WorldWideScience

Sample records for wing length tail

  1. Wake patterns of the wings and tail of hovering hummingbirds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altshuler, Douglas L.; Princevac, Marko; Pan, Hansheng; Lozano, Jesse

    The flow fields of slowly flying bats and fasterflying birds differ in that bats produce two vortex loops during each stroke, one per wing, and birds produce a single vortex loop per stroke. In addition, the circulation at stroke transition approaches zero in bats but remains strong in birds. It is unknown if these difference derive from fundamental differences in wing morphology or are a consequence of flight speed. Here, we present an analysis of the horizontal flow field underneath hovering Anna's hummingbirds (Calypte anna) to describe the wake of a bird flying at zero forward velocity. We also consider how the hummingbird tail interacts with the wake generated by the wings. High-speed image recording and analysis from three orthogonal perspectives revealed that the wing tips reach peak velocities in the middle of each stroke and approach zero velocity at stroke transition. Hummingbirds use complex tail kinematic patterns ranging from in phase to antiphase cycling with respect to the wings, covering several phase shifted patterns. We employed particle image velocimetry to attain detailed horizontal flow measurements at three levels with respect to the tail: in the tail, at the tail tip, and just below the tail. The velocity patterns underneath the wings indicate that flow oscillates along the ventral-dorsal axis in response to the down- and up-strokes and that the sideways flows with respect to the bird are consistently from the lateral to medial. The region around the tail is dominated by axial flows in dorsal to ventral direction. We propose that these flows are generated by interaction between the wakes of the two wings at the end of the upstroke, and that the tail actively defects flows to generate moments that contribute to pitch stability. The flow fields images also revealed distinct vortex loops underneath each wing, which were generated during each stroke. From these data, we propose a model for the primary flow structures of hummingbirds that more

  2. An Analysis of the Effects of Wing Aspect Ratio and Tail Location on Static Longitudinal Stability Below the Mach Number of Lift Divergence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Axelson, John A.; Crown, J. Conrad

    1948-01-01

    An analysis is presented of the influence of wing aspect ratio and tail location on the effects of compressibility upon static longitudinal stability. The investigation showed that the use of reduced wing aspect ratios or short tail lengths leads to serious reductions in high-speed stability and the possibility of high-speed instability.

  3. Supersonic aerodynamic characteristics of a low-aspect-ratio missile model with wing and tail controls and with tails in line and interdigitated

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graves, E. B.

    1972-01-01

    A study has been made to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of a low-aspect ratio cruciform missile model with all-movable wings and tails. The configuration was tested at Mach numbers from 1.50 to 4.63 with the wings in the vertical and horizontal planes and with the wings in a 45 deg roll plane with tails in line and interdigitated.

  4. Analysis of the effects of wing interference on the tail contributions to the rolling derivatives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michael, William H , Jr

    1952-01-01

    An analysis of the effects of wing interference on the tail contributions to the rolling stability derivatives of complete airplane configurations is made by calculating the angularity of the air stream at the vertical tail due to rolling and determining the resulting forces and moments. Some of the important factors which affect the resultant angularity on the vertical tail are wing aspect ratio and sweepback, vertical-tail span, and considerations associated with angle of attack and airplane geometry. Some calculated sidewash results for a limited range of plan forms and vertical-tail sizes are presented. Equations taking into account the sidewash results are given for determining the tail contributions to the rolling derivatives. Comparisons of estimated and experimental results indicate that a consideration of wing interference effects improves the estimated values of the tail contributions to the rolling derivatives and that fair agreement with available experimental data is obtained.

  5. Experimental and numerical analysis of the wing rock characteristics of a 'wing-body-tail' configuration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suarez, Carlos J.; Smith, Brooke C.; Malcolm, Gerald N.

    1993-01-01

    Free-to-roll wind tunnel tests were conducted and a computer simulation exercise was performed in an effort to investigate in detail the mechanism of wing rock on a configuration that consisted of a highly-slender forebody and a 78 deg swept delta wing. In the wind tunnel test, the roll angle and wing surface pressures were measured during the wing rock motion. A limit cycle oscillation was observed for angles of attack between 22 deg and 30 deg. In general, the wind tunnel test confirmed that the main flow phenomena responsible for the wing-body-tail wing rock are the interactions between the forebody and the wing vortices. The variation of roll acceleration (determined from the second derivative of the roll angle time history) with roll angle clearly showed the energy balance necessary to sustain the limit cycle oscillation. Pressure measurements on the wing revealed the hysteresis of the wing rock process. First, second and nth order models for the aerodynamic damping were developed and examined with a one degree of freedom computer simulation. Very good agreement with the observed behavior from the wind tunnel was obtained.

  6. Twin Tail/Delta Wing Configuration Buffet Due to Unsteady Vortex Breakdown Flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kandil, Osama A.; Sheta, Essam F.; Massey, Steven J.

    1996-01-01

    The buffet response of the twin-tail configuration of the F/A-18 aircraft; a multidisciplinary problem, is investigated using three sets of equations on a multi-block grid structure. The first set is the unsteady, compressible, full Navier-Stokes equations. The second set is the coupled aeroelastic equations for bending and torsional twin-tail responses. The third set is the grid-displacement equations which are used to update the grid coordinates due to the tail deflections. The computational model consists of a 76 deg-swept back, sharp edged delta wing of aspect ratio of one and a swept-back F/A-18 twin-tails. The configuration is pitched at 32 deg angle of attack and the freestream Mach number and Reynolds number are 0.2 and 0.75 x 10(exp 6) respectively. The problem is solved for the initial flow conditions with the twin tail kept rigid. Next, the aeroelastic equations of the tails are turned on along with the grid-displacement equations to solve for the uncoupled bending and torsional tails response due to the unsteady loads produced by the vortex breakdown flow of the vortex cores of the delta wing. Two lateral locations of the twin tail are investigated. These locations are called the midspan and inboard locations.

  7. Hydrodynamic characteristics for flow around wavy wings with different wave lengths

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mi Jeong Kim

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The present study numerically investigates the effect of the wavy leading edge on hydrodynamic characteristics for the flow of rectangular wings with the low aspect ratio of 1.5. Five different wave lengths at fixed wavy amplitude have been considered. Numerical simulations are performed at a wide range of the angle of attack (0° ≤α ≤ 40° at one Reynolds number of 106. The wavy wings considered in this study did not experience enough lift drop to be defined as the stall, comparing with the smooth wing. However, in the pre-stall region, the wavy wings reveal the considerable loss of the lift, compared to the smooth wing. In the post-stall, the lift coefficients of the smooth wing and the wavy wings are not much different. The pressure coefficient, limiting streamlines and the iso-surface of the spanwise vorticity are also highlighted to examine the effect of the wave length on the flow structures.

  8. Poly A tail length analysis of in vitro transcribed mRNA by LC-MS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beverly, Michael; Hagen, Caitlin; Slack, Olga

    2018-02-01

    The 3'-polyadenosine (poly A) tail of in vitro transcribed (IVT) mRNA was studied using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Poly A tails were cleaved from the mRNA using ribonuclease T1 followed by isolation with dT magnetic beads. Extracted tails were then analyzed by LC-MS which provided tail length information at single-nucleotide resolution. A 2100-nt mRNA with plasmid-encoded poly A tail lengths of either 27, 64, 100, or 117 nucleotides was used for these studies as enzymatically added poly A tails showed significant length heterogeneity. The number of As observed in the tails closely matched Sanger sequencing results of the DNA template, and even minor plasmid populations with sequence variations were detected. When the plasmid sequence contained a discreet number of poly As in the tail, analysis revealed a distribution that included tails longer than the encoded tail lengths. These observations were consistent with transcriptional slippage of T7 RNAP taking place within a poly A sequence. The type of RNAP did not alter the observed tail distribution, and comparison of T3, T7, and SP6 showed all three RNAPs produced equivalent tail length distributions. The addition of a sequence at the 3' end of the poly A tail did, however, produce narrower tail length distributions which supports a previously described model of slippage where the 3' end can be locked in place by having a G or C after the poly nucleotide region. Graphical abstract Determination of mRNA poly A tail length using magnetic beads and LC-MS.

  9. Correlation between length and tilt of lipid tails

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kopelevich, Dmitry I.; Nagle, John F.

    2015-10-01

    It is becoming recognized from simulations, and to a lesser extent from experiment, that the classical Helfrich-Canham membrane continuum mechanics model can be fruitfully enriched by the inclusion of molecular tilt, even in the fluid, chain disordered, biologically relevant phase of lipid bilayers. Enriched continuum theories then add a tilt modulus κθ to accompany the well recognized bending modulus κ. Different enrichment theories largely agree for many properties, but it has been noticed that there is considerable disagreement in one prediction; one theory postulates that the average length of the hydrocarbon chain tails increases strongly with increasing tilt and another predicts no increase. Our analysis of an all-atom simulation favors the latter theory, but it also shows that the overall tail length decreases slightly with increasing tilt. We show that this deviation from continuum theory can be reconciled by consideration of the average shape of the tails, which is a descriptor not obviously includable in continuum theory.

  10. Correlation between length and tilt of lipid tails

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kopelevich, Dmitry I., E-mail: dkopelevich@che.ufl.edu [Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (United States); Nagle, John F., E-mail: nagle@cmu.edu [Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 (United States)

    2015-10-21

    It is becoming recognized from simulations, and to a lesser extent from experiment, that the classical Helfrich-Canham membrane continuum mechanics model can be fruitfully enriched by the inclusion of molecular tilt, even in the fluid, chain disordered, biologically relevant phase of lipid bilayers. Enriched continuum theories then add a tilt modulus κ{sub θ} to accompany the well recognized bending modulus κ. Different enrichment theories largely agree for many properties, but it has been noticed that there is considerable disagreement in one prediction; one theory postulates that the average length of the hydrocarbon chain tails increases strongly with increasing tilt and another predicts no increase. Our analysis of an all-atom simulation favors the latter theory, but it also shows that the overall tail length decreases slightly with increasing tilt. We show that this deviation from continuum theory can be reconciled by consideration of the average shape of the tails, which is a descriptor not obviously includable in continuum theory.

  11. Body mass, wing length, and condition of wintering ducks relative to hematozoa infection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleskes, Joseph; Ramey, Andrew M.; Reeves, Andrew; Yee, Julie L.

    2017-01-01

    Waterfowl managers lack information regarding factors that may be reducing the positive response of waterfowl body condition to habitat improvements. Protozoan blood parasites (i.e., hematozoa) are commonly found in birds and have been related to reduced body mass, wing length, and body condition. We studied relationships between 12 measures of hematozoa infection and body mass, wing length, and body mass divided by wing length (i.e., body condition index [BCI]) of the five most common duck species (northern pintail [Anas acuta], mallard [A. platyrhynchos], green-winged teal [A. crecca], American wigeon [A. Americana], northern shoveler [A. clypeata]) wintering in the Central Valley of California during October 2006-January 2007. After accounting for variation due to species, age-sex cohort, Central Valley region, and month; wing length, body mass, and BCI were found to be negatively related to infection by Leucocytozoon and by "any hematozoa" but not related to infection by only Plasmodium or Haemoproteus, or coinfections of greater than one genera or parasite haplotype (albeit, few ducks had Plasmodium or Haemoproteus infection or coinfections). Evidence of a negative relationship with infection was stronger for body mass and BCI than for wing length and indicated that the relationships varied among species, age-sex cohorts, regions, and months. Compared to uninfected ducks, hematozoa-infected duck body mass, wing length, and BCI was -1.63% (85% CI = -2.79%- -0.47%), -0.12% (-0.41%- +0.17%), and -1.38% (-2.49%- -0.26%), respectively. Although, seemingly small, the -1.63% difference in body mass represents a large percentage (e.g., 38% for northern pintail) of the observed increase in wintering duck body mass associated with Central Valley habitat improvements. Because infection prevalence and relationship to body condition might change over time due to climate or other factors, tracking hematozoa infection prevalence might be important to inform and accurately

  12. Complex coevolution of wing, tail, and vocal sounds of courting male bee hummingbirds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Christopher J; McGuire, Jimmy A; Bonaccorso, Elisa; Berv, Jacob S; Prum, Richard O

    2018-03-01

    Phenotypic characters with a complex physical basis may have a correspondingly complex evolutionary history. Males in the "bee" hummingbird clade court females with sound from tail-feathers, which flutter during display dives. On a phylogeny of 35 species, flutter sound frequency evolves as a gradual, continuous character on most branches. But on at least six internal branches fall two types of major, saltational changes: mode of flutter changes, or the feather that is the sound source changes, causing frequency to jump from one discrete value to another. In addition to their tail "instruments," males also court females with sound from their syrinx and wing feathers, and may transfer or switch instruments over evolutionary time. In support of this, we found a negative phylogenetic correlation between presence of wing trills and singing. We hypothesize this transference occurs because wing trills and vocal songs serve similar functions and are thus redundant. There are also three independent origins of self-convergence of multiple signals, in which the same species produces both a vocal (sung) frequency sweep, and a highly similar nonvocal sound. Moreover, production of vocal, learned song has been lost repeatedly. Male bee hummingbirds court females with a diverse, coevolving array of acoustic traits. © 2018 The Author(s). Evolution © 2018 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

  13. Postsacral vertebral morphology in relation to tail length among primates and other mammals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russo, Gabrielle A

    2015-02-01

    Tail reduction/loss independently evolved in a number of mammalian lineages, including hominoid primates. One prerequisite to appropriately contextualizing its occurrence and understanding its significance is the ability to track evolutionary changes in tail length throughout the fossil record. However, to date, the bony correlates of tail length variation among living taxa have not been comprehensively examined. This study quantifies postsacral vertebral morphology among living primates and other mammals known to differ in relative tail length (RTL). Linear and angular measurements with known biomechanical significance were collected on the first, mid-, and transition proximal postsacral vertebrae, and their relationship with RTL was assessed using phylogenetic generalized least-squares regression methods. Compared to shorter-tailed primates, longer-tailed primates possess a greater number of postsacral vertebral features associated with increased proximal tail flexibility (e.g., craniocaudally longer vertebral bodies), increased intervertebral body joint range of motion (e.g., more circularly shaped cranial articular surfaces), and increased leverage of tail musculature (e.g., longer spinous processes). These observations are corroborated by the comparative mammalian sample, which shows that distantly related short-tailed (e.g., Phascolarctos, Lynx) and long-tailed (e.g., Dendrolagus, Acinonyx) nonprimate mammals morphologically converge with short-tailed (e.g., Macaca tonkeana) and long-tailed (e.g., Macaca fascicularis) primates, respectively. Multivariate models demonstrate that the variables examined account for 70% (all mammals) to 94% (only primates) of the variance in RTL. Results of this study may be used to infer the tail lengths of extinct primates and other mammals, thereby improving our understanding about the evolution of tail reduction/loss. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Longer wings for faster springs - wing length relates to spring phenology in a long-distance migrant across its range.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahn, Steffen; Korner-Nievergelt, Fränzi; Emmenegger, Tamara; Amrhein, Valentin; Csörgő, Tibor; Gursoy, Arzu; Ilieva, Mihaela; Kverek, Pavel; Pérez-Tris, Javier; Pirrello, Simone; Zehtindjiev, Pavel; Salewski, Volker

    2016-01-01

    In migratory birds, morphological adaptations for efficient migratory flight often oppose morphological adaptations for efficient behavior during resident periods. This includes adaptations in wing shape for either flying long distances or foraging in the vegetation and in climate-driven variation of body size. In addition, the timing of migratory flights and particularly the timely arrival at local breeding sites is crucial because fitness prospects depend on site-specific phenology. Thus, adaptations for efficient long-distance flights might be also related to conditions at destination areas. For an obligatory long-distance migrant, the common nightingale, we verified that wing length as the aerodynamically important trait, but not structural body size increased from the western to the eastern parts of the species range. In contrast with expectation from aerodynamic theory, however, wing length did not increase with increasing migration distances. Instead, wing length was associated with the phenology at breeding destinations, namely the speed of local spring green-up. We argue that longer wings are beneficial for adjusting migration speed to local conditions for birds breeding in habitats with fast spring green-up and thus short optimal arrival periods. We suggest that the speed of spring green-up at breeding sites is a fundamental variable determining the timing of migration that fine tune phenotypes in migrants across their range.

  15. Effects of tail docking and docking length on neuroanatomical changes in healed tail tips of pigs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Herskin, M S; Thodberg, K; Jensen, Henrik Elvang

    2015-01-01

    % (n=19); or leaving 25% (n=11) of the tail length on the pigs. The piglets were docked between day 2 and 4 after birth using a gas-heated apparatus, and were kept under conventional conditions until slaughter at 22 weeks of age, where tails were removed and examined macroscopically and histologically...

  16. The Effect of Height, Wing Length, and Wing Symmetry on Tabebuia rosea Seed Dispersal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yasmeen Moussa

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The relationship between the vertical drop height and the horizontal distance traveled (dispersal ratio was investigated for a sample of fifty Tabebuia rosea seeds by dropping the seeds from five heights ranging from 1.00 to 2.00 meters. The dispersal ratio was found to be a constant 0.16 m/m for these heights. The effects of total seed length and asymmetry of seed wings on dispersal ratio were also measured using separate samples of fifty Tabebuia rosea seeds. It was found that neither seed length nor asymmetry had a significant effect on the dispersal ratio.

  17. Contrasting results from GWAS and QTL mapping on wing length in great reed warblers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansson, Bengt; Sigeman, Hanna; Stervander, Martin; Tarka, Maja; Ponnikas, Suvi; Strandh, Maria; Westerdahl, Helena; Hasselquist, Dennis

    2018-04-15

    A major goal in evolutionary biology is to understand the genetic basis of adaptive traits. In migratory birds, wing morphology is such a trait. Our previous work on the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) shows that wing length is highly heritable and under sexually antagonistic selection. Moreover, a quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping analysis detected a pronounced QTL for wing length on chromosome 2, suggesting that wing morphology is partly controlled by genes with large effects. Here, we re-evaluate the genetic basis of wing length in great reed warblers using a genomewide association study (GWAS) approach based on restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) data. We use GWAS models that account for relatedness between individuals and include covariates (sex, age and tarsus length). The resulting association landscape was flat with no peaks on chromosome 2 or elsewhere, which is in line with expectations for polygenic traits. Analysis of the distribution of p-values did not reveal biases, and the inflation factor was low. Effect sizes were however not uniformly distributed on some chromosomes, and the Z chromosome had weaker associations than autosomes. The level of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the population decayed to background levels within c. 1 kbp. There could be several reasons to why our QTL study and GWAS gave contrasting results including differences in how associations are modelled (cosegregation in pedigree vs. LD associations), how covariates are accounted for in the models, type of marker used (multi- vs. biallelic), difference in power or a combination of these. Our study highlights that the genetic architecture even of highly heritable traits is difficult to characterize in wild populations. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. Effect of Ceramide Tail Length on the Structure of Model Stratum Corneum Lipid Bilayers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Timothy C; Hartkamp, Remco; Iacovella, Christopher R; Bunge, Annette L; McCabe, Clare

    2018-01-09

    Lipid bilayers composed of non-hydroxy sphingosine ceramide (CER NS), cholesterol (CHOL), and free fatty acids (FFAs), which are components of the human skin barrier, are studied via molecular dynamics simulations. Since mixtures of these lipids exist in dense gel phases with little molecular mobility at physiological conditions, care must be taken to ensure that the simulations become decorrelated from the initial conditions. Thus, we propose and validate an equilibration protocol based on simulated tempering, in which the simulation takes a random walk through temperature space, allowing the system to break out of metastable configurations and hence become decorrelated from its initial configuration. After validating the equilibration protocol, which we refer to as random-walk molecular dynamics, the effects of the lipid composition and ceramide tail length on bilayer properties are studied. Systems containing pure CER NS, CER NS + CHOL, and CER NS + CHOL + FFA, with the CER NS fatty acid tail length varied within each CER NS-CHOL-FFA composition, are simulated. The bilayer thickness is found to depend on the structure of the center of the bilayer, which arises as a result of the tail-length asymmetry between the lipids studied. The hydrogen bonding between the lipid headgroups and with water is found to change with the overall lipid composition, but is mostly independent of the CER fatty acid tail length. Subtle differences in the lateral packing of the lipid tails are also found as a function of CER tail length. Overall, these results provide insight into the experimentally observed trend of altered barrier properties in skin systems where there are more CERs with shorter tails present. Copyright © 2017 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Wind Tunnel Investigation of Passive Vortex Control and Vortex-Tail Interactions on a Slender Wing at Subsonic and Transonic Speeds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erickson, Gary E.

    2013-01-01

    A wind tunnel experiment was conducted in the NASA Langley 8-Foot Transonic Pressure Tunnel to determine the effects of passive porosity on vortex flow interactions about a slender wing configuration at subsonic and transonic speeds. Flow-through porosity was applied in several arrangements to a leading-edge extension, or LEX, mounted to a 65-degree cropped delta wing as a longitudinal instability mitigation technique. Test data were obtained with LEX on and off in the presence of a centerline vertical tail and twin, wing-mounted vertical fins to quantify the sensitivity of the aerodynamics to tail placement and orientation. A close-coupled canard was tested as an alternative to the LEX as a passive flow control device. Wing upper surface static pressure distributions and six-component forces and moments were obtained at Mach numbers of 0.50, 0.85, and 1.20, unit Reynolds number of 2.5 million, angles of attack up to approximately 30 degrees, and angles of sideslip to +/-8 degrees. The off-surface flow field was visualized in cross planes on selected configurations using a laser vapor screen flow visualization technique. Tunnel-to-tunnel data comparisons and a Reynolds number sensitivity assessment were also performed. 15.

  20. Transonic Aerodynamic Loading Characteristics of a Wing-Body-Tail Combination Having a 52.5 deg. Sweptback Wing of Aspect Ratio 3 With Conical Wing Camber and Body Indentation for a Design Mach Number of Square Root of 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cassetti, Marlowe D.; Re, Richard J.; Igoe, William B.

    1961-01-01

    An investigation has been made of the effects of conical wing camber and body indentation according to the supersonic area rule on the aerodynamic wing loading characteristics of a wing-body-tail configuration at transonic speeds. The wing aspect ratio was 3, taper ratio was 0.1, and quarter-chord-line sweepback was 52.5 deg. with 3-percent-thick airfoil sections. The tests were conducted in the Langley 16-foot transonic tunnel at Mach numbers from 0.80 to 1.05 and at angles of attack from 0 deg. to 14 deg., with Reynolds numbers based on mean aerodynamic chord varying from 7 x 10(exp 6) to 8 x 10(exp 6). Conical camber delayed wing-tip stall and reduced the severity of the accompanying longitudinal instability but did not appreciably affect the spanwise load distribution at angles of attack below tip stall. Body indentation reduced the transonic chordwise center-of-pressure travel from about 8 percent to 5 percent of the mean aerodynamic chord.

  1. Uptake of trace elements and radionuclides from uranium mill tailings by four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) and alkali sacaton (Sporobolus airoides)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dreesen, D.R.; Marple, M.L.

    1979-01-01

    A greenhouse experiment was performed to determine the uptake of trace elements and radionuclides from uranium mill tailings by native plant species. Four-wing saltbush and alkali sacaton were grown in alkaline tailings covered with soil and in soil alone as controls. The tailings material was highly enriched in Ra-226, Mo, U, Se, V, and As compared with three local soils. The shrub grown in tailings had elevated concentrations of Mo, Se, Ra-226, U, As, and Na compared with the controls. Alkali sacaton contained high concentrations of Mo, Se, Ra-226, and Ni when grown on tailings. Molybdenum and selenium concentrations in plants grown in tailings are above levels reported to be toxic to grazing animals. These results indicate that the bioavailability of Mo and Se in alkaline environments makes these elements among the most hazardous contaminants present in uranium mill wastes

  2. Comparison of visual-based helicopter and fixed-wing forward-looking infrared surveys for counting white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Storm, Daniel J.; Samuel, Michael D.; Van Deelen, Timothy R.; Malcolm, Karl D.; Rolley, Robert E.; Frost, Nancy A.; Bates, Donald P.; Richards, Bryan J.

    2011-01-01

    Aerial surveys using direct counts of animals are commonly used to estimate deer abundance. Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) technology is increasingly replacing traditional methods such as visual observation from helicopters. Our goals were to compare fixed-wing FLIR and visual, helicopter-based counts in terms of relative bias, influence of snow cover and cost. We surveyed five plots: four 41.4 km2 plots with free-ranging white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus populations in Wisconsin and a 5.3 km2 plot with a white-tailed deer population contained by a high fence in Michigan. We surveyed plots using both fixed-wing FLIR and helicopters, both with snow cover and without snow. None of the methods counted more deer than the other when snow was present. Helicopter counts were lower in the absence of snow, but lack of snow cover did not apparently affect FLIR. Group sizes of observed deer were similar regardless of survey method or season. We found that FLIR counts were generally precise (CV = 0.089) when two or three replicate surveys were conducted within a few hours. However, at the plot level, FLIR counts differed greatly between seasons, suggesting that detection rates vary over larger time scales. Fixed-wing FLIR was more costly than visual observers in helicopters and was more restrictive in terms of acceptable survey conditions. Further research is needed to understand what factors influence the detection of deer during FLIR surveys.

  3. Telling tails: selective pressures acting on investment in lizard tails.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleming, Patricia A; Valentine, Leonie E; Bateman, Philip W

    2013-01-01

    Caudal autotomy is a common defense mechanism in lizards, where the animal may lose part or all of its tail to escape entrapment. Lizards show an immense variety in the degree of investment in a tail (i.e., length) across species, with tails of some species up to three or four times body length (snout-vent length [SVL]). Additionally, body size and form also vary dramatically, including variation in leg development and robustness and length of the body and tail. Autotomy is therefore likely to have fundamentally different effects on the overall body form and function in different species, which may be reflected directly in the incidence of lost/regenerating tails within populations or, over a longer period, in terms of relative tail length for different species. We recorded data (literature, museum specimens, field data) for relative tail length (n=350 species) and the incidence of lost/regenerating tails (n=246 species). We compared these (taking phylogeny into account) with intrinsic factors that have been proposed to influence selective pressures acting on caudal autotomy, including body form (robustness, body length, leg development, and tail specialization) and ecology (foraging behavior, physical and temporal niches), in an attempt to identify patterns that might reflect adaptive responses to these different factors. More gracile species have relatively longer tails (all 350 spp., P lost/regenerating tails for nocturnal lizards (all 246 spp., P pressure.

  4. Ameliorative effects of curcumin on the spermatozoon tail length, count, motility and testosterone serum level in metronidazole-treated mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karbalay-Doust, S; Noorafshan, A

    2011-01-01

    Metronidazole (MTZ) is used as an antiparasitic drug. Curcumin is considered as anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. The ameliorative effects of curcumin on MTZ induced toxicity on mice spermatozoon tail length, count, motility and testosterone level were investigated. MTZ was administered in 500 and 165 (high and therapeutic doses) mg/kg/day, with and without curcumin (100 mg/kg/day). After 16 days the above parameters were assessed. Spermatozoon count and motility and serum testosterone level MTZ-treated (500 and 165) mice were reduced. In the mice treated with MTZ+curcumin these parameters decreased but in a lesser extent than the MTZ-treated animals. Mid-piece and total lengths of the spermatozoon tail in control animals were 31.6 ± 9.0 μm and 100.3 ± 15.0 μm and in the mice treated with high doses (500) of MTZ were reduced. The mid-piece and total spermatozoon tail length has been decreased in a lesser extent in the mice treated with high dose MTZ+curcumin than the mice treated with high dose MTZ (paverage increase in mid-piece and total lengths in comparison with the MTZ-treated (500) animals. Stereological estimation of the sperm tail length, including sampling of spermatozoa and also counting of the intersections of their tails with the stereological grids was a rapid technique and took only 5-10 minutes. It can be concluded that curcumin has an ameliorative effect on the spermatozoon, testosterone level and tail length in MTZ-treated mice.

  5. Comparative sacral morphology and the reconstructed tail lengths of five extinct primates: Proconsul heseloni, Epipliopithecus vindobonensis, Archaeolemur edwardsi, Megaladapis grandidieri, and Palaeopropithecus kelyus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russo, Gabrielle A

    2016-01-01

    This study evaluated the relationship between the morphology of the sacrum-the sole bony link between the tail or coccyx and the rest of the body-and tail length (including presence/absence) and function using a comparative sample of extant mammals spanning six orders (Primates, Carnivora, Rodentia, Diprotodontia, Pilosa, Scandentia; N = 472). Phylogenetically-informed regression methods were used to assess how tail length varied with respect to 11 external and internal (i.e., trabecular) bony sacral variables with known or suspected biomechanical significance across all mammals, only primates, and only non-primates. Sacral variables were also evaluated for primates assigned to tail categories ('tailless,' 'nonprehensile short-tailed,' 'nonprehensile long-tailed,' and 'prehensile-tailed'). Compared to primates with reduced tail lengths, primates with longer tails generally exhibited sacra having larger caudal neural openings than cranial neural openings, and last sacral vertebrae with more mediolaterally-expanded caudal articular surfaces than cranial articular surfaces, more laterally-expanded transverse processes, more dorsally-projecting spinous processes, and larger caudal articular surface areas. Observations were corroborated by the comparative sample, which showed that shorter-tailed (e.g., Lynx rufus [bobcat]) and longer-tailed (e.g., Acinonyx jubatus [cheetah]) non-primate mammals morphologically converge with shorter-tailed (e.g., Macaca nemestrina) and longer-tailed (e.g., Macaca fascicularis) primates, respectively. 'Prehensile-tailed' primates exhibited last sacral vertebrae with more laterally-expanded transverse processes and greater caudal articular surface areas than 'nonprehensile long-tailed' primates. Internal sacral variables performed poorly compared to external sacral variables in analyses of extant primates, and were thus deemed less useful for making inferences concerning tail length and function in extinct primates. The tails lengths of

  6. The Effects of Horizontal-Tail Location and Wing Modifications on the High-Speed Stability and Control Characteristics of a 01.17-Scale Model of the McDonnell XF2H-1 Airplane (TED No, NACA DE336)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emerson, Horace F.; Axelson, John A.

    1949-01-01

    An additional series of high-speed wind-tunnel tests of a modified 0.17-scale model of the McDonnell XF2H-1 airplane was conducted to evaluate the effects of a reduction in the thickness-to-chord ratios of the tail planes, the displacement of the horizontal tail relative to the vertical tail, and the extension of the trailing edge of the wing. Two tail-intersection fairings designed to improve the flow at the tail were also tested. The pitching-moment characteristics of the model were improved slightly by the use of the thinner tail sections. Rearward or rearward and downward displacements of the horizontal tail increased the critical Mach number at the tail intersection from 0.725 to a maximum of 0.80, but caused an excessive change in pitching-moment coefficient at the higher Mach numbers. Extending the trailing edge of the wing did not improve the static longitudinal-stability characteristics, but increased the pitching-down tendency between 0.725 and 0.825 Mach numbers prior to the pitching-up tendency. The extended wing did, however, increase the Mach numbers at which these tendencies occurred. The increase in the Mach numbers of divergence and the tuft studies indicate a probable increase in the buffet limit of the prototype airplane. No perceptible improvement of flow at the tail intersection was observed with the two fairings tested on the forward tail configuration.

  7. Allometric relationships among body mass, MUZZLE-tail length, and tibia length during the growth of Wistar rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santiago, Hildemberg Agostinho Rocha de; De Pierro, Lucas Rodolfo; Reis, Rafael Menezes; Caluz, Antônio Gabriel Ricardo Engracia; Ribeiro, Victor Barbosa; Volpon, José Batista

    2015-11-01

    To investigate allometric relationships among body mass (BM), muzzle-tail length (MTL), and tibia length (TL) in Wistar rats and establish their growth rate change parameters. Eighteen male and 18 female Wistar rats were studied from the 3rd to the 21st week of age. BM, MTL, and TL were measured daily, and relative growth was compared using allometry. A positive correlation between BM and MTL (p<0.05) and BM and TL (p<0.05) was observed. Males and females showed comparable curves; however, females had turning points at a younger age. The allometric relationship between BM and MTL presented a regular increase until reaching a mass of 351 g (males) and 405 g (females). BM and TL showed an initial increase until 185 g (males) and 182 g (females), and then reached a plateau that finished at 412 g (males) and 334 g (females), to display another increase. The allometric relationship of body mass with animal length and tibia length was comparable for male and female rats, with female rats maturing earlier. Animal longitudinal growth occurred in a single stage. In contrast, tibia length depicted two stages of accelerated growth with an intermediate period of deceleration.

  8. Flying Wings. A New Paradigm for Civil Aviation?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Martinez-Val

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Over the last 50 years, commercial aviation has been mainly based what is currently called the conventional layout, characterized by a slender fuselage mated to a high aspect ratio wing, with aft-tail planes and pod-mounted engines under the wing. However, it seems that this primary configuration is approaching an asymptote in its productivity and performance characteristics. One of the most promising configurations for the future is the flying wing in its distinct arrangements: blended-wing-body, C-wing, tail-less aircraft, etc. These layouts might provide significant fuel savings and, hence, a decrease in pollution. This configuration would also reduce noise in take-off and landing. All this explains the great deal of activity carried out by the aircraft industry and by numerous investigators to perform feasibility and conceptual design studies of this aircraft layout to gain better knowledge of its main characteristics: productivity, airport compatibility, passenger acceptance, internal architecture, emergency evacuation, etc. The present paper discusses the main features of flying wings, their advantages over conventional competitors, and some key operational issues, such as evacuation and vortex wake intensity. 

  9. Flapping tail membrane in bats produces potentially important thrust during horizontal takeoffs and very slow flight.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rick A Adams

    Full Text Available Historically, studies concerning bat flight have focused primarily on the wings. By analyzing high-speed video taken on 48 individuals of five species of vespertilionid bats, we show that the capacity to flap the tail-membrane (uropatagium in order to generate thrust and lift during takeoffs and minimal-speed flight (<1 m (s-1 was largely underestimated. Indeed, bats flapped the tail-membrane by extensive dorso-ventral fanning motions covering as much as 135 degrees of arc consistent with thrust generation by air displacement. The degree of dorsal extension of the tail-membrane, and thus the potential amount of thrust generated during platform launches, was significantly correlated with body mass (P = 0.02. Adduction of the hind limbs during upstrokes collapsed the tail-membrane thereby reducing its surface area and minimizing negative lift forces. Abduction of the hind limbs during the downstroke fully expanded the tail-membrane as it was swept ventrally. The flapping kinematics of the tail-membrane is thus consistent with expectations for an airfoil. Timing offsets between the wings and tail-membrane during downstrokes was as much as 50%, suggesting that the tail-membrane was providing thrust and perhaps lift when the wings were retracting through the upstoke phase of the wing-beat cycle. The extent to which the tail-membrane was used during takeoffs differed significantly among four vespertilionid species (P = 0.01 and aligned with predictions derived from bat ecomorphology. The extensive fanning motion of the tail membrane by vespertilionid bats has not been reported for other flying vertebrates.

  10. Novel full-length major histocompatibility complex class I allele discovery and haplotype definition in pig-tailed macaques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semler, Matthew R; Wiseman, Roger W; Karl, Julie A; Graham, Michael E; Gieger, Samantha M; O'Connor, David H

    2017-11-13

    Pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina, Mane) are important models for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) studies. Their infectability with minimally modified HIV makes them a uniquely valuable animal model to mimic human infection with HIV and progression to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). However, variation in the pig-tailed macaque major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and the impact of individual transcripts on the pathogenesis of HIV and other infectious diseases is understudied compared to that of rhesus and cynomolgus macaques. In this study, we used Pacific Biosciences single-molecule real-time circular consensus sequencing to describe full-length MHC class I (MHC-I) transcripts for 194 pig-tailed macaques from three breeding centers. We then used the full-length sequences to infer Mane-A and Mane-B haplotypes containing groups of MHC-I transcripts that co-segregate due to physical linkage. In total, we characterized full-length open reading frames (ORFs) for 313 Mane-A, Mane-B, and Mane-I sequences that defined 86 Mane-A and 106 Mane-B MHC-I haplotypes. Pacific Biosciences technology allows us to resolve these Mane-A and Mane-B haplotypes to the level of synonymous allelic variants. The newly defined haplotypes and transcript sequences containing full-length ORFs provide an important resource for infectious disease researchers as certain MHC haplotypes have been shown to provide exceptional control of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) replication and prevention of AIDS-like disease in nonhuman primates. The increased allelic resolution provided by Pacific Biosciences sequencing also benefits transplant research by allowing researchers to more specifically match haplotypes between donors and recipients to the level of nonsynonymous allelic variation, thus reducing the risk of graft-versus-host disease.

  11. Spanwise transition section for blended wing-body aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawley, Arthur V. (Inventor)

    1999-01-01

    A blended wing-body aircraft includes a central body, a wing, and a transition section which interconnects the body and the wing on each side of the aircraft. The two transition sections are identical, and each has a variable chord length and thickness which varies in proportion to the chord length. This enables the transition section to connect the thin wing to the thicker body. Each transition section has a negative sweep angle.

  12. Assessing the genetic diversity of Cu resistance in mine tailings through high-throughput recovery of full-length copA genes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiaofang; Zhu, Yong-Guan; Shaban, Babak; Bruxner, Timothy J. C.; Bond, Philip L.; Huang, Longbin

    2015-01-01

    Characterizing the genetic diversity of microbial copper (Cu) resistance at the community level remains challenging, mainly due to the polymorphism of the core functional gene copA. In this study, a local BLASTN method using a copA database built in this study was developed to recover full-length putative copA sequences from an assembled tailings metagenome; these sequences were then screened for potentially functioning CopA using conserved metal-binding motifs, inferred by evolutionary trace analysis of CopA sequences from known Cu resistant microorganisms. In total, 99 putative copA sequences were recovered from the tailings metagenome, out of which 70 were found with high potential to be functioning in Cu resistance. Phylogenetic analysis of selected copA sequences detected in the tailings metagenome showed that topology of the copA phylogeny is largely congruent with that of the 16S-based phylogeny of the tailings microbial community obtained in our previous study, indicating that the development of copA diversity in the tailings might be mainly through vertical descent with few lateral gene transfer events. The method established here can be used to explore copA (and potentially other metal resistance genes) diversity in any metagenome and has the potential to exhaust the full-length gene sequences for downstream analyses. PMID:26286020

  13. Rotary balance data for a typical single-engine general aviation design for an angle-of-attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg. 2: Influence of horizontal tail location for Model D

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnhart, B.

    1982-01-01

    The influence of horizontal tail location on the rotational flow aerodynamics is discussed for a 1/6-scale general aviation airplane model. The model was tested using various horizontal tail positions, with both a high and a low-wing location and for each of two body lengths. Data were measured, using a rotary balance, over an angle-of-attack range of 8 to 90 deg, and for clockwise and counter-clockwise rotations covering an Omega b/2V range of 0 to 0.9.

  14. Factors affecting the duration of nestling period and fledging order in Tengmalm's owl (Aegolius funereus: effect of wing length and hatching sequence.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marek Kouba

    Full Text Available In altricial birds, the nestling period is an important part of the breeding phase because the juveniles may spend quite a long time in the nest, with associated high energy costs for the parents. The length of the nestling period can be variable and its duration may be influenced by both biotic and abiotic factors; however, studies of this have mostly been undertaken on passerine birds. We studied individual duration of nestling period of 98 Tengmalm's owl chicks (Aegolius funereus at 27 nests during five breeding seasons using a camera and chip system and radio-telemetry. We found the nestlings stayed in the nest box for 27 - 38 days from hatching (mean ± SD, 32.4 ± 2.2 days. The individual duration of nestling period was negatively related to wing length, but no formally significant effect was found for body weight, sex, prey availability and/or weather conditions. The fledging sequence of individual nestlings was primarily related to hatching order; no relationship with wing length and/or other factors was found in this case. We suggest the length of wing is the most important measure of body condition and individual quality in Tengmalm's owl young determining the duration of the nestling period. Other differences from passerines (e.g., the lack of effect of weather or prey availability on nestling period are considered likely to be due to different life-history traits, in particular different food habits and nesting sites and greater risk of nest predation among passerines.

  15. Effects of administration of a local anaesthetic and/or an NSAID and of docking length on the behaviour of piglets during 5 h after tail docking

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Herskin, Mette S.; Di Giminiani, Pierpaolo; Thodberg, Karen

    2016-01-01

    cautery 2–4 days after birth and based on behaviour during docking as well as the following 5 h. The study involved three main factors: local anaesthetic (Lidocain), NSAID (Meloxicam) and docking length. Either 100%, 75%, 50% or 25% of the tails were left on the body of the piglets. Irrespective...... that effects of this management routine are more persistent than earlier suggested, and suggesting that docking length may influence the post-surgical behaviour of piglets. By use of the present sites of injection and dosages, neither local anaesthetic nor NSAID had marked effects on post-surgical behavioural......In many countries, piglets are tail docked to prevent tail biting. The aim of this study was 1) to evaluate the efficacy of a local anaesthetic and/or NSAID to reduce pain caused by tail docking; and 2) to examine interactions with docking length. This was examined in 295 piglets docked by hot iron...

  16. Aerodynamic study, design and construction of a Blended Wing Body (BWB) Unmanned Aircraft (UA)

    OpenAIRE

    De Toro Diaz, Aleix

    2015-01-01

    During this project a Blended Wing Body (BWB) UA (Unmanned Aircraft) model is built. BWBs are a combination of a common airplane with tail control surfaces and a flying wing. BWBs lack tail control surfaces, which makes its design to be very different and more complex regarding stability. To first start the BWB design, some research has been done about the basic parameters of the BWB designs. Moreover, different airfoils are considered to improve the stability of the UA. Two designs are creat...

  17. A passerine spreads its tail to facilitate a rapid recovery of its body posture during hovering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Jian-Yuan; Ting, Shang-Chieh; Chang, Yu-Hung; Yang, Jing-Tang

    2012-07-07

    We demonstrate experimentally that a passerine exploits tail spreading to intercept the downward flow induced by its wings to facilitate the recovery of its posture. The periodic spreading of its tail by the White-eye bird exhibits a phase correlation with both wingstroke motion and body oscillation during hovering flight. During a downstroke, a White-eye's body undergoes a remarkable pitch-down motion, with the tail undergoing an upward swing. This pitch-down motion becomes appropriately suppressed at the end of the downstroke; the bird's body posture then recovers gradually to its original status. Employing digital particle-image velocimetry, we show that the strong downward flow induced by downstroking the wings serves as an external jet flow impinging upon the tail, providing a depressing force on the tail to counteract the pitch-down motion of the bird's body. Spreading of the tail enhances a rapid recovery of the body posture because increased forces are experienced. The maximum force experienced by a spread tail is approximately 2.6 times that of a non-spread tail.

  18. AERO2S - SUBSONIC AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF WINGS WITH LEADING- AND TRAILING-EDGE FLAPS IN COMBINATION WITH CANARD OR HORIZONTAL TAIL SURFACES (CDC VERSION)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darden, C. M.

    1994-01-01

    This code was developed to aid design engineers in the selection and evaluation of aerodynamically efficient wing-canard and wing-horizontal-tail configurations that may employ simple hinged-flap systems. Rapid estimates of the longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics of conceptual airplane lifting surface arrangements are provided. The method is particularly well suited to configurations which, because of high speed flight requirements, must employ thin wings with highly swept leading edges. The code is applicable to wings with either sharp or rounded leading edges. The code provides theoretical pressure distributions over the wing, the canard or horizontal tail, and the deflected flap surfaces as well as estimates of the wing lift, drag, and pitching moments which account for attainable leading edge thrust and leading edge separation vortex forces. The wing planform information is specified by a series of leading edge and trailing edge breakpoints for a right hand wing panel. Up to 21 pairs of coordinates may be used to describe both the leading edge and the trailing edge. The code has been written to accommodate 2000 right hand panel elements, but can easily be modified to accommodate a larger or smaller number of elements depending on the capacity of the target computer platform. The code provides solutions for wing surfaces composed of all possible combinations of leading edge and trailing edge flap settings provided by the original deflection multipliers and by the flap deflection multipliers. Up to 25 pairs of leading edge and trailing edge flap deflection schedules may thus be treated simultaneously. The code also provides for an improved accounting of hinge-line singularities in determination of wing forces and moments. To determine lifting surface perturbation velocity distributions, the code provides for a maximum of 70 iterations. The program is constructed so that successive runs may be made with a given code entry. To make additional runs, it is

  19. Wind-tunnel investigation of a large-scale VTOL aircraft model with wing root and wing thrust augmentors. [Ames 40 by 80 foot wind tunnel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aoyagi, K.; Aiken, T. N.

    1979-01-01

    Tests were conducted in the Ames 40 by 80 foot wind tunnel to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of a large-scale V/STOL aircraft model with thrust augmentors. The model had a double-delta wing of aspect ratio 1.65 with augmentors located in the wing root and the wing trailing edge. The supply air for the augmentor primary nozzles was provided by the YJ-97 turbojet engine. The airflow was apportioned approximately 74 percent to the wing root augmentor and 24 percent to wing augmentor. Results were obtained at several trailing-edge flap deflections with the nozzle jet-momentum coefficients ranging from 0 to 7.9. Three-component longitudinal data are presented with the agumentor operating with and without the horizontal tail. A limited amount of six component data are also presented.

  20. Drag Prediction for the NASA CRM Wing-Body-Tail Using CFL3D and OVERFLOW on an Overset Mesh

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sclafani, Anthony J.; DeHaan, Mark A.; Vassberg, John C.; Rumsey, Christopher L.; Pulliam, Thomas H.

    2010-01-01

    In response to the fourth AIAA CFD Drag Prediction Workshop (DPW-IV), the NASA Common Research Model (CRM) wing-body and wing-body-tail configurations are analyzed using the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) flow solvers CFL3D and OVERFLOW. Two families of structured, overset grids are built for DPW-IV. Grid Family 1 (GF1) consists of a coarse (7.2 million), medium (16.9 million), fine (56.5 million), and extra-fine (189.4 million) mesh. Grid Family 2 (GF2) is an extension of the first and includes a superfine (714.2 million) and an ultra-fine (2.4 billion) mesh. The medium grid anchors both families with an established build process for accurate cruise drag prediction studies. This base mesh is coarsened and enhanced to form a set of parametrically equivalent grids that increase in size by a factor of roughly 3.4 from one level to the next denser level. Both CFL3D and OVERFLOW are run on GF1 using a consistent numerical approach. Additional OVERFLOW runs are made to study effects of differencing scheme and turbulence model on GF1 and to obtain results for GF2. All CFD results are post-processed using Richardson extrapolation, and approximate grid-converged values of drag are compared. The medium grid is also used to compute a trimmed drag polar for both codes.

  1. Lateral movements of a massive tail influence gecko locomotion: an integrative study comparing tail restriction and autotomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jagnandan, Kevin; Higham, Timothy E

    2017-09-07

    Tails are an intricate component of the locomotor system for many vertebrates. Leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) possess a large tail that is laterally undulated during steady locomotion. However, the tail is readily shed via autotomy, resulting in the loss of tail function, loss in body mass, and a cranial shift in the center of mass. To elucidate the function of tail undulations, we investigated changes in limb kinematics after manipulating the tail artificially by restricting tail undulations and naturally by removing the tail via autotomy. Restricting tail undulations resulted in kinematic adjustments similar to those that occur following tail autotomy, characterized by more flexed hind limb joints. These data suggest that effects of autotomy on locomotion may be linked to the loss of tail movements rather than the loss of mass or a shift in center of mass. We also provide empirical support for the link between lateral tail undulations and step length through the rotation of the pelvic girdle and retraction of the femur. Restriction and autotomy of the tail limits pelvic rotation, which reduces femur retraction and decreases step length. Our findings demonstrate a functional role for tail undulations in geckos, which likely applies to other terrestrial vertebrates.

  2. AERO2S - SUBSONIC AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF WINGS WITH LEADING- AND TRAILING-EDGE FLAPS IN COMBINATION WITH CANARD OR HORIZONTAL TAIL SURFACES (IBM PC VERSION)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlson, H. W.

    1994-01-01

    This code was developed to aid design engineers in the selection and evaluation of aerodynamically efficient wing-canard and wing-horizontal-tail configurations that may employ simple hinged-flap systems. Rapid estimates of the longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics of conceptual airplane lifting surface arrangements are provided. The method is particularly well suited to configurations which, because of high speed flight requirements, must employ thin wings with highly swept leading edges. The code is applicable to wings with either sharp or rounded leading edges. The code provides theoretical pressure distributions over the wing, the canard or horizontal tail, and the deflected flap surfaces as well as estimates of the wing lift, drag, and pitching moments which account for attainable leading edge thrust and leading edge separation vortex forces. The wing planform information is specified by a series of leading edge and trailing edge breakpoints for a right hand wing panel. Up to 21 pairs of coordinates may be used to describe both the leading edge and the trailing edge. The code has been written to accommodate 2000 right hand panel elements, but can easily be modified to accommodate a larger or smaller number of elements depending on the capacity of the target computer platform. The code provides solutions for wing surfaces composed of all possible combinations of leading edge and trailing edge flap settings provided by the original deflection multipliers and by the flap deflection multipliers. Up to 25 pairs of leading edge and trailing edge flap deflection schedules may thus be treated simultaneously. The code also provides for an improved accounting of hinge-line singularities in determination of wing forces and moments. To determine lifting surface perturbation velocity distributions, the code provides for a maximum of 70 iterations. The program is constructed so that successive runs may be made with a given code entry. To make additional runs, it is

  3. Tail posture predicts tail biting outbreaks at pen level in weaner pigs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lahrmann, Helle Pelant; Hansen, Christian Fink; D'Eath, Rick

    2018-01-01

    posture and behaviour could be detected at pen level between upcoming tail biting pens (T-pens) and control pens (C-pens). The study included 2301 undocked weaner pigs in 74 pens (mean 31.1 pigs/pen; SD 1.5). Tails were scored three times weekly (wound freshness, wound severity and tail length) between 07......Detecting a tail biting outbreak early is essential to reduce the risk of pigs getting severe tail damage. A few previous studies suggest that tail posture and behavioural differences can predict an upcoming outbreak. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate if differences in tail......:00 h-14:00 h from weaning until a tail biting outbreak. An outbreak (day 0) occurred when at least four pigs had a tail damage, regardless of wound freshness. On average 7.6 (SD 4.3) pigs had a damaged tail (scratches + wound) in T-pens on day 0. Tail posture and behaviour (activity, eating...

  4. Attitude control system for a lightweight flapping wing MAV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tijmons, Sjoerd; Karásek, Matěj; de Croon, G C H E

    2018-03-14

    Robust attitude control is an essential aspect of research on autonomous flight of flapping wing Micro Air Vehicles. The mechanical solutions by which the necessary control moments are realised come at the price of extra weight and possible loss of aerodynamic efficiency. Stable flight of these vehicles has been shown by several designs using a conventional tail, but also by tailless designs that use active control of the wings. In this study a control mechanism is proposed that provides active control over the wings. The mechanism improves vehicle stability and agility by generation of control moments for roll, pitch and yaw. Its effectiveness is demonstrated by static measurements around all the three axes. Flight test results confirm that the attitude of the test vehicle, including a tail, can be successfully controlled in slow forward flight conditions. Furthermore, the flight envelope is extended with robust hovering and the ability to reverse the flight direction using a small turn space. This capability is very important for autonomous flight capabilities such as obstacle avoidance. Finally, it is demonstrated that the proposed control mechanism allows for tailless hovering flight. © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.

  5. BODY SIZE AND HAREM SIZE IN MALE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS: MANIPULATING SELECTION WITH SEX-SPECIFIC FEEDERS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rohwer, Sievert; Langston, Nancy; Gori, Dave

    1996-10-01

    We experimentally manipulated the strength of selection in the field on red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) to test hypotheses about contrasting selective forces that favor either large or small males in sexually size dimorphic birds. Selander (1972) argued that sexual selection favors larger males, while survival selection eventually stabilizes male size because larger males do not survive as well as smaller males during harsh winters. Searcy (1979a) proposed instead that sexual selection may be self limiting: male size might be stabilized not by overwinter mortality, but by breeding-season sexual selection that favors smaller males. Under conditions of energetic stress, smaller males should be able to display more and thus achieve higher reproductive success. Using feeders that provisioned males or females but not both, we produced conditions that mimicked the extremes of natural conditions. We found experimental support for the hypothesis that when food is abundant, sexual selection favors larger males. But even under conditions of severe energetic stress, smaller males did not gain larger harems, as the self-limiting hypothesis predicted. Larger males were more energetically stressed than smaller males, but in ways that affected their future reproductive output rather than their current reproductive performance. Stressed males that returned had smaller wings and tails than those that did not return; among returning stressed males, relative harem sizes were inversely related to wing and tail length. Thus, male body size may be stabilized not by survival costs during the non-breeding season, nor by energetic costs during the breeding season, but by costs of future reproduction that larger males pay for their increased breeding-season effort. © 1996 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

  6. Design of attitude solution algorithm for tail-sitter VTOL UAV

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donghui LIU

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The tail-sitter Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV, flying in a fixed-wing model, overcomes many shortcomings of traditional fixed-wing UAVs, and inherits the advantage of high overall efficiency, which means it has great development potential and very broad application prospects. The attitude of tail-sitter VTOL UAV shows a wide change range in its takeoff and landing stages, and when the attitude sensor changes more than 90 degrees in pitch direction, the Euler angles converted by the Quaternions will have singular points, which means gimbal deadlock appears. From the solution algorithm, this paper provides a method of changing the order of rotation to avoid the appearance of singular points. The results show that this method can be well applied to the attitude solution of the VTOL UAV.

  7. Physics-based Morphology Analysis and Adjoint Optimization of Flexible Flapping Wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-08-30

    production, power consumption , and efficiency. Novel tools for studying wing morphing during complicated flapping flights have been developed to...23 Figure 14. Transverse plane cut at mid-downstroke. (a) Cut through wing and body (b) Cut through the near wake (no wings...between wing surfaces and corresponding least square planes . The distances are normalized by wing mid chord length

  8. Dynamic Longitudinal and Directional Stability Derivatives for a 45 deg. Sweptback-Wing Airplane Model at Transonic Speeds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bielat, Ralph P.; Wiley, Harleth G.

    1959-01-01

    An investigation was made at transonic speeds to determine some of the dynamic stability derivatives of a 45 deg. sweptback-wing airplane model. The model was sting mounted and was rigidly forced to perform a single-degree-of-freedom angular oscillation in pitch or yaw of +/- 2 deg. The investigation was made for angles of attack alpha, from -4 deg. to 14 deg. throughout most of the transonic speed range for values of reduced-frequency parameter from 0.015 to 0.040 based on wing mean aerodynamic chord and from 0.04 to 0.14 based on wing span. The results show that reduced frequency had only a small effect on the damping-in-pitch derivative and the oscillatory longitudinal stability derivative for all Mach numbers M and angles of attack with the exception of the values of damping coefficient near M = 1.03 and alpha = 8 deg. to 14 deg. In this region, the damping coefficient changed rapidly with reduced frequency and negative values of damping coefficient were measured at low values of reduced frequency. This abrupt variation of pitch damping with reduced frequency was a characteristic of the complete model or wing-body-vertical-tail combination. The damping-in-pitch derivative varied considerably with alpha and M for the horizontal-tail-on and horizontal-tail-off configurations, and the damping was relatively high at angles of attack corresponding to the onset of pitch-up for both configurations. The damping-in-yaw derivative was generally independent of reduced frequency and M at alpha = -4 deg. to 4 deg. At alpha = 8 deg. to 14 deg., the damping derivative increased with an increase in reduced frequency and alpha for the configurations having the wing, whereas the damping derivative was either independent of or decreased with increase in reduced frequency for the configuration without the wing. The oscillatory directional stability derivative for all configurations generally decreased with an increase in the reduced-frequency parameter, and, in some instances

  9. Near-threshold quantization and scattering for deep potentials with attractive tails

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eltschka, Christopher; Moritz, Michael J.; Friedrich, Harald

    2000-01-01

    Near-threshold properties of bound and continuum states in a deep potential with an attractive tail depend essentially on a few 'tail parameters', which are determined by the properties of the potential tail beyond the region of r-values where WKB wavefunctions are accurate solutions of the Schroedinger equation. One of these tail parameters is a length parameter which defines the singular contribution to the level density just below threshold and the reflectivity of the tail of the potential just above threshold; another is a phase difference which, together with the length parameter, determines the mean scattering length. The near-threshold quantization rule and the actual scattering length are determined by the tail parameters together with a dimensionless constant depending on the zero-energy value of the WKB action integral. We study potentials with tails consisting of two inverse-power terms, V(r)∼-C α /r α -C α 1 /r α 1 ,α 1 >α>2and we derive exact analytical expressions for the tail parameters in the special case α 1 =2(α-1). This enables us to demonstrate the effect of a significant non-homogeneity of the potential tail on the results derived previously for homogeneous tails. (author)

  10. Can Wing Tip Vortices Be Accurately Simulated?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-01

    Aerodynamics , Flow Visualization, Numerical Investigation, Aero Suite 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: Unclassified 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT 18...additional tail buffeting.2 In commercial applications, winglets have been installed on passenger aircraft to minimize vortex formation and reduce lift...air. In military applications, wing tip In commercial applications, winglets have been installed on passenger aircraft to minimize increases with downstream distances.

  11. Moth tails divert bat attack: evolution of acoustic deflection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barber, Jesse R; Leavell, Brian C; Keener, Adam L; Breinholt, Jesse W; Chadwell, Brad A; McClure, Christopher J W; Hill, Geena M; Kawahara, Akito Y

    2015-03-03

    Adaptations to divert the attacks of visually guided predators have evolved repeatedly in animals. Using high-speed infrared videography, we show that luna moths (Actias luna) generate an acoustic diversion with spinning hindwing tails to deflect echolocating bat attacks away from their body and toward these nonessential appendages. We pit luna moths against big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) and demonstrate a survival advantage of ∼ 47% for moths with tails versus those that had their tails removed. The benefit of hindwing tails is equivalent to the advantage conferred to moths by bat-detecting ears. Moth tails lured bat attacks to these wing regions during 55% of interactions between bats and intact luna moths. We analyzed flight kinematics of moths with and without hindwing tails and suggest that tails have a minimal role in flight performance. Using a robust phylogeny, we find that long spatulate tails have independently evolved four times in saturniid moths, further supporting the selective advantage of this anti-bat strategy. Diversionary tactics are perhaps more common than appreciated in predator-prey interactions. Our finding suggests that focusing on the sensory ecologies of key predators will reveal such countermeasures in prey.

  12. Pitot-pressure distributions of the flow field of a delta-wing orbiter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cleary, J. W.

    1972-01-01

    Pitot pressure distributions of the flow field of a 0.0075-scale model of a typical delta wing shuttle orbiter are presented. Results are given for the windward and leeward sides on centerline in the angle-of-attack plane from wind tunnel tests conducted in air. Distributions are shown for three axial stations X/L = .35, .60, and .98 and for angles of attack from 0 to 60 deg. The tests were made at a Mach number of 7.4 and for Reynolds numbers based on body length from 1,500,000 to 9,000,000. The windward distributions at the two survey stations forward of the body boat tail demonstrate the compressive aspects of the flow from the shock wave to the body. Conversely, the distributions at the aft station display an expansion of the flow that is attributed to body boat tail. On the lee side, results are given at low angles of attack that illustrate the complicating aspects of the canopy on the flow field, while results are given to show the effects of flow separation at high angles of attack.

  13. The taxonomic status of the white-tailed kite

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, W.S.; Banks, R.C.

    1992-01-01

    The White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus) of the Americas has been merged with the Black-shouldered (or Black-winged) Kite (E. caeruleus) of the Old World and the Australian Black-shouldered Kite (E. axillaris) by North American authorities (but not elsewhere), primarily because of similarity in plumage. However, American kites differ from Old World kites in greater size and weight, in proportions (relatively longer tail and smaller bill and feet), plumage pattern (particularly of juveniles), and in behavior. Here we argue that these characters are sufficiently distinctive to warrant recognition of E. leucurus at the species level.

  14. Dynamics of F-actin prefigure the structure of butterfly wing scales.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dinwiddie, April; Null, Ryan; Pizzano, Maria; Chuong, Lisa; Leigh Krup, Alexis; Ee Tan, Hwei; Patel, Nipam H

    2014-08-15

    The wings of butterflies and moths consist of dorsal and ventral epidermal surfaces that give rise to overlapping layers of scales and hairs (Lepidoptera, "scale wing"). Wing scales (average length ~200 µm) are homologous to insect bristles (macrochaetes), and their colors create the patterns that characterize lepidopteran wings. The topology and surface sculpture of wing scales vary widely, and this architectural complexity arises from variations in the developmental program of the individual scale cells of the wing epithelium. One of the more striking features of lepidopteran wing scales are the longitudinal ridges that run the length of the mature (dead) cell, gathering the cuticularized scale cell surface into pleats on the sides of each scale. While also present around the periphery of other insect bristles and hairs, longitudinal ridges in lepidopteran wing scales gain new significance for their creation of iridescent color through microribs and lamellae. Here we show the dynamics of the highly organized F-actin filaments during scale cell development, and present experimental manipulations of actin polymerization that reveal the essential role of this cytoskeletal component in wing scale elongation and the positioning of longitudinal ribs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Flight mechanics of a tailless articulated wing aircraft

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paranjape, Aditya A; Chung, Soon-Jo; Selig, Michael S

    2011-01-01

    This paper investigates the flight mechanics of a micro aerial vehicle without a vertical tail in an effort to reverse-engineer the agility of avian flight. The key to stability and control of such a tailless aircraft lies in the ability to control the incidence angles and dihedral angles of both wings independently. The dihedral angles can be varied symmetrically on both wings to control aircraft speed independently of the angle of attack and flight path angle, while asymmetric dihedral can be used to control yaw in the absence of a vertical stabilizer. It is shown that wing dihedral angles alone can effectively regulate sideslip during rapid turns and generate a wide range of equilibrium turn rates while maintaining a constant flight speed and regulating sideslip. Numerical continuation and bifurcation analysis are used to compute trim states and assess their stability. This paper lays the foundation for design and stability analysis of a flapping wing aircraft that can switch rapidly from flapping to gliding flight for agile manoeuvring in a constrained environment.

  16. Flight mechanics of a tailless articulated wing aircraft

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Paranjape, Aditya A; Chung, Soon-Jo; Selig, Michael S, E-mail: sjchung@illinois.edu [Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)

    2011-06-15

    This paper investigates the flight mechanics of a micro aerial vehicle without a vertical tail in an effort to reverse-engineer the agility of avian flight. The key to stability and control of such a tailless aircraft lies in the ability to control the incidence angles and dihedral angles of both wings independently. The dihedral angles can be varied symmetrically on both wings to control aircraft speed independently of the angle of attack and flight path angle, while asymmetric dihedral can be used to control yaw in the absence of a vertical stabilizer. It is shown that wing dihedral angles alone can effectively regulate sideslip during rapid turns and generate a wide range of equilibrium turn rates while maintaining a constant flight speed and regulating sideslip. Numerical continuation and bifurcation analysis are used to compute trim states and assess their stability. This paper lays the foundation for design and stability analysis of a flapping wing aircraft that can switch rapidly from flapping to gliding flight for agile manoeuvring in a constrained environment.

  17. Gliding Swifts Attain Laminar Flow over Rough Wings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lentink, D.; Kat, de R.

