorporated in the model to obtain accurate measurements of cortical thickness and density from clinical CT volumes. The method was validated using micro-CT scans of 23 cadaver proximal femurs. Simulated clinical CT images with different voxel sizes were generated from the micro-CT data. Cortical thickness and density were estimated from the simulated images using the proposed method and compared with measurements obtained using the micro-CT images to evaluate the effect of voxel size on the accuracy of the method. Then, 19 of the 23 specimens were imaged using a clinical CT scanner. Cortical thickness and density were estimated from the clinical CT images using the proposed method and compared with the micro-CT measurements. Finally, a case-control study including 20 patients with osteoporosis and 20 age-matched controls with normal bone density was performed to evaluate the proposed method in a clinical context. Results: Cortical thickness (density) estimation errors were 0.07 ± 0.19 mm (−18 ± 92 mg/cm{sup 3}) using the simulated clinical CT volumes with the smallest voxel size (0.33 × 0.33 × 0.5 mm{sup 3}), and 0.10 ± 0.24 mm (−10 ± 115 mg/cm{sup 3}) using the volumes with the largest voxel size (1.0 × 1.0 × 3.0 mm{sup 3}). A trend for the

  20. Technical Note: Cortical thickness and density estimation from clinical CT using a prior thickness-density relationship

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Humbert, Ludovic; Hazrati Marangalou, Javad; Rietbergen, Bert van; Río Barquero, Luis Miguel del; Lenthe, G. Harry van

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Cortical thickness and density are critical components in determining the strength of bony structures. Computed tomography (CT) is one possible modality for analyzing the cortex in 3D. In this paper, a model-based approach for measuring the cortical bone thickness and density from clinical CT images is proposed. Methods: Density variations across the cortex were modeled as a function of the cortical thickness and density, location of the cortex, density of surrounding tissues, and imaging blur. High resolution micro-CT data of cadaver proximal femurs were analyzed to determine a relationship between cortical thickness and density. This thickness-density relationship was used as prior information to be incorporated in the model to obtain accurate measurements of cortical thickness and density from clinical CT volumes. The method was validated using micro-CT scans of 23 cadaver proximal femurs. Simulated clinical CT images with different voxel sizes were generated from the micro-CT data. Cortical thickness and density were estimated from the simulated images using the proposed method and compared with measurements obtained using the micro-CT images to evaluate the effect of voxel size on the accuracy of the method. Then, 19 of the 23 specimens were imaged using a clinical CT scanner. Cortical thickness and density were estimated from the clinical CT images using the proposed method and compared with the micro-CT measurements. Finally, a case-control study including 20 patients with osteoporosis and 20 age-matched controls with normal bone density was performed to evaluate the proposed method in a clinical context. Results: Cortical thickness (density) estimation errors were 0.07 ± 0.19 mm (−18 ± 92 mg/cm"3) using the simulated clinical CT volumes with the smallest voxel size (0.33 × 0.33 × 0.5 mm"3), and 0.10 ± 0.24 mm (−10 ± 115 mg/cm"3) using the volumes with the largest voxel size (1.0 × 1.0 × 3.0 mm"3). A trend for the cortical thickness and

  1. Evaluation of the Steel Creek ecosystem in relation to the proposed restart of L reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, M.H.; Sharitz, R.R.; Gladden, J.B.

    1981-10-01

    Information is presented on the following subjects: habitat and vegetation, the avifauna, semi-aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates, and aquatic communities of Steel Creek, species of special concern, and radiocesium in Steel Creek. Two main goals of the study were the compilation of a current inventory of the flora and fauna of the Steel Creek ecosystem and an assessment of the probable impacts of radionuclides, primarily 137 Cs, that were released into Steel Creek during earlier reactor operations. Although a thorough evaluation of the impacts of the L reactor restart is impossible at this time, it is concluded that the effects on the Steel Creek ecosystem will be substantial if no mitigative measures are taken

  2. Parallelization of mathematical library for generalized eigenvalue problem for real band matrices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanaka, Yasuhisa.

    1997-05-01

    This research has focused on a parallelization of the mathematical library for a generalized eigenvalue problem for real band matrices on IBM SP and Hitachi SR2201. The origin of the library is LASO (Lanczos Algorithm with Selective Orthogonalization), which was developed on the basis of Block Lanczos method for standard eigenvalue problem for real band matrices at Texas University. We adopted D.O.F. (Degree Of Freedom) decomposition method for a parallelization of this library, and evaluated its parallel performance. (author)

  3. Abdominal fat thickness measurement using Focused Impedance Method (FIM) - phantom study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haowlader, Salahuddin; Baig, Tanveer Noor; Siddique-e Rabbani, K.

    2010-04-01

    Abdominal fat thickness is a risk indicator of heart diseases, diabetes, etc., and its measurement is therefore important from the point of view of preventive care. Tetrapolar electrical impedance measurements (TPIM) could offer a simple and low cost alternative for such measurement compared to conventional techniques using CT scan and MRI, and has been tried by different groups. Focused Impedance Method (FIM) appears attractive as it can give localised information. An intuitive physical model was developed and experimental work was performed on a phantom designed to simulate abdominal subcutaneous fat layer in a body. TPIM measurements were performed with varying electrode separations. For small separations of current and potential electrodes, the measured impedance changed little, but started to decrease sharply beyond a certain separation, eventually diminishing gradually to negligible values. The finding could be explained using the intuitive physical model and gives an important practical information. TPIM and FIM may be useful for measurement of SFL thickness only if the electrode separations are within a certain specific range, and will fail to give reliable results if beyond this range. Further work, both analytical and experimental, are needed to establish this technique on a sound footing.

  4. NDE of stresses in thick-walled components by ultrasonic methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goebbels, K.; Pitsch, H.; Schneider, E.; Nowack, H.

    1985-01-01

    The possibilty of measuring stresses - especially residual stresses - by ultrasonic methods has been presented at the 4th and 5th International Conference on NDE in Nuclear Industry. This contribution now presents results of several applications to thick walled components such as turbines and generators for power plants. The measurement technique using linearly polarized shear waves allows one to characterize the homogeneitry of the residual stress situation along and around cylindrically shaped components. Some important results show that the stress distribution integrated over the cross section of the component has not followed in any case the simple relations derived by stress analysts. Conclusions referring to the stress situation inside the components are discussed

  5. Dynamic relaxation method for nonlinear buckling analysis of moderately thick FG cylindrical panels with various boundary conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Golmakani, M. E.; Far, M. N. Sadraee; Moravej, M. [Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2016-12-15

    Using new approach proposed by Dynamic relaxation (DR) method, buckling analysis of moderately thick Functionally graded (FG) cylindrical panels subjected to axial compression is investigated for various boundary conditions. The mechanical properties of FG panel are assumed to vary continuously along the thickness direction by the simple rule of mixture and Mori-Tanaka model. The incremental form of nonlinear formulations are derived based on First-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and large deflection von Karman equations. The DR method combined with the finite difference discretization technique is employed to solve the incremental form of equilibrium equations. The critical mechanical buckling load is determined based on compressive load-displacement curve by adding the incremental displacements in each load step to the displacements obtained from the previous ones. A detailed parametric study is carried out to investigate the influences of the boundary conditions, rule of mixture, grading index, radius-to-thickness ratio, length-to-radius ratio and panel angle on the mechanical buckling load. The results reveal that with increase of grading index the effect of radius-to-thickness ratio on the buckling load decreases. It is also observed that effect of distribution rules on the buckling load is dependent to the type of boundary conditions.

  6. Regularization of the Fourier series of discontinuous functions by various summation methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ahmad, S.S.; Beghi, L. (Padua Univ. (Italy). Seminario Matematico)

    1983-07-01

    In this paper the regularization by various summation methods of the Fourier series of functions containing discontinuities of the first and second kind are studied and the results of the numerical analyses referring to some typical periodic functions are presented. In addition to the Cesaro and Lanczos weightings, a new (i.e. cosine) weighting for accelerating the convergence rate is proposed. A comparison with the results obtained by Garibotti and Massaro with the punctual Pade approximants (PPA) technique in case of a periodic step function is also carried out.

  7. Proposed method for determining the thickness of glass in solar collector panels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, D. M.

    1980-01-01

    An analytical method was developed for determining the minimum thickness for simply supported, rectangular glass plates subjected to uniform normal pressure environmental loads such as wind, earthquake, snow, and deadweight. The method consists of comparing an analytical prediction of the stress in the glass panel to a glass breakage stress determined from fracture mechanics considerations. Based on extensive analysis using the nonlinear finite element structural analysis program ARGUS, design curves for the structural analysis of simply supported rectangular plates were developed. These curves yield the center deflection, center stress and corner stress as a function of a dimensionless parameter describing the load intensity. A method of estimating the glass breakage stress as a function of a specified failure rate, degree of glass temper, design life, load duration time, and panel size is also presented.

  8. Generation and importance of linked and irreducible moment diagrams in the recursive residue generation method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schek, I.; Wyatt, R.E.

    1986-01-01

    Molecular multiphoton processes are treated in the Recursive Residue Generation Method (A. Nauts and R.E. Wyatt, Phys. Rev. Lett 51, 2238 (1983)) by converting the molecular-field Hamiltonian matrix into tridiagonal form, using the Lanczos equations. In this study, the self-energies (diagonal) and linking (off-diagaonal) terms in the tridiagonal matrix are obtained by comparing linked moment diagrams in both representations. The dynamics of the source state is introduced and computed in terms of the linked and the irreducible moments

  9. New method of synthesis and physical properties of thick superconducting Er-123 films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muralidhar, M.; Sakai, N.; Machi, T.; Miyajiri, T.; Hirabayashi, I.; Tanaka, S.

    2008-01-01

    We have developed a low-cost, short time manufacturing process using a novel method, starting from a mixture of Er 2 BaO 4 , BaCuO 2 , and CuO, with an excess of Er at expense of Ba. Several micrometers thick films were prepared by the screen-printing technique, spreading the mixture paste on silver substrates, processed then in Ar-1% O 2 atmosphere. Using a double-step annealing process, we obtained good quality Er-123 thick films on silver substrates, with T c (onset) 92 K. Formation of large flat grains was observed by scanning electron microscope. According to XRD analysis, the films were preferentially c-axis oriented. The magnetic (induced), self-field J c measured at 77 K was above 32 kA/cm 2 . We observed a strong dependence of the transport current, I c , on the grain size. The maximum I c at 77 K as high as 10 A was observed in the sample with the average grain size around 40 μm. The present results indicate that our technology, enabling preparation of large-area superconducting thick films on Ag-based substrates in short processing times, is relatively cheap and appropriate for utilization in long-length RE-123 silver sheath wire production for commercial applications

  10. A different and safe method of split thickness skin graft fixation: medical honey application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emsen, Ilteris Murat

    2007-09-01

    Honey has been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times. Its antibacterial effects have been established during the past few decades. Still, modern medical practitioners hesitate to apply honey for local treatment of wounds. This may be because of the expected messiness of such local application. Hence, if honey is to be used for medicinal purposes, it has to meet certain criteria. The authors evaluated its use for the split thickness skin graft fixation because of its adhesive and other beneficial effects in 11 patients. No complications such as graft loss, infection, and graft rejection were seen. Based on these results, the authors advised honey as a new agent for split thickness skin graft fixation. In recent years there has been a renewed interest in honey wound management. There are a range of regulated wound care products that contain honey available on the Drug Tariff. This article addresses key issues associated with the use of honey, outlining how it may be best used, in which methods of split thickness skin graft fixations it may be used, and what clinical outcomes may be anticipated. For this reason, 11 patients who underwent different diagnosis were included in this study. In all the patients same medical honey was used for the fixation of the skin graft. No graft loss was seen during both the first dressing and the last view of the grafted areas. As a result, it has been shown that honey is also a very effective agent for split thickness skin graft fixations. Because it is a natural agent, it can be easily used in all skin graft operation for the fixation of the split thickness skin grafts.

  11. International Conference on Computing Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering (9th) Held in Paris, France on 29 January-2 February 1990

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-02-02

    Brisman, and J. Reld, Direct Metiod for Sparse Matrices, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1986. [3] I.S. Duff, E.G. Grimes, and J.G. Lewis, Sparse matriz test...the N x m matrix with column vectors vl,...,v, and by Hm the m x m Hessenberg matriz whose nonzero entries are defined by the algorithm. Then the...class of methods reduces to the first one. In the nonsymmetric case, the biconjugate gradient method ( BCG ) due to Lanczos [21] and Fletcher [16] is a

  12. Innovative Extraction Method for a Coal Seam with a Thick Rock-Parting for Supporting Coal Mine Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meng Li

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available As thick rock partings delay the efficient mining of coal seams and constrain the sustainable development of coal mines, an innovative extraction method for a coal seam with thick rock parting was proposed. The coal seams were divided into different sub-zones according to the thickness of rock parting and then the sub-zones were mined by separately using three mining schemes involving full-seam mining, combined mining using backfill and caving (CMBC, and reducing height mining. Afterwards, the study introduced the basic mechanism and key devices for the CMBC and analysed the working state of the backfill support in detail. Moreover, the method for calculating the length of the backfill zone was proposed to design the length of backfill zone and the influences of four factors (including bulking coefficient of rock parting on the length of the backfill zone were also explored. By taking the No. 22203 panel, Buertai mine, Inner Mongolia, China as an example, the mined coal resource by using the CMBC extraction method will increase by 1.83 × 106 tons and the recovery ratio will rise from 56.2% to 92.4% compared with mining of the 2-2 upper coal seam alone. Moreover, by applying CMBC, a series of environmental and ecological problems caused by rock parting is reduced, which can improve the environment in mined areas. The research can provide technological guidance for mining panels of a coal seam with a thick rock parting and the disposal thereof under similar conditions.

  13. An analytical method for calculating stresses and strains of ATF cladding based on thick walled theory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Dong Hyun; Kim, Hak Sung [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hyo Chan; Yang, Yong Sik; In, Wang kee [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-05-15

    In this paper, an analytical method based on thick walled theory has been studied to calculate stress and strain of ATF cladding. In order to prescribe boundary conditions of the analytical method, two algorithms were employed which are called subroutine 'Cladf' and 'Couple' of FRACAS, respectively. To evaluate the developed method, equivalent model using finite element method was established and stress components of the method were compared with those of equivalent FE model. One of promising ATF concepts is the coated cladding, which take advantages such as high melting point, a high neutron economy, and low tritium permeation rate. To evaluate the mechanical behavior and performance of the coated cladding, we need to develop the specified model to simulate the ATF behaviors in the reactor. In particular, the model for simulation of stress and strain for the coated cladding should be developed because the previous model, which is 'FRACAS', is for one body model. The FRACAS module employs the analytical method based on thin walled theory. According to thin-walled theory, radial stress is defined as zero but this assumption is not suitable for ATF cladding because value of the radial stress is not negligible in the case of ATF cladding. Recently, a structural model for multi-layered ceramic cylinders based on thick-walled theory was developed. Also, FE-based numerical simulation such as BISON has been developed to evaluate fuel performance. An analytical method that calculates stress components of ATF cladding was developed in this study. Thick-walled theory was used to derive equations for calculating stress and strain. To solve for these equations, boundary and loading conditions were obtained by subroutine 'Cladf' and 'Couple' and applied to the analytical method. To evaluate the developed method, equivalent FE model was established and its results were compared to those of analytical model. Based on the

  14. Enhancement of Efficiency and Reduction of Grid Thickness Variation on Casting Process with Lean Six Sigma Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Witantyo; Setyawan, David

    2018-03-01

    In a lead acid battery industry, grid casting is a process that has high defect and thickness variation level. DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyse-Improve-Control) method and its tools will be used to improve the casting process. In the Define stage, it is used project charter and SIPOC (Supplier Input Process Output Customer) method to map the existent problem. In the Measure stage, it is conducted a data retrieval related to the types of defect and the amount of it, also the grid thickness variation that happened. And then the retrieved data is processed and analyzed by using 5 Why’s and FMEA method. In the Analyze stage, it is conducted a grid observation that experience fragile and crack type of defect by using microscope showing the amount of oxide Pb inclusion in the grid. Analysis that is used in grid casting process shows the difference of temperature that is too high between the metal fluid and mold temperature, also the corking process that doesn’t have standard. The Improve stage is conducted a fixing process which generates the reduction of grid variation thickness level and defect/unit level from 9,184% to 0,492%. In Control stage, it is conducted a new working standard determination and already fixed control process.

  15. The application of semianalytic method for calculating the thickness of biological shields of nuclear reactors. Part 2. Attenuation of gamma rays. An example of shield's thickness calculation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lukaszek, W.; Kucypera, S.

    1982-01-01

    The semianalytic method was used for calculating the attenuation of gamma rays and the thickness of biological shield of graphite moderated reactor. A short description of computer code as well as the exemplary results of calculations are given. (A.S.)

  16. Measurements of the Stiffness and Thickness of the Pavement Asphalt Layer Using the Enhanced Resonance Search Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nur Mustakiza Zakaria

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Enhanced resonance search (ERS is a nondestructive testing method that has been created to evaluate the quality of a pavement by means of a special instrument called the pavement integrity scanner (PiScanner. This technique can be used to assess the thickness of the road pavement structure and the profile of shear wave velocity by using the principle of surface wave and body wave propagation. In this study, the ERS technique was used to determine the actual thickness of the asphaltic pavement surface layer, while the shear wave velocities obtained were used to determine its dynamic elastic modulus. A total of fifteen locations were identified and the results were then compared with the specifications of the Malaysian PWD, MDD UKM, and IKRAM. It was found that the value of the elastic modulus of materials is between 3929 MPa and 17726 MPa. A comparison of the average thickness of the samples with the design thickness of MDD UKM showed a difference of 20 to 60%. Thickness of the asphalt surface layer followed the specifications of Malaysian PWD and MDD UKM, while some of the values of stiffness obtained are higher than the standard.

  17. Novel method for the measurement of liquid film thickness during fuel spray impingement on surfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henkel, S; Beyrau, F; Hardalupas, Y; Taylor, A M K P

    2016-02-08

    This paper describes the development and application of a novel optical technique for the measurement of liquid film thickness formed on surfaces during the impingement of automotive fuel sprays. The technique makes use of the change of the light scattering characteristics of a metal surface with known roughness, when liquid is deposited. Important advantages of the technique over previously established methods are the ability to measure the time-dependent spatial distribution of the liquid film without a need to add a fluorescent tracer to the liquid, while the measurement principle is not influenced by changes of the pressure and temperature of the liquid or the surrounding gas phase. Also, there is no need for non-fluorescing surrogate fuels. However, an in situ calibration of the dependence of signal intensity on liquid film thickness is required. The developed method can be applied to measure the time-dependent and two-dimensional distribution of the liquid fuel film thickness on the piston or the liner of gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines. The applicability of this technique was evaluated with impinging sprays of several linear alkanes and alcohols with different thermo-physical properties. The surface temperature of the impingement plate was controlled to simulate the range of piston surface temperatures inside a GDI engine. Two sets of liquid film thickness measurements were obtained. During the first set, the surface temperature of the plate was kept constant, while the spray of different fuels interacted with the surface. In the second set, the plate temperature was adjusted to match the boiling temperature of each fuel. In this way, the influence of the surface temperature on the liquid film created by the spray of different fuels and their evaporation characteristics could be demonstrated.

  18. A method for 3D-reconstruction of a muscle thick filament using the tilt series images of a single filament electron tomogram.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Márquez, G; Pinto, A; Alamo, L; Baumann, B; Ye, F; Winkler, H; Taylor, K; Padrón, R

    2014-05-01

    Myosin interacting-heads (MIH) motifs are visualized in 3D-reconstructions of thick filaments from striated muscle. These reconstructions are calculated by averaging methods using images from electron micrographs of grids prepared using numerous filament preparations. Here we propose an alternative method to calculate the 3D-reconstruction of a single thick filament using only a tilt series images recorded by electron tomography. Relaxed thick filaments, prepared from tarantula leg muscle homogenates, were negatively stained. Single-axis tilt series of single isolated thick filaments were obtained with the electron microscope at a low electron dose, and recorded on a CCD camera by electron tomography. An IHRSR 3D-recontruction was calculated from the tilt series images of a single thick filament. The reconstruction was enhanced by including in the search stage dual tilt image segments while only single tilt along the filament axis is usually used, as well as applying a band pass filter just before the back projection. The reconstruction from a single filament has a 40 Å resolution and clearly shows the presence of MIH motifs. In contrast, the electron tomogram 3D-reconstruction of the same thick filament - calculated without any image averaging and/or imposition of helical symmetry - only reveals MIH motifs infrequently. This is - to our knowledge - the first application of the IHRSR method to calculate a 3D reconstruction from tilt series images. This single filament IHRSR reconstruction method (SF-IHRSR) should provide a new tool to assess structural differences between well-ordered thick (or thin) filaments in a grid by recording separately their electron tomograms. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Investigating the effect of tablet thickness and punch curvature on density distribution using finite elements method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diarra, Harona; Mazel, Vincent; Busignies, Virginie; Tchoreloff, Pierre

    2015-09-30

    Finite elements method was used to study the influence of tablet thickness and punch curvature on the density distribution inside convex faced (CF) tablets. The modeling of the process was conducted on 2 pharmaceutical excipients (anhydrous calcium phosphate and microcrystalline cellulose) by using Drucker-Prager Cap model in Abaqus(®) software. The parameters of the model were obtained from experimental tests. Several punch shapes based on industrial standards were used. A flat-faced (FF) punch and 3 convex faced (CF) punches (8R11, 8R8 and 8R6) with a diameter of 8mm were chosen. Different tablet thicknesses were studied at a constant compression force. The simulation of the compaction of CF tablets with increasing thicknesses showed an important change on the density distribution inside the tablet. For smaller thicknesses, low density zones are located toward the center. The density is not uniform inside CF tablets and the center of the 2 faces appears with low density whereas the distribution inside FF tablets is almost independent of the tablet thickness. These results showed that FF and CF tablets, even obtained at the same compression force, do not have the same density at the center of the compact. As a consequence differences in tensile strength, as measured by diametral compression, are expected. This was confirmed by experimental tests. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Method of developing thick sloping coal formations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bragintsev, V F; Mashkovtsev, I L; Semenov, V S; Zykov, V N

    1980-02-15

    A method of developing thick sloping coal formations in three inclined layers includes carrying out developmental operations for each of the layers until one begins development of the last one and extraction of layers. It is characterized in that in order to improve efficiency and safety of an operation of formation development there is first extraction of the upper layer and then slits in sequence from the roof of the formation to the floor of the upper layer and beneath protected objects. Then the lower layer is workedin thin strips in sequence from the floor of the formation to the roof of the lower layer. Next there is extraction of a slit at the roof of the middle layer and delivery of a plasticized hardening mixture into the worked out space of the indicated slot. The middle layer is worked in thin layers beneath the protection of the formed artificial roof in a sequence from the artificial roof to the floor of the middle layer. Workings of the middle layer are formed by joining of the combined workings of the upper and lower layers during extraction of pillars of coal between them. The layers are respectively worked following completion of roof advance in front of the working face of each subsequent extraction layer in alternating fashion.

  1. Life stage differences in resident coping with restart of the Three Mile Island nuclear generating facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prince-Embury, S.; Rooney, J.F.

    1990-01-01

    A study of residents who remained in the vicinity of Three Mile Island (TMI) immediately following the restart of the nuclear generating plant revealed that older residents employed a more emotion-focused coping style in the face of this event than did younger residents. Coping style was, however, unrelated to the level of psychological symptoms for these older residents, whereas demographic variables were related. Among younger residents, on the other hand, coping style was related to the level of psychological symptoms, whereas demographic variables were not. Among younger residents, emotion-focused coping was associated with more symptoms and problem-focused coping was associated with fewer symptoms, contradicting previous findings among TMI area residents

  2. Transgingival Probing and Ultrasonographic Methods for Determination of Gingival Thickness- A Comparative Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rakhi Issrani

    2013-01-01

    Results : It was observed that the younger age group had significantly thicker gingiva than older age group . The gingiva was found to be thinner in females than males and in the mandibular arch than the maxilla. Within the limits of the present study it was demonstrated that thickness of gingiva varies with the tooth sites, i.e. midbuccally and interdental papillary region and also with morphology of the crown. Conclusions : In the present study, it was concluded that GTH varies according to site, age, gender tooth and dental arch wise. In comparison to TGP method, USG method assesses GTH more accurately, rapidl y and atraumatically.

  3. Three-dimensional primate molar enamel thickness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olejniczak, Anthony J; Tafforeau, Paul; Feeney, Robin N M; Martin, Lawrence B

    2008-02-01

    Molar enamel thickness has played an important role in the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and dietary assessments of fossil primate teeth for nearly 90 years. Despite the frequency with which enamel thickness is discussed in paleoanthropological discourse, methods used to attain information about enamel thickness are destructive and record information from only a single plane of section. Such semidestructive planar methods limit sample sizes and ignore dimensional data that may be culled from the entire length of a tooth. In light of recently developed techniques to investigate enamel thickness in 3D and the frequent use of enamel thickness in dietary and phylogenetic interpretations of living and fossil primates, the study presented here aims to produce and make available to other researchers a database of 3D enamel thickness measurements of primate molars (n=182 molars). The 3D enamel thickness measurements reported here generally agree with 2D studies. Hominoids show a broad range of relative enamel thicknesses, and cercopithecoids have relatively thicker enamel than ceboids, which in turn have relatively thicker enamel than strepsirrhine primates, on average. Past studies performed using 2D sections appear to have accurately diagnosed the 3D relative enamel thickness condition in great apes and humans: Gorilla has the relatively thinnest enamel, Pan has relatively thinner enamel than Pongo, and Homo has the relatively thickest enamel. Although the data set presented here has some taxonomic gaps, it may serve as a useful reference for researchers investigating enamel thickness in fossil taxa and studies of primate gnathic biology.

  4. Model-based cartilage thickness measurement in the submillimeter range

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Streekstra, G. J.; Strackee, S. D.; Maas, M.; Wee, R. ter; Venema, H. W.

    2007-01-01

    Current methods of image-based thickness measurement in thin sheet structures utilize second derivative zero crossings to locate the layer boundaries. It is generally acknowledged that the nonzero width of the point spread function (PSF) limits the accuracy of this measurement procedure. We propose a model-based method that strongly reduces PSF-induced bias by incorporating the PSF into the thickness estimation method. We estimated the bias in thickness measurements in simulated thin sheet images as obtained from second derivative zero crossings. To gain insight into the range of sheet thickness where our method is expected to yield improved results, sheet thickness was varied between 0.15 and 1.2 mm with an assumed PSF as present in the high-resolution modes of current computed tomography (CT) scanners [full width at half maximum (FWHM) 0.5-0.8 mm]. Our model-based method was evaluated in practice by measuring layer thickness from CT images of a phantom mimicking two parallel cartilage layers in an arthrography procedure. CT arthrography images of cadaver wrists were also evaluated, and thickness estimates were compared to those obtained from high-resolution anatomical sections that served as a reference. The thickness estimates from the simulated images reveal that the method based on second derivative zero crossings shows considerable bias for layers in the submillimeter range. This bias is negligible for sheet thickness larger than 1 mm, where the size of the sheet is more than twice the FWHM of the PSF but can be as large as 0.2 mm for a 0.5 mm sheet. The results of the phantom experiments show that the bias is effectively reduced by our method. The deviations from the true thickness, due to random fluctuations induced by quantum noise in the CT images, are of the order of 3% for a standard wrist imaging protocol. In the wrist the submillimeter thickness estimates from the CT arthrography images correspond within 10% to those estimated from the anatomical

  5. Identifying novel fruit-related genes in Arabidopsis thaliana based on the random walk with restart algorithm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yunhua; Dai, Li; Liu, Ying; Zhang, YuHang; Wang, ShaoPeng

    2017-01-01

    Fruit is essential for plant reproduction and is responsible for protection and dispersal of seeds. The development and maturation of fruit is tightly regulated by numerous genetic factors that respond to environmental and internal stimulation. In this study, we attempted to identify novel fruit-related genes in a model organism, Arabidopsis thaliana, using a computational method. Based on validated fruit-related genes, the random walk with restart (RWR) algorithm was applied on a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network using these genes as seeds. The identified genes with high probabilities were filtered by the permutation test and linkage tests. In the permutation test, the genes that were selected due to the structure of the PPI network were discarded. In the linkage tests, the importance of each candidate gene was measured from two aspects: (1) its functional associations with validated genes and (2) its similarity with validated genes on gene ontology (GO) terms and KEGG pathways. Finally, 255 inferred genes were obtained, subsequent extensive analysis of important genes revealed that they mainly contribute to ubiquitination (UBQ9, UBQ8, UBQ11, UBQ10), serine hydroxymethyl transfer (SHM7, SHM5, SHM6) or glycol-metabolism (HXKL2_ARATH, CSY5, GAPCP1), suggesting essential roles during the development and maturation of fruit in Arabidopsis thaliana.

  6. An optical method for measuring the thickness of a falling condensate in gravity assisted heat pipe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kasanický Martin

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A large number of variables is the main problem of designing systems which uses heat pipes, whether it is a traditional - gravity, or advanced - capillary, pulsating, advanced heat pipes. This article is a methodology for measuring the thickness of the falling condensate in gravitational heat pipes, with using the optical triangulation method, and the evaluation of risks associated with this method.

  7. Thickness measurement by two-sided step-heating thermal imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiaoli; Tao, Ning; Sun, J. G.; Zhang, Cunlin; Zhao, Yuejin

    2018-01-01

    Infrared thermal imaging is a promising nondestructive technique for thickness prediction. However, it is usually thought to be only appropriate for testing the thickness of thin objects or near-surface structures. In this study, we present a new two-sided step-heating thermal imaging method which employed a low-cost portable halogen lamp as the heating source and verified it with two stainless steel step wedges with thicknesses ranging from 5 mm to 24 mm. We first derived the one-dimensional step-heating thermography theory with the consideration of warm-up time of the lamp, and then applied the nonlinear regression method to fit the experimental data by the derived function to determine the thickness. After evaluating the reliability and accuracy of the experimental results, we concluded that this method is capable of testing thick objects. In addition, we provided the criterions for both the required data length and the applicable thickness range of the testing material. It is evident that this method will broaden the thermal imaging application for thickness measurement.