    2014-01-01

    Swifts are among the most aerodynamically refined gliding birds. However, the overlapping vanes and protruding shafts of their primary feathers make swift wings remarkably rough for their size. Wing roughness height is 1–2% of chord length on the upper surface—10,000 times rougher than sailplane

  18. Mutational analysis of two structural genes of the remperate lactococcal bacteriophage TP901-1 involved in tail length determination and baseplate assembly

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Margit; Østergaard, Solvej; Bresciani, José

    2000-01-01

    Two putative structural genes, orf tmp (tape measure protein) and orf bpp (baseplate protein), of the temperate lactococcal phage TP901-1 were examined by introduction of specific mutations in the prophage strain Lactococcus lactic ssp. cremoris 901-1. The adsorption efficiencies of the mutated...... or duplication of 29% in orf tmp was shown to shorten or lengthen the phage tail by approximately 30%, respectively. The orf tmp is proposed to function as a tape measure protein, TMP, important for assembly of the TP901-1 phage tail and involved in tail length determination. Specific mutations in orf bpp...... produced phages which were unable to adsorb to the indicator strain and electron microscopy revealed particles lacking the baseplate structure. The orf bpp is proposed to encode a highly immunogenic structural baseplate protein, BPP, important for assembly of the baseplate. Finally, an assembly pathway...

  19. Relationship of fat-tail and body measurements with some economic ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ONOS

    2010-09-06

    Sep 6, 2010 ... circumference, right, middle and left tail-length, body length, whither height, abdominal and heart girth. ... tail and other adipose depots, negatively affect the sale of sheep by sheep industries in some country like Iran. Fat-.

  20. Wing, tail, and vocal contributions to the complex acoustic signals of courting Calliope hummingbirds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher James CLARK

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Multi-component signals contain multiple signal parts expressed in the same physical modality. One way to identify individual components is if they are produced by different physical mechanisms. Here, I studied the mechanisms generating acoustic signals in the courtship displays of the Calliope hummingbird Stellula calliope. Display dives consisted of three synchronized sound elements, a high-frequency tone (hft, a low frequency tone (lft, and atonal sound pulses (asp, which were then followed by a frequency-modulated fall. Manipulating any of the rectrices (tail-feathers of wild males impaired production of the lft and asp but not the hft or fall, which are apparently vocal. I tested the sound production capabilities of the rectrices in a wind tunnel. Single rectrices could generate the lft but not the asp, whereas multiple rectrices tested together produced sounds similar to the asp when they fluttered and collided with their neighbors percussively, representing a previously unknown mechanism of sound production. During the shuttle display, a trill is generated by the wings during pulses in which the wingbeat frequency is elevated to 95 Hz, 40% higher than the typical hovering wingbeat frequency. The Calliope hummingbird courtship displays include sounds produced by three independent mechanisms, and thus include a minimum of three acoustic signal components. These acoustic mechanisms have different constraints and thus potentially contain different messages. Producing multiple acoustic signals via multiple mechanisms may be a way to escape the constraints present in any single mechanism [Current Zoology 57 (2: 187–196, 2011].

  1. Design and construction of a remote piloted flying wing. B.S. Thesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, Alfred J.; Koopman, Fritz; Soboleski, Craig; Trieu, Thai-Ba; Duquette, Jaime; Krause, Scott; Susko, David; Trieu, Thuyba

    1994-01-01

    Currently, there is a need for a high-speed, high-lift civilian transport. Although unconventional, a flying wing could fly at speeds in excess of Mach 2 and still retain the capacity of a 747. The design of the flying wing is inherently unstable since it lacks a fuselage and a horizontal tail. The project goal was to design, construct, fly, and test a remote-piloted scale model flying wing. The project was completed as part of the NASA/USRA Advanced Aeronautics Design Program. These unique restrictions required us to implement several fundamental design changes from last year's Elang configuration including wing sweepback and wingtip endplates. Unique features such as a single ducted fan engine, composite structural materials, and an electrostatic stability system were incorporated. The result is the Banshee '94. Our efforts will aid future projects in design and construction techniques so that a viable flying wing can become an integral part of the aviation industry.

  2. An Airplane Design having a Wing with Fuselage Attached to Each Tip

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spearman, Leroy M.

    2001-01-01

    This paper describes the conceptual design of an airplane having a low aspect ratio wing with fuselages that are attached to each wing tip. The concept is proposed for a high-capacity transport as an alternate to progressively increasing the size of a conventional transport design having a single fuselage with cantilevered wing panels attached to the sides and tail surfaces attached at the rear. Progressively increasing the size of conventional single body designs may lead to problems in some area's such as manufacturing, ground-handling and aerodynamic behavior. A limited review will be presented of some past work related to means of relieving some size constraints through the use of multiple bodies. Recent low-speed wind-tunnel tests have been made of models representative of the inboard-wing concept. These models have a low aspect ratio wing with a fuselage attached to each tip. Results from these tests, which included force measurements, surface pressure measurements, and wake surveys, will be presented herein.

  3. Short revolving wings enable hovering animals to avoid stall and reduce drag

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lentink, David; Kruyt, Jan W.; Heijst, Gertjan F.; Altshuler, Douglas L.

    2014-11-01

    Long and slender wings reduce the drag of airplanes, helicopters, and gliding animals, which operate at low angle of attack (incidence). Remarkably, there is no evidence for such influence of wing aspect ratio on the energetics of hovering animals that operate their wings at much higher incidence. High incidence causes aircraft wings to stall, hovering animals avoid stall by generating an attached vortex along the leading edge of their wings that elevates lift. Hypotheses that explain this capability include the necessity for a short radial distance between the shoulder joint and wing tip, measured in chord lengths, instead of the long tip-to-tip distance that elevates aircraft performance. This stems from how hovering animals revolve their wings around a joint, a condition for which the precise effect of aspect ratio on stall performance is unknown. Here we show that the attachment of the leading edge vortex is determined by wing aspect ratio with respect to the center of rotation-for a suite of aspect ratios that represent both animal and aircraft wings. The vortex remains attached when the local radius is shorter than 4 chord lengths, and separates outboard on more slender wings. Like most other hovering animals, hummingbirds have wing aspect ratios between 3 and 4, much stubbier than helicopters. Our results show this makes their wings robust against flow separation, which reduces drag below values obtained with more slender wings. This revises our understanding of how aspect ratio improves performance at low Reynolds numbers.

  4. Dynamics and control of robotic aircraft with articulated wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paranjape, Aditya Avinash

    There is a considerable interest in developing robotic aircraft, inspired by birds, for a variety of missions covering reconnaissance and surveillance. Flapping wing aircraft concepts have been put forth in light of the efficiency of flapping flight at small scales. These aircraft are naturally equipped with the ability to rotate their wings about the root, a form of wing articulation. This thesis covers some problems concerning the performance, stability and control of robotic aircraft with articulated wings in gliding flight. Specifically, we are interested in aircraft without a vertical tail, which would then use wing articulation for longitudinal as well as lateral-directional control. Although the dynamics and control of articulated wing aircraft share several common features with conventional fixed wing aircraft, the presence of wing articulation presents several unique benefits as well as limitations from the perspective of performance and control. One of the objective of this thesis is to understand these features using a combination of theoretical and numerical tools. The aircraft concept envisioned in this thesis uses the wing dihedral angles for longitudinal and lateral-directional control. Aircraft with flexible articulated wings are also investigated. We derive a complete nonlinear model of the flight dynamics incorporating dynamic CG location and the changing moment of inertia. We show that symmetric dihedral configuration, along with a conventional horizontal tail, can be used to control flight speed and flight path angle independently of each other. This characteristic is very useful for initiating an efficient perching maneuver. It is shown that wing dihedral angles alone can effectively regulate sideslip during rapid turns and generate a wide range of equilibrium turn rates while maintaining a constant flight speed and regulating sideslip. We compute the turning performance limitations that arise due to the use of wing dihedral for yaw control

  5. Flight dynamics of a pterosaur-inspired aircraft utilizing a variable-placement vertical tail

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roberts, Brian; Lind, Rick [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States); Chatterjee, Sankar, E-mail: ricklind@ufl.edu [Department of Geology and Paleontology Museum, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409 (United States)

    2011-06-15

    Mission performance for small aircraft is often dependent on the turn radius. Various biologically inspired concepts have demonstrated that performance can be improved by morphing the wings in a manner similar to birds and bats; however, the morphing of the vertical tail has received less attention since neither birds nor bats have an appreciable vertical tail. This paper investigates a design that incorporates the morphing of the vertical tail based on the cranial crest of a pterosaur. The aerodynamics demonstrate a reduction in the turn radius of 14% when placing the tail over the nose in comparison to a traditional aft-placed vertical tail. The flight dynamics associated with this configuration has unique characteristics such as a Dutch-roll mode with excessive roll motion and a skid divergence that replaces the roll convergence.

  6. Flight dynamics of a pterosaur-inspired aircraft utilizing a variable-placement vertical tail

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roberts, Brian; Lind, Rick; Chatterjee, Sankar

    2011-01-01

    Mission performance for small aircraft is often dependent on the turn radius. Various biologically inspired concepts have demonstrated that performance can be improved by morphing the wings in a manner similar to birds and bats; however, the morphing of the vertical tail has received less attention since neither birds nor bats have an appreciable vertical tail. This paper investigates a design that incorporates the morphing of the vertical tail based on the cranial crest of a pterosaur. The aerodynamics demonstrate a reduction in the turn radius of 14% when placing the tail over the nose in comparison to a traditional aft-placed vertical tail. The flight dynamics associated with this configuration has unique characteristics such as a Dutch-roll mode with excessive roll motion and a skid divergence that replaces the roll convergence.

  7. Body-surface pressure data on two monoplane-wing missile configurations with elliptical cross sections at Mach 2.50

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, J. M.; Hernandez, G.; Lamb, M.

    1983-01-01

    Tabulated body surface pressure data for two monoplane-wing missile configurations are presented and analyzed. Body pressure data are presented for body-alone, body-tail, and body-wing-tail combinations. For the lost combination, data are presented for tail-fin deflection angles of 0 deg and 30 deg to simulate pitch, yaw, and roll control for both configurations. The data cover angles of attack from -5 deg to 25 deg and angles of roll from 0 deg to 90 deg at a Mach number of 2.50 and a Reynolds number of 6.56 x 1,000,000 per meter. Very consistent, systematic trends with angle of attack and angle of roll were observed in the data, and very good symmetry was found at a roll angle of 0 deg. Body pressures depended strongly on the local body cross-section shape, with very little dependence on the upstream shape. Undeflected fins had only a small influence on the pressures on the aft end of the body; however, tail-fin deflections caused large changes in the pressures.

  8. Performance Evaluation of a Solar Adsorption Refrigeration System with a Wing Type Compound Parabolic Concentrator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Umair

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Simulation study of a solar adsorption refrigeration system using a wing type compound parabolic concentrator (CPC is presented. The system consists of the wing type collector set at optimum angles, adsorption bed, a condenser and a refrigerator. The wing type collector captures the solar energy efficiently in the morning and afternoon and provides the effective temperature for a longer period of time compared to that achieved by a linear collector. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the system behavior, the effect of wing length, and to compare the performance of the systems with wing type and linear CPCs. A detailed dynamic simulation model was developed based on mass and energy balance equations. The simulation results show that the system performance with wing type CPC increases by up to 6% in the summer and up to 2% in the winter, compared to the performance with a linear CPC having same collector length. The ice production also increases up to 13% in the summer with the wing type CPC. This shows that the wing type CPC is helpful to increase the performance of the system compared to the linear CPC with the same collector length and without the need for tracking.

  9. Power reduction and the radial limit of stall delay in revolving wings of different aspect ratio.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruyt, Jan W; van Heijst, GertJan F; Altshuler, Douglas L; Lentink, David

    2015-04-06

    Airplanes and helicopters use high aspect ratio wings to reduce the power required to fly, but must operate at low angle of attack to prevent flow separation and stall. Animals capable of slow sustained flight, such as hummingbirds, have low aspect ratio wings and flap their wings at high angle of attack without stalling. Instead, they generate an attached vortex along the leading edge of the wing that elevates lift. Previous studies have demonstrated that this vortex and high lift can be reproduced by revolving the animal wing at the same angle of attack. How do flapping and revolving animal wings delay stall and reduce power? It has been hypothesized that stall delay derives from having a short radial distance between the shoulder joint and wing tip, measured in chord lengths. This non-dimensional measure of wing length represents the relative magnitude of inertial forces versus rotational accelerations operating in the boundary layer of revolving and flapping wings. Here we show for a suite of aspect ratios, which represent both animal and aircraft wings, that the attachment of the leading edge vortex on a revolving wing is determined by wing aspect ratio, defined with respect to the centre of revolution. At high angle of attack, the vortex remains attached when the local radius is shorter than four chord lengths and separates outboard on higher aspect ratio wings. This radial stall limit explains why revolving high aspect ratio wings (of helicopters) require less power compared with low aspect ratio wings (of hummingbirds) at low angle of attack and vice versa at high angle of attack. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  10. Study on airflow characteristics of rear wing of F1 car

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azmi, A. R. S.; Sapit, A.; Mohammed, A. N.; Razali, M. A.; Sadikin, A.; Nordin, N.

    2017-09-01

    The paper aims to investigate CFD simulation is carried out to investigate the airflow along the rear wing of F1 car with Reynold number of 3 × 106 and velocity, u = 43.82204 m/s. The analysis was done using 2-D model consists of main plane and flap wing, combined together to form rear wing module. Both of the aerofoil is placed inside a box of 350mm long and 220mm height according to regulation set up by FIA. The parameters for this study is the thickness and the chord length of the flap wing aerofoil. The simulations were performed by using FLUENT solver and k-kl-omega model. The wind speed is set up to 43 m/s that is the average speed of F1 car when cornering. This study uses NACA 2408, 2412, and 2415 for the flap wing and BE50 for the main plane. Each cases being simulated with a gap between the aerofoil of 10mm and 50mm when the DRS is activated. Grid independence test and validation was conduct to make sure the result obtained is acceptable. The goal of this study is to investigate aerodynamic behavior of airflow around the rear wing as well as to see how the thickness and the chord length of flap wing influence the airflow at the rear wing. The results show that increasing in thickness of the flap wing aerofoil will decreases the downforce. The results also show that although the short flap wing generate lower downforce than the big flap wing, but the drag force can be significantly reduced as the short flap wing has more change in angle of attack when it is activated. Therefore, the type of aerofoil for the rear wing should be decided according to the circuit track so that it can be fully optimized.

  11. Veins improve fracture toughness of insect wings.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan-Henning Dirks

    Full Text Available During the lifetime of a flying insect, its wings are subjected to mechanical forces and deformations for millions of cycles. Defects in the micrometre thin membranes or veins may reduce the insect's flight performance. How do insects prevent crack related material failure in their wings and what role does the characteristic vein pattern play? Fracture toughness is a parameter, which characterises a material's resistance to crack propagation. Our results show that, compared to other body parts, the hind wing membrane of the migratory locust S. gregaria itself is not exceptionally tough (1.04±0.25 MPa√m. However, the cross veins increase the wing's toughness by 50% by acting as barriers to crack propagation. Using fracture mechanics, we show that the morphological spacing of most wing veins matches the critical crack length of the material (1132 µm. This finding directly demonstrates how the biomechanical properties and the morphology of locust wings are functionally correlated in locusts, providing a mechanically 'optimal' solution with high toughness and low weight. The vein pattern found in insect wings thus might inspire the design of more durable and lightweight artificial 'venous' wings for micro-air-vehicles. Using the vein spacing as indicator, our approach might also provide a basis to estimate the wing properties of endangered or extinct insect species.

  12. DAST in Flight just after Structural Failure of Right Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-01-01

    conducting in-flight experiments from a remote ground site. DAST explored the technology required to build wing structures with less than normal stiffness. This was done because stiffness requires structural weight but ensures freedom from flutter-an uncontrolled, divergent oscillation of the structure, driven by aerodynamic forces and resulting in structural failure. The program used refined theoretical tools to predict at what speed flutter would occur. It then designed a high-response control system to counteract the motion and permit a much lighter wing structure. The wing had, in effect, 'electronic stiffness.' Flight research with this concept was extremely hazardous because an error in either the flutter prediction or control system implementation would result in wing structural failure and the loss of the vehicle. Because of this, flight demonstration of a sub-scale vehicle made sense from the standpoint of both safety and cost. The program anticipated structural failure during the course of the flight research. The Firebee II was a supersonic drone selected as the DAST testbed because its wing could be easily replaced, it used only tail-mounted control surfaces, and it was available as surplus from the U. S. Air Force. It was capable of 5-g turns (that is, turns producing acceleration equal to 5 times that of gravity). Langley outfitted a drone with an aeroelastic, supercritical research wing suitable for a Mach 0.98 cruise transport with a predicted flutter speed of Mach 0.95 at an altitude of 25,000 feet. Dryden and Langley, in conjunction with Boeing, designed and fabricated a digital flutter suppression system (FSS). Dryden developed an RPRV (remotely piloted research vehicle) flight control system; integrated the wing, FSS, and vehicle systems; and conducted the flight program. In addition to a digital flight control system and aeroelastic wings, each DAST drone had research equipment mounted in its nose and a mid-air retrieval system in its tail. The drones

  13. Do morphometric measurements allow sex discrimination in Mockingbirds (Mimus sp)?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuchs, D. V.; Montalti, D.

    2016-01-01

    Sexual dimorphism in birds may be expressed as differences in body size, plumage, color and/or behavior. Many species are monomorphic in color, making sex determination difficult in the field. An example of the latter are mockingbirds, which are passerines of the genus Mimus, endemic to the Americas. In order to distinguish between male and female mockingbirds using external body measurements that are easy to take, the objective of this work was to quantify morphometric differences between sexes in adults of the following species: M. thenca (45 specimens), M. patagonicus (95), M. saturninus (88), M. triurus (152), and M. dorsalis (7). We measured the following variables: culmen length, bill height and width, tarsus length, middle toe length, wing chord and tail length. Measurements were generally larger in males than in females except for bill width in M. saturninus and M. triurus, culmen length in M. thenca and M. dorsalis, and bill height in M. dorsalis. There were significant differences between sexes in wing chord for M. patagonicus, M. saturninus and M. triurus; tail length for M. patagonicus and M. triurus; tarsus length for M. patagonicus; and in middle toe length for M. triurus. No significant differences in measurements were found between sexes for M. thenca. Significant discriminant functions were obtained for M. patagonicus, M. saturninus and M. triurus, with a percentage of correct classification less than 80%. Only a few variables were useful for sex determination in the studied Mimus species, i.e. wing chord, tail length, middle toe length and tarsus length for three, two, one and one species, respectively.

  14. Do morphometric measurements allow sex discrimination in Mockingbirds (Mimus sp)?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fuchs, D. V.; Montalti, D.

    2016-07-01

    Sexual dimorphism in birds may be expressed as differences in body size, plumage, color and/or behavior. Many species are monomorphic in color, making sex determination difficult in the field. An example of the latter are mockingbirds, which are passerines of the genus Mimus, endemic to the Americas. In order to distinguish between male and female mockingbirds using external body measurements that are easy to take, the objective of this work was to quantify morphometric differences between sexes in adults of the following species: M. thenca (45 specimens), M. patagonicus (95), M. saturninus (88), M. triurus (152), and M. dorsalis (7). We measured the following variables: culmen length, bill height and width, tarsus length, middle toe length, wing chord and tail length. Measurements were generally larger in males than in females except for bill width in M. saturninus and M. triurus, culmen length in M. thenca and M. dorsalis, and bill height in M. dorsalis. There were significant differences between sexes in wing chord for M. patagonicus, M. saturninus and M. triurus; tail length for M. patagonicus and M. triurus; tarsus length for M. patagonicus; and in middle toe length for M. triurus. No significant differences in measurements were found between sexes for M. thenca. Significant discriminant functions were obtained for M. patagonicus, M. saturninus and M. triurus, with a percentage of correct classification less than 80%. Only a few variables were useful for sex determination in the studied Mimus species, i.e. wing chord, tail length, middle toe length and tarsus length for three, two, one and one species, respectively.

  15. Vertical Tail Buffeting Alleviation Using Piezoelectric Actuators-Some Results of the Actively Controlled Response of Buffet-Affected Tails (ACROBAT) Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moses, Robert W.

    1997-01-01

    Buffet is an aeroelastic phenomenon associated with high performance aircraft especially those with twin vertical tails. In particular, for the F/A-18 aircraft at high angles of attack, vortices emanating from wing/fuselage leading edge extensions burst, immersing the vertical tails in their wake. The resulting buffet loads on the vertical tails are a concern from fatigue and inspection points of view. Recently, a 1/6-scale F-18 wind-tunnel model was tested in the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel at the NASA Langley Research Center as part of the Actively Controlled Response Of Buffet Affected Tails (ACROBAT) Program to assess the use of active controls in reducing vertical tail buffeting. The starboard vertical tail was equipped with an active rudder and the port vertical tail was equipped with piezoelectric actuators. The tunnel conditions were atmospheric air at Mach 0.10. By using single-input-single-output control laws at gains well below the physical limits of the actuators, the power spectral density of the root strains at the frequency of the first bending mode of the vertical tail was reduced by as much as 60 percent up to angles of attack of 37 degrees. Root mean square (RMS) values of root strain were reduced by as much as 19 percent. The results herein illustrate that buffet alleviation of vertical tails can be accomplished using simple active control of the rudder or piezoelectric actuators. In fact, as demonstrated herein, a fixed gain single input single output control law that commands piezoelectric actuators may be active throughout the high angle-of-attack maneuver without requiring any changes during the maneuver. Future tests are mentioned for accentuating the international interest in this area of research.

  16. Gliding swifts attain laminar flow over rough wings.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Lentink

    Full Text Available Swifts are among the most aerodynamically refined gliding birds. However, the overlapping vanes and protruding shafts of their primary feathers make swift wings remarkably rough for their size. Wing roughness height is 1-2% of chord length on the upper surface--10,000 times rougher than sailplane wings. Sailplanes depend on extreme wing smoothness to increase the area of laminar flow on the wing surface and minimize drag for extended glides. To understand why the swift does not rely on smooth wings, we used a stethoscope to map laminar flow over preserved wings in a low-turbulence wind tunnel. By combining laminar area, lift, and drag measurements, we show that average area of laminar flow on swift wings is 69% (n = 3; std 13% of their total area during glides that maximize flight distance and duration--similar to high-performance sailplanes. Our aerodynamic analysis indicates that swifts attain laminar flow over their rough wings because their wing size is comparable to the distance the air travels (after a roughness-induced perturbation before it transitions from laminar to turbulent. To interpret the function of swift wing roughness, we simulated its effect on smooth model wings using physical models. This manipulation shows that laminar flow is reduced and drag increased at high speeds. At the speeds at which swifts cruise, however, swift-like roughness prolongs laminar flow and reduces drag. This feature gives small birds with rudimentary wings an edge during the evolution of glide performance.

  17. Flapping Tail Membrane in Bats Produces Potentially Important Thrust during Horizontal Takeoffs and Very Slow Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Rick A.; Snode, Emily R.; Shaw, Jason B.

    2012-01-01

    Historically, studies concerning bat flight have focused primarily on the wings. By analyzing high-speed video taken on 48 individuals of five species of vespertilionid bats, we show that the capacity to flap the tail-membrane (uropatagium) in order to generate thrust and lift during takeoffs and minimal-speed flight (ecomorphology. The extensive fanning motion of the tail membrane by vespertilionid bats has not been reported for other flying vertebrates. PMID:22393378

  18. Rotary balance data for a typical single-engine general aviation design for an angle-of-attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg. 1: Influence of airplane components for model D. [Langley spin tunnel tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ralston, J.

    1983-01-01

    The influence of airplane components, as well as wing location and tail length, on the rotational flow aerodynamics is discussed for a 1/6 scale general aviation airplane model. The airplane was tested in a built-up fashion (i.e., body, body-wing, body-wing-vertical, etc.) in the presence of two wing locations and two body lengths. Data were measured, using a rotary balance, over an angle-of-attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg, and for clockwise and counter-clockwise rotations covering an omega b/2V range of 0 to 0.9.

  19. Monte Carlo-based tail exponent estimator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barunik, Jozef; Vacha, Lukas

    2010-11-01

    In this paper we propose a new approach to estimation of the tail exponent in financial stock markets. We begin the study with the finite sample behavior of the Hill estimator under α-stable distributions. Using large Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the Hill estimator overestimates the true tail exponent and can hardly be used on samples with small length. Utilizing our results, we introduce a Monte Carlo-based method of estimation for the tail exponent. Our proposed method is not sensitive to the choice of tail size and works well also on small data samples. The new estimator also gives unbiased results with symmetrical confidence intervals. Finally, we demonstrate the power of our estimator on the international world stock market indices. On the two separate periods of 2002-2005 and 2006-2009, we estimate the tail exponent.

  20. A quasi-one-dimensional model for the Giacobini-Zinner plasma tail

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malara, F.; Einaudi, G.; Mangeney, A.

    1989-01-01

    An assumption of quasi-one-dimensionality is used to derive a simple set of equations describing the comet Giacobini-Zinner tail configuration. The MHD equations are expanded in terms of a parameter representing the ratio of the length scale in the direction perpendicular to the neutral sheet over the length scale in the direction parallel to the tail. It is shown that in this way it is possible to obtain much information on the structure of the tail and to fit reasonably well the observations made by the ICE spacecraft

  1. Aerodynamic control of NASP-type vehicles through vortex manipulation. Volume 3: Wing rock experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suarez, Carlos J.; Smith, Brooke C.; Kramer, Brian R.; Ng, T. Terry; Ong, Lih-Yenn; Malcolm, Gerald N.

    1993-01-01

    Free-to-roll tests were conducted in water and wind tunnels in an effort to investigate the mechanisms of wing rock on a NASP-type vehicle. The configuration tested consisted of a highly-slender forebody and a 78 deg swept delta wing. In the water tunnel test, extensive flow visualization was performed and roll angle histories were obtained. In the wind tunnel test, the roll angle, forces and moments, and limited forebody and wing surface pressures were measured during the wing rock motion. A limit cycle oscillation was observed for angles of attack between 22 deg and 30 deg. In general, the experiments confirmed that the main flow phenomena responsible for the wing-body-tail wing rock are the interactions between the forebody and the wing vortices. The variation of roll acceleration (determined from the second derivative of the roll angle time history) with roll angle clearly slowed the energy balance necessary to sustain the limit cycle oscillation. Different means of suppressing wing rock by controlling the forebody vortices using small blowing jets were also explored. Steady blowing was found to be capable of suppressing wing rock, but significant vortex asymmetrices are created, causing the model to stop at a non-zero roll angle. On the other hand, alternating pulsed blowing on the left and right sides of the fore body was demonstrated to be a potentially effective means of suppressing wing rock and eliminating large asymmetric moments at high angles of attack.

  2. Numerical simulation of X-wing type biplane flapping wings in 3D using the immersed boundary method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tay, W B; Van Oudheusden, B W; Bijl, H

    2014-01-01

    The numerical simulation of an insect-sized ‘X-wing’ type biplane flapping wing configuration is performed in 3D using an immersed boundary method solver at Reynolds numbers equal to 1000 (1 k) and 5 k, based on the wing's root chord length. This X-wing type flapping configuration draws its inspiration from Delfly, a bio-inspired ornithopter MAV which has two pairs of wings flapping in anti-phase in a biplane configuration. The objective of the present investigation is to assess the aerodynamic performance when the original Delfly flapping wing micro-aerial vehicle (FMAV) is reduced to the size of an insect. Results show that the X-wing configuration gives more than twice the average thrust compared with only flapping the upper pair of wings of the X-wing. However, the X-wing's average thrust is only 40% that of the upper wing flapping at twice the stroke angle. Despite this, the increased stability which results from the smaller lift and moment variation of the X-wing configuration makes it more suited for sharp image capture and recognition. These advantages make the X-wing configuration an attractive alternative design for insect-sized FMAVS compared to the single wing configuration. In the Reynolds number comparison, the vorticity iso-surface plot at a Reynolds number of 5 k revealed smaller, finer vortical structures compared to the simulation at 1 k, due to vortices’ breakup. In comparison, the force output difference is much smaller between Re = 1 k and 5 k. Increasing the body inclination angle generates a uniform leading edge vortex instead of a conical one along the wingspan, giving higher lift. Understanding the force variation as the body inclination angle increases will allow FMAV designers to optimize the thrust and lift ratio for higher efficiency under different operational requirements. Lastly, increasing the spanwise flexibility of the wings increases the thrust slightly but decreases the efficiency. The thrust result is similar

  3. The lateral-directional characteristics of a 74-degree Delta wing employing gothic planform vortex flaps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grantz, A. C.

    1984-01-01

    The low speed lateral/directional characteristics of a generic 74 degree delta wing body configuration employing the latest generation, gothic planform vortex flaps was determined. Longitudinal effects are also presented. The data are compared with theoretical estimates from VORSTAB, an extension of the Quasi vortex lattice Method of Lan which empirically accounts for vortex breakdown effects in the calculation of longitudinal and lateral/directional aerodynamic characteristics. It is indicated that leading edge deflections of 30 and 40 degrees reduce the magnitude of the wing effective dihedral relative to the baseline for a specified angle of attack or lift coefficient. For angles of attack greater than 15 degrees, these flap deflections reduce the configuration directional stability despite improved vertical tail effectiveness. It is shown that asymmetric leading edge deflections are inferior to conventional ailerons in generating rolling moments. VORSTAB calculations provide coarse lateral/directional estimates at low to moderate angles of attack. The theory does not account for vortex flow induced, vertical tail effects.

  4. An analytical model and scaling of chordwise flexible flapping wings in forward flight.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kodali, Deepa; Kang, Chang-Kwon

    2016-12-13

    Aerodynamic performance of biological flight characterized by the fluid structure interaction of a flapping wing and the surrounding fluid is affected by the wing flexibility. One of the main challenges to predict aerodynamic forces is that the wing shape and motion are a priori unknown. In this study, we derive an analytical fluid-structure interaction model for a chordwise flexible flapping two-dimensional airfoil in forward flight. A plunge motion is imposed on the rigid leading-edge (LE) of teardrop shape and the flexible tail dynamically deforms. The resulting unsteady aeroelasticity is modeled with the Euler-Bernoulli-Theodorsen equation under a small deformation assumption. The two-way coupling is realized by considering the trailing-edge deformation relative to the LE as passive pitch, affecting the unsteady aerodynamics. The resulting wing deformation and the aerodynamic performance including lift and thrust agree well with high-fidelity numerical results. Under the dynamic balance, the aeroelastic stiffness decreases, whereas the aeroelastic stiffness increases with the reduced frequency. A novel aeroelastic frequency ratio is derived, which scales with the wing deformation, lift, and thrust. Finally, the dynamic similarity between flapping in water and air is established.

  5. Microscopic modulation of mechanical properties in transparent insect wings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arora, Ashima; Kumar, Pramod; Bhagavathi, Jithin; Singh, Kamal P., E-mail: kpsingh@iisermohali.ac.in; Sheet, Goutam, E-mail: goutam@iisermohali.ac.in [Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, Punjab 140306 (India)

    2014-02-10

    We report on the measurement of local friction and adhesion of transparent insect wings using an atomic force microscope cantilever down to nanometre length scales. We observe that the wing-surface is decorated with 10 μm long and 2 μm wide islands that have higher topographic height. The friction on the islands is two orders of magnitude higher than the back-ground while the adhesion on the islands is smaller. Furthermore, the high islands are decorated with ordered nano-wire-like structures while the background is full of randomly distributed granular nano-particles. Coherent optical diffraction through the wings produce a stable diffraction pattern revealing a quasi-periodic organization of the high islands over the entire wing. This suggests a long-range order in the modulation of friction and adhesion which is directly correlated with the topography. The measurements unravel novel functional design of complex wing surface and could find application in miniature biomimetic devices.

  6. Flutter suppression and stability analysis for a variable-span wing via morphing technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Wencheng; Jin, Dongping

    2018-01-01

    A morphing wing can enhance aerodynamic characteristics and control authority as an alternative to using ailerons. To use morphing technology for flutter suppression, the dynamical behavior and stability of a variable-span wing subjected to the supersonic aerodynamic loads are investigated numerically in this paper. An axially moving cantilever plate is employed to model the variable-span wing, in which the governing equations of motion are established via the Kane method and piston theory. A morphing strategy based on axially moving rates is proposed to suppress the flutter that occurs beyond the critical span length, and the flutter stability is verified by Floquet theory. Furthermore, the transient stability during the morphing motion is analyzed and the upper bound of the morphing rate is obtained. The simulation results indicate that the proposed morphing law, which is varying periodically with a proper amplitude, could accomplish the flutter suppression. Further, the upper bound of the morphing speed decreases rapidly once the span length is close to its critical span length.

  7. Diversity in the organization of elastin bundles and intramembranous muscles in bat wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheney, Jorn A; Allen, Justine J; Swartz, Sharon M

    2017-04-01

    Unlike birds and insects, bats fly with wings composed of thin skin that envelops the bones of the forelimb and spans the area between the limbs, digits, and sometimes the tail. This skin is complex and unusual; it is thinner than typical mammalian skin and contains organized bundles of elastin and embedded skeletal muscles. These elements are likely responsible for controlling the shape of the wing during flight and contributing to the aerodynamic capabilities of bats. We examined the arrangement of two macroscopic architectural elements in bat wings, elastin bundles and wing membrane muscles, to assess the diversity in bat wing skin morphology. We characterized the plagiopatagium and dactylopatagium of 130 species from 17 families of bats using cross-polarized light imaging. This method revealed structures with distinctive relative birefringence, heterogeneity of birefringence, variation in size, and degree of branching. We used previously published anatomical studies and tissue histology to identify birefringent structures, and we analyzed their architecture across taxa. Elastin bundles, muscles, neurovasculature, and collagenous fibers are present in all species. Elastin bundles are oriented in a predominantly spanwise or proximodistal direction, and there are five characteristic muscle arrays that occur within the plagiopatagium, far more muscle than typically recognized. These results inform recent functional studies of wing membrane architecture, support the functional hypothesis that elastin bundles aid wing folding and unfolding, and further suggest that all bats may use these architectural elements for flight. All species also possess numerous muscles within the wing membrane, but the architecture of muscle arrays within the plagiopatagium varies among families. To facilitate present and future discussion of these muscle arrays, we refine wing membrane muscle nomenclature in a manner that reflects this morphological diversity. The architecture of the

  8. Protection against wing icing for Airbus A300 and A310

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woelfer, G.

    1981-01-01

    To improve economy of operation, it is now planned to modify the anti-icing system used on the A300 Airbus wing. Thus, for the A310 Airbus, the deicing system will be applied to only half the wing length. Other essential modifications are a substantial simplification of the warm-air system and discontinuation of the use of a double wall in slats.

  9. Comparative Analysis of Uninhibited and Constrained Avian Wing Aerodynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cox, Jordan A.

    The flight of birds has intrigued and motivated man for many years. Bird flight served as the primary inspiration of flying machines developed by Leonardo Da Vinci, Otto Lilienthal, and even the Wright brothers. Avian flight has once again drawn the attention of the scientific community as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are not only becoming more popular, but smaller. Birds are once again influencing the designs of aircraft. Small UAVs operating within flight conditions and low Reynolds numbers common to birds are not yet capable of the high levels of control and agility that birds display with ease. Many researchers believe the potential to improve small UAV performance can be obtained by applying features common to birds such as feathers and flapping flight to small UAVs. Although the effects of feathers on a wing have received some attention, the effects of localized transient feather motion and surface geometry on the flight performance of a wing have been largely overlooked. In this research, the effects of freely moving feathers on a preserved red tailed hawk wing were studied. A series of experiments were conducted to measure the aerodynamic forces on a hawk wing with varying levels of feather movement permitted. Angle of attack and air speed were varied within the natural flight envelope of the hawk. Subsequent identical tests were performed with the feather motion constrained through the use of externally-applied surface treatments. Additional tests involved the study of an absolutely fixed geometry mold-and-cast wing model of the original bird wing. Final tests were also performed after applying surface coatings to the cast wing. High speed videos taken during tests revealed the extent of the feather movement between wing models. Images of the microscopic surface structure of each wing model were analyzed to establish variations in surface geometry between models. Recorded aerodynamic forces were then compared to the known feather motion and surface

  10. Predicting Tail Buffet Loads of a Fighter Airplane

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moses, Robert W.; Pototzky, Anthony S.

    2006-01-01

    Buffet loads on aft aerodynamic surfaces pose a recurring problem on most twin-tailed fighter airplanes: During maneuvers at high angles of attack, vortices emanating from various surfaces on the forward parts of such an airplane (engine inlets, wings, or other fuselage appendages) often burst, immersing the tails in their wakes. Although these vortices increase lift, the frequency contents of the burst vortices become so low as to cause the aft surfaces to vibrate destructively. Now, there exists a new analysis capability for predicting buffet loads during the earliest design phase of a fighter-aircraft program. In effect, buffet pressures are applied to mathematical models in the framework of a finite-element code, complete with aeroelastic properties and working knowledge of the spatiality of the buffet pressures for all flight conditions. The results of analysis performed by use of this capability illustrate those vibratory modes of a tail fin that are most likely to be affected by buffet loads. Hence, the results help in identifying the flight conditions during which to expect problems. Using this capability, an aircraft designer can make adjustments to the airframe and possibly the aerodynamics, leading to a more robust design.

  11. Hybrid Wing Body Aircraft Acoustic Test Preparations and Facility Upgrades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heath, Stephanie L.; Brooks, Thomas F.; Hutcheson, Florence V.; Doty, Michael J.; Haskin, Henry H.; Spalt, Taylor B.; Bahr, Christopher J.; Burley, Casey L.; Bartram, Scott M.; Humphreys, William M.; hide

    2013-01-01

    NASA is investigating the potential of acoustic shielding as a means to reduce the noise footprint at airport communities. A subsonic transport aircraft and Langley's 14- by 22-foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel were chosen to test the proposed "low noise" technology. The present experiment studies the basic components of propulsion-airframe shielding in a representative flow regime. To this end, a 5.8-percent scale hybrid wing body model was built with dual state-of-the-art engine noise simulators. The results will provide benchmark shielding data and key hybrid wing body aircraft noise data. The test matrix for the experiment contains both aerodynamic and acoustic test configurations, broadband turbomachinery and hot jet engine noise simulators, and various airframe configurations which include landing gear, cruise and drooped wing leading edges, trailing edge elevons and vertical tail options. To aid in this study, two major facility upgrades have occurred. First, a propane delivery system has been installed to provide the acoustic characteristics with realistic temperature conditions for a hot gas engine; and second, a traversing microphone array and side towers have been added to gain full spectral and directivity noise characteristics.

  12. Design of a new VTOL UAV by combining cycloidal blades and FanWing propellers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Daizong

    Though the propelling principles of Cycloidal Blades and FanWing propellers are totally different, their structures are similar. Therefore, it is possible to develop an aircraft which combines both types of the propulsion modes of Cyclogyro and FanWing aircrafts. For this kind of aircraft, Cycloidal Blades Mode provides capabilities of Vertical Take-Off and Landing, Instantly Alterable Vector Thrusting, and Low Noise. The FanWing Mode provides capabilities of High Efficiency, Energy-Saving, and Cannot-Stall Low-Speed Cruising. Besides, because both of these propellers are observably better than conventional screw propeller in terms of efficiency, so this type of VTOL UAV could fly with Long Endurance. Furthermore, the usage of flying-wing takes advantage of high structure utilization and high aerodynamic efficiency, eliminates the interference of fuselage and tail, and overcomes flying wing's shortcomings of pitching direction instability and difficulty of control. A new magnetic suspension track-type cycloidal propulsion system is also presented in the paper to solve problems of heavy structure, high mechanical resistance, and low reliability in the traditional cycloidal propellers. The further purpose of this design is to trying to make long-endurance VTOL aircraft and Practical Flying Cars possible in reality, and to bring a new era to the aviation industry.

  13. Design of a Symmetrical Quad-rotor Biplane Tail-Sitter Aircraft without Control Surfaces and Experimental Verification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang Hongyu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the design of a symmetrical quad-rotor biplane tail-sitter VTOL UAV (Vertical Take-off and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle which is composed of four rotors and two symmetrically mounted fixed wings. This aircraft achieves high accuracy in the attitude control and smooth flight mode transition with four rotors rather than the conventional VTOL UAVs using control surfaces. The proposal of angled rotor mounting is adopted to address the issue of insufficient yaw control authority. The layout of symmetrically mounted fixed wings makes the aircraft have capability of rapid bidirectional flight mode transition to improve maneuverability. To validate the performance of the aircraft, simulation and flight experiments are both implemented. These results show that the aircraft has a rapid yaw response under condition of the stable attitude control. In comparative experiment, it is shown that the aircraft is more flexible than other similar configuration of aircrafts. This symmetrical quad-rotor biplane tail-sitter VTOL UAV will have a wide range of potential applications in the military and civilian areas due to its superior performance..

  14. Avian Wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Tianshu; Kuykendoll, K.; Rhew, R.; Jones, S.

    2004-01-01

    This paper describes the avian wing geometry (Seagull, Merganser, Teal and Owl) extracted from non-contact surface measurements using a three-dimensional laser scanner. The geometric quantities, including the camber line and thickness distribution of airfoil, wing planform, chord distribution, and twist distribution, are given in convenient analytical expressions. Thus, the avian wing surfaces can be generated and the wing kinematics can be simulated. The aerodynamic characteristics of avian airfoils in steady inviscid flows are briefly discussed. The avian wing kinematics is recovered from videos of three level-flying birds (Crane, Seagull and Goose) based on a two-jointed arm model. A flapping seagull wing in the 3D physical space is re-constructed from the extracted wing geometry and kinematics.

  15. Effects of Tail Clipping on Larval Performance and Tail Regeneration Rates in the Near Eastern Fire Salamander, Salamandra infraimmaculata.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ori Segev

    Full Text Available Tail-tip clipping is a common technique for collecting tissue samples from amphibian larvae and adults. Surprisingly, studies of this invasive sampling procedure or of natural tail clipping--i.e., bites inflicted by predators including conspecifics--on the performance and fitness of aquatic larval stages of urodeles are scarce. We conducted two studies in which we assessed the effects of posterior tail clipping (~30 percent of tail on Near Eastern fire salamander (Salamandra infraimmaculata larvae. In a laboratory study, we checked regeneration rates of posterior tail-tip clipping at different ages. Regeneration rates were hump-shaped, peaking at the age of ~30 days and then decreasing. This variation in tail regeneration rates suggests tradeoffs in resource allocation between regeneration and somatic growth during early and advanced development. In an outdoor artificial pond experiment, under constant larval densities, we assessed how tail clipping of newborn larvae affects survival to, time to, and size at metamorphosis. Repeated measures ANOVA on mean larval survival per pond revealed no effect of tail clipping. Tail clipping had correspondingly no effect on larval growth and development expressed in size (mass and snout-vent length at, and time to, metamorphosis. We conclude that despite the given variation in tail regeneration rates throughout larval ontogeny, clipping of 30% percent of the posterior tail area seems to have no adverse effects on larval fitness and survival. We suggest that future use of this imperative tool for the study of amphibian should take into account larval developmental stage during the time of application and not just the relative size of the clipped tail sample.

  16. Utilization of Optimization for Design of Morphing Wing Structures for Enhanced Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Detrick, Matthew Scott

    Conventional aircraft control surfaces constrain maneuverability. This work is a comprehensive study that looks at both smart material and conventional actuation methods to achieve wing twist to potentially improve flight capability using minimal actuation energy while allowing minimal wing deformation under aerodynamic loading. A continuous wing is used in order to reduce drag while allowing the aircraft to more closely approximate the wing deformation used by birds while loitering. The morphing wing for this work consists of a skin supported by an underlying truss structure whose goal is to achieve a given roll moment using less actuation energy than conventional control surfaces. A structural optimization code has been written in order to achieve minimal wing deformation under aerodynamic loading while allowing wing twist under actuation. The multi-objective cost function for the optimization consists of terms that ensure small deformation under aerodynamic loading, small change in airfoil shape during wing twist, a linear variation of wing twist along the length of the wing, small deviation from the desired wing twist, minimal number of truss members, minimal wing weight, and minimal actuation energy. Hydraulic cylinders and a two member linkage driven by a DC motor are tested separately to provide actuation. Since the goal of the current work is simply to provide a roll moment, only one actuator is implemented along the wing span. Optimization is also used to find the best location within the truss structure for the actuator. The active structure produced by optimization is then compared to simulated and experimental results from other researchers as well as characteristics of conventional aircraft.

  17. Use of photogrammetry as a means to assess hybrids of rhesus (Macaca mulatta) and long-tailed (M. fascicularis) macaques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jadejaroen, Janya; Hamada, Yuzuru; Kawamoto, Yoshi; Malaivijitnond, Suchinda

    2015-01-01

    Rhesus (Macaca mulatta) and long-tailed (M. fascicularis) macaques are the most commonly used non-human primate models for biomedical research, but it is difficult to identify these two species in the hybrid zone (15-20°N). In this work, we used morphological values obtained via photogrammetry to assess hybrids of rhesus and long-tailed macaques at Khao Khieow Open Zoo (KKZ; 13°21'N, 101°06'E), eastern Thailand. Long-tailed and rhesus macaques have species-specific tail lengths and contrasts of their yellowish pelages. The accuracy and precision of the relative tail length (%RTL) and the contrast of the yellow hue (Cb*) of the pelage, as obtained from photographs, were compared with the corresponding direct measurements (morphometrics). The photogrammetric and morphometric measurements of %RTL and Cb* were highly significantly correlated (r = 0.989 and 0.980, p photogrammetry can be utilized to identify macaque species or hybrids when species identification relies mainly on tail length and pelage color.

  18. Effects of wing locations on wing rock induced by forebody vortices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ma Baofeng

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies have shown that asymmetric vortex wakes over slender bodies exhibit a multi-vortex structure with an alternate arrangement along a body axis at high angle of attack. In this investigation, the effects of wing locations along a body axis on wing rock induced by forebody vortices was studied experimentally at a subcritical Reynolds number based on a body diameter. An artificial perturbation was added onto the nose tip to fix the orientations of forebody vortices. Particle image velocimetry was used to identify flow patterns of forebody vortices in static situations, and time histories of wing rock were obtained using a free-to-roll rig. The results show that the wing locations can affect significantly the motion patterns of wing rock owing to the variation of multi-vortex patterns of forebody vortices. As the wing locations make the forebody vortices a two-vortex pattern, the wing body exhibits regularly divergence and fixed-point motion with azimuthal variations of the tip perturbation. If a three-vortex pattern exists over the wing, however, the wing-rock patterns depend on the impact of the highest vortex and newborn vortex. As the three vortices together influence the wing flow, wing-rock patterns exhibit regularly fixed-points and limit-cycled oscillations. With the wing moving backwards, the newborn vortex becomes stronger, and wing-rock patterns become fixed-points, chaotic oscillations, and limit-cycled oscillations. With further backward movement of wings, the vortices are far away from the upper surface of wings, and the motions exhibit divergence, limit-cycled oscillations and fixed-points. For the rearmost location of the wing, the wing body exhibits stochastic oscillations and fixed-points.

  19. An analysis of the effects of aeroelasticity on static longitudinal stability and control of a swept-back-wing airplane

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skoog, Richard B

    1951-01-01

    A theoretical analysis of the effects of aeroelasticity on the stick-fixed static longitudinal stability and elevator angle required for balance of an airplane is presented together with calculated effects for a swept-wing bomber of relatively high flexibility. Although large changes in stability due to certain parameters are indicated for the example airplane, the over-all stability change after considering all parameters was quite small, compared to the individual effects, due to the counterbalancing of wing and tail contributions. The effect of flexibility on longitudinal control for the example airplane was found to be of little real importance.

  20. Butterfly wing colours : scale beads make white pierid wings brighter

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stavenga, DG; Stowe, S; Siebke, K; Zeil, J; Arikawa, K

    2004-01-01

    The wing-scale morphologies of the pierid butterflies Pieris rapae (small white) and Delias nigrina (common jezabel), and the heliconine Heliconius melpomene are compared and related to the wing-reflectance spectra. Light scattering at the wing scales determines the wing reflectance, but when the

  1. Distribution of the characteristics of barbs and barbules on barn owl wing feathers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weger, Matthias; Wagner, Hermann

    2017-05-01

    Owls are known for the development of a silent flight. One conspicuous specialization of owl wings that has been implied in noise reduction and that has been demonstrated to change the aerodynamic behavior of the wing is a soft dorsal wing surface. The soft surface is a result of changes in the shape of feather barbs and barbules in owls compared with other bird species. We hypothesized that as the aerodynamic characteristics of a wing change along its chordwise and spanwise direction, so may the shape of the barbs and barbules. Therefore, we examined in detail the shapes of the barbs and barbules in chordwise and spanwise directions. The results showed changes in the shapes of barbs and barbules at the anterior and distal parts of the wing, but not at more posterior parts. The increased density of hook radiates at the distalmost wing position could serve to stiffen that vane part that is subject to the highest forces. The change of pennulum length in the anterior part of the wing and the uniformity further back could mean that a soft surface may be especially important in regions where flow separation may occur. © 2017 Anatomical Society.

  2. Two active galaxies with tidal tails and companions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keel, W.C.

    1985-01-01

    Spectroscopic, imaging, and radio observations of the tidally disturbed active systems VV 144 and I Zw 96 are presented, and indicate that the prominent optical extensions seen in both cases represent tidal tails rather than matter ejected from their nuclei (jets). This conclusion is based on the presence of stellar spectral features in the tails, lack of significant ionized gas over most of their length, and lack of radio emission outside the nuclei. Discrete knots in these tails are identified with remnant cores of the companion galaxies responsible for the morphological disturbances of the main galaxies and perhaps contributing to their nuclear activity. In both cases, the dynamics of the interactions are unusual in nature or viewing geometry. VV 144 is seen in the common plane of interaction and disk rotation, appearing strongly foreshortened. I Zw 96 shows tails associated with two companions; each is accompanied by changes in tail structure. This may be the result of a binary system of spirals colliding with a giant elliptical galaxy. 18 references

  3. Measurement of morphing wing deflection by a cross-coherence fiber optic interferometric technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomić, Miloš C.; Djinović, Zoran V.; Scheerer, Michael; Petricevic, Slobodan J.

    2018-01-01

    A fiber-optic interferometric technique aimed at measuring the deflection of aircrafts’ morphing wings is presented. The wing deflection induces a strain in the sensing fiber optic coils that are firmly fixed onto the wing. A change of the phase angle of the light propagating through the fiber is measured by an ‘all-in-fiber’ Michelson interferometer based on a 3 × 3 fiber-optic coupler. Two light sources of different coherence lengths and wavelengths are simultaneously used to ensure a wide measurement range and high accuracy. A new technique for determination of the zero deflection point using the cross-correlation of the two interferograms is proposed. The experiments performed on a specimen made of a carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic honeycomb structure demonstrated a relative uncertainty morphing wing deflection.

  4. The redder the better: wing color predicts flight performance in monarch butterflies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew K Davis

    Full Text Available The distinctive orange and black wings of monarchs (Danaus plexippus have long been known to advertise their bitter taste and toxicity to potential predators. Recent work also showed that both the orange and black coloration of this species can vary in response to individual-level and environmental factors. Here we examine the relationship between wing color and flight performance in captive-reared monarchs using a tethered flight mill apparatus to quantify butterfly flight speed, duration and distance. In three different experiments (totaling 121 individuals we used image analysis to measure body size and four wing traits among newly-emerged butterflies prior to flight trials: wing area, aspect ratio (length/width, melanism, and orange hue. Results showed that monarchs with darker orange (approaching red wings flew longer distances than those with lighter orange wings in analyses that controlled for sex and other morphometric traits. This finding is consistent with past work showing that among wild monarchs, those sampled during the fall migration are darker in hue (redder than non-migratory monarchs. Together, these results suggest that pigment deposition onto wing scales during metamorphosis could be linked with traits that influence flight, such as thorax muscle size, energy storage or metabolism. Our results reinforce an association between wing color and flight performance in insects that is suggested by past studies of wing melansim and seasonal polyphenism, and provide an important starting point for work focused on mechanistic links between insect movement and color.

  5. The Redder the Better: Wing Color Predicts Flight Performance in Monarch Butterflies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Andrew K.; Chi, Jean; Bradley, Catherine; Altizer, Sonia

    2012-01-01

    The distinctive orange and black wings of monarchs (Danaus plexippus) have long been known to advertise their bitter taste and toxicity to potential predators. Recent work also showed that both the orange and black coloration of this species can vary in response to individual-level and environmental factors. Here we examine the relationship between wing color and flight performance in captive-reared monarchs using a tethered flight mill apparatus to quantify butterfly flight speed, duration and distance. In three different experiments (totaling 121 individuals) we used image analysis to measure body size and four wing traits among newly-emerged butterflies prior to flight trials: wing area, aspect ratio (length/width), melanism, and orange hue. Results showed that monarchs with darker orange (approaching red) wings flew longer distances than those with lighter orange wings in analyses that controlled for sex and other morphometric traits. This finding is consistent with past work showing that among wild monarchs, those sampled during the fall migration are darker in hue (redder) than non-migratory monarchs. Together, these results suggest that pigment deposition onto wing scales during metamorphosis could be linked with traits that influence flight, such as thorax muscle size, energy storage or metabolism. Our results reinforce an association between wing color and flight performance in insects that is suggested by past studies of wing melansim and seasonal polyphenism, and provide an important starting point for work focused on mechanistic links between insect movement and color. PMID:22848463

  6. The leading-edge vortex of swift wing-shaped delta wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muir, Rowan Eveline; Arredondo-Galeana, Abel; Viola, Ignazio Maria

    2017-08-01

    Recent investigations on the aerodynamics of natural fliers have illuminated the significance of the leading-edge vortex (LEV) for lift generation in a variety of flight conditions. A well-documented example of an LEV is that generated by aircraft with highly swept, delta-shaped wings. While the wing aerodynamics of a manoeuvring aircraft, a bird gliding and a bird in flapping flight vary significantly, it is believed that this existing knowledge can serve to add understanding to the complex aerodynamics of natural fliers. In this investigation, a model non-slender delta-shaped wing with a sharp leading edge is tested at low Reynolds number, along with a delta wing of the same design, but with a modified trailing edge inspired by the wing of a common swift Apus apus . The effect of the tapering swift wing on LEV development and stability is compared with the flow structure over the unmodified delta wing model through particle image velocimetry. For the first time, a leading-edge vortex system consisting of a dual or triple LEV is recorded on a swift wing-shaped delta wing, where such a system is found across all tested conditions. It is shown that the spanwise location of LEV breakdown is governed by the local chord rather than Reynolds number or angle of attack. These findings suggest that the trailing-edge geometry of the swift wing alone does not prevent the common swift from generating an LEV system comparable with that of a delta-shaped wing.

  7. Robust post-stall perching with a simple fixed-wing glider using LQR-Trees

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moore, Joseph; Cory, Rick; Tedrake, Russ

    2014-01-01

    Birds routinely execute post-stall maneuvers with a speed and precision far beyond the capabilities of our best aircraft control systems. One remarkable example is a bird exploiting post-stall pressure drag in order to rapidly decelerate to land on a perch. Stall is typically associated with a loss of control authority, and it is tempting to attribute this agility of birds to the intricate morphology of the wings and tail, to their precision sensing apparatus, or their ability to perform thrust vectoring. Here we ask whether an extremely simple fixed-wing glider (no propeller) with only a single actuator in the tail is capable of landing precisely on a perch from a large range of initial conditions. To answer this question, we focus on the design of the flight control system; building upon previous work which used linear feedback control design based on quadratic regulators (LQR), we develop nonlinear feedback control based on nonlinear model-predictive control and ‘LQR-Trees’. Through simulation using a flat-plate model of the glider, we find that both nonlinear methods are capable of achieving an accurate bird-like perching maneuver from a large range of initial conditions; the ‘LQR-Trees’ algorithm is particularly useful due to its low computational burden at runtime and its inherent performance guarantees. With this in mind, we then implement the ‘LQR-Trees’ algorithm on real hardware and demonstrate a 95 percent perching success rate over 147 flights for a wide range of initial speeds. These results suggest that, at least in the absence of significant disturbances like wind gusts, complex wing morphology and sensing are not strictly required to achieve accurate and robust perching even in the post-stall flow regime. (papers)

  8. Tail position affects the body temperature of rats during cold exposure in a low-energy state.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uchida, Yuki; Tokizawa, Ken; Nakamura, Mayumi; Lin, Cheng-Hsien; Nagashima, Kei

    2012-02-01

    Rats place their tails underneath their body trunks when cold (tail-hiding behavior). The aim of the present study was to determine whether this behavior is necessary to maintain body temperature. Male Wistar rats were divided into 'fed' and '42-h fasting' groups. A one-piece tail holder (8.4 cm in length) that prevented the tail-hiding behavior or a three-piece tail holder (2.8 cm in length) that allowed for the tail-hiding behavior was attached to the tails of the rats. The rats were exposed to 27°C for 180 min or to 20°C for 90 min followed by 15°C for 90 min with continuous body temperature and oxygen consumption measurements. Body temperature decreased by -1.0 ± 0.1°C at 15°C only in the rats that prevented tail-hiding behavior of the 42-h fasting group, and oxygen consumption increased at 15°C in all animals. Oxygen consumption was not different between the rats that prevented tail-hiding behavior and the rats that allowed the behavior in the fed and 42-h fasting groups under ambient conditions. These results show that the tail-hiding behavior is involved in thermoregulation in the cold in fasting rats.

  9. Ecomorphology of the external flight apparatus of blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) with different migration behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fiedler, Wolfgang

    2005-06-01

    An analysis of the external flight apparatus of 700 blackcaps from eight different populations (sedentary to long-distance migrators) is presented. With increasing migration distances of populations, (1) wing length, aspect ratio, and wing pointedness increase; (2) wing load decreases; (3) slots on the wing tips become relatively shorter; (4) the alula tends to be shorter in relation to wing length; and (5) the tail is shorter in relation to wing length. Although body mass increases from southern to northern populations, changes in wing length and wing area are two to three times larger than expected for simple isometric relationships. Regarding the aerodynamic background of these changes, it can be stated that traits for energy-effective flight are more strongly developed and traits for maneuverability are less developed in birds traveling longer distances, presumably as a consequence of trade-offs. Nonmigratory blackcaps from Madeira and the Cape Verde islands do not always show the traits we would expect in view of their sedentary behavior. This can be seen as a result of recent colonization of these islands by migrants or of selection by factors other than migration behavior. In migratory populations, changes between the first and the second set of primaries during first complete molt show almost the same pattern as the changes from nonmigratory to migratory populations. During molt of the primaries, blackcaps of nonmigratory populations do not show these changes. Hybrids between migrating and nonmigrating blackcap populations (Moscow and Madeira) showed intermediate values between parent populations in wing length, wing shape, and wing area; in the other variables they resembled either parent population.

  10. Design and analysis pertaining to the aerodynamic and stability characteristics of a hybrid wing-body cargo aircraft

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ishaan PRAKASH

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Recent trends in aircraft design research have resulted in development of many unconventional configurations mostly aimed at improving aerodynamic efficiency. The blended wing body (BWB is one such configuration that holds potential in this regard. In its current form the BWB although promises a better lift to drag (L/D ratio it is still not able to function to its maximum capability due to design modifications such as twist and reflexed airfoils to overcome stability problems in the absence of a tail. This work aims to maximize the impact of a BWB. A design approach of morphing the BWB with a conventional aft fuselage is proposed. Such a configuration intends to impart full freedom to the main wing and the blended forward fuselage to contribute in lift production while the conventional tail makes up for stability. The aft fuselage, meanwhile, also ensures that the aircraft is compatible with current loading and airdrop operations. This paper is the culmination of obtained models results and inferences from the first phase of the project wherein development of aerodynamic design and analysis methodologies and mission specific optimization have been undertaken.

  11. Heavy Tail Behavior of Rainfall Extremes across Germany

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castellarin, A.; Kreibich, H.; Vorogushyn, S.; Merz, B.

    2017-12-01

    Distributions are termed heavy-tailed if extreme values are more likely than would be predicted by probability distributions that have exponential asymptotic behavior. Heavy-tail behavior often leads to surprise, because historical observations can be a poor guide for the future. Heavy-tail behavior seems to be widespread for hydro-meteorological extremes, such as extreme rainfall and flood events. To date there have been only vague hints to explain under which conditions these extremes show heavy-tail behavior. We use an observational data set consisting of 11 climate variables at 1440 stations across Germany. This homogenized, gap-free data set covers 110 years (1901-2010) at daily resolution. We estimate the upper tail behavior, including its uncertainty interval, of daily precipitation extremes for the 1,440 stations at the annual and seasonal time scales. Different tail indicators are tested, including the shape parameter of the Generalized Extreme Value distribution, the upper tail ratio and the obesity index. In a further step, we explore to which extent the tail behavior can be explained by geographical and climate factors. A large number of characteristics is derived, such as station elevation, degree of continentality, aridity, measures for quantifying the variability of humidity and wind velocity, or event-triggering large-scale atmospheric situation. The link between the upper tail behavior and these characteristics is investigated via data mining methods capable of detecting non-linear relationships in large data sets. This exceptionally rich observational data set, in terms of number of stations, length of time series and number of explaining variables, allows insights into the upper tail behavior which is rarely possible given the typical observational data sets available.

  12. The leading-edge vortex of swift-wing shaped delta wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muir, Rowan; Arredondo-Galeana, Abel; Viola, Ignazio Maria

    2017-11-01

    Recent investigations on the aerodynamics of natural fliers have illuminated the significance of the Leading-Edge Vortex (LEV) for lift generation in a variety of flight conditions. In this investigation, a model non-slender delta shaped wing with a sharp leading-edge is tested at low Reynolds Number, along with a delta wing of the same design, but with a modified trailing edge inspired by the wing of a common swift Apus apus. The effect of the tapering swift wing on LEV development and stability is compared with the flow structure over the un-modified delta wing model through particle image velocimetry. For the first time, a leading-edge vortex system consisting of a dual or triple LEV is recorded on a swift-wing shaped delta wing, where such a system is found across all tested conditions. It is shown that the spanwise location of LEV breakdown is governed by the local chord rather than Reynolds Number or angle of attack. These findings suggest that the trailing-edge geometry of the swift wing alone does not prevent the common swift from generating an LEV system comparable with that of a delta shaped wing. This work received funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/M506515/1] and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT).

  13. Artificial insect wings of diverse morphology for flapping-wing micro air vehicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shang, J K; Finio, B M; Wood, R J; Combes, S A

    2009-01-01

    The development of flapping-wing micro air vehicles (MAVs) demands a systematic exploration of the available design space to identify ways in which the unsteady mechanisms governing flapping-wing flight can best be utilized for producing optimal thrust or maneuverability. Mimicking the wing kinematics of biological flight requires examining the potential effects of wing morphology on flight performance, as wings may be specially adapted for flapping flight. For example, insect wings passively deform during flight, leading to instantaneous and potentially unpredictable changes in aerodynamic behavior. Previous studies have postulated various explanations for insect wing complexity, but there lacks a systematic approach for experimentally examining the functional significance of components of wing morphology, and for determining whether or not natural design principles can or should be used for MAVs. In this work, a novel fabrication process to create centimeter-scale wings of great complexity is introduced; via this process, a wing can be fabricated with a large range of desired mechanical and geometric characteristics. We demonstrate the versatility of the process through the creation of planar, insect-like wings with biomimetic venation patterns that approximate the mechanical properties of their natural counterparts under static loads. This process will provide a platform for studies investigating the effects of wing morphology on flight dynamics, which may lead to the design of highly maneuverable and efficient MAVs and insight into the functional morphology of natural wings.