  8. Residents within 30 km of the Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima prefecture, the scope of the evacuation zone, oppose to restart of the plant being shut down after Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. Findings based on the region's representative sample survey by interviewers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirose, Hirotada

    2015-01-01

    Due to the aftermath of the accident of Tokyo Electric Power Company Right Single Quotation Marks Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, a lot of residents were still forced to be under evacuation. However, the Japanese government places nuclear power as a base load power, and is trying to successively restart nuclear power plants under full-stop state. Under such circumstance, a questionnaire survey about the issue over the nuclear power plant was conducted for residents near the Sendai Nuclear Power Station, which is expected to restart. The areas of the survey are within 30 km radius from the plant, where evacuation is required in case of an accident, and these areas are divided to two categories; Precautionary Action Zone (PAZ), which is within 5 km from a nuclear plant, and Urgent Protective Action Planning Zone (UPZ), which is 5-30 km from a nuclear plant. This paper introduces in detail the survey methods and findings. (A.O.)

  9. Challenges of restarting Bruce Units 3 and 4 from a chemistry and materials perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roberts, J.G.; Langguth, K.

    2005-01-01

    In 2001, Bruce Power leased the Bruce Units 1-8 reactors from Ontario Power Generation. Bruce Power decided to restart Bruce Units 3 and 4 following a condition assessment of Bruce A Units 3 and 4. This paper describes the challenges that were encountered and how they were overcome, specifically for heat transport system chemistry in order to adequately protect carbon steel surfaces. The heat transport system, by design, has close inter-relations with other station systems and the related issues of some of these systems are also discussed. Considerations of material impacts have significant influences on the approach to, and control of, chemistry. Specific material impacts led to a novel, and successful, approach. This approach was arrived at following significant efforts by a multi-disciplinary team of operations, maintenance and chemistry staff. The issues, approaches considered and solutions used for a successful outcome will be presented. (author)

  10. Challenges of restarting Bruce Units 3 and 4 from a chemistry and materials perspective

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roberts, J.G.; Langguth, K. [Bruce Power, Tiverton, Ontario (Canada)

    2005-07-01

    In 2001, Bruce Power leased the Bruce Units 1-8 reactors from Ontario Power Generation. Bruce Power decided to restart Bruce Units 3 and 4 following a condition assessment of Bruce A Units 3 and 4. This paper describes the challenges that were encountered and how they were overcome, specifically for heat transport system chemistry in order to adequately protect carbon steel surfaces. The heat transport system, by design, has close inter-relations with other station systems and the related issues of some of these systems are also discussed. Considerations of material impacts have significant influences on the approach to, and control of, chemistry. Specific material impacts led to a novel, and successful, approach. This approach was arrived at following significant efforts by a multi-disciplinary team of operations, maintenance and chemistry staff. The issues, approaches considered and solutions used for a successful outcome will be presented. (author)

  11. Dual beam x-ray thickness gauge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Allport, J.J.

    1977-01-01

    The apparatus and method for continuous measurement of thickness of a sheet at a rolling mill or the like without contacting the sheet are described. A system directing radiation through the sheet in two energy bands and providing a measure of change in composition of the material as it passes the thickness gauging station is included. A system providing for changing the absorption coefficient of the material in the thickness measurement as a function of the change in composition so that the measured thickness is substantially independent of variations in composition is described

  12. Uncertainties in thick-target PIXE analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campbell, J.L.; Cookson, J.A.; Paul, H.

    1983-01-01

    Thick-target PIXE analysis insolves uncertainties arising from the calculation of thick-target X-ray production in addition to the usual PIXE uncertainties. The calculation demands knowledge of ionization cross-sections, stopping powers and photon attenuation coefficients. Information on these is reviewed critically and a computational method is used to estimate the uncertainties transmitted from this data base into results of thick-target PIXE analyses with reference to particular specimen types using beams of 2-3 MeV protons. A detailed assessment of the accuracy of thick-target PIXE is presented. (orig.)

  13. Thickness-Dependent Bioelectrochemical and Energy Applications of Thickness-Controlled Meso-Macroporous Antimony-Doped Tin Oxide

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Mieritz

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Coatings of hierarchically meso-macroporous antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO enable interfacing adsorbed species, such as biomacromolecules, with an electronic circuit. The coating thickness is a limiting factor for the surface coverage of adsorbates, that are electrochemically addressable. To overcome this challenge, a carbon black-based templating method was developed by studying the composition of the template system, and finding the right conditions for self-standing templates, preventing the reaction mixture from flowing out of the mask. The thicknesses of as-fabricated coatings were measured using stylus profilometry to establish a relationship between the mask thickness and the coating thickness. Cyclic voltammetry was performed on coatings with adsorbed cytochrome c to check whether the entire coating thickness was electrochemically addressable. Further, bacterial photosynthetic reaction centers were incorporated into the coatings, and photocurrent with respect to coating thickness was studied. The template mixture required enough of both carbon black and polymer, roughly 7% carbon black and 6% poly(ethylene glycol. Coatings were fabricated with thicknesses approaching 30 µm, and thickness was shown to be controllable up to at least 15 µm. Under the experimental conditions, photocurrent was found to increase linearly with the coating thickness, up to around 12 µm, above which were diminished gains.

  14. Knowledge management implementation on the restart of the nuclear power plant construction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vetere, C.; Eppenstein, M.

    2007-01-01

    Full text: Restarting the NPP construction after 10 years of inactivity is a process that involves many preliminary tasks associated with the transition period to get the project started again. Implementing a KM program during the preparatory phase motivates the personnel and facilitates the completion of these additional activities. Human Resources Motivation: Manpower is the most critical aspect to consider at the moment of restarting the NPP project. The reduced engineering teams left at the NPP lost their motivation as a result of the absence of project requirements. These groups, which were responsible of key activities in the past, and now assigned to other tasks, must be reinserted to the schedule and functions required by the project management. Moreover, they constitute the core that would transfer knowledge to the future personnel. Therefore, it is a good practice to include these engineering groups from the very beginning of the KM development. It is proved that the participation of these groups in the KM design and definition, in the knowledge map building, in identifying the domains and performing critical knowledge analysis by means of workshops, and in meetings and individual interviews facilitates the reactivation of them. The demands from the Knowledge Management Project create a good atmosphere to stimulate sharing and competences development. Capturing Experts' Knowledge. During the years of inactivity of the plant construction many professionals and specialists that belonged to the original project teams left the organization taking with them their data and information related to the project evolution, and valuable undocumented knowledge. Documented meetings between current and past experts, or through an Experts Consulting Group articulates this tacit knowledge, and provides a source of answers about previous situations, taken decisions and critical issues. Furthermore, implementing a feedback program prevents the risk of knowledge loss due to

  15. Measurement of thickness of thin water film in two-phase flow by capacitance method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun, R.K.; Kolbe, W.F.; Leskovar, B.; Turko, B.

    1981-09-01

    A technique has been developed for measuring water film thickness in a two-phase annular flow system by the capacitance method. An experimental model of the flow system with two types of electrodes mounted on the inner wall of a cylindrical tube has been constructed and evaluated. The apparatus and its ability to observe fluctuations and wave motions of the water film passing over the electrodes is described in some detail

  16. Comparison of Different Approaches for Measuring Tibial Cartilage Thickness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maier Jennifer

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease affecting bones and cartilage especially in the human knee. In this context, cartilage thickness is an indicator for knee cartilage health. Thickness measurements are performed on medical images acquired in-vivo. Currently, there is no standard method agreed upon that defines a distance measure in articular cartilage. In this work, we present a comparison of different methods commonly used in literature. These methods are based on nearest neighbors, surface normal vectors, local thickness and potential field lines. All approaches were applied to manual segmentations of tibia and lateral and medial tibial cartilage performed by experienced raters. The underlying data were contrast agent-enhanced cone-beam C-arm CT reconstructions of one healthy subject’s knee. The subject was scanned three times, once in supine position and two times in a standing weight-bearing position. A comparison of the resulting thickness maps shows similar distributions and high correlation coefficients between the approaches above 0.90. The nearest neighbor method results on average in the lowest cartilage thickness values, while the local thickness approach assigns the highest values. We showed that the different methods agree in their thickness distribution. The results will be used for a future evaluation of cartilage change under weight-bearing conditions.

  17. Chip-scale pattern modification method for equalizing residual layer thickness in nanoimprint lithography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Youn, Sung-Won; Suzuki, Kenta; Hiroshima, Hiroshi

    2018-06-01

    A software program for modifying a mold design to obtain a uniform residual layer thickness (RLT) distribution has been developed and its validity was verified by UV-nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) simulation. First, the effects of granularity (G) on both residual layer uniformity and filling characteristics were characterized. For a constant complementary pattern depth and a granularity that was sufficiently larger than the minimum pattern width, filling time decreased with the decrease in granularity. For a pattern design with a wide density range and an irregular distribution, the choice of a small granularity was not always a good strategy since the etching depth required for a complementary pattern occasionally exceptionally increased with the decrease in granularity. On basis of the results obtained, the automated method was applied to a chip-scale pattern modification. Simulation results showed a marked improvement in residual layer thickness uniformity for a capacity-equalized (CE) mold. For the given conditions, the standard deviation of RLT decreased in the range from 1/3 to 1/5 in accordance with pattern designs.

  18. Surgical correction of cryptotia combined with an ultra-delicate split-thickness skin graft in continuity with a full-thickness skin rotation flap.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Xiaobo; Yang, Qinghua; Jiang, Haiyue; Pan, Bo; Zhao, Yanyong; Lin, Lin

    2017-11-01

    Cryptotia is a common congenital ear deformity in Asian populations. In cryptotia, a portion of the upper ear is hidden and fixed in a pocket of the skin of the mastoid. Here we describe our method for cryptotia correction by using an ultra-delicate split-thickness skin graft in continuity with a full-thickness skin rotation flap. We developed a new method for correcting cryptotia by using an ultra-delicate split-thickness skin graft in continuity with a full-thickness skin rotation flap. Following ear release, the full-thickness skin rotation flap is rotated into the defect, and the donor site is covered with an ultra-delicate split-thickness skin graft raised in continuity with the flap. All patients exhibited satisfactory release of cryptotia. No cases involved partial or total flap necrosis, and post-operative outcomes using this new technique for cryptotia correction have been more than satisfactory. Our method of using an ultra-delicate split-thickness skin graft in continuity with a full-thickness skin rotation flap to correct cryptotia is simple and reliable. Copyright © 2017 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. „Hustý popis“ jako literárněvědná metoda? // "Thick description" as a method of literary theory?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jitka Paitlová

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with a selected example of the understanding of the Anglo-Saxon New Historicism by German literary scholars. It focuses on the method of “thick description” as formulated by the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz and as criticized by German literary scholar and ethnologist Thomas Fechner-Smarsly. In connection with the so-called anthropological turn, it consists in the application of ethnology in literary criticism. According to Geertz a semantic density arises from the complexity of described, but Geertz fails to formulate a general theory. Fechner sees a great potential for literary studies in the method of “thick description”, but he criticizes the lack of system in Geertz’, when he is reluctant to formulate a generally applicable model of this method. Fechner therefore calls for contextualization, organization and instantiation methods of “thick description” in literary studies and, moreover, emphasizes the interdisciplinary overlap.

  20. XRD measurement of mean thickness, thickness distribution and strain for illite and illite-smectite crystallites by the Bertaut-Warren-Averbach technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drits, Victor A.; Eberl, Dennis D.; Środoń, Jan

    1998-01-01

    A modified version of the Bertaut-Warren-Averbach (BWA) technique (Bertaut 1949, 1950; Warren and Averbach 1950) has been developed to measure coherent scattering domain (CSD) sizes and strains in minerals by analysis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) data. This method is used to measure CSD thickness distributions for calculated and experimental XRD patterns of illites and illite-smectites (I-S). The method almost exactly recovers CSD thickness distributions for calculated illite XRD patterns. Natural I-S samples contain swelling layers that lead to nonperiodic structures in the c* direction and to XRD peaks that are broadened and made asymmetric by mixed layering. Therefore, these peaks cannot be analyzed by the BWA method. These difficulties are overcome by K-saturation and heating prior to X-ray analysis in order to form 10-Å periodic structures. BWA analysis yields the thickness distribution of mixed-layer crystals (coherently diffracting stacks of fundamental illite particles). For most I-S samples, CSD thickness distributions can be approximated by lognormal functions. Mixed-layer crystal mean thickness and expandability then can be used to calculate fundamental illite particle mean thickness. Analyses of the dehydrated, K-saturated samples indicate that basal XRD reflections are broadened by symmetrical strain that may be related to local variations in smectite interlayers caused by dehydration, and that the standard deviation of the strain increases regularly with expandability. The 001 and 002 reflections are affected only slightly by this strain and therefore are suited for CSD thickness analysis. Mean mixed-layer crystal thicknesses for dehydrated I-S measured by the BWA method are very close to those measured by an integral peak width method.

  1. A Fast Enhanced Secure Image Chaotic Cryptosystem Based on Hybrid Chaotic Magic Transform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Srinivas Koppu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available An enhanced secure image chaotic cryptosystem has been proposed based on hybrid CMT-Lanczos algorithm. We have achieved fast encryption and decryption along with privacy of images. The pseudorandom generator has been used along with Lanczos algorithm to generate root characteristics and eigenvectors. Using hybrid CMT image, pixels are shuffled to accomplish excellent randomness. Compared with existing methods, the proposed method had more robustness to various attacks: brute-force attack, known cipher plaintext, chosen-plaintext, security key space, key sensitivity, correlation analysis and information entropy, and differential attacks. Simulation results show that the proposed methods give better result in protecting images with low-time complexity.

  2. Application of Industrial XRF Coating Thickness Analyzer for Phosphate Coating Thickness on Steel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksandr Sokolov

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The results of industrial application of an online X-ray fluorescence coating thickness analyzer for measuring the thickness of phosphate coatings on moving steel strips are considered in the article. The target range of coating thickness to be measured is from tens to hundreds of mg/m2 in a measurement time of 10 s. The measurement accuracy observed during long-duration factory acceptance test was 10–15%. The coating thickness analyzer consists of two XRF gauges, mounted above and below the steel strip and capable of moving across the moving strip system for their suspension and relocation and electronic control unit. Fully automated software was developed to automatically and continuously (24/7 control both gauges, scanning both sides of the steel strip, and develop and test methods for measuring new coatings. It allows performing offline storage and retrieval of the measurement results, remotely controlling the analyzer components and measurement modes from a control room. The developed XRF coating thickness analyzer can also be used for real-time measurement of other types of coatings, both metallic and non-metallic.

  3. A direct current potential drop method for evaluating oxide film thickness formed in high-temperature water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anzai, Hideya; Ishibashi, Ryo; Saka, Masumi

    2016-01-01

    To establish an evaluation technique for oxide film thickness in-situ, the applicability of a four-point-probe direct current potential drop method is discussed in this study. Several samples of JIS SUS316L stainless steel with different oxide film thickness were prepared after immersing them in oxygenated pure water at 288°C for different periods. The oxide film thickness was measured by cross sectional observation using a transmission electron microscope. Potential drop on the oxide surface was measured every second during an acquisition period of about 20 s while a constant current was being injected into the sample simultaneously. This kind of measurement was repeatedly carried out at several arbitrary contact positions on the surface of the same sample. The measurement results showed that the potential drop slightly changed during the acquisition period and the tendency varied at the different contact positions. Multiple measurements at different contact positions revealed that the tendency could be categorized into two general types: the decreasing potential drop and the increasing potential drop, defined by the overall trend of the potential drop during the acquisition time. It was found that the ratio of contact positions with a decreasing potential drop tendency to all the contact positions of measurement tended to increase as applied current increased. This tendency depended on the oxide film thickness. The threshold value of applied current was found to correlate well with the oxide film thickness when the occurrence rate of decreasing potential drop ranged from 70 to 90% showing the best correlation at 70%. (author)

  4. Diaphragmatic thickness ratio (inspiratory/expiratory) as a diagnostic method of diaphragmatic palsy associated with interescalene block.

    Science.gov (United States)

    López Escárraga, V M; Dubos España, K; Castillo Bustos, R H; Peidró, L; Sastre, S; Sala-Blanch, X

    2018-02-01

    Diaphragmatic paralysis is a side-effect associated with interscalene block. Thickness index of the diaphragm muscle (inspiratory thickness/expiratory thickness) obtained by ultrasound has recently been introduced in clinical practice for diagnosis of diaphragm muscle atrophy. Our objective was to evaluate this index for the diagnosis of acute phrenic paresis associated with interscalene block. We designed an observational study in 22 patients scheduled for shoulder arthroscopy. Spirometry was performed (criteria of phrenic paresis was a decrease in FVC and FEV1 ≥20%). Ultrasound apposition zone was assessed in anterior axillary line and diaphragmatic displacement was evaluated on inspiration and expiration (number of intercostal spaces; phrenic paresis considered a reduction ≥25%) and thickness of the diaphragm muscle (a phrenic paresis was considered an index block at C5-C6 with 20ml of 0.5% ropivacaine. Twenty-one patients (95%) presented phrenic nerve block according to one or more of the methods used. One patient did not show any symptoms or signs suggestive of phrenic paralysis and was excluded. All the patients presented phrenic paresis based on the diaphragmatic thickness index, with the pre-block index being 1.8±0.5 and post-block of 1.05±0.06 (Pblock (from 1.9±0.5 intercostal spaces to 0.5±0.3; Pblock. This index does not require a baseline pre-assessment. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  5. Thickness dependent electrical properties of CdO thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murthy, L.C.S.; Rao, K.S.R.K.

    1999-01-01

    A large number of thin films of cadmium oxide have been prepared on glass substrates by spray pyrolysis method. The prepared films have uniform thickness varying from 200-600 nm and good adherence to the glass substrate. A systematic study has been made on the influence of thickness on resistivity, sheet resistance, carrier concentration and mobility of the films. The resistivity, sheet resistance, carrier concentration and mobility values varied from 1.56-5.72x10 -3 Ω-cm, 128-189 Ω/□, 1.6-3.9x10 21 cm -3 and 0.3-3 cm 2 /Vs, respectively for varying film thickness. A systematic increase in mobility with grain size clearly indicates the reduction of overall scattering of charge carriers at the grain boundaries. The large concentration of charge carriers and low mobility values have been attributed to the presence of Cd as an impurity in CdO microcrystallites. Using the optical transmission data, the band gap was estimated and found to vary from 2.20-2.42 eV. These films have transmittance around 77% and average reflectance is below 2.6% in the spectral range 350-850 nm. The films are n-type and polycrystalline in nature. SEM micrographs of the CdO films were taken and the films exhibit clear grains and grain boundary formation at a substrate temperature as low as 523 K. (author)

  6. Conservative method for determination of material thickness used in shielding of veterinary facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lava, Deise D.; Borges, Diogo da S.; Affonso, Renato R.W.; Moreira, Maria de L.; Guimaraes, Antonio C.F.

    2014-01-01

    For determination of an effective method for shielding of veterinary rooms, was provided shielding methods generally used in rooms which works with X-ray production and radiotherapy. Every calculation procedure is based in traditional variables used to transmission calculation. The thickness of the materials used for primary and secondary shieldings are obtained to respect the limits set by the Brazilian National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN). This work presents the development of a computer code in order to serve as a practical tool for determining rapid and effective materials and their thicknesses to shield veterinary facilities. The code determines transmission values of the shieldings and compares them with data from transmission 'maps' provided by NCRP-148 report. These 'maps' were added to the algorithm through interpolation techniques of curves of materials used for shielding. Each interpolation generates about 1,000,000 points that are used to generate a new curve. The new curve is subjected to regression techniques, which makes possible to obtain nine degree polynomial, and exponential equations. These equations whose variables consist of transmission of values, enable trace all the points of this curve with high precision. The data obtained from the algorithm were satisfactory with official data presented by the National Council of Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) and can contribute as a practical tool for verification of shielding of veterinary facilities that require using Radiotherapy techniques and X-ray production

  7. Method of developing thick sloping coal formations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bragintsev, V F; Mashkovtsev, I L; Semenov, V S; Zykov, V N

    1980-04-25

    A method is patented for developing thick sloping coal formations in 3 inclined layers. It includes conducting developmental operations for each of the layers until one begins the last one and extraction of the layers. In order to improve effectivess and extraction operation safety one first carried out preliminary development of a formation in thin strips beneath protected objects when extracting formation which contain alot of gas. Then one removes the gas of a formation through boreholes that have been drilled into the formation from the indicated workings. Then one works the upper layer in thin strips in a sequence from the roof of the formation to the floor of the upper layer. The one strengthens roof rock of the formation by pumping in a quickly hardening solution into the boreholes which have been drilled into the roof of the formation after processing the upper layer. The middle layer is worked in thin strips in the sequence from the roof to the ground of the middle layer, then the lower layer of the formation is strengthened by pumping in quickly hardening solution into the formation along degasified boreholes and it is worked in thin strips in sequence from the ground of the lower to its roof. Workings are shaped respectively for the middle and lower layers by deepening workings of the upper and middle layers. The layers are worked respectively after finishing displacement of the roof in front of the extraction face of each subsequent extraction of a layer in alternating fashion.

  8. The optimum lead thickness for lead-activation detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Si Fenni; Hu Qingyuan

    2009-01-01

    The optimum lead thickness for lead-activation detectors has been studied in this paper. First existence of the optimum lead thickness is explained theoretically. Then the optimum lead thickness is obtained by two methods, MCNP5 calculation and mathematical estimation. At last factors which affect the optimum lead thickness are discussed. It turns out that the optimum lead thickness is irrelevant to incident neutron energies. It is recommended 2.5 cm generally.

  9. Digital Thickness Measurement of a Transparent Plastic Orthodontic Device

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Yoon-Hwan; Rhim, Sung-Han

    2018-05-01

    A transparent orthodontic device is used to move the teeth to the final calibration position to form a proper set of teeth. Because the uniform thickness of the device plays an important role in tooth positioning, the accuracy of the device's thickness profile is important for effective orthodontic treatment. However, due to the complexity of the device's geometry and the transparency of the device's material, measuring the complete thickness profile has been difficult. In the present study, a new optical scanning method to measure the thickness profile of transparent plastic orthodontic devices is proposed and evaluated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The error of the new measurement method is less than ±18 μm. The new method can be used to measure the thickness of non-specific, multi-curved, transparent orthodontic devices.

  10. Detection of normal plantar fascia thickness in adults via the ultrasonographic method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abul, Kadir; Ozer, Devrim; Sakizlioglu, Secil Sezgin; Buyuk, Abdul Fettah; Kaygusuz, Mehmet Akif

    2015-01-01

    Heel pain is a prevalent concern in orthopedic clinics, and there are numerous pathologic abnormalities that can cause heel pain. Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain, and the plantar fascia thickens in this process. It has been found that thickening to greater than 4 mm in ultrasonographic measurements can be accepted as meaningful in diagnoses. Herein, we aimed to measure normal plantar fascia thickness in adults using ultrasonography. We used ultrasonography to measure the plantar fascia thickness of 156 healthy adults in both feet between April 1, 2011, and June 30, 2011. These adults had no previous heel pain. The 156 participants comprised 88 women (56.4%) and 68 men (43.6%) (mean age, 37.9 years; range, 18-65 years). The weight, height, and body mass index of the participants were recorded, and statistical analyses were conducted. The mean ± SD (range) plantar fascia thickness measurements for subgroups of the sample were as follows: 3.284 ± 0.56 mm (2.4-5.1 mm) for male right feet, 3.3 ± 0.55 mm (2.5-5.0 mm) for male left feet, 2.842 ± 0.42 mm (1.8-4.1 mm) for female right feet, and 2.8 ± 0.44 mm (1.8-4.3 mm) for female left feet. The overall mean ± SD (range) thickness for the right foot was 3.035 ± 0.53 mm (1.8-5.1 mm) and for the left foot was 3.053 ± 0.54 mm (1.8-5.0 mm). There was a statistically significant and positive correlation between plantar fascia thickness and participant age, weight, height, and body mass index. The plantar fascia thickness of adults without heel pain was measured to be less than 4 mm in most participants (~92%). There was no statistically significant difference between the thickness of the right and left foot plantar fascia.

  11. Simultaneous identification of a contaminant source and hydraulic conductivity via the restart normal-score ensemble Kalman filter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Teng; Gómez-Hernández, J. Jaime

    2018-02-01

    Detecting where and when a contaminant entered an aquifer from observations downgradient of the source is a difficult task; this identification becomes more challenging when the uncertainty about the spatial distribution of hydraulic conductivity is accounted for. In this paper, we have implemented an application of the restart normal-score ensemble Kalman filter (NS-EnKF) for the simultaneous identification of a contaminant source and the spatially variable hydraulic conductivity in an aquifer. The method is capable of providing estimates of the spatial location, initial release time, the duration of the release and the mass load of a point-contamination event, plus the spatial distribution of hydraulic conductivity together with an assessment of the estimation uncertainty of all the parameters. The method has been applied in synthetic aquifers exhibiting both Gaussian and non-Gaussian patterns. The identification is made possible by assimilating in time both piezometric head and concentration observations from an array of observation wells. The method is demonstrated in three different synthetic scenarios that combine hydraulic conductivities with unimodal and bimodal histograms, and releases in high and low conductivity zones. The results prove that the specific implementation of the EnKF is capable of recovering the source parameters with some uncertainty and of recovering the main patterns of heterogeneity of the hydraulic conductivity fields by assimilating a sufficient number of state variable observations. The proposed approach is an important step towards contaminant source identification in real aquifers, which may have logconductivity spatial distributions with either Gaussian or non-Gaussian features, yet, it is still far from practical applications since the transport parameters, the external sinks and sources and the initial and boundary conditions are assumed known.

  12. Radiation transmission pipe thickness measurement system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Higashi, Yasuhiko

    2010-01-01

    Fuji Electric Systems can be measured from the outer insulation of the transmission Characteristics and radiation detection equipment had been developed that can measure pipe wall thinning in plant and running, the recruitment of another three-beam calculation method by pipe thickness measurement system was developed to measure the thickness of the pipe side. This equipment has been possible to measure the thickness of the circumferential profile of the pipe attachment by adopting automatic rotation. (author)

  13. Electro-physical properties of superconducting ceramic thick film prepared by partial melting method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Sang Heon

    2013-05-01

    BiSrCaCuO superconductor thick films were prepared at several curing temperatures, and their electro-physical properties were determined to find an optimum fabrication conditions. Critical temperatures of the superconductors were decreased with increasing melting temperature, which was related to the amount of equilibrium phases of the superconducting materials with temperature. The critical temperature of BiSrCaCuO bulk and thick film superconductors were 107 K and 96 K, respectively. The variation of susceptibility of the superconductor thick film formed at 950 degrees C had multi-step-type curve for 70 G externally applied field, whereas, a superconductor thick film formed at 885 degrees C had a single step-type curve like a bulk BiSrCaCuO ceramic superconductor in the temperature-susceptibility curves. A partial melting at 865 degrees C is one of optimum conditions for making a superconductor thick film with a relatively homogeneous phase.

  14. The Effects of Two Thick Film Deposition Methods on Tin Dioxide Gas Sensor Performance

    OpenAIRE

    Bakrania, Smitesh D.; Wooldridge, Margaret S.

    2009-01-01

    This work demonstrates the variability in performance between SnO2 thick film gas sensors prepared using two types of film deposition methods. SnO2 powders were deposited on sensor platforms with and without the use of binders. Three commonly utilized binder recipes were investigated, and a new binder-less deposition procedure was developed and characterized. The binder recipes yielded sensors with poor film uniformity and poor structural integrity, compared to the binder-less deposition meth...

  15. Measuring the thickness of austenitic weld deposits on carbon steel walls using a magnetic method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wagner, K.

    1988-01-01

    The theoretical background is described of a magnetic method characterized by a marked compensation of the undesirable effect of δ-ferrite content in the deposit, on the accuracy of measuring deposit thickness. A description is also given of the basic types of sensors and the results are summarized of comparing measurements performed on weld deposits of WWER-type reactor pressure vessels. (author). 7 figs., 5 refs

  16. Quantitative estimation of myocardial thickness by the wall thickness map with Tl-201 myocardial SPECT and its clinical use

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sekiai, Yasuhiro; Sawai, Michihiko; Murayama, Susumu

    1988-01-01

    To estimate the wall thickness of left ventricular myocardium objectively and quantitatively, we adopted the device of wall thickness map (WTM) with Tl-201 myocardial SPECT. For validation on measuring left ventricular wall thickness with SPECT, fundamental studies were carried out with phantom models, and clinical studies were performed in 10 cases comparing the results from SPECT with those in echocardiography. To draw the WTM, left ventricular wall thickness was measured using the cut off method from SPECT images obtained at 5.6 mm intervals from the base and middle of left ventricle: short-axis image for the base and middle of left ventricle and vertical and horizontal long-axis images for the apical region. Wall thickness was defined from the number of pixel above the cut off level. Results of fundamental studies disclosed that it is impossible to evaluate the thickness of less than 10 mm by Tl-201 myocardial SPECT but possible to discriminate wall thickness of 10 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm by Tl-201 myocardial SPECT. Echocardiographic results supported the validity of WTM, showing a good linear correlation (r = 0.96) between two methods on measuring wall thickness of left ventricle. We conclude that the WTM applied in this report may be useful for objective and quantitative estimation of myocardial hypertrophy. (author)

  17. Applications of precision ultrasonic thickness gauging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fowler, K.A.; Elfbaum, G.M.; Husarek, V.; Castel, J.G.

    1976-01-01

    Pulse-echo ultrasonic thickness gauging is now recognized as an accurate method of measuring thickness of a product from one side when the velocity of ultrasound in the material is known. The advantages and present limitation of this gauging technique are presented, together with several applications of industrial interest [fr

  18. Mass thickness measurement of dual-sample by dual-energy X-rays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Mincong; Li Hongmei; Chen Ziyu; Shen Ji

    2008-01-01

    X-ray equivalent energy can be used to measure mass thicknesses of materials. Based on this, a method of mass thickness measurement of dual-sample was discussed. It was found that in the range of sample mass thickness under investigation, the equivalent mass attenuation coefficient of a component could be used to compute mass thicknesses of a dual-sample, with relative errors of less than 5%. Mass thickness measurement of a fish sample was performed, and the fish bone and flesh could be displayed separately and clearly by their own mass thicknesses. This indicates that the method is effective in mass thickness measurement of dual-sample of suitable thicknesses. (authors)

  19. The thickness measuring methods by means of radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henker, W.

    1974-01-01

    The thickness measuring devices RMM 24004 produced in German Democratic Republic are described. They consist of measuring probe and central unit. The measuring probe contains radiator and measuring head, which consists of radiation detector and electrometric amplifier. They utilize absorption or backscattering of 147 Pm, 85 Kr, 90 Sr/ 90 Y, 106 Ru/ 106 Rh or 137 Cs radiation in interaction with atoms of measured material. A survey of typical applications is given. (Z.M.)