  14. Ornithopter Type Flapping Wings for Autonomous Micro Air Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sutthiphong Srigrarom

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, an ornithopter prototype that mimics the flapping motion of bird flight is developed, and the lift and thrust generation characteristics of different wing designs are evaluated. This project focused on the spar arrangement and material used for the wings that could achieves improved performance. Various lift and thrust measurement techniques are explored and evaluated. Various wings of insects and birds were evaluated to understand how these natural flyers with flapping wings are able to produce sufficient lift to fly. The differences in the flapping aerodynamics were also detailed. Experiments on different wing designs and materials were conducted and a paramount wing was built for a test flight. The first prototype has a length of 46.5 cm, wing span of 88 cm, and weighs 161 g. A mechanism which produced a flapping motion was fabricated and designed to create flapping flight. The flapping flight was produced by using a single motor and a flexible and light wing structure. A force balance made of load cell was then designed to measure the thrust and lift force of the ornithopter. Three sets of wings varying flexibility were fabricated, therefore lift and thrust measurements were acquired from each different set of wings. The lift will be measured in ten cycles computing the average lift and frequency in three different speeds or frequencies (slow, medium and fast. The thrust measurement was measure likewise but in two cycles only. Several observations were made regarding the behavior of flexible flapping wings that should aid in the design of future flexible flapping wing vehicles. The wings angle or phase characteristic were analyze too and studied. The final ornithopter prototype weighs only 160 g, has a wing span of 88.5 cm, that could flap at a maximum flapping frequency of 3.869 Hz, and produce a maximum thrust and lift of about 0.719 and 0.264 N respectively. Next, we proposed resonance type flapping wing utilizes the near

  15. Variation in wing characteristics of monarch butterflies during migration: Earlier migrants have redder and more elongated wings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satterfield Dara A.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The migration of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus in North America has a number of parallels with long-distance bird migration, including the fact that migratory populations of monarchs have larger and more elongated forewings than residents. These characteristics likely serve to optimize flight performance in monarchs, as they also do with birds. A question that has rarely been addressed thus far in birds or monarchs is if and how wing characteristics vary within a migration season. Individuals with superior flight performance should migrate quickly, and/or with minimal stopovers, and these individuals should be at the forefront of the migratory cohort. Conversely, individuals with poor flight performance and/or low endurance would be more likely to fall behind, and these would comprise the latest migrants. Here we examined how the wing morphology of migrating monarchs varies to determine if wing characteristics of early migrants differ from late migrants. We measured forewing area, elongation (length/width, and redness, which has been shown to predict flight endurance in monarchs. Based on a collection of 75 monarchs made one entire season (fall 2010, results showed that the earliest migrants (n = 20 in this cohort had significantly redder and more elongated forewings than the latest migrants (n = 17. There was also a non-significant tendency for early migrants to have larger forewing areas. These results suggest that the pace of migration in monarchs is at least partly dependent on the properties of their wings. Moreover, these data also raise a number of questions about the ultimate fate of monarchs that fall behind

  16. Interaction of the elytra and hind wing of a rhinoceros beetle (Trypoxylus dichotomus) during a take-off mode

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Seungyoung; Oh, Sehyeong; Choi, Haecheon; Lee, Boogeon; Park, Hyungmin; Kim, Sun-Tae

    2015-11-01

    The elytra are a pair of hardened wings that cover the abdomen of a beetle to protect beetle's hind wings. During the take-off, these elytra open and flap in phase with the hind wings. We investigate the effect of the elytra flapping on beetle's aerodynamic performance. Numerical simulations are performed at Re=10,000 (based on the wingtip mean velocity and mean chord length of the hind wing) using an immersed boundary method. The simulations are focused on a take-off, and the wing kinematics used is directly obtained from the experimental observations using high speed cameras. The simulation result shows three-dimensional vortical structures generated by the hind wing of the beetle and their interaction with the elytra. The presence of elytra has a negative effect on the lift generation by the hind wings, but the lift force on the elytra themselves is negligible. Further discussions on the elytra - hind wing interaction will be provided during the presentation. Supported by UD130070ID.

  17. Effect of outer wing separation on lift and thrust generation in a flapping wing system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahardika, Nanang; Viet, Nguyen Quoc; Park, Hoon Cheol

    2011-01-01

    We explore the implementation of wing feather separation and lead-lagging motion to a flapping wing. A biomimetic flapping wing system with separated outer wings is designed and demonstrated. The artificial wing feather separation is implemented in the biomimetic wing by dividing the wing into inner and outer wings. The features of flapping, lead-lagging, and outer wing separation of the flapping wing system are captured by a high-speed camera for evaluation. The performance of the flapping wing system with separated outer wings is compared to that of a flapping wing system with closed outer wings in terms of forward force and downward force production. For a low flapping frequency ranging from 2.47 to 3.90 Hz, the proposed biomimetic flapping wing system shows a higher thrust and lift generation capability as demonstrated by a series of experiments. For 1.6 V application (lower frequency operation), the flapping wing system with separated wings could generate about 56% higher forward force and about 61% less downward force compared to that with closed wings, which is enough to demonstrate larger thrust and lift production capability of the separated outer wings. The experiments show that the outer parts of the separated wings are able to deform, resulting in a smaller amount of drag production during the upstroke, while still producing relatively greater lift and thrust during the downstroke.

  18. Exploring the Role of Habitat on the Wettability of Cicada Wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Junho; Dana, Catherine E; Hong, Sungmin; Román, Jessica K; Jo, Kyoo Dong; Hong, Je Won; Nguyen, Jonah; Cropek, Donald M; Alleyne, Marianne; Miljkovic, Nenad

    2017-08-16

    Evolutionary pressure has pushed many extant species to develop micro/nanostructures that can significantly affect wettability and enable functionalities such as droplet jumping, self-cleaning, antifogging, antimicrobial, and antireflectivity. In particular, significant effort is underway to understand the insect wing surface structure to establish rational design tools for the development of novel engineered materials. Most studies, however, have focused on superhydrophobic wings obtained from a single insect species, in particular, the Psaltoda claripennis cicada. Here, we investigate the relationship between the spatially dependent wing wettability, topology, and droplet jumping behavior of multiple cicada species and their habitat, lifecycle, and interspecies relatedness. We focus on cicada wings of four different species: Neotibicen pruinosus, N. tibicen, Megatibicen dorsatus, and Magicicada septendecim and take a comparative approach. Using spatially resolved microgoniometry, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and high speed optical microscopy, we show that within cicada species, the wettability of wings is spatially homogeneous across wing cells. All four species were shown to have truncated conical pillars with widely varying length scales ranging from 50 to 400 nm in height. Comparison of the wettability revealed three cicada species with wings that are superhydrophobic (>150°) with low contact angle hysteresis (<5°), resulting in stable droplet jumping behavior. The fourth, more distantly related species (Ma. septendecim) showed only moderate hydrophobic behavior, eliminating some of the beneficial surface functional aspects for this cicada. Correlation between cicada habitat and wing wettability yielded little connection as wetter, swampy environments do not necessarily equate to higher measured wing hydrophobicity. The results, however, do point to species relatedness and reproductive strategy as a closer proxy for predicting

  19. On the Minimum Induced Drag of Wings -or- Thinking Outside the Box

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowers, Albion H.

    2011-01-01

    Of all the types of drag, induced drag is associated with the creation and generation of lift over wings. Induced drag is directly driven by the span load that the aircraft is flying at. The tools by which to calculate and predict induced drag we use were created by Ludwig Prandtl in 1903. Within a decade after Prandtl created a tool for calculating induced drag, Prandtl and his students had optimized the problem to solve the minimum induced drag for a wing of a given span, formalized and written about in 1920. This solution is quoted in textbooks extensively today. Prandtl did not stop with this first solution, and came to a dramatically different solution in 1932. Subsequent development of this 1932 solution solves several aeronautics design difficulties simultaneously, including maximum performance, minimum structure, minimum drag loss due to control input, and solution to adverse yaw without a vertical tail. This presentation lists that solution by Prandtl, and the refinements by Horten, Jones, Kline, Viswanathan, and Whitcomb.

  20. Engine Yaw Augmentation for Hybrid-Wing-Body Aircraft via Optimal Control Allocation Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Brian R.; Yoo, Seung Yeun

    2011-01-01

    Asymmetric engine thrust was implemented in a hybrid-wing-body non-linear simulation to reduce the amount of aerodynamic surface deflection required for yaw stability and control. Hybrid-wing-body aircraft are especially susceptible to yaw surface deflection due to their decreased bare airframe yaw stability resulting from the lack of a large vertical tail aft of the center of gravity. Reduced surface deflection, especially for trim during cruise flight, could reduce the fuel consumption of future aircraft. Designed as an add-on, optimal control allocation techniques were used to create a control law that tracks total thrust and yaw moment commands with an emphasis on not degrading the baseline system. Implementation of engine yaw augmentation is shown and feasibility is demonstrated in simulation with a potential drag reduction of 2 to 4 percent. Future flight tests are planned to demonstrate feasibility in a flight environment.

  1. Empirical scaling of the length of the longest increasing subsequences of random walks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendonça, J. Ricardo G.

    2017-02-01

    We provide Monte Carlo estimates of the scaling of the length L n of the longest increasing subsequences of n-step random walks for several different distributions of step lengths, short and heavy-tailed. Our simulations indicate that, barring possible logarithmic corrections, {{L}n}∼ {{n}θ} with the leading scaling exponent 0.60≲ θ ≲ 0.69 for the heavy-tailed distributions of step lengths examined, with values increasing as the distribution becomes more heavy-tailed, and θ ≃ 0.57 for distributions of finite variance, irrespective of the particular distribution. The results are consistent with existing rigorous bounds for θ, although in a somewhat surprising manner. For random walks with step lengths of finite variance, we conjecture that the correct asymptotic behavior of L n is given by \\sqrt{n}\\ln n , and also propose the form for the subleading asymptotics. The distribution of L n was found to follow a simple scaling form with scaling functions that vary with θ. Accordingly, when the step lengths are of finite variance they seem to be universal. The nature of this scaling remains unclear, since we lack a working model, microscopic or hydrodynamic, for the behavior of the length of the longest increasing subsequences of random walks.

  2. Numerical calculation of boundary layers and wake characteristics of high-speed trains with different lengths

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Dan; Niu, Jiqiang

    2017-01-01

    Trains with different numbers of cars running in the open air were simulated using the delayed detached-eddy simulation (DDES). The numbers of cars included in the simulation are 3, 4, 5 and 8. The aim of this study was to investigate how train length influences the boundary layer, the wake flow, the surface pressure, the aerodynamic drag and the friction drag. To certify the accuracy of the mesh and methods, the drag coefficients from numerical simulation of trains with 3 cars were compared with those from the wind tunnel test, and agreement was obtained. The results show that the boundary layer is thicker and the wake vortices are less symmetric as the train length increases. As a result, train length greatly affects pressure. The upper surface pressure of the tail car reduced by 2.9%, the side surface pressure of the tail car reduced by 8.3% and the underneath surface pressure of the tail car reduced by 19.7% in trains that included 3 cars to those including 8 cars. In addition, train length also has a significant effect on the friction drag coefficient and the drag coefficient. The friction drag coefficient of each car in a configuration decreases along the length of the train. In a comparison between trains consisting of 3 cars to those consisting of 8 cars, the friction drag coefficient of the tail car reduced by 8.6% and the drag coefficient of the tail car reduced by 3.7%. PMID:29261758

  3. Morphometry of eyes, antennae and wings in three species of Siagona (Coleoptera, Carabidae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Federica Talarico

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available In carabid beetles, physiological and behavioural characteristics reflect specific habitat demands and there is a strong correlation between body form and habit in species with different life style. In this study, we compared the morphometry and compound eye characteristics of three species of the genus Siagona: S. jenissoni, S. dejeani and S. europaea. These carabids have a stenotopic lifestyle in Mediterranean clayey soils, inhabiting the ground fissure system formed during the dry season. All species have a Mediterranean distribution and are nocturnal olfactory hunters, and are strict ant predators. For morphometric measurements, we considered body length (mm, wing length (mm, antenna length (mm, head width (mm, trochanter length (mm, number of ommatidia, eye surface area (mm2, ommatidia density (number of ommatidia/mm2 of eye surface area, head height (mm, thorax height (mm and abdomen height (mm. The data revealed intersexual and interspecific differences. The three species differ in relative length of the antennae, density and number of ommatidia and relative trochanter length. Significant differences occurred in wing sizes, which are well developed in S. europaea, the only species capable of flight. When eye size is compared with other ground beetles of various lifestyles, Siagona shows pronounced “microphthalmy” an adaptation to subterranean life in clayey crevices of tropical and subtropical climates with a marked dry season.

  4. Quantization function for attractive, singular potential tails; Die Quantisierungsfunktion fuer attraktive, singulaere Potentialschwaenze

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Raab, Patrick N.

    2010-02-04

    The interaction between atoms and molecules with each other are deep potential wells with attractive, singular tails. Bound state energies are determined by a quantization function according to a simple quantization rule. This function is dominantly determined by the singular potential tail for near-threshold states. General expressions for the low- and high-energy contributions of the singular potential tail to the quantization function, as well as the connection to the scattering length are presented in two and three dimensions. Precise analytical expressions for the quantization function are determined for the case of potential tails proportional to -1/r{sup 4} and -1/r{sup 6} for three dimensions. (orig.)

  5. NASA Langley Distributed Propulsion VTOL Tilt-Wing Aircraft Testing, Modeling, Simulation, Control, and Flight Test Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothhaar, Paul M.; Murphy, Patrick C.; Bacon, Barton J.; Gregory, Irene M.; Grauer, Jared A.; Busan, Ronald C.; Croom, Mark A.

    2014-01-01

    Control of complex Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft traversing from hovering to wing born flight mode and back poses notoriously difficult modeling, simulation, control, and flight-testing challenges. This paper provides an overview of the techniques and advances required to develop the GL-10 tilt-wing, tilt-tail, long endurance, VTOL aircraft control system. The GL-10 prototype's unusual and complex configuration requires application of state-of-the-art techniques and some significant advances in wind tunnel infrastructure automation, efficient Design Of Experiments (DOE) tunnel test techniques, modeling, multi-body equations of motion, multi-body actuator models, simulation, control algorithm design, and flight test avionics, testing, and analysis. The following compendium surveys key disciplines required to develop an effective control system for this challenging vehicle in this on-going effort.

  6. Hovering hummingbird wing aerodynamics during the annual cycle. I. Complete wing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Achache, Yonathan; Sapir, Nir; Elimelech, Yossef

    2017-08-01

    The diverse hummingbird family (Trochilidae) has unique adaptations for nectarivory, among which is the ability to sustain hover-feeding. As hummingbirds mainly feed while hovering, it is crucial to maintain this ability throughout the annual cycle-especially during flight-feather moult, in which wing area is reduced. To quantify the aerodynamic characteristics and flow mechanisms of a hummingbird wing throughout the annual cycle, time-accurate aerodynamic loads and flow field measurements were correlated over a dynamically scaled wing model of Anna's hummingbird ( Calypte anna ). We present measurements recorded over a model of a complete wing to evaluate the baseline aerodynamic characteristics and flow mechanisms. We found that the vorticity concentration that had developed from the wing's leading-edge differs from the attached vorticity structure that was typically found over insects' wings; firstly, it is more elongated along the wing chord, and secondly, it encounters high levels of fluctuations rather than a steady vortex. Lift characteristics resemble those of insects; however, a 20% increase in the lift-to-torque ratio was obtained for the hummingbird wing model. Time-accurate aerodynamic loads were also used to evaluate the time-evolution of the specific power required from the flight muscles, and the overall wingbeat power requirements nicely matched previous studies.

  7. Optical probing of long-range spatial correlation and symmetry in complex biophotonic architectures on transparent insect wings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, Pramod; Shamoon, Danish; Singh, Dhirendra P; Singh, Kamal P; Mandal, Sudip

    2015-01-01

    We experimentally probe the structural organization of complex bio-photonic architecture on transparent insect wings by a simple, non-invasive, real-time optical technique. A stable and reproducible far-field diffraction pattern in transmission was observed using collimated cw and broadband fs laser pulses. A quantitative analysis of the observed diffraction pattern unveiled long-range quasi-periodic order in the arrangement of the microstructures over mm scale. These observations agree well with the Fourier analysis of SEM images of the wing taken at various length scales. We propose a simple quantitative model based on optical diffraction by an array of non overlapping microstructures with minimal disorder which supports our experimental observations. We observed a rotation of the original diffraction profile by scanning the laser beam across the wing sample which gives direct signature of organizational symmetry in microstructure arrangements at various length scales. In addition, we report the first optical detection of reorganization in the photonic architecture on the Drosophila wings by various genetic mutations. These results have potential for the design and development of diffractive optical components for applied photonics and may open up new opportunities in biomimetic device research. (letter)

  8. Boundary Dpp promotes growth of medial and lateral regions of the Drosophila wing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrio, Lara; Milán, Marco

    2017-07-04

    The gradient of Decapentaplegic (Dpp) in the Drosophila wing has served as a paradigm to characterize the role of morphogens in regulating patterning. However, the role of this gradient in regulating tissue size is a topic of intense debate as proliferative growth is homogenous. Here, we combined the Gal4/UAS system and a temperature-sensitive Gal80 molecule to induce RNAi-mediated depletion of dpp and characterise the spatial and temporal requirement of Dpp in promoting growth. We show that Dpp emanating from the AP compartment boundary is required throughout development to promote growth by regulating cell proliferation and tissue size. Dpp regulates growth and proliferation rates equally in central and lateral regions of the developing wing appendage and reduced levels of Dpp affects similarly the width and length of the resulting wing. We also present evidence supporting the proposal that graded activity of Dpp is not an absolute requirement for wing growth.

  9. Novel four-wing and eight-wing attractors using coupled chaotic Lorenz systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grassi, Giuseppe

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents the problem of generating four-wing (eight-wing) chaotic attractors. The adopted method consists in suitably coupling two (three) identical Lorenz systems. In analogy with the original Lorenz system, where the two wings of the butterfly attractor are located around the two equilibria with the unstable pair of complex-conjugate eigenvalues, this paper shows that the four wings (eight wings) of these novel attractors are located around the four (eight) equilibria with two (three) pairs of unstable complex-conjugate eigenvalues. (general)

  10. Bat wing biometrics: using collagen–elastin bundles in bat wings as a unique individual identifier

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hooper, Sarah E.; Womack, Kathryn M.

    2017-01-01

    Abstract The ability to recognize individuals within an animal population is fundamental to conservation and management. Identification of individual bats has relied on artificial marking techniques that may negatively affect the survival and alter the behavior of individuals. Biometric systems use biological characteristics to identify individuals. The field of animal biometrics has expanded to include recognition of individuals based upon various morphologies and phenotypic variations including pelage patterns, tail flukes, and whisker arrangement. Biometric systems use 4 biologic measurement criteria: universality, distinctiveness, permanence, and collectability. Additionally, the system should not violate assumptions of capture–recapture methods that include no increased mortality or alterations of behavior. We evaluated whether individual bats could be uniquely identified based upon the collagen–elastin bundles that are visible with gross examination of their wings. We examined little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus), northern long-eared bats (M. septentrionalis), big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus), and tricolored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) to determine whether the “wing prints” from the bundle network would satisfy the biologic measurement criteria. We evaluated 1,212 photographs from 230 individual bats comparing week 0 photos with those taken at weeks 3 or 6 and were able to confirm identity of individuals over time. Two blinded evaluators were able to successfully match 170 individuals in hand to photographs taken at weeks 0, 3, and 6. This study suggests that bats can be successfully re-identified using photographs taken at previous times. We suggest further evaluation of this methodology for use in a standardized system that can be shared among bat conservationists. PMID:29674784

  11. Bat wing biometrics: using collagen-elastin bundles in bat wings as a unique individual identifier.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amelon, Sybill K; Hooper, Sarah E; Womack, Kathryn M

    2017-05-29

    The ability to recognize individuals within an animal population is fundamental to conservation and management. Identification of individual bats has relied on artificial marking techniques that may negatively affect the survival and alter the behavior of individuals. Biometric systems use biological characteristics to identify individuals. The field of animal biometrics has expanded to include recognition of individuals based upon various morphologies and phenotypic variations including pelage patterns, tail flukes, and whisker arrangement. Biometric systems use 4 biologic measurement criteria: universality, distinctiveness, permanence, and collectability. Additionally, the system should not violate assumptions of capture-recapture methods that include no increased mortality or alterations of behavior. We evaluated whether individual bats could be uniquely identified based upon the collagen-elastin bundles that are visible with gross examination of their wings. We examined little brown bats ( Myotis lucifugus ), northern long-eared bats ( M. septentrionalis ), big brown bats ( Eptesicus fuscus ), and tricolored bats ( Perimyotis subflavus ) to determine whether the "wing prints" from the bundle network would satisfy the biologic measurement criteria. We evaluated 1,212 photographs from 230 individual bats comparing week 0 photos with those taken at weeks 3 or 6 and were able to confirm identity of individuals over time. Two blinded evaluators were able to successfully match 170 individuals in hand to photographs taken at weeks 0, 3, and 6. This study suggests that bats can be successfully re-identified using photographs taken at previous times. We suggest further evaluation of this methodology for use in a standardized system that can be shared among bat conservationists.

  12. Tail posture predicts tail damage among weaned piglets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zonderland, J.J.; Riel, van J.W.; Bracke, M.B.M.; Kemp, B.; Hartog, den L.A.; Spoolder, H.A.M.

    2009-01-01

    Tail biting in pigs is a widespread behavioural vice with significant animal welfare and economic consequences. All too often, tail biting is not diagnosed nor dealt with until tail damage is present. To effectively reduce the negative effects of tail biting, it must be diagnosed in an early stage.

  13. Grand Junction health experience from use of uranium tailings in building construction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Franz, L.W.

    1980-01-01

    This presentation deals with the possible health effects of the Grand Junction, Colorado exposure situation in which uranium mill tailings were used for building purposes from 1952 to 1966. There are no significant differences between the study group and the control groups with reference to length of residence, to health status prior to diagnosis, or the exposure to tailings location. The excess incidence of leukemia in the Grand Junction area is not explained by this study of proximity to tailings structures. These data neither prove nor disprove the safety of long-term exposure at these low levels of gamma rays

  14. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Magee, J.

    1980-01-01

    The long-term environmental effects of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 address the public health hazards of radioactive wastes and recognize the significance of this issue to public acceptance of nuclear energy. Title I of the Act deals with stabilizing and controlling mill tailings at inactive sites and classifies the sites by priority. It represents a major Federal commitment. Title II changes and strengthens Nuclear Regulatory Commission authority, but it will have little overall impact. It is not possible to assess the Act's effect because there is no way to know if current technology will be adequate for the length of time required. 76 references

  15. Subscale Winged Rocket Development and Application to Future Reusable Space Transportation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koichi YONEMOTO

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Kyushu Institute of Technology has been studying unmanned suborbital winged rocket called WIRES (WInged REusable Sounding rocket and its research subjects concerning aerodynamics, NGC (Navigation, Guidance and Control, cryogenic composite tanks etc., and conducting flight demonstration of small winged rocket since 2005. WIRES employs the original aerodynamic shape of HIMES (HIghly Maneuverable Experimental Sounding rocket studied by ISAS (Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in 1980s. This paper presents the preliminary design of subscale non-winged and winged rockets called WIRES#013 and WIRES#015, respectively, that are developed in collaboration with JAXA, USC (University of Southern California, UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso and Japanese industries. WIRES#013 is a conventional pre-test rocket propelled by two IPA-LOX (Isopropyl Alcohol and Liquid Oxygen engines under development by USC. It has the total length of 4.6m, and the weight of 1000kg to reach the altitude of about 6km. The flight objective is validation of the telemetry and ground communication system, recovery parachute system, and launch operation of liquid engine. WIRES#015, which has the same length of WIRES#013 and the weight of 1000kg, is a NGC technology demonstrator propelled by a fully expander-cycle LOX-Methane engine designed and developed by JAXA to reach the altitude more than 6km. The flight tests of both WIRES#013 and WIRES#015 will be conducted at the launch facility of FAR (Friends of Amateur Rocketry, Inc., which is located at Mojave Desert of California in United States of America, in May 2018 and March 2019 respectively. After completion of WIRES#015 flight tests, the suborbital demonstrator called WIRES-X will be developed and its first flight test well be performed in 2020. Its application to future fully reusable space transportation systems, such as suborbital space tour vehicles and two

  16. Quad-thopter: Tailless Flapping Wing Robot with 4 Pairs of Wings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Wagter, C.; Karasek, M.; de Croon, G.C.H.E.; J.-M. Moschetta G. Hattenberger, H. de Plinval

    2017-01-01

    We present a novel design of a tailless flapping wing Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), which uses four independently driven pairs of flapping wings in order to fly and perform agile maneuvers. The wing pairs are arranged such that differential thrust generates the desired roll and pitch moments, similar to

  17. Effect of nozzle and vertical-tail variables on the performance of a 3-surface F-15 model at transonic Mach numbers. [Langley 16 foot transonic tunnel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pendergraft, O. C., Jr.; Bare, E. A.

    1982-01-01

    An investigation was conducted in the Langley 16 foot transonic tunnel to determine the longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics of twin two dimensional nozzles and twin baseline axisymmetric nozzles installed on a fully metric 0.047 scale model of the F-15 three surface configuration (canards, wing, horizontal tails). The effects on performance of two dimensional nozzle in flight thrust reversing, locations and orientation of the vertical tails, and deflections of the horizontal tails were also determined. Test data were obtained at static conditions and at Mach numbers from 0.60 to 1.20 over an angle of attack range from -2 deg to 15 deg. Nozzle pressure ratio was varied from jet off to about 6.5.

  18. Strong geographical variation in wing aspect ratio of a damselfly, Calopteryx maculata (Odonata: Zygoptera

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher Hassall

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Geographical patterns in body size have been described across a wide range of species, leading to the development of a series of fundamental biological rules. However, shape variables are less well-described despite having substantial consequences for organism performance. Wing aspect ratio (AR has been proposed as a key shape parameter that determines function in flying animals, with high AR corresponding to longer, thinner wings that promote high manoeuvrability, low speed flight, and low AR corresponding to shorter, broader wings that promote high efficiency long distance flight. From this principle it might be predicted that populations living in cooler areas would exhibit low AR wings to compensate for reduced muscle efficiency at lower temperatures. I test this hypothesis using the riverine damselfly, Calopteryx maculata, sampled from 34 sites across its range margin in North America. Nine hundred and seven male specimens were captured from across the 34 sites (mean = 26.7 ± 2.9 SE per site, dissected and measured to quantify the area and length of all four wings. Geometric morphometrics were employed to investigate geographical variation in wing shape. The majority of variation in wing shape involved changes in wing aspect ratio, confirmed independently by geometric morphometrics and wing measurements. There was a strong negative relationship between wing aspect ratio and the maximum temperature of the warmest month which varies from west-east in North America, creating a positive relationship with longitude. This pattern suggests that higher aspect ratio may be associated with areas in which greater flight efficiency is required: regions of lower temperatures during the flight season. I discuss my findings in light of research of the functional ecology of wing shape across vertebrate and invertebrate taxa.

  19. Rotary balance data for a typical single-engine general aviation design for an angle-of-attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg. 2: High-wing model C

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hultberg, R. S.; Chu, J.

    1980-01-01

    Aerodynamic characteristics obtained in a helical flow environment utilizing a rotary balance located in the Langley spin g tunnel are presented in plotted form for a 1/6 scale, single engine, high wing, general aviation model. The configurations tested included the basic airplane and control deflections, wing leading edge devices, tail designs, and airplane components. Data are presented without analysis for an angle of attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg and clockwise and counter clockwise rotations covering a spin coefficient range from 0 to 0.9.

  20. Rotary balance data for a typical single-engine general aviation design for an angle-of-attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg. 2: Low-wing model B

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bihrle, W., Jr.; Hultberg, R. S.

    1979-01-01

    Aerodynamic characteristics obtained in a rotational flow environment utilizing a rotary balance located in the spin tunnel are presented in plotted form for a 1/6.5 scale, single engine, low wing, general aviation airplane model. The configurations tested included the basic airplane, various wing leading-edge devices, tail designs, and rudder control settings as well as airplane components. Data are presented without analysis for an angle-of-attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg and clockwise and counter-clockwise rotations covering an (omega)(b)/2V range from 0 to 0.85.

  1. Rotary balance data for a typical single-engine general aviation design for an angle-of-attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg. 1: High-wing model B

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bihrle, W., Jr.; Hultberg, R. S.

    1979-01-01

    Aerodynamic characteristics obtained in a rotational flow environment utilizing a rotary balance located in a spin tunnel are presented in plotted form for a 1/6.5 scale, single engine, high wing, general aviation airplane model. The configurations tested included the basic airplane, various wing leading-edge devices, tail designs, and rudder control settings as well as airplane components. Data are presented without analysis for an angle of attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg and clockwise and counter-clockwise rotations covering an omega b/2V range from 0 to 0.85.

  2. Design and stable flight of a 21 g insect-like tailless flapping wing micro air vehicle with angular rates feedback control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phan, Hoang Vu; Kang, Taesam; Park, Hoon Cheol

    2017-04-04

    An insect-like tailless flapping wing micro air vehicle (FW-MAV) without feedback control eventually becomes unstable after takeoff. Flying an insect-like tailless FW-MAV is more challenging than flying a bird-like tailed FW-MAV, due to the difference in control principles. This work introduces the design and controlled flight of an insect-like tailless FW-MAV, named KUBeetle. A combination of four-bar linkage and pulley-string mechanisms was used to develop a lightweight flapping mechanism that could achieve a high flapping amplitude of approximately 190°. Clap-and-flings at dorsal and ventral stroke reversals were implemented to enhance vertical force. In the absence of a control surface at the tail, adjustment of the location of the trailing edges at the wing roots to modulate the rotational angle of the wings was used to generate control moments for the attitude control. Measurements by a 6-axis load cell showed that the control mechanism produced reasonable pitch, roll and yaw moments according to the corresponding control inputs. The control mechanism was integrated with three sub-micro servos to realize the pitch, roll and yaw controls. A simple PD feedback controller was implemented for flight stability with an onboard microcontroller and a gyroscope that sensed the pitch, roll and yaw rates. Several flight tests demonstrated that the tailless KUBeetle could successfully perform a vertical climb, then hover and loiter within a 0.3 m ground radius with small variations in pitch and roll body angles.

  3. Direct Observation of Heavy-Tailed Storage Times of Bed Load Tracer Particles Causing Anomalous Superdiffusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradley, D. Nathan

    2017-12-01

    A consensus has formed that the step length distribution of fluvial bed load is thin tailed and that the observed anomalous superdiffusion of bed load tracer particles must arise from heavy-tailed resting times. However, heavy-tailed resting times have never been directly observed in the field over multiple floods. Using 9 years of data from a large bed load tracer experiment, I show that the spatial variance of the tracer plume scales faster than linearly with integrated excess stream power, indicating anomalous superdiffusion. The superdiffusion is caused by a heavy-tailed distribution of observed storage times that is fit with a truncated Pareto distribution with a tail parameter that is predicted by anomalous diffusion theory. The heavy-tailed distribution of storage times causes the tracer virtual velocity to slow over time, indicated by a sublinear increase in the mean displacement that is predicted by the storage time distribution tail parameter.

  4. Aerodynamic comparison of a butterfly-like flapping wing-body model and a revolving-wing model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Kosuke; Yoshino, Masato

    2017-06-01

    The aerodynamic performance of flapping- and revolving-wing models is investigated by numerical simulations based on an immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method. As wing models, we use (i) a butterfly-like model with a body and flapping-rectangular wings and (ii) a revolving-wing model with the same wings as the flapping case. Firstly, we calculate aerodynamic performance factors such as the lift force, the power, and the power loading of the two models for Reynolds numbers in the range of 50-1000. For the flapping-wing model, the power loading is maximal for the maximum angle of attack of 90°, a flapping amplitude of roughly 45°, and a phase shift between the flapping angle and the angle of attack of roughly 90°. For the revolving-wing model, the power loading peaks for an angle of attack of roughly 45°. In addition, we examine the ground effect on the aerodynamic performance of the revolving-wing model. Secondly, we compare the aerodynamic performance of the flapping- and revolving-wing models at their respective maximal power loadings. It is found that the revolving-wing model is more efficient than the flapping-wing model both when the body of the latter is fixed and where it can move freely. Finally, we discuss the relative agilities of the flapping- and revolving-wing models.

  5. Distinct hydrophobic “patches” in the N- and C-tails of beta-catenin contribute to nuclear transport

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sharma, Manisha; Jamieson, Cara; Lui, Christina [Center for Cancer Research, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW 2145 (Australia); Henderson, Beric R., E-mail: beric.henderson@sydney.edu.au [Center for Cancer Research, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW 2145 (Australia)

    2016-11-01

    β-catenin is a key mediator of Wnt signaling and its deregulated nuclear accumulation can drive cancer progression. While the central armadillo (Arm) repeats of β-catenin stimulate nuclear entry, the N- and C-terminal “tail” sequences are thought to regulate turnover and transactivation. We show here that the N- and C-tails are also potent transport sequences. The unstructured tails of β-catenin, when individually fused to a GFP-reporter, could enter and exit the nucleus rapidly in live cells. Proximity ligation assays and pull-down assays identified a weak interaction between the tail sequences and the FG-repeats of nucleoporins, consistent with a possible direct translocation of β-catenin through the nuclear pore complex. Extensive alanine mutagenesis of the tail sequences revealed that nuclear translocation of β-catenin was dependent on specific uniformly distributed patches of hydrophobic residues, whereas the mutagenesis of acidic amino acids had no effect. Moreover, the mutation of hydrophobic patches within the N-tail and C-tail of full length β-catenin reduced nuclear transport rate and diminished its ability to activate transcription. We propose that the tail sequences can contribute to β-catenin transport and suggest a possible similar role for hydrophobic unstructured regions in other proteins. - Highlights: • We show that the N- and C-tails of beta-catenin possess nuclear transport activity. • Nuclear transport of the N- or C-tails requires specific hydrophobic amino acids. • Mutagenesis of the N-terminus diminished nuclear entry of full-length beta-catenin. • We propose the N-tail contributes to beta-catenin nuclear entry and transactivation.

  6. Preliminary study on evaluation of the pancreatic tail observable limit of transabdominal ultrasonography using a position sensor and CT-fusion image

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sumi, Hajime; Itoh, Akihiro; Kawashima, Hiroki [Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya (Japan); Ohno, Eizaburo [Department of Endoscopy, Nagoya University Hospital, Nagoya (Japan); Itoh, Yuya; Nakamura, Yosuke; Hiramatsu, Takeshi; Sugimoto, Hiroyuki; Hayashi, Daijuro; Kuwahara, Takamichi; Morishima, Tomomasa; Kawai, Manabu; Furukawa, Kazuhiro [Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya (Japan); Funasaka, Kohei [Department of Endoscopy, Nagoya University Hospital, Nagoya (Japan); Nakamura, Masanao; Miyahara, Ryoji [Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya (Japan); Katano, Yoshiaki [Department of Gastroenterology, Second Teaching Hospital, Fujita Health University (Japan); Ishigami, Masatoshi [Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya (Japan); Ohmiya, Naoki [Department of Gastroenterology, Second Teaching Hospital, Fujita Health University (Japan); Goto, Hidemi [Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya (Japan); Department of Endoscopy, Nagoya University Hospital, Nagoya (Japan); and others

    2014-08-15

    Background and aim: Transabdominal ultrasonography (US) is commonly used for the initial screening of bilio-pancreatic diseases in Asian countries due to its widespread availability, the non-invasiveness and the cost-effectiveness. However, it is considered that US has limits to observe the area, namely the blind area. The observation of the pancreatic tail is particularly difficult. The goal of this study was to examine the pancreatic tail region that cannot be visualized on transverse scanning of the upper abdomen using US with spatial positional information and factors related to visualization, and observation of the tail from the splenic hilum. Methods: Thirty-nine patients with pancreatic/biliary tract disease underwent CT and US with GPS-like technology and fusion imaging for measurement of the real pancreatic length and the predicted/real unobservable (PU and RU) length of the pancreatic tail. RU from US on transverse scanning and the real pancreatic length were used to determine the unobservable area (UA: RU/the real pancreatic length). Relationships of RU with physical and hematological variables that might influence visualization of the pancreatic tail were investigated. Results: The real pancreatic length was 160.9 ± 16.4 mm, RU was 41.0 ± 17.8 mm, and UA was 25.3 ± 10.4%. RU was correlated with BMI (R = 0.446, P = 0.004) and waist circumferences (R = 0.354, P = 0.027), and strongly correlated with PU (R = 0.788, P < 0.001). The pancreatic tail was visible from the splenic hilum in 22 (56%) subjects and was completely identified in 13 (33%) subjects. Conclusions: Combined GPS-like technology with fusion imaging was useful for the objective estimation of the pancreatic blind area.

  7. Preliminary study on evaluation of the pancreatic tail observable limit of transabdominal ultrasonography using a position sensor and CT-fusion image

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sumi, Hajime; Itoh, Akihiro; Kawashima, Hiroki; Ohno, Eizaburo; Itoh, Yuya; Nakamura, Yosuke; Hiramatsu, Takeshi; Sugimoto, Hiroyuki; Hayashi, Daijuro; Kuwahara, Takamichi; Morishima, Tomomasa; Kawai, Manabu; Furukawa, Kazuhiro; Funasaka, Kohei; Nakamura, Masanao; Miyahara, Ryoji; Katano, Yoshiaki; Ishigami, Masatoshi; Ohmiya, Naoki; Goto, Hidemi

    2014-01-01

    Background and aim: Transabdominal ultrasonography (US) is commonly used for the initial screening of bilio-pancreatic diseases in Asian countries due to its widespread availability, the non-invasiveness and the cost-effectiveness. However, it is considered that US has limits to observe the area, namely the blind area. The observation of the pancreatic tail is particularly difficult. The goal of this study was to examine the pancreatic tail region that cannot be visualized on transverse scanning of the upper abdomen using US with spatial positional information and factors related to visualization, and observation of the tail from the splenic hilum. Methods: Thirty-nine patients with pancreatic/biliary tract disease underwent CT and US with GPS-like technology and fusion imaging for measurement of the real pancreatic length and the predicted/real unobservable (PU and RU) length of the pancreatic tail. RU from US on transverse scanning and the real pancreatic length were used to determine the unobservable area (UA: RU/the real pancreatic length). Relationships of RU with physical and hematological variables that might influence visualization of the pancreatic tail were investigated. Results: The real pancreatic length was 160.9 ± 16.4 mm, RU was 41.0 ± 17.8 mm, and UA was 25.3 ± 10.4%. RU was correlated with BMI (R = 0.446, P = 0.004) and waist circumferences (R = 0.354, P = 0.027), and strongly correlated with PU (R = 0.788, P < 0.001). The pancreatic tail was visible from the splenic hilum in 22 (56%) subjects and was completely identified in 13 (33%) subjects. Conclusions: Combined GPS-like technology with fusion imaging was useful for the objective estimation of the pancreatic blind area

  8. Hovering hummingbird wing aerodynamics during the annual cycle. II. Implications of wing feather moult

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sapir, Nir; Elimelech, Yossef

    2018-01-01

    Birds usually moult their feathers in a particular sequence which may incur aerodynamic, physiological and behavioural implications. Among birds, hummingbirds are unique species in their sustained hovering flight. Because hummingbirds frequently hover-feed, they must maintain sufficiently high flight capacities even when moulting their flight feathers. A hummingbird wing consists of 10 primary flight feathers whose absence during moult may strongly affect wing performance. Using dynamic similarity rules, we compared time-accurate aerodynamic loads and flow field measurements over several wing geometries that follow the natural feather moult sequence of Calypte anna, a common hummingbird species in western North America. Our results suggest a drop of more than 20% in lift production during the early stages of the moult sequence in which mid-wing flight feathers are moulted. We also found that the wing's ability to generate lift strongly depended on the morphological integrity of the outer primaries and leading-edge. These findings may explain the evolution of wing morphology and moult attributes. Specifically, the high overlap between adjacent wing feathers, especially at the wing tip, and the slow sequential replacement of the wing feathers result in a relatively small reduction in wing surface area during moult with limited aerodynamic implications. We present power and efficiency analyses for hover flight during moult under several plausible scenarios, suggesting that body mass reduction could be a compensatory mechanism that preserves the energetic costs of hover flight. PMID:29515884

  9. Hydrodynamic analysis, performance assessment, and actuator design of a flexible tail propulsor in an artificial alligator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Philen, Michael; Neu, Wayne

    2011-01-01

    The overall objective of this research is to develop analysis tools for determining actuator requirements and assessing viable actuator technology for design of a flexible tail propulsor in an artificial alligator. A simple hydrodynamic model that includes both reactive and resistive forces along the tail is proposed and the calculated mean thrust agrees well with conventional estimates of drag. Using the hydrodynamic model forces as an input, studies are performed for an alligator ranging in size from 1 cm to 2 m at swimming speeds of 0.3–1.8 body lengths per second containing five antagonistic pairs of actuators distributed along the length of the tail. Several smart materials are considered for the actuation system, and preliminary analysis results indicate that the acrylic electroactive polymer and the flexible matrix composite actuators are potential artificial muscle technologies for the system

  10. The relative tail of longevity and the mean remaining lifetime

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James W. Vaupel

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available Vaupel (1998 posed the provocative question, "When it comes to death, how do people and flies differ from Toyotas?" He suggested that as the force of natural selection diminishes with age, structural reliability concepts can be profitably used in mortality analysis. Vaupel (2003 went a step further, using simulations to investigate the impact of redundancy, repair capacity, and heterogeneity on the relative length of post-reproductive life spans, called relative tails of longevity. His 2003 paper showed that structural redundancy and the possibility of repair decrease the relative tail of longevity, whereas greater heterogeneity increases it. Here, we consider the problem in much greater generality and prove these results analytically. Structures with repairable and non-repairable components are considered. Heterogeneity is described by a frailty-type model and different definitions of the tail of longevity are discussed.

  11. Aeroelastic Wing Shaping Using Distributed Propulsion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Nhan T. (Inventor); Reynolds, Kevin Wayne (Inventor); Ting, Eric B. (Inventor)

    2017-01-01

    An aircraft has wings configured to twist during flight. Inboard and outboard propulsion devices, such as turbofans or other propulsors, are connected to each wing, and are spaced along the wing span. A flight controller independently controls thrust of the inboard and outboard propulsion devices to significantly change flight dynamics, including changing thrust of outboard propulsion devices to twist the wing, and to differentially apply thrust on each wing to change yaw and other aspects of the aircraft during various stages of a flight mission. One or more generators can be positioned upon the wing to provide power for propulsion devices on the same wing, and on an opposite wing.

  12. Does cortical bone thickness in the last sacral vertebra differ among tail types in primates?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishimura, Abigail C; Russo, Gabrielle A

    2017-04-01

    The external morphology of the sacrum is demonstrably informative regarding tail type (i.e., tail presence/absence, length, and prehensility) in living and extinct primates. However, little research has focused on the relationship between tail type and internal sacral morphology, a potentially important source of functional information when fossil sacra are incomplete. Here, we determine if cortical bone cross-sectional thickness of the last sacral vertebral body differs among tail types in extant primates and can be used to reconstruct tail types in extinct primates. Cortical bone cross-sectional thickness in the last sacral vertebral body was measured from high-resolution CT scans belonging to 20 extant primate species (N = 72) assigned to tail type categories ("tailless," "nonprehensile short-tailed," "nonprehensile long-tailed," and "prehensile-tailed"). The extant dataset was then used to reconstruct the tail types for four extinct primate species. Tailless primates had significantly thinner cortical bone than tail-bearing primates. Nonprehensile short-tailed primates had significantly thinner cortical bone than nonprehensile long-tailed primates. Cortical bone cross-sectional thickness did not distinguish between prehensile-tailed and nonprehensile long-tailed taxa. Results are strongly influenced by phylogeny. Corroborating previous studies, Epipliopithecus vindobonensis was reconstructed as tailless, Archaeolemur edwardsi as long-tailed, Megaladapis grandidieri as nonprehensile short-tailed, and Palaeopropithecus kelyus as nonprehensile short-tailed or tailless. Results indicate that, in the context of phylogenetic clade, measures of cortical bone cross-sectional thickness can be used to allocate extinct primate species to tail type categories. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  13. DNA binding and unwinding by Hel308 helicase requires dual functions of a winged helix domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Northall, Sarah J; Buckley, Ryan; Jones, Nathan; Penedo, J Carlos; Soultanas, Panos; Bolt, Edward L

    2017-09-01

    Hel308 helicases promote genome stability linked to DNA replication in archaea, and have homologues in metazoans. In the crystal structure of archaeal Hel308 bound to a tailed DNA duplex, core helicase domains encircle single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) in a "ratchet" for directional translocation. A winged helix domain (WHD) is also present, but its function is mysterious. We investigated the WHD in full-length Hel308, identifying that mutations in a solvent exposed α-helix resulted in reduced DNA binding and unwinding activities. When isolated from the rest of Hel308, the WHD protein alone bound to duplex DNA but not ssDNA, and DNA binding by WHD protein was abolished by the same mutations as were analyzed in full-length Hel308. Isolated WHD from a human Hel308 homologue (HelQ) also bound to duplex DNA. By disrupting the interface between the Hel308 WHD and a RecA-like domain, a topology typical of Ski2 helicases, we show that this is crucial for ATPase and helicase activities. The data suggest a model in which the WHD promotes activity of Hel308 directly, through binding to duplex DNA that is distinct from ssDNA binding by core helicase, and indirectly through interaction with the RecA-like domain. We propose how the WHD may contribute to ssDNA translocation, resulting in DNA helicase activity or in removal of other DNA bound proteins by "reeling" ssDNA. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Do the Golden-winged Warbler and Blue-winged Warbler Exhibit Species-specific Differences in their Breeding Habitat Use?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura L. Patton

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available We compared habitat features of Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera territories in the presence and absence of the Blue-winged Warbler (V. cyanoptera on reclaimed coal mines in southeastern Kentucky, USA. Our objective was to determine whether there are species specific differences in habitat that can be manipulated to encourage population persistence of the Golden-winged Warbler. When compared with Blue-winged Warblers, Golden-winged Warblers established territories at higher elevations and with greater percentages of grass and canopy cover. Mean territory size (minimum convex polygon was 1.3 ha (se = 0.1 for Golden-winged Warbler in absence of Blue-winged Warbler, 1.7 ha (se = 0.3 for Golden-winged Warbler coexisting with Blue-winged Warbler, and 2.1 ha (se = 0.3 for Blue-winged Warbler. Territory overlap occurred within and between species (18 of n = 73 territories, 24.7%. All Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers established territories that included an edge between reclaimed mine land and mature forest, as opposed to establishing territories in open grassland/shrubland habitat. The mean distance territories extended from a forest edge was 28.0 m (se = 3.8 for Golden-winged Warbler in absence of Blue-winged Warbler, 44.7 m (se = 5.7 for Golden-winged Warbler coexisting with Blue-winged Warbler, and 33.1 m (se = 6.1 for Blue-winged Warbler. Neither territory size nor distances to forest edges differed significantly between Golden-winged Warbler in presence or absence of Blue-winged Warbler. According to Monte Carlo analyses, orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata, green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica seedlings and saplings, and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia saplings were indicative of sites with only Golden-winged Warblers. Sericea lespedeza, goldenrod (Solidago spp., clematis vine (Clematis spp., and blackberry (Rubus spp. were indicative of sites where both species occurred. Our findings complement recent genetic studies and add

  15. The effect of aspect ratio on the leading-edge vortex over an insect-like flapping wing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Nathan; Knowles, Kevin; Bomphrey, Richard J

    2015-10-09

    Insect wing shapes are diverse and a renowned source of inspiration for the new generation of autonomous flapping vehicles, yet the aerodynamic consequences of varying geometry is not well understood. One of the most defining and aerodynamically significant measures of wing shape is the aspect ratio, defined as the ratio of wing length (R) to mean wing chord (c). We investigated the impact of aspect ratio, AR, on the induced flow field around a flapping wing using a robotic device. Rigid rectangular wings ranging from AR = 1.5 to 7.5 were flapped with insect-like kinematics in air with a constant Reynolds number (Re) of 1400, and a dimensionless stroke amplitude of 6.5c (number of chords traversed by the wingtip). Pseudo-volumetric, ensemble-averaged, flow fields around the wings were captured using particle image velocimetry at 11 instances throughout simulated downstrokes. Results confirmed the presence of a high-lift, separated flow field with a leading-edge vortex (LEV), and revealed that the conical, primary LEV grows in size and strength with increasing AR. In each case, the LEV had an arch-shaped axis with its outboard end originating from a focus-sink singularity on the wing surface near the tip. LEV detachment was observed for AR > 1.5 around mid-stroke at ~70% span, and initiated sooner over higher aspect ratio wings. At AR > 3 the larger, stronger vortex persisted under the wing surface well into the next half-stroke leading to a reduction in lift. Circulatory lift attributable to the LEV increased with AR up to AR = 6. Higher aspect ratios generated proportionally less lift distally because of LEV breakdown, and also less lift closer to the wing root due to the previous LEV's continuing presence under the wing. In nature, insect wings go no higher than AR ~ 5, likely in part due to architectural and physiological constraints but also because of the reducing aerodynamic benefits of high AR wings.

  16. Flexible wings in flapping flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moret, Lionel; Thiria, Benjamin; Zhang, Jun

    2007-11-01

    We study the effect of passive pitching and flexible deflection of wings on the forward flapping flight. The wings are flapped vertically in water and are allowed to move freely horizontally. The forward speed is chosen by the flapping wing itself by balance of drag and thrust. We show, that by allowing the wing to passively pitch or by adding a flexible extension at its trailing edge, the forward speed is significantly increased. Detailed measurements of wing deflection and passive pitching, together with flow visualization, are used to explain our observations. The advantage of having a wing with finite rigidity/flexibility is discussed as we compare the current results with our biological inspirations such as birds and fish.

  17. Consolidation of tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelson, J.D.; Wardwell, R.E.; Abt, S.R.; Staub, W.P.

    1983-09-01

    The integrity of cover systems placed on tailings impoundments will be affected by the potential for differential settlement of the tailings surface. Settlement of the sand fraction will occur relatively rapidly. The slimes will take longer time for consolidation and will produce greater settlement. This report reviews the phenomenon of consolidation for saturated and unsaturated tailings. The effect of load application by cover placement and the extent to which dewatering of tailings will cause consolidation are considered. In addition, the feasibility of inducing consolidation by alternative means and the potential applicability of these methods to tailings impoundments reclamation are discussed. Differential settlement of the tailings will cause tensile strain to be developed in covers. This strain could be large enough to cause cracking within a relatively brittle compacted clay. Dewatering of tailings by drainage can cause settlement even greater than that by placement of a cover material. Dewatering of the tailings would also increase the stability of the tailings surface, thereby enhancing reclamation operations. Consequently, in view of the enhanced surface stability and the fact that a portion of the differential settlement can be accomplished prior to cover placement, dewatering of tailings impoundments during operations may have benefical effects

  18. Pumping evaluations with paste tailings thickened close to the surface disposal area

    OpenAIRE

    Wennberg, Thord; Sellgren, Anders

    2007-01-01

    An elevated location of a paste thickener on a ridge close to the disposal area is considered at a Swedish iron ore mine. About 0.7 Mtonnes of thickened tailings are planned to be layered as paste in the vicinity of the thickener over several years with pipeline lengths of up to 900 m after about 20 years. In order to clarify the pipeline pumping characteristics of the tailings product for volumetric solids concentration from 40 to 50%, experiments in loop systems with pipeline inner diameter...

  19. Wing Torsional Stiffness Tests of the Active Aeroelastic Wing F/A-18 Airplane

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lokos, William A.; Olney, Candida D.; Crawford, Natalie D.; Stauf, Rick; Reichenbach, Eric Y.

    2002-01-01

    The left wing of the Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW) F/A-18 airplane has been ground-load-tested to quantify its torsional stiffness. The test has been performed at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in November 1996, and again in April 2001 after a wing skin modification was performed. The primary objectives of these tests were to characterize the wing behavior before the first flight, and provide a before-and-after measurement of the torsional stiffness. Two streamwise load couples have been applied. The wing skin modification is shown to have more torsional flexibility than the original configuration has. Additionally, structural hysteresis is shown to be reduced by the skin modification. Data comparisons show good repeatability between the tests.

  20. Rotary balance data for a typical single-engine general aviation design for an angle of attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg. 1: Low wing model C. [wind tunnel tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulcay, W. J.; Rose, R. A.

    1980-01-01

    Aerodynamic characteristics obtained in a helical flow environment utilizing a rotary balance located in the Langley spin tunnel are presented in plotted form for a 1/6 scale, single engine, low wing, general aviation model (model C). The configurations tested included the basic airplane and control deflections, wing leading edge and fuselage modification devices, tail designs and airplane components. Data are presented without analysis for an angle of attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg and clockwise and counter clockwise rotations covering an omega b/2v range from 0 to .9.

  1. Review Results on Wing-Body Interference

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frolov Vladimir

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents an overview of results for wing-body interference, obtained by the author for varied wing-body combinations. The lift-curve slopes of the wing-body combinations are considered. In this paper a discrete vortices method (DVM and 2D potential model for cross-flow around fuselage are used. The circular and elliptical cross-sections of the fuselage and flat wings of various forms are considered. Calculations showed that the value of the lift-curve slopes of the wing-body combinations may exceed the same value for an isolated wing. This result confirms an experimental data obtained by other authors earlier. Within a framework of the used mathematical models the investigations to optimize the wing-body combination were carried. The present results of the optimization problem for the wing-body combination allowed to select the optimal geometric characteristics for configuration to maximize the values of the lift-curve slopes of the wing-body combination. It was revealed that maximums of the lift-curve slopes for the optimal mid-wing configuration with elliptical cross-section body had a sufficiently large relative width of the body (more than 30% of the span wing.

  2. Hydraulic Evaluation of the Crest Wing Wave Energy Converter

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kofoed, Jens Peter; Antonishen, Michael Patrick

    This report presents the results of an experimental study of the wave energy converting abilities of the Crest Wing wave energy converter (WEC). The Crest Wing is a WEC that uses its movement in matching the shape of an oncoming wave to generate power. Model tests have been performed using a scale...... model (length scale 1:30), provided by WaveEnergyFyn, in regular and irregular wave states that can be found in Assessment of Wave Energy Devices. Best Practice as used in Denmark (Frigaard et al., 2008). The tests were carried out at Dept. of Civil Engineering, Aalborg (Frigaard et al., 2008......). The tests were carried out at Dept. of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University (AAU) in the 3D deep water wave tank. The displacement and force applied to a power take off system, provided by WaveEnergyFyn, were measured and used to calculate total power take off....

  3. Morphing Wing: Experimental Boundary Layer Transition Determination and Wing Vibrations Measurements and Analysis =

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tondji Chendjou, Yvan Wilfried

    This Master's thesis is written within the framework of the multidisciplinary international research project CRIAQ MDO-505. This global project consists of the design, manufacture and testing of a morphing wing box capable of changing the shape of the flexible upper skin of a wing using an actuator system installed inside the wing. This changing of the shape generates a delay in the occurrence of the laminar to turbulent transition area, which results in an improvement of the aerodynamic performances of the morphed wing. This thesis is focused on the technologies used to gather the pressure data during the wind tunnel tests, as well as on the post processing methodologies used to characterize the wing airflow. The vibration measurements of the wing and their real-time graphical representation are also presented. The vibration data acquisition system is detailed, and the vibration data analysis confirms the predictions of the flutter analysis performed on the wing prior to wind tunnel testing at the IAR-NRC. The pressure data was collected using 32 highly-sensitive piezoelectric sensors for sensing the pressure fluctuations up to 10 KHz. These sensors were installed along two wing chords, and were further connected to a National Instrument PXI real-time acquisition system. The acquired pressure data was high-pass filtered, analyzed and visualized using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Standard Deviation (SD) approaches to quantify the pressure fluctuations in the wing airflow, as these allow the detection of the laminar to turbulent transition area. Around 30% of the cases tested in the IAR-NRC wind tunnel were optimized for drag reduction by the morphing wing procedure. The obtained pressure measurements results were compared with results obtained by infrared thermography visualization, and were used to validate the numerical simulations. Two analog accelerometers able to sense dynamic accelerations up to +/-16g were installed in both the wing and the aileron boxes

  4. Impact of water dilution and cation tail length on ionic liquid characteristics: Interplay between polar and non-polar interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hegde, Govind A.; Bharadwaj, Vivek S.; Kinsinger, Corey L.; Schutt, Timothy C.; Pisierra, Nichole R.; Maupin, C. Mark

    2016-01-01

    tail length increases, the changes in the binary mixtures’ properties become more pronounced.

  5. Effect of varying solid membrane area of bristled wings on clap and fling aerodynamics in the smallest flying insects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford, Mitchell; Kasoju, Vishwa; Santhanakrishnan, Arvind

    2017-11-01

    The smallest flying insects with body lengths under 1.5 mm, such as thrips, fairyflies, and some parasitoid wasps, show marked morphological preference for wings consisting of a thin solid membrane fringed with long bristles. In particular, thrips have been observed to use clap and fling wing kinematics at chord-based Reynolds numbers of approximately 10. More than 6,000 species of thrips have been documented, among which there is notable morphological diversity in bristled wing design. This study examines the effect of varying the ratio of solid membrane area to total wing area (including bristles) on aerodynamic forces and flow structures generated during clap and fling. Forewing image analysis on 30 species of thrips showed that membrane area ranged from 16%-71% of total wing area. Physical models of bristled wing pairs with ratios of solid membrane area to total wing area ranging from 15%-100% were tested in a dynamically scaled robotic platform mimicking clap and fling kinematics. Decreasing membrane area relative to total wing area resulted in significant decrease in maximum drag coefficient and comparatively smaller reduction in maximum lift coefficient, resulting in higher peak lift to drag ratio. Flow structures visualized using PIV will be presented.

  6. Numerical and experimental investigations on unsteady aerodynamics of flapping wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Meilin

    The development of a dynamic unstructured grid high-order accurate spectral difference (SD) method for the three dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes (N-S) equations and its applications in flapping-wing aerodynamics are carried out in this work. Grid deformation is achieved via an algebraic blending strategy to save computational cost. The Geometric Conservation Law (GCL) is imposed to ensure that grid deformation will not contaminate the flow physics. A low Mach number preconditioning procedure is conducted in the developed solver to handle the bio-inspired flow. The capability of the low Mach number preconditioned SD solver is demonstrated by a series of two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) simulations of the unsteady vortex dominated flow. Several topics in the flapping wing aerodynamics are numerically and experimentally investigated in this work. These topics cover some of the cutting-edge issues in flapping wing aerodynamics, including the wake structure analysis, airfoil thickness and kinematics effects on the aerodynamic performances, vortex structure analysis around 3D flapping wings and the kinematics optimization. Wake structures behind a sinusoidally pitching NACA0012 airfoil are studied with both experimental and numerical approaches. The experiments are carried out with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and two types of wake transition processes, namely the transition from a drag-indicative wake to a thrust-indicative wake and that from the symmetric wake to the asymmetric wake are distinguished. The numerical results from the developed SD solver agree well with the experimental results. It is numerically found that the deflective direction of the asymmetric wake is determined by the initial conditions, e.g. initial phase angle. As most insects use thin wings (i. e., wing thickness is only a few percent of the chord length) in flapping flight, the effects of airfoil thickness on thrust generation are numerically investigated by simulating

  7. Mechanisms of Wing Beat Sound in Flapping Wings of Beetles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, John

    2017-11-01

    While the aerodynamic aspects of insect flight have received recent attention, the mechanisms of sound production by flapping wings is not well understood. Though the harmonic structure of wing beat frequency modulation has been reported with respect to biological implications, few studies have rigorously quantified it with respect directionality, phase coupling and vortex tip scattering. Moreover, the acoustic detection and classification of invasive species is both of practical as well scientific interest. In this study, the acoustics of the tethered flight of the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros) is investigated with four element microphone array in conjunction with complementary optical sensors and high speed video. The different experimental methods for wing beat determination are compared in both the time and frequency domain. Flow visualization is used to examine the vortex and sound generation due to the torsional mode of the wing rotation. Results are compared with related experimental studies of the Oriental Flower Beetle. USDA, State of Hawaii.

  8. Drag Performance of Twist Morphing MAV Wing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ismail N.I.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Morphing wing is one of latest evolution found on MAV wing. However, due to few design problems such as limited MAV wing size and complicated morphing mechanism, the understanding of its aerodynamic behaviour was not fully explored. In fact, the basic drag distribution induced by a morphing MAV wing is still remained unknown. Thus, present work is carried out to compare the drag performance between a twist morphing wing with membrane and rigid MAV wing design. A quasi-static aeroelastic analysis by using the Ansys-Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI method is utilized in current works to predict the drag performance a twist morphing MAV wing design. Based on the drag pattern study, the results exhibits that the morphing wing has a partial similarities in overall drag pattern with the baseline (membrane and rigid wing. However, based CD analysis, it shows that TM wing induced higher CD magnitude (between 25% to 82% higher than to the baseline wing. In fact, TM wing also induced the largest CD increment (about 20% to 27% among the wings. The visualization on vortex structure revealed that TM wing also produce larger tip vortex structure (compared to baseline wings which presume to promote higher induce drag component and subsequently induce its higher CD performance.

  9. Tail gut cyst.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, G Mallikarjuna; Haricharan, P; Ramanujacharyulu, S; Reddy, K Lakshmi

    2002-01-01

    The tail gut is a blind extension of the hindgut into the tail fold just distal to the cloacal membrane. Remnants of this structure may form tail gut cyst. We report a 14-year-old girl with tail gut cyst that presented as acute abdomen. The patient recovered after cyst excision.

  10. Preliminary Results Obtained from Flight Test of a 1/7-Scale Rocket-Powered Model of the Grumman XF10F Airplane Configuration in the Swept-Wing Condition, TED No. NACA DE 354

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardner, William N.

    1951-01-01

    A flight investigation of a 1/7-scale rocket-powered model of the XF10F Grumman XFl0F airplane in the swept-wing configuration has been made. The purpose of this test was to determine the static longitudinal stability, damping in pitch, and longitudinal control effectiveness of the airplane with the center of gravity at 20 percent of the wing mean aerodynamic chord. Only a small amount of data was obtained from the test because, immediately after booster separation at a Mach number of 0.88, the configuration was directionally unstable and diverged in sideslip. Simultaneous with the sideslip divergence, the model became longitudinally unstable at 3 degree angle of attack and -6 degree sideslip and diverged in pitch to a high angle of attack. During the pitch-up the free-floating horizontal tail became unstable at 5 degree angle of attack and the tail drifted against its positive deflection limit.

  11. A Linear Analysis of a Blended Wing Body (BWB Aircraft Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudia Alice STATE

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available In this article a linear analysis of a Blended Wing Body (BWB aircraft model is performed. The BWB concept is in the attention of both military and civil sectors for the fact that has reduced radar signature (in the absence of a conventional tail and the possibility to carry more people. The trim values are computed, also the eigenvalues and the Jacobian matrix evaluated into the trim point are analyzed. A linear simulation in the MatLab environment is presented in order to express numerically the symbolic computations presented. The initial system is corrected in the way of increasing the consistency and coherence of the modeled type of motion and, also, suggestions are made for future work.

  12. Status, biometrics, moult and possible relationships of the South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The breeding population of Roseate Terns in southern Africa was estimated to be 250–260 pairs in 2000. Adult birds caught during nocturnal tern roost mist-netting on Bird Island and at Cape Recife, both in Algoa Bay, were closest to their North Atlantic counterparts in wing, bill, total head length, tail and mass ...

  13. Structural Analysis of a Dragonfly Wing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jongerius, S.R.; Lentink, D.