  20. Transmission electron microscopy of bulk specimens over 10 µm in thickness

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sadamatsu, Sunao, E-mail: sadamatsu@mech.kagoshima-u.ac.jp [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kagoshima University, Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065 (Japan); Tanaka, Masaki; Higashida, Kenji [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Kyushu University, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Matsumura, Syo [Department of Applied Quantum Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Kyushu University, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Ultramicroscopy Research Center, Kyushu University, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan)

    2016-03-15

    We succeeded the observation of microstructures in bulk-sized specimens of over 10 µm in thickness by employing a technique that combines transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with energy-filtered imaging based on electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). This method is unique in that it incorporates the inelastically scattered electrons into the imaging process. Using this technique, bright and sharp images of dislocations in crystalline silicon specimens as thick as 10 µm were obtained. A calibration curve to determine foil thickness of such a thick specimen was also derived. This method simply extends the observable thickness range in TEM. If combined with tilt series of observation over a significant range of angle, it will disclose three dimensional nanostructures in a µm-order block of a specimen, promoting our understanding of the controlling mechanisms behind various bulky material properties. - Highlights: • We developed a method which enables thick specimens to be observed using EF-TEM. • The effects of energy filter width and position on images were determined. • We suggested a method to determine the thickness of a thick film sample. • We achieved observation of microstructures in specimens with a thickness of 10 µm.

  1. Corneal thickness: measurement and implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ehlers, Niels; Hjortdal, Jesper

    2004-03-01

    The thickness of the cornea was reported in more than 100-year-old textbooks on physiological optics (Helmholtz, Gullstrand). Physiological interest was revived in the 1950s by David Maurice, and over the next 50 years, this 'simple' biological parameter has been studied extensively. Several techniques for its measurement have been described and physiological and clinical significance have been studied. In this review, the different methods and techniques of measurement are briefly presented (optical, ultrasound). While the corneal thickness of many animals are the same over a considerable part of the surface, in the human cornea anterior and posterior curvature are not concentric giving rise to a problem of definition. Based on this the precision and accuracy of determining the central corneal thickness are discussed. Changes in corneal thickness reflects changes in function of the boundary layers, in particular the endothelial barrier. The absolute value of thickness is of importance for the estimation of IOP but also in diagnosis of corneal and systemic disorders. Finally it is discussed to what extent the thickness is a biometric parameter of significance, e.g. in the progression of myopia or in the development of retinal detachment.

  2. Simultaneous sound velocity and thickness measurement by the ultrasonic pitch-catch method for corrosion-layer-forming polymeric materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kusano, Masahiro; Takizawa, Shota; Sakai, Tetsuya; Arao, Yoshihiko; Kubouchi, Masatoshi

    2018-01-01

    Since thermosetting resins have excellent resistance to chemicals, fiber reinforced plastics composed of such resins and reinforcement fibers are widely used as construction materials for equipment in chemical plants. Such equipment is usually used for several decades under severe corrosive conditions so that failure due to degradation may result. One of the degradation behaviors in thermosetting resins under chemical solutions is "corrosion-layer-forming" degradation. In this type of degradation, surface resins in contact with a solution corrode, and some of them remain asa corrosion layer on the pristine part. It is difficult to precisely measure the thickness of the pristine part of such degradation type materials by conventional pulse-echo ultrasonic testing, because the sound velocity depends on the degree of corrosion of the polymeric material. In addition, the ultrasonic reflection interface between the pristine part and the corrosion layer is obscure. Thus, we propose a pitch-catch method using a pair of normal and angle probes to measure four parameters: the thicknesses of the pristine part and the corrosion layer, and their respective sound velocities. The validity of the proposed method was confirmed by measuring a two-layer sample and a sample including corroded parts. The results demonstrate that the pitch-catch method can successfully measure the four parameters and evaluate the residual thickness of the pristine part in the corrosion-layer-forming sample. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Determination of bromine in selected polymer materials by a wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometric method - Critical thickness problem and solutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorewoda, Tadeusz; Mzyk, Zofia; Anyszkiewicz, Jacek; Charasińska, Jadwiga

    2015-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop an accurate method for the determination of bromine in polymer materials using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry when the thickness of the sample is less than the bromine critical thickness (tc) value. This is particularly important for analyzing compliance with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive. Mathematically and experimentally estimated tc values in polyethylene and cellulose matrixes were up to several millimeters. Four methods were developed to obtain an accurate result. These methods include the addition of an element with a high mass absorption coefficient, the measurement of the total bromine contained in a defined volume of the sample, the exploitation of tube-Rayleigh line intensities and using the Br-Lβ line.

  4. A New GMRES(m Method for Markov Chains

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bing-Yuan Pu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a class of new accelerated restarted GMRES method for calculating the stationary probability vector of an irreducible Markov chain. We focus on the mechanism of this new hybrid method by showing how to periodically combine the GMRES and vector extrapolation method into a much efficient one for improving the convergence rate in Markov chain problems. Numerical experiments are carried out to demonstrate the efficiency of our new algorithm on several typical Markov chain problems.

  5. A thick placenta: a predictor of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miwa, Ichiro; Sase, Masakatsu; Torii, Mayumi; Sanai, Hiromi; Nakamura, Yasuhiko; Ueda, Kazuyuki

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of an ultrasonographic measurement of placental thickness and the correlation of a thick placenta with adverse perinatal outcome. Placental thickness was measured in single gravidas, 16 to 40 weeks of gestation, between 2005 and 2009. Placentas were considered to be thick if their measured thickness were above the 95th percentile for gestational age. The incidence of thick placentas was 4.3% (138/3,183). Perinatal morbidity and neonatal conditions were worse in cases with thick placenta rather than without thick placenta. Ultrasonographic measurement of placental thickness is a simple method to estimate placental size. Thick placenta may be a useful predictor of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

  6. Nondestructive testing technology for measurement coatings thickness on material

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Mingtai; Wu Lunqiang; Zhang Lianping

    2008-01-01

    The principle, applicability range, advantage and disadvantage of electromagnetic, eddy current method, β backscatter method and XRF methods for nondestructive testing coating thickness of material have been reviewed. The relevant apparatus and manufacturers have been summarized. And the application and developmental direction of manufacturers for nondestructive testing coatings thickness has been foreshowed. (authors)

  7. New method for thickness determination and microscopic imaging of graphene-like two-dimensional materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qin Xudong; Chen Yonghai; Liu Yu; Zhu Laipan; Li Yuan; Wu Qing; Huang Wei

    2016-01-01

    We employed the microscopic reflectance difference spectroscopy (micro-RDS) to determine the layer-number and microscopically image the surface topography of graphene and MoS 2 samples. The contrast image shows the efficiency and reliability of this new clipping technique. As a low-cost, quantifiable, no-contact and non-destructive method, it is not concerned with the characteristic signal of certain materials and can be applied to arbitrary substrates. Therefore it is a perfect candidate for characterizing the thickness of graphene-like two-dimensional materials. (paper)

  8. Automatic measuring system of zirconium thickness for zirconium liner cladding tubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsui, K.; Yamaguchi, H.; Hiroshima, T.; Sakamoto, T.; Murayama, R.

    1985-01-01

    An automatic system of pure zirconium liner thickness for zirconium-zircaloy cladding tubes has been successfully developed. The system consists of three parts. (1) An ultrasonic thickness measuring method for mother tubes before cold rolling. (2) An electromagnetic thickness measuring method for the manufactured tubes. (3) An image processing method for the cross sectional view of the manufactured cut tube samples. In Japanese nuclear industry, zirconium-zircaloy cladding tubes have been tested in order to realize load following operation in the atomic power plant. In order to provide for the practical use in the near future, Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. has been studied and established the practical manufacturing process of the zirconium liner cladding tubes. The zirconium-liner cladding tube is a duplex tube comprising an inner layer of pure zirconium bonded to zircaloy metallurgically. The thickness of the pure zirconium is about 10 % of the total wall thickness. Several types of the automatic thickness measuring methods have been investigated instead of the usual microscopic viewing method in which the liner thickness is measured by the microscopic cross sectional view of the cut tube samples

  9. Nondestructive method to coat thickness measurements through X-ray fluorescence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sanchez, F.

    1986-01-01

    It's described a system that permits thickness measurement and composition of Sn-Pb alloys to simultaneous measurement of Au over Ni over any base, beyond convestionals measurements, including flash coats or touch. (C.M.) [pt

  10. Research progress on the measurement of human lens thickness in vivo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Huan Yang

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The precise measurement in lens thickness in vivo, provides great application value for intraocular accommodation and ametropia development mechanism research. And it has great clinical significance for the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma and cataract. Currently, many ultrasonic methods and optical methods are used in measuring lens thickness. The measurement principles, advantages, disadvantages and the accuracy of the instruments are summarized in this paper. Among these methods, Orbscan II, Pentacam, Lenstar and AS-OCT can be used to measure lens thickness instead of A-scan. More important is the fact that UL-OCT can dynamically monitor the change of the lens thickness with intraocular accommodation. Choosing an instrument with higher measuring accuracy to examine the lens thickness, can provide more accurate and convincing lens thickness data for clinical and scientific research.

  11. A method to evaluate relative ovicidal effects of soil microfungi on thick-shelled eggs of animal-parasitic nematodes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thapa, Sundar; Meyling, Nicolai Vitt; Katakam, Kiran Kumar

    2015-01-01

    Thick-shelled eggs of animal-parasitic ascarid nematodes can survive and remain infective in the environment for years. The present study evaluated a simple in vitro method and evaluation scheme to assess the relative effect of two species of soil microfungi, Pochonia chlamydosporia Biotype 10...

  12. Self-heating forecasting for thick laminate specimens in fatigue

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lahuerta, F.; Westphal, T.; Nijssen, R. P. L.

    2014-12-01

    Thick laminate sections can be found from the tip to the root in most common wind turbine blade designs. Obtaining accurate and reliable design data for thick laminates is subject of investigations, which include experiments on thick laminate coupons. Due to the poor thermal conductivity properties of composites and the material self-heating that occurs during the fatigue loading, high temperature gradients may appear through the laminate thickness. In the case of thick laminates in high load regimes, the core temperature might influence the mechanical properties, leading to premature failures. In the present work a method to forecast the self-heating of thick laminates in fatigue loading is presented. The mechanical loading is related with the laminate self-heating, via the cyclic strain energy and the energy loss ratio. Based on this internal volumetric heat load a thermal model is built and solved to obtain the temperature distribution in the transient state. Based on experimental measurements of the energy loss factor for 10mm thick coupons, the method is described and the resulting predictions are compared with experimental surface temperature measurements on 10 and 30mm UD thick laminate specimens.

  13. Evaluation of the Steel Creek ecosystem in relation to the proposed restart of the L-reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, M.H.; Sharitz, R.R.; Gladden, J.B.

    1982-10-01

    This report summarizes the findings of slightly more than one year's study of the Steel Creek ecosystem. Generally, the findings have allowed us to refine our understanding of the structural and functional organization of the Steel Creek ecosystem which is an essential prerequisite for predicting the impacts associated with L-reactor restart. Reanalysis of the Steel Creek plant community relationships using 1981 aerial photography revealed that this component of the delta ecosystem continues to change as a result of natural successional processes. The major detectable changes have occurred on the more elevated portions of Steel Creek delta where coverage by woody species (especially willow) is continuing to increase. This successional woody community is invading areas previously dominated by persistent herbaceous species such as cut grass. Eleven vegetation associations were identified in the Steel Creek delta area, including two associations that were not apparently affected by the earlier reactor operations

  14. The application of XRF to the thickness measurement of paper

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo Wei; Lai Wangchang; Guo Shengliang; Cheng Feng

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to study on the application of XRF to the thickness measurement of paper. The mass thickness of a number of paper samples were respectively measured by the X-ray absorption method and the primary rays of radiated sources scattering method. The measurement results had been compared with each other, and got several helpful discussions. The measurement was using the IED-2000P type X-ray fluorescence analyzer from Chengdu Micro-Particle Technology Ltd., which is composed of a Si-pin X-ray detector with thermo electrical cooler, and double isotope sources ( 238 Pu). The experiment indicated that the veracity of the X-ray absorption method on the thickness measurement of paper is better than the primary rays of radiated sources scattering method, and the application of the primary rays of radiated sources scattering method to the thickness measurement of paper is verified as feasible. (authors)

  15. APPLIED ORIGAMI. Origami of thick panels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yan; Peng, Rui; You, Zhong

    2015-07-24

    Origami patterns, including the rigid origami patterns in which flat inflexible sheets are joined by creases, are primarily created for zero-thickness sheets. In order to apply them to fold structures such as roofs, solar panels, and space mirrors, for which thickness cannot be disregarded, various methods have been suggested. However, they generally involve adding materials to or offsetting panels away from the idealized sheet without altering the kinematic model used to simulate folding. We develop a comprehensive kinematic synthesis for rigid origami of thick panels that differs from the existing kinematic model but is capable of reproducing motions identical to that of zero-thickness origami. The approach, proven to be effective for typical origami, can be readily applied to fold real engineering structures. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  16. Thickness Measurement of Surface Attachment on Plate with Lamb Wave

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Xianglong; Zhang, Yinghong; Wen, Lichao; He, Yehu

    2017-12-01

    Aiming at the thickness detection of the plate surface attachment, a nondestructive testing method based on the Lamb wave is presented. This method utilizes Lamb wave propagation characteristics of signals in a bi-layer medium to measure the surface attachment plate thickness. Propagation of Lamb wave in bi-layer elastic is modeled and analyzed. The two-dimensional simulation model of electromagnetic ultrasonic plate - scale is established. The simulation is conducted by software COMSOL for simulation analysis under different boiler scale thickness wave form curve. Through this study, the thickness of the attached material can be judged by analyzing the characteristics of the received signal when the thickness of the surface of the plate is measured.

  17. Accurate and efficient radiation transport in optically thick media -- by means of the Symbolic Implicit Monte Carlo method in the difference formulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Szoke, A; Brooks, E D; McKinley, M; Daffin, F

    2005-01-01

    The equations of radiation transport for thermal photons are notoriously difficult to solve in thick media without resorting to asymptotic approximations such as the diffusion limit. One source of this difficulty is that in thick, absorbing media thermal emission is almost completely balanced by strong absorption. In a previous publication [SB03], the photon transport equation was written in terms of the deviation of the specific intensity from the local equilibrium field. We called the new form of the equations the difference formulation. The difference formulation is rigorously equivalent to the original transport equation. It is particularly advantageous in thick media, where the radiation field approaches local equilibrium and the deviations from the Planck distribution are small. The difference formulation for photon transport also clarifies the diffusion limit. In this paper, the transport equation is solved by the Symbolic Implicit Monte Carlo (SIMC) method and a comparison is made between the standard formulation and the difference formulation. The SIMC method is easily adapted to the derivative source terms of the difference formulation, and a remarkable reduction in noise is obtained when the difference formulation is applied to problems involving thick media

  18. Asymmetry of Peak Thicknesses between the Superior and Inferior Retinal Nerve Fiber Layers for Early Glaucoma Detection: A Simple Screening Method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bae, Hyoung Won; Lee, Sang Yeop; Kim, Sangah; Park, Chan Keum; Lee, Kwanghyun; Kim, Chan Yun; Seong, Gong Je

    2018-01-01

    To assess whether the asymmetry in the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness between superior and inferior hemispheres on optical coherence tomography (OCT) is useful for early detection of glaucoma. The patient population consisted of Training set (a total of 60 subjects with early glaucoma and 59 normal subjects) and Validation set (30 subjects with early glaucoma and 30 normal subjects). Two kinds of ratios were employed to measure the asymmetry between the superior and inferior pRNFL thickness using OCT. One was the ratio of the superior to inferior peak thicknesses (peak pRNFL thickness ratio; PTR), and the other was the ratio of the superior to inferior average thickness (average pRNFL thickness ratio; ATR). The diagnostic abilities of the PTR and ATR were compared to the color code classification in OCT. Using the optimal cut-off values of the PTR and ATR obtained from the Training set, the two ratios were independently validated for diagnostic capability. For the Training set, the sensitivities/specificities of the PTR, ATR, quadrants color code classification, and clock-hour color code classification were 81.7%/93.2%, 71.7%/74.6%, 75.0%/93.2%, and 75.0%/79.7%, respectively. The PTR showed a better diagnostic performance for early glaucoma detection than the ATR and the clock-hour color code classification in terms of areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) (0.898, 0.765, and 0.773, respectively). For the Validation set, the PTR also showed the best sensitivity and AUC. The PTR is a simple method with considerable diagnostic ability for early glaucoma detection. It can, therefore, be widely used as a new screening method for early glaucoma. © Copyright: Yonsei University College of Medicine 2018

  19. Gammatography of thick lead vessels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raghunath, V.M.; Bhatnagar, P.K.; Sundaram, V.M.

    1979-01-01

    Radiography, scintillation and GM counting and dose measurements using ionisation chamber equipment are commonly used for detecting flaws/voids in materials. The first method is mostly used for steel vessels and to a lesser extent thin lead vessels also and is essentially qualitative. Dose measuring techniques are used for very thick and large lead vessels for which high strength radioactive sources are required, with its inherent handling problems. For vessels of intermediate thicknesses, it is ideal to use a small strength source and a GM or scintillation counter assembly. At the Reactor Research Centre, Kalpakkam, such a system was used for checking three lead vessels of thicknesses varying from 38mm to 65mm. The tolerances specified were +- 4% variation in lead thickness. The measurements also revealed the non concentricity of one vessel which had a thickness varying from 38mm to 44mm. The second vessel was patently non-concentric and the dimensional variation was truly reproduced in the measurements. A third vessel was fabricated with careful control of dimensions and the measurements exhibited good concentricity. Small deviations were observed, attributable to imperfect bondings between steel and lead. This technique has the following advantages: (a) weaker sources used result in less handling problems reducing the personnel exposures considerably; (b) the sensitivity of the instrument is quite good because of better statistics; (c) the time required for scanning a small vessel is more, but a judicious use of a scintillometer for initial fast scan will help in reducing the total scanning time; (d) this method can take advantage of the dimensional variations themselves to get the calibration and to estimate the deviations from specified tolerances. (auth.)

  20. Intraocular pressure in a cohort of healthy eastern European schoolchildren: variations in method and corneal thickness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krzyżanowska-Berkowska Patrycja

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Intraocular pressure (IOP in the developing eye of a child is not always easy to measure and there is no technique that is known to be the most accurate for the young eye. Measurements are needed on many cohorts of children with different tonometers to determine how the values correlate between instruments, whether corneal parameters affect readings and whether correlations between age and IOP values can be discerned. The aim of this study was to undertake a comparative analysis of three different tonometers on a group of healthy children to see whether differences exist and whether these may be related to central corneal thickness and/or radius of curvature. In addition, the study adds to the relatively small body of literature on IOP in the growing eye which will collectively allow trends to be identified and ultimately norms to be established. Methods IOP was measured on 115 eyes in a group of Polish children, aged between 5–17 years (mean ± standard deviation [SD] 11.3 ± 3.0 years using three different tonometers: non-contact (NCT, the ICare and Goldmann applanation (GAT. Readings obtained were compared between instruments and with central corneal thickness and radius of curvature. Results The ICare tonometer provided statistically higher IOP values (16.9 ± 3.4 mmHg than the GAT (14.7 ± 2.9 mmHg regardless of corneal thickness and whether or not a correction factor was applied. A correlation was found between central corneal thickness (CCT and IOP values obtained with all three tonometers but only the IOP values detected with the ICare tonometer showed a statistically significant correlation with radius of curvature (p  Conclusions IOP measurements on children vary significantly between instruments and correlations are affected by the corneal thickness. Further studies on children are needed to determine which instrument is most appropriate and to derive a normative IOP scale for the growing eye.

  1. A rapid method for creating qualitative images indicative of thick oil emulsion on the ocean's surface from imaging spectrometer data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kokaly, Raymond F.; Hoefen, Todd M.; Livo, K. Eric; Swayze, Gregg A.; Leifer, Ira; McCubbin, Ian B.; Eastwood, Michael L.; Green, Robert O.; Lundeen, Sarah R.; Sarture, Charles M.; Steele, Denis; Ryan, Thomas; Bradley, Eliza S.; Roberts, Dar A.; ,

    2010-01-01

    This report describes a method to create color-composite images indicative of thick oil:water emulsions on the surface of clear, deep ocean water by using normalized difference ratios derived from remotely sensed data collected by an imaging spectrometer. The spectral bands used in the normalized difference ratios are located in wavelength regions where the spectra of thick oil:water emulsions on the ocean's surface have a distinct shape compared to clear water and clouds. In contrast to quantitative analyses, which require rigorous conversion to reflectance, the method described is easily computed and can be applied rapidly to radiance data or data that have been atmospherically corrected or ground-calibrated to reflectance. Examples are shown of the method applied to Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer data collected May 17 and May 19, 2010, over the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

  2. Development of cutting and welding methods for thick-walled stainless steel support and containment structures for ITER

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jones, L.; Maisonnier, D.; Goussain, J.; Johnson, G.; Petring, D.; Wernwag, L.

    1998-01-01

    In ITER the containment and support structures are made from 316L(N)-IG (ITER Grade) stainless steel plate, 40 to 70 mm thick. The structures are divided into twenty sectors which have to be welded together in situ. The three areas of work described in this paper are, CO 2 laser welding, plasma cutting and CO 2 laser cutting. CO 2 laser welding offers significant advantages due to its high speed and low distortion and the most powerful commercial laser in Europe has been used to investigate single pass welding of thick plates, with strong welds up to 35 mm thick being achieved in one pass. For cutting, the space available on the back-side to collect debris and protect fragile components from damage is limited to 30 mm. A static, water-cooled backside protection plate proved unable to contain the debris from plasma cutting so a reciprocating backside protection system with dry ceramic heat shield demonstrated a solution. A 10 kW CO 2 laser system for nitrogen-assisted laser cutting, provided successful results at 40 mm thickness. This technique shows considerable promise as significant reductions in through power and rate of debris production are expected compared with plasma cutting and thicker cuts appear feasible. The results presented herein represent significant technical advances and will be strong candidates for the mix of methods which will have to be used for the assembly and maintenance of the ITER machine. (authors)

  3. A semi-analytical solution for elastic analysis of rotating thick cylindrical shells with variable thickness using disk form multilayers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zamani Nejad, Mohammad; Jabbari, Mehdi; Ghannad, Mehdi

    2014-01-01

    Using disk form multilayers, a semi-analytical solution has been derived for determination of displacements and stresses in a rotating cylindrical shell with variable thickness under uniform pressure. The thick cylinder is divided into disk form layers form with their thickness corresponding to the thickness of the cylinder. Due to the existence of shear stress in the thick cylindrical shell with variable thickness, the equations governing disk layers are obtained based on first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT). These equations are in the form of a set of general differential equations. Given that the cylinder is divided into n disks, n sets of differential equations are obtained. The solution of this set of equations, applying the boundary conditions and continuity conditions between the layers, yields displacements and stresses. A numerical solution using finite element method (FEM) is also presented and good agreement was found.

  4. A Semi-Analytical Solution for Elastic Analysis of Rotating Thick Cylindrical Shells with Variable Thickness Using Disk Form Multilayers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Zamani Nejad

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Using disk form multilayers, a semi-analytical solution has been derived for determination of displacements and stresses in a rotating cylindrical shell with variable thickness under uniform pressure. The thick cylinder is divided into disk form layers form with their thickness corresponding to the thickness of the cylinder. Due to the existence of shear stress in the thick cylindrical shell with variable thickness, the equations governing disk layers are obtained based on first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT. These equations are in the form of a set of general differential equations. Given that the cylinder is divided into n disks, n sets of differential equations are obtained. The solution of this set of equations, applying the boundary conditions and continuity conditions between the layers, yields displacements and stresses. A numerical solution using finite element method (FEM is also presented and good agreement was found.

  5. Terahertz Mapping of Microstructure and Thickness Variations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roth, Donald J.; Seebo, Jeffrey P.; Winfree, William P.

    2010-01-01

    A noncontact method has been devised for mapping or imaging spatial variations in the thickness and microstructure of a layer of a dielectric material. The method involves (1) placement of the dielectric material on a metal substrate, (2) through-the-thickness pulse-echo measurements by use of electromagnetic waves in the terahertz frequency range with a raster scan in a plane parallel to the substrate surface that do not require coupling of any kind, and (3) appropriate processing of the digitized measurement data.

  6. Ballistic Simulation Method for Lithium Ion Batteries (BASIMLIB) Using Thick Shell Composites (TSC) in LS-DYNA

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-08-04

    BAllistic SImulation Method for Lithium Ion Batteries (BASIMLIB) using Thick Shell Composites (TSC) in LS-DYNA Venkatesh Babu, Dr. Matt Castanier, Dr...and behavior of the cells through experimental and modeling at their crash worthiness laboratory • Most of the simulation work on the batteries are...at a single cell level and gap exists to simulate the batteries at their full pack capacity - Firstly, requires an enormous amount of computational

  7. Interferometric measurement of film thickness during bubble blowing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Z.; Mandracchia, B.; Ferraro, V.; Tammaro, D.; Di Maio, E.; Maffettone, P. L.; Ferraro, P.

    2017-06-01

    In this paper, we propose digital holography in transmission configuration as an effective method to measure the time-dependent thickness of polymeric films during bubble blowing. We designed a complete set of experiments to measure bubble thickness, including the evaluation of the refractive index of the polymer solution. We report the measurement of thickness distribution along the film during the bubble formation process until the bubble`s rupture. Based on those data, the variation range and variation trend of bubble film thickness are clearly measured during the process of expansion to fracture is indicated.

  8. Methods for working thick seams and research on increasing their effectiveness

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sikora, W

    1976-01-01

    In Poland nearly 40 per cent of all coal is extracted from seams more than 3 m. thick. In absolute figures this represents about 70 million tons of coal per year. Working seams with thicknesses up to 3.5 m. does not present, at present, major difficulties. Working thicker seams calls for a steady improvement in order to increase the degree of utilizaion of the deposit and to enlarge the concentration of output. The seams are worked under protected surface structures which compels the mines to use hydraulic stowing with all its advantages and disadvantages. Rock burst hazard, the control of which is the basic problem hindering the mining, is a further problem. 3 refs.

  9. The performance of biological anaerobic filters packed with sludge-fly ash ceramic particles (SFCP) and commercial ceramic particles (CCP) during the restart period: effect of the C/N ratios and filter media.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yue, Qinyan; Han, Shuxin; Yue, Min; Gao, Baoyu; Li, Qian; Yu, Hui; Zhao, Yaqin; Qi, Yuanfeng

    2009-11-01

    Two lab-scale upflow biological anaerobic filters (BAF) packed with sludge-fly ash ceramic particles (SFCP) and commercial ceramic particles (CCP) were employed to investigate effects of the C/N ratios and filter media on the BAF performance during the restart period. The results indicated that BAF could be restarted normally after one-month cease. The C/N ratio of 4.0 was the thresholds of nitrate removal and nitrite accumulation. TN removal and phosphate uptake reached the maximum value at the same C/N ratio of 5.5. Ammonia formation was also found and excreted a negative influence on TN removal, especially when higher C/N ratios were applied. Nutrients were mainly degraded within the height of 25 cm from the bottom. In addition, SFCP, as novel filter media manufactured by wastes-dewatered sludge and fly ash, represented a better potential in inhibiting nitrite accumulation, TN removal and phosphate uptake due to their special characteristics in comparison with CCP.

  10. Assessment of Nuclear Fuels using Radiographic Thickness Measurement Method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Muhammad Abir; Fahima Islam; Hyoung Koo Lee; Daniel Wachs

    2014-11-01

    The Convert branch of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) focuses on the development of high uranium density fuels for research and test reactors for nonproliferation. This fuel is aimed to convert low density high enriched uranium (HEU) based fuel to high density low enriched uranium (LEU) based fuel for high performance research reactors (HPRR). There are five U.S. reactors that fall under the HPRR category, including: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor (MITR), the National Bureau of Standards Reactor (NBSR), the Missouri University Research Reactor (UMRR), the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), and the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). U-Mo alloy fuel phase in the form of either monolithic or dispersion foil type fuels, such as ATR Full-size In center flux trap Position (AFIP) and Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactor (RERTR), are being designed for this purpose. The fabrication process1 of RERTR is susceptible to introducing a variety of fuel defects. A dependable quality control method is required during fabrication of RERTR miniplates to maintain the allowable design tolerances, therefore evaluating and analytically verifying the fabricated miniplates for maintaining quality standards as well as safety. The purpose of this work is to analyze the thickness of the fabricated RERTR-12 miniplates using non-destructive technique to meet the fuel plate specification for RERTR fuel to be used in the ATR.

  11. Synthesis and Characterization of Nanostructured ZnO Thick Film Gas Sensors Prepared by Screen Printing Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Y. BORSE

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Nanosized ZnO was prepared by self propagating solution combustion synthesis method. The synthesized ZnO thick films were deposited on alumina substrate by using standard screen printing technique and fired at 700 0C. The films were characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM and energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDAX. The electrical behaviors of ZnO thick films were investigated. From XRD spectra it is revealed that ZnO films are polycrystalline in nature. The average grain size of 87.44 nm has been estimated for the film fired at 700 0C using Scherrer’s formula. EDAX clearly shows the peaks corresponding to Zn and O element which confirms the successful growth of ZnO films. Gas sensing study for these samples shows high sensitivity and selectivity towards NO2 at all operating temperatures. The resistivity, TCR and activation energy of the ZnO films have been evaluated and discussed.

  12. Method of repairing pressure tube type reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asada, Takashi.

    1983-01-01

    Purpose: To enable to re-start the reactor operation in a short time, upon occurrence of failures in a pressure tube, as well as directly examine the cause for the failures in the pressure tube. Method: The pressure tube reactor main body comprises a calandria tank of a briquette form, pressure tubes, fuel assemblies and an iron-water shielding body. If failure is resulted to a pressure tube, the reactor operation is at first shutdown and nuclear fuel assemblies are extracted to withdraw from the pressure tube. Then, to an inlet pipe way and an outlet pipeway connected to the failed pressure tube, are attached plugs by means of welding or the like at the appropriate position where the radiation exposure dose is lower and the repairing work can be performed with ease. The pressure tube is disconnected to withdraw from the inlet pipeway and the outlet pipeway and, instead, radiation shielding plug tube is inserted and shield cooling device is actuated if required, wherein the reactor is actuated to re-start the operation. (Yoshino, Y.)

  13. Contribution to the study of slab thickness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moraitis, G.A.; Rorris, G.P.

    1978-01-01

    A method is proposed for calculating the time-independent values of the equivalent slab thickness of the ionosphere, defined as the ratio of the total electron content to the corresponding maximum electron density of the F region. Periodic variations of slab thickness are studied and are correlated to relative changes in exospheric temperature, deduced from the OGO-6 model

  14. Wall thickness measurements using digital radiography - state of the art

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wawrzinek, T.; Zscherpel, U.; Bellon, C.

    1997-01-01

    Projection radiography is a method long since used for wall thickness measurements in pipes. Another method sometimes applied is thickness determination based on measuring changes of the optical density by using radioactive isotopes, as in this case the effects of stray radiation are negligible. The two methods hitherto were to be performed manually, and wall thickness data were derived by calculations with a pocket calculator. The required measuring and calculating work can now be automated by way of computerized processing of digitised images. The paper presents the software for automated evaluation of data of a selected location after system calibration. (orig./CB) [de

  15. Thin coating thickness determination using radioisotope-excited x-ray fluorescence spectrometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Del Castillo, Lorena A.; Calix, Virginia S.

    2001-01-01

    Three different approaches on thin coating thickness determination using a radioisotope-excited x-ray fluorescence spectrometry were demonstrated and results were compared. A standard of thin layer of gold (Au) on a nickel (Ni) substrate from the US National Bureau of Standards (with a nominal thickness of 0.300505 microns of at least 99.9% Au electrodeposited over 2 nils of Ni) on low carbon steel (1010) was analyzed using a Cd 109-excited XRF system. Au thickness computations were done using the (a) thin standard approach, (b) thick standard approach, and (c) x-ray absorption method (ASTM A754-79 1982). These three methods yielded results within the limit set by the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM), which is +/-3%. Of the three methods, the thick standard yielded the best result with 0.124% error. (Author)

  16. Identifying and Analyzing Novel Epilepsy-Related Genes Using Random Walk with Restart Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Guo

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available As a pathological condition, epilepsy is caused by abnormal neuronal discharge in brain which will temporarily disrupt the cerebral functions. Epilepsy is a chronic disease which occurs in all ages and would seriously affect patients’ personal lives. Thus, it is highly required to develop effective medicines or instruments to treat the disease. Identifying epilepsy-related genes is essential in order to understand and treat the disease because the corresponding proteins encoded by the epilepsy-related genes are candidates of the potential drug targets. In this study, a pioneering computational workflow was proposed to predict novel epilepsy-related genes using the random walk with restart (RWR algorithm. As reported in the literature RWR algorithm often produces a number of false positive genes, and in this study a permutation test and functional association tests were implemented to filter the genes identified by RWR algorithm, which greatly reduce the number of suspected genes and result in only thirty-three novel epilepsy genes. Finally, these novel genes were analyzed based upon some recently published literatures. Our findings implicate that all novel genes were closely related to epilepsy. It is believed that the proposed workflow can also be applied to identify genes related to other diseases and deepen our understanding of the mechanisms of these diseases.

  17. Finite-Temperature Variational Monte Carlo Method for Strongly Correlated Electron Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takai, Kensaku; Ido, Kota; Misawa, Takahiro; Yamaji, Youhei; Imada, Masatoshi

    2016-03-01

    A new computational method for finite-temperature properties of strongly correlated electrons is proposed by extending the variational Monte Carlo method originally developed for the ground state. The method is based on the path integral in the imaginary-time formulation, starting from the infinite-temperature state that is well approximated by a small number of certain random initial states. Lower temperatures are progressively reached by the imaginary-time evolution. The algorithm follows the framework of the quantum transfer matrix and finite-temperature Lanczos methods, but we extend them to treat much larger system sizes without the negative sign problem by optimizing the truncated Hilbert space on the basis of the time-dependent variational principle (TDVP). This optimization algorithm is equivalent to the stochastic reconfiguration (SR) method that has been frequently used for the ground state to optimally truncate the Hilbert space. The obtained finite-temperature states allow an interpretation based on the thermal pure quantum (TPQ) state instead of the conventional canonical-ensemble average. Our method is tested for the one- and two-dimensional Hubbard models and its accuracy and efficiency are demonstrated.

  18. Development method for measuring thickness of nuclei and coating of fuel plates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borges Junior, Reinaldo

    2013-01-01

    One of the most important components of a nuclear reactor is the Nuclear Fuel. Currently, the most advanced commercial fuel, whose applicability in Brazilian reactors has been developed by IPEN since 1985, is the silicide U 3 Si 2 . This is formed by fuel plates with nuclei dispersion (where the fissile material (U 3 Si 2 ) is homogeneously dispersed in a matrix of aluminum) coated aluminum. This fuel is produced in Brazil with developed technology, the result of the efforts made by the group of manufacturing nuclear fuel (CCN - Center of Nuclear Fuel) of IPEN. Considering the necessity of increasing the power of the IEA- R1 and Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor Building (RMB), for the production of radioisotopes - mainly for the area of medicine - there will be significant increase in the production of nuclear fuel at IPEN. Given this situation, if necessary, make the development of more modern and automated classification techniques. Aiming at this goal, this work developed a new computational method for measuring thickness of core and cladding of fuel plates, which are able to perform such measurements in less time and with more meaningful statistical data when compared with the current method of measurement. (author)

  19. Automated Estimation of Melanocytic Skin Tumor Thickness by Ultrasonic Radiofrequency Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrekute, Kristina; Valiukeviciene, Skaidra; Raisutis, Renaldas; Linkeviciute, Gintare; Makstiene, Jurgita; Kliunkiene, Renata

    2016-05-01

    High-frequency (>20-MHz) ultrasound (US) is a noninvasive preoperative tool for assessment of melanocytic skin tumor thickness. Ultrasonic melanocytic skin tumor thickness estimation is not always easy and is related to the experience of the clinician. In this article, we present an automated thickness measurement method based on time-frequency analysis of US radiofrequency signals. The study was performed on 52 thin (≤1-mm) melanocytic skin tumors (46 melanocytic nevi and 6 melanomas). Radiofrequency signals were obtained with a single-element focused transducer (fundamental frequency, 22 MHz; bandwidth, 12-28 MHz). The radiofrequency data were analyzed in the time-frequency domain to make the tumor boundaries more noticeable. The thicknesses of the tumors were evaluated by 3 different metrics: histologically measured Breslow thickness, manually measured US thickness, and automatically measured US thickness. The results showed a higher correlation coefficient between the automatically measured US thickness and Breslow thickness (r= 0.83; Pmeasured US thickness (r = 0.68; P measurement algorithm was 96.55%, and the specificity was 78.26% compared with histologic measurement. The sensitivity of the manually measured US thickness was 75.86%, and the specificity was 73.91%. The efficient automated tumor thickness measurement method developed could be used as a tool for preoperative assessment of melanocytic skin tumor thickness. © 2016 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

  20. Intraocular pressure in a cohort of healthy eastern European schoolchildren: variations in method and corneal thickness

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Intraocular pressure (IOP) in the developing eye of a child is not always easy to measure and there is no technique that is known to be the most accurate for the young eye. Measurements are needed on many cohorts of children with different tonometers to determine how the values correlate between instruments, whether corneal parameters affect readings and whether correlations between age and IOP values can be discerned. The aim of this study was to undertake a comparative analysis of three different tonometers on a group of healthy children to see whether differences exist and whether these may be related to central corneal thickness and/or radius of curvature. In addition, the study adds to the relatively small body of literature on IOP in the growing eye which will collectively allow trends to be identified and ultimately norms to be established. Methods IOP was measured on 115 eyes in a group of Polish children, aged between 5–17 years (mean ± standard deviation [SD] 11.3 ± 3.0 years) using three different tonometers: non-contact (NCT), the ICare and Goldmann applanation (GAT). Readings obtained were compared between instruments and with central corneal thickness and radius of curvature. Results The ICare tonometer provided statistically higher IOP values (16.9 ± 3.4 mmHg) than the GAT (14.7 ± 2.9 mmHg) regardless of corneal thickness and whether or not a correction factor was applied. A correlation was found between central corneal thickness (CCT) and IOP values obtained with all three tonometers but only the IOP values detected with the ICare tonometer showed a statistically significant correlation with radius of curvature (p < 0.004). No correlations with age or gender were found for IOP values measured with any of the instruments. Conclusions IOP measurements on children vary significantly between instruments and correlations are affected by the corneal thickness. Further studies on children are needed to determine which

  1. Application of X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF): thickness and chemical composition determination of thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scapin, Valdirene de Oliveira.

    2004-01-01

    In this work a procedure is described for thickness and quantitative chemical composition of thin films by wavelength dispersion X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) using Fundamental Parameters method. This method was validated according to quality assurance standard and applied sample Al, Cr, TiO2, Ni, ZrO2 (single thickness) and Ni/Cr (double thickness) on glass; Ni on steel and metallic zinc and TiO2 on metallic iron (single thickness), all the sample were prepared for physical deposition of vapor (PVD). The thickness had been compared with Absorption (FRX-A) and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) methods; the result showed good efficiency of the fundamental parameters method. Sample structural characteristics analyzed by X ray diffraction (XRD) showed any influence in the thickness determinations. (author)

  2. Measurement of the residual stress distribution in a thick pre-stretched aluminum plate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, S. X.; Li, X. Q.; M, S.; Zhang, Y. C.; Gong, Y. D.

    2008-12-01

    Thick pre-stretched aluminum alloy plates are widely used in aircraft, while machining distortion caused by initial residual stress release in thick plates is a common and serious problem. To reduce the distortion, the residual stress distribution in thick plate must be measured. According to the characteristics of the thick pre-stretched aluminum alloy plate, based the elastic mechanical theory, this article deduces the modified layer-removal strain method adapting two different strain situations, which are caused by tensile and compressive stress. To validate this method, the residual stresses distribution along the thick direction of plate 2D70T351 is measured by this method, it is shown that the new method deduced in this paper is simple and accurate, and is very useful in engineering.

  3. Effect of annealing, thickness ratio and bend angle on springback of AA6061-T6 with non-uniform thickness section

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adnan M.F.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Non-uniform thickness section section is considered one of the most effective approaches to reduce automotive part weight. Reduction in term of mass and size result in less fuel consumption and greenhouse gases. Thickness is the most significant parameter to formability, therefore forming a section with non-uniform thickness becomes a great challenge. Improper process and incorrect decision may lead to severe defect and one of the main concerns is the springback. This study will focus on springback behaviour of non-uniform thickness AA6061 strip with complex profile using Taguchi Method. Profile projector (PC 3000 is used to measure the spring back and two-line technique is applied to measure angles (after loading between two lines. Three parameters (i.e. annealing temperature, thickness ratio and bend angle are studied, and results determine that the most significant parameter is bend angle, followed by thickness ratio, and then by the annealing temperature of the specimen during bending process.

  4. A Study on the Effect of Electrolyte Thickness on Atmospheric Corrosion of Carbon Steel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chung, Kyeong Woo; Kim, Kwang Bum

    1998-01-01

    Effect of electrolyte layer thickness and increase in concentration of electrolyte during electrolyte thining on the atmospheric corrosion of carbon steel were investigated using EIS and cathodic polarization technique. The electrolyte layer thickness was controlled via two methods : one is mechanical method with microsyringe applying a different amount of electrolyte onto the metal surface to give different electrolyte thickness with the same electrolyte concentration. The other is drying method in which water layer thickness decreases through drying, causing increase in concentration of electrolyte during electrolyte thinning. In the region whose corrosion rate is controlled by cathodic reaction, corrosion rate for mechanical method is larger than that for drying method. However, for the electrolyte layers thinner than 20 ∼ 30 m, increase in concentration of electrolyte cause a higher corrosion rate for the case of the mechanical method compared with that of drying method. For a carbon steel covered with 0.1M Na 2 SO 4 , maximum corrosion rate is found at an electrolyte thickness of 45 ∼ 55 μm for mechanical method. However, maximum corrosion rate is found at an electrolyte thickness of 20 ∼ 35 μm for drying method. The limiting current is inversely proportional to electrolyte thickness for electrolyte thicker than 20 ∼ 30 μm. However, further decrease of the electrolyte thickness leads to an electrolyte thickness-independent limiting current reagion, where the oxygen rate is controlled by the solvation of oxygen at the electrolyte/gas interface. Diffusion limiting current for drying method is smaller compared with that for mechanica control. This can be attributed to decreasing in O 2 solubility caused by increase in concentration of electrolyte during electrolyte thining

  5. Generalized method for computation of true thickness and x-ray intensity information in highly blurred sub-millimeter bone features in clinical CT images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pakdel, Amirreza; Robert, Normand; Fialkov, Jeffrey; Maloul, Asmaa; Whyne, Cari

    2012-12-07

    In clinical computed tomography (CT) images, cortical bone features with sub-millimeter (sub-mm) thickness are substantially blurred, such that their thickness is overestimated and their intensity appears underestimated. Therefore, any inquiry of the geometry or the density of such bones based on these images is severely error prone. We present a model-based method for estimating the true thickness and intensity magnitude of cortical and trabecular bone layers at localized regions of complex shell bones down to 0.25 mm. The method also computes the width of the corresponding point spread function. This approach is applicable on any CT image data, and does not rely on any scanner-specific parameter inputs beyond what is inherently available in the images themselves. The method applied on CT intensity profiles of custom phantoms mimicking shell-bones produced average cortical thickness errors of 0.07 ± 0.04 mm versus an average error of 0.47 ± 0.29 mm in the untreated cases (t(55) = 10.92, p ≪ 0.001)). Similarly, the average error of intensity magnitude estimates of the method were 22 ± 2.2 HU versus an error of 445 ± 137 HU in the untreated cases (t(55) = 26.48, p ≪ 0.001)). The method was also used to correct the CT intensity profiles from a cadaveric specimen of the craniofacial skeleton (CFS) in 15 different regions. There was excellent agreement between the corrections and µCT intensity profiles of the same regions used as a 'gold standard' measure. These results set the groundwork towards restoring cortical bone geometry and intensity information in entire image data sets. This information is essential for the generation of finite element models of the CFS that can accurately describe the biomechanical behavior of its complex thin bone structures.

  6. Thin dielectric film thickness determination by advanced transmission electron microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Diebold, A.C.; Foran, B.; Kisielowski, C.; Muller, D.; Pennycook, S.; Principe, E.; Stemmer, S.

    2003-09-01

    High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM) has been used as the ultimate method of thickness measurement for thin films. The appearance of phase contrast interference patterns in HR-TEM images has long been confused as the appearance of a crystal lattice by non-specialists. Relatively easy to interpret crystal lattice images are now directly observed with the introduction of annular dark field detectors for scanning TEM (STEM). With the recent development of reliable lattice image processing software that creates crystal structure images from phase contrast data, HR-TEM can also provide crystal lattice images. The resolution of both methods was steadily improved reaching now into the sub Angstrom region. Improvements in electron lens and image analysis software are increasing the spatial resolution of both methods. Optimum resolution for STEM requires that the probe beam be highly localized. In STEM, beam localization is enhanced by selection of the correct aperture. When STEM measurement is done using a highly localized probe beam, HR-TEM and STEM measurement of the thickness of silicon oxynitride films agree within experimental error. In this paper, the optimum conditions for HR-TEM and STEM measurement are discussed along with a method for repeatable film thickness determination. The impact of sample thickness is also discussed. The key result in this paper is the proposal of a reproducible method for film thickness determination.

  7. Absolute Thickness Measurements on Coatings Without Prior Knowledge of Material Properties Using Terahertz Energy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roth, Don J.; Cosgriff, Laura M.; Harder, Bryan; Zhu, Dongming; Martin, Richard E.

    2013-01-01

    This study investigates the applicability of a novel noncontact single-sided terahertz electromagnetic measurement method for measuring thickness in dielectric coating systems having either dielectric or conductive substrate materials. The method does not require knowledge of the velocity of terahertz waves in the coating material. The dielectric coatings ranged from approximately 300 to 1400 m in thickness. First, the terahertz method was validated on a bulk dielectric sample to determine its ability to precisely measure thickness and density variation. Then, the method was studied on simulated coating systems. One simulated coating consisted of layered thin paper samples of varying thicknesses on a ceramic substrate. Another simulated coating system consisted of adhesive-backed Teflon adhered to conducting and dielectric substrates. Alumina samples that were coated with a ceramic adhesive layer were also investigated. Finally, the method was studied for thickness measurement of actual thermal barrier coatings (TBC) on ceramic substrates. The unique aspects and limitations of this method for thickness measurements are discussed.

  8. An Analysis of the Quality of the Thick-Walled S355J2+N Steel Joint Welded by the Mag Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krawczyk R.

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available An analysis of the quality of the thick-walled S355J2+N steel welded joint used most frequently in the general-building, power and other contemporary steel constructions is presented in the following article. A process of examining welding technologies was made on the tick-walled butt joints of plates by using the MAG – 135 welding method. The aim of the discussed topic was to optimize the process of welding thick-walled welded joints due to their mechanical strength properties and efficiency.

  9. Evaluation of the x-ray fluorescence method of precious metal plating thickness measurements. Technological spinoff report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carson, J.S.; Hearn, N.K.; Pettie, C.B.

    1975-09-01

    It is shown that gold and silver plating thickness measurements made using an x-ray spectrograph could be closely correlated with thicknesses measured from sectional samples. Good correlations were also shown for single overlays of gold over silver when each layer was less than 0.0003 inch thick

  10. Preparation of tantalum targets of known thicknesses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alexander, J.R.; Wirth, H.L.

    1985-01-01

    A series of carbon-backed tantalum targets were produced in a heavy ion sputtering system with a Penning ion source. The target thicknesses were then measured using the alpha-ray energy loss method. The resulting tabulated measurements were reproducible and make possible the production of carbon-backed tantalum targets with pre-determined thicknesses ranging from 20 μg/cm 2 to 1 mg/cm 2 . (orig.)

  11. Minimum Plate Thickness in High-Speed Craft

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Preben Terndrup; Zhang, Shengming

    1998-01-01

    The minimum plate thickness requirements specified by the classification societies for high-speed craft are supposed to ensure adequate resistance to impact loads such as collision with floating objects and objects falling on the deck. The paper presents analytical methods of describing such impact...... phenomena and proposes performance requirements instead of thickness requirements for hull panels in high-speed craft made of different building materials....

  12. Measurement of compressed breast thickness by optical stereoscopic photogrammetry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tyson, Albert H; Mawdsley, Gordon E; Yaffe, Martin J

    2009-02-01

    The determination of volumetric breast density (VBD) from mammograms requires accurate knowledge of the thickness of the compressed breast. In attempting to accurately determine VBD from images obtained on conventional mammography systems, the authors found that the thickness reported by a number of mammography systems in the field varied by as much as 15 mm when compressing the same breast or phantom. In order to evaluate the behavior of mammographic compression systems and to be able to predict the thickness at different locations in the breast on patients, they have developed a method for measuring the local thickness of the breast at all points of contact with the compression paddle using optical stereoscopic photogrammetry. On both flat (solid) and compressible phantoms, the measurements were accurate to better than 1 mm with a precision of 0.2 mm. In a pilot study, this method was used to measure thickness on 108 volunteers who were undergoing mammography examination. This measurement tool will allow us to characterize paddle surface deformations, deflections and calibration offsets for mammographic units.

  13. Development and Implementation of Methods and Means for Achieving a Uniform Functional Coating Thickness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shishlov, A. V.; Sagatelyan, G. R.; Shashurin, V. D.

    2017-12-01

    A mathematical model is proposed to calculate the growth rate of the thin-film coating thickness at various points in a flat substrate surface during planetary motion of the substrate, which makes it possible to calculate an expected coating thickness distribution. Proper software package is developed. The coefficients used for computer simulation are experimentally determined.

  14. Deflation of eigenvalues for iterative methods in lattice QCD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Darnell, Dean; Morgan, Ronald B.; Wilcox, Walter

    2004-01-01

    Work on generalizing the deflated, restarted GMRES algorithm, useful in lattice studies using stochastic noise methods, is reported. We first show how the multi-mass extension of deflated GMRES can be implemented. We then give a deflated GMRES method that can be used on multiple right-hand sides of Aχ = b in an efficient manner. We also discuss and give numerical results on the possibilty of combining deflated GMRES for the first right hand side with a deflated BiCGStab algorithm for the subsequent right hand sides

  15. Optical histology: a method to visualize microvasculature in thick tissue sections of mouse brain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Austin J Moy

    Full Text Available The microvasculature is the network of blood vessels involved in delivering nutrients and gases necessary for tissue survival. Study of the microvasculature often involves immunohistological methods. While useful for visualizing microvasculature at the µm scale in specific regions of interest, immunohistology is not well suited to visualize the global microvascular architecture in an organ. Hence, use of immunohistology precludes visualization of the entire microvasculature of an organ, and thus impedes study of global changes in the microvasculature that occur in concert with changes in tissue due to various disease states. Therefore, there is a critical need for a simple, relatively rapid technique that will facilitate visualization of the microvascular network of an entire tissue.The systemic vasculature of a mouse is stained with the fluorescent lipophilic dye DiI using a method called "vessel painting". The brain, or other organ of interest, is harvested and fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde. The organ is then sliced into 1 mm sections and optically cleared, or made transparent, using FocusClear, a proprietary optical clearing agent. After optical clearing, the DiI-labeled tissue microvasculature is imaged using confocal fluorescence microscopy and adjacent image stacks tiled together to produce a depth-encoded map of the microvasculature in the tissue slice. We demonstrated that the use of optical clearing enhances both the tissue imaging depth and the estimate of the vascular density. Using our "optical histology" technique, we visualized microvasculature in the mouse brain to a depth of 850 µm.Presented here are maps of the microvasculature in 1 mm thick slices of mouse brain. Using combined optical clearing and optical imaging techniques, we devised a methodology to enhance the visualization of the microvasculature in thick tissues. We believe this technique could potentially be used to generate a three-dimensional map of the

  16. Lead Thickness Measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rucinski, R.

    1998-01-01

    The preshower lead thickness applied to the outside of D-Zero's superconducting solenoid vacuum shell was measured at the time of application. This engineering documents those thickness measurements. The lead was ordered in sheets 0.09375-inch and 0.0625-inch thick. The tolerance on thickness was specified to be +/- 0.003-inch. The sheets all were within that thickness tolerance. The nomenclature for each sheet was designated 1T, 1B, 2T, 2B where the numeral designates it's location in the wrap and 'T' or 'B' is short for 'top' or 'bottom' half of the solenoid. Micrometer measurements were taken at six locations around the perimeter of each sheet. The width,length, and weight of each piece was then measured. Using an assumed pure lead density of 0.40974 lb/in 3 , an average sheet thickness was calculated and compared to the perimeter thickness measurements. In every case, the calculated average thickness was a few mils thinner than the perimeter measurements. The ratio was constant, 0.98. This discrepancy is likely due to the assumed pure lead density. It is not felt that the perimeter is thicker than the center regions. The data suggests that the physical thickness of the sheets is uniform to +/- 0.0015-inch.

  17. Comparison of Simulated PEC Probe Performance for Detecting Wall Thickness Reduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shin, Young Kil; Choi, Dong Myung; Jung, Hee Sung

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, four different types of pulsed eddy current(PEC) probe are designed and their performance of detecting wall thickness reduction is compared. By using the backward difference method in time and the finite element method in space, PEC signals from various thickness and materials are numerically calculated and three features of the signal are selected. Since PEC signals and features are obtained by various types and sizes of probe, the comparison is made through the normalized features which reflect the sensitivity of the feature to thickness reduction. The normalized features indicate that the shielded reflection probe provides the best sensitivity to wall thickness reduction for all three signal features. Results show that the best sensitivity to thickness reduction can be achieved by the peak value, but also suggest that the time to peak can be a good candidate because of its linear relationship with the thickness variation.

  18. A comparison between destructive and non-destructive techniques in determining coating thickness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haider, F. I.; Suryanto; Ani, M. H.; Mahmood, M. H.

    2018-01-01

    Measuring coating thickness is an important part in research works related to coating applications. In general, techniques for measuring coating thickness may be divided into destructive and non-destructive methods which are commonly used depending on the applications. The objective of this study is to compare two methods measuring the coating thickness of electroplating copper coating on the austenitic stainless-steel substrate. The electroplating was carried out in a solution containing 200 g/L CuSO4, 100 g/L H2SO4 at room temperature and current of 40mA/cm2 during 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mins as coating periods. And the coating thickness was measured by two methods, cross sectional analysis as a destructive technique and weight gain as a non-destructive technique. The results show that at 20 mins coating time interval, the thickness measured by cross sectional method was 16.67 μm and by weight gain method was 17.37 μm, with difference of 0.7 μm and percentage error of 4.11%. This error increased to 5.27% at 100mins time interval, where the values of the thickness measured by cross sectional and weight gain were 86.33 μm and 81.9 μm respectively, and the difference was 4.43 μm. Moreover, though the weight gain method is fast and gives the indication for the termination of a coating process, information regarding the uniformity, porosity and the presence of cracks cannot be obtained. On the other hand, determining the coating thickness using destructive method will damage the sample.

  19. Study on Improving Thickness Uniformity of Microfluidic Chip Mold in the Electroforming Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liqun Du

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Electroformed microfluidic chip mold faces the problem of uneven thickness, which decreases the dimensional accuracy of the mold, and increases the production cost. To fabricate a mold with uniform thickness, two methods are investigated. Firstly, experiments are carried out to study how the ultrasonic agitation affects the thickness uniformity of the mold. It is found that the thickness uniformity is maximally improved by about 30% after 2 h electroforming under 200 kHz and 500 W ultrasonic agitation. Secondly, adding a second cathode, a method suitable for long-time electroforming is studied by numerical simulation. The simulation results show that with a 4 mm width second cathode used, the thickness uniformity is improved by about 30% after 2 h of electroforming, and that with electroforming time extended, the thickness uniformity is improved more obviously. After 22 h electroforming, the thickness uniformity is increased by about 45%. Finally, by comparing two methods, the method of adding a second cathode is chosen, and a microfluidic chip mold is made with the help of a specially designed second cathode. The result shows that the thickness uniformity of the mold is increased by about 50%, which is in good agreement with the simulation results.

  20. Modeling of the Through-the-Thickness Electric Potentials of a Piezoelectric Bimorph Using the Spectral Element Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xingjian Dong

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available An efficient spectral element (SE with electric potential degrees of freedom (DOF is proposed to investigate the static electromechanical responses of a piezoelectric bimorph for its actuator and sensor functions. A sublayer model based on the piecewise linear approximation for the electric potential is used to describe the nonlinear distribution of electric potential through the thickness of the piezoelectric layers. An equivalent single layer (ESL model based on first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT is used to describe the displacement field. The Legendre orthogonal polynomials of order 5 are used in the element interpolation functions. The validity and the capability of the present SE model for investigation of global and local responses of the piezoelectric bimorph are confirmed by comparing the present solutions with those obtained from coupled 3-D finite element (FE analysis. It is shown that, without introducing any higher-order electric potential assumptions, the current method can accurately describe the distribution of the electric potential across the thickness even for a rather thick bimorph. It is revealed that the effect of electric potential is significant when the bimorph is used as sensor while the effect is insignificant when the bimorph is used as actuator, and therefore, the present study may provide a better understanding of the nonlinear induced electric potential for bimorph sensor and actuator.

  1. Non-Exposure, Device-Assisted Endoscopic Full-thickness Resection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauder, Markus; Schmidt, Arthur; Caca, Karel

    2016-04-01

    Recent developments have expanded the frontier of interventional endoscopy toward more extended resections following surgical principles. This article presents two new device-assisted techniques for endoscopic full-thickness resection in the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract. Both methods are nonexposure techniques avoiding exposure of gastrointestinal contents to the peritoneal cavity by a "close first-cut later" principle. The full-thickness resection device is a novel over-the-scope device designed for clip-assisted full-thickness resection of colorectal lesions. Endoscopic full-thickness resection of gastric subepithelial tumors can be performed after placing transmural sutures underneath the tumor with a suturing device originally designed for endoscopic antireflux therapy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Film thickness determination by grazing incidence diffraction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Battiston, G A; Gerbasi, R [CNR, Padua (Italy). Istituto di Chimica e Tecnologie Inorganiche e dei Materiali Avanzati

    1996-09-01

    Thin films deposited via MOCVD (Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition) are layers in the thickness range of a few manometers to about ten micrometers. An understanding of the physics and chemistry of films is necessary for a better comprehension of the phenomena involved in the film deposition procedure and its optimisation. Together with the crystalline phase a parameter that must be determined is the thickness of the layer. In this work the authors present a method for the measurement of the film thickness. This procedure, based on diffraction intensity absorption of the X-rays, both incident and diffracted in passing through the layers, resulted quite simple, rapid and non-destructive.

  3. Film thickness determination by grazing incidence diffraction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Battiston, G. A.; Gerbasi, R.