    2010-01-01

    Dragonfly wings are highly corrugated, which increases the stiffness and strength of the wing significantly, and results in a lightweight structure with good aerodynamic performance. How insect wings carry aerodynamic and inertial loads, and how the resonant frequency of the flapping wings is tuned

  14. Butterflies regulate wing temperatures using radiative cooling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, Cheng-Chia; Shi, Norman Nan; Ren, Crystal; Pelaez, Julianne; Bernard, Gary D.; Yu, Nanfang; Pierce, Naomi

    2017-09-01

    Butterfly wings are live organs embedded with multiple sensory neurons and, in some species, with pheromoneproducing cells. The proper function of butterfly wings demands a suitable temperature range, but the wings can overheat quickly in the sun due to their small thermal capacity. We developed an infrared technique to map butterfly wing temperatures and discovered that despite the wings' diverse visible colors, regions of wings that contain live cells are the coolest, resulting from the thickness of the wings and scale nanostructures. We also demonstrated that butterflies use behavioral traits to prevent overheating of their wings.

  15. A wrinkle in flight: the role of elastin fibres in the mechanical behaviour of bat wing membranes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheney, Jorn A; Konow, Nicolai; Bearnot, Andrew; Swartz, Sharon M

    2015-05-06

    Bats fly using a thin wing membrane composed of compliant, anisotropic skin. Wing membrane skin deforms dramatically as bats fly, and its three-dimensional configurations depend, in large part, on the mechanical behaviour of the tissue. Large, macroscopic elastin fibres are an unusual mechanical element found in the skin of bat wings. We characterize the fibre orientation and demonstrate that elastin fibres are responsible for the distinctive wrinkles in the surrounding membrane matrix. Uniaxial mechanical testing of the wing membrane, both parallel and perpendicular to elastin fibres, is used to distinguish the contribution of elastin and the surrounding matrix to the overall membrane mechanical behaviour. We find that the matrix is isotropic within the plane of the membrane and responsible for bearing load at high stress; elastin fibres are responsible for membrane anisotropy and only contribute substantially to load bearing at very low stress. The architecture of elastin fibres provides the extreme extensibility and self-folding/self-packing of the wing membrane skin. We relate these findings to flight with membrane wings and discuss the aeromechanical significance of elastin fibre pre-stress, membrane excess length, and how these parameters may aid bats in resisting gusts and preventing membrane flutter. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  16. Identification of the Nile crocodile Crocodylus niloticus by the use of natural tail marks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D.G.J. Swanepoel

    1996-08-01

    Full Text Available The tail marks of 190 Nile crocodiles Crocodylus niloticus were documented and processed into codes. The size of the crocodiles varied from 45 cm to 4.6 m in total length. Wherever possible, both sides of the tails were observed and the marks documented. In all remaining instances only one side could be identified. A total of 267 sides were identified. The natural marks on nine segments of a specific portion of the tail was recorded and compared as codes. For this comparison two methods were employed. Differences of 95.1 and 100 was found with the respective methods. This is an indication that every crocodile has a unique pattern of natural marks on its tail. The marks can therefore be used to allocate a code to an individual crocodile that partially eliminates the necessity of artificial marking methods.

  17. Identification of the Nile crocodile Crocodylus niloticus by the use of natural tail marks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D.G.J. Swanepoel

    1996-01-01

    Full Text Available The tail marks of 190 Nile crocodiles Crocodylus niloticus were documented and processed into codes. The size of the crocodiles varied from 45 cm to 4.6 m in total length. Wherever possible, both sides of the tails were observed and the marks documented. In all remaining instances only one side could be identified. A total of 267 sides were identified. The natural marks on nine segments of a specific portion of the tail was recorded and compared as codes. For this comparison two methods were employed. Differences of 95.1 and 100 was found with the respective methods. This is an indication that every crocodile has a unique pattern of natural marks on its tail. The marks can therefore be used to allocate a code to an individual crocodile that partially eliminates the necessity of artificial marking methods.

  18. Ionic Liquids with Symmetric Diether Tails: Bulk and Vacuum-Liquid Interfacial Structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hettige, Jeevapani J; Amith, Weththasinghage D; Castner, Edward W; Margulis, Claudio J

    2017-01-12

    The behavior in the bulk and at interfaces of biphilic ionic liquids in which either the cation or anion possesses moderately long alkyl tails is to a significant degree well understood. Less clear is what happens when both the cation and anion possess tails that are not apolar, such as in the case of ether functionalities. The current article discusses the structural characteristics of C2OC2OC2-mim + /C2OC2OC2-OSO 3 - in the bulk and at the vacuum interface. We find that the vacuum interface affects only the nanometer length scale. This is in contrast to what we have recently found in ( J. Phys. Chem. Lett. , 2016 , 7 ( 19 ), 3785 - -3790 ) for isoelectronic C[8]-mim + /C[8]-OSO 3 - , where the interface effect is long ranged. Interestingly, ions with the diether tail functionality still favor the tail-outward orientation at the vacuum interface and the bulk phase preserves the alternation between charged networks and tails that is commonly observed for biphilic ionic liquids. However, such alternation is less well-defined and results in a significantly diminished first sharp diffraction peak in the bulk liquid structure function.

  19. AERODYNAMICS OF WING TIP SAILS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MUSHTAK AL-ATABI

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Observers have always been fascinated by soaring birds. An interesting feature of these birds is the existence of few feathers extending from the tip of the wing. In this paper, small lifting surfaces were fitted to the tip of a NACA0012 wing in a fashion similar to that of wing tip feathers. Experimental measurements of induced drag, longitudinal static stability and trailing vortex structure were obtained.The tests showed that adding wing tip surfaces (sails decreased the induced drag factor and increased the longitudinal static stability. Results identified two discrete appositely rotated tip vortices and showed the ability of wing tip surfaces to break them down and to diffuse them.

  20. Sperm traits differ between winged and wingless males of the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schrempf, Alexandra; Moser, Astrid; Delabie, Jacques; Heinze, Jürgen

    2016-11-01

    Size and shape of sperm cells vary tremendously throughout the animal kingdom. The adaptive significance of this variation is not fully understood. In addition to sperm-female interactions and the environmental conditions, the risk of sperm competition might affect number, morphology and other "quality" traits of sperm. In the male-diphenic ant Cardiocondyla obscurior, winged sneaker males have limited sperm number, because their testes degenerate shortly after adult emergence, as is typical for males of social Hymenoptera. In contrast, wingless fighter males continuously replenish their sperm supply due to their exceptional lifelong spermatogenesis. While winged males usually have to compete with several other winged males for virgin queens, wingless males are able to monopolize queens by killing all other rivals. Hence, this presents a unique system to investigate how alternative reproductive tactics and associated physiology affect sperm morphology and viability. We found that sperm-limited males invest into sperm number instead of sperm size. Variance in sperm length is smaller in winged males, probably reflecting that they have to compete with several other males. Finally, sperm viability is equally high in both male phenotypes. © 2016 International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  1. Uranium Mill Tailings Management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelson, J.D.

    1982-01-01

    This book presents the papers given at the Fifth Symposium on Uranium Mill Tailings Management. Advances made with regard to uranium mill tailings management, environmental effects, regulations, and reclamation are reviewed. Topics considered include tailings management and design (e.g., the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project, environmental standards for uranium mill tailings disposal), surface stabilization (e.g., the long-term stability of tailings, long-term rock durability), radiological aspects (e.g. the radioactive composition of airborne particulates), contaminant migration (e.g., chemical transport beneath a uranium mill tailings pile, the interaction of acidic leachate with soils), radon control and covers (e.g., radon emanation characteristics, designing surface covers for inactive uranium mill tailings), and seepage and liners (e.g., hydrologic observations, liner requirements)

  2. Adaptive wing : Investigations of passive wing technologies for loads reduction in the cleansky smart fixed wing aircraft (SFWA) project

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kruger, W.R.; Dillinger, J; De Breuker, R.; Reyes, M.; Haydn, K.

    2016-01-01

    In the work package “Adaptive Wing” in the Clean-Sky “Smart Fixed Wing Aircraft” (SFWA) project, design processes and solutions for aircraft wings have been created, giving optimal response with respect to loads, comfort and performance by the introduction of passive and active concepts. Central

  3. More tail lesions among undocked than tail docked pigs in a conventional herd

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lahrmann, H. P.; Busch, M. E.; D'Eath, R. B.

    2017-01-01

    The vast majority of piglets reared in the European Union (EU) and worldwide is tail docked to reduce the risk of being tail bitten, even though EU animal welfare legislation bans routine tail docking. Many conventional herds experience low levels of tail biting among tail docked pigs, however...

  4. AMELIA CESTOL Test: Acoustic Characteristics of Circulation Control Wing with Leading- and Trailing-Edge Slot Blowing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horne, William C.; Burnside, Nathan J.

    2013-01-01

    The AMELIA Cruise-Efficient Short Take-off and Landing (CESTOL) configuration concept was developed to meet future requirements of reduced field length, noise, and fuel burn by researchers at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and Georgia Tech Research Institute under sponsorship by the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program (FAP), Subsonic Fixed Wing Project. The novel configuration includes leading- and trailing-edge circulation control wing (CCW), over-wing podded turbine propulsion simulation (TPS). Extensive aerodynamic measurements of forces, surfaces pressures, and wing surface skin friction measurements were recently measured over a wide range of test conditions in the Arnold Engineering Development Center(AEDC) National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) 40- by 80-Ft Wind Tunnel. Acoustic measurements of the model were also acquired for each configuration with 7 fixed microphones on a line under the left wing, and with a 48-element, 40-inch diameter phased microphone array under the right wing. This presentation will discuss acoustic characteristics of the CCW system for a variety of tunnel speeds (0 to 120 kts), model configurations (leading edge(LE) and/or trailing-edge(TE) slot blowing, and orientations (incidence and yaw) based on acoustic measurements acquired concurrently with the aerodynamic measurements. The flow coefficient, Cmu= mVSLOT/qSW varied from 0 to 0.88 at 40 kts, and from 0 to 0.15 at 120 kts. Here m is the slot mass flow rate, VSLOT is the slot exit velocity, q is dynamic pressure, and SW is wing surface area. Directivities at selected 1/3 octave bands will be compared with comparable measurements of a 2-D wing at GTRI, as will as microphone array near-field measurements of the right wing at maximum flow rate. The presentation will include discussion of acoustic sensor calibrations as well as characterization of the wind tunnel background noise environment.

  5. Life Cycle Characterization of Sulfolobus Monocaudavirus 1, an Extremophilic Spindle-Shaped Virus with Extracellular Tail Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uldahl, Kristine B; Jensen, Signe B; Bhoobalan-Chitty, Yuvaraj; Martínez-Álvarez, Laura; Papathanasiou, Pavlos; Peng, Xu

    2016-06-15

    We provide here, for the first time, insights into the initial infection stages of a large spindle-shaped archaeal virus and explore the following life cycle events. Our observations suggest that Sulfolobus monocaudavirus 1 (SMV1) exhibits a high adsorption rate and that virions adsorb to the host cells via three distinct attachment modes: nosecone association, body association, and body/tail association. In the body/tail association mode, the entire virion, including the tail(s), aligns to the host cell surface and the main body is greatly flattened, suggesting a possible fusion entry mechanism. Upon infection, the intracellular replication cycle lasts about 8 h, at which point the virions are released as spindle-shaped tailless particles. Replication of the virus retarded host growth but did not cause lysis of the host cells. Once released from the host and at temperatures resembling that of its natural habitat, SMV1 starts developing one or two tails. This exceptional property of undergoing a major morphological development outside, and independently of, the host cell has been reported only once before for the related Acidianus two-tailed virus. Here, we show that SMV1 can develop tails of more than 900 nm in length, more than quadrupling the total virion length. Very little is known about the initial life cycle stages of viruses infecting hosts of the third domain of life, Archaea This work describes the first example of an archaeal virus employing three distinct association modes. The virus under study, Sulfolobus monocaudavirus 1, is a representative of the large spindle-shaped viruses that are frequently found in acidic hot springs. The results described here will add valuable knowledge about Archaea, the least studied domain in the virology field. Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  6. Stiffness of desiccating insect wings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mengesha, T E; Vallance, R R; Mittal, R

    2011-01-01

    The stiffness of insect wings is typically determined through experimental measurements. Such experiments are performed on wings removed from insects. However, the wings are subject to desiccation which typically leads to an increase in their stiffness. Although this effect of desiccation is well known, a comprehensive study of the rate of change in stiffness of desiccating insect wings would be a significant aid in planning experiments as well as interpreting data from such experiments. This communication presents a comprehensive experimental analysis of the change in mass and stiffness of gradually desiccating forewings of Painted Lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui). Mass and stiffness of the forewings of five butterflies were simultaneously measured every 10 min over a 24 h period. The averaged results show that wing mass declined exponentially by 21.1% over this time period with a time constant of 9.8 h, while wing stiffness increased linearly by 46.2% at a rate of 23.4 μN mm -1 h -1 . For the forewings of a single butterfly, the experiment was performed over a period of 1 week, and the results show that wing mass declined exponentially by 52.2% with a time constant of 30.2 h until it reached a steady-state level of 2.00 mg, while wing stiffness increased exponentially by 90.7% until it reached a steady-state level of 1.70 mN mm -1 . (communication)

  7. Stiffness of desiccating insect wings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mengesha, T E; Vallance, R R [Department of Mechanical Engineering, The George Washington University, 738 Phillips Hall, 801 22nd St NW, Washington, DC 20052 (United States); Mittal, R, E-mail: vallance@gwu.edu [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 126 Latrobe Hall, 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)

    2011-03-15

    The stiffness of insect wings is typically determined through experimental measurements. Such experiments are performed on wings removed from insects. However, the wings are subject to desiccation which typically leads to an increase in their stiffness. Although this effect of desiccation is well known, a comprehensive study of the rate of change in stiffness of desiccating insect wings would be a significant aid in planning experiments as well as interpreting data from such experiments. This communication presents a comprehensive experimental analysis of the change in mass and stiffness of gradually desiccating forewings of Painted Lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui). Mass and stiffness of the forewings of five butterflies were simultaneously measured every 10 min over a 24 h period. The averaged results show that wing mass declined exponentially by 21.1% over this time period with a time constant of 9.8 h, while wing stiffness increased linearly by 46.2% at a rate of 23.4 {mu}N mm{sup -1} h{sup -1}. For the forewings of a single butterfly, the experiment was performed over a period of 1 week, and the results show that wing mass declined exponentially by 52.2% with a time constant of 30.2 h until it reached a steady-state level of 2.00 mg, while wing stiffness increased exponentially by 90.7% until it reached a steady-state level of 1.70 mN mm{sup -1}. (communication)

  8. An energetic perspective on tissue regeneration: The costs of tail autotomy in growing geckos.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Starostová, Zuzana; Gvoždík, Lumír; Kratochvíl, Lukáš

    2017-04-01

    Tail autotomy is a crucial antipredatory lizard response, which greatly increases individual survival, but at the same time also compromises locomotor performance, sacrifices energy stores and induces a higher burden due to the ensuing response of regenerating the lost body part. The potential costs of tail autotomy include shifts in energy allocation and metabolic rates, especially in juveniles, which invest their energy primarily in somatic growth. We compared the metabolic rates and followed the growth of juvenile males with and without regenerating tails in the Madagascar ground gecko (Paroedura picta), a nocturnal ground-dwelling lizard. Geckos with intact tails and those that were regrowing them grew in snout-vent-length at similar rates for 22weeks after autotomy. Tail regeneration had a negligible influence on body mass-corrected metabolic rate measured at regular intervals throughout the regenerative process. We conclude that fast-growing juveniles under the conditions of unrestricted food can largely compensate for costs of tail loss and regeneration in their somatic growth without a significant impact on the total individual body mass-corrected metabolic rate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. An experimental study of the unsteady vortex structures in the wake of a root-fixed flapping wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Hui; Clemons, Lucas; Igarashi, Hirofumi

    2011-08-01

    An experimental study was conducted to characterize the evolution of the unsteady vortex structures in the wake of a root-fixed flapping wing with the wing size, stroke amplitude, and flapping frequency within the range of insect characteristics for the development of novel insect-sized nano-air-vehicles (NAVs). The experiments were conducted in a low-speed wing tunnel with a miniaturized piezoelectric wing (i.e., chord length, C = 12.7 mm) flapping at a frequency of 60 Hz (i.e., f = 60 Hz). The non-dimensional parameters of the flapping wing are chord Reynolds number of Re = 1,200, reduced frequency of k = 3.5, and non-dimensional flapping amplitude at wingtip h = A/C = 1.35. The corresponding Strouhal number (Str) is 0.33 , which is well within the optimal range of 0.2 flying insects and birds and swimming fishes for locomotion. A digital particle image velocimetry (PIV) system was used to achieve phased-locked and time-averaged flow field measurements to quantify the transient behavior of the wake vortices in relation to the positions of the flapping wing during the upstroke and down stroke flapping cycles. The characteristics of the wake vortex structures in the chordwise cross planes at different wingspan locations were compared quantitatively to elucidate underlying physics for a better understanding of the unsteady aerodynamics of flapping flight and to explore/optimize design paradigms for the development of novel insect-sized, flapping-wing-based NAVs.

  10. Experimental Study on Wing Crack Behaviours in Dynamic-Static Superimposed Stress Field Using Caustics and High-Speed Photography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L.Y. Yang

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available During the drill-and-blast progress in rock tunnel excavation of great deep mine, rock fracture is evaluated by both blasting load and pre-exiting earth stress (pre-compression. Many pre-existing flaws in the rock mass, like micro-crack, also seriously affect the rock fracture pattern. Under blasting load with pre-compression, micro-cracks initiate, propagate and grow to be wing cracks. With an autonomous design of static-dynamic loading system, dynamic and static loads were applied on some PMMA plate specimen with pre-existing crack, and the behaviour of the wing crack was tested by caustics corroding with a high-speed photography. Four programs with different static loading modes that generate different pre-compression fields were executed, and the length, velocity of the blasting wing crack and dynamic stress intensity factor (SIF at the wing crack tip were analyzed and discussed. It is found that the behaviour of blasting-induced wing crack is affected obviously by blasting and pre-compression. And pre-compression, which is vertical to the direction of the wing crack propagation, hinders the crack propagation. Furthermore, the boundary constraint condition plays an important role on the behaviour of blasting induced crack during the experiment.

  11. Control of Flow Structure on Non-Slender Delta Wing: Bio-inspired Edge Modifications, Passive Bleeding, and Pulsed Blowing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yavuz, Mehmet Metin; Celik, Alper; Cetin, Cenk

    2016-11-01

    In the present study, different flow control approaches including bio-inspired edge modifications, passive bleeding, and pulsed blowing are introduced and applied for the flow over non-slender delta wing. Experiments are conducted in a low speed wind tunnel for a 45 degree swept delta wing using qualitative and quantitative measurement techniques including laser illuminated smoke visualization, particle image velocimety (PIV), and surface pressure measurements. For the bio-inspired edge modifications, the edges of the wing are modified to dolphin fluke geometry. In addition, the concept of flexion ratio, a ratio depending on the flexible length of animal propulsors such as wings, is introduced. For passive bleeding, directing the free stream air from the pressure side of the planform to the suction side of the wing is applied. For pulsed blowing, periodic air injection through the leading edge of the wing is performed in a square waveform with 25% duty cycle at different excitation frequencies and compared with the steady and no blowing cases. The results indicate that each control approach is quite effective in terms of altering the overall flow structure on the planform. However, the success level, considering the elimination of stall or delaying the vortex breakdown, depends on the parameters in each method.

  12. s-wave scattering for deep potentials with attractive tails falling off faster than -1/r2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mueller, Tim-Oliver; Kaiser, Alexander; Friedrich, Harald

    2011-01-01

    For potentials with attractive tails, as occur in typical atomic interactions, we present a simple formula for the s-wave phase shift δ 0 . It exposes a universal dependence of δ 0 (E) on the potential tail and the influence of effects specific to a given potential, which enter via the scattering length a, or equivalently, the noninteger part Δ th of the threshold quantum number n th . The formula accurately reproduces δ 0 (E) from threshold up to the semiclassical regime, far beyond the validity of the effective-range expansion. We derive the tail functions occurring in the formula for δ 0 (E) and demonstrate the validity of the formula for attractive potential tails proportional to 1/r 6 or to 1/r 4 , and also for a mixed potential tail consisting of a 1/r 4 term together with a non-negligible 1/r 6 contribution.

  13. Imaging the Sources and Full Extent of the Sodium Tail of the Planet Mercury

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumgardner, Jeffrey; Wilson, Jody; Mendillo, Michael

    2008-01-01

    Observations of sodium emission from Mercury can be used to describe the spatial and temporal patterns of sources and sinks in the planet s surface-boundary-exosphere. We report on new data sets that provide the highest spatial resolution of source regions at polar latitudes, as well as the extraordinary length of a tail of escaping Na atoms. The tail s extent of approx.1.5 degrees (nearly 1400 Mercury radii) is driven by radiation pressure effects upon Na atoms sputtered from the surface in the previous approx.5 hours. Wide-angle filtered-imaging instruments are thus capable of studying the time history of sputtering processes of sodium and other species at Mercury from ground-based observatories in concert with upcoming satellite missions to the planet. Plasma tails produced by photo-ionization of Na and other gases in Mercury s neutral tails may be observable by in-situ instruments.

  14. Effect of wing mass in free flight by a butterfly-like 3D flapping wing-body model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Kosuke; Okada, Iori; Yoshino, Masato

    2016-11-01

    The effect of wing mass in free flight of a flapping wing is investigated by numerical simulations based on an immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method. We consider a butterfly-like 3D flapping wing-model consisting of two square wings with uniform mass density connected by a rod-shaped body. We simulate free flights of the wing-body model with various mass ratios of the wing to the whole of the model. As a result, it is found that the lift and thrust forces decrease as the mass ratio increases, since the body with a large mass ratio experiences large vertical and horizontal oscillations in one period and consequently the wing tip speed relatively decreases. In addition, we find the critical mass ratio between upward flight and downward flight for various Reynolds numbers. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP16K18012.

  15. MODEL TESTS AND 3D ELASTIC FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS FOR STEEL PIPE PILES WITH WINGS IN STALLED IN SOIL CEMENT COLUMN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamai, Toshiyuki; Teramoto, Shuntarou; Kimura, Makoto

    Steel pipe piles with wings installed in soil cement column is a composite foundation of pile consisting of soil improvement with cement and steel pipe with wings. This type of pile shows higher vertical bearing capacity when compared to steel pipe piles that are installed without soil cement. It is thought the wings contribute to higher bearing capacity of this type of piles. The wings are also thought to play the role of structural unification of pile foundations and load transfer. In this study, model test and 3D elastic finite element analysis was carried out in order to elucidate the effect of wings on the structural unification of pile foundation and the load transfer mechanism. Firstly, the model test was carried out in order to grasp the influence of pile with and without wings, the shape of wings of the pile and the unconfined compression strength of the soil cement on the structural unification of the pile foundation. The numerical analysis of the model test was then carried out on the intermediate part of the pile foundation with wings and mathematical model developed. Finally load tran sfer mechanism was checked for the entire length of the pile through this mathematical model and the load sharing ratio of the wings and stress distribution occurring in the soil cement clarified. In addition, the effect of the wing interval on the structural unification of the pile foundation and load transfer was also checked and clarified.

  16. Analysis of bat wings for morphing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leylek, Emily A.; Manzo, Justin E.; Garcia, Ephrahim

    2008-03-01

    The morphing of wings from three different bat species is studied using an extension of the Weissinger method. To understand how camber affects performance factors such as lift and lift to drag ratio, XFOIL is used to study thin (3% thickness to chord ratio) airfoils at a low Reynolds number of 100,000. The maximum camber of 9% yielded the largest lift coefficient, and a mid-range camber of 7% yielded the largest lift to drag ratio. Correlations between bat wing morphology and flight characteristics are covered, and the three bat wing planforms chosen represent various combinations of morphological components and different flight modes. The wings are studied using the extended Weissinger method in an "unmorphed" configuration using a thin, symmetric airfoil across the span of the wing through angles of attack of 0°-15°. The wings are then run in the Weissinger method at angles of attack of -2° to 12° in a "morphed" configuration modeled after bat wings seen in flight, where the camber of the airfoils comprising the wings is varied along the span and a twist distribution along the span is introduced. The morphed wing configurations increase the lift coefficient over 1000% from the unmorphed configuration and increase the lift to drag ratio over 175%. The results of the three different species correlate well with their flight in nature.

  17. Presentations of the CONRAD tailings seminar : exploring the past, present and future of tailings technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-01-01

    This symposium explored oil sand tailings activities in Canada and their associated technologies. It was attended by active and prospective tailings researchers and developers of tailings technology who addressed timely issues regarding mature fine tailings, consolidated tailings, thickened tailings, and emerging tailings technologies. The collaborative research projects that are underway at the Oil Sands Tailings Research Facility were also discussed along with other topics such as tailings ponds management, water treatment, water quality and water supply security. All 16 presentations featured at this conference were indexed separately for inclusion in this database

  18. FARADAY ROTATION IN THE TAIL OF THE PLANETARY NEBULA DeHt 5

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ransom, R. R.; Kothes, R.; Wolleben, M.; Landecker, T. L.

    2010-01-01

    We present 1420 MHz polarization images of a 5 0 x 5 0 region around the planetary nebula (PN) DeHt 5. The images reveal narrow Faraday-rotation structures on the visible disk of DeHt 5, as well as two wider, tail-like, structures 'behind' DeHt 5. Though DeHt 5 is an old PN known to be interacting with the interstellar medium (ISM), a tail has not previously been identified for this object. The innermost tail is ∼3 pc long and runs away from the northeast edge of DeHt 5 in a direction roughly opposite that of the sky-projected space velocity of the white dwarf central star, WD 2218+706. We believe this tail to be the signature of ionized material ram-pressure stripped and deposited downstream during a >74,000 yr interaction between DeHt 5 and the ISM. We estimate the rotation measure (RM) through the inner tail to be -15 ± 5 rad m -2 , and, using a realistic estimate for the line-of-sight component of the ISM magnetic field around DeHt 5, derive an electron density in the inner tail of n e = 3.6 ± 1.8 cm -3 . Assuming the material is fully ionized, we estimate a total mass in the inner tail of 0.68 ± 0.33 M sun and predict that 0.49 ± 0.33 M sun was added during the PN-ISM interaction. The outermost tail consists of a series of three roughly circular components, which have a collective length of ∼11.0 pc. This tail is less conspicuous than the inner tail and may be the signature of the earlier interaction between the WD 2218+706 asymptotic giant branch (AGB) progenitor and the ISM. The results for the inner and outer tails are consistent with hydrodynamic simulations and may have implications for the PN missing-mass problem as well as for models which describe the impact of the deaths of intermediate-mass stars on the ISM.

  19. Beetle wings are inflatable origami

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Rui; Ren, Jing; Ge, Siqin; Hu, David

    2015-11-01

    Beetles keep their wings folded and protected under a hard shell. In times of danger, they must unfold them rapidly in order for them to fly to escape. Moreover, they must do so across a range of body mass, from 1 mg to 10 grams. How can they unfold their wings so quickly? We use high-speed videography to record wing unfolding times, which we relate to the geometry of the network of blood vessels in the wing. Larger beetles have longer unfolding times. Modeling of the flow of blood through the veins successfully accounts for the wing unfolding speed of large beetles. However, smaller beetles have anomalously short unfolding times, suggesting they have lower blood viscosity or higher driving pressure. The use of hydraulics to unfold complex objects may have implications in the design of micro-flying air vehicles.

  20. Effect of fuel volatility on performance of tail-pipe burner

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barson, Zelmar; Sargent, Arthur F , Jr

    1951-01-01

    Fuels having Reid vapor pressures of 6.3 and 1.0 pounds per square inch were investigated in a tail-pipe burner on an axial-flow-type turbojet engine at a simulated flight Mach number of 0.6 and altitudes from 20,000 to 45,000 feet. With the burner configuration used in this investigation, having a mixing length of only 8 inches between the fuel manifold and the flame holder, the low-vapor-pressure fuel gave lower combustion efficiency at a given tail-pipe fuel-air ratio. Because the exhaust-nozzle area was fixed, the lower efficiency resulted in lower thrust and higher specific fuel consumption. The maximum altitude at which the burner would operate was practically unaffected by the change in fuel volatility.

  1. Galaxies with long tails

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schweizer, F.

    1978-01-01

    Two types of galaxies with long tails are described. The first occurs in pairs, each individual one having a long tail and the second occurs on its own with two tails. NGC 7252 shows several characteristics which one would expect of a merger: a pair of tidal tails despite the splendid isolation, a single nucleus, tail motions in opposite directions relative to the nucleus, and chaotic motions of a strangely looped main body. (C.F.)

  2. Rotary balance data for a typical single-engine general aviation design for an angle-of-attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg. 1: Low-wing model A. [fluid flow and vortices data for general aviation aircraft to determine aerodynamic characteristics for various designs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hultberg, R. S.; Mulcay, W.

    1980-01-01

    Aerodynamic characteristics obtained in a rotational flow environment utilizing a rotary balance are presented in plotted form for a 1/5 scale, single engine, low-wing, general aviation airplane model. The configuration tested included the basic airplane, various control deflections, tail designs, fuselage shapes, and wing leading edges. Data are presented without analysis for an angle of attack range of 8 to 90 deg and clockwise and counterclockwise rotations covering a range from 0 to 0.85.

  3. Attitudes of Dutch Pig Farmers Towards Tail Biting and Tail Docking

    OpenAIRE

    Bracke, M.B.M.; Lauwere, de, C.C.; Wind, S.M.M.; Zonderland, J.J.

    2013-01-01

    The Dutch policy objective of a fully sustainable livestock sector without mutilations by 2023 is not compatible with the routine practice of tail docking to minimize the risk of tail biting. To examine farmer attitudes towards docking, a telephone survey was conducted among 487 conventional and 33 organic Dutch pig farmers. “Biting” (of tails, ears, or limbs) was identified by the farmers as a main welfare problem in pig farming. About half of the farmers reported to have no tail biting prob...

  4. Low Complexity Tail-Biting Trellises for Some Extremal Self-Dual Codes

    OpenAIRE

    Olocco , Grégory; Otmani , Ayoub

    2002-01-01

    International audience; We obtain low complexity tail-biting trellises for some extremal self-dual codes for various lengths and fields such as the [12,6,6] ternary Golay code and a [24,12,8] Hermitian self-dual code over GF(4). These codes are obtained from a particular family of cyclic Tanner graphs called necklace factor graphs.

  5. Lightning protection design and testing of an all composite wet wing for the Egrett

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burrows, B. J. C.; Haigh, S. J.; Chessum, C.; Dunkley, V. P.

    1991-01-01

    The Egrett aircraft has an all composite wing comprising CFC(carbon fiber composite)/Nomex sandwich skins, full length CFC main spar caps, and GFRP (glass fiber reinforced plastics) main and auxiliary spar webs. It also has short inboard CFC auxiliary spar caps. It has fine aluminum wires woven into the surface for protection. It has an integral fuel tank using the CFC/Nomex skins as the upper and lower tank walls, and lies between the forward auxiliary spar and the forward of the two main spar webs. The fuel tank is not bagged, i.e., it is in effect a wet wing tank. It has conventional capacitive type fuel gauging. The aircraft was cleared to IFR standards and so required full lightning protection and demonstration that it would survive the lightning environment. The lightning protection was designed for the wing (and also for the remainder of the aircraft). An inner wing test samples (which included a part of the fuel tank) were tested as part of the proving program. The protection design and the testing process are described. The intrinsic structural features are indicated that improve lightning protection design and which therefore minimize the weight and cost of any added lightning protection components.

  6. RLV-TD Flight Measured Aeroacoustic Levels and its Comparison with Predictions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manokaran, K.; Prasath, M.; Venkata Subrahmanyam, B.; Ganesan, V. R.; Ravindran, Archana; Babu, C.

    2017-12-01

    The Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) is a wing body configuration successfully flight tested. One of the important flight measurements is the acoustic levels. There were five external microphones, mounted on the fuselage-forebody, wing, vertical tail, inter-stage (ITS) and core base shroud to measure the acoustic levels from lift-off to splash down. In the ascent phase, core base shroud recorded the overall maximum at both lift-off and transonic conditions. In-flight noise levels measured on the wing is second highest, followed by fuselage and vertical tail. Predictions for flight trajectory compare well at all locations except for vertical tail (4.5 dB). In the descent phase, maximum measured OASPL occurs at transonic condition for the wing, followed by vertical tail and fuselage. Predictions for flight trajectory compare well at all locations except for wing (- 6.0 dB). Spectrum comparison is good in the ascent phase compared to descent phase. Roll Reaction control system (RCS) thruster firing signature is seen in the acoustic measurements on the wing and vertical tail during lift-off.

  7. FijiWingsPolarity: An open source toolkit for semi-automated detection of cell polarity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobens, Leonard L; Shipman, Anna; Axelrod, Jeffrey D

    2018-01-02

    Epithelial cells are defined by apical-basal and planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling, the latter of which establishes an orthogonal plane of polarity in the epithelial sheet. PCP signaling is required for normal cell migration, differentiation, stem cell generation and tissue repair, and defects in PCP have been associated with developmental abnormalities, neuropathologies and cancers. While the molecular mechanism of PCP is incompletely understood, the deepest insights have come from Drosophila, where PCP is manifest in hairs and bristles across the adult cuticle and organization of the ommatidia in the eye. Fly wing cells are marked by actin-rich trichome structures produced at the distal edge of each cell in the developing wing epithelium and in a mature wing the trichomes orient collectively in the distal direction. Genetic screens have identified key PCP signaling pathway components that disrupt trichome orientation, which has been measured manually in a tedious and error prone process. Here we describe a set of image processing and pattern-recognition macros that can quantify trichome arrangements in micrographs and mark these directly by color, arrow or colored arrow to indicate trichome location, length and orientation. Nearest neighbor calculations are made to exploit local differences in orientation to better and more reliably detect and highlight local defects in trichome polarity. We demonstrate the use of these tools on trichomes in adult wing preps and on actin-rich developing trichomes in pupal wing epithelia stained with phalloidin. FijiWingsPolarity is freely available and will be of interest to a broad community of fly geneticists studying the effect of gene function on PCP.

  8. The complete mitochondrial genome of the tiger tail seahorse, Hippocampus comes (Teleostei, Syngnathidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Chia-Hao; Lin, Han-Yang; Jang-Liaw, Nian-Hong; Shao, Kwang-Tsao; Lin, Yeong-Shin; Ho, Hsuan-Ching

    2013-06-01

    The complete mitochondrial genome of the tiger tail seahorse was sequenced using a polymerase chain reaction-based method. The total length of mitochondrial DNA is 16,525 bp and includes 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA, 22 transfer RNA genes, and a control region. The mitochondrial gene arrangement of the tiger tail seahorse is also matching the one observed in the most vertebrate creatures. Base composition of the genome is A (32.8%), T (29.8%), C (23.0%), and G (14.4%) with an A+T-rich hallmark as that of other vertebrate mitochondrial genomes.

  9. Flapping-wing mechanical butterfly on a wheel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Godoy-Diana, Ramiro; Thiria, Benjamin; Pradal, Daniel

    2009-11-01

    We examine the propulsive performance of a flapping-wing device turning on a ``merry-go-round'' type base. The two-wing flapper is attached to a mast that is ball-bearing mounted to a central shaft in such a way that the thrust force produced by the wings makes the flapper turn around this shaft. The oscillating lift force produced by the flapping wings is aligned with the mast to avoid vibration of the system. A turning contact allows to power the motor that drives the wings. We measure power consumption and cruising speed as a function of flapping frequency and amplitude as well as wing flexibility. The design of the wings permits to change independently their flexibility in the span-wise and chord-wise directions and PIV measurements in various planes let us examine the vorticity field around the device. A complete study of the effect of wing flexibility on the propulsive performance of the system will be presented at the conference.

  10. Bar-tailed

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Duijns, S.; Hidayati, N.A.; Piersma, T.

    2013-01-01

    Capsule Across the European wintering range Bar-tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica lapponica selected polychaete worms and especially Ragworms Hediste diversicolor, with differences between areas due to variations in prey availability.Aims To determine the diet of Bar-tailed Godwits across their

  11. Wind tunnel tests for a flapping wing model with a changeable camber using macro-fiber composite actuators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Dae-Kwan; Han, Jae-Hung; Kwon, Ki-Jung

    2009-01-01

    In the present study, a biomimetic flexible flapping wing was developed on a real ornithopter scale by using macro-fiber composite (MFC) actuators. With the actuators, the maximum camber of the wing can be linearly changed from −2.6% to +4.4% of the maximum chord length. Aerodynamic tests were carried out in a low-speed wind tunnel to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics, particularly the camber effect, the chordwise flexibility effect and the unsteady effect. Although the chordwise wing flexibility reduces the effective angle of attack, the maximum lift coefficient can be increased by the MFC actuators up to 24.4% in a static condition. Note also that the mean values of the perpendicular force coefficient rise to a value of considerably more than 3 in an unsteady aerodynamic flow region. Additionally, particle image velocimetry (PIV) tests were performed in static and dynamic test conditions to validate the flexibility and unsteady effects. The static PIV results confirm that the effective angle of attack is reduced by the coupling of the chordwise flexibility and the aerodynamic force, resulting in a delay in the stall phenomena. In contrast to the quasi-steady flow condition of a relatively high advance ratio, the unsteady aerodynamic effect due to a leading edge vortex can be found along the wing span in a low advance ratio region. The overall results show that the chordwise wing flexibility can produce a positive effect on flapping aerodynamic characteristics in quasi-steady and unsteady flow regions; thus, wing flexibility should be considered in the design of efficient flapping wings

  12. TAIL ASYMPTOTICS OF LIGHT-TAILED WEIBULL-LIKE SUMS

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Asmussen, Soren; Hashorva, Enkelejd; Laub, Patrick J.

    2017-01-01

    We consider sums of n i.i.d. random variables with tails close to exp{-x(beta)} for some beta > 1. Asymptotics developed by Rootzen (1987) and Balkema, Kluppelberg, and Resnick (1993) are discussed from the point of view of tails rather than of densities, using a somewhat different angle...

  13. Effects of weather and tailings properties on tailings drying times

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gantzer, C.; Fasking, T.; Costello, M.; Greenwood, J. [Barr Engineering, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2010-07-01

    This PowerPoint presentation presented the results of a study conducted to determine the effects of weather and tailings properties on tailings drying times. Weather conditions have a significant impact the potential evaporation (PE) and actual evaporation (AE) of oil sands tailings. A 2-stage drying of slurry at a constant PE was conducted to determine the shrinkage limit of untreated mature fine tailings (MFT). An evaporation and seepage model was used to determine maximum first-stage drying rates. Measurements were also taken in a wind tunnel. Potential evaporation rates were calculated and evaporative water losses from the MFT were determined. Estimated drying times were presented. Results of the approach were compared with field measurements conducted in a previous study. Results of the study showed that evaporative water loss rates for May through August were limited by the properties of the tailings. Water loss rates were limited by weather for other months in the year-long study. tabs., figs.

  14. Cameco engineered tailings program: linking research with industrial processes for improved tailings performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kotzer, T.; Hendry, M.J.

    2011-01-01

    The waste product from uranium mining and milling that generates the greatest public and regulatory concern is tailings. The tailings contain all of the mined material except uranium plus a host of processing reagents. These minerals and compounds have the potential to harm the local environment if not deposited in a fashion that is both geochemically and geotechnically stable. Environmental leadership impels Cameco Corporation to ensure that the methods used to dispose of tailings are at the forefront of best available technologies whereby tailings production results in a product with geotechnical and geochemical characteristics that minimize the environmental impact associated with long-term storage of this product. Cameco has developed an Engineered Tailings (ET) program to ensure optimization of long-term tailings performance and minimal impacts of elements of concern (EOCs) to the receiving environment, regardless of the ore being milled. Within this program chemical and physical performance of tailings from geochemical and geotechnical investigations and baseline environmental data, integrated with regulatory requirements and corporate commitments, will be used to evaluate and set criteria for mill- and tailings management facilities-based chemical and physical tailings characteristics, identify key knowledge gaps, prioritize areas of concern and implement appropriate responses. This paper provides an overview of the Engineered Tailings program, the research being conducted as part of the ET program, and how it links with present and future Cameco operations. (author)

  15. Common Noctule Bats Are Sexually Dimorphic in Migratory Behaviour and Body Size but Not Wing Shape.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M Teague O'Mara

    Full Text Available Within the large order of bats, sexual size dimorphism measured by forearm length and body mass is often female-biased. Several studies have explained this through the effects on load carrying during pregnancy, intrasexual competition, as well as the fecundity and thermoregulation advantages of increased female body size. We hypothesized that wing shape should differ along with size and be under variable selection pressure in a species where there are large differences in flight behaviour. We tested whether load carrying, sex differential migration, or reproductive advantages of large females affect size and wing shape dimorphism in the common noctule (Nyctalus noctula, in which females are typically larger than males and only females migrate long distances each year. We tested for univariate and multivariate size and shape dimorphism using data sets derived from wing photos and biometric data collected during pre-migratory spring captures in Switzerland. Females had forearms that are on average 1% longer than males and are 1% heavier than males after emerging from hibernation, but we found no sex differences in other size, shape, or other functional characters in any wing parameters during this pre-migratory period. Female-biased size dimorphism without wing shape differences indicates that reproductive advantages of big mothers are most likely responsible for sexual dimorphism in this species, not load compensation or shape differences favouring aerodynamic efficiency during pregnancy or migration. Despite large behavioural and ecological sex differences, morphology associated with a specialized feeding niche may limit potential dimorphism in narrow-winged bats such as common noctules and the dramatic differences in migratory behaviour may then be accomplished through plasticity in wing kinematics.

  16. Uranium tailings sampling manual

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feenstra, S.; Reades, D.W.; Cherry, J.A.; Chambers, D.B.; Case, G.G.; Ibbotson, B.G.

    1985-01-01

    The purpose of this manual is to describe the requisite sampling procedures for the application of uniform high-quality standards to detailed geotechnical, hydrogeological, geochemical and air quality measurements at Canadian uranium tailings disposal sites. The selection and implementation of applicable sampling procedures for such measurements at uranium tailings disposal sites are complicated by two primary factors. Firstly, the physical and chemical nature of uranium mine tailings and effluent is considerably different from natural soil materials and natural waters. Consequently, many conventional methods for the collection and analysis of natural soils and waters are not directly applicable to tailings. Secondly, there is a wide range in the physical and chemical nature of uranium tailings. The composition of the ore, the milling process, the nature of tailings depositon, and effluent treatment vary considerably and are highly site-specific. Therefore, the definition and implementation of sampling programs for uranium tailings disposal sites require considerable evaluation, and often innovation, to ensure that appropriate sampling and analysis methods are used which provide the flexibility to take into account site-specific considerations. The following chapters describe the objective and scope of a sampling program, preliminary data collection, and the procedures for sampling of tailings solids, surface water and seepage, tailings pore-water, and wind-blown dust and radon

  17. An Assessment of the Length and Variability of Mercury's Magnetotail

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milan, S. E.; Slavin, J. A.

    2011-01-01

    We employ Mariner 10 measurements of the interplanetary magnetic field in the vicinity of Mercury to estimate the rate of magnetic reconnection between the interplanetary magnetic field and the Hermean magnetosphere. We derive a time-series of the open magnetic flux in Mercury's magnetosphere. from which we can deduce the length of the magnetotail The length of the magnetotail is shown to be highly variable. with open field lines stretching between 15R(sub H) and 8S0R(sub H) downstream of the planet (median 150R(sub H)). Scaling laws allow the tail length at perihelion to be deduced from the aphelion Mariner 10 observations.

  18. Age determination of blue-winged teal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dane, C.W.

    1968-01-01

    Primary feather length, markings on the greater secondary coverts, and the degree of bill spotting were evaluated as characters for use in the spring to distinguish first-year, blue-winged teal (Anas discors) females from older ones. The length of the 10th primary feather did not prove suitable to separate different aged females. Extreme primary lengths might be used to determine the age of some males. In females that have been through a postnuptial molt the greater secondary coverts have a more symmetrical, and more acutely angled, white, inverted 'V'-marking. Any female with a 'V' subjectively classified as good has gone through at least one postnuptial molt, and a female with no sign of a 'V' on the coverts is a juvenile or yearling before her first postnuptial molt. By measuring the longest bill spot on the upper mandible of each known-age female, it was possible to determine the age of some female teal. Because the spots fade during the breeding season, no lower size limit could be set to delineate first-year females at that time of year, but any nest-trapped hen with a spot longer than 10 mm was considered to be older than 1 year. Upper and lower limits were also established to distinguish some yearlings and 2-year-olds in the fall.

  19. Vortex coupling in trailing vortex-wing interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, C.; Wang, Z.; Gursul, I.

    2018-03-01

    The interaction of trailing vortices of an upstream wing with rigid and flexible downstream wings has been investigated experimentally in a wind tunnel, using particle image velocimetry, hot-wire, force, and deformation measurements. Counter-rotating upstream vortices exhibit increased meandering when they are close to the tip of the downstream wing. The upstream vortex forms a pair with the vortex shed from the downstream wing and then exhibits large displacements around the wing tip. This coupled motion of the pair has been found to cause large lift fluctuations on the downstream wing. The meandering of the vortex pair occurs at the natural meandering frequency of the isolated vortex, with a low Strouhal number, and is not affected by the frequency of the large-amplitude wing oscillations if the downstream wing is flexible. The displacement of the leading vortex is larger than that of the trailing vortex; however, it causes highly correlated variations of the core radius, core vorticity, and circulation of the trailing vortex with the coupled meandering motion. In contrast, co-rotating vortices do not exhibit any increased meandering.

  20. Effects of various tailings covers on radon gas emanation from pyritic uranium tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dave, N.K.; Lim, T.P.

    1987-01-01

    Radon emanation studies were carried out at an inactive pyritic uranium tailings site in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada, to evaluate the effects of various existing dry and wet covers on radon flux rates. Measurements were taken using activated charcoal cartridges for various surface covers consisting of bare, vegetated, acidophilic moss with high degree of water saturation, compacted crushed rock and gravel, and winter snow. The results showed that at a given site, there was no significant difference in radon emanation rates between various tailings covers and bare tailings. In particular, no increase In radon emanation rates from vegetated areas compared to bare tailings was observed. Radon emanation rates varied spatially depending on tailings grain size, porosity, moisture content and on pressure and water table variations. The emanation rates were higher for tailings with low water contents compared to those for wet and moss covered tailings

  1. Subtractive Structural Modification of Morpho Butterfly Wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Qingchen; He, Jiaqing; Ni, Mengtian; Song, Chengyi; Zhou, Lingye; Hu, Hang; Zhang, Ruoxi; Luo, Zhen; Wang, Ge; Tao, Peng; Deng, Tao; Shang, Wen

    2015-11-11

    Different from studies of butterfly wings through additive modification, this work for the first time studies the property change of butterfly wings through subtractive modification using oxygen plasma etching. The controlled modification of butterfly wings through such subtractive process results in gradual change of the optical properties, and helps the further understanding of structural optimization through natural evolution. The brilliant color of Morpho butterfly wings is originated from the hierarchical nanostructure on the wing scales. Such nanoarchitecture has attracted a lot of research effort, including the study of its optical properties, its potential use in sensing and infrared imaging, and also the use of such structure as template for the fabrication of high-performance photocatalytic materials. The controlled subtractive processes provide a new path to modify such nanoarchitecture and its optical property. Distinct from previous studies on the optical property of the Morpho wing structure, this study provides additional experimental evidence for the origination of the optical property of the natural butterfly wing scales. The study also offers a facile approach to generate new 3D nanostructures using butterfly wings as the templates and may lead to simpler structure models for large-scale man-made structures than those offered by original butterfly wings. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  2. Thin tailored composite wing for civil tiltrotor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rais-Rohani, Masoud

    1994-01-01

    The tiltrotor aircraft is a flight vehicle which combines the efficient low speed (i.e., take-off, landing, and hover) characteristics of a helicopter with the efficient cruise speed of a turboprop airplane. A well-known example of such vehicle is the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. The high cruise speed and range constraints placed on the civil tiltrotor require a relatively thin wing to increase the drag-divergence Mach number which translates into lower compressibility drag. It is required to reduce the wing maximum thickness-to-chord ratio t/c from 23% (i.e., V-22 wing) to 18%. While a reduction in wing thickness results in improved aerodynamic efficiency, it has an adverse effect on the wing structure and it tends to reduce structural stiffness. If ignored, the reduction in wing stiffness leads to susceptibility to aeroelastic and dynamic instabilities which may consequently cause a catastrophic failure. By taking advantage of the directional stiffness characteristics of composite materials the wing structure may be tailored to have the necessary stiffness, at a lower thickness, while keeping the weight low. The goal of this study is to design a wing structure for minimum weight subject to structural, dynamic and aeroelastic constraints. The structural constraints are in terms of strength and buckling allowables. The dynamic constraints are in terms of wing natural frequencies in vertical and horizontal bending and torsion. The aeroelastic constraints are in terms of frequency placement of the wing structure relative to those of the rotor system. The wing-rotor-pylon aeroelastic and dynamic interactions are limited in this design study by holding the cruise speed, rotor-pylon system, and wing geometric attributes fixed. To assure that the wing-rotor stability margins are maintained a more rigorous analysis based on a detailed model of the rotor system will need to ensue following the design study. The skin-stringer-rib type architecture is used for the wing

  3. Populists in Parliament : Comparing Left-Wing and Right-Wing Populism in the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Otjes, Simon; Louwerse, Tom

    2015-01-01

    In parliament, populist parties express their positions almost every day through voting. There is great diversity among them, for instance between left-wing and right-wing populist parties. This gives rise to the question: is the parliamentary behaviour of populists motivated by their populism or by

  4. Conical Euler solution for a highly-swept delta wing undergoing wing-rock motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Elizabeth M.; Batina, John T.

    1990-01-01

    Modifications to an unsteady conical Euler code for the free-to-roll analysis of highly-swept delta wings are described. The modifications involve the addition of the rolling rigid-body equation of motion for its simultaneous time-integration with the governing flow equations. The flow solver utilized in the Euler code includes a multistage Runge-Kutta time-stepping scheme which uses a finite-volume spatial discretization on an unstructured mesh made up of triangles. Steady and unsteady results are presented for a 75 deg swept delta wing at a freestream Mach number of 1.2 and an angle of attack of 30 deg. The unsteady results consist of forced harmonic and free-to-roll calculations. The free-to-roll case exhibits a wing rock response produced by unsteady aerodynamics consistent with the aerodynamics of the forced harmonic results. Similarities are shown with a wing-rock time history from a low-speed wind tunnel test.

  5. Screening of plant species as ground cover on uranium mill tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Venu Babu, P.; Eapen, S.

    2012-01-01

    The concept of construction of dams or holding areas for uranium mill tailings is relatively new in India and to date there is only one such facility being maintained by Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) at Jaduguda in Jharkhand. Due to the residual nature of radionuclides, chiefly uranium and its daughter products, special emphasis is given to the engineering aspects of the mill tailings ponds so as to ensure safety to general public for at least 200 years. Once a mill tailings pond reaches to its full capacity, creation of barrier layers over the mill tailings to prevent seepage of rain water and also erosion of mill tailings due to wind and water are advocated and a number of procedures are followed worldwide. Taking the extraordinary period of public safety to be assured, providing soil covers along with contouring and appropriate slopes over which vegetation is grown is gaining popularity. The vegetation not only reduces the impact of rain water hitting the soil cover, thereby reducing the soil erosion, but also lowers the moisture in the soil cover by extensive evapotranspiration, ensuring long term hydrological separation of the mill tailings underneath. Based on set criteria, applicable to the field scenario of mill tailings, a screening experiment was conducted under pot culture conditions to evaluate the survival and growth of different plant species. The plants after germination and hardening were transplanted into beakers containing mill tailings and periodical measurements on appropriate morphological characteristics such as plant height, length of twiners, number of tillers and number of leaves were recorded and evaluated. Of the twenty species tested in mill tailings, significant differences were noticed in the vigour of growth and several plant species could indeed establish well completing their life cycle including flowering and seed setting. Further, several leguminous species could also produce root nodules. It appears that the

  6. Functional Gustatory Role of Chemoreceptors in Drosophila Wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raad, Hussein; Ferveur, Jean-François; Ledger, Neil; Capovilla, Maria; Robichon, Alain

    2016-05-17

    Neuroanatomical evidence argues for the presence of taste sensilla in Drosophila wings; however, the taste physiology of insect wings remains hypothetical, and a comprehensive link to mechanical functions, such as flight, wing flapping, and grooming, is lacking. Our data show that the sensilla of the Drosophila anterior wing margin respond to both sweet and bitter molecules through an increase in cytosolic Ca(2+) levels. Conversely, genetically modified flies presenting a wing-specific reduction in chemosensory cells show severe defects in both wing taste signaling and the exploratory guidance associated with chemodetection. In Drosophila, the chemodetection machinery includes mechanical grooming, which facilitates the contact between tastants and wing chemoreceptors, and the vibrations of flapping wings that nebulize volatile molecules as carboxylic acids. Together, these data demonstrate that the Drosophila wing chemosensory sensilla are a functional taste organ and that they may have a role in the exploration of ecological niches. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Thrust reverser design studies for an over-the-wing STOL transport

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ammer, R. C.; Sowers, H. D.

    1977-01-01

    Aerodynamic and acoustics analytical studies were conducted to evaluate three thrust reverser designs for potential use on commercial over-the-wing STOL transports. The concepts were: (1) integral D nozzle/target reverser, (2) integral D nozzle/top arc cascade reverser, and (3) post exit target reverser integral with wing. Aerodynamic flowpaths and kinematic arrangements for each concept were established to provide a 50% thrust reversal capability. Analytical aircraft stopping distance/noise trade studies conducted concurrently with flow path design showed that these high efficiency reverser concepts are employed at substantially reduced power settings to meet noise goals of 100 PNdB on a 152.4 m sideline and still meet 609.6 m landing runway length requirements. From an overall installation standpoint, only the integral D nozzle/target reverser concept was found to penalize nacelle cruise performance; for this concept a larger nacelle diameter was required to match engine cycle effective area demand in reverse thrust.

  8. Uranium mill tailings conditioning technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dreesen, D.R.; Cokal, E.J.; Wangen, L.E.; Williams, J.M.; O'Brien, P.D.; Thode, E.F.

    1982-01-01

    Conditioning of uranium mill tailings involves the physicochemical alteration of tailings to remove or immobilize mobile radionuclides and toxic trace elements before disposal in a repository. The principal immobilization approach under investigation is sintering tailings at high temperatures (1100-1200 deg. C) to radically alter the structure of tailings. This thermal stabilization at 1200 deg. C reduced radon emanation power for tailings sands by factors of 20 to 200 and for tailings fines by factors of 300 to 1100. Substantial reductions in the leachability of most contaminants have been found for thermally conditioned tailings. Obvious mineral transformations occur, including an increase in amorphous material, the conversion of gypsum to anhydrite and its subsequent decomposition, the disappearance of clay minerals, and some decrease in quartz content. A conceptual thermal stabilization process has been developed wherein obsolete coal-fired rotary cement kilns perform the sintering. An economic analysis of this conceptual process has shown that thermal stabilization can be competitive at certain tailings sites with other remedial actions requiring the excavation, transportation, and burial of tailings in a repository. An analysis of the long-term radiological hazard posed by untreated tailings and by tailings conditioned by radionuclide removal has illustrated the necessity of extracting both 226 Ra and 230 Th to achieve long-term hazard reductions. Sulphuric acid extraction of residual mineral values and important radionuclides from tailings has been investigated. Concentrated H 2 SO 4 can extract up to 80% of the 226 Ra, 70% of the Ba, and 90% of the 230 Th from tailings in a single stage extraction. An economic analysis of a sulphuric acid leach process was made to determine whether the value of minerals recovered from tailings would offset the leaching cost. For one relatively mineral-rich tailings pile, the U and V values would more than pay for the

  9. Semi-automated quantitative Drosophila wings measurements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loh, Sheng Yang Michael; Ogawa, Yoshitaka; Kawana, Sara; Tamura, Koichiro; Lee, Hwee Kuan

    2017-06-28

    Drosophila melanogaster is an important organism used in many fields of biological research such as genetics and developmental biology. Drosophila wings have been widely used to study the genetics of development, morphometrics and evolution. Therefore there is much interest in quantifying wing structures of Drosophila. Advancement in technology has increased the ease in which images of Drosophila can be acquired. However such studies have been limited by the slow and tedious process of acquiring phenotypic data. We have developed a system that automatically detects and measures key points and vein segments on a Drosophila wing. Key points are detected by performing image transformations and template matching on Drosophila wing images while vein segments are detected using an Active Contour algorithm. The accuracy of our key point detection was compared against key point annotations of users. We also performed key point detection using different training data sets of Drosophila wing images. We compared our software with an existing automated image analysis system for Drosophila wings and showed that our system performs better than the state of the art. Vein segments were manually measured and compared against the measurements obtained from our system. Our system was able to detect specific key points and vein segments from Drosophila wing images with high accuracy.

  10. Rescuing Alu: recovery of new inserts shows LINE-1 preserves Alu activity through A-tail expansion.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bradley J Wagstaff

    Full Text Available Alu elements are trans-mobilized by the autonomous non-LTR retroelement, LINE-1 (L1. Alu-induced insertion mutagenesis contributes to about 0.1% human genetic disease and is responsible for the majority of the documented instances of human retroelement insertion-induced disease. Here we introduce a SINE recovery method that provides a complementary approach for comprehensive analysis of the impact and biological mechanisms of Alu retrotransposition. Using this approach, we recovered 226 de novo tagged Alu inserts in HeLa cells. Our analysis reveals that in human cells marked Alu inserts driven by either exogenously supplied full length L1 or ORF2 protein are indistinguishable. Four percent of de novo Alu inserts were associated with genomic deletions and rearrangements and lacked the hallmarks of retrotransposition. In contrast to L1 inserts, 5' truncations of Alu inserts are rare, as most of the recovered inserts (96.5% are full length. De novo Alus show a random pattern of insertion across chromosomes, but further characterization revealed an Alu insertion bias exists favoring insertion near other SINEs, highly conserved elements, with almost 60% landing within genes. De novo Alu inserts show no evidence of RNA editing. Priming for reverse transcription rarely occurred within the first 20 bp (most 5' of the A-tail. The A-tails of recovered inserts show significant expansion, with many at least doubling in length. Sequence manipulation of the construct led to the demonstration that the A-tail expansion likely occurs during insertion due to slippage by the L1 ORF2 protein. We postulate that the A-tail expansion directly impacts Alu evolution by reintroducing new active source elements to counteract the natural loss of active Alus and minimizing Alu extinction.

  11. Uranium tailings bibliography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holoway, C.F.; Goldsmith, W.A.; Eldridge, V.M.

    1975-12-01

    A bibliography containing 1,212 references is presented with its focus on the general problem of reducing human exposure to the radionuclides contained in the tailings from the milling of uranium ore. The references are divided into seven broad categories: uranium tailings pile (problems and perspectives), standards and philosophy, etiology of radiation effects, internal dosimetry and metabolism, environmental transport, background sources of tailings radionuclides, and large-area decontamination

  12. Performance Comparison between Neutralization Tailings and Flotation Tailings Used for Backfill Mix and Mechanism Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Han

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available A comparison test of different tailings used for underground backfill was conducted, using neutralized tailings from BIOX and flotation tailings of Jinfeng Mine. Laboratory comparison test results show that, with neutralized tailings, when the cement dosage is at 19%, backfill UCS after 7 days, 14 days, and 28 days are 105%–163%, 80%–102%, and 33%–43%, respectively, which are higher than those of flotation tailings. When the cement dosage is at 12%, backfill UCS after 7 days, 14 days, and 28 days are 58%–77%, 50%–60%, and 28%–51%, respectively, which are higher than those of flotation tailings. Slurry fluidity of neutralized tailings is lower than that of flotation tailings, while, in these two tailings, the difference of slump and diffusivity values is less than 6%, which is not a significant difference in slurry fluidity. The reason for neutralized tailings showing higher UCS is as follows: during backfill curing, neutralization tailings produce abundant crystals of CaSO4·2H2O in interlaced structure which helps in combining aggregates closely; CaSO4·2H2O hydrates with C3A C4AF contained in the cement and forms clavate cement bacillus which works as a micro reinforcing steel bar. The test proved that neutralized tailings are more optimal for backfilling.

  13. Does skipping a meal matter to a butterfly's appearance? Effects of larval food stress on wing morphology and color in monarch butterflies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haley Johnson

    Full Text Available In animals with complex life cycles, all resources needed to form adult tissues are procured at the larval stage. For butterflies, the proper development of wings involves synthesizing tissue during metamorphosis based on the raw materials obtained by larvae. Similarly, manufacture of pigment for wing scales also requires resources acquired by larvae. We conducted an experiment to test the effects of food deprivation in the larval stage on multiple measures of adult wing morphology and coloration of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus, a species in which long-distance migration makes flight efficiency critical. In a captive setting, we restricted food (milkweed from late-stage larvae for either 24 hrs or 48 hrs, then after metamorphosis we used image analysis methods to measure forewing surface area and elongation (length/width, which are both important for migration. We also measured the brightness of orange pigment and the intensity of black on the wing. There were correlations between several wing features, including an unexpected association between wing elongation and melanism, which will require further study to fully understand. The clearest effect of food restriction was a reduction in adult wing size in the high stress group (by approximately 2%. Patterns observed for other wing traits were ambiguous: monarchs in the low stress group (but not the high had less elongated and paler orange pigmentation. There was no effect on wing melanism. Although some patterns obtained in this study were unclear, our results concerning wing size have direct bearing on the monarch migration. We show that if milkweed is limited for monarch larvae, their wings become stunted, which could ultimately result in lower migration success.

  14. Does skipping a meal matter to a butterfly's appearance? Effects of larval food stress on wing morphology and color in monarch butterflies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Haley; Solensky, Michelle J; Satterfield, Dara A; Davis, Andrew K

    2014-01-01

    In animals with complex life cycles, all resources needed to form adult tissues are procured at the larval stage. For butterflies, the proper development of wings involves synthesizing tissue during metamorphosis based on the raw materials obtained by larvae. Similarly, manufacture of pigment for wing scales also requires resources acquired by larvae. We conducted an experiment to test the effects of food deprivation in the larval stage on multiple measures of adult wing morphology and coloration of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), a species in which long-distance migration makes flight efficiency critical. In a captive setting, we restricted food (milkweed) from late-stage larvae for either 24 hrs or 48 hrs, then after metamorphosis we used image analysis methods to measure forewing surface area and elongation (length/width), which are both important for migration. We also measured the brightness of orange pigment and the intensity of black on the wing. There were correlations between several wing features, including an unexpected association between wing elongation and melanism, which will require further study to fully understand. The clearest effect of food restriction was a reduction in adult wing size in the high stress group (by approximately 2%). Patterns observed for other wing traits were ambiguous: monarchs in the low stress group (but not the high) had less elongated and paler orange pigmentation. There was no effect on wing melanism. Although some patterns obtained in this study were unclear, our results concerning wing size have direct bearing on the monarch migration. We show that if milkweed is limited for monarch larvae, their wings become stunted, which could ultimately result in lower migration success.

  15. Does Skipping a Meal Matter to a Butterfly's Appearance? Effects of Larval Food Stress on Wing Morphology and Color in Monarch Butterflies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Haley; Solensky, Michelle J.; Satterfield, Dara A.; Davis, Andrew K.

    2014-01-01

    In animals with complex life cycles, all resources needed to form adult tissues are procured at the larval stage. For butterflies, the proper development of wings involves synthesizing tissue during metamorphosis based on the raw materials obtained by larvae. Similarly, manufacture of pigment for wing scales also requires resources acquired by larvae. We conducted an experiment to test the effects of food deprivation in the larval stage on multiple measures of adult wing morphology and coloration of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), a species in which long-distance migration makes flight efficiency critical. In a captive setting, we restricted food (milkweed) from late-stage larvae for either 24 hrs or 48 hrs, then after metamorphosis we used image analysis methods to measure forewing surface area and elongation (length/width), which are both important for migration. We also measured the brightness of orange pigment and the intensity of black on the wing. There were correlations between several wing features, including an unexpected association between wing elongation and melanism, which will require further study to fully understand. The clearest effect of food restriction was a reduction in adult wing size in the high stress group (by approximately 2%). Patterns observed for other wing traits were ambiguous: monarchs in the low stress group (but not the high) had less elongated and paler orange pigmentation. There was no effect on wing melanism. Although some patterns obtained in this study were unclear, our results concerning wing size have direct bearing on the monarch migration. We show that if milkweed is limited for monarch larvae, their wings become stunted, which could ultimately result in lower migration success. PMID:24695643

  16. AFM study of structure influence on butterfly wings coloration

    OpenAIRE

    Dallaeva, Dinara; Tománek, Pavel

    2012-01-01

    This study describes the structural coloration of the butterfly Vanessa Atalanta wings and shows how the atomic force microscopy (AFM) can be applied to the study of wings morphology and wings surface behavior under the temperature. The role of the wings morphology in colors was investigated. Different colors of wings have different topology and can be identified by them. AFM in semi-contact mode was used to study the wings surface. The wing surface area, which is close to the butterfly body,...

  17. Tailings management at Nabarlek

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Waggitt, P.

    1989-01-01

    As the entire uranium deposit at Nabarlek was mined in 1979, the mine pit was available as a tailing's repository from the time of commencement of ore processing. In the early years Nabarlek's tailings were deposited subaqueously. In 1985 the tailings deposition method was changed to a sub-aerial, or semi-dry, method. Over the subsequent three years there was evidence that the tailings settled further and squeezed water from lower layers. The water was pumped away and treated for removal of radium before being evaporated in one of the mine's evaporation ponds. When milling was completed in 1988 it was decided to try and increase the rate of water removal and so obtain even greater consolidation of the trailings in a shorter time. This was achieved by loading the tailings with a layer of screened leached sands and waste rock placed on a layer of geotextile filter fabric that had been laid over the whole of the tailings surface in the pit. Once this was completed a modified piling rig was used to insert vertical drains, or wicks, up to 30 metres into the tailings. The drains were placed on a square grid at a spacing of 3.25 metres. Water that was forced out of the tailings by the downward pressure of the sand and rock could flow freely to the surface up these drains. Once at the surface the water was gathered into a sump and pumped away for treatment as before. The drains are working very well at present although it will be some considerable time before the water stops flowing. Already settlement of the tailings is apparent and the settled density of the material is increasing. As far as is known this is the first time that such a system has been employed on mine tailings in a pit in this way

  18. Investigation of manifestation of optical properties of butterfly wings with nanoscale zinc oxide incorporation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aideo, Swati N.; Mohanta, Dambarudhar

    2016-10-01

    In this work, microstructural and optical characteristics nanoparticles of wings of Tailed Jay (Graphium Agamemnon) butterfly were studied before and after treating it in a precursor solution of zinc acetate and ethanol. We speculate that the butterfly scales are infiltrated with ZnO nanoparticles owing to reduction of Zinc hydroxide under ambient condition. The ZnO butterfly scales so produced were characterised using optical microscopy, UV-Vis reflectance spectroscopy, and electron microscopy etc. From the reflectance spectra, we could see that after treating it in the solution, optical properties vary. We anticipate that this change may be due to the formation of ZnO nanoparticles as well as the loss in periodicity due to the chemical treatments, which could be assessed from the SEM micrographs.

  19. Investigation of manifestation of optical properties of butterfly wings with nanoscale zinc oxide incorporation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aideo, Swati N.; Mohanta, Dambarudhar

    2016-01-01

    In this work, microstructural and optical characteristics nanoparticles of wings of Tailed Jay (Graphium Agamemnon) butterfly were studied before and after treating it in a precursor solution of zinc acetate and ethanol. We speculate that the butterfly scales are infiltrated with ZnO nanoparticles owing to reduction of Zinc hydroxide under ambient condition. The ZnO butterfly scales so produced were characterised using optical microscopy, UV-Vis reflectance spectroscopy, and electron microscopy etc. From the reflectance spectra, we could see that after treating it in the solution, optical properties vary. We anticipate that this change may be due to the formation of ZnO nanoparticles as well as the loss in periodicity due to the chemical treatments, which could be assessed from the SEM micrographs. (paper)

  20. Bioassay for uranium mill tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tschaeche, A.N.

    1986-01-01

    Uranium mill tailings are composed of fine sand that contains, among other things, some uranium (U/sup 238/ primarily), and all of the uranium daughters starting with /sup 230/Th that are left behind after the usable uranium is removed in the milling process. Millions of pounds of tailings are and continue to be generated at uranium mills around the United States. Discrete uranium mill tailings piles exist near the mills. In addition, the tailings materials were used in communities situated near mill sites for such purposes as building materials, foundations for buildings, pipe runs, sand boxes, gardens, etc. The Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project (UMTRAP) is a U.S. Department of Energy Program designed with the intention of removing or stabilizing the mill tailings piles and the tailings used to communities so that individuals are not exposed above the EPA limits established for such tailings materials. This paper discusses the bioassay programs that are established for workers who remove tailings from the communities in which they are placed

  1. Capture efficiency and injury rates of band-tailed pigeons using whoosh nets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coxen, Christopher L.; Collins, Daniel P.; Carleton, Scott A.

    2018-01-01

    Catching ground feeding birds has typically been accomplished through small, walk-in funnel-style traps. This approach is limited because it requires a bird to find its way into the trap, is biased toward less wary birds, and does not allow targeted trapping of individual birds. As part of a large study on Band-tailed Pigeons (Patagioenas fasciata) in New Mexico, we needed a trapping method that would allow more control over the number of birds we could trap at one time, when a trap was deployed, and target trapping of specific individuals. We adopted a relatively novel trapping technique used primarily for shorebirds, whoosh nets, to trap Band-tailed Pigeons at 3 different sites where birds were being fed by local landowners. During 2013–2015, whoosh nets were used to trap 702 Band-tailed Pigeons at 3 different locations in New Mexico. We captured 12.54 ± 8.19 pigeons per shot over 56 capture events across 3 locations (range: 2–39). Some superficial injuries occurred using this technique and typically involved damage to the primary and secondary wing coverts. In 2013, 24% of captured birds had an injury of this nature, but after modifying the net speed, injury rates in 2014 and 2015 dropped to 8% and 7%, respectively. Recaptured previously injured birds showed new feather growth within 2 weeks and showed no signs of injury after 4 weeks. Whoosh nets proved to be a highly effective solution for trapping large numbers of pigeons at baited sites. These systems are easily transported, quickly deployed, and easily adapted to a variety of site conditions. 

  2. Flight Investigation at Low Angles of Attack to Determine the Longitudinal Stability and Control Characteristics of a Cruciform Canard Missile Configuration with a Low-Aspect-Ratio Wing and Blunt Nose at Mach Numbers from 1.2 to 2.1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Clarence A , Jr

    1957-01-01

    A full- scale rocket-powered model of a cruciform canard missile configuration with a low- aspect - ratio wing and blunt nose has been flight tested by the Langley Pilotless Aircraft Research Division. Static and dynamic longitudinal stability and control derivatives of this interdigitated canard-wing missile configuration were determined by using the pulsed- control technique at low angles of attack and for a Mach number range of 1.2 to 2.1. The lift - curve slope showed only small nonlinearities with changes in control deflection or angle of attack but indicated a difference in lift- .curve slope of approximately 7 percent for the two control deflections of delta = 3.0 deg and delta= -0.3 deg . The large tail length of the missile tested was effective in producing damping in pitch throughout the Mach number range tested. The aerodynamic- center location was nearly constant with Mach number for the two control deflections but was shown to be less stable with the larger control deflection. The increment of lift produced by the controls was small and positive throughout the Mach number range tested, whereas the pitching moment produced by the controls exhibited a normal trend of reduced effectiveness with increasing Mach number.The effectiveness of the controls in producing angle of attack, lift, and pitching moment was good at all Mach numbers tested.

  3. Cameco engineered tailings program: linking applied research with industrial processes for improved tailings performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kotzer, T.G.

    2010-01-01

    'Full text:' Mine tailings at Cameco's operations are by-products of milling uranium ore having variable concentrations of uranium, metals, oxyanions and trace elements or elements of concern (EOC). Cameco has undertaken an Engineered Tailings (ET) program to optimize tailings performance and minimize environmental EOC impacts, regardless of the milled ore source. Applied geochemical and geotechnical tailings research is key within the ET program. In-situ drilling and experimental programs are used to understand long-term tailings behaviour and help validate source term predictions. Within this, the ET program proactively aids in the development of mill-based processes for production of tailings having improved long-term stability. (author)

  4. Quantifying the dynamic wing morphing of hovering hummingbird.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maeda, Masateru; Nakata, Toshiyuki; Kitamura, Ikuo; Tanaka, Hiroto; Liu, Hao

    2017-09-01

    Animal wings are lightweight and flexible; hence, during flapping flight their shapes change. It has been known that such dynamic wing morphing reduces aerodynamic cost in insects, but the consequences in vertebrate flyers, particularly birds, are not well understood. We have developed a method to reconstruct a three-dimensional wing model of a bird from the wing outline and the feather shafts (rachides). The morphological and kinematic parameters can be obtained using the wing model, and the numerical or mechanical simulations may also be carried out. To test the effectiveness of the method, we recorded the hovering flight of a hummingbird ( Amazilia amazilia ) using high-speed cameras and reconstructed the right wing. The wing shape varied substantially within a stroke cycle. Specifically, the maximum and minimum wing areas differed by 18%, presumably due to feather sliding; the wing was bent near the wrist joint, towards the upward direction and opposite to the stroke direction; positive upward camber and the 'washout' twist (monotonic decrease in the angle of incidence from the proximal to distal wing) were observed during both half-strokes; the spanwise distribution of the twist was uniform during downstroke, but an abrupt increase near the wrist joint was found during upstroke.

  5. Heavy tails of OLS

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mikosch, Thomas Valentin; de Vries, Casper

    2013-01-01

    Suppose the tails of the noise distribution in a regression exhibit power law behavior. Then the distribution of the OLS regression estimator inherits this tail behavior. This is relevant for regressions involving financial data. We derive explicit finite sample expressions for the tail probabili...

  6. A Numerical Study of Vortex Dynamics of Flexible Wing Propulsors

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-11-23

    of validation. Figure 2 shows the streamline plot of the cylinder for Reynolds number of 40. The coefficient of drag and blob length is calculated to...Large amplitude lunate tail theory of fish locomotion. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 74, 161–182. Clough, R. W. & Penzein, J. 1993 Dynamics of...the swimming of slender fish . Journal of Fluid Mechanics 9, 305–317. Lighthill, M. J. 1970 Aquatic animal propulsion of high hydrodynamical efficiency

  7. Biomechanics of smart wings in a bat robot: morphing wings using SMA actuators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Colorado, J; Barrientos, A; Rossi, C; Breuer, K S

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents the design of a bat-like micro aerial vehicle with actuated morphing wings. NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs) acting as artificial biceps and triceps muscles are used for mimicking the morphing wing mechanism of the bat flight apparatus. Our objective is twofold. Firstly, we have implemented a control architecture that allows an accurate and fast SMA actuation. This control makes use of the electrical resistance measurements of SMAs to adjust morphing wing motions. Secondly, the feasibility of using SMA actuation technology is evaluated for the application at hand. To this purpose, experiments are conducted to analyze the control performance in terms of nominal and overloaded operation modes of the SMAs. This analysis includes: (i) inertial forces regarding the stretchable wing membrane and aerodynamic loads, and (ii) uncertainties due to impact of airflow conditions over the resistance–motion relationship of SMAs. With the proposed control, morphing actuation speed can be increased up to 2.5 Hz, being sufficient to generate lift forces at a cruising speed of 5 m s −1 . (paper)

  8. Biomechanics of smart wings in a bat robot: morphing wings using SMA actuators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colorado, J; Barrientos, A; Rossi, C; Bahlman, J W; Breuer, K S

    2012-09-01

    This paper presents the design of a bat-like micro aerial vehicle with actuated morphing wings. NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs) acting as artificial biceps and triceps muscles are used for mimicking the morphing wing mechanism of the bat flight apparatus. Our objective is twofold. Firstly, we have implemented a control architecture that allows an accurate and fast SMA actuation. This control makes use of the electrical resistance measurements of SMAs to adjust morphing wing motions. Secondly, the feasibility of using SMA actuation technology is evaluated for the application at hand. To this purpose, experiments are conducted to analyze the control performance in terms of nominal and overloaded operation modes of the SMAs. This analysis includes: (i) inertial forces regarding the stretchable wing membrane and aerodynamic loads, and (ii) uncertainties due to impact of airflow conditions over the resistance-motion relationship of SMAs. With the proposed control, morphing actuation speed can be increased up to 2.5 Hz, being sufficient to generate lift forces at a cruising speed of 5 m s(-1).

  9. Mitochondrial genome of the spot-tail shark Carcharhinus sorrah (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xiao; Peng, Zaiqing; Cai, Ling; Xu, Yuziwei

    2015-01-01

    In this article, we first presented the complete mitogenome of the spot-tail shark Carcharhinus sorrah, which is a medium-sized shark distributed in the tropical Indo-Pacific and is currently listed as "Near Threatened" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. The complete mitogenome of C. sorrah is 16,707 bp in length and contains typical 37 genes and one control region. The overall base composition is 31.4% A, 25.8% C, 13.2% G and 29.6% T. The control region is 1066 bp in length with the highest A + T content (66.8%) and lowest G content (13.2%).

  10. Density and distribution of cutaneous sensilla on tails of leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) in relation to caudal autotomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, Anthony P; Lai, Erica K; Lawrence Powell, G; Higham, Timothy E

    2014-09-01

    The lizard tail is well known for its ability to autotomize and regenerate. Physical contact of the tail by a predator may induce autotomy at the location at which the tail is grasped, and upon detachment the tail may undergo violent, rapid, and unpredictable movements that appear to be, to some degree, regulated by contact with the physical environment. Neither the mechanism by which tail breakage at a particular location is determined, nor that by which environmental feedback to the tail is received, are known. It has been suggested that mechanoreceptors (sensilla) are the means of mediation of such activities, and reports indicate that the density of sensilla on the tail is high. To determine the feasibility that mechanoreceptors are involved in such phenomena, we mapped scale form and the size, density, distribution, and spacing of sensilla on the head, body, limbs, and tail of the leopard gecko. This species has a full complement of autotomy planes along the length of the tail, and the postautotomic behavior of its tail has been documented. We found that the density of sensilla is highest on the tail relative to all other body regions examined; a dorsoventral gradient of caudal sensilla density is evident on the tail; sensilla are more closely spaced on the dorsal and lateral regions of the tail than elsewhere and are carried on relatively small scales; and that the whorls of scales on the tail bear a one to one relationship with the autotomy planes. Our results are consistent with the hypotheses of sensilla being involved in determining the site at which autotomy will occur, and with them being involved in the mediation of tail behavior following autotomy. These findings open the way for experimental neurological investigations of how autotomy is induced and how the detached tail responds to external environmental input. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. Tailings neutralization and other alternatives for immobilizing toxic materials in tailings. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Opitz, B.E.; Sherwood, D.R.; Dodson, M.E.; Serne, R.J.

    1985-09-01

    This document, ''Tailing Neutralization and Other Alternatives for Immobilizing Toxic Materials in Tailings,'' is the final report in a series of six. It summarizes research completed since the beginning of the project. Three subtasks are included: Subtask A - Neutralization Methods Selection; Subtask B - Laboratory Analysis; and Subtask C - Field Testing. Subtask A reviews treatment processes from other industries to evaluate whether current waste technology from other fields is applicable to the uranium industry. This task also identifies several reagents that were tested for their effectiveness in treating acidic tailings and tailings solution in order to immobilize the contaminants associated with the acid waste. Subtask B describes the laboratory batch and column treatment studies performed on solid waste tailings and tailings solutions over the course of the project. The evaluation of several reagents identified in Subtask A was based on three criteria: (1) treated effluent water quality; (2) neutralized sludge handling and hydraulic properties; and (3) reagent costs and acid neutralizing efficiency. Subtask C presents a field demonstration plan that will evaluate the effectiveness, costs, and benefits of neutralizing acidic uranium mill tailings solution to reduce the potential leaching of toxic trace metals, radionuclides, and macro ions from a tailings impoundment. Details of the related research can be found in the documents listed in the ''Previous Documents in Series.'' 43 refs., 9 figs., 46 tabs

  12. Clap and Fling Interaction of Bristled Wings: Effects of Varying Reynolds Number and Bristle Spacing on Force Generation and Flow Structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasoju, Vishwa Teja

    The smallest flying insects with body lengths under 1 mm, such as thrips and fairyflies, typically show the presence of long bristles on their wings. Thrips have been observed to use wing-wing interaction via 'clap and fling' for flapping flight at low Reynolds number (Re) on the order of 10, where a wing pair comes into close contact at the end of upstroke and fling apart at the beginning of downstroke. We examined the effects of varying the following parameters on force generation and flow structures formed during clap and fling: (1) Re ranging from 5 to 15 for a bristled wing pair (G/D = 17) and a geometrically equivalent solid wing pair; and (2) ratio of spacing between bristles to bristle diameter (G/D) for Re = 10. The G/D ratio in 70 thrips species were quantified from published forewing images. Scaled-up physical models of three bristled wing pairs of varying G/D (5, 11, 17) and a solid wing pair (G/D = 0) were fabricated. A robotic model was used for this study, in which a wing pair was immersed in an aquarium tank filled with glycerin and driven by stepper motors to execute clap and fling kinematics. Dimensionless lift and drag coefficients were determined from strain gauge measurements. Phase-locked particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements were used to examine flow through the bristles. Chordwise PIV was used to visualize the leading edge vortex (LEV) and trailing edge vortex (TEV) formed over the wings during clap and fling. With increasing G/D, larger reduction was observed in peak drag coefficients as compared to reduction in peak lift coefficients. Net circulation, defined as the difference in circulation (strength) of LEV and TEV, diminished with increasing G/D. Reduction in net circulation resulted in reducing lift generated by bristled wings as compared to solid wings. Leaky, recirculating flow through the bristles provided large drag reduction during fling of a bristled wing pair. If flight efficiency is defined as the ratio of lift to drag

  13. Low Aspect-Ratio Wings for Wing-Ships

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Filippone, Antonino; Selig, M.

    1998-01-01

    Flying on ground poses technical and aerodynamical challenges. The requirements for compactness, efficiency, manouverability, off-design operation,open new areas of investigations in the fieldof aerodynamic analysis and design. A review ofthe characteristics of low-aspect ratio wings, in- and out...

  14. Role of wing morphing in thrust generation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehdi Ghommem

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate the role of morphing on flight dynamics of two birds by simulating the flow over rigid and morphing wings that have the characteristics of two different birds, namely the Giant Petrel and Dove Prion. The simulation of a flapping rigid wing shows that the root of the wing should be placed at a specific angle of attack in order to generate enough lift to balance the weight of the bird. However, in this case the generated thrust is either very small, or even negative, depending on the wing shape. Further, results show that morphing of the wing enables a significant increase in the thrust and propulsive efficiency. This indicates that the birds actually utilize some sort of active wing twisting and bending to produce enough thrust. This study should facilitate better guidance for the design of flapping air vehicles.

  15. Righting and turning in mid-air using appendage inertia: reptile tails, analytical models and bio-inspired robots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jusufi, A; Full, R J; Kawano, D T; Libby, T

    2010-01-01

    Unlike the falling cat, lizards can right themselves in mid-air by a swing of their large tails in one direction causing the body to rotate in the other. Here, we developed a new three-dimensional analytical model to investigate the effectiveness of tails as inertial appendages that change body orientation. We anchored our model using the morphological parameters of the flat-tailed house gecko Hemidactylus platyurus. The degree of roll in air righting and the amount of yaw in mid-air turning directly measured in house geckos matched the model's results. Our model predicted an increase in body roll and turning as tails increase in length relative to the body. Tails that swung from a near orthogonal plane relative to the body (i.e. 0-30 0 from vertical) were the most effective at generating body roll, whereas tails operating at steeper angles (i.e. 45-60 0 ) produced only half the rotation. To further test our analytical model's predictions, we built a bio-inspired robot prototype. The robot reinforced how effective attitude control can be attained with simple movements of an inertial appendage.

  16. Righting and turning in mid-air using appendage inertia: reptile tails, analytical models and bio-inspired robots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jusufi, A; Full, R J [Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140 (United States); Kawano, D T [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1740 (United States); Libby, T, E-mail: ardianj@berkeley.ed [Center for Interdisciplinary Bio-inspiration in Education and Research, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140 (United States)

    2010-12-15

    Unlike the falling cat, lizards can right themselves in mid-air by a swing of their large tails in one direction causing the body to rotate in the other. Here, we developed a new three-dimensional analytical model to investigate the effectiveness of tails as inertial appendages that change body orientation. We anchored our model using the morphological parameters of the flat-tailed house gecko Hemidactylus platyurus. The degree of roll in air righting and the amount of yaw in mid-air turning directly measured in house geckos matched the model's results. Our model predicted an increase in body roll and turning as tails increase in length relative to the body. Tails that swung from a near orthogonal plane relative to the body (i.e. 0-30{sup 0} from vertical) were the most effective at generating body roll, whereas tails operating at steeper angles (i.e. 45-60{sup 0}) produced only half the rotation. To further test our analytical model's predictions, we built a bio-inspired robot prototype. The robot reinforced how effective attitude control can be attained with simple movements of an inertial appendage.

  17. Injurious tail biting in pigs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    D'Eath, R.B.; Amott, G.; Turner, S. P.

    2014-01-01

    not allow tail docking at all. Against this background, using a novel approach focusing on research where tail injuries were quantified, we review the measures that can be used to control tail biting in pigs without tail docking. Using this strict criterion, there was good evidence that manipulable...... substrates and feeder space affect damaging tail biting. Only epidemiological evidence was available for effects of temperature and season, and the effect of stocking density was unclear. Studies suggest that group size has little effect, and the effects of nutrition, disease and breed require further...... underlying processes of tail biting. A quantitative comparison of the efficacy of different methods of provision of manipulable materials, and a review of current practices in countries and assurance schemes where tail docking is banned, both suggest that daily provision of small quantities of destructible...

  18. Lateral movements of a massive tail influence gecko locomotion: an integrative study comparing tail restriction and autotomy

    OpenAIRE

    Jagnandan, Kevin; Higham, Timothy E.

    2017-01-01

    Tails are an intricate component of the locomotor system for many vertebrates. Leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) possess a large tail that is laterally undulated during steady locomotion. However, the tail is readily shed via autotomy, resulting in the loss of tail function, loss in body mass, and a cranial shift in the center of mass. To elucidate the function of tail undulations, we investigated changes in limb kinematics after manipulating the tail artificially by restricting tail un...

  19. Evaluation of Blended Wing-Body Combinations with Curved Plan Forms at Mach Numbers Up to 3.50

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holdaway, George H.; Mellenthin, Jack A.

    1960-01-01

    This investigation is a continuation of the experimental and theoretical evaluation of the effects of wing plan-form variations on the aerodynamic performance characteristics of blended wing-body combinations. The present report compares previously tested straight-edged delta and arrow models which have leading-edge sweeps of 59.04 and 70-82 deg., respectively, with related models which have plan forms with curved leading and trailing edges designed to result in the same average sweeps in each case. All the models were symmetrical, without camber, and were generally similar having the same span, length, and aspect ratios. The wing sections had an average value of maximum thickness ratio of about 4 percent of the local wing chords in a streamwise direction. The wing sections were computed by varying their shapes along with the body radii (blending process) to match the selected area distribution and the given plan form. The models were tested with transition fixed at Reynolds numbers of roughly 4,000,000 to 9,000,000, based on the mean aerodynamic chord of the wing. The characteristic effect of the wing curvature of the delta and arrow models was an increase at subsonic and transonic speeds in the lift-curve slopes which was partially reflected in increased maximum lift-drag ratios. Curved edges were not evaluated on a diamond plan form because a preliminary investigation indicated that the curvature considered would increase the supersonic zero-lift wave drag. However, after the test program was completed, a suitable modification for the diamond plan form was discovered. The analysis presented in the appendix indicates that large reductions in the zero-lift wave drag would be obtained at supersonic Mach numbers if the leading- and trailing-edge sweeps are made to differ by indenting the trailing edge and extending the root of the leading edge.

  20. Analysis of expression and chitin-binding activity of the wing disc cuticle protein BmWCP4 in the silkworm, Bombyx mori.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Hui-Min; Li, Yong; Zhang, Jia-Ling; Liu, Lin; Feng, Qi-Li

    2016-12-01

    The insect exoskeleton is mainly composed of chitin filaments linked by cuticle proteins. When insects molt, the cuticle of the exoskeleton is renewed by degrading the old chitin and cuticle proteins and synthesizing new ones. In this study, chitin-binding activity of the wing disc cuticle protein BmWCP4 in Bombyx mori was studied. Sequence analysis showed that the protein had a conservative hydrophilic "R&R" chitin-binding domain (CBD). Western blotting showed that BmWCP4 was predominately expressed in the wing disc-containing epidermis during the late wandering and early pupal stages. The immunohistochemistry result showed that the BmWCP4 was mainly present in the wing disc tissues containing wing bud and trachea blast during day 2 of wandering stage. Recombinant full-length BmWCP4 protein, "R&R" CBD peptide (CBD), non-CBD peptide (BmWCP4-CBD - ), four single site-directed mutated peptides (M 1 , M 2 , M 3 and M 4 ) and four-sites-mutated peptide (M F ) were generated and purified, respectively, for in vitro chitin-binding assay. The results indicated that both the full-length protein and the "R&R" CBD peptide could bind with chitin, whereas the BmWCP4-CBD - could not bind with chitin. The single residue mutants M 1 , M 2 , M 3 and M 4 reduced but did not completely abolish the chitin-binding activity, while four-sites-mutated protein M F completely lost the chitin-binding activity. These data indicate that BmWCP4 protein plays a critical role by binding to the chitin filaments in the wing during larva-to-pupa transformation. The conserved aromatic amino acids are critical in the interaction between chitin and the cuticle protein. © 2015 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

  1. Modeling and Optimization for Morphing Wing Concept Generation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skillen, Michael D.; Crossley, William A.

    2007-01-01

    This report consists of two major parts: 1) the approach to develop morphing wing weight equations, and 2) the approach to size morphing aircraft. Combined, these techniques allow the morphing aircraft to be sized with estimates of the morphing wing weight that are more credible than estimates currently available; aircraft sizing results prior to this study incorporated morphing wing weight estimates based on general heuristics for fixed-wing flaps (a comparable "morphing" component) but, in general, these results were unsubstantiated. This report will show that the method of morphing wing weight prediction does, in fact, drive the aircraft sizing code to different results and that accurate morphing wing weight estimates are essential to credible aircraft sizing results.

  2. Length quantization of DNA partially expelled from heads of a bacteriophage T3 mutant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Serwer, Philip, E-mail: serwer@uthscsa.edu [Department of Biochemistry, The University of Texas Health Science Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900 (United States); Wright, Elena T. [Department of Biochemistry, The University of Texas Health Science Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900 (United States); Liu, Zheng; Jiang, Wen [Markey Center for Structural Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 (United States)

    2014-05-15

    DNA packaging of phages phi29, T3 and T7 sometimes produces incompletely packaged DNA with quantized lengths, based on gel electrophoretic band formation. We discover here a packaging ATPase-free, in vitro model for packaged DNA length quantization. We use directed evolution to isolate a five-site T3 point mutant that hyper-produces tail-free capsids with mature DNA (heads). Three tail gene mutations, but no head gene mutations, are present. A variable-length DNA segment leaks from some mutant heads, based on DNase I-protection assay and electron microscopy. The protected DNA segment has quantized lengths, based on restriction endonuclease analysis: six sharp bands of DNA missing 3.7–12.3% of the last end packaged. Native gel electrophoresis confirms quantized DNA expulsion and, after removal of external DNA, provides evidence that capsid radius is the quantization-ruler. Capsid-based DNA length quantization possibly evolved via selection for stalling that provides time for feedback control during DNA packaging and injection. - Graphical abstract: Highlights: • We implement directed evolution- and DNA-sequencing-based phage assembly genetics. • We purify stable, mutant phage heads with a partially leaked mature DNA molecule. • Native gels and DNase-protection show leaked DNA segments to have quantized lengths. • Native gels after DNase I-removal of leaked DNA reveal the capsids to vary in radius. • Thus, we hypothesize leaked DNA quantization via variably quantized capsid radius.

  3. AFM Study of Structure Influence on Butterfly Wings Coloration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dinara Sultanovna Dallaeva

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This study describes the structural coloration of the butterfly Vanessa Atalanta wings and shows how the atomic force microscopy (AFM can be applied to the study of wings morphology and wings surface behavior under the temperature. The role of the wings morphology in colors was investigated. Different colors of wings have different topology and can be identified by them. AFM in semi-contact mode was used to study the wings surface. The wing surface area, which is close to the butterfly body, has shiny brown color and the peak of surface roughness is about 600 nm. The changing of morphology at different temperatures is shown.

  4. PEGIDA : fearful patriots or right-wing radicals?

    OpenAIRE

    Glasmeier, Ruth Katharina

    2016-01-01

    Right-wing movements have become more popular in recent years. This shows in the increase of right-wing populist or right-wing radical parties in different European governments. Despite this European wide trend, Germany did not have a successful right-wing movement. This changed with the creation of PEGIDA and the AfD. Since this type of movement is relatively new in Germany, this thesis aims to understand PEGIDA. The thesis aims to answer the question of Who are PEGIDA? To do so, it will...

  5. On Wings of the Minimum Induced Drag: Spanload Implications for Aircraft and Birds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowers, Albion H.; Murillo, Oscar J.; Jensen, Robert (Red); Eslinger, Brian; Gelzer, Christian

    2016-01-01

    For nearly a century Ludwig Prandtl's lifting-line theory remains a standard tool for understanding and analyzing aircraft wings. The tool, said Prandtl, initially points to the elliptical spanload as the most efficient wing choice, and it, too, has become the standard in aviation. Having no other model, avian researchers have used the elliptical spanload virtually since its introduction. Yet over the last half-century, research in bird flight has generated increasing data incongruous with the elliptical spanload. In 1933 Prandtl published a little-known paper presenting a superior spanload: any other solution produces greater drag. We argue that this second spanload is the correct model for bird flight data. Based on research we present a unifying theory for superior efficiency and coordinated control in a single solution. Specifically, Prandtl's second spanload offers the only solution to three aspects of bird flight: how birds are able to turn and maneuver without a vertical tail; why birds fly in formation with their wingtips overlapped; and why narrow wingtips do not result in wingtip stall. We performed research using two experimental aircraft designed in accordance with the fundamentals of Prandtl's second paper, but applying recent developments, to validate the various potentials of the new spanload, to wit: as an alternative for avian researchers, to demonstrate the concept of proverse yaw, and to offer a new method of aircraft control and efficiency.

  6. Performance Comparison between Neutralization Tailings and Flotation Tailings Used for Backfill Mix and Mechanism Analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Han, Bin; Sun, Wei; Yu, Shaofeng; Liu, Chao; Yao, Song; Wu, Jianxun

    2016-01-01

    A comparison test of different tailings used for underground backfill was conducted, using neutralized tailings from BIOX and flotation tailings of Jinfeng Mine. Laboratory comparison test results show that, with neutralized tailings, when the cement dosage is at 19%, backfill UCS after 7 days, 14 days, and 28 days are 105%–163%, 80%–102%, and 33%–43%, respectively, which are higher than those of flotation tailings. When the cement dosage is at 12%, backfill UCS after 7 days, 14 days, and 28 ...

  7. Multi-wing hyperchaotic attractors from coupled Lorenz systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grassi, Giuseppe; Severance, Frank L.; Miller, Damon A.

    2009-01-01

    This paper illustrates an approach to generate multi-wing attractors in coupled Lorenz systems. In particular, novel four-wing (eight-wing) hyperchaotic attractors are generated by coupling two (three) identical Lorenz systems. The paper shows that the equilibria of the proposed systems have certain symmetries with respect to specific coordinate planes and the eigenvalues of the associated Jacobian matrices exhibit the property of similarity. In analogy with the original Lorenz system, where the two-wings of the butterfly attractor are located around the two equilibria with the unstable pair of complex-conjugate eigenvalues, this paper shows that the four-wings (eight-wings) of these attractors are located around the four (eight) equilibria with two (three) pairs of unstable complex-conjugate eigenvalues.

  8. Frost evolution in tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-04-01

    A review was carried out on the physical and thermal mechanisms of permafrost evaluation in soils and uranium tailings. The primary mechanism controlling permafrost evolution is conductive heat transfer with the latent heat of fusion of water being liberated as phase change occurs. Depending on the soil properties and freezing rate, pore water can be expelled from the frost front or pore water can migrate towards the frost front. Solute redistribution may occur as the frost front penetrates into the soil. The rate of frost penetration is a function of the thermal properties of the tailings and the climatic conditions. Computer modelling programmes capable of modelling permafrost evolution were reviewed. The GEOTHERM programme was selected as being the most appropriate for this study. The GEOTHERM programme uses the finite element method of thermal analysis. The ground surface temperature is determined by solving the energy balance equations a the ground surface. The GEOTHERM programme was used to simulate the permafrost evolution in the Key Lake Mine tailings located in north central Saskatchewan. The analyses indicated that the existing frozen zones in the tailing pond will eventually thaw if an average snow depth covers the tailings. Hundreds of years are required to thaw the tailings. If minimal snow cover is present the extent of the frozen zone in the tailings will increase

  9. Characterization of oils sands thickened tailings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scott, J.D.; Jeeravipoolvarn, S.; Donahue, R.; Ozum, B. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    2008-07-01

    This presentation discussed the characterization of oils sands thickened tailings. The problem statement was defined as the fact that many laboratory procedures to characterize fine tailings do not take into account the extraction process, and instead use standardized laboratory tests. The purpose of this presentation was to demonstrate how different extraction processes affect the fine tailings geotechnical properties and water chemistry. Properties that were characterized included particle size analysis from hydrometer-sieve tests; per cent clay from methylene blue tests; per cent clay from mineralogy tests; Atterberg limits; water chemistry; and morphology by scanning electron microscopy. The presentation discussed the origin of fines (silt and clay) in tailings; where fine particles come from; tailings materials; mineralogy of tailings; the hydrometer-sieve test on fine tailings and thickened tailings; and the methylene blue test. It was concluded that the great majority of clay minerals in the tailings come from the clay-shale discontinuous seams and layers. For thickened tailings, the dispersed and non-dispersed hydrometer tests show considerable difference in the amount of clay size material. tabs., figs.

  10. Insect Wing Displacement Measurement Using Digital Holography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aguayo, Daniel D.; Mendoza Santoyo, Fernando; Torre I, Manuel H. de la; Caloca Mendez, Cristian I.

    2008-01-01

    Insects in flight have been studied with optical non destructive techniques with the purpose of using meaningful results in aerodynamics. With the availability of high resolution and large dynamic range CCD sensors the so called interferometric digital holographic technique was used to measure the surface displacement of in flight insect wings, such as butterflies. The wings were illuminated with a continuous wave Verdi laser at 532 nm, and observed with a CCD Pixelfly camera that acquire images at a rate of 11.5 frames per second at a resolution of 1392x1024 pixels and 12 Bit dynamic range. At this frame rate digital holograms of the wings were captured and processed in the usual manner, namely, each individual hologram is Fourier processed in order to find the amplitude and phase corresponding to the digital hologram. The wings displacement is obtained when subtraction between two digital holograms is performed for two different wings position, a feature applied to all consecutive frames recorded. The result of subtracting is seen as a wrapped phase fringe pattern directly related to the wing displacement. The experimental data for different butterfly flying conditions and exposure times are shown as wire mesh plots in a movie of the wings displacement

  11. On the Distinct Effects of Left-Wing and Right-Wing Populism on Democratic Quality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert A. Huber

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the differences and commonalities of how populist parties of the left and right relate to democracy. The focus is narrowed to the relationship between these parties and two aspects of democratic quality, minority rights and mutual constraints. Our argument is twofold: first, we contend that populist parties can exert distinct influences on minority rights, depending on whether they are left-wing or right-wing populist parties. Second, by contrast, we propose that the association between populist parties and mutual constraints is a consequence of the populist element and thus, we expect no differences between the left-wing and right-wing parties. We test our expectations against data from 30 European countries between 1990 and 2012. Our empirical findings support the argument for the proposed differences regarding minority rights and, to a lesser extent, the proposed similarities regarding mutual constraints. Therefore we conclude that, when examining the relationship between populism and democracy, populism should not be considered in isolation from its host ideology.

  12. Unsteady surface pressure measurements on a slender delta wing undergoing limit cycle wing rock

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arena, Andrew S., Jr.; Nelson, Robert C.

    1991-01-01

    An experimental investigation of slender wing limit cycle motion known as wing rock was investigated using two unique experimental systems. Dynamic roll moment measurements and visualization data on the leading edge vortices were obtained using a free to roll apparatus that incorporates an airbearing spindle. In addition, both static and unsteady surface pressure data was measured on the top and bottom surfaces of the model. To obtain the unsteady surface pressure data a new computer controller drive system was developed to accurately reproduce the free to roll time history motions. The data from these experiments include, roll angle time histories, vortex trajectory data on the position of the vortices relative to the model's surface, and surface pressure measurements as a function of roll angle when the model is stationary or undergoing a wing rock motion. The roll time history data was numerically differentiated to determine the dynamic roll moment coefficient. An analysis of these data revealed that the primary mechanism for the limit cycle behavior was a time lag in the position of the vortices normal to the wing surface.

  13. Reynolds number scalability of bristled wings performing clap and fling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacob, Skyler; Kasoju, Vishwa; Santhanakrishnan, Arvind

    2017-11-01

    Tiny flying insects such as thrips show a distinctive physical adaptation in the use of bristled wings. Thrips use wing-wing interaction kinematics for flapping, in which a pair of wings clap together at the end of upstroke and fling apart at the beginning of downstroke. Previous studies have shown that the use of bristled wings can reduce the forces needed for clap and fling at Reynolds number (Re) on the order of 10. This study examines if the fluid dynamic advantages of using bristled wings also extend to higher Re on the order of 100. A robotic clap and fling platform was used for this study, in which a pair of physical wing models were programmed to execute clap and fling kinematics. Force measurements were conducted on solid (non-bristled) and bristled wing pairs. The results show lift and drag forces were both lower for bristled wings when compared to solid wings for Re ranging from 1-10, effectively increasing peak lift to peak drag ratio of bristled wings. However, peak lift to peak drag ratio was lower for bristled wings at Re =120 as compared to solid wings, suggesting that bristled wings may be uniquely advantageous for Re on the orders of 1-10. Flow structures visualized using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and their impact on force production will be presented.

  14. Flow field of flexible flapping wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sallstrom, Erik

    The agility and maneuverability of natural fliers would be desirable to incorporate into engineered micro air vehicles (MAVs). However, there is still much for engineers to learn about flapping flight in order to understand how such vehicles can be built for efficient flying. The goal of this study is to develop a methodology for capturing high quality flow field data around flexible flapping wings in a hover environment and to interpret it to gain a better understanding of how aerodynamic forces are generated. The flow field data was captured using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and required that measurements be taken around a repeatable flapping motion to obtain phase-averaged data that could be studied throughout the flapping cycle. Therefore, the study includes the development of flapping devices with a simple repeatable single degree of freedom flapping motion. The acquired flow field data has been examined qualitatively and quantitatively to investigate the mechanisms behind force production in hovering flight and to relate it to observations in previous research. Specifically, the flow fields have been investigated around a rigid wing and several carbon fiber reinforced flexible membrane wings. Throughout the whole study the wings were actuated with either a sinusoidal or a semi-linear flapping motion. The semi-linear flapping motion holds the commanded angular velocity nearly constant through half of each half-stroke while the sinusoidal motion is always either accelerating or decelerating. The flow fields were investigated by examining vorticity and vortex structures, using the Q criterion as the definition for the latter, in two and three dimensions. The measurements were combined with wing deflection measurements to demonstrate some of the key links in how the fluid-structure interactions generated aerodynamic forces. The flow fields were also used to calculate the forces generated by the flapping wings using momentum balance methods which yielded

  15. Wing rock suppression using forebody vortex control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, T. T.; Ong, L. Y.; Suarez, C. J.; Malcolm, G. N.

    1991-01-01

    Static and free-to-roll tests were conducted in a water tunnel with a configuration that consisted of a highly-slender forebody and 78-deg sweep delta wings. Flow visualization was performed and the roll angle histories were obtained. The fluid mechanisms governing the wing rock of this configuration were identified. Different means of suppressing wing rock by controlling the forebody vortices using small blowing jets were also explored. Steady blowing was found to be capable of suppressing wing rock, but significant vortex asymmetries had to be induced at the same time. On the other hand, alternating pulsed blowing on the left and right sides of the forebody was demonstrated to be potentially an effective means of suppressing wing rock and eliminating large asymmetric moments at high angles of attack.

  16. Electro-remediation of copper mine tailings. Comparing copper removal efficiencies for two tailings of different age

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Henrik K.; Lamas, Victor; Gutierrez, Claudia

    2013-01-01

    This work compares and evaluates the copper removal efficiency when applying electric fields to two mine tailings originating from the same mine but of different age. Eight experiments were carried out - four on tailings deposited more than 20 years ago (old tailings) and four on tailings deposit...

  17. Configuring the Mesh Size, Side Taper and Wing Depth of Penaeid Trawls to Reduce Environmental Impacts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broadhurst, Matt K.; Sterling, David J.; Millar, Russell B.

    2014-01-01

    The effects of reducing mesh size while concomitantly varying the side taper and wing depth of a generic penaeid-trawl body were investigated to improve engineering performance and minimize bycatch. Five trawl bodies (with the same codends) were tested across various environmental (e.g. depth and current) and biological (e.g. species and sizes) conditions. The first trawl body comprised 41-mm mesh and represented conventional designs (termed the ‘41 long deep-wing'), while the remaining trawl bodies were made from 32-mm mesh and differed only in their side tapers, and therefore length (i.e. 1N3B or ‘long’ and ∼28o to the tow direction vs 1N5B or ‘short’ and ∼35o) and wing depths (‘deep’–97 T vs ‘shallow’–60 T). There were incremental drag reductions (and therefore fuel savings – by up to 18 and 12% per h and ha trawled) associated with reducing twine area via either modification, and subsequently minimizing otter-board area in attempts to standardize spread. Side taper and wing depth had interactive and varied effects on species selectivity, but compared to the conventional 41 long deep-wing trawl, the 32 short shallow-wing trawl (i.e. the least twine area) reduced the total bycatch by 57% (attributed to more fish swimming forward and escaping). In most cases, all small-meshed trawls also caught more smaller school prawns Metapenaeus macleayi but to decrease this effect it should be possible to increase mesh size slightly, while still maintaining the above engineering benefits and species selectivity. The results support precisely optimizing mesh size as a precursor to any other anterior penaeid-trawl modifications designed to improve environmental performance. PMID:24911786

  18. Uranium mill tailings management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1982-01-01

    Facilities for the disposal of uranium mill tailings will invariably be subjected to geomorphological and climatological influences in the long-term. Proceedings of a workshop discuss how the principles of geomorphology can be applied to the siting, design, construction, decommissioning and rehabilitation of disposal facilities in order to provide for long-term containment and stability of tailings. The characteristics of tailings and their behaviour after disposal influence the potential impacts which might occur in the long-term. Proceedings of another workshop examine the technologies for uranium ore processing and tailings conditioning with a view to identifying improvements that could be made in such characteristics

  19. Mine tailings disposal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gonzales, P.A.; Adams, B.J.

    1980-06-01

    The hydrologic evaluation of mine tailings disposal sites after they are abandoned is considered in relation to their potential environmental impact on a long term basis. There is a direct relation between the amounts and types of water leaving a disposal site and the severity of the potential damage to the environment. The evaluation of the relative distribution of the precipitation reaching the ground into evaporation, runoff and infiltration is obtained for a selected site and type of tailings material whose characteristics and physical properties were determined in the soils laboratory. A conceptual model of the hydrologic processes involved and the corresponding mathematical model were developed to simulate the physical system. A computer program was written to solve the set of equations forming the mathematical model, considering the physical properties of the tailings and the rainfall data selected. The results indicate that the relative distribution of the precipitation depends on the surface and upper layer of the tailings and that the position of the groundwater table is governed by the flow through the bottom of the profile considered. The slope of the surface of the mass of tailings was found to be one of the principal factors affecting the relative distribution of precipitation and, therefore, the potential pollution of the environment

  20. Variable Geometry Aircraft Wing Supported by Struts And/Or Trusses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melton, John E. (Inventor); Dudley, Michael R. (Inventor)

    2016-01-01

    The present invention provides an aircraft having variable airframe geometry for accommodating efficient flight. The aircraft includes an elongated fuselage, an oblique wing pivotally connected with said fuselage, a wing pivoting mechanism connected with said oblique wing and said fuselage, and a brace operably connected between said oblique wing and said fuselage. The present invention also provides an aircraft having an elongated fuselage, an oblique wing pivotally connected with said fuselage, a wing pivoting mechanism connected with said oblique wing and said fuselage, a propulsion system pivotally connected with said oblique wing, and a brace operably connected between said propulsion system and said fuselage.

  1. Optimization of aerodynamic efficiency for twist morphing MAV wing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N.I. Ismail

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Twist morphing (TM is a practical control technique in micro air vehicle (MAV flight. However, TM wing has a lower aerodynamic efficiency (CL/CD compared to membrane and rigid wing. This is due to massive drag penalty created on TM wing, which had overwhelmed the successive increase in its lift generation. Therefore, further CL/CDmax optimization on TM wing is needed to obtain the optimal condition for the morphing wing configuration. In this paper, two-way fluid–structure interaction (FSI simulation and wind tunnel testing method are used to solve and study the basic wing aerodynamic performance over (non-optimal TM, membrane and rigid wings. Then, a multifidelity data metamodel based design optimization (MBDO process is adopted based on the Ansys-DesignXplorer frameworks. In the adaptive MBDO process, Kriging metamodel is used to construct the final multifidelity CL/CD responses by utilizing 23 multi-fidelity sample points from the FSI simulation and experimental data. The optimization results show that the optimal TM wing configuration is able to produce better CL/CDmax magnitude by at least 2% than the non-optimal TM wings. The flow structure formation reveals that low TV strength on the optimal TM wing induces low CD generation which in turn improves its overall CL/CDmax performance.

  2. TIDAL TAILS OF MINOR MERGERS. II. COMPARING STAR FORMATION IN THE TIDAL TAILS OF NGC 2782

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Knierman, Karen A.; Scowen, Paul; Veach, Todd; Groppi, Christopher [School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, 550 E. Tyler Mall, Room PSF-686 (P.O. Box 871404), Tempe, AZ 85287-1404 (United States); Mullan, Brendan; Charlton, Jane [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Penn State University, 525 Davey Lab, University Park, PA (United States); Konstantopoulos, Iraklis [Australian Astronomical Observatory, P.O. Box 915, North Ryde NSW 1670 (Australia); Knezek, Patricia M., E-mail: karen.knierman@asu.edu, E-mail: paul.scowen@asu.edu, E-mail: tveach@asu.edu, E-mail: cgroppi@asu.edu, E-mail: mullan@astro.psu.edu, E-mail: iraklis@aao.gov.au, E-mail: pknezek@noao.edu [WIYN Consortium, Inc., 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States)

    2013-09-10

    The peculiar spiral NGC 2782 is the result of a minor merger with a mass ratio {approx}4: 1 occurring {approx}200 Myr ago. This merger produced a molecular and H I-rich, optically bright eastern tail and an H I-rich, optically faint western tail. Non-detection of CO in the western tail by Braine et al. suggested that star formation had not yet begun. However, deep UBVR and H{alpha} narrowband images show evidence of recent star formation in the western tail, though it lacks massive star clusters and cluster complexes. Using Herschel PACS spectroscopy, we discover 158 {mu}m [C II] emission at the location of the three most luminous H{alpha} sources in the eastern tail, but not at the location of the even brighter H{alpha} source in the western tail. The western tail is found to have a normal star formation efficiency (SFE), but the eastern tail has a low SFE. The lack of CO and [C II] emission suggests that the western tail H II region may have a low carbon abundance and be undergoing its first star formation. The western tail is more efficient at forming stars, but lacks massive clusters. We propose that the low SFE in the eastern tail may be due to its formation as a splash region where gas heating is important even though it has sufficient molecular and neutral gas to make massive star clusters. The western tail, which has lower gas surface density and does not form high-mass star clusters, is a tidally formed region where gravitational compression likely enhances star formation.

  3. TIDAL TAILS OF MINOR MERGERS. II. COMPARING STAR FORMATION IN THE TIDAL TAILS OF NGC 2782

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knierman, Karen A.; Scowen, Paul; Veach, Todd; Groppi, Christopher; Mullan, Brendan; Charlton, Jane; Konstantopoulos, Iraklis; Knezek, Patricia M.

    2013-01-01

    The peculiar spiral NGC 2782 is the result of a minor merger with a mass ratio ∼4: 1 occurring ∼200 Myr ago. This merger produced a molecular and H I-rich, optically bright eastern tail and an H I-rich, optically faint western tail. Non-detection of CO in the western tail by Braine et al. suggested that star formation had not yet begun. However, deep UBVR and Hα narrowband images show evidence of recent star formation in the western tail, though it lacks massive star clusters and cluster complexes. Using Herschel PACS spectroscopy, we discover 158 μm [C II] emission at the location of the three most luminous Hα sources in the eastern tail, but not at the location of the even brighter Hα source in the western tail. The western tail is found to have a normal star formation efficiency (SFE), but the eastern tail has a low SFE. The lack of CO and [C II] emission suggests that the western tail H II region may have a low carbon abundance and be undergoing its first star formation. The western tail is more efficient at forming stars, but lacks massive clusters. We propose that the low SFE in the eastern tail may be due to its formation as a splash region where gas heating is important even though it has sufficient molecular and neutral gas to make massive star clusters. The western tail, which has lower gas surface density and does not form high-mass star clusters, is a tidally formed region where gravitational compression likely enhances star formation

  4. Conceptual Study of Rotary-Wing Microrobotics

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Chabak, Kelson D

    2008-01-01

    This thesis presents a novel rotary-wing micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) robot design. Two MEMS wing designs were designed, fabricated and tested including one that possesses features conducive to insect level aerodynamics...

  5. Waiting in the wings: what can we learn about gene co-option from the diversification of butterfly wing patterns?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiggins, Chris D; Wallbank, Richard W R; Hanly, Joseph J

    2017-02-05

    A major challenge is to understand how conserved gene regulatory networks control the wonderful diversity of form that we see among animals and plants. Butterfly wing patterns are an excellent example of this diversity. Butterfly wings form as imaginal discs in the caterpillar and are constructed by a gene regulatory network, much of which is conserved across the holometabolous insects. Recent work in Heliconius butterflies takes advantage of genomic approaches and offers insights into how the diversification of wing patterns is overlaid onto this conserved network. WntA is a patterning morphogen that alters spatial information in the wing. Optix is a transcription factor that acts later in development to paint specific wing regions red. Both of these loci fit the paradigm of conserved protein-coding loci with diverse regulatory elements and developmental roles that have taken on novel derived functions in patterning wings. These discoveries offer insights into the 'Nymphalid Ground Plan', which offers a unifying hypothesis for pattern formation across nymphalid butterflies. These loci also represent 'hotspots' for morphological change that have been targeted repeatedly during evolution. Both convergent and divergent evolution of a great diversity of patterns is controlled by complex alleles at just a few genes. We suggest that evolutionary change has become focused on one or a few genetic loci for two reasons. First, pre-existing complex cis-regulatory loci that already interact with potentially relevant transcription factors are more likely to acquire novel functions in wing patterning. Second, the shape of wing regulatory networks may constrain evolutionary change to one or a few loci. Overall, genomic approaches that have identified wing patterning loci in these butterflies offer broad insight into how gene regulatory networks evolve to produce diversity.This article is part of the themed issue 'Evo-devo in the genomics era, and the origins of morphological

  6. THE NARROW X-RAY TAIL AND DOUBLE Hα TAILS OF ESO 137-002 IN A3627

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, B.; Lin, X. B.; Kong, X.; Sun, M.; Ji, L.; Sarazin, C.; Nulsen, P. E. J.; Forman, W.; Jones, C.; Roediger, E.; Donahue, M.; Voit, G. M.

    2013-01-01

    We present the analysis of a deep Chandra observation of a ∼2 L * late-type galaxy, ESO 137-002, in the closest rich cluster A3627. The Chandra data reveal a long (∼>40 kpc) and narrow tail with a nearly constant width (∼3 kpc) to the southeast of the galaxy, and a leading edge ∼1.5 kpc from the galaxy center on the upstream side of the tail. The tail is most likely caused by the nearly edge-on stripping of ESO 137-002's interstellar medium (ISM) by ram pressure, compared to the nearly face-on stripping of ESO 137-001 discussed in our previous work. Spectral analysis of individual regions along the tail shows that the gas throughout it has a rather constant temperature, ∼1 keV, very close to the temperature of the tails of ESO 137-001, if the same atomic database is used. The derived gas abundance is low (∼0.2 solar with the single-kT model), an indication of the multiphase nature of the gas in the tail. The mass of the X-ray tail is only a small fraction (<5%) of the initial ISM mass of the galaxy, suggesting that the stripping is most likely at an early stage. However, with any of the single-kT, double-kT, and multi-kT models we tried, the tail is always 'over-pressured' relative to the surrounding intracluster medium (ICM), which could be due to the uncertainties in the abundance, thermal versus non-thermal X-ray emission, or magnetic support in the ICM. The Hα data from the Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research show a ∼21 kpc tail spatially coincident with the X-ray tail, as well as a secondary tail (∼12 kpc long) to the east of the main tail diverging at an angle of ∼23° and starting at a distance of ∼7.5 kpc from the nucleus. At the position of the secondary Hα tail, the X-ray emission is also enhanced at the ∼2σ level. We compare the tails of ESO 137-001 and ESO 137-002, and also compare the tails to simulations. Both the similarities and differences of the tails pose challenges to the simulations. Several implications are

  7. Tailings management best practice: a case study of the McClean Lake JEB Tailings Management Facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tremblay, M.A.J.; Rowson, J.

    2005-01-01

    COGEMA Resources Inc. (which is part of the Areva Group) is a Canadian company with its head office in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It owns and operates mining and milling facilities in Northern Saskatchewan, which produce uranium concentrate. McClean Lake Operation commenced production in 1999 and its tailings management facility represents the state of the art for tailings management in the uranium industry in Canada. Tailings disposal has the potential to cause effects in the surrounding receiving environment primarily through migration of soluble constituents from the facility to surface water receptors. In-pit disposal or mill tailings has become the standard in the uranium mining industry in Northern Saskatchewan. This method or tailings management demonstrates advances in terms of worker radiation protection and containment of soluble constituents both during operations and into the long term. Sub-aqueous deposition of tailings protects personnel from exposure to radiation and airborne emissions and prevents freezing of tailings, which can hinder consolidation. The continuous inflow of groundwater to the facility is achieved during operations, through control of water levels within the facility. This ensures hydrodynamic containment, which prevents migration of soluble radionuclides and heavy metals into the surrounding aquifer during operations. The environmental performance of the decommissioned facility depends upon the rate of release of contaminants to the receiving environment. The rate of constituent loading to the receiving environment will ultimately be governed by the concentrations of soluble constituents within the tailings mass, the mechanisms for release from the tailings to the surrounding groundwater system, and transport of constituents within the groundwater pathway to the receiving environment. The tailings preparation process was designed to convert arsenic into a stable form to reduce soluble concentrations within the tailings mass. The

  8. Combined particle-image velocimetry and force analysis of the three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction of a natural owl wing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winzen, A; Roidl, B; Schröder, W

    2016-04-01

    Low-speed aerodynamics has gained increasing interest due to its relevance for the design process of small flying air vehicles. These small aircraft operate at similar aerodynamic conditions as, e.g. birds which therefore can serve as role models of how to overcome the well-known problems of low Reynolds number flight. The flight of the barn owl is characterized by a very low flight velocity in conjunction with a low noise emission and a high level of maneuverability at stable flight conditions. To investigate the complex three-dimensional flow field and the corresponding local structural deformation in combination with their influence on the resulting aerodynamic forces, time-resolved stereoscopic particle-image velocimetry and force and moment measurements are performed on a prepared natural barn owl wing. Several spanwise positions are measured via PIV in a range of angles of attack [Formula: see text] 6° and Reynolds numbers 40 000 [Formula: see text] 120 000 based on the chord length. Additionally, the resulting forces and moments are recorded for -10° ≤ α ≤ 15° at the same Reynolds numbers. Depending on the spanwise position, the angle of attack, and the Reynolds number, the flow field on the wing's pressure side is characterized by either a region of flow separation, causing large-scale vortical structures which lead to a time-dependent deflection of the flexible wing structure or wing regions showing no instantaneous deflection but a reduction of the time-averaged mean wing curvature. Based on the force measurements the three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction is assumed to considerably impact the aerodynamic forces acting on the wing leading to a strong mechanical loading of the interface between the wing and body. These time-depending loads which result from the flexibility of the wing should be taken into consideration for the design of future small flying air vehicles using flexible wing structures.

  9. Settlement of uranium mill tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, P.K.; Guros, F.B.; Keshian, B.

    1988-01-01

    Two test embankments were constructed on top of an old tailings deposit near Ambrosia Lake, New Mexico to determine settlement characteristics of hydraulically- deposited uranium mill tailings. Before construction of the embankments, properties of in-situ tailings and foundation soils were determined using data from boreholes, piezocone soundings, and laboratory tests. These properties were used to estimate post-construction settlement of a planned disposal embankment to be constructed on the tailings. However, excessive uncertainty existed in the following: field settlement rates of saturated and unsaturated tailings, degree of preconsolidation of the upper 15 feet of tailings, and the ability of an underlying silty sand foundation layer to facilitate drainage. Thus, assurance could not be provided that differential settlements of the radon barrier and erosion protection layers would be within allowable limits should the planned disposal embankment be constructed in a single-stage

  10. Minimum decoding trellis length and truncation depth of wrap-around Viterbi algorithm for TBCC in mobile WiMAX

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liu Yu-Sun

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The performance of the wrap-around Viterbi decoding algorithm with finite truncation depth and fixed decoding trellis length is investigated for tail-biting convolutional codes in the mobile WiMAX standard. Upper bounds on the error probabilities induced by finite truncation depth and the uncertainty of the initial state are derived for the AWGN channel. The truncation depth and the decoding trellis length that yield negligible performance loss are obtained for all transmission rates over the Rayleigh channel using computer simulations. The results show that the circular decoding algorithm with an appropriately chosen truncation depth and a decoding trellis just a fraction longer than the original received code words can achieve almost the same performance as the optimal maximum likelihood decoding algorithm in mobile WiMAX. A rule of thumb for the values of the truncation depth and the trellis tail length is also proposed.

  11. Left-Wing Extremism: The Current Threat

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karl A. Seger

    2001-04-30

    Left-wing extremism is ''alive and well'' both in the US and internationally. Although the current domestic terrorist threat within the U. S. is focused on right-wing extremists, left-wing extremists are also active and have several objectives. Leftist extremists also pose an espionage threat to U.S. interests. While the threat to the U.S. government from leftist extremists has decreased in the past decade, it has not disappeared. There are individuals and organizations within the U.S. who maintain the same ideology that resulted in the growth of left-wing terrorism in this country in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the leaders from that era are still communicating from Cuba with their followers in the U.S., and new leaders and groups are emerging.

  12. Measurement of shape and deformation of insect wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Duo; Wei, Zhen; Wang, Zeyu; Zhou, Changqiu

    2018-01-01

    To measure the shape and deformation of an insect wing, a scanning setup adopting laser triangulation and image matching was developed. Only one industry camera with two light sources was employed to scan the transparent insect wings. 3D shape and point to point full field deformation of the wings could be obtained even when the wingspan is less than 3 mm. The venation and corrugation could be significantly identified from the results. The deformation of the wing under pin loading could be seen clearly from the results as well. Calibration shows that the shape and deformation measurement accuracies are no lower than 0.01 mm. Laser triangulation and image matching were combined dexterously to adapt wings' complex shape, size, and transparency. It is suitable for insect flight research or flapping wing micro-air vehicle development.

  13. Molecular analysis of the bacterial diversity in uranium mill tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Geissler, A.

    2003-04-01

    A culture-independent molecular approach has been applied to investigate the bacterial diversity in three uranium contaminated sites. The three analysed soil samples have been collected from the uranium waste pile Haberland near Johanngeorgenstadt (Germany), from the uranium mill tailings in Gunnison, Colorado (USA) and from the uranium mill tailings in Shiprock, New Mexico (USA). The 16S rDNA fragments which has been isolated through direct lysis of the whole-DNA were amplified by the use of the universal primers 16S 43f and 16S 1404r and cloned. With restriction fragment length polymorphismus (RFLP) were the clones screened and one representative of all RFLP types that occurred more than once in the clone library was sequenced and analysed. In spite of the contamination a considerable diversity and significant differences in the composition of the natural bacterial communities in these three sites have been found. In the sample collected from the waste pile Haberland near Johanngeorgenstadt α-Proteobacteria and representatives of the Holophaga/Acidobacterium were numerically predominant. The distribution of bacteria in the sample collected from uranium mill tailings Gunnison was very similar to those found in the Haberland waste pile, but there were found besides α-Proteobacteria and representatives of Holophaga/Acidobacterium a lot of γ-Proteobacteria. The structure of the bacterial community in the sample collected from the uranium mill tailings Shiprock was significantly different. Only some representatives of the Holophaga/Acidobacterium and α-Proteobacteria were represented. Large populations of Bacilli, γ-Proteobacteria and green non sulfur bacteria were dominant in this sample. (orig.)

  14. Crossflow-Vortex Breakdown on Swept Wings: Correlation of Nonlinear Physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joslin, R. D.; Streett, C. L.

    1994-01-01

    The spatial evolution of cross flow-vortex packets in a laminar boundary layer on a swept wing are computed by the direct numerical simulation of the incompressible Navier- Stokes equations. A wall-normal velocity distribution of steady suction and blowing at the wing surface is used to generate a strip of equally spaced and periodic disturbances along the span. Three simulations are conducted to study the effect of initial amplitude on the disturbance evolution, to determine the role of traveling cross ow modes in transition, and to devise a correlation function to guide theories of transition prediction. In each simulation, the vortex packets first enter a chordwise region of linear independent growth, then, the individual packets coalesce downstream and interact with adjacent packets, and, finally, the vortex packets nonlinearly interact to generate inflectional velocity profiles. As the initial amplitude of the disturbance is increased, the length of the evolution to breakdown decreases. For this pressure gradient, stationary modes dominate the disturbance evolution. A two-coeffcient function was devised to correlate the simulation results. The coefficients, combined with a single simulation result, provide sufficient information to generate the evolution pattern for disturbances of any initial amplitude.