    1996-01-01

    Thin films deposited via MOCVD (Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition) are layers in the thickness range of a few manometers to about ten micrometers. An understanding of the physics and chemistry of films is necessary for a better comprehension of the phenomena involved in the film deposition procedure and its optimisation. Together with the crystalline phase a parameter that must be determined is the thickness of the layer. In this work the authors present a method for the measurement of the film thickness. This procedure, based on diffraction intensity absorption of the X-rays, both incident and diffracted in passing through the layers, resulted quite simple, rapid and non-destructive

  4. Stresses and strains in thick perforated orthotropic plates

    Science.gov (United States)

    A. Alshaya; John Hunt; R. Rowlands

    2016-01-01

    Stress and strain concentrations and in-plane and out-of-plane stress constraint factors associated with a circular hole in thick, loaded orthotropic composite plates are determined by three-dimensional finite element method. The plate has essentially infinite in-plane geometry but finite thickness. Results for Sitka Spruce wood are emphasized, although some for carbon...

  5. Choroidal thickness in traumatic optic neuropathy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Ju-Yeun; Eo, Doo-Ri; Park, Kyung-Ah; Oh, Sei Yeul

    2017-12-01

    To examine the choroidal thickness in patients with indirect traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) Methods: Patients with unilateral traumatic optic neuropathy over a period of 4 years were included in this study. Horizontal and vertical enhanced-depth imaging (EDI) from spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) scans of the fovea were obtained in patients with unilateral TON within 2 weeks of injury. The main outcome measure was the choroidal thickness at nine locations. The choroidal thickness was compared between affected and unaffected eyes in the TON group, and the mean difference in the choroidal thickness in both eyes was compared between TON and control groups. A total of 16 patients and 20 control subjects were included. The choroidal thickness at horizontal, vertical and average subfoveal, inner temporal, and outer inferior locations was significantly thicker (13-23%) in affected eyes than in unaffected fellow eyes (p = 0.042, 0.046, 0.024, 0.013, 0.018, and 0.027, respectively). The mean difference value between choroidal thickness measurements in both eyes was significantly larger in the TON group than in the control group at the horizontal, vertical and average subfoveal, inner temporal, inner nasal, inner superior, inner inferior, and outer superior locations (p = 0.001, 0.011,  0.05). Eyes affected by TON showed a regionally thicker choroid than unaffected fellow eye. This thick choroid might be due to impaired blood circulation and vascular remodeling of the optic nerve head and choroid. These results help to better understand the pathophysiology of TON.

  6. Development of sea water pipe thickness measurement technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morimoto, Kazuo; Wakayama, Seiichi; Takeuchi, Iwao; Masamori, Sigero; Yamasita, Takesi.

    1995-01-01

    In nuclear and thermal power plants, wall wear of sea water pipes is reported to occur in the inner surface due to corrosion and erosion. From the viewpoint of improving the equipments reliability, it is desirable that wall thickness should be measured from the outer surface of the pipe during operation. In the conventional method, paint on the outer surface of the pipe was locally removed at each point of a 20 by 50 mm grid, and inspection was carried out at these spots. However, this method had some problems, such as (1) it was necessary to replace the paint, and (2) it was difficult to obtain the precise distribution of wall thickness. Therefore, we have developed a wall thickness measuring system which has the following features. (1) It is possible to perform inspection from the outer surface without removing paint during operation. (2) It is possible to measure the distribution of wall thickness and display it as color contour map simultaneously. (3) The work of inspectors can be alleviated by the automatic recording of measured data. (author)

  7. MEASUREMENT OF RNFL THICKNESS USING OCT IMAGES FOR GLAUCOMA DETECTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dhivyabharathi

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available The thickness of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL is one of the pompous parameters for assessing the disease, Glaucoma. A substantial amount of vision can be lost before the patient becomes aware of any defect. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT provides enhanced depth and clarity of viewing tissues with high resolution compared with other medical imaging devices. It examines the living tissue non-invasively. This paper presents an automatic method to find the thickness of RNFL using OCT images. The proposed algorithm first extracts all the layers present in the OCT image by texture segmentation using Gabor filter method and an algorithm is then developed to segment the RNFL. The thickness measurement of RNFL is automatically displayed based on pixel calculation. The calculated thickness values are compared with the original values obtained from hospital. The result shows that the proposed algorithm is efficient in segmenting the region of interest without manual intervention. The effectiveness of the proposed method is proved statistically by the performance analysis.

  8. Conjugate gradient type methods for linear systems with complex symmetric coefficient matrices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freund, Roland

    1989-01-01

    We consider conjugate gradient type methods for the solution of large sparse linear system Ax equals b with complex symmetric coefficient matrices A equals A(T). Such linear systems arise in important applications, such as the numerical solution of the complex Helmholtz equation. Furthermore, most complex non-Hermitian linear systems which occur in practice are actually complex symmetric. We investigate conjugate gradient type iterations which are based on a variant of the nonsymmetric Lanczos algorithm for complex symmetric matrices. We propose a new approach with iterates defined by a quasi-minimal residual property. The resulting algorithm presents several advantages over the standard biconjugate gradient method. We also include some remarks on the obvious approach to general complex linear systems by solving equivalent real linear systems for the real and imaginary parts of x. Finally, numerical experiments for linear systems arising from the complex Helmholtz equation are reported.

  9. A simple and inclusive method to determine the habit plane in transmission electron microscope based on accurate measurement of foil thickness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qiu, Dong; Zhang, Mingxing

    2014-01-01

    A simple and inclusive method is proposed for accurate determination of the habit plane between bicrystals in transmission electron microscope. Whilst this method can be regarded as a variant of surface trace analysis, the major innovation lies in the improved accuracy and efficiency of foil thickness measurement, which involves a simple tilt of the thin foil about a permanent tilting axis of the specimen holder, rather than cumbersome tilt about the surface trace of the habit plane. Experimental study has been done to validate this proposed method in determining the habit plane between lamellar α 2 plates and γ matrix in a Ti–Al–Nb alloy. Both high accuracy (± 1°) and high precision (± 1°) have been achieved by using the new method. The source of the experimental errors as well as the applicability of this method is discussed. Some tips to minimise the experimental errors are also suggested. - Highlights: • An improved algorithm is formulated to measure the foil thickness. • Habit plane can be determined with a single tilt holder based on the new algorithm. • Better accuracy and precision within ± 1° are achievable using the proposed method. • The data for multi-facet determination can be collected simultaneously

  10. Thick film heater for sensor application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Milewski, J; Borecki, M; Kalenik, J; Król, K

    2014-01-01

    A thick film microheater was elaborated. The microheater is intended for fast heating of small volume samples under measurement in optical based system. Thermal analysis of microheater was carried out using finite element method (FEM) for heat transfer calculation as a function of time and space. A nodal heat transfer function was calculated in classical form including all basics mechanisms of heat exchange – heat conduction, convection and radiation were considered. Work focuses on the influence of some construction parameters (ex. length, thermal conductivity of substrate, substrate thickness) on microheater performance. The results show that application of thin substrate of low thermal conductivity and low thickness for miroheater construction and resistor of optimum dimensions leads to significant power consumption decrease and increase of overall optical measurement system performance.

  11. The BR eigenvalue algorithm

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Geist, G.A. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Computer Science and Mathematics Div.; Howell, G.W. [Florida Inst. of Tech., Melbourne, FL (United States). Dept. of Applied Mathematics; Watkins, D.S. [Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States). Dept. of Pure and Applied Mathematics

    1997-11-01

    The BR algorithm, a new method for calculating the eigenvalues of an upper Hessenberg matrix, is introduced. It is a bulge-chasing algorithm like the QR algorithm, but, unlike the QR algorithm, it is well adapted to computing the eigenvalues of the narrowband, nearly tridiagonal matrices generated by the look-ahead Lanczos process. This paper describes the BR algorithm and gives numerical evidence that it works well in conjunction with the Lanczos process. On the biggest problems run so far, the BR algorithm beats the QR algorithm by a factor of 30--60 in computing time and a factor of over 100 in matrix storage space.

  12. Versatile technique for assessing thickness of 2D layered materials by XPS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zemlyanov, Dmitry Y.; Jespersen, Michael; Zakharov, Dmitry N.; Hu, Jianjun; Paul, Rajib; Kumar, Anurag; Pacley, Shanee; Glavin, Nicholas; Saenz, David; Smith, Kyle C.; Fisher, Timothy S.; Voevodin, Andrey A.

    2018-03-01

    X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been utilized as a versatile method for thickness characterization of various two-dimensional (2D) films. Accurate thickness can be measured simultaneously while acquiring XPS data for chemical characterization of 2D films having thickness up to approximately 10 nm. For validating the developed technique, thicknesses of few-layer graphene (FLG), MoS2 and amorphous boron nitride (a-BN) layer, produced by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), and pulsed laser deposition (PLD) respectively, were accurately measured. The intensity ratio between photoemission peaks recorded for the films (C 1s, Mo 3d, B 1s) and the substrates (Cu 2p, Al 2p, Si 2p) is the primary input parameter for thickness calculation, in addition to the atomic densities of the substrate and the film, and the corresponding electron attenuation length (EAL). The XPS data was used with a proposed model for thickness calculations, which was verified by cross-sectional transmission electron microscope (TEM) measurement of thickness for all the films. The XPS method determines thickness values averaged over an analysis area which is orders of magnitude larger than the typical area in cross-sectional TEM imaging, hence provides an advanced approach for thickness measurement over large areas of 2D materials. The study confirms that the versatile XPS method allows rapid and reliable assessment of the 2D material thickness and this method can facilitate in tailoring growth conditions for producing very thin 2D materials effectively over a large area. Furthermore, the XPS measurement for a typical 2D material is non-destructive and does not require special sample preparation. Therefore, after XPS analysis, exactly the same sample can undergo further processing or utilization.

  13. The effects of two thick film deposition methods on tin dioxide gas sensor performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakrania, Smitesh D; Wooldridge, Margaret S

    2009-01-01

    This work demonstrates the variability in performance between SnO(2) thick film gas sensors prepared using two types of film deposition methods. SnO(2) powders were deposited on sensor platforms with and without the use of binders. Three commonly utilized binder recipes were investigated, and a new binder-less deposition procedure was developed and characterized. The binder recipes yielded sensors with poor film uniformity and poor structural integrity, compared to the binder-less deposition method. Sensor performance at a fixed operating temperature of 330 °C for the different film deposition methods was evaluated by exposure to 500 ppm of the target gas carbon monoxide. A consequence of the poor film structure, large variability and poor signal properties were observed with the sensors fabricated using binders. Specifically, the sensors created using the binder recipes yielded sensor responses that varied widely (e.g., S = 5 - 20), often with hysteresis in the sensor signal. Repeatable and high quality performance was observed for the sensors prepared using the binder-less dispersion-drop method with good sensor response upon exposure to 500 ppm CO (S = 4.0) at an operating temperature of 330 °C, low standard deviation to the sensor response (±0.35) and no signal hysteresis.

  14. The Effects of Two Thick Film Deposition Methods on Tin Dioxide Gas Sensor Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Smitesh D. Bakrania

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available This work demonstrates the variability in performance between SnO2 thick film gas sensors prepared using two types of film deposition methods. SnO2 powders were deposited on sensor platforms with and without the use of binders. Three commonly utilized binder recipes were investigated, and a new binder-less deposition procedure was developed and characterized. The binder recipes yielded sensors with poor film uniformity and poor structural integrity, compared to the binder-less deposition method. Sensor performance at a fixed operating temperature of 330 ºC for the different film deposition methods was evaluated by exposure to 500 ppm of the target gas carbon monoxide. A consequence of the poor film structure, large variability and poor signal properties were observed with the sensors fabricated using binders. Specifically, the sensors created using the binder recipes yielded sensor responses that varied widely (e.g., S = 5 – 20, often with hysteresis in the sensor signal. Repeatable and high quality performance was observed for the sensors prepared using the binder-less dispersion-drop method with good sensor response upon exposure to 500 ppm CO (S = 4.0 at an operating temperature of 330 ºC, low standard deviation to the sensor response (±0.35 and no signal hysteresis.

  15. Comparison between sensitivities of quality control methods using ultrasonic waves, radiography and acoustic emission for the thick welded joint testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asty, Michel; Birac, Claude

    1981-09-01

    The testing of the thick welded joints of the nuclear industry is carried out by radiography and ultrasonics on completion of welding. When a fault is found, its repair requires a sometimes deep cut down to the position of the fault, then filling in of the cut by hand welding with a coated electrode. This very costly operation also involves the risk of causing new defects when building up by hand. Listening to the acoustic emission during the welding has been considered in order to seek the possibility of detecting defects when they appear, or soon after. The industrial use of this method would make an instant repair of the defective areas possible at less cost and with greater reliability. The study presented concerns the comparison between the results of the various non-destructive testing methods: radiography, ultrasonics and acoustic emission, for a thick welded joint in which the defects have been brought about [fr

  16. A new attempt of measurement film thickness by x-ray diffractometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kosaka, Masao; Kobayashi, Hideo

    1987-01-01

    In order to make film thickness measurements independent from the property or the structure of the film materials or the substrate, it is needed to adopt instead of directly utilizing the X-ray diffraction intensity, or attenuation information obtained from the substrate or film material, other new methods for measurement. Among the information obtained by X-ray diffraction, if intensity is excluded, others are F.W.H.M. and diffraction angle, only. If it is possible to investigate the film thickness dependency of the diffraction angle, it should be possible to measure the film thickness by diffraction angle. However, since diffraction angle has no film thickness dependency, it cannot be used directly for measurement. However, if we consider the principle of the X-ray diffractometer method, although it may be very slight, the substrate will be eccentric from the revolving center of the goniometer on account of the thickness of the film. If eccentricity occurs, this will cause changes in the diffraction angle. If we set the radius of the goniometer as R, diffraction angle θ, and the eccentricity from the revolving center of the specimen surface X, the deflection angle Δ2θ of 2θ may be expressed by Δ2θ = -2X · COSθ/R Thus, if X is caused by the film thickness, and by measuring the Δ2θ, it will be possible to measure the film thickness. As a result of the experiment, it was found that X-ray diffraction method can be used for the measurement of the film thickness of a few microns or above by utilizing the eccentricity caused by the film thickness. Especially it has the advantage of being able to measure thick films that X-rays will not penetrate, without being influenced by the chemical structure of the film or the substrates. (author)

  17. Performance analysis and optimization of radiating fins with a step change in thickness and variable thermal conductivity by homotopy perturbation method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arslanturk, Cihat

    2011-02-01

    Although tapered fins transfer more rate of heat per unit volume, they are not found in every practical application because of the difficulty in manufacturing and fabrications. Therefore, there is a scope to modify the geometry of a constant thickness fin in view of the less difficulty in manufacturing and fabrication as well as betterment of heat transfer rate per unit volume of the fin material. For the better utilization of fin material, it is proposed a modified geometry of new fin with a step change in thickness (SF) in the literature. In the present paper, the homotopy perturbation method has been used to evaluate the temperature distribution within the straight radiating fins with a step change in thickness and variable thermal conductivity. The temperature profile has an abrupt change in the temperature gradient where the step change in thickness occurs and thermal conductivity parameter describing the variation of thermal conductivity has an important role on the temperature profile and the heat transfer rate. The optimum geometry which maximizes the heat transfer rate for a given fin volume has been found. The derived condition of optimality gives an open choice to the designer.

  18. Palatal bone thickness measured by palatal index method using cone-beam computed tomography in nonorthodontic patients for placement of mini-implants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W S Manjula

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The purpose of this study was to compare the bone thickness of the palatal areas in different palatal index (PI groups. Materials and Methods: Cone-beam computed tomography scans of 10 subjects were selected with a mean age group of 18 years. The measurements of palatal bone thickness were made at 36 sites using CareStream 3D Imaging software. The PI was measured using Korkhaus ratio (palatal height/palatal width. One-way analysis of variance was used to analyze intergroup differences, as well as the PI difference. Results: Bone thickness was higher in the anterior region than in the middle and posterior regions P<0.001. Furthermore, significant differences were found among the midline, medial, and lateral areas of the palate. Conclusions: These findings might be helpful for clinicians to enhance the successful use of temporary anchorage devices in the palate.

  19. Thickness and roughness measurements of nano thin films by interference

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A Sabzalipour

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available In the standard optical interference fringes approach, by measuring shift of the interference fringes due to step edge of thin film on substrate, thickness of the layer has already been measured. In order to improve the measurement precision of this popular method, the interference fringes intensity curve was extracted and analyzed before and after the step preparation. By this method, one can measure a few nanometers films thickness. In addition, using the interference fringes intensity curve and its fluctuations, the roughness of surface is measured within a few nanometers accuracy. Comparison of our results with some direct methods of thickness and roughness measurements, i.e. using surface profilemeter and atomic force microscopy confirms the accuracy of the suggested improvements.

  20. 4D segmentation of brain MR images with constrained cortical thickness variation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Wang

    Full Text Available Segmentation of brain MR images plays an important role in longitudinal investigation of developmental, aging, disease progression changes in the cerebral cortex. However, most existing brain segmentation methods consider multiple time-point images individually and thus cannot achieve longitudinal consistency. For example, cortical thickness measured from the segmented image will contain unnecessary temporal variations, which will affect the time related change pattern and eventually reduce the statistical power of analysis. In this paper, we propose a 4D segmentation framework for the adult brain MR images with the constraint of cortical thickness variations. Specifically, we utilize local intensity information to address the intensity inhomogeneity, spatial cortical thickness constraint to maintain the cortical thickness being within a reasonable range, and temporal cortical thickness variation constraint in neighboring time-points to suppress the artificial variations. The proposed method has been tested on BLSA dataset and ADNI dataset with promising results. Both qualitative and quantitative experimental results demonstrate the advantage of the proposed method, in comparison to other state-of-the-art 4D segmentation methods.

  1. Asymmetric vibrations of thick shells of revolution having meridionally varying curvature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Katsuyoshi; Kosawada, Tadashi; Yachita, Takumi.

    1988-01-01

    An exact method using power series expansions is presented for solving asymmetric free vibration problems for thick shells of revolution having meridionally varying curvature. Based on the improved thick shell theory, the Lagrangian of the shells of revolution are obtained, and the equations of motion and the boundary conditions are derived from the stationary condition of the Lagrangian. The method is demonstrated for thick shells of revolution having elliptical, cycloidal, parabolical, catenary and hyperbolical meridional curvature. The results by the present method are compared with those by the thin shell theory and the effects of the rotatory inertia and the shear deformation upon the natural frequencies are clarified. (author)

  2. Physical qualification and improvements of the numerical model of a method of characteristics for the resolution of the neutron transport equation in non-structured grids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santandrea, Simone

    2001-01-01

    This research thesis addresses the resolution of the neutron transport equation inside reactor cells in non-structured grids and in general geometry by using the method of characteristics (MoC) and two acceleration methods developed during this research. The author introduces the MoC with a flat approximation of the neutron collision source within each computation area. This formulation leads to a linear approximation. The next part presents the mathematical framework for the use of the Lanczos iterative scheme. A new acceleration method is then introduced. The last part reports realistic cases with a high spatial and angular heterogeneity. Results obtained by using the Apollo2-TDT code are compared with those obtained with the Tripoli4 Monte-Carlo code [fr

  3. Four-spacecraft determination of magnetopause orientation, motion and thickness: comparison with results from single-spacecraft methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. E. Haaland

    2004-04-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we use Cluster data from one magnetopause event on 5 July 2001 to compare predictions from various methods for determination of the velocity, orientation, and thickness of the magnetopause current layer. We employ established as well as new multi-spacecraft techniques, in which time differences between the crossings by the four spacecraft, along with the duration of each crossing, are used to calculate magnetopause speed, normal vector, and width. The timing is based on data from either the Cluster Magnetic Field Experiment (FGM or the Electric Field Experiment (EFW instruments. The multi-spacecraft results are compared with those derived from various single-spacecraft techniques, including minimum-variance analysis of the magnetic field and deHoffmann-Teller, as well as Minimum-Faraday-Residue analysis of plasma velocities and magnetic fields measured during the crossings. In order to improve the overall consistency between multi- and single-spacecraft results, we have also explored the use of hybrid techniques, in which timing information from the four spacecraft is combined with certain limited results from single-spacecraft methods, the remaining results being left for consistency checks. The results show good agreement between magnetopause orientations derived from appropriately chosen single-spacecraft techniques and those obtained from multi-spacecraft timing. The agreement between magnetopause speeds derived from single- and multi-spacecraft methods is quantitatively somewhat less good but it is evident that the speed can change substantially from one crossing to the next within an event. The magnetopause thickness varied substantially from one crossing to the next, within an event. It ranged from 5 to 10 ion gyroradii. The density profile was sharper than the magnetic profile: most of the density change occured in the earthward half of the magnetopause.

    Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetopause, cusp and

  4. A wrinkling-based method for investigating glassy polymer film relaxation as a function of film thickness and temperature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Jun Young; Douglas, Jack F; Stafford, Christopher M

    2017-10-21

    We investigate the relaxation dynamics of thin polymer films at temperatures below the bulk glass transition T g by first compressing polystyrene films supported on a polydimethylsiloxane substrate to create wrinkling patterns and then observing the slow relaxation of the wrinkled films back to their final equilibrium flat state by small angle light scattering. As with recent relaxation measurements on thin glassy films reported by Fakhraai and co-workers, we find the relaxation time of our wrinkled films to be strongly dependent on film thickness below an onset thickness on the order of 100 nm. By varying the temperature between room temperature and T g (≈100 °C), we find that the relaxation time follows an Arrhenius-type temperature dependence to a good approximation at all film thicknesses investigated, where both the activation energy and the relaxation time pre-factor depend appreciably on film thickness. The wrinkling relaxation curves tend to cross at a common temperature somewhat below T g , indicating an entropy-enthalpy compensation relation between the activation free energy parameters. This compensation effect has also been observed recently in simulated supported polymer films in the high temperature Arrhenius relaxation regime rather than the glassy state. In addition, we find that the film stress relaxation function, as well as the height of the wrinkle ridges, follows a stretched exponential time dependence and the short-time effective Young's modulus derived from our modeling decreases sigmoidally with increasing temperature-both characteristic features of glassy materials. The relatively facile nature of the wrinkling-based measurements in comparison to other film relaxation measurements makes our method attractive for practical materials development, as well as fundamental studies of glass formation.

  5. Computational Error Estimate for the Power Series Solution of Odes ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper compares the error estimation of power series solution with recursive Tau method for solving ordinary differential equations. From the computational viewpoint, the power series using zeros of Chebyshevpolunomial is effective, accurate and easy to use. Keywords: Lanczos Tau method, Chebyshev polynomial, ...

  6. Phase Space Exchange in Thick Wedge Absorbers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Neuffer, David [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)

    2017-01-01

    The problem of phase space exchange in wedge absorbers with ionization cooling is discussed. The wedge absorber exchanges transverse and longitudinal phase space by introducing a position-dependent energy loss. In this paper we note that the wedges used with ionization cooling are relatively thick, so that single wedges cause relatively large changes in beam phase space. Calculation methods adapted to such “thick wedge” cases are presented, and beam phase-space transformations through such wedges are discussed.

  7. Measurement of the thickness of thin films by backscattered protons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samaniego, L.E.Q.

    1976-07-01

    The method of backscattered protons has been used to measure the thickness of thin films. A monoenergetic beam of protons is directed on the film to be measured and the backscattered protons are detected with a particle detector. The film thickness is calculated from the energy spectrum of the protons. In the case of films consisting of several layers of elements with well separated atomic masses, it is possible to separate the spectra of protons scattered from the different elements, permitting a measurement of the thicknesses of the different layers. The method consists of calculating the energy loss of the protons throughout their trajectory, from the point of incidence on the film to the final detection. Thicknesses were measured for the following film combinations: gold on mylar, chromium on mylar, gold on chromium on mylar, and pure mylar. (Author) [pt

  8. Terminal-shock and restart control of a Mach 2.5, axisymmetric, mixed compression inlet with 40 percent internal contraction. [wind tunnel tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumbick, R. J.

    1974-01-01

    Results of experimental tests conducted on a supersonic, mixed-compression, axisymmetric inlet are presented. The inlet is designed for operation at Mach 2.5 with a turbofan engine (TF-30). The inlet was coupled to either a choked orifice plate or a long duct which had a variable-area choked exit plug. Closed-loop frequency responses of selected diffuser static pressures used in the terminal-shock control system are presented. Results are shown for Mach 2.5 conditions with the inlet coupled to either the choked orifice plate or the long duct. Inlet unstart-restart traces are also presented. High-response inlet bypass doors were used to generate an internal disturbance and also to achieve terminal-shock control.

  9. The hydrogen tunneling splitting in malonaldehyde: A full-dimensional time-independent quantum mechanical method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Feng; Ren, Yinghui; Bian, Wensheng, E-mail: bian@iccas.ac.cn [Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China)

    2016-08-21

    The accurate time-independent quantum dynamics calculations on the ground-state tunneling splitting of malonaldehyde in full dimensionality are reported for the first time. This is achieved with an efficient method developed by us. In our method, the basis functions are customized for the hydrogen transfer process which has the effect of greatly reducing the size of the final Hamiltonian matrix, and the Lanczos method and parallel strategy are used to further overcome the memory and central processing unit time bottlenecks. The obtained ground-state tunneling splitting of 24.5 cm{sup −1} is in excellent agreement with the benchmark value of 23.8 cm{sup −1} computed with the full-dimensional, multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree approach on the same potential energy surface, and we estimate that our reported value has an uncertainty of less than 0.5 cm{sup −1}. Moreover, the role of various vibrational modes strongly coupled to the hydrogen transfer process is revealed.

  10. Thermal Effusivity Determination of Metallic Films of Nanometric Thickness by the Electrical Micropulse Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lugo, J. M.; Oliva, A. I.

    2017-02-01

    The thermal effusivity of gold, aluminum, and copper thin films of nanometric thickness (20 nm to 200 nm) was investigated in terms of the films' thickness. The metallic thin films were deposited onto glass substrates by thermal evaporation, and the thermal effusivity was estimated by using experimental parameters such as the specific heat, thermal conductivity, and thermal diffusivity values obtained at room conditions. The specific heat, thermal conductivity, and thermal diffusivity values of the metallic thin films are determined with a methodology based on the behavior of the thermal profiles of the films when electrical pulses of few microseconds are applied at room conditions. For all the investigated materials, the thermal effusivity decreases with decreased thickness. The thermal effusivity values estimated by the presented methodology are consistent with other reported values obtained under vacuum conditions and more elaborated methodologies.

  11. Three-dimensional bioprinting of thick vascularized tissues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolesky, David B.; Homan, Kimberly A.; Skylar-Scott, Mark A.; Lewis, Jennifer A.

    2016-03-01

    The advancement of tissue and, ultimately, organ engineering requires the ability to pattern human tissues composed of cells, extracellular matrix, and vasculature with controlled microenvironments that can be sustained over prolonged time periods. To date, bioprinting methods have yielded thin tissues that only survive for short durations. To improve their physiological relevance, we report a method for bioprinting 3D cell-laden, vascularized tissues that exceed 1 cm in thickness and can be perfused on chip for long time periods (>6 wk). Specifically, we integrate parenchyma, stroma, and endothelium into a single thick tissue by coprinting multiple inks composed of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and human neonatal dermal fibroblasts (hNDFs) within a customized extracellular matrix alongside embedded vasculature, which is subsequently lined with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). These thick vascularized tissues are actively perfused with growth factors to differentiate hMSCs toward an osteogenic lineage in situ. This longitudinal study of emergent biological phenomena in complex microenvironments represents a foundational step in human tissue generation.

  12. Quantitative analysis and metallic coating thickness measurements by X-ray fluorescence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Negrea, Denis; Ducu, Catalin; Malinovschi, Viorel; Moga, Sorin; Boicea, Niculae

    2009-01-01

    This work deals with the use of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for determining the concentration and the coating thickness on metallic samples. The analysis method presented here may also be applicable to other coatings, providing that the elemental nature of the coating and substrate are compatible with the technical aspects of XRF, such as the absorption coefficient of the system, primary radiation, fluorescent radiation and type of detection. For the coating thickness measurement it was used the substrate-line attenuation method and an algorithm was developed. Its advantage relies in the fact that no special calibration with standard samples having different layer thickness is needed. The samples used for evaluation were metallic pieces of iron with zinc-nickel coatings of different thickness obtained by electrochemical deposition. (authors)

  13. Axisymmetric vibrations of thick shells of revolution having meridionally varying curvature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Katsuyoshi; Kosawada, Tadashi; Takahashi, Shin; Takahashi, Fumiaki.

    1987-01-01

    An exact method using power series expansions is presented for solving axisymmetric free vibration problems for thick shells of revolution having meridionally varying curvature. Based on the improved thick shell theory, the Lagrangian of the shells of revolution are obtained, and the equations of motion and the boundary conditions are derived from the stationary condition of the Lagrangian. The method is applied to thick shells of revolution having their generating curves of ellipse, cycloid, parabola, catenary and hyperbola. The results by the present method are compared with those by the thin shell theory and the effects of rotatory inertia and shear deformation upon the natural frequencies and the mode shapes are clarified. (author)

  14. SPARC: Demonstrate burst-buffer-based checkpoint/restart on ATS-1.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oldfield, Ron A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Ulmer, Craig D. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Widener, Patrick [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Ward, H. Lee [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2018-01-01

    Recent high-performance computing (HPC) platforms such as the Trinity Advanced Technology System (ATS-1) feature burst buffer resources that can have a dramatic impact on an application’s I/O performance. While these non-volatile memory (NVM) resources provide a new tier in the storage hierarchy, developers must find the right way to incorporate the technology into their applications in order to reap the benefits. Similar to other laboratories, Sandia is actively investigating ways in which these resources can be incorporated into our existing libraries and workflows without burdening our application developers with excessive, platform-specific details. This FY18Q1 milestone summaries our progress in adapting the Sandia Parallel Aerodynamics and Reentry Code (SPARC) in Sandia’s ATDM program to leverage Trinity’s burst buffers for checkpoint/restart operations. We investigated four different approaches with varying tradeoffs in this work: (1) simply updating job script to use stage-in/stage out burst buffer directives, (2) modifying SPARC to use LANL’s hierarchical I/O (HIO) library to store/retrieve checkpoints, (3) updating Sandia’s IOSS library to incorporate the burst buffer in all meshing I/O operations, and (4) modifying SPARC to use our Kelpie distributed memory library to store/retrieve checkpoints. Team members were successful in generating initial implementation for all four approaches, but were unable to obtain performance numbers in time for this report (reasons: initial problem sizes were not large enough to stress I/O, and SPARC refactor will require changes to our code). When we presented our work to the SPARC team, they expressed the most interest in the second and third approaches. The HIO work was favored because it is lightweight, unobtrusive, and should be portable to ATS-2. The IOSS work is seen as a long-term solution, and is favored because all I/O work (including checkpoints) can be deferred to a single library.