  15. Real-time in vivo imaging of butterfly wing development: revealing the cellular dynamics of the pupal wing tissue.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masaki Iwata

    Full Text Available Butterfly wings are covered with regularly arranged single-colored scales that are formed at the pupal stage. Understanding pupal wing development is therefore crucial to understand wing color pattern formation. Here, we successfully employed real-time in vivo imaging techniques to observe pupal hindwing development over time in the blue pansy butterfly, Junonia orithya. A transparent sheet of epithelial cells that were not yet regularly arranged was observed immediately after pupation. Bright-field imaging and autofluorescent imaging revealed free-moving hemocytes and tracheal branches of a crinoid-like structure underneath the epithelium. The wing tissue gradually became gray-white, epithelial cells were arranged regularly, and hemocytes disappeared, except in the bordering lacuna, after which scales grew. The dynamics of the epithelial cells and scale growth were also confirmed by fluorescent imaging. Fluorescent in vivo staining further revealed that these cells harbored many mitochondria at the surface of the epithelium. Organizing centers for the border symmetry system were apparent immediately after pupation, exhibiting a relatively dark optical character following treatment with fluorescent dyes, as well as in autofluorescent images. The wing tissue exhibited slow and low-frequency contraction pulses with a cycle of approximately 10 to 20 minutes, mainly occurring at 2 to 3 days postpupation. The pulses gradually became slower and weaker and eventually stopped. The wing tissue area became larger after contraction, which also coincided with an increase in the autofluorescence intensity that might have been caused by scale growth. Examination of the pattern of color development revealed that the black pigment was first deposited in patches in the central areas of an eyespot black ring and a parafocal element. These results of live in vivo imaging that covered wide wing area for a long time can serve as a foundation for studying the

  16. Real-time in vivo imaging of butterfly wing development: revealing the cellular dynamics of the pupal wing tissue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwata, Masaki; Ohno, Yoshikazu; Otaki, Joji M

    2014-01-01

    Butterfly wings are covered with regularly arranged single-colored scales that are formed at the pupal stage. Understanding pupal wing development is therefore crucial to understand wing color pattern formation. Here, we successfully employed real-time in vivo imaging techniques to observe pupal hindwing development over time in the blue pansy butterfly, Junonia orithya. A transparent sheet of epithelial cells that were not yet regularly arranged was observed immediately after pupation. Bright-field imaging and autofluorescent imaging revealed free-moving hemocytes and tracheal branches of a crinoid-like structure underneath the epithelium. The wing tissue gradually became gray-white, epithelial cells were arranged regularly, and hemocytes disappeared, except in the bordering lacuna, after which scales grew. The dynamics of the epithelial cells and scale growth were also confirmed by fluorescent imaging. Fluorescent in vivo staining further revealed that these cells harbored many mitochondria at the surface of the epithelium. Organizing centers for the border symmetry system were apparent immediately after pupation, exhibiting a relatively dark optical character following treatment with fluorescent dyes, as well as in autofluorescent images. The wing tissue exhibited slow and low-frequency contraction pulses with a cycle of approximately 10 to 20 minutes, mainly occurring at 2 to 3 days postpupation. The pulses gradually became slower and weaker and eventually stopped. The wing tissue area became larger after contraction, which also coincided with an increase in the autofluorescence intensity that might have been caused by scale growth. Examination of the pattern of color development revealed that the black pigment was first deposited in patches in the central areas of an eyespot black ring and a parafocal element. These results of live in vivo imaging that covered wide wing area for a long time can serve as a foundation for studying the cellular dynamics of living

  17. Multidimensional analysis of Drosophila wing variation in Evolution ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    2008-12-23

    Dec 23, 2008 ... the different components of phenotypic variation of a complex trait: the wing. ... of Drosophila wing variation in. Evolution Canyon. J. Genet. 87, 407–419]. Introduction ..... identify the effect of slope on wing shape (figure 2,c). All.

  18. In vivo evaluation method of the effect of nattokinase on carrageenan-induced tail thrombosis in a rat model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamiya, Seitaro; Hagimori, Masayori; Ogasawara, Masayoshi; Arakawa, Masayuki

    2010-01-01

    Thrombosis is characterized by congenital and acquired procatarxis. Nattokinase inhibits thrombus formation in vitro. However, in vivo evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of nattokinase against thrombosis remains to be conducted. Subcutaneous nattokinase injections of 1 or 2 mg/ml were administered to the tails of rats. Subsequently, κ-carrageenan was intravenously administered to the tails at 12 h after nattokinase injections. The mean length of the infarcted regions in the tails of rats was significantly shorter in rats administered 2 mg/ml of nattokinase than those in control rats. Nattokinase exhibited significant prophylactic antithrombotic effects. Previously, the in vitro efficacy of nattokinase against thrombosis had been reported; now our study has revealed the in vivo efficacy of nattokinase against thrombosis. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  19. The effect of oil sands tailings pond sediments on embryo-larval walleye (Sander vitreus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raine, J C; Turcotte, D; Tumber, V; Peru, K M; Wang, Z; Yang, C; Headley, J V; Parrott, J L

    2017-10-01

    Walleye (Sander vitreus) are a commercially important North American fish species that inhabit the Athabasca River. This river flows through the Athabasca oil sands where natural sources of bitumen erode from the McMurray formation. Little information is available on responses of walleye embryos to oil sands tailings pond sediments in a laboratory setting. The current study describes the design and implementation of a daily-renewal bioassay to assess the potential effects of tailings pond sediments from the Athabasca oil sands area on walleye development. Developing walleye embryos were exposed to increasing concentrations of two tailings pond sediments (collected in the Athabasca oil sands area) until the completion of yolk absorption in control fish. Sediments from the tailings pond represent a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and alkylated PAHs. During the 31 day exposure, the walleye were examined for mortalities, weight, length and developmental abnormalities to provide an initial evaluation of the effects of the oil sands tailings pond sediments. Walleye embryo survival differed between the tailings pond sediments, and survival decreased with increasing sediment concentration. Alkylated PAH content differed between the two tailings pond sediments and lower embryo survival corresponded to higher total and alkylated PAH content. Tailings pond sediment-exposed walleye exhibited a delay in development, as well as increased percentages of larvae with heart and yolk sac edema, and cranial and spinal malformations. These abnormalities in development are often associated with PAH and alkylated PAH exposure. This study provides an exposure design that can be used to assess sediment toxicity to early developmental stages of a fish species not commonly tested in the lab, and lays the groundwork for future studies with this and other difficult-to-culture species. These results offer information on the potential effects of tailings pond sediments

  20. Attitudes of Dutch Pig Farmers Towards Tail Biting and Tail Docking

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bracke, M.B.M.; Lauwere, de C.C.; Wind, S.M.M.; Zonderland, J.J.

    2013-01-01

    The Dutch policy objective of a fully sustainable livestock sector without mutilations by 2023 is not compatible with the routine practice of tail docking to minimize the risk of tail biting. To examine farmer attitudes towards docking, a telephone survey was conducted among 487 conventional and 33

  1. Tail-weighted dependence measures with limit being the tail dependence coefficient

    KAUST Repository

    Lee, David

    2017-12-02

    For bivariate continuous data, measures of monotonic dependence are based on the rank transformations of the two variables. For bivariate extreme value copulas, there is a family of estimators (Formula presented.), for (Formula presented.), of the extremal coefficient, based on a transform of the absolute difference of the α power of the ranks. In the case of general bivariate copulas, we obtain the probability limit (Formula presented.) of (Formula presented.) as the sample size goes to infinity and show that (i) (Formula presented.) for (Formula presented.) is a measure of central dependence with properties similar to Kendall\\'s tau and Spearman\\'s rank correlation, (ii) (Formula presented.) is a tail-weighted dependence measure for large α, and (iii) the limit as (Formula presented.) is the upper tail dependence coefficient. We obtain asymptotic properties for the rank-based measure (Formula presented.) and estimate tail dependence coefficients through extrapolation on (Formula presented.). A data example illustrates the use of the new dependence measures for tail inference.

  2. Tail-weighted dependence measures with limit being the tail dependence coefficient

    KAUST Repository

    Lee, David; Joe, Harry; Krupskii, Pavel

    2017-01-01

    For bivariate continuous data, measures of monotonic dependence are based on the rank transformations of the two variables. For bivariate extreme value copulas, there is a family of estimators (Formula presented.), for (Formula presented.), of the extremal coefficient, based on a transform of the absolute difference of the α power of the ranks. In the case of general bivariate copulas, we obtain the probability limit (Formula presented.) of (Formula presented.) as the sample size goes to infinity and show that (i) (Formula presented.) for (Formula presented.) is a measure of central dependence with properties similar to Kendall's tau and Spearman's rank correlation, (ii) (Formula presented.) is a tail-weighted dependence measure for large α, and (iii) the limit as (Formula presented.) is the upper tail dependence coefficient. We obtain asymptotic properties for the rank-based measure (Formula presented.) and estimate tail dependence coefficients through extrapolation on (Formula presented.). A data example illustrates the use of the new dependence measures for tail inference.

  3. Copper tailings in stucco mortars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Osvaldo Pavez

    Full Text Available Abstract This investigation addressed the evaluation of the use of copper tailings in the construction industry in order to reduce the impact on the environment. The evaluation was performed by a technical comparison between stucco mortars prepared with crushed conventional sand and with copper tailings sand. The best results were achieved with the stucco mortars containing tailings. The tailings presented a fine particles size distribution curve different from that suggested by the standard. The values of compressive strength, retentivity, and adherence in the stucco mortars prepared with copper tailings were much higher than those obtained with crushed sand. According to the results from this study, it can be concluded that the preparation of stucco mortars using copper tailings replacing conventional sand is a technically feasible alternative for the construction industry, presenting the benefit of mitigating the impact of disposal to the environment.

  4. Tail thrust of bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix at different buoyancies, speeds, and swimming angles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogilvy, C S; DuBois, A B

    1982-06-01

    1. The tail thrust of bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix was measured using a body accelerometer at different water speeds, buoyancies, and angles of water flow to determine the contribution of tail thrust in overcoming parasitic drag, induced drag, and weight directed along the track. The lengths and weights of the fish averaged 0.52 m and 1.50 kg respectively. 2. The tail thrust overcoming parasitic drag in Newtons, as measured during neutral buoyancy, was: 0.51 x speed + 0.15, with a standard error of estimate of 0.09 N. 3. When buoyancy was altered by the introduction or removal of air from a balloon implanted in the swim bladder, the tail thrust was altered by an amount of the same order as the value calculated for the induced drag of the pectoral fins. 4. The component of weight directed backward along the track was the weight in water multiplied by the sine of the angle of the swimming tunnel relative to horizontal. When this force was added to the calculated induced drag and tail thrust measured at neutral buoyancy, the rearward force equal to the tail thrust, at 45 ml negative buoyancy, 0.5 m s-1, and 15 degrees head up, was 0.12 N due to weight + 0.05 N due to induced drag + 0.40 N due to parasitic drag = 0.57 N total rearward force. 5. The conditions required for gliding were not achieved in our bluefish because the drag exceeded the component of the weight in water directed forward along the track at speeds above the stalling speed of the pectoral fins.

  5. Demonstration of an in situ morphing hyperelliptical cambered span wing mechanism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manzo, Justin; Garcia, Ephrahim

    2010-01-01

    Research on efficient shore bird morphology inspired the hyperelliptical cambered span (HECS) wing, a crescent-shaped, aft-swept wing with vertically oriented wingtips. The wing reduces vorticity-induced circulation loss and outperforms an elliptical baseline when planar. Designed initially as a rigid wing, the HECS wing makes use of morphing to transition from a planar to a furled configuration, similar to that of a continuously curved winglet, in flight. A morphing wing concept mechanism is presented, employing shape memory alloy actuators to create a discretized curvature approximation. The aerodynamics for continuous wing shapes is validated quasi-statically through wind tunnel testing, showing enhanced planar HECS wing lift-to-drag performance over an elliptical wing, with the furled HECS wing showing minimal enhancements beyond this point. Wind tunnel tests of the active morphing wing prove the mechanism capable of overcoming realistic loading, while further testing may be required to establish aerodynamic merits of the HECS wing morphing maneuver

  6. Shock/shock interactions between bodies and wings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaoxiang XIANG

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the Shock/Shock Interactions (SSI between the body and wing of aircraft in supersonic flows. The body is simplified to a flat wedge and the wing is assumed to be a sharp wing. The theoretical spatial dimension reduction method, which transforms the 3D problem into a 2D one, is used to analyze the SSI between the body and wing. The temperature and pressure behind the Mach stem induced by the wing and body are obtained, and the wave configurations in the corner are determined. Numerical validations are conducted by solving the inviscid Euler equations in 3D with a Non-oscillatory and Non-free-parameters Dissipative (NND finite difference scheme. Good agreements between the theoretical and numerical results are obtained. Additionally, the effects of the wedge angle and sweep angle on wave configurations and flow field are considered numerically and theoretically. The influences of wedge angle are significant, whereas the effects of sweep angle on wave configurations are negligible. This paper provides useful information for the design and thermal protection of aircraft in supersonic and hypersonic flows. Keywords: Body and wing, Flow field, Hypersonic flow, Shock/shock interaction, Wave configurations

  7. Application of Piezoelectrics to Flapping-Wing MAVs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Widstrand, Alex; Hubner, J. Paul

    2015-11-01

    Micro air vehicles (MAVs) are a class of unmanned aerial vehicles that are size-restricted and operate at low velocities and low Reynolds numbers. An ongoing challenge with MAVs is that their flight-related operations are highly constrained by their size and weight, which limits battery size and, therefore, available power. One type of MAV called an ornithopter flies using flapping wings to create both lift and thrust, much like birds and insects do. Further bio-inspiration from bats led to the design of membrane wings for these vehicles, which provide aerodynamic benefits through passive vibration. In an attempt to capitalize on this vibration, a piezoelectric film, which generates a voltage when stressed, was investigated as the wing surface. Two wing planforms with constant area were designed and fabricated. The goal was to measure the wings' flight characteristics and output energy in freestream conditions. Complications with the flapper arose which prevented wind tunnel tests from being performed; however, energy data was obtained from table-top shaker tests. Preliminary results indicate that wing shape affects the magnitude of the charge generated, with a quarter-elliptic planform outperforming a rectangular planform. Funding provided by NSF REU Site Award number 1358991.

  8. Research on Long Tail Recommendation Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Xuezhi; Zhang, Chuang; Wu, Ming; Zeng, Yang

    2017-10-01

    Most recommendation systems in the major electronic commerce platforms are influenced by the long tail effect more or less. There are sufficient researches of how to assess recommendation effect while no criteria to evaluate long tail recommendation rate. In this study, we first discussed the existing problems of recommending long tail products through specific experiments. Then we proposed a long tail evaluation criteria and compared the performance in long tail recommendation between different models.

  9. Composite corrugated structures for morphing wing skin applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thill, C; Etches, J A; Bond, I P; Potter, K D; Weaver, P M

    2010-01-01

    Composite corrugated structures are known for their anisotropic properties. They exhibit relatively high stiffness parallel (longitudinal) to the corrugation direction and are relatively compliant in the direction perpendicular (transverse) to the corrugation. Thus, they offer a potential solution for morphing skin panels (MSPs) in the trailing edge region of a wing as a morphing control surface. In this paper, an overview of the work carried out by the present authors over the last few years on corrugated structures for morphing skin applications is first given. The second part of the paper presents recent work on the application of corrugated sandwich structures. Panels made from multiple unit cells of corrugated sandwich structures are used as MSPs in the trailing edge region of a scaled morphing aerofoil section. The aerofoil section features an internal actuation mechanism that allows chordwise length and camber change of the trailing edge region (aft 35% chord). Wind tunnel testing was carried out to demonstrate the MSP concept but also to explore its limitations. Suggestions for improvements arising from this study were deduced, one of which includes an investigation of a segmented skin. The overall results of this study show that the MSP concept exploiting corrugated sandwich structures offers a potential solution for local morphing wing skins for low speed and small air vehicles

  10. Physical stability of asphalt emulsion admix seal radon barrier for uranium mill tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gates, T.E.

    1983-09-01

    Pacific Northwest Laboratory, is investigating the use of an asphalt emulsion admix seal to reduce the release of radon from uranium mill tailings. A key requirement of any cover system is its long-term stability; the cover must withstand failure over very long periods of time. An important determinant of overall cover system stability is the integrity of the 6.35-cm (2.5-in.) thick asphalt admix seal. Therefore, the physical stability of this seal was examined. The investigation considered the mechanical interaction between the tailings pile and cover. The potential effect of differential settlement of the tailings pile on the integrity of the seal system was also examined. Results indicate that the minimum span length the seal could withstand without failing is 0.34 m (1.1 ft). This assumes a differential settlement of 4.92 cm (1.94 in.) at the center resulting from the application of a 0.76-m (2.5-ft) cover. At spans greater than 0.60 m (1.97 ft), no tensile strain would develop

  11. Colors and pterin pigmentation of pierid butterfly wings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijnen, B.; Leertouwer, H. L.; Stavenga, D. G.

    2007-01-01

    The reflectance of pierid butterfly wings is principally determined by the incoherent scattering of incident light and the absorption by pterin pigments in the scale structures. Coherent scattering causing iridescence is frequently encountered in the dorsal wings or wing tips of male pierids. We

  12. Unsteady Aerodynamics of Flapping Wing of a Bird

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Agoes Moelyadi

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available The unsteady flow behavior and time-dependent aerodynamic characteristics of the flapping motion of a bird’s wing were investigated using a computational method. During flapping, aerodynamic interactions between bird wing surfaces and surrounding flow may occur, generating local time-dependent flow changes in the flow field and aerodynamic load of birds. To study the effect of flapping speed on unsteady aerodynamic load, two kinds of computational simulations were carried out, namely a quasi-steady and an unsteady simulation. To mimic the movement of the down-stroke and the upstroke of a bird, the flapping path accorded to a sinus function, with the wing attitude changing in dihedral angle and time. The computations of time-dependent viscous flow were based on the solution of the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations by applying the k-e turbulence model. In addition, the discretization for the computational domain around the model used multi-block structured grid to provide more accuracy in capturing viscous flow, especially in the vicinity of the wing and body surfaces, to obtain a proper wing-body geometry model. For this research, the seagull bird was chosen, which has high aspect ratio wings with pointed wing-tips and a high camber wing section. The results include mesh movement, velocity contours as well as aerodynamic coefficients of the flapping motion of the bird at various flapping frequencies.

  13. Generic Wing-Body Aerodynamics Data Base

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holst, Terry L.; Olsen, Thomas H.; Kwak, Dochan (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    The wing-body aerodynamics data base consists of a series of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations about a generic wing body configuration consisting of a ogive-circular-cylinder fuselage and a simple symmetric wing mid-mounted on the fuselage. Solutions have been obtained for Nonlinear Potential (P), Euler (E) and Navier-Stokes (N) solvers over a range of subsonic and transonic Mach numbers and angles of attack. In addition, each solution has been computed on a series of grids, coarse, medium and fine to permit an assessment of grid refinement errors.

  14. Butterfly wing colors : glass scales of Graphium sarpedon cause polarized iridescence and enhance blue/green pigment coloration of the wing membrane

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stavenga, Doekele G.; Giraldo, Marco A.; Leertouwer, Hein L.

    2010-01-01

    The wings of the swordtail butterfly Graphium sarpedon nipponum contain the bile pigment sarpedobilin, which causes blue/green colored wing patches. Locally the bile pigment is combined with the strongly blue-absorbing carotenoid lutein, resulting in green wing patches and thus improving camouflage.

  15. Assessing genotoxicity of diuron on Drosophila melanogaster by the wing-spot test and the wing imaginal disk comet assay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peraza-Vega, Ricardo I; Castañeda-Sortibrán, América N; Valverde, Mahara; Rojas, Emilio; Rodríguez-Arnaiz, Rosario

    2017-05-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotoxicity of the herbicide diuron in the wing-spot test and a novel wing imaginal disk comet assay in Drosophila melanogaster. The wing-spot test was performed with standard (ST) and high-bioactivation (HB) crosses after providing chronic 48 h treatment to third instar larvae. A positive dose-response effect was observed in both crosses, but statistically reduced spot frequencies were registered for the HB cross compared with the ST. This latter finding suggests that metabolism differences play an important role in the genotoxic effect of diuron. To verify diuron's ability to produce DNA damage, a wing imaginal disk comet assay was performed after providing 24 h diuron treatment to ST and HB third instar larvae. DNA damage induced by the herbicide had a significantly positive dose-response effect even at very low concentrations in both strains. However, as noted for the wing-spot test, a significant difference between strains was not observed that could be related to the duration of exposure between both assays. A positive correlation between the comet assay and the wing-spot test was found with regard to diuron genotoxicity.

  16. Tail Asymptotics for the Sum of two Heavy-tailed Dependent Risks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Albrecher, H.; Asmussen, Søren

    Let X1,X2 denote positive exchangable heavy-tailed random variables with continuous marginal distribution function F. The asymptotic behavior of the tail of X1 + X2 is studied in a general copula framework and some bounds and extremal properties are provided. For more specific assumptions on F...

  17. Multiple cues for winged morph production in an aphid metacommunity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohsen Mehrparvar

    Full Text Available Environmental factors can lead individuals down different developmental pathways giving rise to distinct phenotypes (phenotypic plasticity. The production of winged or unwinged morphs in aphids is an example of two alternative developmental pathways. Dispersal is paramount in aphids that often have a metapopulation structure, where local subpopulations frequently go extinct, such as the specialized aphids on tansy (Tanacetum vulgare. We conducted various experiments to further understand the cues involved in the production of winged dispersal morphs by the two dominant species of the tansy aphid metacommunity, Metopeurum fuscoviride and Macrosiphoniella tanacetaria. We found that the ant-tended M. fuscoviride produced winged individuals predominantly at the beginning of the season while the untended M. tanacetaria produced winged individuals throughout the season. Winged mothers of both species produced winged offspring, although in both species winged offspring were mainly produced by unwinged females. Crowding and the presence of predators, effects already known to influence wing production in other aphid species, increased the percentage of winged offspring in M. tanacetaria, but not in M. fuscoviride. We find there are also other factors (i.e. temporal effects inducing the production of winged offspring for natural aphid populations. Our results show that the responses of each aphid species are due to multiple wing induction cues.

  18. Clap-and-fling mechanism in a hovering insect-like two-winged flapping-wing micro air vehicle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phan, Hoang Vu; Au, Thi Kim Loan; Park, Hoon Cheol

    2016-12-01

    This study used numerical and experimental approaches to investigate the role played by the clap-and-fling mechanism in enhancing force generation in hovering insect-like two-winged flapping-wing micro air vehicle (FW-MAV). The flapping mechanism was designed to symmetrically flap wings at a high flapping amplitude of approximately 192°. The clap-and-fling mechanisms were thereby implemented at both dorsal and ventral stroke reversals. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model was constructed based on three-dimensional wing kinematics to estimate the force generation, which was validated by the measured forces using a 6-axis load cell. The computed forces proved that the CFD model provided reasonable estimation with differences less than 8%, when compared with the measured forces. The measurement indicated that the clap and flings at both the stroke reversals augmented the average vertical force by 16.2% when compared with the force without the clap-and-fling effect. In the CFD simulation, the clap and flings enhanced the vertical force by 11.5% and horizontal drag force by 18.4%. The observations indicated that both the fling and the clap contributed to the augmented vertical force by 62.6% and 37.4%, respectively, and to the augmented horizontal drag force by 71.7% and 28.3%, respectively. The flow structures suggested that a strong downwash was expelled from the opening gap between the trailing edges during the fling as well as the clap at each stroke reversal. In addition to the fling phases, the influx of air into the low-pressure region between the wings from the leading edges also significantly contributed to augmentation of the vertical force. The study conducted for high Reynolds numbers also confirmed that the effect of the clap and fling was insignificant when the minimum distance between the two wings exceeded 1.2c (c = wing chord). Thus, the clap and flings were successfully implemented in the FW-MAV, and there was a significant improvement in the

  19. Application of slender wing benefits to military aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polhamus, E. C.

    1983-01-01

    A review is provided of aerodynamic research conducted at the Langley Research Center with respect to the application of slender wing benefits in the design of high-speed military aircraft, taking into account the supersonic performance and leading-edge vortex flow associated with very highly sweptback wings. The beginning of the development of modern classical swept wing jet aircraft is related to the German Me 262 project during World War II. In the U.S., a theoretical study conducted by Jones (1945) pointed out the advantages of the sweptback wing concept. Developments with respect to variable sweep wings are discussed, taking into account early research in 1946, a joint program of the U.S. with the United Kingdom, the tactical aircraft concept, and the important part which the Langley variable-sweep research program played in the development of the F-111, F-14, and B-1. Attention is also given to hybrid wings, vortex flow theory development, and examples of flow design technology.

  20. Runaway tails in magnetized plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moghaddam-Taaheri, E.; Vlahos, L.; Rowland, H. L.; Papadopoulos, K.

    1985-01-01

    The evolution of a runaway tail driven by a dc electric field in a magnetized plasma is analyzed. Depending on the strength of the electric field and the ratio of plasma to gyrofrequency, there are three different regimes in the evolution of the tail. The tail can be (1) stable with electrons accelerated to large parallel velocities, (2) unstable to Cerenkov resonance because of the depletion of the bulk and the formation of a positive slope, (3) unstable to the anomalous Doppler resonance instability driven by the large velocity anisotropy in the tail. Once an instability is triggered (Cerenkov or anomalous Doppler resonance) the tail relaxes into an isotropic distribution. The role of a convection type loss term is also discussed.

  1. A Model for Selection of Eyespots on Butterfly Wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sekimura, Toshio; Venkataraman, Chandrasekhar; Madzvamuse, Anotida

    2015-01-01

    The development of eyespots on the wing surface of butterflies of the family Nympalidae is one of the most studied examples of biological pattern formation.However, little is known about the mechanism that determines the number and precise locations of eyespots on the wing. Eyespots develop around signaling centers, called foci, that are located equidistant from wing veins along the midline of a wing cell (an area bounded by veins). A fundamental question that remains unsolved is, why a certain wing cell develops an eyespot, while other wing cells do not. We illustrate that the key to understanding focus point selection may be in the venation system of the wing disc. Our main hypothesis is that changes in morphogen concentration along the proximal boundary veins of wing cells govern focus point selection. Based on previous studies, we focus on a spatially two-dimensional reaction-diffusion system model posed in the interior of each wing cell that describes the formation of focus points. Using finite element based numerical simulations, we demonstrate that variation in the proximal boundary condition is sufficient to robustly select whether an eyespot focus point forms in otherwise identical wing cells. We also illustrate that this behavior is robust to small perturbations in the parameters and geometry and moderate levels of noise. Hence, we suggest that an anterior-posterior pattern of morphogen concentration along the proximal vein may be the main determinant of the distribution of focus points on the wing surface. In order to complete our model, we propose a two stage reaction-diffusion system model, in which an one-dimensional surface reaction-diffusion system, posed on the proximal vein, generates the morphogen concentrations that act as non-homogeneous Dirichlet (i.e., fixed) boundary conditions for the two-dimensional reaction-diffusion model posed in the wing cells. The two-stage model appears capable of generating focus point distributions observed in

  2. A Model for Selection of Eyespots on Butterfly Wings.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toshio Sekimura

    Full Text Available The development of eyespots on the wing surface of butterflies of the family Nympalidae is one of the most studied examples of biological pattern formation.However, little is known about the mechanism that determines the number and precise locations of eyespots on the wing. Eyespots develop around signaling centers, called foci, that are located equidistant from wing veins along the midline of a wing cell (an area bounded by veins. A fundamental question that remains unsolved is, why a certain wing cell develops an eyespot, while other wing cells do not.We illustrate that the key to understanding focus point selection may be in the venation system of the wing disc. Our main hypothesis is that changes in morphogen concentration along the proximal boundary veins of wing cells govern focus point selection. Based on previous studies, we focus on a spatially two-dimensional reaction-diffusion system model posed in the interior of each wing cell that describes the formation of focus points. Using finite element based numerical simulations, we demonstrate that variation in the proximal boundary condition is sufficient to robustly select whether an eyespot focus point forms in otherwise identical wing cells. We also illustrate that this behavior is robust to small perturbations in the parameters and geometry and moderate levels of noise. Hence, we suggest that an anterior-posterior pattern of morphogen concentration along the proximal vein may be the main determinant of the distribution of focus points on the wing surface. In order to complete our model, we propose a two stage reaction-diffusion system model, in which an one-dimensional surface reaction-diffusion system, posed on the proximal vein, generates the morphogen concentrations that act as non-homogeneous Dirichlet (i.e., fixed boundary conditions for the two-dimensional reaction-diffusion model posed in the wing cells. The two-stage model appears capable of generating focus point distributions

  3. Spectral reflectance properties of iridescent pierid butterfly wings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wilts, Bodo D.; Pirih, Primoz; Stavenga, Doekele G.; Pirih, Primož

    The wings of most pierid butterflies exhibit a main, pigmentary colouration: white, yellow or orange. The males of many species have in restricted areas of the wing upper sides a distinct structural colouration, which is created by stacks of lamellae in the ridges of the wing scales, resulting in

  4. Effects of the mosquito larvicide GB-1111 on red-winged blackbird embryos

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Albers, P.H.; Hoffman, D.J.; Buscemi, D.M.; Melancon, M.J.

    2003-01-01

    Mosquito larvicide GB-1111 poses a minimal risk to red-winged blackbird embryos when applied according to product label guidance. - Golden Bear Oil (GB-1111; legal trade name for GB-1313) is a petroleum distillate that is used in the United States and other countries as a larvicide for mosquito suppression. As part of a multi-species evaluation of the potential effects of GB-1111 on birds, red-winged blackbird eggs were collected, artificially incubated, and treated with one of five amounts of GB-1111 varying from 0 to 10 times the expected exposure from a spray application of the maximum recommended amount (X=47 l/ha, 5 gal/ac). The application of 10 X caused a significant reduction in hatching success. A dose-related reduction of hepatic microsomal monooxygenase activity (EROD) was detected. Among body weights, skeletal measurements, and age at death, only crownrump length was different among experimental groups. Overall, the potential hazard to embryos of a representative wetland passerine appears minimal until the application rate exceeds 3 X

  5. Functional morphology of the radialis muscle in shark tails.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flammang, Brooke E

    2010-03-01

    The functional morphology of intrinsic caudal musculature in sharks has not been studied previously, though the kinematics and function of body musculature have been the focus of a great deal of research. In the tail, ventral to the axial myomeres, there is a thin strip of red muscle with fibers angled dorsoposteriorly, known as the radialis. This research gives the first anatomical description of the radialis muscle in sharks, and addresses the hypothesis that the radialis muscle provides postural stiffening in the tail of live swimming sharks. The radialis muscle fibers insert onto the deepest layers of the stratum compactum, the more superior layers of which are orthogonally arrayed and connect to the epidermis. The two deepest layers of the stratum compactum insert onto the proximal ends of the ceratotrichia of the caudal fin. This anatomical arrangement exists in sharks and is modified in rays, but was not found in skates or chimaeras. Electromyography of the caudal muscles of dogfish swimming steadily at 0.25 and 0.5 body lengths per second (Ls(-1)) exhibited a pattern of anterior to posterior activation of the radialis muscle, followed by activation of red axial muscle in the more anteriorly located ipsilateral myomeres of the caudal peduncle; at 0.75 L s(-1), only the anterior portion of the radialis and white axial muscle of the contralateral peduncular myomeres were active. Activity of the radialis muscle occurred during periods of the greatest drag incurred by the tail during the tail beat and preceded the activity of more anteriorly located axial myomeres. This nonconformity to the typical anterior to posterior wave of muscle activation in fish swimming, in combination with anatomical positioning of the radialis muscles and stratum compactum, suggests that radialis activity may have a postural function to stiffen the fin, and does not function as a typical myotomal muscle.

  6. Rotary balance data for a typical single-engine general aviation design for an angle-of-attack range of 8 deg to 90 deg. 2: High-wing model A

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulcay, W.; Rose, R.

    1979-01-01

    Aerodynamic characteristics obtained in a rotational flow environment utilizing a rotary balance located in the Langley spin tunnel are presented in plotted form for a 1/5-scale, single-engine, high-wing, general aviation airplane model. The configurations tested included various tail designs and fuselage shapes. Data are presented without analysis for an angle of attack range of 8 to 90 degrees and clockwise and counter-clockwise rotations covering an Omega b/2 v range from 0 to 0.85.

  7. The biomechanical origin of extreme wing allometry in hummingbirds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skandalis, Dimitri A; Segre, Paolo S; Bahlman, Joseph W; Groom, Derrick J E; Welch, Kenneth C; Witt, Christopher C; McGuire, Jimmy A; Dudley, Robert; Lentink, David; Altshuler, Douglas L

    2017-10-19

    Flying animals of different masses vary widely in body proportions, but the functional implications of this variation are often unclear. We address this ambiguity by developing an integrative allometric approach, which we apply here to hummingbirds to examine how the physical environment, wing morphology and stroke kinematics have contributed to the evolution of their highly specialised flight. Surprisingly, hummingbirds maintain constant wing velocity despite an order of magnitude variation in body weight; increased weight is supported solely through disproportionate increases in wing area. Conversely, wing velocity increases with body weight within species, compensating for lower relative wing area in larger individuals. By comparing inter- and intraspecific allometries, we find that the extreme wing area allometry of hummingbirds is likely an adaptation to maintain constant burst flight capacity and induced power requirements with increasing weight. Selection for relatively large wings simultaneously maximises aerial performance and minimises flight costs, which are essential elements of humming bird life history.

  8. Morphological properties of the last primaries, the tail feathers, and the alulae of Accipiter nisus, Columba livia, Falco peregrinus, and Falco tinnunculus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmitz, Anke; Ponitz, Benjamin; Brücker, Christoph; Schmitz, Helmut; Herweg, Jan; Bleckmann, Horst

    2015-01-01

    We investigated the mechanical properties (Young's modulus, bending stiffness, barb separation forces) of the tenth primary of the wings, of the alulae and of the middle tail feathers of Falco peregrinus. For comparison, we also investigated the corresponding feathers in pigeons (Columba livia), kestrels (Falco tinnunculus), and sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus). In all four species, the Young's moduli of the feathers ranged from 5.9 to 8.4 GPa. The feather shafts of F. peregrinus had the largest cross-sections and the highest specific bending stiffness. When normalized with respect to body mass, the specific bending stiffness of primary number 10 was highest in F. tinnunculus, while that of the alula was highest in A. nisus. In comparison, the specific bending stiffness, measured at the base of the tail feathers and in dorso-ventral bending direction, was much higher in F. peregrinus than in the other three species. This seems to correlate with the flight styles of the birds: F. tinnunculus hovers and its primaries might therefore withstand large mechanical forces. A. nisus has often to change its flight directions during hunting and perhaps needs its alulae for this maneuvers, and in F. peregrinus, the base of the tail feathers might need a high stiffness during breaking after diving. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. TIDAL TAILS OF MINOR MERGERS: STAR FORMATION EFFICIENCY IN THE WESTERN TAIL OF NGC 2782

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Knierman, Karen; Scowen, Paul; Jansen, Rolf A. [School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, 550 East Tyler Mall, Room PSF-686 (P.O. Box 871404), Tempe, AZ 85287-1404 (United States); Knezek, Patricia M. [WIYN Consortium, Inc., 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States); Wehner, Elizabeth, E-mail: karen.knierman@asu.edu, E-mail: paul.scowen@asu.edu, E-mail: rolf.jansen@asu.edu, E-mail: pknezek@noao.edu, E-mail: ewehner@haverford.edu [Department of Astronomy, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041 (United States)

    2012-04-10

    While major mergers and their tidal debris are well studied, they are less common than minor mergers (mass ratios {approx}< 0.3). The peculiar spiral NGC 2782 is the result of a merger between two disk galaxies with a mass ratio of {approx}4: 1 occurring {approx}200 Myr ago. This merger produced a molecular and H I-rich, optically bright eastern tail and an H I-rich, optically faint western tail. Non-detection of CO in the western tail by Braine et al. suggested that star formation had not yet begun to occur in that tidal tail. However, deep H{alpha} narrowband images show evidence of recent star formation in the western tail. Across the entire western tail, we find the global star formation rate per unit area ({Sigma}{sub SFR}) to be several orders of magnitude less than expected from the total gas density. Together with extended FUV+NUV emission from Galaxy Evolution Explorer along the tail, this indicates a low global star formation efficiency in the tidal tail producing lower mass star clusters. The H II region that we observed has a local (few-kiloparsec scale) {Sigma}{sub SFR} from H{alpha} that is less than that expected from the total gas density, which is consistent with other observations of tidal debris. The star formation efficiency of this H II region inferred from the total gas density is low, but normal when inferred from the molecular gas density. These results suggest the presence of a very small, locally dense region in the western tail of NGC 2782 or of a low-metallicity and/or low-pressure star-forming region.

  10. Achieving bioinspired flapping wing hovering flight solutions on Mars via wing scaling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bluman, James E; Pohly, Jeremy; Sridhar, Madhu; Kang, Chang-Kwon; Landrum, David Brian; Fahimi, Farbod; Aono, Hikaru

    2018-05-29

    Achieving atmospheric flight on Mars is challenging due to the low density of the Martian atmosphere. Aerodynamic forces are proportional to the atmospheric density, which limits the use of conventional aircraft designs on Mars. Here, we show using numerical simulations that a flapping wing robot can fly on Mars via bioinspired dynamic scaling. Trimmed, hovering flight is possible in a simulated Martian environment when dynamic similarity with insects on earth is achieved by preserving the relevant dimensionless parameters while scaling up the wings three to four times its normal size. The analysis is performed using a well-validated two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equation solver, coupled to a three-dimensional flight dynamics model to simulate free flight. The majority of power required is due to the inertia of the wing because of the ultra-low density. The inertial flap power can be substantially reduced through the use of a torsional spring. The minimum total power consumption is 188 W/kg when the torsional spring is driven at its natural frequency. © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.

  11. Aeroelasticity of morphing wings using neural networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natarajan, Anand

    In this dissertation, neural networks are designed to effectively model static non-linear aeroelastic problems in adaptive structures and linear dynamic aeroelastic systems with time varying stiffness. The use of adaptive materials in aircraft wings allows for the change of the contour or the configuration of a wing (morphing) in flight. The use of smart materials, to accomplish these deformations, can imply that the stiffness of the wing with a morphing contour changes as the contour changes. For a rapidly oscillating body in a fluid field, continuously adapting structural parameters may render the wing to behave as a time variant system. Even the internal spars/ribs of the aircraft wing which define the wing stiffness can be made adaptive, that is, their stiffness can be made to vary with time. The immediate effect on the structural dynamics of the wing, is that, the wing motion is governed by a differential equation with time varying coefficients. The study of this concept of a time varying torsional stiffness, made possible by the use of active materials and adaptive spars, in the dynamic aeroelastic behavior of an adaptable airfoil is performed here. Another type of aeroelastic problem of an adaptive structure that is investigated here, is the shape control of an adaptive bump situated on the leading edge of an airfoil. Such a bump is useful in achieving flow separation control for lateral directional maneuverability of the aircraft. Since actuators are being used to create this bump on the wing surface, the energy required to do so needs to be minimized. The adverse pressure drag as a result of this bump needs to be controlled so that the loss in lift over the wing is made minimal. The design of such a "spoiler bump" on the surface of the airfoil is an optimization problem of maximizing pressure drag due to flow separation while minimizing the loss in lift and energy required to deform the bump. One neural network is trained using the CFD code FLUENT to

  12. Thermal stabilization of uranium mill tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dreesen, D.R.; Williams, J.M.; Cokal, E.J.

    1981-01-01

    The sintering of tailings at high temperatures (1200 0 C) has shown promise as a conditioning approach that greatly reduces the 222 Rn emanation of uranium mill tailings. The structure of thermally stabilized tailings has been appreciably altered producing a material that will have minimal management requirements and will be applicable to on-site processing and disposal. The mineralogy of untreated tailings is presented to define the structure of the original materials. Quartz predominates in most tailings samples; however, appreciable quantities of gypsum, clay, illite, or albites are found in some tailings. Samples from the Durango and Shiprock sites have plagioclase-type aluminosilicates and non-aluminum silicates as major components. The iron-rich vanadium tailings from the Salt Lake City site contain appreciable quantities of α-hematite and chloroapatite. The reduction in radon emanation power and changes in mineralogy as a function of sintering temperature are presented

  13. Nonlinear Dynamics of Wind Turbine Wings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Jesper Winther

    , large wind turbines become increasingly flexible and dynamically sensitive. This project focuses on the structural analysis of highly flexible wind turbine wings, and the aerodynamic loading of wind turbine wings under large changes in flow field due to elastic deformations and changing wind conditions....

  14. Which is the most preventive measure against tail damage in finisher pigs: tail docking, straw provision or lowered stocking density?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Mona Lilian Vestbjerg; Andersen, Heidi Mai-Lis; Pedersen, Lene Juul

    2018-01-01

    One challenge of intensive pig production is tail damage caused by tail biting, and farmers often decrease the prevalence of tail damage through tail docking. However, tail docking is not an optimal preventive measure against tail damage and thus, it would be preferable to replace it. The aim of ...

  15. Problem of Vortex Turbulence behind Wings (II),

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-09-23

    these winglets would give a resultant aerodynamic force directed towards the front which would decrease the wing drag. Such winglets will affect the...Fig. 30 Whitcomb winglets Pig. 31 Set of winglets for wake dissipation Surfaces on wing tips, winglets (Fig. 30), proposed by Whitcomb to diminish...anyway - to decrease the induced drag of the wing by putting some winglets at a certain angle in different planes, as shown in Fig. 31. The total

  16. Preliminary development of a wing in ground effect vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abidin, Razali; Ahamat, Mohamad Asmidzam; Ahmad, Tarmizi; Saad, Mohd Rasdan; Hafizi, Ezzat

    2018-02-01

    Wing in ground vehicle is one of the mode of transportation that allows high speed movement over water by travelling few meters above the water level. Through this manouver strategy, a cushion of compressed air exists between the wing in ground vehicle wings and water. This significantly increase the lift force, thus reducing the necessity in having a long wing span. Our project deals with the development of wing in ground vehicle with the capability of transporting four people. The total weight of this wing in ground vehicle was estimated at 5.4 kN to enable the prediction on required wing area, minimum takeoff velocity, drag force and engine power requirement. The required takeoff velocity is decreases as the lift coefficient increases, and our current mathematical model shows the takeoff velocity at 50 m/s avoid the significant increase in lift coefficient for the wing area of 5 m2. At the velocity of 50 m/s, the drag force created by this wing in ground vehicle is well below 1 kN, which required a 100-120 kW of engine power if the propeller has the efficiency of 0.7. Assessment on the stresses and deflection of the hull structural indicate the capability of plywood to withstand the expected load. However, excessive deflection was expected in the rear section which requires a minor structural modification. In the near future, we expect that the wind tunnel tests of this wing in ground vehicle model would enable more definite prediction on the important parameters related to its performance.

  17. Folding in and out: passive morphing in flapping wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stowers, Amanda K; Lentink, David

    2015-03-25

    We present a new mechanism for passive wing morphing of flapping wings inspired by bat and bird wing morphology. The mechanism consists of an unactuated hand wing connected to the arm wing with a wrist joint. Flapping motion generates centrifugal accelerations in the hand wing, forcing it to unfold passively. Using a robotic model in hover, we made kinematic measurements of unfolding kinematics as functions of the non-dimensional wingspan fold ratio (2-2.5) and flapping frequency (5-17 Hz) using stereo high-speed cameras. We find that the wings unfold passively within one to two flaps and remain unfolded with only small amplitude oscillations. To better understand the passive dynamics, we constructed a computer model of the unfolding process based on rigid body dynamics, contact models, and aerodynamic correlations. This model predicts the measured passive unfolding within about one flap and shows that unfolding is driven by centrifugal acceleration induced by flapping. The simulations also predict that relative unfolding time only weakly depends on flapping frequency and can be reduced to less than half a wingbeat by increasing flapping amplitude. Subsequent dimensional analysis shows that the time required to unfold passively is of the same order of magnitude as the flapping period. This suggests that centrifugal acceleration can drive passive unfolding within approximately one wingbeat in small and large wings. Finally, we show experimentally that passive unfolding wings can withstand impact with a branch, by first folding and then unfolding passively. This mechanism enables flapping robots to squeeze through clutter without sophisticated control. Passive unfolding also provides a new avenue in morphing wing design that makes future flapping morphing wings possibly more energy efficient and light-weight. Simultaneously these results point to possible inertia driven, and therefore metabolically efficient, control strategies in bats and birds to morph or recover

  18. Aerodynamic performance and particle image velocimetery of piezo actuated biomimetic manduca sexta engineered wings towards the design and application of a flapping wing flight vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeLuca, Anthony M.

    Considerable research and investigation has been conducted on the aerodynamic performance, and the predominate flow physics of the Manduca Sexta size of biomimetically designed and fabricated wings as part of the AFIT FWMAV design project. Despite a burgeoning interest and research into the diverse field of flapping wing flight and biomimicry, the aerodynamics of flapping wing flight remains a nebulous field of science with considerable variance into the theoretical abstractions surrounding aerodynamic mechanisms responsible for aerial performance. Traditional FWMAV flight models assume a form of a quasi-steady approximation of wing aerodynamics based on an infinite wing blade element model (BEM). An accurate estimation of the lift, drag, and side force coefficients is a critical component of autonomous stability and control models. This research focused on two separate experimental avenues into the aerodynamics of AFIT's engineered hawkmoth wings|forces and flow visualization. 1. Six degree of freedom force balance testing, and high speed video analysis was conducted on 30°, 45°, and 60° angle stop wings. A novel, non-intrusive optical tracking algorithm was developed utilizing a combination of a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and ComputerVision (OpenCV) tools to track the wing in motion from multiple cameras. A complete mapping of the wing's kinematic angles as a function of driving amplitude was performed. The stroke angle, elevation angle, and angle of attack were tabulated for all three wings at driving amplitudes ranging from A=0.3 to A=0.6. The wing kinematics together with the force balance data was used to develop several aerodynamic force coefficient models. A combined translational and rotational aerodynamic model predicted lift forces within 10%, and vertical forces within 6%. The total power consumption was calculated for each of the three wings, and a Figure of Merit was calculated for each wing as a general expression of the overall efficiency of

  19. Quantitative-genetic analysis of wing form and bilateral asymmetry ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Unknown

    lines; Procrustes analysis; wing shape; wing size. ... Models of stochastic gene expression pre- dict that intrinsic noise ... Quantitative parameters of wing size and shape asymmetries ..... the residuals of a regression on centroid size produced.

  20. Optimization of composite tiltrotor wings with extensions and winglets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kambampati, Sandilya

    Tiltrotors suffer from an aeroelastic instability during forward flight called whirl flutter. Whirl flutter is caused by the whirling motion of the rotor, characterized by highly coupled wing-rotor-pylon modes of vibration. Whirl flutter is a major obstacle for tiltrotors in achieving high-speed flight. The conventional approach to assure adequate whirl flutter stability margins for tiltrotors is to design the wings with high torsional stiffness, typically using 23% thickness-to-chord ratio wings. However, the large aerodynamic drag associated with these high thickness-to-chord ratio wings decreases aerodynamic efficiency and increases fuel consumption. Wingtip devices such as wing extensions and winglets have the potential to increase the whirl flutter characteristics and the aerodynamic efficiency of a tiltrotor. However, wing-tip devices can add more weight to the aircraft. In this study, multi-objective parametric and optimization methodologies for tiltrotor aircraft with wing extensions and winglets are investigated. The objectives are to maximize aircraft aerodynamic efficiency while minimizing weight penalty due to extensions and winglets, subject to whirl flutter constraints. An aeroelastic model that predicts the whirl flutter speed and a wing structural model that computes strength and weight of a composite wing are developed. An existing aerodynamic model (that predicts the aerodynamic efficiency) is merged with the developed structural and aeroelastic models for the purpose of conducting parametric and optimization studies. The variables of interest are the wing thickness and structural properties, and extension and winglet planform variables. The Bell XV-15 tiltrotor aircraft the chosen as the parent aircraft for this study. Parametric studies reveal that a wing extension of span 25% of the inboard wing increases the whirl flutter speed by 10% and also increases the aircraft aerodynamic efficiency by 8%. Structurally tapering the wing of a tiltrotor

  1. Parametric structural modeling of insect wings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mengesha, T E; Vallance, R R; Barraja, M; Mittal, R

    2009-01-01

    Insects produce thrust and lift forces via coupled fluid-structure interactions that bend and twist their compliant wings during flapping cycles. Insight into this fluid-structure interaction is achieved with numerical modeling techniques such as coupled finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics, but these methods require accurate and validated structural models of insect wings. Structural models of insect wings depend principally on the shape, dimensions and material properties of the veins and membrane cells. This paper describes a method for parametric modeling of wing geometry using digital images and demonstrates the use of the geometric models in constructing three-dimensional finite element (FE) models and simple reduced-order models. The FE models are more complete and accurate than previously reported models since they accurately represent the topology of the vein network, as well as the shape and dimensions of the veins and membrane cells. The methods are demonstrated by developing a parametric structural model of a cicada forewing.

  2. Age-class separation of blue-winged ducks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hohman, W.L.; Moore, J.L.; Twedt, D.J.; Mensik, John G.; Logerwell, E.

    1995-01-01

    Accurate determination of age is of fundamental importance to population and life history studies of waterfowl and their management. Therefore, we developed quantitative methods that separate adult and immature blue-winged teal (Anas discors), cinnamon teal (A. cyanoptera), and northern shovelers (A. clypeata) during spring and summer. To assess suitability of discriminant models using 9 remigial measurements, we compared model performance (% agreement between predicted age and age assigned to birds on the basis of definitive cloacal or rectral feather characteristics) in different flyways (Mississippi and Pacific) and between years (1990-91 and 1991-92). We also applied age-classification models to wings obtained from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service harvest surveys in the Mississippi and Central-Pacific flyways (wing-bees) for which age had been determined using qualitative characteristics (i.e., remigial markings, shape, or wear). Except for male northern shovelers, models correctly aged lt 90% (range 70-86%) of blue-winged ducks. Model performance varied among species and differed between sexes and years. Proportions of individuals that were correctly aged were greater for males (range 63-86%) than females (range 39-69%). Models for northern shovelers performed better in flyway comparisons within year (1991-92, La. model applied to Calif. birds, and Calif. model applied to La. birds: 90 and 94% for M, and 89 and 76% for F, respectively) than in annual comparisons within the Mississippi Flyway (1991-92 model applied to 1990-91 data: 79% for M, 50% for F). Exclusion of measurements that varied by flyway or year did not improve model performance. Quantitative methods appear to be of limited value for age separation of female blue-winged ducks. Close agreement between predicted age and age assigned to wings from the wing-bees suggests that qualitative and quantitative methods may be equally accurate for age separation of male blue-winged ducks. We interpret annual

  3. Effect of simulated in-flight thrust reversing on vertical-tail loads of F-18 and F-15 airplane models. [conducted in the Langley 16-foot transonic tunnel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bare, E. A.; Berrier, B. L.; Capone, F. J.

    1981-01-01

    Investigations were conducted in the Langley 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel to provide data on a 0.10-scale model of the prototype F-18 airplane and a 0.047-scale model of the F-15 three-surface configuration (canard, wing, and horizontal tails). Test data were obtained at static conditions and at Mach numbers from 0.6 to 1.2 over an angle-of-attack range from 2 deg to 15 deg. Nozzle pressure ratio was varied from jet off to about 8.0.

  4. Uranium mill tailings and radon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanchey, L.A.

    1981-01-01

    The major health hazard from uranium mill tailings is presumed to be respiratory cancer resulting from the inhalation of radon daughter products. A review of studies on inhalation of radon and its daughters indicates that the hazard from the tailings is extremely small. If the assumptions used in the studies are correct, one or two people per year in the US may develop cancer as a result of radon exhaled from all the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Program sites. The remedial action should reduce the hazard from the tailings by a factor of about 100

  5. Uranium mill tailings and radon

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hanchey, L A

    1981-04-01

    The major health hazard from uranium mill tailings is presumed to be respiratory cancer resulting from the inhalation of radon daughter products. A review of studies on inhalation of radon and its daughters indicates that the hazard from the tailings is extremely small. If the assumptions used in the studies are correct, one or two people per year in the United States may develop cancer as a result of radon exhaled from all the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action program sites. The remedial action should reduce the hazard from the tailings by a factor of about 100.

  6. Uranium mill tailings and radon

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hanchey, L A

    1981-01-01

    The major health hazard from uranium mill tailings is presumed to be respiratory cancer resulting from the inhalation of radon daughter products. A review of studies on inhalation of radon and its daughters indicates that the hazard from the tailings is extremely small. If the assumptions used in the studies are correct, one or two people per year in the US may develop cancer as a result of radon exhaled from all the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Program sites. The remedial action should reduce the hazard from the tailings by a factor of about 100.

  7. Study on flow over finite wing with respect to F-22 raptor, Supermarine Spitfire, F-7 BG aircraft wing and analyze its stability performance and experimental values

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Md. Nesar; Alam, Mahbubul

    2017-06-01

    A finite wing is a three-dimensional body, and consequently the flow over the finite wing is three-dimensional; that is, there is a component of flow in the span wise direction. The physical mechanism for generating lift on the wing is the existence of a high pressure on the bottom surface and a low pressure on the top surface. The net imbalance of the pressure distribution creates the lift. As a by-product of this pressure imbalance, the flow near the wing tips tends to curl around the tips, being forced from the high-pressure region just underneath the tips to the low-pressure region on top. This flow around the wing tips is shown in the front view of the wing. As a result, on the top surface of the wing, there is generally a span wise component of flow from the tip toward the wing root, causing the streamlines over the top surface to bend toward the root. On the bottom surface of the wing, there is generally a span wise component of flow from the root toward the tip, causing the streamlines over the bottom surface to bend toward the tip. Clearly, the flow over the finite wing is three-dimensional, and therefore we would expect the overall aerodynamic properties of such a wing to differ from those of its airfoil sections. The tendency for the flow to "leak" around the wing tips has another important effect on the aerodynamics of the wing. This flow establishes a circulatory motion that trails downstream of the wing; that is, a trailing vortex is created at each wing tip. The aerodynamics of finite wings is analyzed using the classical lifting line model. This simple model allows a closed-form solution that captures most of the physical effects applicable to finite wings. The model is based on the horseshoe-shaped vortex that introduces the concept of a vortex wake and wing tip vortices. The downwash induced by the wake creates an induced drag that did not exist in the two-dimensional analysis. Furthermore, as wingspan is reduced, the wing lift slope decreases

  8. Estimation of Jump Tails

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bollerslev, Tim; Todorov, Victor

    We propose a new and flexible non-parametric framework for estimating the jump tails of Itô semimartingale processes. The approach is based on a relatively simple-to-implement set of estimating equations associated with the compensator for the jump measure, or its "intensity", that only utilizes...... the weak assumption of regular variation in the jump tails, along with in-fill asymptotic arguments for uniquely identifying the "large" jumps from the data. The estimation allows for very general dynamic dependencies in the jump tails, and does not restrict the continuous part of the process...... and the temporal variation in the stochastic volatility. On implementing the new estimation procedure with actual high-frequency data for the S&P 500 aggregate market portfolio, we find strong evidence for richer and more complex dynamic dependencies in the jump tails than hitherto entertained in the literature....

  9. Free-Flight Tests of 0.11-Scale North American F-100 Airplane Wings to Investigate the Possibility of Flutter in Transonic Speed Range at Varying Angles of Attack

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Kelly, Burke R.

    1954-01-01

    Free-flight tests in the transonic speed range utilizing rocketpropelled models have been made on three pairs of 0.11-scale North American F-100 airplane wings having an aspect ratio of 3.47, a taper ratio of 0.308, 45 degree sweepback at the quarter-chord line, and thickness ratios of 31 and 5 percent to investigate the possibility of flutte r. Data from tests of two other rocket-propelled models which accidentally fluttered during a drag investigation of the North American F-100 airplane are also presented. The first set of wings (5 percent thick) was tested on a model which was disturbed in pitch by a moving tail and reached a maximum Mach number of 0.85. The wings encountered mild oscillations near the first - bending frequency at high lift coefficients. The second set of wings 9 percent thick was tested up to a maximum Mach number of 0.95 at (2) angles of attack provided by small rocket motors installed in the nose of the model. No oscillations resembling flutter were encountered during the coasting flight between separation from the booster and sustainer firing (Mach numbers from 0.86 to 0.82) or during the sustainer firing at accelerations of about 8g up to the maximum Mach number of the test (0.95). The third set of wings was similar to the first set and was tested up to a maximum Mach number of 1.24. A mild flutter at frequencies near the first-bending frequency of the wings was encountered between a Mach number of 1.15 and a Mach number of 1.06 during both accelerating and coasting flight. The two drag models, which were 0.ll-scale models of the North American F-100 airplane configuration, reached a maximum Mach number of 1.77. The wings of these models had bending and torsional frequencies which were 40 and 89 percent, respectively, of the calculated scaled frequencies of the full-scale 7-percent-thick wing. Both models experienced flutter of the same type as that experienced-by the third set of wings.

  10. Average configuration of the geomagnetic tail

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fairfield, D.H.

    1979-01-01

    Over 3000 hours of Imp 6 magnetic field data obtained between 20 and 33 R/sub E/ in the geomagnetic tail have been used in a statistical study of the tail configuration. A distribution of 2.5-min averages of B/sub z/ as a function of position across the tail reveals that more flux crosses the equatorial plane near the dawn and dusk flanks (B-bar/sub z/=3.γ) than near midnight (B-bar/sub z/=1.8γ). The tail field projected in the solar magnetospheric equatorial plane deviates from the x axis due to flaring and solar wind aberration by an angle α=-0.9 Y/sub SM/-2.7, where Y/sub SM/ is in earth radii and α is in degrees. After removing these effects, the B/sub y/ component of the tail field is found to depend on interplanetary sector structure. During an 'away' sector the B/sub y/ component of the tail field is on average 0.5γ greater than that during a 'toward' sector, a result that is true in both tail lobes and is independent of location across the tail. This effect means the average field reversal between northern and southern lobes of the tail is more often 178 0 rather than the 180 0 that is generally supposed

  11. How wing kinematics affect power requirements and aerodynamic force production in a robotic bat wing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bahlman, Joseph W; Swartz, Sharon M; Breuer, Kenneth S

    2014-01-01

    Bats display a wide variety of behaviors that require different amounts of aerodynamic force. To control and modulate aerodynamic force, bats change wing kinematics, which, in turn, may change the power required for wing motion. There are many kinematic mechanisms that bats, and other flapping animals, can use to increase aerodynamic force, e.g. increasing wingbeat frequency or amplitude. However, we do not know if there is a difference in energetic cost between these different kinematic mechanisms. To assess the relationship between mechanical power input and aerodynamic force output across different isolated kinematic parameters, we programmed a robotic bat wing to flap over a range of kinematic parameters and measured aerodynamic force and mechanical power. We systematically varied five kinematic parameters: wingbeat frequency, wingbeat amplitude, stroke plane angle, downstroke ratio, and wing folding. Kinematic values were based on observed values from free flying Cynopterus brachyotis, the species on which the robot was based. We describe how lift, thrust, and power change with increases in each kinematic variable. We compare the power costs associated with generating additional force through the four kinematic mechanisms controlled at the shoulder, and show that all four mechanisms require approximately the same power to generate a given force. This result suggests that no single parameter offers an energetic advantage over the others. Finally, we show that retracting the wing during upstroke reduces power requirements for flapping and increases net lift production, but decreases net thrust production. These results compare well with studies performed on C. brachyotis, offering insight into natural flight kinematics. (paper)

  12. Membrane wing aerodynamics for micro air vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lian, Yongsheng; Shyy, Wei; Viieru, Dragos; Zhang, Baoning

    2003-10-01

    The aerodynamic performance of a wing deteriorates considerably as the Reynolds number decreases from 10 6 to 10 4. In particular, flow separation can result in substantial change in effective airfoil shape and cause reduced aerodynamic performance. Lately, there has been growing interest in developing suitable techniques for sustained and robust flight of micro air vehicles (MAVs) with a wingspan of 15 cm or smaller, flight speed around 10 m/ s, and a corresponding Reynolds number of 10 4-10 5. This paper reviews the aerodynamics of membrane and corresponding rigid wings under the MAV flight conditions. The membrane wing is observed to yield desirable characteristics in delaying stall as well as adapting to the unsteady flight environment, which is intrinsic to the designated flight speed. Flow structures associated with the low Reynolds number and low aspect ratio wing, such as pressure distribution, separation bubble and tip vortex are reviewed. Structural dynamics in response to the surrounding flow field is presented to highlight the multiple time-scale phenomena. Based on the computational capabilities for treating moving boundary problems, wing shape optimization can be conducted in automated manners. To enhance the lift, the effect of endplates is evaluated. The proper orthogonal decomposition method is also discussed as an economic tool to describe the flow structure around a wing and to facilitate flow and vehicle control.

  13. Ornithopter Type Flapping Wings for Autonomous Micro Air Vehicles

    OpenAIRE

    Sutthiphong Srigrarom; Woei-Leong Chan

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, an ornithopter prototype that mimics the flapping motion of bird flight is developed, and the lift and thrust generation characteristics of different wing designs are evaluated. This project focused on the spar arrangement and material used for the wings that could achieves improved performance. Various lift and thrust measurement techniques are explored and evaluated. Various wings of insects and birds were evaluated to understand how these natural flyers with flapping wings a...

  14. On the Distinct Effects of Left-Wing and Right-Wing Populism on Democratic Quality

    OpenAIRE

    Huber, Robert A.; Schimpf, Christian H.

    2017-01-01

    This study examines the differences and commonalities of how populist parties of the left and right relate to democracy. The focus is narrowed to the relationship between these parties and two aspects of democratic quality, minority rights and mutual constraints. Our argument is twofold: first, we contend that populist parties can exert distinct influences on minority rights, depending on whether they are left-wing or right-wing populist parties. Second, by contrast, we propose that the assoc...

  15. Segregation and differential settling in flocculated tailings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Farinato, R.S.; Mahmoudkhani, A.; Fenderson, T.; Watson, P. [Kemira, Atlanta, GA (United States)

    2010-07-01

    Untreated oil sands tailings have a high solids content, have poor dewaterability, and contain no aggregates. This PowerPoint presentation investigated segregation and differential settling in flocculated tailings. Tailings were treated with gypsum and various polymers. Cylinder settling, dynamic rheometry, particle size analysis, and microscopy techniques were used to characterize the composite tailings. The particles sizes of the samples were evaluated in relation to shear rate, bed depth, and treatment. The study showed that the gypsum-treated tailings had small aggregates, size stratification, a high solids content, and poor dewaterability. The polymer N-treated tailings had the lowest solids content, good dewaterability, and weak aggregates. The polymer A-treated tailings had a low solids content, very good dewaterability, and strong aggregates. The addition of a coagulant to the polymer-A treated tailings provided weaker aggregates and a higher solids content. tabs., figs.

  16. Ecotoxicity of Mine Tailings: Unrehabilitated Versus Rehabilitated.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maboeta, M S; Oladipo, O G; Botha, S M

    2018-05-01

    Earthworms are bioindicators of soil pollution. The ecotoxicity of tailings from selected gold mines in South Africa was investigated utilizing Eisenia andrei bioassays and biomarkers. Samples were obtained from unrehabilitated, rehabilitated and naturally vegetated sites. Biomass, neutral red retention time (NRRT), survival and reproduction were assessed using standardized protocols. Earthworm biomass, NRRT and reproductive success in rehabilitated tailings (comparable to naturally vegetated site) were significantly higher (p tailings. In addition, significantly lower (p tailings compared to the unrehabilitated. Further, significantly lower (p tailings than the rehabilitated and naturally vegetated sites. Overall, reduced ecotoxicity effects were confirmed in rehabilitated compared to unrehabilitated tailings. This suggests that rehabilitation as a post-mining restorative strategy has strong positive influence on mine tailings.

  17. Aerodynamic performance of a hovering hawkmoth with flexible wings: a computational approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakata, Toshiyuki; Liu, Hao

    2012-02-22

    Insect wings are deformable structures that change shape passively and dynamically owing to inertial and aerodynamic forces during flight. It is still unclear how the three-dimensional and passive change of wing kinematics owing to inherent wing flexibility contributes to unsteady aerodynamics and energetics in insect flapping flight. Here, we perform a systematic fluid-structure interaction based analysis on the aerodynamic performance of a hovering hawkmoth, Manduca, with an integrated computational model of a hovering insect with rigid and flexible wings. Aerodynamic performance of flapping wings with passive deformation or prescribed deformation is evaluated in terms of aerodynamic force, power and efficiency. Our results reveal that wing flexibility can increase downwash in wake and hence aerodynamic force: first, a dynamic wing bending is observed, which delays the breakdown of leading edge vortex near the wing tip, responsible for augmenting the aerodynamic force-production; second, a combination of the dynamic change of wing bending and twist favourably modifies the wing kinematics in the distal area, which leads to the aerodynamic force enhancement immediately before stroke reversal. Moreover, an increase in hovering efficiency of the flexible wing is achieved as a result of the wing twist. An extensive study of wing stiffness effect on aerodynamic performance is further conducted through a tuning of Young's modulus and thickness, indicating that insect wing structures may be optimized not only in terms of aerodynamic performance but also dependent on many factors, such as the wing strength, the circulation capability of wing veins and the control of wing movements.

  18. Aircraft Wing for Over-The-Wing Mounting of Engine Nacelle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahn, Andrew S. (Inventor); Kinney, David J. (Inventor)

    2011-01-01

    An aircraft wing has an inboard section and an outboard section. The inboard section is attached (i) on one side thereof to the aircraft's fuselage, and (ii) on an opposing side thereof to an inboard side of a turbofan engine nacelle in an over-the-wing mounting position. The outboard section's leading edge has a sweep of at least 20 degrees. The inboard section's leading edge has a sweep between -15 and +15 degrees, and extends from the fuselage to an attachment position on the nacelle that is forward of an index position defined as an imaginary intersection between the sweep of the outboard section's leading edge and the inboard side of the nacelle. In an alternate embodiment, the turbofan engine nacelle is replaced with an open rotor engine nacelle.

  19. MicroRNAs of the mesothorax in Qinlingacris elaeodes, an alpine grasshopper showing a wing polymorphism with unilateral wing form.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, R; Jiang, G F; Ren, Q P; Wang, Y T; Zhou, X M; Zhou, C F; Qin, D Z

    2016-04-01

    MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are now recognized as key post-transcriptional regulators in regulation of phenotypic diversity. Qinlingacris elaeodes is a species of the alpine grasshopper, which is endemic to China. Adult individuals have three wing forms: wingless, unilateral-winged and short-winged. This is an ideal species to investigate the phenotypic plasticity, development and evolution of insect wings because of its case of unilateral wing form in both the sexes. We sequenced a small RNA library prepared from mesothoraxes of the adult grasshoppers using the Illumina deep sequencing technology. Approximately 12,792,458 raw reads were generated, of which the 854,580 high-quality reads were used only for miRNA identification. In this study, we identified 49 conserved miRNAs belonging to 41 families and 69 species-specific miRNAs. Moreover, seven miRNA*s were detected both for conserved miRNAs and species-specific miRNAs, which were supported by hairpin forming precursors based on polymerase chain reaction. This is the first description of miRNAs in alpine grasshoppers. The results provide a useful resource for further studies on molecular regulation and evolution of miRNAs in grasshoppers. These findings not only enrich the miRNAs for insects but also lay the groundwork for the study of post-transcriptional regulation of wing forms.

  20. The wings of Bombyx mori develop from larval discs exhibiting an ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Unknown

    presumptive wing blade domains unlike in Drosophila, where it is confined to the hinge and the wing pouch. ... events are different and the wing discs behave like presumptive wing buds .... emerge with the fore- and the hind-wings (figure 1e, j) on ... phosis (compare c with d, and h with i) during the larval to pupal transition.

  1. Force measurements of flexible tandem wings in hovering and forward flights

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng, Yingying; Wu, Yanhua; Tang, Hui

    2015-01-01

    Aerodynamic forces, power consumptions and efficiencies of flexible and rigid tandem wings undergoing combined plunging/pitching motion were measured in a hovering flight and two forward flights with Strouhal numbers of 0.6 and 0.3. Three flexible dragonfly-like tandem wing models termed Wing I, Wing II, and Wing III which are progressively less flexible, as well as a pair of rigid wings as the reference were operated at three phase differences of 0°, 90° and 180°. The results showed that both the flexibility and phase difference have significant effects on the aerodynamic performances. In both hovering and forward flights at a higher oscillation frequency of 1 Hz (St = 0.6), the Wing III model outperformed the other wing models with larger total horizontal force coefficient and efficiency. In forward flight at the lower frequency of 0.5 Hz (St = 0.3), Wing III, rigid wings and Wing II models performed best at 0°, 90° and 180° phase difference, respectively. From the time histories of force coefficients of fore- and hind-wings, different peak values, phase lags, and secondary peaks were found to be the important reasons to cause the differences in the average horizontal force coefficients. Particle image velocimetry and deformation measurements were performed to provide the insights into how the flexibility affects the aerodynamic performance of the tandem wings. The spanwise bending deformation was found to contribute to the horizontal force, by offering a more beneficial position to make LEV more attached to the wing model in both hovering and forward flights, and inducing a higher-velocity region in forward flight. (paper)

  2. Wings of the butterfly: Sunspot groups for 1826-2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leussu, R.; Usoskin, I. G.; Senthamizh Pavai, V.; Diercke, A.; Arlt, R.; Denker, C.; Mursula, K.

    2017-03-01

    The spatio-temporal evolution of sunspot activity, the so-called Maunder butterfly diagram, has been continously available since 1874 using data from the Royal Greenwich Observatory, extended by SOON network data after 1976. Here we present a new extended butterfly diagram of sunspot group occurrence since 1826, using the recently digitized data from Schwabe (1826-1867) and Spörer (1866-1880). The wings of the diagram are separated using a recently developed method based on an analysis of long gaps in sunspot group occurrence in different latitude bands. We define characteristic latitudes, corresponding to the start, end, and the largest extent of the wings (the F, L, and H latitudes). The H latitudes (30°-45°) are highly significantly correlated with the strength of the wings (quantified by the total sum of the monthly numbers of sunspot groups). The F latitudes (20°-30°) depict a weak tendency, especially in the southern hemisphere, to follow the wing strength. The L latitudes (2°-10°) show no clear relation to the wing strength. Overall, stronger cycle wings tend to start at higher latitudes and have a greater wing extent. A strong (5-6)-cycle periodic oscillation is found in the start and end times of the wings and in the overlap and gaps between successive wings of one hemisphere. While the average wing overlap is zero in the southern hemisphere, it is two to three months in the north. A marginally significant oscillation of about ten solar cycles is found in the asymmetry of the L latitudes. The new long database of butterfly wings provides new observational constraints to solar dynamo models that discuss the spatio-temporal distribution of sunspot occurrence over the solar cycle and longer. Digital data for Fig. 1 are available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/599/A131

  3. Experimental investigation into wing span and angle-of-attack effects on sub-scale race car wing/wheel interaction aerodynamics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Diasinos, S. [Toyota F1, Koeln (Germany); Gatto, A. [Brunel University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Design, Uxbridge (United Kingdom)

    2008-09-15

    This paper details a quantitative 3D investigation using LDA into the interaction aerodynamics on a sub-scale open wheel race car inverted front wing and wheel. Of primary importance to this study was the influence of changing wing angle of attack and span on the resulting near-field and far-field flow characteristics. Results obtained showed that both variables do have a significant influence on the resultant flow-field, particularly on wing vortex and wheel wake development and propagation. (orig.)

  4. Experimental investigation into wing span and angle-of-attack effects on sub-scale race car wing/wheel interaction aerodynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diasinos, S.; Gatto, A.

    2008-09-01

    This paper details a quantitative 3D investigation using LDA into the interaction aerodynamics on a sub-scale open wheel race car inverted front wing and wheel. Of primary importance to this study was the influence of changing wing angle of attack and span on the resulting near-field and far-field flow characteristics. Results obtained showed that both variables do have a significant influence on the resultant flow-field, particularly on wing vortex and wheel wake development and propagation.

  5. Wing pressure distributions from subsonic tests of a high-wing transport model. [in the Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Applin, Zachary T.; Gentry, Garl L., Jr.; Takallu, M. A.

    1995-01-01

    A wind tunnel investigation was conducted on a generic, high-wing transport model in the Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel. This report contains pressure data that document effects of various model configurations and free-stream conditions on wing pressure distributions. The untwisted wing incorporated a full-span, leading-edge Krueger flap and a part-span, double-slotted trailing-edge flap system. The trailing-edge flap was tested at four different deflection angles (20 deg, 30 deg, 40 deg, and 60 deg). Four wing configurations were tested: cruise, flaps only, Krueger flap only, and high lift (Krueger flap and flaps deployed). Tests were conducted at free-stream dynamic pressures of 20 psf to 60 psf with corresponding chord Reynolds numbers of 1.22 x 10(exp 6) to 2.11 x 10(exp 6) and Mach numbers of 0.12 to 0.20. The angles of attack presented range from 0 deg to 20 deg and were determined by wing configuration. The angle of sideslip ranged from minus 20 deg to 20 deg. In general, pressure distributions were relatively insensitive to free-stream speed with exceptions primarily at high angles of attack or high flap deflections. Increasing trailing-edge Krueger flap significantly reduced peak suction pressures and steep gradients on the wing at high angles of attack. Installation of the empennage had no effect on wing pressure distributions. Unpowered engine nacelles reduced suction pressures on the wing and the flaps.

  6. Structural dynamics and aerodynamics measurements of biologically inspired flexible flapping wings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, P; Stanford, B K; Ifju, P G; Saellstroem, E; Ukeiley, L

    2011-01-01

    Flapping wing flight as seen in hummingbirds and insects poses an interesting unsteady aerodynamic problem: coupling of wing kinematics, structural dynamics and aerodynamics. There have been numerous studies on the kinematics and aerodynamics in both experimental and computational cases with both natural and artificial wings. These studies tend to ignore wing flexibility; however, observation in nature affirms that passive wing deformation is predominant and may be crucial to the aerodynamic performance. This paper presents a multidisciplinary experimental endeavor in correlating a flapping micro air vehicle wing's aeroelasticity and thrust production, by quantifying and comparing overall thrust, structural deformation and airflow of six pairs of hummingbird-shaped membrane wings of different properties. The results show that for a specific spatial distribution of flexibility, there is an effective frequency range in thrust production. The wing deformation at the thrust-productive frequencies indicates the importance of flexibility: both bending and twisting motion can interact with aerodynamic loads to enhance wing performance under certain conditions, such as the deformation phase and amplitude. By measuring structural deformations under the same aerodynamic conditions, beneficial effects of passive wing deformation can be observed from the visualized airflow and averaged thrust. The measurements and their presentation enable observation and understanding of the required structural properties for a thrust effective flapping wing. The intended passive responses of the different wings follow a particular pattern in correlation to their aerodynamic performance. Consequently, both the experimental technique and data analysis method can lead to further studies to determine the design principles for micro air vehicle flapping wings.

  7. Structural dynamics and aerodynamics measurements of biologically inspired flexible flapping wings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, P; Stanford, B K; Ifju, P G [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, MAE-A 231, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States); Saellstroem, E; Ukeiley, L, E-mail: diccidwp@ufl.edu [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Shalimar, FL 32579 (United States)

    2011-03-15

    Flapping wing flight as seen in hummingbirds and insects poses an interesting unsteady aerodynamic problem: coupling of wing kinematics, structural dynamics and aerodynamics. There have been numerous studies on the kinematics and aerodynamics in both experimental and computational cases with both natural and artificial wings. These studies tend to ignore wing flexibility; however, observation in nature affirms that passive wing deformation is predominant and may be crucial to the aerodynamic performance. This paper presents a multidisciplinary experimental endeavor in correlating a flapping micro air vehicle wing's aeroelasticity and thrust production, by quantifying and comparing overall thrust, structural deformation and airflow of six pairs of hummingbird-shaped membrane wings of different properties. The results show that for a specific spatial distribution of flexibility, there is an effective frequency range in thrust production. The wing deformation at the thrust-productive frequencies indicates the importance of flexibility: both bending and twisting motion can interact with aerodynamic loads to enhance wing performance under certain conditions, such as the deformation phase and amplitude. By measuring structural deformations under the same aerodynamic conditions, beneficial effects of passive wing deformation can be observed from the visualized airflow and averaged thrust. The measurements and their presentation enable observation and understanding of the required structural properties for a thrust effective flapping wing. The intended passive responses of the different wings follow a particular pattern in correlation to their aerodynamic performance. Consequently, both the experimental technique and data analysis method can lead to further studies to determine the design principles for micro air vehicle flapping wings.

  8. Formation of broad Balmer wings in symbiotic stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Seok-Jun; Heo, Jeong-Eun; Hong, Chae-Lin; Lee, Hee-Won

    2016-01-01

    Symbiotic stars are binary systems composed of a hot white dwarf and a mass losing giant. In addition to many prominent emission lines symbiotic stars exhibit Raman scattered O VI features at 6825 and 7088 Å. Another notable feature present in the spectra of many symbiotics is the broad wings around Balmer lines. Astrophysical mechanisms that can produce broad wings include Thomson scattering by free electrons and Raman scattering of Ly,β and higher series by neutral hydrogen. In this poster presentation we produce broad wings around Hα and H,β adopting a Monte Carlo techinique in order to make a quantitative comparison of these two mechanisms. Thomson wings are characterized by the exponential cutoff given by the termal width whereas the Raman wings are dependent on the column density and continuum shape in the far UV region. A brief discussion is provided. (paper)

  9. Effects of heavy metal exposure on the condition and health of adult great tits (Parus major)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dauwe, Tom; Janssens, Ellen; Eens, Marcel

    2006-01-01

    We examined the possible effects of heavy metal exposure on the quality and health of adult great tits (Parus major) at four study sites along a pollution gradient near a non-ferrous smelter in Belgium. Tarsus length, wing length, body mass and condition of great tits were compared with respect to study site, age (first-year and older great tits), sex and season (birds caught in winter and during breeding). Tarsus length did not differ significantly among study sites. The wing length of great tits was larger at the study site furthest from the smelter, especially for older great tits. The length of the outermost tail feathers, however, did not differ significantly among study sites. We found no signs of loss of body mass or condition towards the pollution source. The body mass and condition was lowest for female great tits at the site furthest from the smelter, especially during winter. Haematocrit values did not differ significantly among sites. Overall, we found no clear significant effects of heavy metal pollution on morphological measurements and health parameters of great tits. - Heavy metal pollution had no clear effect on condition and health, but this may have been masked by habitat quality differences and gene flow

  10. Reactive Flow Control of Delta Wing Vortex (Postprint)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-08-01

    wing aircraft. A substantial amount of research has been dedicated to the control of aerodynamic flows using both passive and active control mechanisms...Passive vortex control devices such as vortex generators and winglets attach to the wing and require no energy input. Passive vortex control...leading edges is also effective for changing the aerodynamic characteristics of delta wings [2] [3]. Gutmark and Guillot [5] proposed controlling

  11. ESTIMATION OF FILTRATION CAPACITY OF POSTFLOTATION TAILINGS EMBEDDED IN DAMS OF TAILINGS DEPOSITION SITES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wojciech Tschuschke

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Construction of very big mine tailings deposition sites, such as postflotation tailings ponds, is a complicated engineering task, in which several technical and environmental problems need to be solved. Designing, construction and operation of such an object applying the monitoring method consists in the verification of design assumptions based on continuous observations. One of the primary tasks of monitoring while the deposition site is being filled with tailings is to control quality of the formed dam embankments, as the structural element of the object responsible for its stability. In order to use material selected from deposited tailings in the construction of dams it is necessary to define grain size and compaction criteria, which directly affect load bearing capacity and deformation of the structure. For this reason main control tests include the analyses of grain size distribution and physical properties of the material embedded in the dams. These data may also be used to estimate filtration capacity of the embankment. A lack of drainage, causing accumulation of water within the embankment, may potentially deteriorate stability conditions. This paper presents the use of empirical formulas, i.e. formulas typically applied to natural soils, to assess permeability coefficient of tailings. A simple empirical formula was also proposed for the estimation of permeability coefficient of tailings based on grain size and compaction parameters determined in routine quality tests of constructed dam embankments.

  12. Sub-aerial tailings deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knight, R.B.; Haile, J.P.

    1984-01-01

    The sub-aerial technique involves the systematic deposition of tailings in thin layers and allowing each layer to settle, drain and partially air dry prior to covering with a further layer. Underdrainage produces densities in excess of those achieved by sub-aqueous deposition and any air-drying serves to preconsolidate each layer with a resulting further increase in density. The low permeability of the tailings surface resulting from this deposition technique results in high runoff coefficients and, by decanting the runoff component of direct precipitation, a net evaporation condition can be achieved even in high rainfall areas. An underdrainage system prevents the build-up of excess pore-pressures within the tailings mass and at decommissioning the tailings are fully consolidated and drained thereby eliminating the possibility of any long term seepage. This paper presents a general description of these design concepts, and details of two projects where the concepts have been applied

  13. [Wing 1 radiation survey and contamination report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olsen, K.

    1991-01-01

    We have completed the 5480.11 survey for Wing 1. All area(s)/item(s) requested by the 5480.11 committee have been thoroughly surveyed and documented. Decontamination/disposal of contaminated items has been accomplished. The wing 1 survey was started on 8/13/90 and completed 9/18/90. However, the follow-up surveys were not completed until 2/18/91. We received the final set of smear samples for wing 1 on 1/13/91. A total of 5,495 smears were taken from wing 1 and total of 465 smears were taken during the follow-up surveys. There were a total 122 items found to have fixed contamination and 4 items with smearable contamination in excess of the limits specified in DOE ORDER 5480.11 (AR 3-7). The following area(s)/item(s) were not included in the 5480.11 survey: Hallways, Access panels, Men's and women's change rooms, Janitor closets, Wall lockers and item(s) stored in wing 1 hallways and room 1116. If our contract is renewed, we will include those areas in our survey according to your request of April 15, 1991

  14. Protection of Advanced Electrical Power Systems from Atmospheric Electromagnetic Hazards.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1981-12-01

    group within 18 inches of the tips of the horizontal and vertical stabilizers, trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer, tail cone, and any other...expression for Kconc is: Kconc ) x 2E(k) , where E=Complete elliptic intergral of first kind T = thickness of wing or tail W = width of wing or tail 2. Non...electromagnetic environments include linearly polarized plane waves, horizontal or vertical monopole and dipole radiators, and user-defined arbitrary non

  15. Structure design of an innovative adaptive variable camber wing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhao An-Min

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, an innovative double rib sheet structure is proposed, which can replace the traditional rigid hinge joint with the surface contact. On the one hand, the variable camber wing structural design not only can improve the capacity to sustain more load but also will not increase the overall weight of the wing. On the other hand, it is a simple mechanical structure design to achieve the total wing camber change. Then the numerical simulation results show that the maximum stress at the connect of the wing rib is 88.2MPa, and the double ribs sheet engineering design meet the structural strength requirements. In addition, to make a fair comparison, the parameters of variable camber are fully referenced to the Talon Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV. The results reveal that the total variable camber wing can further enhance aircraft flight efficiency by 29.4%. The design of the whole variable camber wing structure proposed in this paper has high engineering value and feasibility.

  16. Effects of external stores on the air combat capability of a delta wing fighter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spearman, M. L.; Sawyer, W. C.

    1977-01-01

    Delta wing point-design fighters with two pylon mounted missiles and aft tail controls (similar to several Soviet designs) have been investigated for a Mach number range from about 0.6 to 2.0. Whereas minimum drag penalties that are expected with the addition of external stores do occur, the effects at higher lifts, corresponding to maneuvering flight, are less severe and often favorable. The drag-due-to-lift factor is less with stores on although the lift curve slope is unaffected. The longitudinal stability level is reduced by the addition of stores while the pitch control effectiveness is unchanged. The directional stability was generally reduced at subsonic speeds and increased at supersonic speeds by the addition of stores but sufficiently high stability levels are obtainable that are compatible with the longitudinal maneuvering limits. Some examples of the potential maneuvering capability in terms of normal acceleration and turn radius are included.

  17. Moveable Leading Edge Device for a Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitt, Dale M. (Inventor); Eckstein, Nicholas Stephen (Inventor)

    2013-01-01

    A method and apparatus for managing a flight control surface system. A leading edge section on a wing of an aircraft is extended into a deployed position. A deformable section connects the leading edge section to a trailing section. The deformable section changes from a deformed shape to an original shape when the leading edge section is moved into the deployed position. The leading edge section on the wing is moved from the deployed position to an undeployed position. The deformable section changes to the deformed shape inside of the wing.

  18. Markov Tail Chains

    OpenAIRE

    janssen, Anja; Segers, Johan

    2013-01-01

    The extremes of a univariate Markov chain with regularly varying stationary marginal distribution and asymptotically linear behavior are known to exhibit a multiplicative random walk structure called the tail chain. In this paper we extend this fact to Markov chains with multivariate regularly varying marginal distributions in Rd. We analyze both the forward and the backward tail process and show that they mutually determine each other through a kind of adjoint relation. In ...

  19. Diagnostic analysis of electrodialysis in mine tailing materials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Henrik K.; Ribeiro, Alexandra B.; Mateus, Eduardo

    2007-01-01

    Removal of heavy metals from mine tailings and soil contaminated by copper mining activities was studied under batch electrodialytic conditions. Two types of mine tailings were treated: (i) freshly produced tailings coming directly from the flotation process, and (ii) tailings deposited...... in a tailings pond, for approximately 20 years. The main contaminant was copper-found in concentration around 800-1800 ppm. The fractionation of copper and other characteristics of the tailings differ for the two tailings, indicating natural oxidation reactions in the old deposited ones. Electrodialytical...

  20. Tales of island tails

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groot, de Alma V.; Oost, Albert P.; Veeneklaas, Roos M.; Lammerts, Evert Jan; Duin, van Willem E.; Wesenbeeck, van Bregje K.

    2016-01-01

    The Frisian islands (Southern North Sea) have extensive island tails, i.e. the entire downdrift side of an island consisting of salt marshes, dunes, beaches and beach plains, and green beaches. Currently, large parts of these tails are ageing and losing dynamics, partly due to human influence.

  1. How swifts control their glide performance with morphing wings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lentink, D.; Muller, U. K.; Stamhuis, E. J.; de Kat, R.; van Gestel, W.; Veldhuis, L. L. M.; Henningsson, P.; Hedenstrom, A.; Videler, J. J.

    2007-01-01

    Gliding birds continually change the shape and size of their wings(1-6), presumably to exploit the profound effect of wing morphology on aerodynamic performance(7-9). That birds should adjust wing sweep to suit glide speed has been predicted qualitatively by analytical glide models(2,10), which

  2. Butterfly wing coloration studied with a novel imaging scatterometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stavenga, Doekele

    2010-03-01

    Animal coloration functions for display or camouflage. Notably insects provide numerous examples of a rich variety of the applied optical mechanisms. For instance, many butterflies feature a distinct dichromatism, that is, the wing coloration of the male and the female differ substantially. The male Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni, has yellow wings that are strongly UV iridescent, but the female has white wings with low reflectance in the UV and a high reflectance in the visible wavelength range. In the Small White cabbage butterfly, Pieris rapae crucivora, the wing reflectance of the male is low in the UV and high at visible wavelengths, whereas the wing reflectance of the female is higher in the UV and lower in the visible. Pierid butterflies apply nanosized, strongly scattering beads to achieve their bright coloration. The male Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor, has dorsal wings with scales functioning as thin film gratings that exhibit polarized iridescence; the dorsal wings of the female are matte black. The polarized iridescence probably functions in intraspecific, sexual signaling, as has been demonstrated in Heliconius butterflies. An example of camouflage is the Green Hairstreak butterfly, Callophrys rubi, where photonic crystal domains exist in the ventral wing scales, resulting in a matte green color that well matches the color of plant leaves. The spectral reflection and polarization characteristics of biological tissues can be rapidly and with unprecedented detail assessed with a novel imaging scatterometer-spectrophotometer, built around an elliptical mirror [1]. Examples of butterfly and damselfly wings, bird feathers, and beetle cuticle will be presented. [4pt] [1] D.G. Stavenga, H.L. Leertouwer, P. Pirih, M.F. Wehling, Optics Express 17, 193-202 (2009)

  3. Tail docking in pigs: a review on its short- and long-term consequences and effectiveness in preventing tail biting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eleonora Nannoni

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available In spite of European legislation attempting to limit this practice, tail docking is nowadays the only preventive measure against tail biting which is widely adopted by farmers. Docking consists in amputating, usually without anaesthesia or analgesia, the distal part of the tail, in order to reduce its attractiveness and to sensitize it, increasing avoidance behaviour in the bitten pig. Tail docking results in both acute and chronic effects on pig welfare, and its effectiveness in preventing tail biting is limited, since it reduces the symptoms of a behavioural disorder, but does not address the underlying causes. The aim of the present paper is to review the available literature on the effects of tail docking on swine welfare. Although from a practical standpoint the welfare risks arising from tail docking may appear to be negligible compared to those arising during and after tail biting outbreaks, it should be considered that, apart from acute physiological and behavioural responses, tail docking may also elicit long-term effects on weight gain, tail stump sensitivity and animal freedom to express their normal behaviour. Such chronic effects have been poorly investigated so far. Besides, studies evaluating the effectiveness of anaesthetics or analgesic treatments are often conflicting. Within this framework, further research is recommended in order to reduce the acute and chronic pain and discomfort experienced by the animals, until preventive measures (e.g., environmental enrichment, stocking densities are broadly adopted to prevent tail biting.

  4. Meeting the challenge - solutions for managing oil sands tailings: report of the fine tailings fundamentals consortium 1989-1995

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-01-01

    The development and demonstration of effective alternatives for the management of fine tailings in the oil sands industry were discussed in a report describing the work of the Fine Tailings Fundamentals Consortium during the period from 1989 to 1995. The final report of the Consortium is a four-volume publication entitled 'Advances in Oil Sands Tailings Research' which is the state-of-the-art reference to key issues in the reclamation of fine tailings. Government regulations now make it the responsibility of industry to integrate the fine tailings into reclaimed landscapes, so that the final landscape is equal in productive capability to the pre-disturbed state. Impressive progress has been made in understanding the formation of fine tailings and in characterizing their properties, much of it through the work of this Consortium. Fundamental research on the clay particles within fine tailings provides a better understanding of how to manage them. Although there is no 'magic bullet', research has demonstrated that an integrated approach incorporating fine tailings with a variety of elements, uplands, lakes and wetlands, offer the best hope for an environmentally sound solution. figs

  5. The Tail of BPM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruba, Steve; Meyer, Jim

    Business process management suites (BPMS's) represent one of the fastest growing segments in the software industry as organizations automate their key business processes. As this market matures, it is interesting to compare it to Chris Anderson's 'Long Tail.' Although the 2004 "Long Tail" article in Wired magazine was primarily about the media and entertainment industries, it has since been applied (and perhaps misapplied) to other markets. Analysts describe a "Tail of BPM" market that is, perhaps, several times larger than the traditional BPMS product market. This paper will draw comparisons between the concepts in Anderson's article (and subsequent book) and the BPM solutions market.

  6. Characterization and dewatering of flotation technological tailings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grigorova I.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The treatment of flotation tailings is today a subject of interest in mineral processing because of the potential of wasted materials as an actual mineral resource and because of environmental reasons. Decantation ponds are found at almost every mine in the world. They are large earth fill dams containing the residue of the milling process to extract metals from mined ores. Traditional wet tailings disposal has been problematic due to the risk of ground water contamination and the difficulty in rehabilitating storage sites. Tailings dams are at risk of failure due to leakage, instability, liquefaction, and poor design. In the last few years the use of paste technology in the disposal of mine tailings is increasingly studied as an option to conventional tailings dams. The Lucky Invest Concentrator is located in the Eastern Rhodopes Mountain of Bulgaria. Since 1959 lead-zinc ores are dressed. Finally, during the flotation cycle lead and zinc concentrates are produced. The final technological processing waste precipitates in tailing pond. Research and development program has started to established opportunities to obtain dry deposit of the ore processing residue and analyses the feature of new tailing disposal method. The tailings particle size distributions and chemical compositions were determined. The data from laboratory and pilot scale tests clearly illustrate that there are the possibilities to obtaine lead-zinc dewatered tailings. The experimental results show that new cyclone modifications have a potential in dewatering technology of flotation tailings. It appears that dewatering cyclones can be an approach on new tailings pond elimination technology.

  7. Wing-pitching mechanism of hovering Ruby-throated hummingbirds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Jialei; Luo, Haoxiang; Hedrick, Tyson L

    2015-01-01

    In hovering flight, hummingbirds reverse the angle of attack of their wings through pitch reversal in order to generate aerodynamic lift during both downstroke and upstroke. In addition, the wings may pitch during translation to further enhance lift production. It is not yet clear whether these pitching motions are caused by the wing inertia or actuated through the musculoskeletal system. Here we perform a computational analysis of the pitching dynamics by incorporating the realistic wing kinematics to determine the inertial effects. The aerodynamic effect is also included using the pressure data from a previous three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation of a hovering hummingbird. The results show that like many insects, pitch reversal of the hummingbird is, to a large degree, caused by the wing inertia. However, actuation power input at the root is needed in the beginning of pronation to initiate a fast pitch reversal and also in mid-downstroke to enable a nose-up pitching motion for lift enhancement. The muscles on the wing may not necessarily be activated for pitching of the distal section. Finally, power analysis of the flapping motion shows that there is no requirement for substantial elastic energy storage or energy absorption at the shoulder joint. (paper)

  8. Genetic Basis of Melanin Pigmentation in Butterfly Wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Linlin; Martin, Arnaud; Perry, Michael W; van der Burg, Karin R L; Matsuoka, Yuji; Monteiro, Antónia; Reed, Robert D

    2017-04-01

    Despite the variety, prominence, and adaptive significance of butterfly wing patterns, surprisingly little is known about the genetic basis of wing color diversity. Even though there is intense interest in wing pattern evolution and development, the technical challenge of genetically manipulating butterflies has slowed efforts to functionally characterize color pattern development genes. To identify candidate wing pigmentation genes, we used RNA sequencing to characterize transcription across multiple stages of butterfly wing development, and between different color pattern elements, in the painted lady butterfly Vanessa cardui This allowed us to pinpoint genes specifically associated with red and black pigment patterns. To test the functions of a subset of genes associated with presumptive melanin pigmentation, we used clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 genome editing in four different butterfly genera. pale , Ddc , and yellow knockouts displayed reduction of melanin pigmentation, consistent with previous findings in other insects. Interestingly, however, yellow-d , ebony , and black knockouts revealed that these genes have localized effects on tuning the color of red, brown, and ochre pattern elements. These results point to previously undescribed mechanisms for modulating the color of specific wing pattern elements in butterflies, and provide an expanded portrait of the insect melanin pathway. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.

  9. Wing-pitching mechanism of hovering Ruby-throated hummingbirds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Jialei; Luo, Haoxiang; Hedrick, Tyson L

    2015-01-19

    In hovering flight, hummingbirds reverse the angle of attack of their wings through pitch reversal in order to generate aerodynamic lift during both downstroke and upstroke. In addition, the wings may pitch during translation to further enhance lift production. It is not yet clear whether these pitching motions are caused by the wing inertia or actuated through the musculoskeletal system. Here we perform a computational analysis of the pitching dynamics by incorporating the realistic wing kinematics to determine the inertial effects. The aerodynamic effect is also included using the pressure data from a previous three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation of a hovering hummingbird. The results show that like many insects, pitch reversal of the hummingbird is, to a large degree, caused by the wing inertia. However, actuation power input at the root is needed in the beginning of pronation to initiate a fast pitch reversal and also in mid-downstroke to enable a nose-up pitching motion for lift enhancement. The muscles on the wing may not necessarily be activated for pitching of the distal section. Finally, power analysis of the flapping motion shows that there is no requirement for substantial elastic energy storage or energy absorption at the shoulder joint.

  10. Uranium mill tailings stabilization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hartley, J.N.; Koehmstedt, P.L.; Esterl, D.J.; Freeman, H.D.

    1980-02-01

    Uranium mill tailings pose a potential radiation health hazard to the public. Therefore, stabilization or disposal of these tailings in a safe and environmentally sound way is needed to minimize radon exhalation and other environmental hazards. One of the most promising concepts for stabilizing U tailings is the use of asphalt emulsion to contain radon and other hazardous materials within uranium tailings. This approach is being investigated at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory. Results of these studies indicate that a radon flux reduction of greater than 99% can be obtained using either a poured-on/sprayed-on seal (3.0 to 7.0 mm thick) or an admixture seal (2.5 to 12.7 cm thick) containing about 18 wt % residual asphalt. A field test was carried out in June 1979 at the Grand Junction tailings pile in order to demonstrate the sealing process. A reduction in radon flux ranging from 4.5 to greater than 99% (76% average) was achieved using a 15.2-cm (6-in.) admix seal with a sprayed-on top coat. A hydrostatic stabilizer was used to apply the admix. Following compaction, a spray coat seal was applied over the admix as the final step in construction of a radon seal. Overburden was applied to provide a protective soil layer over the seal. Included in part of the overburden was a herbicide to prevent root penetration

  11. Liquefaction of uranium tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-02-01

    Numerical methods for assessing the liquefaction potential of soils are reviewed with a view to their application to uranium tailings. The method can be divided into two categories: total stress analysis, where changes in pore pressure are not considered in the soil model, and effective stress analysis, where changes in pore pressure are included in the soil model. Effective stress analysis is more realistic, but few computer programs exist for such analysis in two or three dimensions. A simple linearized, two-dimensional, finite element effective stress analysis which incorporates volumetric compaction due to shear motion is described and implemented. The new program is applied to the assessment of liquefaction potential of tailings in the Quirke Mine tailings area near Elliot Lake, Ontario. The results are compared with those of a total stress analysis. Both analyses indicate liquefaction would occur if a magnitude 6.0 earthquake were to occur near the area. However, the extent of liquefaction predicted by the effective stress analysis is much less than that predicted by the total stress analysis. The results of both methods are sensitive to assumed material properties and to the method used to determine the cyclic shear strength of the tailings. Further analysis, incorporating more in situ and/or laboratory data, is recommended before conclusions can be made concerning the dynamic stability of these tailings

  12. Low noise wing slat system with rigid cove-filled slat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shmilovich, Arvin (Inventor); Yadlin, Yoram (Inventor)

    2013-01-01

    Concepts and technologies described herein provide for a low noise aircraft wing slat system. According to one aspect of the disclosure provided herein, a cove-filled wing slat is used in conjunction with a moveable panel rotatably attached to the wing slat to provide a high lift system. The moveable panel rotates upward against the rear surface of the slat during deployment of the slat, and rotates downward to bridge a gap width between the stowed slat and the lower wing surface, completing the continuous outer mold line shape of the wing, when the cove-filled slat is retracted to the stowed position.

  13. Phasing of dragonfly wings can improve aerodynamic efficiency by removing swirl.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Usherwood, James R; Lehmann, Fritz-Olaf

    2008-11-06

    Dragonflies are dramatic, successful aerial predators, notable for their flight agility and endurance. Further, they are highly capable of low-speed, hovering and even backwards flight. While insects have repeatedly modified or reduced one pair of wings, or mechanically coupled their fore and hind wings, dragonflies and damselflies have maintained their distinctive, independently controllable, four-winged form for over 300Myr. Despite efforts at understanding the implications of flapping flight with two pairs of wings, previous studies have generally painted a rather disappointing picture: interaction between fore and hind wings reduces the lift compared with two pairs of wings operating in isolation. Here, we demonstrate with a mechanical model dragonfly that, despite presenting no advantage in terms of lift, flying with two pairs of wings can be highly effective at improving aerodynamic efficiency. This is achieved by recovering energy from the wake wasted as swirl in a manner analogous to coaxial contra-rotating helicopter rotors. With the appropriate fore-hind wing phasing, aerodynamic power requirements can be reduced up to 22 per cent compared with a single pair of wings, indicating one advantage of four-winged flying that may apply to both dragonflies and, in the future, biomimetic micro air vehicles.

  14. Rotary balance data for a typical single-engine low-wing general aviation design for an angle-of-attack range of 30 deg to 90 deg

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bihrle, W., Jr.; Hultberg, R. S.; Mulcay, W.

    1978-01-01

    Aerodynamic characteristics obtained in a spinning flow environment utilizing a rotary balance located spin tunnel are presented in plotted form for a 1/5 scale single-engine low-wing general aviation airplane model. The configurations tested include the basic airplane, various airfoil shapes, tail designs, fuselage strakes and modifications as well as airplane components. Data are presented for pitch and roll angle ranges of 30 to 90 degrees and 10 to -10 degrees, respectively, and clockwise and counter-clockwise rotations covering an Omega b/2V range from 0 to .9. The data are presented without analysis.

  15. Radio-transmitters do not affect seasonal productivity of female Golden-winged Warblers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Streby, Henry M.; Peterson, Sean M.; Gesmundo, Callie; Johnson, Michael K.; Fish, Alexander C.; Lehman, Justin A.; Andersen, David E.

    2013-01-01

    Investigating the potential effects of handling and marking techniques on study animals is important for correct interpretation of research results and to effect progress in data-collection methods. Few investigators have compared the reproductive output of radio-tagged and non-radio-tagged songbirds, and no one to date has examined the possible effect of radio-tagging adult songbirds on the survival of their fledglings. In 2011 and 2012, we compared several parameters of reproductive output of two groups of female Golden-winged Warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera) breeding in Minnesota, including 45 females with radio-transmitters and 73 females we did not capture, handle, or mark. We found no difference between groups in clutch sizes, hatching success, brood sizes, length of incubation and nestling stages, fledging success, number of fledglings, or survival of fledglings to independence. Thus, radio-tags had no measurable impact on the productivity of female Golden-winged Warblers. Our results build upon previous studies where investigators have reported no effects of radio-tagging on the breeding parameters of songbirds by also demonstrating no effect of radio-tagging through the post-fledging period and, therefore, the entire breeding season.

  16. Predicting radon flux from uranium mill tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Freeman, H.D.; Hartley, J.N.

    1983-11-01

    Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), under contract to the US Department of Energy (DOE) Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project (UMTRAP) office, is developing technology for the design of radon barriers for uranium mill tailings piles. To properly design a radon cover for a particular tailings pile, the radon flux emanating from the bare tailings must be known. The tailings characteristics required to calculate the radon flux include radium-226 content, emanating power, bulk density, and radon diffusivity. This paper presents theoretical and practical aspects of estimating the radon flux from an uranium tailings pile. Results of field measurements to verify the calculation methodology are also discussed. 24 references, 4 figures, 4 tables

  17. Numerical modelling for stability of tailings dams

    OpenAIRE

    Auchar, Muhammad; Mattsson, Hans; Knutsson, Sven

    2013-01-01

    A tailings dam is a large embankment structure that is constructed to store the waste from the mining industry. Stability problems may occur in a tailings dam due to factors such as quick rate of raising, internal erosion and liquefaction. The failure of a tailings dam may cause loss of human life and environmental degradation. Tailings Dams must not only be stable during the time the tailings storage facility is in operation, but also long time after the mine is closed. In Sweden, the licens...

  18. Non-linear dynamics of wind turbine wings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Jesper Winther; Nielsen, Søren R.K.

    2006-01-01

    The paper deals with the formulation of non-linear vibrations of a wind turbine wing described in a wing fixed moving coordinate system. The considered structural model is a Bernoulli-Euler beam with due consideration to axial twist. The theory includes geometrical non-linearities induced...

  19. Multichannel thickener of flotation tailings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kondratenko, A F; Shuliko, A N; Zinchenko, A F

    1983-04-01

    A multichannel thickener of flotation tailings developed by Ukrniiugleobogashchenie is described. Tailings with solid content ranging from 40 to 60 g/l are mixed with flocculation reagents (quantity ratio from 60 to 70 g/l) in a turbulent mixer: waste water with tailings fed to the mixer is divided into three streams, flocculation reagents are batched in stages with each water stream. After turbulent mixing, water, tailings and reagent are fed to the settling chamber. Settling chamber (dimensions 2.4 x 1.5 x 1.0 m) is divided into a number of channels by settling surfaces of 0.35 m/sup 2/ each, inclined at an angle of 55 degrees. Distance between the surfaces is 50 mm. The thickener has a total settling surface of 18.7 m/sup 2/. Water with tailings flows upwards, cleaned water is removed by a separating system and settled tailings move downward and accumulate in the compacting chamber (dimensions 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.9 m). From the compacting chamber thickened slurry with solid content from 90 to 150 g/l is removed by a hydraulic system. During performance testing in some plants preparing coal difficult to wash, thickening efficiency amounted to 100%. The results of performance testing are shown in two tables. Factors which influence thickener productivity are evaluated. (In Russian)

  20. Elastically Shaped Wing Optimization and Aircraft Concept for Improved Cruise Efficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Nhan; Trinh, Khanh; Reynolds, Kevin; Kless, James; Aftosmis, Michael; Urnes, James, Sr.; Ippolito, Corey

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents the findings of a study conducted tn 2010 by the NASA Innovation Fund Award project entitled "Elastically Shaped Future Air Vehicle Concept". The study presents three themes in support of meeting national and global aviation challenges of reducing fuel burn for present and future aviation systems. The first theme addresses the drag reduction goal through innovative vehicle configurations via non-planar wing optimization. Two wing candidate concepts have been identified from the wing optimization: a drooped wing shape and an inflected wing shape. The drooped wing shape is a truly biologically inspired wing concept that mimics a seagull wing and could achieve about 5% to 6% drag reduction, which is aerodynamically significant. From a practical perspective, this concept would require new radical changes to the current aircraft development capabilities for new vehicles with futuristic-looking wings such as this concept. The inflected wing concepts could achieve between 3% to 4% drag reduction. While the drag reduction benefit may be less, the inflected-wing concept could have a near-term impact since this concept could be developed within the current aircraft development capabilities. The second theme addresses the drag reduction goal through a new concept of elastic wing shaping control. By aeroelastically tailoring the wing shape with active control to maintain optimal aerodynamics, a significant drag reduction benefit could be realized. A significant reduction in fuel burn for long-range cruise from elastic wing shaping control could be realized. To realize the potential of the elastic wing shaping control concept, the third theme emerges that addresses the drag reduction goal through a new aerodynamic control effector called a variable camber continuous trailing edge flap. Conventional aerodynamic control surfaces are discrete independent surfaces that cause geometric discontinuities at the trailing edge region. These discontinuities promote

  1. Supersize me: Remains of three white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in an invasive Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) in Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boback, Scott M.; Snow, Ray W.; Hsu, Teresa; Peurach, Suzanne C.; Dove, Carla J.; Reed, Robert N.

    2016-01-01

    Snakes have become successful invaders in a wide variety of ecosystems worldwide. In southern Florida, USA, the Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) has become established across thousands of square kilometers including all of Everglades National Park (ENP). Both experimental and correlative data have supported a relationship between Burmese python predation and declines or extirpations of mid- to large-sized mammals in ENP. In June 2013 a large python (4.32 m snout-vent length, 48.3 kg) was captured and removed from the park. Subsequent necropsy revealed a massive amount of fecal matter (79 cm in length, 6.5 kg) within the snake’s large intestine. A comparative examination of bone, teeth, and hooves extracted from the fecal contents revealed that this snake consumed three white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). This is the first report of an invasive Burmese python containing the remains of multiple white-tailed deer in its gut. Because the largest snakes native to southern Florida are not capable of consuming even mid-sized mammals, pythons likely represent a novel predatory threat to white-tailed deer in these habitats. This work highlights the potential impact of this large-bodied invasive snake and supports the need for more work on invasive predator-native prey relationships.

  2. Phase shifts of the paired wings of butterfly diagrams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Kejun; Liang Hongfei; Feng Wen

    2010-01-01

    Sunspot groups observed by the Royal Greenwich Observatory/US Air Force/NOAA from 1874 May to 2008 November and the Carte Synoptique solar filaments from 1919 March to 1989 December are used to investigate the relative phase shift of the paired wings of butterfly diagrams of sunspot and filament activities. Latitudinal migration of sunspot groups (or filaments) does asynchronously occur in the northern and southern hemispheres, and there is a relative phase shift between the paired wings of their butterfly diagrams in a cycle, making the paired wings spatially asymmetrical on the solar equator. It is inferred that hemispherical solar activity strength should evolve in a similar way within the paired wings of a butterfly diagram in a cycle, demonstrating the paired wings phenomenon and showing the phase relationship between the northern and southern hemispherical solar activity strengths, as well as a relative phase shift between the paired wings of a butterfly diagram, which should bring about almost the same relative phase shift of hemispheric solar activity strength. (research papers)

  3. Potential of Cassia alata L. Coupled with Biochar for Heavy Metal Stabilization in Multi-Metal Mine Tailings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Lige; Li, Yuanyuan; Zhao, Man; Chao, Yuanqing; Qiu, Rongliang; Yang, Yanhua; Wang, Shizhong

    2018-03-12

    To explore the effect of different biochars on Cassia alata L. growth and heavy metal immobilization in multi-metal mine tailings, a 100-day pot experiment was conducted. Three biochars derived from Hibiscus cannabinus core (HB), sewage sludge (SB) and chicken manure (MB), were added to mine tailings at rates of 0.4%, 1% and 3% ( w / w ). The results showed that the root biomass, shoot biomass, plant height and root length were 1.2-2.8, 1.7-3.2, 1-1.5 and 1.6-3.3 times of those in the control group, respectively. Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd and As contents in the shoot decreased by 63.9-89.5%, 46.9-66.0%, 32.7-62.4%, 40.4-76.4% and 54.9-77.5%, respectively. The biochar significantly increased the pH and decreased the mild acid-soluble Pb and Cu concentrations in the mine tailings. Specifically, SB immobilized Pb and Cu better than MB and HB did, although it did not immobilize As, Zn or Cd. Meanwhile, more attention should be paid to the potential As release as the biochar application rate increases. In conclusion, Cassia alata L. coupled with 3% of SB could be an effective measure for restoring multi-metal mine tailings. This study herein provided a promising ecological restoration technique for future practice of heavy metal stabilization in mine tailings.

  4. Comparison of the breeding biology of sympatric red-tailed Hawks, White-tailed Hawks, and Crested Caracaras in south Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Actkinson, M.A.; Kuvlesky, W.P.; Boal, C.W.; Brennan, L.A.; Hernandez, F.

    2009-01-01

    We compared the breeding biology of sympatric nesting Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis), White-tailed Hawks (Buteo albicaudatus), and Crested Caracaras (Caracara cheriway) in south Texas during 2003 and 2004. We monitored 46 breeding attempts by Red-tailed Hawks, 56 by White-tailed Hawks, and 27 by Crested Caracaras. Observed nesting success was similar for Red-tailed Hawks (62%) and Crested Caracaras (61%), but lower for White-tailed Hawks (51%). Daily survival rates (0.99) were the same for all three species. Red-tailed Hawks and White-tailed Hawks both fledged 1.13 young per nesting pair and Crested Caracaras fledged 1.39 young per nesting pair. All three species nested earlier in 2004 than in 2003; in addition, the overall nesting density of these three species almost doubled from 2003 (1.45 pairs/km2) to 2004 (2.71 pairs/km2). Estimated productivity of all three species was within the ranges reported from other studies. Given extensive and progressive habitat alteration in some areas of south Texas, and the limited distributions of White-tailed Hawks and Crested Caracaras, the presence of large ranches managed for free-range cattle production and hunting leases likely provides important habitat and may be key areas for conservation of these two species. ?? 2009 The Raptor Research Foundation, Inc.

  5. Stable structural color patterns displayed on transparent insect wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shevtsova, Ekaterina; Hansson, Christer; Janzen, Daniel H; Kjærandsen, Jostein

    2011-01-11

    Color patterns play central roles in the behavior of insects, and are important traits for taxonomic studies. Here we report striking and stable structural color patterns--wing interference patterns (WIPs)--in the transparent wings of small Hymenoptera and Diptera, patterns that have been largely overlooked by biologists. These extremely thin wings reflect vivid color patterns caused by thin film interference. The visibility of these patterns is affected by the way the insects display their wings against various backgrounds with different light properties. The specific color sequence displayed lacks pure red and matches the color vision of most insects, strongly suggesting that the biological significance of WIPs lies in visual signaling. Taxon-specific color patterns are formed by uneven membrane thickness, pigmentation, venation, and hair placement. The optically refracted pattern is also stabilized by microstructures of the wing such as membrane corrugations and spherical cell structures that reinforce the pattern and make it essentially noniridescent over a large range of light incidences. WIPs can be applied to map the micromorphology of wings through direct observation and are useful in several fields of biology. We demonstrate their usefulness as identification patterns to solve cases of cryptic species complexes in tiny parasitic wasps, and indicate their potentials for research on the genetic control of wing development through direct links between the transregulatory wing landscape and interference patterns we observe in Drosophila model species. Some species display sexually dimorphic WIPs, suggesting sexual selection as one of the driving forces for their evolution.

  6. Fixed-Wing Micro Air Vehicles with Hovering Capabilities

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Bataille, Boris; Poinsot, Damien; Thipyopas, Chinnapat; Moschetta, Jean-Marc

    2007-01-01

    Fixed-wing micro air vehicles (MAV) are very attractive for outdoor surveillance missions since they generally offer better payload and endurance capabilities than rotorcraft or flapping-wing vehicles of equal size...

  7. Aerodynamic Optimization of an Over-the-Wing-Nacelle-Mount Configuration

    OpenAIRE

    Sasaki, Daisuke; Nakahashi, Kazuhiro

    2011-01-01

    An over-the-wing-nacelle-mount airplane configuration is known to prevent the noise propagation from jet engines toward ground. However, the configuration is assumed to have low aerodynamic efficiency due to the aerodynamic interference effect between a wing and a nacelle. In this paper, aerodynamic design optimization is conducted to improve aerodynamic efficiency to be equivalent to conventional under-the-wing-nacelle-mount configuration. The nacelle and wing geometry are modified to achiev...

  8. Mineralogy and geochemistry of uranium mill tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pagel, M.; Somot, S.

    2002-01-01

    We have investigated three main types of uranium mill tailings: (1) acid mill tailings (Mounana, Gabon), (2) neutralized acid mill tailings (Ecarpiere and Jouac, France) and (3) alkaline mill tailings (Lodeve, France). We have focused especially on radium behaviour which is of major environmental concern in these tailings, but other metals were also studied. It is shown that in type 1 , trapping of 226 Ra by anglesite and barite is dominant whereas in types 2 and 3, 226 Ra is mainly or significantly scavenged by Fe- Mn oxyhydroxides. This study points out the importance of keeping conditions in which these oxyhydroxides will be stable for the long-term. Uranium would be also released during acidification of the tailings. This shows the importance to know more about the behavior of Ra during the crystallization of oxyhydroxides and during tailings diagenesis. Therefore, it is very important to study the sorption of Ra by clay minerals or late authigeneous minerals such as barite. (author)

  9. A guide to the management of tailings facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bedard, C.; Ferguson, K.; Gladwin, D.; Lang, D.; Maltby, J.; McCann, M.; Poirier, P.; Schwenger, R.; Vezina, S.; West, S.; Duval, J.; Gardiner, E.; Jansons, K.; Lewis, B.; Matthews, J.; Mchaina, D.; Puro, M.; Siwik, R.; Welch, D.

    1998-01-01

    The 'Guide to the Management of Tailings Facilities' has been developed by the Mining Association of Canada in an effort to provide guidance to its member companies on sound practices for the safe and environmentally responsible management of tailings facilities. The guide is a reference tool to help companies ensure that they are managing their tailings facilities responsibly, integrating environmental and safety considerations in a consistent manner, with continuous improvement in the operation of tailings facilities. The key to managing tailings responsibly is consistent application of engineering capabilities through the full life cycle. The guide provides a basis for the development of customized tailings management systems to address specific needs at individual operations, and deals with environmental impacts, mill tailing characteristics, tailings facility studies and plans, dam and related structure design, and control and monitoring. Aspects relating to tailings facility siting, design, construction, operation, decommissioning and closure are also fully treated. 1 tab., 3 figs

  10. Experimental Investigation of a Wing-in-Ground Effect Craft

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Mobassher Tofa

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The aerodynamic characteristics of the wing-in-ground effect (WIG craft model that has a noble configuration of a compound wing was experimentally investigated and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM wind tunnel with and without endplates. Lift and drag forces, pitching moment coefficients, and the centre of pressure were measured with respect to the ground clearance and the wing angle of attack. The ground effect and the existence of the endplates increase the wing lift-to-drag ratio at low ground clearance. The results of this research work show new proposed design of the WIG craft with compound wing and endplates, which can clearly increase the aerodynamic efficiency without compromising the longitudinal stability. The use of WIG craft is representing an ambitious technology that will help in reducing time, effort, and money of the conventional marine transportation in the future.

  11. Experimental investigation of a wing-in-ground effect craft.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tofa, M Mobassher; Maimun, Adi; Ahmed, Yasser M; Jamei, Saeed; Priyanto, Agoes; Rahimuddin

    2014-01-01

    The aerodynamic characteristics of the wing-in-ground effect (WIG) craft model that has a noble configuration of a compound wing was experimentally investigated and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) wind tunnel with and without endplates. Lift and drag forces, pitching moment coefficients, and the centre of pressure were measured with respect to the ground clearance and the wing angle of attack. The ground effect and the existence of the endplates increase the wing lift-to-drag ratio at low ground clearance. The results of this research work show new proposed design of the WIG craft with compound wing and endplates, which can clearly increase the aerodynamic efficiency without compromising the longitudinal stability. The use of WIG craft is representing an ambitious technology that will help in reducing time, effort, and money of the conventional marine transportation in the future.

  12. Observations and Measurements of Wing Parameters of the Selected Beetle Species and the Design of a Mechanism Structure Implementing a Complex Wing Movement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geisler T.

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Beetle wings perform a flapping movement, consisting of the rotation relative to the two axes. This paper presents the results of observations and measurements of wings operating parameters in different planes of some beetle species. High speed photos and videos were used. The concept of the mechanism performing a complex wing movement was proposed and developed.

  13. Observations and Measurements of Wing Parameters of the Selected Beetle Species and the Design of a Mechanism Structure Implementing a Complex Wing Movement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geisler, T.

    2016-12-01

    Beetle wings perform a flapping movement, consisting of the rotation relative to the two axes. This paper presents the results of observations and measurements of wings operating parameters in different planes of some beetle species. High speed photos and videos were used. The concept of the mechanism performing a complex wing movement was proposed and developed.

  14. Taming the tailings : dead ducks notwithstanding, extensive research is underway to deal with oilsands tailings in a more efficient manner

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Collison, M.

    2008-09-15

    Research is now being conducted to reduce the environmental impacts of oil sands tailing ponds. Alberta's oil sands region contains an estimated 60 km{sup 2} of tailings ponds, which serve as holding basins for recycled water as well as collection sites for materials used in reclamation activities. The ponds contain residual bitumen, production chemicals, and minerals. While some of the water in the ponds can be re-used, mature fine tailings must be contained behind dikes. Every barrel of bitumen produced by the industry results in the creation of 1.5 barrels of mature fine tailings. Natural Resources Canada's CANMET Energy Technology Centre is currently conducting a research program with the University of Alberta to reduce the amounts of tailings produced by the industry. Options for dry stackable tailings are being explored, as well as methods of using the tailings to enhance various oil sands processes. It is hoped that the dry, stackable tailings can be used to help reclaim and rebuild Boreal regions impacted by the oil sands industry. The program is gaining interest due to concerns that leakages from the tailings ponds may pollute aquifers and rivers in a region noted for its water shortages. Research teams are also investigating the use of flocculants to create heavy non-segregated tailings. Researchers are also examining methods of recovering hydrocarbons, titanium, and zircon from the tailings. 3 figs.

  15. Assessing Risks of Mine Tailing Dam Failures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Concha Larrauri, P.; Lall, U.

    2017-12-01

    The consequences of tailings dam failures can be catastrophic for communities and ecosystems in the vicinity of the dams. The failure of the Fundão tailings dam at the Samarco mine in 2015 killed 19 people with severe consequences for the environment. The financial and legal consequences of a tailings dam failure can also be significant for the mining companies. For the Fundão tailings dam, the company had to pay 6 billion dollars in fines and twenty-one executives were charged with qualified murder. There are tenths of thousands of active, inactive, and abandoned tailings dams in the world and there is a need to better understand the hazards posed by these structures to downstream populations and ecosystems. A challenge to assess the risks of tailings dams in a large scale is that many of them are not registered in publicly available databases and there is little information about their current physical state. Additionally, hazard classifications of tailings dams - common in many countries- tend to be subjective, include vague parameter definitions, and are not always updated over time. Here we present a simple methodology to assess and rank the exposure to tailings dams using ArcGIS that removes subjective interpretations. The method uses basic information such as current dam height, storage volume, topography, population, land use, and hydrological data. A hazard rating risk was developed to compare the potential extent of the damage across dams. This assessment provides a general overview of what in the vicinity of the tailings dams could be affected in case of a failure and a way to rank tailings dams that is directly linked to the exposure at any given time. One hundred tailings dams in Minas Gerais, Brazil were used for the test case. This ranking approach could inform the risk management strategy of the tailings dams within a company, and when disclosed, it could enable shareholders and the communities to make decisions on the risks they are taking.

  16. Reassessment of the wing feathers of Archaeopteryx lithographica suggests no robust evidence for the presence of elongated dorsal wing coverts.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert L Nudds

    Full Text Available Recently it was proposed that the primary feathers of Archaeopteryx lithographica (HMN1880 were overlaid by long covert feathers, and that a multilayered feathered wing was a feature of early fossils with feathered forelimbs. The proposed long covert feathers of Archaeopteryx were previously interpreted as dorsally displaced remiges or a second set of impressions made by the wing. The following study shows that the qualitative arguments forwarded in support of the elongated covert hypothesis are neither robust nor supported quantitatively. The idea that the extant bird wing with its single layer of overlapping primaries evolved from an earlier multilayered heavily coveted feathered forelimb as seen in Anchiornis huxleyi is reasonable. At this juncture, however, it is premature to conclude unequivocally that the wing of Archaeopteryx consisted of primary feathers overlaid with elongated coverts.

  17. Anatomy and histochemistry of spread-wing posture in birds. I. Wing drying posture in the double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyers, Ron A

    1997-07-01

    Spread-wing postures of birds often have been studied with respect to the function of behavior, but ignored with regard to the mechanism by which the birds accomplish posture. The double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus, was used as a model for this study of spread-wing posture. Those muscles capable of positioning and maintaining the wing in extension and protraction were assayed histochemically for the presence of slow (postural) muscle fibers. Within the forelimb of Phalacrocorax, Mm. coracobrachialis cranialis, pectoralis thoracicus (cranial portion), deltoideus minor, triceps scapularis, and extensor metacarpi radialis pars dorsalis and ventralis were found to contain populations of slow-twitch or slow-tonic muscle fibers. These slow fibers in the above muscles are considered to function during spread-wing posture in this species. J Morphol 233:67-76, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Copyright © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  18. Analysis of Heavy-Tailed Time Series

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xie, Xiaolei

    This thesis is about analysis of heavy-tailed time series. We discuss tail properties of real-world equity return series and investigate the possibility that a single tail index is shared by all return series of actively traded equities in a market. Conditions for this hypothesis to be true...... are identified. We study the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of sample covariance and sample auto-covariance matrices of multivariate heavy-tailed time series, and particularly for time series with very high dimensions. Asymptotic approximations of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of such matrices are found...... and expressed in terms of the parameters of the dependence structure, among others. Furthermore, we study an importance sampling method for estimating rare-event probabilities of multivariate heavy-tailed time series generated by matrix recursion. We show that the proposed algorithm is efficient in the sense...

  19. Uranium mill tailings remedial action technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hartley, J.N.; Gee, G.W.

    1984-01-01

    The uranium milling process involves the hydrometallurgical extraction of uranium from ores and the resultant generation of large quantities of waste referred to as tailings. Uranium mill tailings have been identified as requiring remediation because they contain residual radioactive material that is not removed in the milling process. Potential radiation exposure can result from direct contact with the tailings, from radon gas emitted by the tailings, and from radioactive contamination of groundwater. As a result, the technology developed under the US Department of Energy (DOE) Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project (UMTRAP) and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Uranium Recovery Program have focused on radon control, groundwater contamination and the long-term protection of the containment system. This paper briefly summarizes the UMTRAP and NRC remedial action technology development. 33 references, 9 figures, 5 tables

  20. Optimal pitching axis location of flapping wings for efficient hovering flight.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Q; Goosen, J F L; van Keulen, F

    2017-09-01

    Flapping wings can pitch passively about their pitching axes due to their flexibility, inertia, and aerodynamic loads. A shift in the pitching axis location can dynamically alter the aerodynamic loads, which in turn changes the passive pitching motion and the flight efficiency. Therefore, it is of great interest to investigate the optimal pitching axis for flapping wings to maximize the power efficiency during hovering flight. In this study, flapping wings are modeled as rigid plates with non-uniform mass distribution. The wing flexibility is represented by a linearly torsional spring at the wing root. A predictive quasi-steady aerodynamic model is used to evaluate the lift generated by such wings. Two extreme power consumption scenarios are modeled for hovering flight, i.e. the power consumed by a drive system with and without the capacity of kinetic energy recovery. For wings with different shapes, the optimal pitching axis location is found such that the cycle-averaged power consumption during hovering flight is minimized. Optimization results show that the optimal pitching axis is located between the leading edge and the mid-chord line, which shows close resemblance to insect wings. An optimal pitching axis can save up to 33% of power during hovering flight when compared to traditional wings used by most of flapping wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs). Traditional wings typically use the straight leading edge as the pitching axis. With the optimized pitching axis, flapping wings show higher pitching amplitudes and start the pitching reversals in advance of the sweeping reversals. These phenomena lead to higher lift-to-drag ratios and, thus, explain the lower power consumption. In addition, the optimized pitching axis provides the drive system higher potential to recycle energy during the deceleration phases as compared to their counterparts. This observation underlines the particular importance of the wing pitching axis location for energy-efficient FWMAVs when

  1. Chapter 2. The history of uranium tailings formation in the North of Tajikistan, their current condition. 2.4. Degmai uranium tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khakimov, N.; Nazarov, Kh.M.; Mirsaidov, I.U.

    2012-01-01

    Present article is devoted to Degmai uranium tailings. The history of Degmai uranium tailings is presented. The current condition of uranium tailings is described. During the last 6-7 years, together with IAEA experts, monitoring is permanently carried out and the tailings influence on the environment is defined. Radiation and dosimetric investigation results from Degmai tailing' surface (June 2006) are considered.

  2. Recent developments in rotary-wing aerodynamic theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, W.

    1986-01-01

    Current progress in the computational analysis of rotary-wing flowfields is surveyed, and some typical results are presented in graphs. Topics examined include potential theory, rotating coordinate systems, lifting-surface theory (moving singularity, fixed wing, and rotary wing), panel methods (surface singularity representations, integral equations, and compressible flows), transonic theory (the small-disturbance equation), wake analysis (hovering rotor-wake models and transonic blade-vortex interaction), limitations on computational aerodynamics, and viscous-flow methods (dynamic-stall theories and lifting-line theory). It is suggested that the present algorithms and advanced computers make it possible to begin working toward the ultimate goal of turbulent Navier-Stokes calculations for an entire rotorcraft.