  15. Error Analysis of Ceramographic Sample Preparation for Coating Thickness Measurement of Coated Fuel Particles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Xiaoxue; Li Ziqiang; Zhao Hongsheng; Zhang Kaihong; Tang Chunhe

    2014-01-01

    The thicknesses of four coatings of HTR coated fuel particle are very important parameters. It is indispensable to control the thickness of four coatings of coated fuel particles for the safety of HTR. A measurement method, ceramographic sample-microanalysis method, to analyze the thickness of coatings was developed. During the process of ceramographic sample-microanalysis, there are two main errors, including ceramographic sample preparation error and thickness measurement error. With the development of microscopic techniques, thickness measurement error can be easily controlled to meet the design requirements. While, due to the coated particles are spherical particles of different diameters ranged from 850 to 1000μm, the sample preparation process will introduce an error. And this error is different from one sample to another. It’s also different from one particle to another in the same sample. In this article, the error of the ceramographic sample preparation was calculated and analyzed. Results show that the error introduced by sample preparation is minor. The minor error of sample preparation guarantees the high accuracy of the mentioned method, which indicates this method is a proper method to measure the thickness of four coatings of coated particles. (author)

  16. Reliability Criteria for Thick Bonding Wire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dagdelen, Turker; Abdel-Rahman, Eihab; Yavuz, Mustafa

    2018-04-17

    Bonding wire is one of the main interconnection techniques. Thick bonding wire is widely used in power modules and other high power applications. This study examined the case for extending the use of traditional thin wire reliability criteria, namely wire flexure and aspect ratio, to thick wires. Eleven aluminum (Al) and aluminum coated copper (CucorAl) wire samples with diameter 300 μm were tested experimentally. The wire response was measured using a novel non-contact method. High fidelity FEM models of the wire were developed and validated. We found that wire flexure is not correlated to its stress state or fatigue life. On the other hand, aspect ratio is a consistent criterion of thick wire fatigue life. Increasing the wire aspect ratio lowers its critical stress and increases its fatigue life. Moreover, we found that CucorAl wire has superior performance and longer fatigue life than Al wire.

  17. Reliability Criteria for Thick Bonding Wire

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yavuz, Mustafa

    2018-01-01

    Bonding wire is one of the main interconnection techniques. Thick bonding wire is widely used in power modules and other high power applications. This study examined the case for extending the use of traditional thin wire reliability criteria, namely wire flexure and aspect ratio, to thick wires. Eleven aluminum (Al) and aluminum coated copper (CucorAl) wire samples with diameter 300 μm were tested experimentally. The wire response was measured using a novel non-contact method. High fidelity FEM models of the wire were developed and validated. We found that wire flexure is not correlated to its stress state or fatigue life. On the other hand, aspect ratio is a consistent criterion of thick wire fatigue life. Increasing the wire aspect ratio lowers its critical stress and increases its fatigue life. Moreover, we found that CucorAl wire has superior performance and longer fatigue life than Al wire. PMID:29673194

  18. Fabrication of thick superconducting films by decantation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julián Betancourt M.

    1991-07-01

    Full Text Available We have found superconducting behavior in thick films fabricated by decantation. In this paper we present the experimental method and results obtained using commercial copper substrates.

  19. Harnessing molecular excited states with Lanczos chains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baroni, Stefano; Gebauer, Ralph; Bariş Malcioğlu, O.; Saad, Yousef; Umari, Paolo; Xian, Jiawei

    2010-02-01

    The recursion method of Haydock, Heine and Kelly is a powerful tool for calculating diagonal matrix elements of the resolvent of quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian operators by elegantly expressing them in terms of continued fractions. In this paper we extend the recursion method to off-diagonal matrix elements of general (possibly non-Hermitian) operators and apply it to the simulation of molecular optical absorption and photoemission spectra within time-dependent density-functional and many-body perturbation theories, respectively. This method is demonstrated with a couple of applications to the optical absorption and photoemission spectra of the caffeine molecule.

  20. Harnessing molecular excited states with Lanczos chains

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baroni, Stefano; Baris Malcioglu, O; Xian Jiawei [SISSA-Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, I-34151 Trieste (Italy); Gebauer, Ralph; Umari, Paolo [CNR DEMOCRITOS Theory-Elettra Group, c/o Sincrotrone Trieste, Area Science Park, I-34012 Basovizza, Trieste (Italy); Saad, Yousef [Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, and Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States)

    2010-02-24

    The recursion method of Haydock, Heine and Kelly is a powerful tool for calculating diagonal matrix elements of the resolvent of quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian operators by elegantly expressing them in terms of continued fractions. In this paper we extend the recursion method to off-diagonal matrix elements of general (possibly non-Hermitian) operators and apply it to the simulation of molecular optical absorption and photoemission spectra within time-dependent density-functional and many-body perturbation theories, respectively. This method is demonstrated with a couple of applications to the optical absorption and photoemission spectra of the caffeine molecule.

  1. Harnessing molecular excited states with Lanczos chains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baroni, Stefano; Gebauer, Ralph; Bariş Malcioğlu, O; Saad, Yousef; Umari, Paolo; Xian, Jiawei

    2010-02-24

    The recursion method of Haydock, Heine and Kelly is a powerful tool for calculating diagonal matrix elements of the resolvent of quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian operators by elegantly expressing them in terms of continued fractions. In this paper we extend the recursion method to off-diagonal matrix elements of general (possibly non-Hermitian) operators and apply it to the simulation of molecular optical absorption and photoemission spectra within time-dependent density-functional and many-body perturbation theories, respectively. This method is demonstrated with a couple of applications to the optical absorption and photoemission spectra of the caffeine molecule.

  2. Harnessing molecular excited states with Lanczos chains

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baroni, Stefano; Baris Malcioglu, O; Xian Jiawei; Gebauer, Ralph; Umari, Paolo; Saad, Yousef

    2010-01-01

    The recursion method of Haydock, Heine and Kelly is a powerful tool for calculating diagonal matrix elements of the resolvent of quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian operators by elegantly expressing them in terms of continued fractions. In this paper we extend the recursion method to off-diagonal matrix elements of general (possibly non-Hermitian) operators and apply it to the simulation of molecular optical absorption and photoemission spectra within time-dependent density-functional and many-body perturbation theories, respectively. This method is demonstrated with a couple of applications to the optical absorption and photoemission spectra of the caffeine molecule.

  3. An examination of mass thickness measurements with X-ray sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Mincong; Li Hongmei; Chen Ziyu; Shen Ji

    2008-01-01

    A method using X-rays to measure mass thickness is discussed. The method utilizes a filter to absorb low energy and characteristic photons so that the hardened X-ray spectra have a peaked energy distribution. An equivalent X-ray energy, which defines the attenuation in a material of interest can be used. The effect on the X-ray spectra of different filters is examined with Monte Carlo simulation using the EGSnrc package. A theoretical model for X-ray absorption that shows that the method can achieve good precision for a certain range of mass thicknesses is advanced. Experimental results agree well with the theoretical analysis. It is found that for a certain range of mass thicknesses, the relative error can be less than 1% for the aluminum alloy sample at the tube voltage of 30 or 45 kV

  4. An examination of mass thickness measurements with X-ray sources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen Mincong; Li Hongmei; Chen Ziyu [Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Jin Zhai Road, Hefei 230026 (China); Shen Ji [Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Jin Zhai Road, Hefei 230026 (China)], E-mail: shenji@ustc.edu.cn

    2008-10-15

    A method using X-rays to measure mass thickness is discussed. The method utilizes a filter to absorb low energy and characteristic photons so that the hardened X-ray spectra have a peaked energy distribution. An equivalent X-ray energy, which defines the attenuation in a material of interest can be used. The effect on the X-ray spectra of different filters is examined with Monte Carlo simulation using the EGSnrc package. A theoretical model for X-ray absorption that shows that the method can achieve good precision for a certain range of mass thicknesses is advanced. Experimental results agree well with the theoretical analysis. It is found that for a certain range of mass thicknesses, the relative error can be less than 1% for the aluminum alloy sample at the tube voltage of 30 or 45 kV.

  5. Enface Thickness Mapping and Reflectance Imaging of Retinal Layers in Diabetic Retinopathy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francis, Andrew W; Wanek, Justin; Lim, Jennifer I; Shahidi, Mahnaz

    2015-01-01

    To present a method for image segmentation and generation of enface thickness maps and reflectance images of retinal layers in healthy and diabetic retinopathy (DR) subjects. High density spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) images were acquired in 10 healthy and 4 DR subjects. Customized image analysis software identified 5 retinal cell layer interfaces and generated thickness maps and reflectance images of the total retina (TR), inner retina (IR), outer retina (OR), and the inner segment ellipsoid (ISe) band. Thickness maps in DR subjects were compared to those of healthy subjects by generating deviation maps which displayed retinal locations with thickness below, within, and above the normal 95% confidence interval. In healthy subjects, TR and IR thickness maps displayed the foveal depression and increased thickness in the parafoveal region. OR and ISe thickness maps showed increased thickness at the fovea, consistent with normal retinal anatomy. In DR subjects, thickening and thinning in localized regions were demonstrated on TR, IR, OR, and ISe thickness maps, corresponding to retinal edema and atrophy, respectively. TR and OR reflectance images showed reduced reflectivity in regions of increased thickness. Hard exudates appeared as hyper-reflective spots in IR reflectance images and casted shadows on the deeper OR and ISe reflectance images. The ISe reflectance image clearly showed the presence of focal laser scars. Enface thickness mapping and reflectance imaging of retinal layers is a potentially useful method for quantifying the spatial and axial extent of pathologies due to DR.

  6. Thick film magnetic nanoparticulate composites and method of manufacture thereof

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Xinqing (Inventor); Zhang, Yide (Inventor); Ge, Shihui (Inventor); Zhang, Zongtao (Inventor); Yan, Dajing (Inventor); Xiao, Danny T. (Inventor)

    2009-01-01

    Thick film magnetic/insulating nanocomposite materials, with significantly reduced core loss, and their manufacture are described. The insulator coated magnetic nanocomposite comprises one or more magnetic components, and an insulating component. The magnetic component comprises nanometer scale particles (about 1 to about 100 nanometers) coated by a thin-layered insulating phase. While the intergrain interaction between the immediate neighboring magnetic nanoparticles separated by the insulating phase provides the desired soft magnetic properties, the insulating material provides high resistivity, which reduces eddy current loss.

  7. Antarctic ice sheet thickness estimation based on P-receiver function and waveform inversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, P.; Li, F.; LI, Z.; Li, J.; Yang, Y.; Hao, W.

    2016-12-01

    Antarctic ice sheet thickness is key parameter and boundary condition for ice sheet model construction, which has great significance for glacial isostatic adjustment, ice sheet mass balance and global change study. Ice thickness acquired utilizing seismological receiver function method can complement and verify with results obtained by radar echo sounding method. In this paper, P-receiver functions(PRFs) are extracted for stations deployed on Antarctic ice sheet, then Vp/Vs ratio and ice thickness are obtained using H-Kappa stacking. Comparisons are made between Bedmap2 dataset and the ice thickness from PRFs, most of the absolute value of the differences are less than 200 meters, only a few reach 600 meters. Taking into account of the intensity of Bedmap2 dataset survey lines and the uncertainty of radio echo sounding, as well as the inherit complexity of the internal ice structure beneath some stations, the ice thickness obtained from receiver function method is reliable. However limitation exists when using H-Kappa stacking method for stations where sediment squeezed between the ice and the bed rock layer. For better verifying the PRF result, a global optimizing method-Neighbourhood algotithm(NA) and spline interpolation are used to modeling PRFs assuming an isotropic layered ice sheet with depth varied densities and velocities beneath the stations. Then the velocity structure and ice sheet thickness are obtained through nonlinear searching by optimally fitting the real and the theoretical PRFs. The obtained ice sheet thickness beneath the stations agree well with the former H-Kappa method, but further detailed study are needed to constrain the inner ice velocity structure.

  8. Calculation of neutron detection efficiency for the thick lithium glass using Monte Carlo method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang Guoyou; Bao Shanglian; Li Yulin; Zhong Wenguan

    1989-08-01

    The neutron detector efficiencies of a NE912 (45mm in diameter, 9.55 mm in thickness) and 2 pieces of ST601 (40mm in diameter, 3 and 10 mm in thickness respectively) lithium glasses have been calculated with a Monte Carlo computer code. The energy range in the calculation is 10 keV to 2.0 MeV. The effect of time delayed caused by neutron multiple scattering in the detectors (prompt neutron detection efficiency) has been considered

  9. Quantitative analysis and metallic coating thickness measurements by X-ray fluorescence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Negrea, Denis; Ducu, Catalin; Malinovschi, Viorel; Moga, Sorin; Boicea, Niculae

    2009-01-01

    Full text: This paperwork covers the use of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for determining the concentration and the coating thickness on metallic samples. The analysis method presented here may also be applicable to other coatings, providing that the elemental nature of the coating and substrate are compatible with the technical aspects of XRF, such as the absorption coefficient of the system, primary radiation, fluorescent radiation and type of detection. For the coating thickness measurement it was used the substrate-line attenuation method and a computing algorithm was developed. Its advantage relies in the fact that no special calibration with standard samples having different layer thickness is needed. The samples used for evaluation were metallic pieces of iron with zinc-nickel coatings of different thickness obtained by electrochemical deposition. (authors)

  10. A highly scalable massively parallel fast marching method for the Eikonal equation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jianming; Stern, Frederick

    2017-03-01

    The fast marching method is a widely used numerical method for solving the Eikonal equation arising from a variety of scientific and engineering fields. It is long deemed inherently sequential and an efficient parallel algorithm applicable to large-scale practical applications is not available in the literature. In this study, we present a highly scalable massively parallel implementation of the fast marching method using a domain decomposition approach. Central to this algorithm is a novel restarted narrow band approach that coordinates the frequency of communications and the amount of computations extra to a sequential run for achieving an unprecedented parallel performance. Within each restart, the narrow band fast marching method is executed; simple synchronous local exchanges and global reductions are adopted for communicating updated data in the overlapping regions between neighboring subdomains and getting the latest front status, respectively. The independence of front characteristics is exploited through special data structures and augmented status tags to extract the masked parallelism within the fast marching method. The efficiency, flexibility, and applicability of the parallel algorithm are demonstrated through several examples. These problems are extensively tested on six grids with up to 1 billion points using different numbers of processes ranging from 1 to 65536. Remarkable parallel speedups are achieved using tens of thousands of processes. Detailed pseudo-codes for both the sequential and parallel algorithms are provided to illustrate the simplicity of the parallel implementation and its similarity to the sequential narrow band fast marching algorithm.

  11. The use of radiography for thickness measurement and corrosion monitoring in pipes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edalati, K.; Rastkhah, N.; Kermani, A.; Seiedi, M.; Movafeghi, A.

    2006-01-01

    In this study of pipes of 150 mm diameters, thickness ranging from 4.2 to 15.0 mm was determined by using two radiography techniques: tangential radiography and double wall radiography. It was concluded that thickness losses of 10%, 20% and 50% could be determined by these methods. Formulae were developed for the double wall radiography method with a high precision of thickness measurement for non-insulated pipes. The precision was comparable with ultrasonic measurement results. Corrosion type and corrosion surface could be observed by these methods. Internal or external corrosion produced different effects in tangential radiography. Insulation removal was not necessary using the radiographic techniques

  12. The use of radiography for thickness measurement and corrosion monitoring in pipes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Edalati, K. [Department of NDT, Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Technological Centre, AEOI, P.O. Box 14155-1399, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)]. E-mail: NDT99@aeoi.org.ir; Rastkhah, N. [Department of NDT, Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Technological Centre, AEOI, P.O. Box 14155-1399, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Kermani, A. [Department of NDT, Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Technological Centre, AEOI, P.O. Box 14155-1399, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Seiedi, M. [Department of NDT, Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Technological Centre, AEOI, P.O. Box 14155-1399, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Movafeghi, A. [Department of NDT, Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Technological Centre, AEOI, P.O. Box 14155-1399, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2006-10-15

    In this study of pipes of 150 mm diameters, thickness ranging from 4.2 to 15.0 mm was determined by using two radiography techniques: tangential radiography and double wall radiography. It was concluded that thickness losses of 10%, 20% and 50% could be determined by these methods. Formulae were developed for the double wall radiography method with a high precision of thickness measurement for non-insulated pipes. The precision was comparable with ultrasonic measurement results. Corrosion type and corrosion surface could be observed by these methods. Internal or external corrosion produced different effects in tangential radiography. Insulation removal was not necessary using the radiographic techniques.

  13. DNA replication restart and cellular dynamics of Hef helicase/nuclease protein in Haloferax volcanii.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lestini, Roxane; Delpech, Floriane; Myllykallio, Hannu

    2015-11-01

    Understanding how frequently spontaneous replication arrests occur and how archaea deal with these arrests are very interesting and challenging research topics. Here we will described how genetic and imaging studies have revealed the central role of the archaeal helicase/nuclease Hef belonging to the XPF/MUS81/FANCM family of endonucleases in repair of arrested replication forks. Special focus will be on description of a recently developed combination of genetic and imaging tools to study the dynamic localization of a functional Hef::GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein) fusion protein in the living cells of halophilic archaea Haloferax volcanii. As Archaea provide an excellent and unique model for understanding how DNA replication is regulated to allow replication of a circular DNA molecule either from single or multiple replication origins, we will also summarize recent studies that have revealed peculiar features regarding DNA replication, particularly in halophilic archaea. We strongly believe that fundamental knowledge of our on-going studies will shed light on the evolutionary history of the DNA replication machinery and will help to establish general rules concerning replication restart and the key role of recombination proteins not only in bacteria, yeast and higher eukaryotes but also in archaea. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. and Société Française de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire (SFBBM). All rights reserved.

  14. Rapid microcantilever-thickness determination by optical interferometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salmon, Andrew R; Capener, Matthew J; Elliott, Stephen R; Baumberg, Jeremy J

    2014-01-01

    Silicon microcantilevers are widely used in scanning-probe microscopy and in cantilever-sensing applications. However, the cantilever thickness is not well controlled in conventional lithography and, since it is also difficult to measure, it is the most important undefined factor in mechanical variability. An accurate method to measure this parameter is thus essential. We demonstrate the capability to measure microcantilever thicknesses rapidly (>1 Hz) and accurately (±2 nm) by optical interferometry. This is achieved with standard microscopy equipment and so can be implemented as a standard technique in both research and in batch control for commercial microfabrication. In addition, we show how spatial variations in the thickness of individual microcantilevers can be mapped, which has applications in the precise mechanical calibration of cantilevers for force spectroscopy. (paper)

  15. Reliability Criteria for Thick Bonding Wire

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Turker Dagdelen

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Bonding wire is one of the main interconnection techniques. Thick bonding wire is widely used in power modules and other high power applications. This study examined the case for extending the use of traditional thin wire reliability criteria, namely wire flexure and aspect ratio, to thick wires. Eleven aluminum (Al and aluminum coated copper (CucorAl wire samples with diameter 300 μm were tested experimentally. The wire response was measured using a novel non-contact method. High fidelity FEM models of the wire were developed and validated. We found that wire flexure is not correlated to its stress state or fatigue life. On the other hand, aspect ratio is a consistent criterion of thick wire fatigue life. Increasing the wire aspect ratio lowers its critical stress and increases its fatigue life. Moreover, we found that CucorAl wire has superior performance and longer fatigue life than Al wire.

  16. Precision of hyaline cartilage thickness measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jonsson, K.; Buckwalter, K.; Helvie, M.; Niklason, L.; Martel, W. (Univ. of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor, MI (United States). Dept. of Radiology)

    1992-05-01

    Measurement of cartilage thickness in vivo is an important indicator of the status of a joint as the various degenerative and inflammatory arthritides directly affect the condition of the cartilage. In order to assess the precision of thickness measurements of hyaline articular cartilage, we undertook a pilot study using MR imaging, plain radiography, and ultrasonography (US). We measured the cartilage of the hip and knee joints in 10 persons (4 healthy volunteers and 6 patients). The joints in each patient were examined on two separate occasions using each modality. In the hips a swell as the knee joints, the most precise measuring method was plain film radiography. For radiographs of the knees obtained in the standing position, the coefficient of variation was 6.5%; in the hips this figure was 6.34%. US of the knees and MR imaging of the hips were the second best modalities in the measurement of cartilage thickness. In addition, MR imaging enabled the most complete visualization of the joint cartilage. (orig.).

  17. Influence of ni thickness on oscillation coupling in Cu/Ni multilayers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gagorowska, B; Dus-Sitek, M [Institute of Physics, Czestochowa University of Technology, Al. Armii Krajowej 19, 42-200 Czestochowa (Poland)

    2007-08-15

    The results of investigation of magnetic properties of [Cu/Ni]x100 were presented. Samples were deposited by face-to-face sputtering method onto the silicon substrate, the thickness of Cu layer was constant (d{sub Cu} = 2 nm) and the thickness of Ni layer - variable (1 nm {<=} d{sub Ni} {<=} 6 nm). In Cu/Ni multilayers, for the thickness of Ni layer bigger than 2 nm antiferromagnetic coupling (A-F) were observed, for the thickness of Ni smaller than 2 nm A-F coupling is absent.

  18. Influence of ni thickness on oscillation coupling in Cu/Ni multilayers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gagorowska, B; Dus-Sitek, M

    2007-01-01

    The results of investigation of magnetic properties of [Cu/Ni]x100 were presented. Samples were deposited by face-to-face sputtering method onto the silicon substrate, the thickness of Cu layer was constant (d Cu = 2 nm) and the thickness of Ni layer - variable (1 nm ≤ d Ni ≤ 6 nm). In Cu/Ni multilayers, for the thickness of Ni layer bigger than 2 nm antiferromagnetic coupling (A-F) were observed, for the thickness of Ni smaller than 2 nm A-F coupling is absent

  19. Post-cast EDM method for reducing the thickness of a turbine nozzle wall

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Raymond Joseph; Bojappa, Parvangada Ganapathy; Kirkpatrick, Francis Lawrence; Schotsch, Margaret Jones; Rajan, Rajiv; Wei, Bin

    2002-01-01

    A post-cast EDM process is used to remove material from the interior surface of a nozzle vane cavity of a turbine. A thin electrode is passed through the cavity between opposite ends of the nozzle vane and displaced along the interior nozzle wall to remove the material along a predetermined path, thus reducing the thickness of the wall between the cavity and the external surface of the nozzle. In another form, an EDM process employing a profile as an electrode is disposed in the cavity and advanced against the wall to remove material from the wall until the final wall thickness is achieved, with the interior wall surface being complementary to the profile surface.

  20. Aberration design of zoom lens systems using thick lens modules.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jinkai; Chen, Xiaobo; Xi, Juntong; Wu, Zhuoqi

    2014-12-20

    A systematic approach for the aberration design of a zoom lens system using a thick lens module is presented. Each component is treated as a thick lens module at the beginning of the design. A thick lens module refers to a thick lens component with a real lens structure, like lens materials, lens curvatures, lens thicknesses, and lens interval distances. All nine third-order aberrations of a thick lens component are considered during the design. The relationship of component aberrations in different zoom positions can be approximated from the aberration shift. After minimizing the aberrations of the zoom lens system, the nine third-order aberrations of every lens component can be determined. Then the thick lens structure of every lens component can be determined after optimization according to their first-order properties and third-order aberration targets. After a third optimization for minimum practical third-order aberrations of a zoom lens system, the aberration design using the thick lens module is complete, which provides a practical zoom lens system with thick lens structures. A double-sided telecentric zoom lens system is designed using the thick lens module in this paper, which shows that this method is practical for zoom lens design.

  1. Effective radiation attenuation calibration for breast density: compression thickness influences and correction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Jerry A

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Calibrating mammograms to produce a standardized breast density measurement for breast cancer risk analysis requires an accurate spatial measure of the compressed breast thickness. Thickness inaccuracies due to the nominal system readout value and compression paddle orientation induce unacceptable errors in the calibration. Method A thickness correction was developed and evaluated using a fully specified two-component surrogate breast model. A previously developed calibration approach based on effective radiation attenuation coefficient measurements was used in the analysis. Water and oil were used to construct phantoms to replicate the deformable properties of the breast. Phantoms consisting of measured proportions of water and oil were used to estimate calibration errors without correction, evaluate the thickness correction, and investigate the reproducibility of the various calibration representations under compression thickness variations. Results The average thickness uncertainty due to compression paddle warp was characterized to within 0.5 mm. The relative calibration error was reduced to 7% from 48-68% with the correction. The normalized effective radiation attenuation coefficient (planar representation was reproducible under intra-sample compression thickness variations compared with calibrated volume measures. Conclusion Incorporating this thickness correction into the rigid breast tissue equivalent calibration method should improve the calibration accuracy of mammograms for risk assessments using the reproducible planar calibration measure.

  2. Adjacent-cell Preconditioners for solving optically thick neutron transport problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Azmy, Y.Y.

    1994-01-01

    We develop, analyze, and test a new acceleration scheme for neutron transport methods, the Adjacent-cell Preconditioner (AP) that is particularly suited for solving optically thick problems. Our method goes beyond Diffusion Synthetic Acceleration (DSA) methods in that it's spectral radius vanishes with increasing cell thickness. In particular, for the ID case the AP method converges immediately, i.e. in one iteration, to 10 -4 pointwise relative criterion in problems with dominant cell size of 10 mfp or thicker. Also the AP has a simple formalism and is cell-centered hence, multidimensional and high order extensions are easier to develop, and more efficient to implement

  3. Free and Forced Vibrations of Thick-Walled Anisotropic Cylindrical Shells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchuk, A. V.; Gnedash, S. V.; Levkovskii, S. A.

    2017-03-01

    Two approaches to studying the free and forced axisymmetric vibrations of cylindrical shell are proposed. They are based on the three-dimensional theory of elasticity and division of the original cylindrical shell with concentric cross-sectional circles into several coaxial cylindrical shells. One approach uses linear polynomials to approximate functions defined in plan and across the thickness. The other approach also uses linear polynomials to approximate functions defined in plan, but their variation with thickness is described by the analytical solution of a system of differential equations. Both approaches have approximation and arithmetic errors. When determining the natural frequencies by the semi-analytical finite-element method in combination with the divide and conqure method, it is convenient to find the initial frequencies by the finite-element method. The behavior of the shell during free and forced vibrations is analyzed in the case where the loading area is half the shell thickness

  4. STRUCTURAL, PHOTO-FUNCTIONAL AND SEMICONDUCTOR PROPERTIES OF COPPER OXIDE THIN FILMS PREPARED BY DC REACTIVE METHOD UNDER VARIOUS THICKNESSES Anmar H. Shukur

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anmar H. Shukur

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Cuprous oxide (Cu2O has been formed on glass substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering method, whereas pure target of the solid copper was sputtered with a mixture of plasma for argon gas and oxygen gas was used to form these films. Under vacuum chamber pressure of 1.2×10-5 Pa, thin film thickness was changed from 100 nm to 300 nm while other deposition parameters were fixed. The influence of changing the thickness of thin films on the electrical and the optical properties was investigated in this study. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, X-ray Diffractions system XRD, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM, hall effect measurement system, UV–VIS spectrophotometer were employed to determine the characteristic of the deposited thin films. Thin film of 200 nm has observed low resistivity of 60.63 Ω cm and direct band gap of 2.5eV. This study has demonstrated that the thickness has direct influence on electrical and optical properties.

  5. Thickness and temperature dependence of electrical resistivity of p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 thin films prepared by flash evaporation method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duan Xingkai; Yang Junyou; Zhu, W; Fan, X A; Bao, S Q

    2006-01-01

    P-type Bi 0.5 Sb 1.5 Te 3 thin films with thicknesses in the range 80-320 nm have been deposited by the flash evaporation method on glass substrates at 473 K. XRD and field emission scanning electron microscope were performed to characterize the thin films. The results show that the thin films are polycrystalline and the grain size of the thin films increases with increasing thickness of the thin films. Compositional analysis of the thin films was also carried out by energy-dispersive x-ray analysis. A near linear relationship was observed between the electrical resistivity and the inverse thickness of the annealed thin films, and it agrees with Tellier's model. Electrical resistivity of the annealed thin films was studied in the temperature range 300-350 K, and their thermal activation behaviour was characterized, the activation energy for conduction decreases with increasing thickness of the thin films

  6. Fermion determinants in lattice QCD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, Christopher Andrew

    2001-01-01

    The main topic of this thesis concerns efficient algorithms for the calculation of determinants of the kind of matrix typically encountered in lattice QCD. In particular an efficient method for calculating the fermion determinant is described. Such a calculation is useful to illustrate the effects of light dynamical (virtual) quarks. The methods employed in this thesis are stochastic methods, based on the Lanczos algorithm, which is used for the solution of large, sparse matrix problems via a partial tridiagonalisation of the matrix. Here an implementation is explored which requires less exhaustive treatment of the matrix than previous Lanczos methods. This technique exploits the analogy between the Lanczos tridiagonalisation algorithm and Gaussian quadrature in order to calculate the fermion determinant. A technique for determining a number of the eigenvalues of the matrix is also presented. A demonstration is then given of how one can improve upon this estimate considerably using variance reduction techniques, reducing the variance by a factor of order 100 with a further, equal amount of work. The variance reduction method is a two-stage process, involving a Chebyshev approximation to the quantity in question and then the subtraction of traceless operators. The method is applied to the fermion determinant for non-perturbatively improved Wilson fermions on a 16 3 x 32 lattice. It is also applicable to a wider class of matrix operators. Finally we discuss how dynamical quark effects may be simulated in a Monte Carlo process with an effective partitioning of low and high eigenmodes. This may be done via selective updating of a trial configuration which highlights the physically relevant effects of light quark modes. (author)

  7. NLOM - a program for nonlocal optical model calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, B.T.; Kyum, M.C.; Hong, S.W.; Park, M.H.; Udagawa, T.

    1992-01-01

    A FORTRAN program NLOM for nonlocal optical model calculations is described. It is based on a method recently developed by Kim and Udagawa, which utilizes the Lanczos technique for solving integral equations derived from the nonlocal Schroedinger equation. (orig.)

  8. Interocular Symmetry in Macular Choroidal Thickness in Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christiane Al-Haddad

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. To report interocular differences in choroidal thickness in children using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT and correlate findings with biometric data. Methods. This observational cross-sectional study included 91 (182 eyes healthy children aged 6 to 17 years with no ocular abnormality except refractive error. After a comprehensive eye exam and axial length measurement, high definition macular scans were performed using SD-OCT. Two observers manually measured the choroidal thickness at the foveal center and at 1500 µm nasally, temporally, inferiorly, and superiorly. Interocular differences were computed; correlations with age, gender, refractive error, and axial length were performed. Results. Mean age was 10.40 ± 3.17 years; mean axial length and refractive error values were similar between fellow eyes. There was excellent correlation between the two observers’ measurements. No significant interocular differences were observed at any location. There was only a trend for right eyes to have higher values in all thicknesses, except the superior thickness. Most of the choroidal thickness measurements correlated positively with spherical equivalent but not with axial length, age, or gender. Conclusion. Choroidal thickness measurements in children as performed using SD-OCT revealed a high level of interobserver agreement and consistent interocular symmetry. Values correlated positively with spherical equivalent refraction.

  9. Interocular symmetry in macular choroidal thickness in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Haddad, Christiane; El Chaar, Lama; Antonios, Rafic; El-Dairi, Mays; Noureddin, Baha'

    2014-01-01

    Objective. To report interocular differences in choroidal thickness in children using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and correlate findings with biometric data. Methods. This observational cross-sectional study included 91 (182 eyes) healthy children aged 6 to 17 years with no ocular abnormality except refractive error. After a comprehensive eye exam and axial length measurement, high definition macular scans were performed using SD-OCT. Two observers manually measured the choroidal thickness at the foveal center and at 1500 µm nasally, temporally, inferiorly, and superiorly. Interocular differences were computed; correlations with age, gender, refractive error, and axial length were performed. Results. Mean age was 10.40 ± 3.17 years; mean axial length and refractive error values were similar between fellow eyes. There was excellent correlation between the two observers' measurements. No significant interocular differences were observed at any location. There was only a trend for right eyes to have higher values in all thicknesses, except the superior thickness. Most of the choroidal thickness measurements correlated positively with spherical equivalent but not with axial length, age, or gender. Conclusion. Choroidal thickness measurements in children as performed using SD-OCT revealed a high level of interobserver agreement and consistent interocular symmetry. Values correlated positively with spherical equivalent refraction.

  10. Minimal residual method stronger than polynomial preconditioning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Faber, V.; Joubert, W.; Knill, E. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)] [and others

    1994-12-31

    Two popular methods for solving symmetric and nonsymmetric systems of equations are the minimal residual method, implemented by algorithms such as GMRES, and polynomial preconditioning methods. In this study results are given on the convergence rates of these methods for various classes of matrices. It is shown that for some matrices, such as normal matrices, the convergence rates for GMRES and for the optimal polynomial preconditioning are the same, and for other matrices such as the upper triangular Toeplitz matrices, it is at least assured that if one method converges then the other must converge. On the other hand, it is shown that matrices exist for which restarted GMRES always converges but any polynomial preconditioning of corresponding degree makes no progress toward the solution for some initial error. The implications of these results for these and other iterative methods are discussed.

  11. A method of retrieving cloud top height and cloud geometrical thickness with oxygen A and B bands for the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission: Radiative transfer simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Yuekui; Marshak, Alexander; Mao, Jianping; Lyapustin, Alexei; Herman, Jay

    2013-01-01

    The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) onboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) was designed to measure the atmosphere and surface properties over the whole sunlit half of the Earth from the L1 Lagrangian point. It has 10 spectral channels ranging from the UV to the near-IR, including two pairs of oxygen (O 2 ) A-band (779.5 and 764 nm) and B-band (680 and 687.75 nm) reference and absorption channels selected for the cloud height measurements. This paper presents the radiative transfer analysis pertinent to retrieving cloud top height and cloud geometrical thickness with EPIC A- and B-band observations. Due to photon cloud penetration, retrievals from either O 2 A- or B-band channels alone gives the corresponding cloud centroid height, which is lower than the cloud top. However, we show both the sum and the difference between the retrieved cloud centroid heights in the A and B bands are functions of cloud top height and cloud geometrical thickness. Based on this fact, the paper develops a new method to retrieve cloud top height and cloud geometrical thickness simultaneously for fully cloudy scenes over ocean surface. First, cloud centroid heights are calculated for both A and B bands using the ratios between the reflectances of the absorbing and reference channels; then the cloud top height and the cloud geometrical thickness are retrieved from the two dimensional look up tables that relate the sum and the difference between the retrieved centroid heights for A and B bands to the cloud top height and the cloud geometrical thickness. This method is applicable for clouds thicker than an optical depth of 5. -- Highlights: ► EPIC onboard DSCOVR is equipped with O 2 A and B band channels. ► Photon cloud penetration depths of A and B bands contain information of cloud thickness. ► A method is developed to retrieve cloud top height and cloud geometrical thickness with EPIC O 2 A- and B-band

  12. Ultrasonic Measurement of Interfacial Layer Thickness of Sub-Quarter-Wavelength

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, No Hyu; Lee, Sang Soon [Korea University of Technology and Education, Cheonan (Korea, Republic of)

    2003-12-15

    This paper describes a new technique for thickness measurement of a very thin layer less than one-quarter of the wavelength of ultrasonic wave used in the ultrasonic pulse-echo measurements. The technique determines the thickness of a thin layer in a tapered medium from constructive interference of multiple reflection waves. The interference characteristics are derived and investigated in theoretical and experimental approaches. Modified total reflection wave g(t) defined as difference between total and first reflection waves increases in amplitude as the interfacial layer thickness decreases down to zero. A layer thickness less than one-tenth of the ultrasonic wavelength is measured using the maximum amplitude of g(t) with a good accuracy and sensitivity. The method also requires no inversion process to extract the thickness information from the waveforms of reflected waves, so that it makes possible to have the on-line thickness measurement of a thin layer such as a lubricating oil film in thrust bearings and journal bearings during manufacturing process

  13. Ultrasonic Measurement of Interfacial Layer Thickness of Sub-Quarter-Wavelength

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, No Hyu; Lee, Sang Soon

    2003-01-01

    This paper describes a new technique for thickness measurement of a very thin layer less than one-quarter of the wavelength of ultrasonic wave used in the ultrasonic pulse-echo measurements. The technique determines the thickness of a thin layer in a tapered medium from constructive interference of multiple reflection waves. The interference characteristics are derived and investigated in theoretical and experimental approaches. Modified total reflection wave g(t) defined as difference between total and first reflection waves increases in amplitude as the interfacial layer thickness decreases down to zero. A layer thickness less than one-tenth of the ultrasonic wavelength is measured using the maximum amplitude of g(t) with a good accuracy and sensitivity. The method also requires no inversion process to extract the thickness information from the waveforms of reflected waves, so that it makes possible to have the on-line thickness measurement of a thin layer such as a lubricating oil film in thrust bearings and journal bearings during manufacturing process

  14. Determining paediatric patient thickness from a single digital radiograph-a proof of principle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Worrall, Mark; Vinnicombe, Sarah; Sutton, David G

    2018-04-05

    This work presents a proof of principle for a method of estimating the thickness of an attenuator from a single radiograph using the image, the exposure factors with which it was acquired and a priori knowledge of the characteristics of the X-ray unit and detector used for the exposure. It is intended this could be developed into a clinical tool to assist with paediatric patient dose audit, for which a measurement of patient size is required. The proof of principle used measured pixel value and effective linear attenuation coefficient to estimate the thickness of a Solid Water attenuator. The kerma at the detector was estimated using a measurement of pixel value on the image and measured detector calibrations. The initial kerma was estimated using a lookup table of measured output values. The effective linear attenuation coefficient was measured for Solid Water at varying kV p . 11 test images of known and varying thicknesses of Solid Water were acquired at 60, 70 and 81 kV p . Estimates of attenuator thickness were made using the model and the results compared to the known thickness. Estimates of attenuator thickness made using the model differed from the known thickness by 3.8 mm (3.2%) on average, with a range of 0.5-10.8 mm (0.5-9%). A proof of principle is presented for a method of estimating the thickness of an attenuator using a single radiograph of the attenuator. The method has been shown to be accurate using a Solid Water attenuator, with a maximum difference between estimated and known attenuator thickness of 10.8 mm (9%). The method shows promise as a clinical tool for estimating abdominal paediatric patient thickness for paediatric patient dose audit, and is only contingent on the type of data routinely collected by Medical Physics departments. Advances in knowledge: A computational model has been created that is capable of accurately estimating the thickness of a uniform attenuator using only the radiographic image, the exposure factors with which

  15. Magnetic properties and microstructure investigation of electrodeposited FeNi/ITO films with different thickness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cao, Derang; Wang, Zhenkun; Feng, Erxi; Wei, Jinwu; Wang, Jianbo; Liu, Qingfang

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: •FeNi alloy thin films with different thickness deposited on Indium Tin Oxides (ITOs) conductive glass substrates by electrodeposition method. •A columnar crystalline microstructure and domain structure were obtained in FeNi thin films. •Particular FMR spectra of FeNi alloy with different thickness were studied. -- Abstract: FeNi alloy thin films with different thickness deposited on Indium Tin Oxides (ITOs) conductive glass substrates from the electrolytes by electrodeposition method have been studied by magnetic force microscopy (MFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) technique. For these films possessing an in-plane isotropy, the remanence decreases with the increasing of film thickness and the critical thickness that a stripe domain structure emerges is about 116 nm. Characteristic differences of the FMR spectra of different thickness are also observed. The results show that the resonance field at high measured angle increases firstly then decreases with increasing thickness, which may be related to the striped domain structure

  16. Rotating disk electrodes to assess river biofilm thickness and elasticity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boulêtreau, Stéphanie; Charcosset, Jean-Yves; Gamby, Jean; Lyautey, Emilie; Mastrorillo, Sylvain; Azémar, Frédéric; Moulin, Frédéric; Tribollet, Bernard; Garabetian, Frédéric

    2011-01-01

    The present study examined the relevance of an electrochemical method based on a rotating disk electrode (RDE) to assess river biofilm thickness and elasticity. An in situ colonisation experiment in the River Garonne (France) in August 2009 sought to obtain natural river biofilms exhibiting differentiated architecture. A constricted pipe providing two contrasted flow conditions (about 0.1 and 0.45 m s(-1) in inflow and constricted sections respectively) and containing 24 RDE was immersed in the river for 21 days. Biofilm thickness and elasticity were quantified using an electrochemical assay on 7 and 21 days old RDE-grown biofilms (t(7) and t(21), respectively). Biofilm thickness was affected by colonisation length and flow conditions and ranged from 36 ± 15 μm (mean ± standard deviation, n = 6) in the fast flow section at t(7) to 340 ± 140 μm (n = 3) in the slow flow section at t(21). Comparing the electrochemical signal to stereomicroscopic estimates of biofilms thickness indicated that the method consistently allowed (i) to detect early biofilm colonisation in the river and (ii) to measure biofilm thickness of up to a few hundred μm. Biofilm elasticity, i.e. biofilm squeeze by hydrodynamic constraint, was significantly higher in the slow (1300 ± 480 μm rpm(1/2), n = 8) than in the fast flow sections (790 ± 350 μm rpm(1/2), n = 11). Diatom and bacterial density, and biofilm-covered RDE surface analyses (i) confirmed that microbial accrual resulted in biofilm formation on the RDE surface, and (ii) indicated that thickness and elasticity represent useful integrative parameters of biofilm architecture that could be measured on natural river assemblages using the proposed electrochemical method. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Electron beam curable polymer thick film

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagata, Hidetoshi; Kobayashi, Takashi

    1988-01-01

    Currently, most printed circuit boards are produced by the selective etching of copper clads laminated on dielectric substrates such as paper/phenolic resion or nonwoven glass/epoxy resin composites. After the etchig, various components such as transistors and capacitors are mounted on the boards by soldering. But these are troublesome works, therefore, as an alternative, printing method has been investigated recently. In the printing method, conductor circuits and resistors can be made by printing and curing of the specially prepared paste on dielectric substrates. In the near future, also capacitors are made by same method. Usually, conductor paste, resistor paste and dielectric paste are employed, and in this case, the printing is screen printing, and the curing is done thermally. In order to avoid heating and the deterioration of substrates, attention was paid to electron beam curing, and electron beam curable polymer thick film system was developed. The electron beam curable paste is the milled mixture of a filler and an electron beam curable binder of oligomer/monomer. The major advantage of electron beam curable polymer thick film, the typical data of a printed resistor of this type and its trial are reported. (K.I.)

  18. Measurement of Li target thickness in the EVEDA Li Test Loop

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kanemura, Takuji, E-mail: kanemura.takuji@jaea.go.jp [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 4002 Narita, O-arai, Higashi-Ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki 311-1393 (Japan); Kondo, Hiroo; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Hirakawa, Yasushi [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 4002 Narita, O-arai, Higashi-Ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki 311-1393 (Japan); Hoashi, Eiji; Yoshihashi, Sachiko; Horiike, Hiroshi [Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan); Wakai, Eiichi [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 4002 Narita, O-arai, Higashi-Ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki 311-1393 (Japan)

    2015-10-15

    Highlights: • The objective is to validate stability of the IFMIF liquid Li target flowing at 15 m/s. • Design requirement of target thickness fluctuation is ±1 mm. • Mean and maximum wave amplitude are 0.26 and 1.46 mm, respectively. • Average thickness can be well predicted with developed analytical model. • Li target was adequately stable and satisfied design requirement. - Abstract: A high-speed (nominal: 15 m/s, range: 10–16 m/s) liquid lithium wall jet is planned to serve as the target for two 40 MeV and 125 mA deuteron beams in the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF). The design requirement of target thickness stability is 25 ± 1 mm under a vacuum of 10{sup −3} Pa. This paper presents the results of the target thickness measurement conducted in the EVEDA Li Test Loop under a wide range of conditions including the IFMIF condition (target speed of 10, 15, and 20 m/s; vacuum pressure of 10{sup −3} Pa; and Li temperature of 250 °C). For measurement, we use a laser probe method that we developed in advance; this method generates statistical measurements method using a laser distance meter. The measurement results obtained under the IFMIF nominal condition (15 m/s, 10{sup −3} Pa, 250 °C) at the IFMIF beam center are as follows: average target thickness = 26.08 ± 0.09 mm (2σ), mean wave amplitude = 0.26 ± 0.01 mm (2σ), and maximum wave amplitude = 1.46 ± 0.25 mm (2σ). Of the total wave components, 99.7% are within the design requirement. The analytically predicted target thickness is in excellent agreement with the experimental data, resulting in successful characterization of the Li target thickness.

  19. Static and dynamic through thickness lamina properties of thick laminates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lahuerta, F.; Nijssen, R.P.L.; Van der Meer, F.P.; Sluys, L.J.

    2015-01-01

    Thick laminates are increasingly present in large composites structures such as wind turbine blades. Different factors are suspected to be involved in the decreased static and dynamic performance of thick laminates. These include the effect of self-heating, the scaling effect, and the manufacturing

  20. Computed simulation of radiographies of pipes - validation of techniques for wall thickness measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bellon, C.; Tillack, G.R.; Nockemann, C.; Wenzel, L.

    1995-01-01

    A macroscopic model of radiographic NDE methods and applications is given. A computer-aided approach for determination of wall thickness from radiographs is presented, guaranteeing high accuracy and reproducibility of wall thickness determination by means of projection radiography. The algorithm was applied to computed simulations of radiographies. The simulation thus offers an effective means for testing such automated wall thickness determination as a function of imaging conditions, pipe geometries, coatings, and media tracking, and likewise is a tool for validation and optimization of the method. (orig.) [de

  1. Film thickness measurement based on nonlinear phase analysis using a Linnik microscopic white-light spectral interferometer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Tong; Chen, Zhuo; Li, Minghui; Wu, Juhong; Fu, Xing; Hu, Xiaotang

    2018-04-20

    Based on white-light spectral interferometry and the Linnik microscopic interference configuration, the nonlinear phase components of the spectral interferometric signal were analyzed for film thickness measurement. The spectral interferometric signal was obtained using a Linnik microscopic white-light spectral interferometer, which includes the nonlinear phase components associated with the effective thickness, the nonlinear phase error caused by the double-objective lens, and the nonlinear phase of the thin film itself. To determine the influence of the effective thickness, a wavelength-correction method was proposed that converts the effective thickness into a constant value; the nonlinear phase caused by the effective thickness can then be determined and subtracted from the total nonlinear phase. A method for the extraction of the nonlinear phase error caused by the double-objective lens was also proposed. Accurate thickness measurement of a thin film can be achieved by fitting the nonlinear phase of the thin film after removal of the nonlinear phase caused by the effective thickness and by the nonlinear phase error caused by the double-objective lens. The experimental results demonstrated that both the wavelength-correction method and the extraction method for the nonlinear phase error caused by the double-objective lens improve the accuracy of film thickness measurements.

  2. The restart of Belgium reactors of Doel 3 and Tihange 2. Doel 3 and Tihange 2: indications of defects in vessel steel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2015-01-01

    In a first part, an IRSN report comments the issue of restarting some Belgium reactors after the detection of defects (due to the presence of hydrogen) in the vessel steel of reactors during the third decennial inspection by Electrabel. The report describes the procedure followed by Electrabel and the Belgium nuclear authority (AFCN) to confirm that the detected defects were not harmful. It comments the defect detection and characterisation, the origin and potential evolution of defects, the assessment of mechanical characteristics of some components, the assessment of the defect harmfulness in terms of failure risk, and additional measurements. The second part contains the AFCN report which addresses: the chronology and scientific context, the actors, the situation of other Belgium reactors, an indication of published reports and press releases

  3. Experimental Influences in the Accurate Measurement of Cartilage Thickness in MRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Nian; Badar, Farid; Xia, Yang

    2018-01-01

    Objective To study the experimental influences to the measurement of cartilage thickness by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Design The complete thicknesses of healthy and trypsin-degraded cartilage were measured at high-resolution MRI under different conditions, using two intensity-based imaging sequences (ultra-short echo [UTE] and multislice-multiecho [MSME]) and 3 quantitative relaxation imaging sequences (T 1 , T 2 , and T 1 ρ). Other variables included different orientations in the magnet, 2 soaking solutions (saline and phosphate buffered saline [PBS]), and external loading. Results With cartilage soaked in saline, UTE and T 1 methods yielded complete and consistent measurement of cartilage thickness, while the thickness measurement by T 2 , T 1 ρ, and MSME methods were orientation dependent. The effect of external loading on cartilage thickness is also sequence and orientation dependent. All variations in cartilage thickness in MRI could be eliminated with the use of a 100 mM PBS or imaged by UTE sequence. Conclusions The appearance of articular cartilage and the measurement accuracy of cartilage thickness in MRI can be influenced by a number of experimental factors in ex vivo MRI, from the use of various pulse sequences and soaking solutions to the health of the tissue. T 2 -based imaging sequence, both proton-intensity sequence and quantitative relaxation sequence, similarly produced the largest variations. With adequate resolution, the accurate measurement of whole cartilage tissue in clinical MRI could be utilized to detect differences between healthy and osteoarthritic cartilage after compression.

  4. Reducing the Impact of Electroconductivity and the Gap between the Pipe and the Transducer at Measuring Thickness of Electroconductive Pipe Walls using the Eddy-Current Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yakimov Evgeny

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper describes a dual-frequency method for reducing the impact of changes in the gap size between the eddy-current transducer and the pipe, as well as the pipe electrical conductivity on the eddy-current thickness gauge readings. A block-diagram of the dual-frequency eddycurrent thickness gauge is proposed for light-alloy drill pipes. The amplitude and signal phase dependencies on the wall thickness in the range from 6 to 17 mm and the gap in the range from 0 to 13.5 mm were studied, the results are presented. The digital signal processing algorithms based on the piecewise-linear approximation of low-frequency and high-frequency signal phase dependencies on the wall thickness are proposed. It is shown that the proposed correction algorithms can reduce the error caused by variations of electrical conductivity and the gap between the transducer and the pipe.

  5. Model Reduction using Vorobyev Moment Problem

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Strakoš, Zdeněk

    2009-01-01

    Roč. 51, č. 3 (2009), s. 363-379 ISSN 1017-1398 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA100300802 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : matching moments * model reduction * Krylov subspace methods * conjugate gradient method * Lanczos method * Arnoldi method * Gauss-Christoffel quadrature * scattering amplitude Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.716, year: 2009

  6. Extending the reach of strong-coupling: an iterative technique for Hamiltonian lattice models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alberty, J.; Greensite, J.; Patkos, A.

    1983-12-01

    The authors propose an iterative method for doing lattice strong-coupling-like calculations in a range of medium to weak couplings. The method is a modified Lanczos scheme, with greatly improved convergence properties. The technique is tested on the Mathieu equation and on a Hamiltonian finite-chain XY model, with excellent results. (Auth.)

  7. Technique of experimental definition of optical thickness of the plasma channel by the method of lightening and possibilities of its application for pulsing discharge in water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fedorovich, O.A.

    2008-01-01

    Results of development and application of a technique of experimental definition of optical thickness τ of the plasma channel in water by the method of lightening are given. Plasma of the discharge in water managed to be lighten through on a stage of relaxation and the logarithm of coefficient of passage of radiation from an extraneous radiation source have been determined. The basic contribution to size of optical thickness gives absorption of radiation, instead of dispersion. But this value is not real optical thickness. Calculation of atoms N a concentration in the channel on values τ, received by the lightening through method, at 4 - 15 times is overestimated in comparison to the values of concentration, received by other independent method. Results of direct measurements of τ by illumination of the plasma channel by reference source EhV-45 are overestimated because of features of passage of appearing through radiation through the channel of the discharge in water of the cylindrical form as it represents a disseminating lens. The reasons of this distinguish of the received by lightening through method values of τ in cylindrical plasma channel in liquids are given. The technique of definition of time of a delay of the beginning of expansion of the channel concerning the moment of submission of a voltage on a digit interval is developed

  8. A hybrid method for airway segmentation and automated measurement of bronchial wall thickness on CT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Ziyue; Bagci, Ulas; Foster, Brent; Mansoor, Awais; Udupa, Jayaram K; Mollura, Daniel J

    2015-08-01

    Inflammatory and infectious lung diseases commonly involve bronchial airway structures and morphology, and these abnormalities are often analyzed non-invasively through high resolution computed tomography (CT) scans. Assessing airway wall surfaces and the lumen are of great importance for diagnosing pulmonary diseases. However, obtaining high accuracy from a complete 3-D airway tree structure can be quite challenging. The airway tree structure has spiculated shapes with multiple branches and bifurcation points as opposed to solid single organ or tumor segmentation tasks in other applications, hence, it is complex for manual segmentation as compared with other tasks. For computerized methods, a fundamental challenge in airway tree segmentation is the highly variable intensity levels in the lumen area, which often causes a segmentation method to leak into adjacent lung parenchyma through blurred airway walls or soft boundaries. Moreover, outer wall definition can be difficult due to similar intensities of the airway walls and nearby structures such as vessels. In this paper, we propose a computational framework to accurately quantify airways through (i) a novel hybrid approach for precise segmentation of the lumen, and (ii) two novel methods (a spatially constrained Markov random walk method (pseudo 3-D) and a relative fuzzy connectedness method (3-D)) to estimate the airway wall thickness. We evaluate the performance of our proposed methods in comparison with mostly used algorithms using human chest CT images. Our results demonstrate that, on publicly available data sets and using standard evaluation criteria, the proposed airway segmentation method is accurate and efficient as compared with the state-of-the-art methods, and the airway wall estimation algorithms identified the inner and outer airway surfaces more accurately than the most widely applied methods, namely full width at half maximum and phase congruency. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  9. Thickness-Independent Ultrasonic Imaging Applied to Abrasive Cut-Off Wheels: An Advanced Aerospace Materials Characterization Method for the Abrasives Industry. A NASA Lewis Research Center Technology Transfer Case History

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roth, Don J.; Farmer, Donald A.

    1998-01-01

    Abrasive cut-off wheels are at times unintentionally manufactured with nonuniformity that is difficult to identify and sufficiently characterize without time-consuming, destructive examination. One particular nonuniformity is a density variation condition occurring around the wheel circumference or along the radius, or both. This density variation, depending on its severity, can cause wheel warpage and wheel vibration resulting in unacceptable performance and perhaps premature failure of the wheel. Conventional nondestructive evaluation methods such as ultrasonic c-scan imaging and film radiography are inaccurate in their attempts at characterizing the density variation because a superimposing thickness variation exists as well in the wheel. In this article, the single transducer thickness-independent ultrasonic imaging method, developed specifically to allow more accurate characterization of aerospace components, is shown to precisely characterize the extent of the density variation in a cut-off wheel having a superimposing thickness variation. The method thereby has potential as an effective quality control tool in the abrasives industry for the wheel manufacturer.

  10. Mechanical System Analysis of C-Frame for Steel Plate Thickness Gauge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sri Sudadiyo

    2007-01-01

    Nuclear base instrument is not only applied in the area of research such as medical and agriculture sciences, but also in the field of industry especially for thickness gauge. To the present at the steel industry, the gauge that is applied to cut plate thickness using infra-red ray method, it cannot result in accurately data. To solve that case, it is developed a thickness gauge of steel plate by using gamma ray method that it is named C-Frame. This thickness gauge is hoped that it could control in cutting the steel plate by on-line, accurate, and safe, therefore, it could socialize the advanced technology in the nuclear field to support the production process in domestic industries (national industries). The present study yields the calculations of mechanical system of that C-Frame including structure, detector support, source container of radioisotope, and transmission system, be also computed by running Professional Microsoft Fortran Version 5.10, NISA-II program, and AutoCAD program. From the obtained results could be known that the design meets the requirement, so that could be employed properly to measure the thickness of plate in the steel industries. (author)

  11. Relationship between the thickness of the renal cortex and age: study with CT measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Yufeng; Tang Guangjian

    2004-01-01

    Objective: To study the relationship between the renal cortical thickness and age, and to establish the range of the normal renal cortex thickness by using CT measurement in different age groups so as to obtain a best age-related and practicable method for clinical measurement. Methods: (1) the accuracy of measuring renal cortical thickness by CT was evaluated: 18 kidney resected due to renal neoplasm were studied and the cortical thickness of the normal part of these specimens was assessed. The difference between the renal cortical thickness of specimens and preoperative measurements of renal cortex of the same patient by contrast enhanced CT was analyzed statistically. (2) 120 patients without history of renal disease or long term usage of potentially renal toxic drugs or history of hypertension were examined by CT with indication (s) other than renal disease. All the patients were divided into 20-40, 41-60, and 61-80 year-old groups. The renal cortical and parenchymal thickness and renal size were measured in three CT sections. The difference of the measurements among the three groups and their relationship to age was analyzed statistically. Results: There was no significant difference between the renal cortical thickness measured by enhanced spiral CT and measured in renal specimens (t=0.80, P=0.43). The renal cortical thickness in three groups was 0.73 cm, 0.65 cm, and 0.53 cm, respectively, and the differences among the three groups were significant (F=93.430, P 0.05). Conclusion: The measurement of the renal cortical thickness with enhanced spiral CT was reliable and was a sensitive method in investigating the morphologic changes of the kidney. The renal cortical thickness of normal kidney diminishes with age, but the change of the ratio of thickness of renal cortex to renal parenchyma with age was not significant

  12. Effective radiation attenuation calibration for breast density: compression thickness influences and correction

    OpenAIRE

    Thomas Jerry A; Cao Ke; Heine John J

    2010-01-01

    Abstract Background Calibrating mammograms to produce a standardized breast density measurement for breast cancer risk analysis requires an accurate spatial measure of the compressed breast thickness. Thickness inaccuracies due to the nominal system readout value and compression paddle orientation induce unacceptable errors in the calibration. Method A thickness correction was developed and evaluated using a fully specified two-component surrogate breast model. A previously developed calibrat...

  13. Trochanteric Soft Tissue Thickness and Hip Fracture in Older Men

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nielson, Carrie M.; Bouxsein, Mary L.; Freitas, Sinara S.; Ensrud, Kristine E.; Orwoll, Eric S.

    2009-01-01

    Background: Greater thickness of the tissue extending laterally from the greater trochanter has been associated with a lower risk of hip fracture in women. The effect of trochanteric soft tissue thickness on the risk of incident hip fracture has not been evaluated in men. Methods: We measured trochanteric soft tissue thickness by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry for all incident hip fracture cases (n = 70) and 222 randomly selected noncases in older men (≥65 yr) enrolled in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study. Differences in tissue thickness between cases and controls were examined. Changes in fall force and factor-of-risk (the ratio of force from a sideways fall to femoral bone strength) associated with tissue thickness were determined. The relative risk for incident hip fracture per sd decrease in tissue thickness was calculated. Results: Mean trochanteric soft tissue thickness did not differ significantly between cases and noncases (29.1 ± 11.9 vs 31.0 ± 11.5 mm; P = 0.2). Although increased tissue thickness reduced both the estimates of fall force and the factor-of-risk, tissue thickness was not associated with the risk of hip fracture (age- and bone mineral density-adjusted relative risk per sd decrease in tissue thickness = 0.90; 95% confidence interval, 0.70–1.16). Conclusions: In this study of elderly community-dwelling men, we found no significant association between trochanteric soft tissue thickness and incident hip fracture. Trochanteric soft tissue thickness in these men was less than previously reported in older women and may explain the difference between these results and those reported in women. PMID:19017753

  14. Application of generalized function to dynamic analysis of thick plates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng, D.; Weng, Z.

    1987-01-01

    The structures with thick plates have been used extensively in national defence, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, nuclear engineering, civil engineering, etc.. Various theories have been established to deal with the problems of elastic plates, which include the classical theory of thin plates, the improved theory of thick plates, three-dimensional elastical theory. In this paper, the derivative of δ-function is handled by using the generalized function. The dynamic analysis of thick plates subjected the concentrated load is presented. The improved Donnell's equation of thick plates is deduced and employed as the basic equation. The generalized coordinates are solved by using the method of MWR. The general expressions for the dynamic response of elastic thick plates subjected the concentrated load are given. The numerical results for rectangular plates are given herein. The results are compared with those obtained from the improved theory and the classical theory of plates. (orig./GL)

  15. Comparison of a new hydro-surgical technique to traditional methods for the preparation of full-thickness skin grafts from canine cadaveric skin and report of a single clinical case.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Townsend, F I; Ralphs, S C; Coronado, G; Sweet, D C; Ward, J; Bloch, C P

    2012-01-01

    To compare the hydro-surgical technique to traditional techniques for removal of subcutaneous tissue in the preparation of full-thickness skin grafts. Ex vivo experimental study and a single clinical case report. Four canine cadavers and a single clinical case. Four sections of skin were harvested from the lateral flank of recently euthanatized dogs. Traditional preparation methods used included both a blade or scissors technique, each of which were compared to the hydro-surgical technique individually. Preparation methods were compared based on length of time for removal of the subcutaneous tissue from the graft, histologic grading, and measurable thickness as compared to an untreated sample. The hydro-surgical technique had the shortest skin graft preparation time as compared to traditional techniques (p = 0.002). There was no significant difference in the histological grading or measurable subcutaneous thickness between skin specimens. The hydro-surgical technique provides a rapid, effective debridement of subcutaneous tissue in the preparation of full-thickness skin grafts. There were not any significant changes in histological grade and subcutaneous tissue remaining among all treatment types. Additionally the hydro-surgical technique was successfully used to prepare a full-thickness meshed free skin graft in the reconstruction of a traumatic medial tarsal wound in a dog.

  16. Variation in thickness of the large cryosections cut for whole-body autoradiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ito, Tsunao; Brill, A.B.

    1991-01-01

    A method to assess variation in thickness of the large cryosections for whole-body autoradiography (WBARG) was described, and the degree of intraslice and interslice variations were determined for our cryomicrotome system (LKB PMV-2250). Intraslice variation in thickness of the 180 x 80 mm cryosection was 0.72-0.92 μm within the range of section thickness for WBARG (15-50 μm), and interslice variation was 0.89-1.21 μm. These potential variations in section thickness should be kept in mind whenever working with quantitative WBARG. (author)

  17. Non-contact radiation thickness gauge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsujii, T.; Okino, T.

    1983-01-01

    A noncontact thickness gauge system for measuring the thickness of a material comprising a source of radiation, a detector for detecting the amount of radiation transmitted through the material which is a function of the absorptance and thickness of the material, a memory for storing the output signals of the detector and curve-defining parameters for a plurality of quadratic calibration curves which correspond to respective thickness ranges, and a processor for processing the signals and curve defining parameters to determine the thickness of the material. Measurements are made after precalibration to obtain calibration curves and these are stored in the memory, providing signals representative of a nominal thickness and an alloy compensation coefficient for the material. The calibration curve corresponding to a particular thickness range is selected and the curve compensated for drift; the material is inserted into the radiation path and the detector output signal processed with the compensated calibration curve to determine the thickness of the material. (author)

  18. Estimation of sand dune thickness using a vertical velocity profile

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Shuhail, Abdullatif A.

    2004-01-01

    Previous field and mathematical studies have shown that sand dunes may have vertical velocity profiles (i.e. continuous increase of velocity with depth). Therefore, computing the dunes thickness using conventional seismic refraction methods that assume a vertically homogeneous layer will likely produce some errors. The purpose of this study is to quantify the effect of the vertical velocity profile in a sand dune on the process of thickness estimation using seismic refraction data. First, the time distance (T-X) data of the direct wave in the dune is calculated using a vertical velocity profile, V (z), derived from Hertz-Mindlin contact theory. Then the thickness is estimated from the calculated T-X data, intercept time and velocity of the refractor at the dune's base assuming a constant velocity in the dune. The error in the estimated thickness due to the constant-velocity assumption increases with increasing thickness and decreasing porosity of the dune. For sand dunes with porosities greater than 0.2 and thickness less than 200 meter, the error is less than 15%. (author)

  19. Sunglasses with thick temples and frame constrict temporal visual field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denion, Eric; Dugué, Audrey Emmanuelle; Augy, Sylvain; Coffin-Pichonnet, Sophie; Mouriaux, Frédéric

    2013-12-01

    Our aim was to compare the impact of two types of sunglasses on visual field and glare: one ("thick sunglasses") with a thick plastic frame and wide temples and one ("thin sunglasses") with a thin metal frame and thin temples. Using the Goldmann perimeter, visual field surface areas (cm²) were calculated as projections on a 30-cm virtual cupola. A V4 test object was used, from seen to unseen, in 15 healthy volunteers in the primary position of gaze ("base visual field"), then allowing eye motion ("eye motion visual field") without glasses, then with "thin sunglasses," followed by "thick sunglasses." Visual field surface area differences greater than the 14% reproducibility error of the method and having a p thick sunglasses." This decrease was most severe in the temporal quadrant (-33%; p thick sunglasses" than with the "thin sunglasses" (p thick sunglasses" is offset by the much poorer ability to use lateral space exploration; this results in a loss of most, if not all, of the additional visual field gained through eye motion.

  20. Thick resist for MEMS processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Joe; Hamel, Clifford

    2001-11-01

    The need for technical innovation is always present in today's economy. Microfabrication methods have evolved in support of the demand for smaller and faster integrated circuits with price performance improvements always in the scope of the manufacturing design engineer. The dispersion of processing technology spans well beyond IC fabrication today with batch fabrication and wafer scale processing lending advantages to MEMES applications from biotechnology to consumer electronics from oil exploration to aerospace. Today the demand for innovative processing techniques that enable technology is apparent where only a few years ago appeared too costly or not reliable. In high volume applications where yield and cost improvements are measured in fractions of a percent it is imperative to have process technologies that produce consistent results. Only a few years ago thick resist coatings were limited to thickness less than 20 microns. Factors such as uniformity, edge bead and multiple coatings made high volume production impossible. New developments in photoresist formulation combined with advanced coating equipment techniques that closely controls process parameters have enable thick photoresist coatings of 70 microns with acceptable uniformity and edge bead in one pass. Packaging of microelectronic and micromechanical devices is often a significant cost factor and a reliability issue for high volume low cost production. Technologies such as flip- chip assembly provide a solution for cost and reliability improvements over wire bond techniques. The processing for such technology demands dimensional control and presents a significant cost savings if it were compatible with mainstream technologies. Thick photoresist layers, with good sidewall control would allow wafer-bumping technologies to penetrate the barriers to yield and production where costs for technology are the overriding issue. Single pass processing is paramount to the manufacturability of packaging

  1. Clean energy for a new generation. Steam generator life cycle management and Bruce restart

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Newman, G.W.

    2009-01-01

    In the mid to late 1990s, Ontario Hydro decided to lay-up and write-down the Bruce A Nuclear Reactors. Upon transition to Bruce Power L.P., Canada's first and only private nuclear operator, new life and prospects were injected into the site, local economy and the provincial energy portfolio. The first step in this provincial power recovery initiative involved restart of Bruce Units 3 and 4 in the 2003/04 time-frame. Units 3 and 4 have performed beyond expectation during the last five-year operating interval. A combination of steam generator and fuel channel issues precluded a similar restart of Units 1 and 2. Enter the refurbishment of Bruce Units 1 and 2. This first-of-a-kind undertaking within the Canadian nuclear power industry is testament to the demonstrated industry leadership by Bruce Power L.P., their investors and the significant vendor community contribution that is supporting this major power infrastructure enhancement. Initiated as a 'turn-key' project solution separated from the operating units, this major refurbishment project has evolved to a fully managed in-house refurbishment project with the continued support from the broader vendor community. As part of this first-of-kind undertaking, Bruce Power L.P. is in the process of accomplishing such initiatives as a complete fuel channel re-tube (i.e. full core calandria and pressure tube replacement), replacement of all boilers (i.e. 16 in total) and the majority of feeder pipe replacement. Complimentary major upgrades and replacement of the remainder of plant equipment including both nuclear and non-nuclear valves, heat exchangers, electrical infrastructure, service water systems and components, all while meeting a parallel evolving/maturing regulatory environment related to achieving compliance with IAEA derived modern codes and standards. Returning to ground level, boiler replacement is a key part of the refurbishment undertaking and this further reflected a meeting of the 'old' and the 'new'. Pre

  2. Increased Cortical Thickness in Professional On-Line Gamers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyun, Gi Jung; Shin, Yong Wook; Kim, Bung-Nyun; Cheong, Jae Hoon; Jin, Seong Nam

    2013-01-01

    Objective The bulk of recent studies have tested whether video games change the brain in terms of activity and cortical volume. However, such studies are limited by several factors including cross-sectional comparisons, co-morbidity, and short-term follow-up periods. In the present study, we hypothesized that cognitive flexibility and the volume of brain cortex would be correlated with the career length of on-line pro-gamers. Methods High-resolution magnetic resonance scans were acquired in twenty-three pro-gamers recruited from StarCraft pro-game teams. We measured cortical thickness in each individual using FreeSurfer and the cortical thickness was correlated with the career length and the performance of the pro-gamers. Results Career length was positively correlated with cortical thickness in three brain regions: right superior frontal gyrus, right superior parietal gyrus, and right precentral gyrus. Additionally, increased cortical thickness in the prefrontal cortex was correlated with winning rates of the pro-game league. Increased cortical thickness in the prefrontal and parietal cortices was also associated with higher performance of Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Conclusion Our results suggest that in individuals without pathologic conditions, regular, long-term playing of on-line games is associated with volume changes in the prefrontal and parietal cortices, which are associated with cognitive flexibility. PMID:24474988

  3. Calculation of concrete shielding wall thickness for 450kVp X-ray tube with MCNP simulation and result comparison with half value layer method calculation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Sang Heon; Lee, Eun Joong; Kim, Chan Kyu; Cho, Gyu Seong [Dept. of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Hur, Sam Suk [Sam Yong Inspection Engineering Co., Ltd., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-11-15

    Radiation generating devices must be properly shielded for their safe application. Although institutes such as US National Bureau of Standards and National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) have provided guidelines for shielding X-ray tube of various purposes, industry people tend to rely on 'Half Value Layer (HVL) method' which requires relatively simple calculation compared to the case of those guidelines. The method is based on the fact that the intensity, dose, and air kerma of narrow beam incident on shielding wall decreases by about half as the beam penetrates the HVL thickness of the wall. One can adjust shielding wall thickness to satisfy outside wall dose or air kerma requirements with this calculation. However, this may not always be the case because 1) The strict definition of HVL deals with only Intensity, 2) The situation is different when the beam is not 'narrow'; the beam quality inside the wall is distorted and related changes on outside wall dose or air kerma such as buildup effect occurs. Therefore, sometimes more careful research should be done in order to verify the effect of shielding specific radiation generating device. High energy X-ray tubes which is operated at the voltage above 400 kV that are used for 'heavy' nondestructive inspection is an example. People have less experience in running and shielding such device than in the case of widely-used low energy X-ray tubes operated at the voltage below 300 kV. In this study, Air Kerma value per week, outside concrete shielding wall of various thickness surrounding 450 kVp X-ray tube were calculated using MCNP simulation with the aid of Geometry Splitting method which is a famous Variance Reduction technique. The comparison between simulated result, HVL method result, and NCRP Report 147 safety goal 0.02 mGy wk-1 on Air Kerma for the place where the public are free to pass showed that concrete wall of thickness 80 cm is needed to achieve the

  4. Calculation of concrete shielding wall thickness for 450kVp X-ray tube with MCNP simulation and result comparison with half value layer method calculation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Sang Heon; Lee, Eun Joong; Kim, Chan Kyu; Cho, Gyu Seong; Hur, Sam Suk

    2016-01-01

    Radiation generating devices must be properly shielded for their safe application. Although institutes such as US National Bureau of Standards and National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) have provided guidelines for shielding X-ray tube of various purposes, industry people tend to rely on 'Half Value Layer (HVL) method' which requires relatively simple calculation compared to the case of those guidelines. The method is based on the fact that the intensity, dose, and air kerma of narrow beam incident on shielding wall decreases by about half as the beam penetrates the HVL thickness of the wall. One can adjust shielding wall thickness to satisfy outside wall dose or air kerma requirements with this calculation. However, this may not always be the case because 1) The strict definition of HVL deals with only Intensity, 2) The situation is different when the beam is not 'narrow'; the beam quality inside the wall is distorted and related changes on outside wall dose or air kerma such as buildup effect occurs. Therefore, sometimes more careful research should be done in order to verify the effect of shielding specific radiation generating device. High energy X-ray tubes which is operated at the voltage above 400 kV that are used for 'heavy' nondestructive inspection is an example. People have less experience in running and shielding such device than in the case of widely-used low energy X-ray tubes operated at the voltage below 300 kV. In this study, Air Kerma value per week, outside concrete shielding wall of various thickness surrounding 450 kVp X-ray tube were calculated using MCNP simulation with the aid of Geometry Splitting method which is a famous Variance Reduction technique. The comparison between simulated result, HVL method result, and NCRP Report 147 safety goal 0.02 mGy wk-1 on Air Kerma for the place where the public are free to pass showed that concrete wall of thickness 80 cm is needed to achieve the safety goal

  5. A Sparse Dictionary Learning-Based Adaptive Patch Inpainting Method for Thick Clouds Removal from High-Spatial Resolution Remote Sensing Imagery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, Fan; Yang, Xiaomei; Zhou, Chenghu; Li, Zhi

    2017-09-15

    Cloud cover is inevitable in optical remote sensing (RS) imagery on account of the influence of observation conditions, which limits the availability of RS data. Therefore, it is of great significance to be able to reconstruct the cloud-contaminated ground information. This paper presents a sparse dictionary learning-based image inpainting method for adaptively recovering the missing information corrupted by thick clouds patch-by-patch. A feature dictionary was learned from exemplars in the cloud-free regions, which was later utilized to infer the missing patches via sparse representation. To maintain the coherence of structures, structure sparsity was brought in to encourage first filling-in of missing patches on image structures. The optimization model of patch inpainting was formulated under the adaptive neighborhood-consistency constraint, which was solved by a modified orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) algorithm. In light of these ideas, the thick-cloud removal scheme was designed and applied to images with simulated and true clouds. Comparisons and experiments show that our method can not only keep structures and textures consistent with the surrounding ground information, but also yield rare smoothing effect and block effect, which is more suitable for the removal of clouds from high-spatial resolution RS imagery with salient structures and abundant textured features.

  6. Thick Galactic Cosmic Radiation Shielding Using Atmospheric Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Youngquist, Robert C.; Nurge, Mark A.; Starr, Stanley O.; Koontz, Steven L.

    2013-01-01

    NASA is concerned with protecting astronauts from the effects of galactic cosmic radiation and has expended substantial effort in the development of computer models to predict the shielding obtained from various materials. However, these models were only developed for shields up to about 120 g!cm2 in thickness and have predicted that shields of this thickness are insufficient to provide adequate protection for extended deep space flights. Consequently, effort is underway to extend the range of these models to thicker shields and experimental data is required to help confirm the resulting code. In this paper empirically obtained effective dose measurements from aircraft flights in the atmosphere are used to obtain the radiation shielding function of the earth's atmosphere, a very thick shield. Obtaining this result required solving an inverse problem and the method for solving it is presented. The results are shown to be in agreement with current code in the ranges where they overlap. These results are then checked and used to predict the radiation dosage under thick shields such as planetary regolith and the atmosphere of Venus.

  7. Accurate thickness measurement of graphene

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shearer, Cameron J; Slattery, Ashley D; Stapleton, Andrew J; Shapter, Joseph G; Gibson, Christopher T

    2016-01-01

    Graphene has emerged as a material with a vast variety of applications. The electronic, optical and mechanical properties of graphene are strongly influenced by the number of layers present in a sample. As a result, the dimensional characterization of graphene films is crucial, especially with the continued development of new synthesis methods and applications. A number of techniques exist to determine the thickness of graphene films including optical contrast, Raman scattering and scanning probe microscopy techniques. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), in particular, is used extensively since it provides three-dimensional images that enable the measurement of the lateral dimensions of graphene films as well as the thickness, and by extension the number of layers present. However, in the literature AFM has proven to be inaccurate with a wide range of measured values for single layer graphene thickness reported (between 0.4 and 1.7 nm). This discrepancy has been attributed to tip-surface interactions, image feedback settings and surface chemistry. In this work, we use standard and carbon nanotube modified AFM probes and a relatively new AFM imaging mode known as PeakForce tapping mode to establish a protocol that will allow users to accurately determine the thickness of graphene films. In particular, the error in measuring the first layer is reduced from 0.1–1.3 nm to 0.1–0.3 nm. Furthermore, in the process we establish that the graphene-substrate adsorbate layer and imaging force, in particular the pressure the tip exerts on the surface, are crucial components in the accurate measurement of graphene using AFM. These findings can be applied to other 2D materials. (paper)

  8. Measurement of sheath thickness by lining out grooves in the Hall-type stationary plasma thrusters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Daren; Wu Zhiwen; Ning Zhongxi; Wang Xiaogang

    2007-01-01

    Using grooves created along the axial direction of the discharge channel, a method for measuring sheath thickness in Hall-type stationary plasma thrusters has been developed. By distorting the wall surface using these grooves, it is possible to numerically study the effect of the wall surface on the sheath and near wall conductivity. Monte Carlo method is applied to calculate the electron temperature variation with different groove depths. The electron dynamic process in the plasma is described by a test particle method with the electron randomly entering the sheath from the discharge channel and being reflected back. Numerical results show that the reflected electron temperature is hardly affected by the wall surface if the groove depth is much less than the sheath thickness. On the other hand, the reflected electron temperature increases if the groove depth is much greater than the sheath thickness. The reflected electron temperature has a sharp jump when the depth of groove is on the order of the sheath thickness. The simulation is repeated with different sheath thicknesses and the results are the same. Therefore, a diagnosis mean of the sheath thickness can be developed based on the method. Also the simulation results are in accord with the experimental data. Besides, the measurement method may be applicable to other plasma device with similar orthogonal steady state electrical and magnetic fields

  9. Lens thickness assessment: anterior segment optical coherence tomography versus A-scan ultrasonography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikoo Hamzeh

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available AIM: To assess lens thickness measurements with anterior segment-optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT in comparison with A-scan ultrasonography (A-scan US. METHODS: There were 218 adult subjects (218 eyes aged 59.2±9.2y enrolled in this prospective cross-sectional study. Forty-three eyes had open angles and 175 eyes had narrow angles. Routine ophthalmic exam was performed and nuclear opacity was graded using the Lens Opacities Classification System III (LOCS III. Lens thickness was measured by AS-OCT (Visante OCT, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA, USA. The highest quality image was selected for each eye and lens thickness was calculated using ImageJ software. Lens thickness was also measured by A-scan US. RESULTS: Interclass correlations showed a value of 99.7% for intra-visit measurements and 95.3% for inter-visit measurements. The mean lens thickness measured by AS-OCT was not significantly different from that of A-scan US (4.861±0.404 vs 4.866±0.351 mm, P=0.74. Lens thickness values obtained from the two instruments were highly correlated overall (Pearson correlation coefficient=0.81, P<0.001, and in all LOCS III specific subgroups except in grade 5 of nuclear opacity. Bland-Altman analysis revealed a 95% limit of agreement from -0.45 to 0.46 mm. Lens thickness difference between the two instruments became smaller as the lens thickness increased and AS-OCT yielded smaller values than A-scan US in thicker lens (β=-0.29, P<0.001 CONCLUSION: AS-OCT-derived lens thickness measurement is valid and comparable to the results obtained by A-scan US. It can be used as a reliable noncontact method for measuring lens thickness in adults with or without significant cataract.

  10. Reliability assessment for thickness measurements of pipe wall using probability of detection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakamoto, Hiroyuki; Kojima, Fumio; Kato, Sho

    2013-01-01

    This paper proposes a reliability assessment method for thickness measurements of pipe wall using probability of detection (POD). Thicknesses of pipes are measured by qualified inspectors with ultrasonic thickness gauges. The inspection results are affected by human factors of the inspectors and include some errors, because the inspectors have different experiences and frequency of inspections. In order to ensure reliability for inspection results, first, POD evaluates experimental results of pipe-wall thickness inspection. We verify that the results have differences depending on inspectors including qualified inspectors. Second, two human factors that affect POD are indicated. Finally, it is confirmed that POD can identify the human factors and ensure reliability for pipe-wall thickness inspections. (author)

  11. Cortical thickness abnormalities in late adolescence with online gaming addiction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Kai; Cheng, Ping; Dong, Tao; Bi, Yanzhi; Xing, Lihong; Yu, Dahua; Zhao, Limei; Dong, Minghao; von Deneen, Karen M; Liu, Yijun; Qin, Wei; Tian, Jie

    2013-01-01

    Online gaming addiction, as the most popular subtype of Internet addiction, had gained more and more attention from the whole world. However, the structural differences in cortical thickness of the brain between adolescents with online gaming addiction and healthy controls are not well unknown; neither was its association with the impaired cognitive control ability. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging scans from late adolescence with online gaming addiction (n = 18) and age-, education- and gender-matched controls (n = 18) were acquired. The cortical thickness measurement method was employed to investigate alterations of cortical thickness in individuals with online gaming addiction. The color-word Stroop task was employed to investigate the functional implications of the cortical thickness abnormalities. Imaging data revealed increased cortical thickness in the left precentral cortex, precuneus, middle frontal cortex, inferior temporal and middle temporal cortices in late adolescence with online gaming addiction; meanwhile, the cortical thicknesses of the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), insula, lingual gyrus, the right postcentral gyrus, entorhinal cortex and inferior parietal cortex were decreased. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the cortical thicknesses of the left precentral cortex, precuneus and lingual gyrus correlated with duration of online gaming addiction and the cortical thickness of the OFC correlated with the impaired task performance during the color-word Stroop task in adolescents with online gaming addiction. The findings in the current study suggested that the cortical thickness abnormalities of these regions may be implicated in the underlying pathophysiology of online gaming addiction.

  12. Comparison of removed dentin thickness with hand and rotary instruments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shahriari, Shahriar; Abedi, Hasan; Hashemi, Mahdi; Jalalzadeh, Seyed Mohsen

    2009-01-01

    INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate the amount of dentine removed after canal preparation using stainless steel (SS) hand instruments or rotary ProFile instruments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-six extracted human teeth with root canal curvatures less than 30º were embedded in clear polyester resin. The roots were cut horizontally at apical 2, 4 and 7 mm. Dentin thickness was measured at each section and the sections were accurately reassembled using a muffle. Root canals were randomly prepared by SS hand instruments or rotary ProFile instruments. Root sections were again separated, and the remaining dentin thickness was measured. Mann-Whitney U and t tests were performed for analytic comparison of the results. RESULTS: The thickness of removed dentin was significantly different between the two used methods (Pinstrumentation group (Protary instrumentation prepares root canals with a greater conservation of tooth structure. PMID:23940489

  13. Comparison of 120- and 140-μm SMILE Cap Thickness Results in Eyes With Thick Corneas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Manli; Zhou, Yugui; Wu, Xianghua; Ye, Tiantian; Liu, Quan

    2016-10-01

    To evaluate clinical outcomes after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) with different cap thicknesses in thick corneas. Forty patients with central corneal thickness of more than 560 μm were recruited in this prospective, randomized, masked, paired-eye study. Patients were randomized to receive SMILE with a 120-μm cap thickness in 1 eye and 140-μm cap thickness in the other. Uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), contrast sensitivity (CS), higher-order aberrations (HOAs), and morphologic modifications of corneal architecture were measured during the 3-month follow-up period. Postoperative refractive outcomes, visual outcomes, CS, and the changes in HOAs were similar between both groups. The persistence of brightly reflective particles in the corneal interface layer was 1388.6 ± 219.5/mm in eyes with 120-μm cap thickness and 54.7 ± 8.6/mm in eyes with 140-μm cap thickness (P line at the interface layer almost disappeared in all eyes with 140-μm cap thickness, and it still persisted in 43% of the fellow eyes at 3 months postoperatively. The anterior surfaces of lenticules in the 140-μm cap thickness group exhibited more smoothness than in the 120-μm cap thickness group. There was a lower level corneal wound-healing response after SMILE with a 140-μm cap thickness than with a 120-μm cap thickness, although the thickness of cap creation did not affect visual outcomes by 3 months postoperatively.

  14. Economical Fabrication of Thick-Section Ceramic Matrix Composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babcock, Jason; Ramachandran, Gautham; Williams, Brian; Benander, Robert

    2010-01-01

    A method was developed for producing thick-section [>2 in. (approx.5 cm)], continuous fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composites (CMCs). Ultramet-modified fiber interface coating and melt infiltration processing, developed previously for thin-section components, were used for the fabrication of CMCs that were an order of magnitude greater in thickness [up to 2.5 in. (approx.6.4 cm)]. Melt processing first involves infiltration of a fiber preform with the desired interface coating, and then with carbon to partially densify the preform. A molten refractory metal is then infiltrated and reacts with the excess carbon to form the carbide matrix without damaging the fiber reinforcement. Infiltration occurs from the inside out as the molten metal fills virtually all the available void space. Densification to thick-section components required modification of the conventional process conditions, and the means by which the large amount of molten metal is introduced into the fiber preform. Modification of the low-temperature, ultraviolet-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process used to apply interface coatings to the fiber preform was also required to accommodate the high preform thickness. The thick-section CMC processing developed in this work proved to be invaluable for component development, fabrication, and testing in two complementary efforts. In a project for the Army, involving SiC/SiC blisk development, nominally 0.8 in. thick x 8 in. diameter (approx. 2 cm thick x 20 cm diameter) components were successfully infiltrated. Blisk hubs were machined using diamond-embedded cutting tools and successfully spin-tested. Good ply uniformity and extremely low residual porosity (41 ksi (approx. 283 MPa) flexural strength.

  15. On Numerical Stability in Large Scale Linear Algebraic Computations

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Strakoš, Zdeněk; Liesen, J.

    2005-01-01

    Roč. 85, č. 5 (2005), s. 307-325 ISSN 0044-2267 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR 1ET400300415 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : linear algebraic systems * eigenvalue problems * convergence * numerical stability * backward error * accuracy * Lanczos method * conjugate gradient method * GMRES method Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.351, year: 2005

  16. Reconstruction of Optical Thickness from Hoffman Modulation Contrast Images

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Niels Holm; Sporring, Jon; Nielsen, Mads

    2003-01-01

    Hoffman microscopy imaging systems are part of numerous fertility clinics world-wide. We discuss the physics of the Hoffman imaging system from optical thickness to image intensity, implement a simple, yet fast, reconstruction algorithm using Fast Fourier Transformation and discuss the usability...... of the method on a number of cells from a human embryo. Novelty is identifying the non-linearity of a typical Hoffman imaging system, and the application of Fourier Transformation to reconstruct the optical thickness....

  17. Analysis of optical thickness determination of materials by THz-TDS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sushko, O; Dubrovka, R; Donnan, R S

    2013-01-01

    Terahertz time-domain spectrometry (THz TDS) is a sensitive probe of the complex dielectric response of materials. Methods vary for converting time-domain response into final material optical parameters together with estimation of associated uncertainties. Here we point out the importance of using an accurate extraction procedure with particular emphasis on the error introduced by associated inaccuracy in thickness determination of a sample. The Total Variation (TV) method is used to estimate sample thickness to sub-micron accuracy, by constructively using the phenomena of multiple internal reflections ('ringing') within a sample. The applicability and performance of the TV methodology is discussed

  18. Effect of thickness on electrical properties of SILAR deposited SnS thin films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akaltun, Yunus; Astam, Aykut; Cerhan, Asena; ćayir, Tuba

    2016-03-01

    Tin sulfide (SnS) thin films of different thickness were prepared on glass substrates by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method at room temperature using tin (II) chloride and sodium sulfide aqueous solutions. The thicknesses of the films were determined using spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements and found to be 47.2, 65.8, 111.0, and 128.7nm for 20, 25, 30 and 35 deposition cycles respectively. The electrical properties of the films were investigated using d.c. two-point probe method at room temperature and the results showed that the resistivity was found to decrease with increasing film thickness.

  19. Multispectral UV imaging for determination of the tablet coating thickness

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Novikova, Anna; Carstensen, Jens Michael; Zeitler, J. Axel

    2017-01-01

    The applicability of off-line multispectral ultraviolet (UV) imaging in combination with multivariate data analysis was investigated to determine the coating thickness and its distribution on the tablet surface during lab scale coating. The UV imaging results were compared with the weight gain...... measured for each individual tablet and the corresponding coating thickness and its distribution measured by terahertz pulsed imaging (TPI). Three different tablet formulations were investigated, two of which contained UV active tablet cores. Three coating formulations were applied: Aquacoat® ECD (a mainly...... translucent coating) and Eudragit® NE (a turbid coating containing solid particles). It was shown that UV imaging is a fast and non-destructive method to predict individual tablet weight gain as well as coating thickness. The coating thickness distribution profiles determined by UV imaging correlated...

  20. Accommodating Thickness in Origami-Based Deployable Arrays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zirbel, Shannon A.; Magleby, Spencer P.; Howell, Larry L.; Lang, Robert J.; Thomson, Mark W.; Sigel, Deborah A.; Walkemeyer, Phillip E.; Trease, Brian P.

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this work is to create deployment systems with a large ratio of stowed-to-deployed diameter. Deployment from a compact form to a final flat state can be achieved through origami-inspired folding of panels. There are many models capable of this motion when folded in a material with negligible thickness; however, when the application requires the folding of thick, rigid panels, attention must be paid to the effect of material thickness not only on the final folded state, but also during the folding motion (i.e., the panels must not be required to flex to attain the final folded form). The objective is to develop new methods for deployment from a compact folded form to a large circular array (or other final form). This paper describes a mathematical model for modifying the pattern to accommodate material thickness in the context of the design, modeling, and testing of a deployable system inspired by an origami six-sided flasher model. The model is demonstrated in hardware as a 1/20th scale prototype of a deployable solar array for space applications. The resulting prototype has a ratio of stowed-to-deployed diameter of 9.2 (or 1.25 m deployed outer diameter to 0.136 m stowed outer diameter).