  3. Risk assessment of tailings facility dam failure

    OpenAIRE

    Hadzi-Nikolova, Marija; Mirakovski, Dejan; Stefanova, Violeta

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents the consequences of tailings facility dam failure and therefore the needs for its risk assessment. Tailings are fine-grained wastes of the mining industry, output as slurries, due to mixing with water during mineral processing. Tailings dams vary a lot as it is affected by: tailings characteristics and mill output, site characteristics as: topography, hydrology, geology, groundwater, seismicity and available material and disposal methods. The talings which accumulat...

  4. Project Sekwa: A variable stability, blended-wing-body, research UAV

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Broughton, BA

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available of flying wing and Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) platforms. The main objective of the project was to investigate the advantages and pitfalls of relaxing the longitudinal stability criteria on a Blended-Wing-Body UAV. The project was also aimed at expanding...

  5. Wing flexibility effects in clap-and-fling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Percin, M.; Hu, Y.; Van Oudheusden, B.W.; Remes, B.; Scarano, F.

    2011-01-01

    The work explores the use of time-resolved tomographic PIV measurements to study a flapping-wing model, the related vortex generation mechanisms and the effect of wing flexibility on the clap-and-fling movement in particular. An experimental setup is designed and realized in a water tank by use of a

  6. Placement of radium/barium sludges in tailings areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murphy, K.L.; Multamaki, G.E.

    1980-01-01

    Currently radium is removed from uranium mining and milling effluents by the addition of barium chloride to precipitate the radium as radium/barium sulphate. The precipitate is allowed to settle in sedimentation basins prior to discharge of the effluent. The sedimentation basins are not suitable for final disposal of the sludge, and placement of the sludges in the tailings area has been proposed. The geochemical environment of fresh tailings areas was characterized as an acidic, oxidized surface zone underlain by an alkaline, reduced zone comprising the rest of the tailings. The quantity of sludge produced was estimated to be small relative to the quantity of tailings, and therefor a relatively small amount of radium would be added to the tailings disposal area by the addition of sludge. To confirm whether sludge addition affected radionuclide solubilization, laboratory leaching tests were conducted on slurries of acid leach tailings, and sludge-tailings mixtures. Radium in the (Ra,Ba)SO 4 sludge was at least as stable as radium in the tailings, and the sludge was able to absorb radium released from the tailings. The addition of sludge did not affect uranium and thorium solubilization. From these results it appears that the placement of sludge in tailings areas would not adversely affect the stability of radionuclides in the tailings or sludge. (auth)

  7. Aerodynamics and Ecomorphology of Flexible Feathers and Morphing Bird Wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klaassen van Oorschot, Brett

    Birds are talented fliers capable of vertical take-off and landing, navigating turbulent air, and flying thousands of miles without rest. How is this possible? What allows birds to exploit the aerial environment with such ease? In part, it may be because bird wings are unlike any engineered wing. They are flexible, strong, lightweight, and dynamically capable of changes in shape on a nearly instantaneous basis (Rayner, 1988; Tobalske, 2007). Moreover, much of this change is passive, modulated only by changes in airflow angle and velocity. Birds actively morph their wings and their feathers morph passively in response to airflow to meet aerodynamic demands. Wings are highly adapted to myriad aeroecological factors and aerodynamic conditions (e.g. Lockwood et al., 1998; Bowlin and Winkler, 2004). This dissertation contains the results of my research on the complexities of morphing avian wings and feathers. I chose to study three related-but-discrete aspects of the avian wing: 1) the aerodynamics of morphing wings during take-off and gliding flight, 2) the presence and significance of wing tip slots across the avian clade, and 3) the aerodynamic role of the emarginate primary feathers that form these wing tip slots. These experiments ask fundamental questions that have intrigued me since childhood: Why do birds have different wing shapes? And why do some birds have slotted wing tips? It's fair to say that you will not find definitive answers here--rather, you will find the methodical, incremental addition of new hypotheses and empirical evidence which will serve future researchers in their own pursuits of these questions. The first chapter explores active wing morphing in two disparate aerodynamic regimes: low-advance ratio flapping (such as during takeoff) and high-advance ratio gliding. This chapter was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology (Klaassen van Oorschot et al., 2016) with the help of an undergraduate researcher, Emily Mistick. We found that wing

  8. Pitch, roll, and yaw moment generator for insect-like tailless flapping-wing MAV

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phan, Hoang Vu; Park, Hoon Cheol

    2016-04-01

    In this work, we proposed a control moment generator, which is called Trailing Edge Change (TEC) mechanism, for attitudes change in hovering insect-like tailless flapping-wing MAV. The control moment generator was installed to the flapping-wing mechanism to manipulate the wing kinematics by adjusting the wing roots location symmetrically or asymmetrically. As a result, the mean aerodynamic force center of each wing is relocated and control moments are generated. The three-dimensional wing kinematics captured by three synchronized high-speed cameras showed that the flapping-wing MAV can properly modify the wing kinematics. In addition, a series of experiments were performed using a multi-axis load cell to evaluate the forces and moments generation. The measurement demonstrated that the TEC mechanism produced reasonable amounts of pitch, roll and yaw moments by shifting position of the trailing edges at the wing roots of the flapping-wing MAV.

  9. Recent progress in the analysis of iced airfoils and wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cebeci, Tuncer; Chen, Hsun H.; Kaups, Kalle; Schimke, Sue

    1992-01-01

    Recent work on the analysis of iced airfoils and wings is described. Ice shapes for multielement airfoils and wings are computed using an extension of the LEWICE code that was developed for single airfoils. The aerodynamic properties of the iced wing are determined with an interactive scheme in which the solutions of the inviscid flow equations are obtained from a panel method and the solutions of the viscous flow equations are obtained from an inverse three-dimensional finite-difference boundary-layer method. A new interaction law is used to couple the inviscid and viscous flow solutions. The newly developed LEWICE multielement code is amplified to a high-lift configuration to calculate the ice shapes on the slat and on the main airfoil and on a four-element airfoil. The application of the LEWICE wing code to the calculation of ice shapes on a MS-317 swept wing shows good agreement with measurements. The interactive boundary-layer method is applied to a tapered iced wing in order to study the effect of icing on the aerodynamic properties of the wing at several angles of attack.

  10. Aerodynamics, sensing and control of insect-scale flapping-wing flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shyy, Wei; Kang, Chang-kwon; Chirarattananon, Pakpong; Ravi, Sridhar; Liu, Hao

    2016-01-01

    There are nearly a million known species of flying insects and 13 000 species of flying warm-blooded vertebrates, including mammals, birds and bats. While in flight, their wings not only move forward relative to the air, they also flap up and down, plunge and sweep, so that both lift and thrust can be generated and balanced, accommodate uncertain surrounding environment, with superior flight stability and dynamics with highly varied speeds and missions. As the size of a flyer is reduced, the wing-to-body mass ratio tends to decrease as well. Furthermore, these flyers use integrated system consisting of wings to generate aerodynamic forces, muscles to move the wings, and sensing and control systems to guide and manoeuvre. In this article, recent advances in insect-scale flapping-wing aerodynamics, flexible wing structures, unsteady flight environment, sensing, stability and control are reviewed with perspective offered. In particular, the special features of the low Reynolds number flyers associated with small sizes, thin and light structures, slow flight with comparable wind gust speeds, bioinspired fabrication of wing structures, neuron-based sensing and adaptive control are highlighted. PMID:27118897

  11. Proceedings of the 15. annual British Columbia MEND ML/ARD workshop : the management of tailings and tailings impoundments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-02-01

    This Mine Environment Neutral Drainage (MEND) workshop was held to promote the exchange of information and ideas on environmental protection and reclamation associated with mining. The workshop covered a broad spectrum of reclamation issues and the key environmental challenges facing the mining industry, such as acid mine drainage (AMD) control, and metal leaching and acid rock drainage (ML/ARD). The theme for the 2008 workshop was the management of tailings and tailings impoundments. Topics of discussion included hydrogeology and geochemistry; tailings disposal; mitigation; closure plans; and postclosure performance. The emphasis was on full-scale case studies, practical constraints and sustaining successful disposal strategies and remediation. The session on tailings management reviewed overarching policies and practices; methods of subaerial tailings disposal and case studies of tailings management; and detailed investigations of geochemical properties and processes. The conference featured 22 presentations, of which 4 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs

  12. Time-varying wing-twist improves aerodynamic efficiency of forward flight in butterflies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Lingxiao; Hedrick, Tyson L; Mittal, Rajat

    2013-01-01

    Insect wings can undergo significant chordwise (camber) as well as spanwise (twist) deformation during flapping flight but the effect of these deformations is not well understood. The shape and size of butterfly wings leads to particularly large wing deformations, making them an ideal test case for investigation of these effects. Here we use computational models derived from experiments on free-flying butterflies to understand the effect of time-varying twist and camber on the aerodynamic performance of these insects. High-speed videogrammetry is used to capture the wing kinematics, including deformation, of a Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) in untethered, forward flight. These experimental results are then analyzed computationally using a high-fidelity, three-dimensional, unsteady Navier-Stokes flow solver. For comparison to this case, a set of non-deforming, flat-plate wing (FPW) models of wing motion are synthesized and subjected to the same analysis along with a wing model that matches the time-varying wing-twist observed for the butterfly, but has no deformation in camber. The simulations show that the observed butterfly wing (OBW) outperforms all the flat-plate wings in terms of usable force production as well as the ratio of lift to power by at least 29% and 46%, respectively. This increase in efficiency of lift production is at least three-fold greater than reported for other insects. Interestingly, we also find that the twist-only-wing (TOW) model recovers much of the performance of the OBW, demonstrating that wing-twist, and not camber is key to forward flight in these insects. The implications of this on the design of flapping wing micro-aerial vehicles are discussed.

  13. Time-varying wing-twist improves aerodynamic efficiency of forward flight in butterflies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lingxiao Zheng

    Full Text Available Insect wings can undergo significant chordwise (camber as well as spanwise (twist deformation during flapping flight but the effect of these deformations is not well understood. The shape and size of butterfly wings leads to particularly large wing deformations, making them an ideal test case for investigation of these effects. Here we use computational models derived from experiments on free-flying butterflies to understand the effect of time-varying twist and camber on the aerodynamic performance of these insects. High-speed videogrammetry is used to capture the wing kinematics, including deformation, of a Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui in untethered, forward flight. These experimental results are then analyzed computationally using a high-fidelity, three-dimensional, unsteady Navier-Stokes flow solver. For comparison to this case, a set of non-deforming, flat-plate wing (FPW models of wing motion are synthesized and subjected to the same analysis along with a wing model that matches the time-varying wing-twist observed for the butterfly, but has no deformation in camber. The simulations show that the observed butterfly wing (OBW outperforms all the flat-plate wings in terms of usable force production as well as the ratio of lift to power by at least 29% and 46%, respectively. This increase in efficiency of lift production is at least three-fold greater than reported for other insects. Interestingly, we also find that the twist-only-wing (TOW model recovers much of the performance of the OBW, demonstrating that wing-twist, and not camber is key to forward flight in these insects. The implications of this on the design of flapping wing micro-aerial vehicles are discussed.

  14. The evolution of tail weaponization in amniotes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arbour, Victoria M; Zanno, Lindsay E

    2018-01-31

    Weaponry, for the purpose of intraspecific combat or predator defence, is one of the most widespread animal adaptations, yet the selective pressures and constraints governing its phenotypic diversity and skeletal regionalization are not well understood. Here, we investigate the evolution of tail weaponry in amniotes, a rare form of weaponry that nonetheless evolved independently among a broad spectrum of life including mammals, turtles and dinosaurs. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we test for links between morphology, ecology and behaviour in extant amniotes known to use the tail as a weapon, and in extinct taxa bearing osseous tail armaments. We find robust ecological and morphological correlates of both tail lashing behaviour and bony tail weaponry, including large body size, body armour and herbivory, suggesting these life-history parameters factor into the evolution of antipredator behaviours and tail armaments. We suggest that the evolution of tail weaponry is rare because large, armoured herbivores are uncommon in extant terrestrial faunas, as they have been throughout evolutionary history. © 2018 The Author(s).

  15. Ecological aspects of microorganisms inhabiting uranium mill tailings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, C.L.; Landa, E.R.; Updegraff, D.M.

    1987-01-01

    Numbers and types of microorganisms in uranium mill tailings were determined using culturing techniques. Arthrobacter were found to be the predominant microorganism inhabiting the sandy tailings, whereas Bacillus and fungi predominated in the slime tailings. Sulfate-reducing bacteria, capable of leaching radium, were isolated in low numbers from tailings samples but were isolated in significantly high numbers from topsoil in contact with the tailings. The results are placed in the context of the magnitude of uranium mill tailings in the United States, the hazards posed by the tailings, and how such hazards could be enhanced or diminished by microbial activities. Patterns in the composition of the microbial population are evaluated with respect to the ecological variables that influence microbial growth. ?? 1987 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

  16. Tailings management for the twenty-first century

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frost, S.E.

    1996-01-01

    The evolution of tailings management at Saskatchewan uranium mines is traced from the fifties to the nineties. Some of the problems with past systems are discussed. The new tailings systems now being proposed for the new operations currently undergoing environmental assessment in Saskatchewan are examined in detail. These new systems represent a change in tailings management philosophy, from keeping tailings high and dry on the surface, to placement of tailings in a low-energy regime within the water table. There they are removed from the active surface environment, avoiding future erosion problems, with a reduced likelihood of suffering intrusion from future human or animal activities. (author). 16 refs., 5 figs

  17. Dynamic Model and Analysis of Asymmetric Telescopic Wing for Morphing Aircraft

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Lili

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Morphing aircraft has been the research hot topics of new concept aircrafts in aerospace engineering. Telescopic wing is an important morphing technology for morphing aircraft. This paper describes the dynamic equations and kinematic equations based on theorem of momentum and theorem of moment of momentum, which are available for all morphing aircrafts. Meanwhile,as simplified , dynamic equations for rectangular telescopic wing are presented. In order to avoid the complexity using aileron to generate rolling moment , an new idea that asymmetry of wings can generate roll moment is introduced. Finally, roll performance comparison of asymmetric wing and aileron deflection shows that asymmetric telescopic wing can provide the required roll control moment as aileron, and in some cases, telescopic wing has the superior roll performance.

  18. Experiments on a low aspect ratio wing at low Reynolds numbers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morse, Daniel R.

    At the start of the 21st century much of the focus of aircraft design has been turned to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which generally operate at much lower speeds in higher risk areas than manned aircraft. One subset of UAVs are Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) which usually are no larger than 20cm and rely on non-traditional shapes to generate lift at very low velocities. This purpose of this work is to describe, in detail with experimental methods, the flow field around a low aspect ratio wing operating at low Reynolds numbers and at high angles of attack. Quantitative measurements are obtained by Three Component Time Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (3C TR PIV) which describe the mean and turbulent flow field. This research focuses on the leading edge separation zone and the vortex shedding process which occurs at the leading edge. Streamwise wing tip vortices which dominate the lift characteristics are described with flow visualization and 3C TR PIV measurements. Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) is described at the leading edge over several angles of attack. Turbulent Reynolds stresses in all three directions are described over the wing span and several Reynolds numbers. Two primary cyclic processes are observed within the flow field; one low frequency oscillation in the separated region and one high frequency event associated with leading edge vortex formation and convection. Two length scales are proposed and are shown to match well with each other, one based on leading edge vortex shedding frequency and convective velocity and the other based on mean vortex separation distance. A new method of rendering velocity frequency content over large data sets is proposed and used to illustrate the different frequencies observed at the leading edge.

  19. Digital Morphing Wing: Active Wing Shaping Concept Using Composite Lattice-Based Cellular Structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenett, Benjamin; Calisch, Sam; Cellucci, Daniel; Cramer, Nick; Gershenfeld, Neil; Swei, Sean; Cheung, Kenneth C

    2017-03-01

    We describe an approach for the discrete and reversible assembly of tunable and actively deformable structures using modular building block parts for robotic applications. The primary technical challenge addressed by this work is the use of this method to design and fabricate low density, highly compliant robotic structures with spatially tuned stiffness. This approach offers a number of potential advantages over more conventional methods for constructing compliant robots. The discrete assembly reduces manufacturing complexity, as relatively simple parts can be batch-produced and joined to make complex structures. Global mechanical properties can be tuned based on sub-part ordering and geometry, because local stiffness and density can be independently set to a wide range of values and varied spatially. The structure's intrinsic modularity can significantly simplify analysis and simulation. Simple analytical models for the behavior of each building block type can be calibrated with empirical testing and synthesized into a highly accurate and computationally efficient model of the full compliant system. As a case study, we describe a modular and reversibly assembled wing that performs continuous span-wise twist deformation. It exhibits high performance aerodynamic characteristics, is lightweight and simple to fabricate and repair. The wing is constructed from discrete lattice elements, wherein the geometric and mechanical attributes of the building blocks determine the global mechanical properties of the wing. We describe the mechanical design and structural performance of the digital morphing wing, including their relationship to wind tunnel tests that suggest the ability to increase roll efficiency compared to a conventional rigid aileron system. We focus here on describing the approach to design, modeling, and construction as a generalizable approach for robotics that require very lightweight, tunable, and actively deformable structures.

  20. Piezoelectric energy harvesting from morphing wing motions for micro air vehicles

    KAUST Repository

    Abdelkefi, Abdessattar

    2013-09-10

    Wing flapping and morphing can be very beneficial to managing the weight of micro air vehicles through coupling the aerodynamic forces with stability and control. In this letter, harvesting energy from the wing morphing is studied to power cameras, sensors, or communication devices of micro air vehicles and to aid in the management of their power. The aerodynamic loads on flapping wings are simulated using a three-dimensional unsteady vortex lattice method. Active wing shape morphing is considered to enhance the performance of the flapping motion. A gradient-based optimization algorithm is used to pinpoint the optimal kinematics maximizing the propellent efficiency. To benefit from the wing deformation, we place piezoelectric layers near the wing roots. Gauss law is used to estimate the electrical harvested power. We demonstrate that enough power can be generated to operate a camera. Numerical analysis shows the feasibility of exploiting wing morphing to harvest energy and improving the design and performance of micro air vehicles.

  1. Ecdysone signaling underlies the pea aphid transgenerational wing polyphenism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vellichirammal, Neetha Nanoth; Gupta, Purba; Hall, Tannice A; Brisson, Jennifer A

    2017-02-07

    The wing polyphenism of pea aphids is a compelling laboratory model with which to study the molecular mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity. In this polyphenism, environmental stressors such as high aphid density cause asexual, viviparous adult female aphids to alter the developmental fate of their embryos from wingless to winged morphs. This polyphenism is transgenerational, in that the pea aphid mother experiences the environmental signals, but it is her offspring that are affected. Previous research suggested that the steroid hormone ecdysone may play a role in this polyphenism. Here, we analyzed ecdysone-related gene expression patterns and found that they were consistent with a down-regulation of the ecdysone pathway being involved in the production of winged offspring. We therefore predicted that reduced ecdysone signaling would result in more winged offspring. Experimental injections of ecdysone or its analog resulted in a decreased production of winged offspring. Conversely, interfering with ecdysone signaling using an ecdysone receptor antagonist or knocking down the ecdysone receptor gene with RNAi resulted in an increased production of winged offspring. Our results are therefore consistent with the idea that ecdysone plays a causative role in the regulation of the proportion of winged offspring produced in response to crowding in this polyphenism. Our results also show that an environmentally regulated maternal hormone can mediate phenotype production in the next generation, as well as provide significant insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the functioning of transgenerational phenotypic plasticity.

  2. Topology optimization of compliant adaptive wing leading edge with composite materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tong Xinxing

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available An approach for designing the compliant adaptive wing leading edge with composite material is proposed based on the topology optimization. Firstly, an equivalent constitutive relationship of laminated glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite plates has been built based on the symmetric laminated plate theory. Then, an optimization objective function of compliant adaptive wing leading edge was used to minimize the least square error (LSE between deformed curve and desired aerodynamics shape. After that, the topology structures of wing leading edge of different glass fiber ply-orientations were obtained by using the solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP model and sensitivity filtering technique. The desired aerodynamics shape of compliant adaptive wing leading edge was obtained based on the proposed approach. The topology structures of wing leading edge depend on the glass fiber ply-orientation. Finally, the corresponding morphing experiment of compliant wing leading edge with composite materials was implemented, which verified the morphing capability of topology structure and illustrated the feasibility for designing compliant wing leading edge. The present paper lays the basis of ply-orientation optimization for compliant adaptive wing leading edge in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV field.

  3. Rehabilitation of uranium tailings impoundments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crawley, A.H.

    1983-01-01

    Under Australian environmental controls relating to the management of uranium tailings, it is no longer acceptable practice to search for a rehabilitation strategy at the end of production when the generation of tailings has ceased. The uranium projects currently in production and those being proposed are tightly regulated by the authorities. The waste management plans must consider site specific factors and must include selection of appropriate disposal sites and design for long term containment. The final encapsulation in engineered facilities must take into account the probable routes to the environment of the tailings. Rehabilitation shoud be undertaken by the mining and milling operators to standards approved by appropriate authorities. Appropriate administrative arrangements are required, by way of technical committees and financial bonds to ensure that agreed standards of rehabilitation may be achieved. Past and present experience with the rehabilitation of uranium tailings impoundments in Australia is discussed

  4. Histone H2A mobility is regulated by its tails and acetylation of core histone tails

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Higashi, Tsunehito; Matsunaga, Sachihiro; Isobe, Keisuke; Morimoto, Akihiro; Shimada, Tomoko; Kataoka, Shogo; Watanabe, Wataru; Uchiyama, Susumu; Itoh, Kazuyoshi; Fukui, Kiichi

    2007-01-01

    Histone tail domains play important roles in cellular processes, such as replication, transcription, and chromosome condensation. Histone H2A has one central and two tail domains, and their functions have mainly been studied from a biochemical perspective. In addition, analyses based on visualization have been employed for functional analysis of some chromatin proteins. In this study, we analyzed histone H2A mobility in vivo by two-photon FRAP, and elucidated that the histone H2A N- and C-terminal tails regulate its mobility. We found that histone H2A mobility was increased following treatment of host cells with a histone deacetylase inhibitor. Our results support a model in which core histone tails directly regulate transcription by interacting with nucleosome DNA via electrostatic interactions

  5. Cylinder Symmetric Measures with the Tail Property

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Balkema, A.A.

    2006-01-01

    Abstract: A Pareto distribution has the property that any tail of the distribution has the same shape as the original distribution. The exponential distribution and the uniform distribution have the tail property too. The tail property characterizes the univariate generalized Pareto distributions.

  6. Performance Assessment in a Heat Exchanger Tube with Opposite/Parallel Wing Twisted Tapes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Eiamsa-ard

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The thermohydraulic performance in a tube containing a modified twisted tape with alternate-axes and wing arrangements is reported. This work aims to investigate the effects of wing arrangements (opposite (O and parallel (P wings at different wing shapes (triangle (Tri, rectangular (Rec, and trapezoidal (Tra wings and on the thermohydraulic performance characteristics. The obtained results show that wing twisted tapes with all wing shape arrangements (O-Tri/O-Rec/O-Tra/P-Tri/P-Rec/P-Tra give superior thermohydraulic performance and heat transfer rate to the typical twisted tape. In addition, the tapes with opposite wing arrangement of O-Tra, O-Rec, and O-Tri give superior thermohydraulic performances to those with parallel wing arrangement of P-Tra, P-Rec, and P-Tri around 2.7%, 3.5%, and 3.2%, respectively.

  7. Winging of scapula due to serratus anterior tear

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Varun Singh Kumar

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available 【Abstract】Winging of scapula occurs most commonly due to injury to long thoracic nerve supplying serratus anterior muscle. Traumatic injury to serratus anterior muscle itself is very rare. We reported a case of traumatic winging of scapula due to tear of serratus anterior muscle in a 19-year-old male. Winging was present in neutral position and in extension of right shoulder joint but not on "push on wall" test. Patient was managed conservatively and achieved satisfactory result. Key words: Serratus anterior tear; Scapula; Wounds and injuries

  8. Radon emanation characteristics of uranium mill tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nielson, K.K.; Freeman, H.D.; Hartley, J.N.; Mauch, M.L.; Rogers, V.C.

    1982-01-01

    Radon emanation from uranium mill tailings was examined with respect to the mechanisms of emanation and the physical properties of the tailings which affect emanation. Radon emanation coefficients were measured at ambient moisture on 135 samples from the 1981 field test site at the Grand Junction tailings pile. These coefficients showed a similar trend with moisture to those observed previously with uranium ores, and averaged 0.10 + or - 0.02 at dryness and 0.38 + or - 0.04 for all samples having greater than five weight-percent moisture. Small differences were noted between the maximum values of the coefficients for the sand and slime fractions of the tailings. Separate measurements on tailings from the Vitro tailings pile exhibited much lower emanation coefficients for moist samples, and similar coefficients for dry samples. Alternative emanation measurement techniques were examined and procedures are recommended for use in future work

  9. Leading-edge vortex shedding from rotating wings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kolomenskiy, Dmitry [Centre de Recherches Mathématiques (CRM), Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke W., Montreal, QC H3A 0B9 (Canada); Elimelech, Yossef [Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000 (Israel); Schneider, Kai, E-mail: dkolom@gmail.com [M2P2–CNRS, Université d' Aix-Marseille, 39, rue Frédéric Joliot-Curie, F-13453 Marseille Cedex 13 (France)

    2014-06-01

    This paper presents a numerical investigation of the leading-edge vortices generated by rotating triangular wings at Reynolds number Re = 250. A series of three-dimensional numerical simulations have been carried out using a Fourier pseudo-spectral method with volume penalization. The transition from stable attachment of the leading-edge vortex to periodic vortex shedding is explored, as a function of the wing aspect ratio and the angle of attack. It is found that, in a stable configuration, the spanwise flow in the recirculation bubble past the wing is due to the centrifugal force, incompressibility and viscous stresses. For the flow outside of the bubble, an inviscid model of spanwise flow is presented. (papers)

  10. The RNA-binding protein xCIRP2 is involved in apoptotic tail regression during metamorphosis in Xenopus laevis tadpoles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eto, Ko; Iwama, Tomoyuki; Tajima, Tatsuya; Abe, Shin-ichi

    2012-10-01

    Frog metamorphosis induced by thyroid hormone (TH) involves not only cell proliferation and differentiation in reconstituted organs such as limbs, but also apoptotic cell death in degenerated organs such as tails. However, the molecular mechanisms directing the TH-dependent cell fate determination remain unclear. We have previously identified from newts an RNA-binding protein (nRBP) acting as the regulator governing survival and death in germ cells during spermatogenesis. To investigate the molecular events leading the tail resorption during metamorphosis, we analyzed the expression, the functional role in apoptosis, and the regulation of xCIRP2, a frog homolog of nRBP, in tails of Xenopus laevis tadpoles. At the prometamorphic stage, xCIRP2 protein is expressed in fibroblast, epidermal, nerve, and muscular cells and localized in their cytoplasm. When spontaneous metamorphosis progressed, the level of xCIRP2 mRNA remained unchanged but the amount of the protein decreased. In organ cultures of tails at the prometamorphic stage, xCIRP2 protein decreased before their lengths shortened during TH-dependent metamorphosis. The inhibition of calpain or proteasome attenuated the TH-induced decrease of xCIRP2 protein in tails, impairing their regression. These results suggest that xCIRP2 protein is downregulated through calpain- and proteasome-mediated proteolysis in response to TH at the onset of metamorphosis, inducing apoptosis in tails and thereby degenerating them. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. New findings of twisted-wing parasites (Strepsiptera) in Alaska

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mcdermott, Molly

    2016-01-01

    Strepsipterans are a group of insects with a gruesome life history and an enigmatic evolutionary past. Called ‘twisted-wing parasites’, they are minute parasitoids with a very distinct morphology (Figure 1). Alternatively thought to be related to ichneumon wasps, Diptera (flies), Coleoptera (beetles), and even Neuroptera (net-winged insects) (Pohl and Beutel, 2013); the latest genetic and morphological data support the sister order relationship of Strepsiptera and Coleoptera (Niehuis et al., 2012). Strepsipterans are highly modified, males having two hind wings and halteres instead of front wings or elytra. Unlike most parasitoids, they develop inside active, living insects who are sexually sterilized but not killed until or after emergence (Kathirithamby et al., 2015).

  12. Heavy mineral concentration from oil sand tailings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chachula, F.; Erasmus, N. [Titanium Corp. Inc., Regina, SK (Canada)

    2008-07-01

    This presentation described a unique technique to recover heavy minerals contained in the froth treatment tailings produced by oil sand mining extraction operations in Fort McMurray, Alberta. In an effort to process waste material into valuable products, Titanium Corporation is developing technology to recover heavy minerals, primarily zircon, and a portion of bitumen contained in the final stage of bitumen processing. The process technology is being developed to apply to all mined oil sands operations in the Fort McMurray region. In 2004, Titanium Corporation commissioned a pilot research facility at the Saskatchewan Research Council to test dry oil sands tailings. In 2005, a bulk sampling pilot plant was connected to the fresh oil sands tailings pipeline on-site in Fort McMurray, where washed sands containing heavy minerals were processed at a pilot facility. The mineral content in both deposited tailings and fresh pipeline tailings was assessed. Analysis of fresh tailings on a daily basis identified a constant proportion of zircon and higher levels of associated bitumen compared with the material in the deposited tailings. The process flow sheet design was then modified to remove bitumen from the heavy minerals and concentrate the minerals. A newly modified flotation process was shown to be a viable processing route to recover the heavy minerals from froth treatment tailings. 8 refs., 9 tabs., 12 figs.

  13. Tail-assisted pitch control in lizards, robots and dinosaurs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Libby, Thomas; Moore, Talia Y; Chang-Siu, Evan; Li, Deborah; Cohen, Daniel J; Jusufi, Ardian; Full, Robert J

    2012-01-04

    In 1969, a palaeontologist proposed that theropod dinosaurs used their tails as dynamic stabilizers during rapid or irregular movements, contributing to their depiction as active and agile predators. Since then the inertia of swinging appendages has been implicated in stabilizing human walking, aiding acrobatic manoeuvres by primates and rodents, and enabling cats to balance on branches. Recent studies on geckos suggest that active tail stabilization occurs during climbing, righting and gliding. By contrast, studies on the effect of lizard tail loss show evidence of a decrease, an increase or no change in performance. Application of a control-theoretic framework could advance our general understanding of inertial appendage use in locomotion. Here we report that lizards control the swing of their tails in a measured manner to redirect angular momentum from their bodies to their tails, stabilizing body attitude in the sagittal plane. We video-recorded Red-Headed Agama lizards (Agama agama) leaping towards a vertical surface by first vaulting onto an obstacle with variable traction to induce a range of perturbations in body angular momentum. To examine a known controlled tail response, we built a lizard-sized robot with an active tail that used sensory feedback to stabilize pitch as it drove off a ramp. Our dynamics model revealed that a body swinging its tail experienced less rotation than a body with a rigid tail, a passively compliant tail or no tail. To compare a range of tails, we calculated tail effectiveness as the amount of tailless body rotation a tail could stabilize. A model Velociraptor mongoliensis supported the initial tail stabilization hypothesis, showing as it did a greater tail effectiveness than the Agama lizards. Leaping lizards show that inertial control of body attitude can advance our understanding of appendage evolution and provide biological inspiration for the next generation of manoeuvrable search-and-rescue robots.

  14. Standardization of methods of expressing lengths and weights of fish

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hile, Ralph

    1948-01-01

    Fishery workers in the United States and Canada are unable to think readily in terms of the metric system of weights and measurements. Even long experience does not make it possible to form a clear idea as to the actual size of fish for which lengths and weights are given in metric units, without first converting to the English system. A more general adoption of the English system of weights and measurements in fishery work is recommended. The use of English units exclusively is suggested for articles of a popular or semi-popular nature, but in more formal publications the key information, at least, should be recorded in both systems. In highly technical papers metric units alone may prove satisfactory. Agreement is also lacking as to which length measurement of fish is suited best for uniform adoption. The total length is recommended here for the reason that it is the only measurement that includes all of the fish. This length is defined as the distance from the tip of the head (jaws closed) to the tip of the tail with the lobes compressed so as to give the maximum possible measurement.

  15. Analysis of Low Speed Stall Aerodynamics of a Swept Wing with Laminar Flow Glove

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bui, Trong T.

    2014-01-01

    Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was conducted to study the low-speed stall aerodynamics of a GIII aircraft's swept wing modified with a laminar-flow wing glove. The stall aerodynamics of the gloved wing were analyzed and compared with the unmodified wing for the flight speed of 120 knots and altitude of 2300 ft above mean sea level (MSL). The Star-CCM+ polyhedral unstructured CFD code was first validated for wing stall predictions using the wing-body geometry from the First American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) CFD High-Lift Prediction Workshop. It was found that the Star-CCM+ CFD code can produce results that are within the scattering of other CFD codes considered at the workshop. In particular, the Star-CCM+ CFD code was able to predict wing stall for the AIAA wing-body geometry to within 1 degree of angle of attack as compared to benchmark wind-tunnel test data. Current results show that the addition of the laminar-flow wing glove causes the gloved wing to stall much earlier than the unmodified wing. Furthermore, the gloved wing has a different stall characteristic than the clean wing, with no sharp lift drop-off at stall for the gloved wing.

  16. Analysis of Low-Speed Stall Aerodynamics of a Swept Wing with Laminar-Flow Glove

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bui, Trong T.

    2014-01-01

    Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was conducted to study the low-speed stall aerodynamics of a GIII aircraft's swept wing modified with a laminar-flow wing glove. The stall aerodynamics of the gloved wing were analyzed and compared with the unmodified wing for the flight speed of 120 knots and altitude of 2300 ft above mean sea level (MSL). The Star-CCM+ polyhedral unstructured CFD code was first validated for wing stall predictions using the wing-body geometry from the First American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) CFD High-Lift Prediction Workshop. It was found that the Star-CCM+ CFD code can produce results that are within the scattering of other CFD codes considered at the workshop. In particular, the Star-CCM+ CFD code was able to predict wing stall for the AIAA wing-body geometry to within 1 degree of angle of attack as compared to benchmark wind-tunnel test data. Current results show that the addition of the laminar-flow wing glove causes the gloved wing to stall much earlier than the unmodified wing. Furthermore, the gloved wing has a different stall characteristic than the clean wing, with no sharp lift drop-off at stall for the gloved wing.

  17. Three-Dimensional Piecewise-Continuous Class-Shape Transformation of Wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olson, Erik D.

    2015-01-01

    Class-Shape Transformation (CST) is a popular method for creating analytical representations of the surface coordinates of various components of aerospace vehicles. A wide variety of two- and three-dimensional shapes can be represented analytically using only a modest number of parameters, and the surface representation is smooth and continuous to as fine a degree as desired. This paper expands upon the original two-dimensional representation of airfoils to develop a generalized three-dimensional CST parametrization scheme that is suitable for a wider range of aircraft wings than previous formulations, including wings with significant non-planar shapes such as blended winglets and box wings. The method uses individual functions for the spanwise variation of airfoil shape, chord, thickness, twist, and reference axis coordinates to build up the complete wing shape. An alternative formulation parameterizes the slopes of the reference axis coordinates in order to relate the spanwise variation to the tangents of the sweep and dihedral angles. Also discussed are methods for fitting existing wing surface coordinates, including the use of piecewise equations to handle discontinuities, and mathematical formulations of geometric continuity constraints. A subsonic transport wing model is used as an example problem to illustrate the application of the methodology and to quantify the effects of piecewise representation and curvature constraints.

  18. Potential of Cassia alata L. Coupled with Biochar for Heavy Metal Stabilization in Multi-Metal Mine Tailings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lige Huang

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available To explore the effect of different biochars on Cassia alata L. growth and heavy metal immobilization in multi-metal mine tailings, a 100-day pot experiment was conducted. Three biochars derived from Hibiscus cannabinus core (HB, sewage sludge (SB and chicken manure (MB, were added to mine tailings at rates of 0.4%, 1% and 3% (w/w. The results showed that the root biomass, shoot biomass, plant height and root length were 1.2–2.8, 1.7–3.2, 1–1.5 and 1.6–3.3 times of those in the control group, respectively. Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd and As contents in the shoot decreased by 63.9–89.5%, 46.9–66.0%, 32.7–62.4%, 40.4–76.4% and 54.9–77.5%, respectively. The biochar significantly increased the pH and decreased the mild acid-soluble Pb and Cu concentrations in the mine tailings. Specifically, SB immobilized Pb and Cu better than MB and HB did, although it did not immobilize As, Zn or Cd. Meanwhile, more attention should be paid to the potential As release as the biochar application rate increases. In conclusion, Cassia alata L. coupled with 3% of SB could be an effective measure for restoring multi-metal mine tailings. This study herein provided a promising ecological restoration technique for future practice of heavy metal stabilization in mine tailings.

  19. Potential of Cassia alata L. Coupled with Biochar for Heavy Metal Stabilization in Multi-Metal Mine Tailings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Lige; Li, Yuanyuan; Zhao, Man; Chao, Yuanqing; Qiu, Rongliang; Yang, Yanhua

    2018-01-01

    To explore the effect of different biochars on Cassia alata L. growth and heavy metal immobilization in multi-metal mine tailings, a 100-day pot experiment was conducted. Three biochars derived from Hibiscus cannabinus core (HB), sewage sludge (SB) and chicken manure (MB), were added to mine tailings at rates of 0.4%, 1% and 3% (w/w). The results showed that the root biomass, shoot biomass, plant height and root length were 1.2–2.8, 1.7–3.2, 1–1.5 and 1.6–3.3 times of those in the control group, respectively. Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd and As contents in the shoot decreased by 63.9–89.5%, 46.9–66.0%, 32.7–62.4%, 40.4–76.4% and 54.9–77.5%, respectively. The biochar significantly increased the pH and decreased the mild acid-soluble Pb and Cu concentrations in the mine tailings. Specifically, SB immobilized Pb and Cu better than MB and HB did, although it did not immobilize As, Zn or Cd. Meanwhile, more attention should be paid to the potential As release as the biochar application rate increases. In conclusion, Cassia alata L. coupled with 3% of SB could be an effective measure for restoring multi-metal mine tailings. This study herein provided a promising ecological restoration technique for future practice of heavy metal stabilization in mine tailings. PMID:29534505

  20. Reclamation and closure of an oil sands tailings facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sobkowicz, J. [Thurber Engineering Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada); Morgenstern, N. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada)

    2010-07-01

    This PowerPoint presentation discussed methods of ensuring the successful reclamation of oil sands tailings facilities. Tailings should be reclaimed as mining proceeds in order to avoid an excessive accumulation of fluid fine tailings (FFT). The volume of mature fine tailings (MFT) in ponds should be limited in order to ensure effective tailings management. The reclaimed landforms should have good geotechnical stability and be comprised of self-sustaining native vegetation. Strength is needed to allow for timely capping and initial reclamation, and stiffness is required to minimize future settlement and to allow for the construction of a closure landscape. Reclamation strategies were presented for fines-dominated tailings; sand-depleted tailings; and sand-dominated tailings. Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) criteria for tailings reclamation were discussed, and various monitoring and performance assessment strategies were presented. tabs., figs.

  1. Canadian experience with uranium tailings disposal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Culver, K.B.

    1982-06-01

    During the first years of uranium production in Canada uranium tailings were discharged directly into valleys or lakes near the mill. Treatment with barium chloride to precipitate radium began in 1965 at the Nordic Mine at Elliot Lake, Ontario. In the mid-60s and early 70s water quality studies indicated that discharges from uranium tailings areas were causing degradation to the upper part of the Serpent River water system. Studies into acid generation, revegetation, and leaching of radium were initiated by the mining companies and resulted in the construction of treatment plants at a number of sites. Abandoned tailings sites were revegetated. At hearings into the expansion of the Elliot Lake operations the issue of tailings management was a major item for discussion. As a result federal and provincial agencies developed guidelines for the siting and development of urnaium tailings areas prior to issuing operating licences. Western Canadian uranium producers do not have the acid generation problem of the Elliot Lake operations. The Rabbit Lake mill uses settling ponds followed by filtration. High-grade tailings from Cluff Lake are sealed in concrete and buried. Uranium producers feel that the interim criteria developed by the Atomic Energy Control Board, if adopted, would have a harmful effect on the viability of the Canadian uranium industry

  2. Numerical study on aerodynamics of banked wing in ground effect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qing Jia

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Unlike conventional airplane, a WIG craft experiences righting moment and adverse yaw moment in banked turning in ground effect. Numerical simulations are carried out to study the aerodynamics of banked wing in ground effect. Configurations of rectangular wing and delta wing are considered, and performance of endplates and ailerons during banking are also studied. The study shows that righting moment increase nonlinearly with heeling angle, and endplates enhance the righting. The asymmetric aerodynamic distribution along span of wing with heeling angle introduces adverse yaw moment. Heeling in ground effect with small ground clearance increases the vertical aerodynamic force and makes WIG craft climb. Deflections of ailerons introduce lift decrease and a light pitching motion. Delta wing shows advantage in banked turning for smaller righting moment and adverse yaw moment during banking.

  3. Phenotypic divergence among west European populations of Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus: the effects of migratory and foraging behaviours.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Júlio M Neto

    Full Text Available Divergent selection and local adaptation are responsible for many phenotypic differences between populations, potentially leading to speciation through the evolution of reproductive barriers. Here we evaluated the morphometric divergence among west European populations of Reed Bunting in order to determine the extent of local adaptation relative to two important selection pressures often associated with speciation in birds: migration and diet. We show that, as expected by theory, migratory E. s. schoeniclus had longer and more pointed wings and a slightly smaller body mass than the resident subspecies, with the exception of E. s. lusitanica, which despite having rounder wings was the smallest of all subspecies. Tail length, however, did not vary according to the expectation (shorter tails in migrants probably because it is strongly correlated with wing length and might take longer to evolve. E. s. witherbyi, which feed on insects hiding inside reed stems during the winter, had a very thick, stubby bill. In contrast, northern populations, which feed on seeds, had thinner bills. Despite being much smaller, the southern E. s. lusitanica had a significantly thicker, longer bill than migratory E. s. schoeniclus, whereas birds from the UK population had significantly shorter, thinner bills. Geometric morphometric analyses revealed that the southern subspecies have a more convex culmen than E. s. schoeniclus, and E. s. lusitanica differs from the nominate subspecies in bill shape to a greater extent than in linear bill measurements, especially in males. Birds with a more convex culmen are thought to exert a greater strength at the bill tip, which is in agreement with their feeding technique. Overall, the three subspecies occurring in Western Europe differ in a variety of traits following the patterns predicted from their migratory and foraging behaviours, strongly suggesting that these birds have became locally adapted through natural selection.

  4. On the average configuration of the geomagnetic tail

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fairfield, D.H.

    1978-03-01

    Over 3000 hours of IMP-6 magnetic field data obtained between 20 and 33 R sub E in the geomagnetic tail have been used in a statistical study of the tail configuration. A distribution of 2.5 minute averages of B sub Z as a function of position across the tail reveals that more flux crosses the equatorial plane near the dawn and dusk flanks than near midnight. The tail field projected in the solar magnetospheric equatorial plane deviates from the X axis due to flaring and solar wind aberration by an angle alpha = -0.9 y sub SM - 1.7, where y/sub SM/ is in earth radii and alpha is in degrees. After removing these effects the Y component of the tail field is found to depend on interplanetary sector structure. During an away sector the B/sub Y/ component of the tail field is on average 0.5 gamma greater than that during a toward sector, a result that is true in both tail lobes and is independent of location across the tail

  5. Understanding AL-PAM assisted oil sands tailings treatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guo, L.; Maham, Y.; Masliyah, J.; Xu, Z. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Chemical and Materials Engineering

    2010-07-01

    Technologies currently used to treat oil sands tailings include the composite tailings (CT) process and the thickened tailings (TT) or paste technology process. This PowerPoint presentation discussed a flocculation and filtration method used to produce stackable tailings deposits. Magnafloc 1011 and AL-PAM additions were used as part of the filtration technique to produce very dry filter cakes. The effect of AL-PAM molecular weight and aluminum content on tailings treatments was investigated as well as the effect of tailings characteristics on the performance of flocculant-assisted tailings filtration processes. The AL-PAM molecular structure was studied. An experimental study was conducted to determine the effect of various polymer additions on fresh tailings from an oil sands plant. The study showed that the optimum dosage for settling and filtration was lower for higher molecular weight AL-PAM. A higher aluminum content was beneficial for settling. Increases in the aluminum content did not improve filtration rates, but reduced optimal dosages. Step-by-step details of the supernatant filtration process were provided, as well as photographs of the laboratory study. tabs., figs.

  6. Spontaneous long-range calcium waves in developing butterfly wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohno, Yoshikazu; Otaki, Joji M

    2015-03-25

    Butterfly wing color patterns emerge as the result of a regular arrangement of scales produced by epithelial scale cells at the pupal stage. These color patterns and scale arrangements are coordinated throughout the wing. However, the mechanism by which the development of scale cells is controlled across the entire wing remains elusive. In the present study, we used pupal wings of the blue pansy butterfly, Junonia orithya, which has distinct eyespots, to examine the possible involvement of Ca(2+) waves in wing development. Here, we demonstrate that the developing pupal wing tissue of the blue pansy butterfly displayed spontaneous low-frequency Ca(2+) waves in vivo that propagated slowly over long distances. Some waves appeared to be released from the immediate peripheries of the prospective eyespot and discal spot, though it was often difficult to identify the specific origins of these waves. Physical damage, which is known to induce ectopic eyespots, led to the radiation of Ca(2+) waves from the immediate periphery of the damaged site. Thapsigargin, which is a specific inhibitor of Ca(2+)-ATPases in the endoplasmic reticulum, induced an acute increase in cytoplasmic Ca(2+) levels and halted the spontaneous Ca(2+) waves. Additionally, thapsigargin-treated wings showed incomplete scale development as well as other scale and color pattern abnormalities. We identified a novel form of Ca(2+) waves, spontaneous low-frequency slow waves, which travel over exceptionally long distances. Our results suggest that spontaneous Ca(2+) waves play a critical role in the coordinated development of scale arrangements and possibly in color pattern formation in butterflies.

  7. Butterflies: Photonic Crystals on the Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-03-22

    green hairstreak , Callophrys rubi, suggested that the scales have a 3D cubic network organization (Fig. 9). An extensive analysis of the scales of a...Fig. 9. a Ventral side of the wings of the green hairstreak , Callophrys rubi. b Transmission electron micrograph of a small area of a single...Report 3. DATES COVERED (From – To) 15 March 2006 - 08-Jun-07 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Butterflies : Photonic Crystals on the Wing 5a. CONTRACT

  8. Variable camber wing based on pneumatic artificial muscles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Weilong; Liu, Libo; Chen, Yijin; Leng, Jinsong

    2009-07-01

    As a novel bionic actuator, pneumatic artificial muscle has high power to weight ratio. In this paper, a variable camber wing with the pneumatic artificial muscle is developed. Firstly, the experimental setup to measure the static output force of pneumatic artificial muscle is designed. The relationship between the static output force and the air pressure is investigated. Experimental result shows the static output force of pneumatic artificial muscle decreases nonlinearly with increasing contraction ratio. Secondly, the finite element model of the variable camber wing is developed. Numerical results show that the tip displacement of the trailing-edge increases linearly with increasing external load and limited with the maximum static output force of pneumatic artificial muscles. Finally, the variable camber wing model is manufactured to validate the variable camber concept. Experimental result shows that the wing camber increases with increasing air pressure and that it compare very well with the FEM result.

  9. Effect of flexibility on flapping wing characteristics under forward flight

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, Jianyang; Jiang, Lin; Zhou, Chaoying; Wang, Chao

    2014-01-01

    Through two-dimensional numerical simulation and by solving the unsteady incompressible Navier–Stokes (NS) equations, coupled with the structural dynamic equation for the motion of the wing, the effect of flexibility on flapping wing characteristics during forward flight is systematically studied. The flapping wing is considered as a cantilever, which performs the translational and rotational motion at its leading edge, and the other part is passively deformed by the aerodynamic force. The frequency ratio ω* and mass ratio m* are defined and used to characterize the flexibility of the flapping wing. It has been found that an optimal range of the frequency ratio exists in which the flexible wing possesses both a larger propulsive efficiency and lifting efficiency than their rigid counterpart. Also, the flexible wing with the smaller mass ratio may be of benefit to generate thrust, while the larger mass ratio may be of benefit to generate lift. In addition, a stronger leading edge vortex and reattachment vortex are observed around the appropriate flexibility wing’s surface, which therefore leads to better aerodynamic characteristics. (paper)

  10. Subtle but ubiquitous selection on body size in a natural population of collared flycatchers over 33 years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Björklund, M; Gustafsson, L

    2017-07-01

    Understanding the magnitude and long-term patterns of selection in natural populations is of importance, for example, when analysing the evolutionary impact of climate change. We estimated univariate and multivariate directional, quadratic and correlational selection on four morphological traits (adult wing, tarsus and tail length, body mass) over a time period of 33 years (≈ 19 000 observations) in a nest-box breeding population of collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis). In general, selection was weak in both males and females over the years regardless of fitness measure (fledged young, recruits and survival) with only few cases with statistically significant selection. When data were analysed in a multivariate context and as time series, a number of patterns emerged; there was a consistent, but weak, selection for longer wings in both sexes, selection was stronger on females when the number of fledged young was used as a fitness measure, there were no indications of sexually antagonistic selection, and we found a negative correlation between selection on tarsus and wing length in both sexes but using different fitness measures. Uni- and multivariate selection gradients were correlated only for wing length and mass. Multivariate selection gradient vectors were longer than corresponding vector of univariate gradients and had more constrained direction. Correlational selection had little importance. Overall, the fitness surface was more or less flat with few cases of significant curvature, indicating that the adaptive peak with regard to body size in this species is broader than the phenotypic distribution, which has resulted in weak estimates of selection. © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

  11. Proceedings of the 2. international oil sands tailings conference

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2010-07-01

    The tailings produced by oil sands extraction processes pose significant threats to the surrounding environment in addition to releasing greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere. Recent directives have been established to reduce the amount of tailings produced at oil sands operations, and to ensure that tailings ponds are reclaimed in the most effective manner. This conference provided a forum for researchers and industry experts to discuss issues related to the management and reclamation of oil sands tailings. New technologies for dewatering tailings ponds were presented, and methods of analyzing the chemical properties of tailings were reviewed. The conference was divided into the following 7 sessions: (1) tailings properties, (2) tailings dewatering, (3) new concepts, (4) water and chemistry, (5) soft tailings stabilization and reclamation, (6) water treatment, and (7) new concepts 2. The conference featured 44 presentations, all of which have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. tabs., figs.

  12. Internal-external flow integration for a thin ejector-flapped wing section

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woolard, H. W.

    1979-01-01

    Thin airfoil theories of an ejector flapped wing section are reviewed. The global matching of the external airfoil flow with the ejector internal flow and the overall ejector flapped wing section aerodynamic performance are examined. Mathematical models of the external and internal flows are presented. The delineation of the suction flow coefficient characteristics are discussed. The idealized lift performance of an ejector flapped wing relative to a jet augmented flapped wing are compared.

  13. Aerodynamic consequences of wing morphing during emulated take-off and gliding in birds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klaassen van Oorschot, Brett; Mistick, Emily A; Tobalske, Bret W

    2016-10-01

    Birds morph their wings during a single wingbeat, across flight speeds and among flight modes. Such morphing may allow them to maximize aerodynamic performance, but this assumption remains largely untested. We tested the aerodynamic performance of swept and extended wing postures of 13 raptor species in three families (Accipitridae, Falconidae and Strigidae) using a propeller model to emulate mid-downstroke of flapping during take-off and a wind tunnel to emulate gliding. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that (1) during flapping, wing posture would not affect maximum ratios of vertical and horizontal force coefficients (C V :C H ), and that (2) extended wings would have higher maximum C V :C H when gliding. Contrary to each hypothesis, during flapping, extended wings had, on average, 31% higher maximum C V :C H ratios and 23% higher C V than swept wings across all biologically relevant attack angles (α), and, during gliding, maximum C V :C H ratios were similar for the two postures. Swept wings had 11% higher C V than extended wings in gliding flight, suggesting flow conditions around these flexed raptor wings may be different from those in previous studies of swifts (Apodidae). Phylogenetic affiliation was a poor predictor of wing performance, due in part to high intrafamilial variation. Mass was only significantly correlated with extended wing performance during gliding. We conclude that wing shape has a greater effect on force per unit wing area during flapping at low advance ratio, such as take-off, than during gliding. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  14. Do hummingbirds use a different mechanism than insects to flip and twist their wings?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Jialei; Luo, Haoxiang; Hedrick, Tyson

    2014-11-01

    Hovering hummingbirds flap their wings in an almost horizontal stroke plane and flip the wings to invert the angle of attack after stroke reversal, a strategy also utilized by many hovering insects such as fruit flies. However, unlike insects whose wing actuation mechanism is only located at the base, hummingbirds have a vertebrate musculoskeletal system and their wings contain bones and muscles and thus, they may be capable of both actively flipping and twisting their wings. To investigate this issue, we constructed a hummingbird wing model and study its pitching dynamics. The wing kinematics are reconstructed from high-speed imaging data, and the inertial torques are calculated in a rotating frame of reference using mass distribution data measured from dissections of hummingbird wings. Pressure data from a previous CFD study of the same wing kinematics are used to calculate the aerodynamic torque. The results show that like insect wings, the hummingbird wing pitching is driven by its own inertia during reversal, and the aerodynamic torque is responsible for wing twist during mid-stroke. In conclusion, our study suggests that their wing dynamics are very similar even though their actuation systems are entirely different. This research was supported by the NSF.

  15. Investigation of Surface Enhanced Coherent Raman Scattering on Nano-patterned Insect Wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ujj, Laszlo; Lawhead, Carlos

    2015-03-01

    Many insect wings (cicadas, butterflies, mosquitos) poses nano-patterned surface structure. Characterization of surface morphology and chemical composition of insect wings is important to understand the extreme mechanical properties and the biophysical functionalities of the wings. We have measured the image of the membrane of a cicada's wing with the help of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results confirm the existing periodic structure of the wing measured previously. In order to identify the chemical composition of the wing, we have deposited silver nanoparticles on it and applied Coherent anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy to measure the vibrational spectra of the molecules comprising the wing for the first time. The measured spectra are consistent with the original assumption that the wing membrane is composed of protein, wax, and chitin. The results of these studies can be used to measure other nano-patterned surfaces and to make artificial materials in the future. Authors grateful for financial support from the Department of Physics of the College of Sciences Engineering and Health of UWF and the Pall Corporation for SEM imaging.

  16. Peculiarities of lens and tail regeneration detected in newts after spaceflight aboard Foton M3

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grigoryan, Eleonora N.; Almeida, Eduardo; Poplinskaya, Valentina; Novikova, Julia; Domaratskaya, Elena; Aleinikova, Karina; Souza, Kenneth; Skidmore, Mike; Grigoryan, Eleonora N.

    In September 2007 the joint, 12 day long experiment was carried out aboard Russian satellite Foton M3. The goal of the experiment was to study eye lens, tail and forelimb toe regeneration in adult 16 newts (Pl. waltl.) operated 10 days before taking-off. In spaceflight and synchronous ground control we used video recording, temperature and irradiation control, as well as constant availability of thymidine analog BrdU for its absorption via animals' skin. New techniques allowed us to analyze animals' behavior in hyperand microgravity periods of time, to take proper account of spaceflight factors, and measure accumulated pools of DNA-synthesizing cells in regenerating tissues. All tissue specimens obtained from animals were isolated in the day of landing and then prepared for morphological, immunochemical and molecular investigations. Synchronous control was shifted for two days and reproduced flight conditions except changes of gravity influence. As a result in flown animals as compared with synchronous ground control we found lens regeneration of 0.5-1 stage speeded up and an increased BrdU+ (S-phase) cell number in eye cornea, growth zone, limbus and newly forming lens. These features of regeneration were accompanied by an increase of FGF2 expression in eye growth zone and heat shock protein (HSP90) induction purely in retinal macroglial cells of regenerating eyes. Toe regeneration rate was equal and achieved the stage of accomplished healing of amputation area in both groups - "flown" and control animals. We found no essential differences in tail regeneration rate and tail regenerate sizes in the newts exposed to space and on ground. In both groups tail regeneration reached the stage IV-V when tail length and square were around 4.4 mm and 15.5 mm2, correspondingly. However we did observe remarkable changes of tail regenerate form and some of pigmentation. Computer morphometrical analysis showed that only in ground control animals the evident dorso

  17. Unique structural features facilitate lizard tail autotomy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sanggaard, Kristian W; Danielsen, Carl Chr; Wogensen, Lise

    2012-01-01

    Autotomy refers to the voluntary shedding of a body part; a renowned example is tail loss among lizards as a response to attempted predation. Although many aspects of lizard tail autotomy have been studied, the detailed morphology and mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, we showed...... that tail shedding by the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko) and the associated extracellular matrix (ECM) rupture were independent of proteolysis. Instead, lizard caudal autotomy relied on biological adhesion facilitated by surface microstructures. Results based on bio-imaging techniques demonstrated that the tail...

  18. Diet composition of nestlings and adults of the threatened Bolivian Swallow-tailed Cotinga Phibalura flavirostris boliviana (Aves: Passeriformes: Cotingidae in Bolivia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Verónica del Rosario Avalos

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The qualitative and quantitative composition of the nestling and adult diet of the threatened Swallow-tailed Cotinga Phibalura flavirostris boliviana was studied through the analysis of fecal samples.  Nestling diet consisted of 62% fruit and 38% insects but varied according to the nestling age. The diet of adults was made up of 89% fruit and 11% insects.  The fruit eaten came primarily from the trees Schefflera morototoni, Hyeronima moritziana and Ocotea cuprea.  Most insects in the fecal samples were winged-species of the orders Hymenoptera and Coleoptera.  This species relied mostly on fruiting trees from semi-humid forest fragments and isolated trees on mountain savannas.  Thus, management plans for this bird should consider the conservation of these habitats. 

  19. Experimental transonic flutter characteristics of two 72 deg-sweep delta-wing models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doggett, Robert V., Jr.; Soistmann, David L.; Spain, Charles V.; Parker, Ellen C.; Silva, Walter A.

    1989-01-01

    Transonic flutter boundaries are presented for two simple, 72 deg. sweep, low-aspect-ratio wing models. One model was an aspect-ratio 0.65 delta wing; the other model was an aspect-ratio 0.54 clipped-delta wing. Flutter boundaries for the delta wing are presented for the Mach number range of 0.56 to 1.22. Flutter boundaries for the clipped-delta wing are presented for the Mach number range of 0.72 to 0.95. Selected vibration characteristics of the models are also presented.

  20. Unsteady Flow Interactions Between Pitching Wings In Schooling Arrangements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurt, Melike; Moored, Keith

    2017-11-01

    In nature, many fish aggregate into large groups or schools for protection against predators, for social interactions and to save energy during migrations. Regardless of their prime motivation, fish experience three-dimensional flow interactions amongst themselves that can improve or hamper swimming performance and give rise to fluid-mediated forces between individuals. To date, the unsteady, three-dimensional flow interactions among schooling fish remains relatively unexplored. In order to study these interactions, the caudal fins of two interacting fish are idealized as two finite span pitching wings arranged in mixtures of canonical in-line and side-by-side arrangements. The forces and moments acting on the wings in the streamwise and cross-stream directions are quantified as the arrangement and the phase delay between the wings is altered. Particle image velocimetry is employed to characterize the flow physics during high efficiency locomotion. Finally, the forces and flowfields of two-dimensional pitching wings are compared with three-dimensional wings to distinguish how three-dimensionality alters the flow interactions in schools of fish.

  1. Health risks from uranium mill tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Russell, J.L.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reviews the risk to public health and the environment from uranium mill tailings. The steps taken by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce this risk from tailing are summarized

  2. Big picture thinking in oil sands tailings disposal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boswell, J. [Thurber Engineering Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2010-07-01

    This PowerPoint presentation discussed methods of disposing oil sands tailings. Oil sands operators are currently challenged by a variety of legislative and environmental factors concerning the creation and disposal of oil sands tailings. The media has focused on the negative ecological impact of oil sands production, and technical issues are reducing the effect of some mitigation processes. Operators must learn to manage the interface between tailings production and removal, the environment, and public opinion. The successful management of oil sand tailings will include procedures designed to improve reclamation processes, understand environmental laws and regulations, and ensure that the cumulative impacts of tailings are mitigated. Geotechnical investigations, engineering designs and various auditing procedures can be used to develop tailings management plans. Environmental screening and impact assessments can be used to develop sustainable solutions. Public participation and environmental mediation is needed to integrate the public, environmental and technical tailings management strategies. Operators must ensure public accountability for all stakeholders. tabs., figs.

  3. Quasi-steady state aerodynamics of the cheetah tail

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amir Patel

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available During high-speed pursuit of prey, the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus has been observed to swing its tail while manoeuvring (e.g. turning or braking but the effect of these complex motions is not well understood. This study demonstrates the potential of the cheetah's long, furry tail to impart torques and forces on the body as a result of aerodynamic effects, in addition to the well-known inertial effects. The first-order aerodynamic forces on the tail are quantified through wind tunnel testing and it is observed that the fur nearly doubles the effective frontal area of the tail without much mass penalty. Simple dynamic models provide insight into manoeuvrability via simulation of pitch, roll and yaw tail motion primitives. The inertial and quasi-steady state aerodynamic effects of tail actuation are quantified and compared by calculating the angular impulse imparted onto the cheetah's body and its shown aerodynamic effects contribute to the tail's angular impulse, especially at the highest forward velocities.

  4. Research on uranium tailings disposal technology at CANMET, Ottawa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skeaff, J.M.; Ritcey, G.M.; Jongejan, A.; Silver, M.

    1982-01-01

    In this paper, results from three continuing investigations at CANMET on uranium tailings management are presented. These investigations are: cleaning of tailings by flotation, conversion of municipal wastes into compost for use as topsoil on uranium tailings, methods for the chemical fixation of uranium tailings and a laboratory determination of the rate of release of environmental contaminants from uranium tailings

  5. Consistency based correlations for tailings consolidation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Azam, S.; Paul, A.C. [Regina Univ., Regina, SK (Canada). Environmental Systems Engineering

    2010-07-01

    The extraction of oil, uranium, metals and mineral resources from the earth generates significant amounts of tailings slurry. The tailings are contained in a disposal area with perimeter dykes constructed from the coarser fraction of the slurry. There are many unique challenges pertaining to the management of the containment facilities for several decades beyond mine closure that are a result of the slow settling rates of the fines and the high standing toxic waters. Many tailings dam failures in different parts of the world have been reported to result in significant contaminant releases causing public concern over the conventional practice of tailings disposal. Therefore, in order to reduce and minimize the environmental footprint, the fluid tailings need to undergo efficient consolidation. This paper presented an investigation into the consolidation behaviour of tailings in conjunction with soil consistency that captured physicochemical interactions. The paper discussed the large strain consolidation behaviour (volume compressibility and hydraulic conductivity) of six fine-grained soil slurries based on published data. The paper provided background information on the study and presented the research methodology. The geotechnical index properties of the selected materials were also presented. The large strain consolidation, volume compressibility correlations, and hydraulic conductivity correlations were provided. It was concluded that the normalized void ratio best described volume compressibility whereas liquidity index best explained the hydraulic conductivity. 17 refs., 3 tabs., 4 figs.

  6. Geophysical applications for oil sand mine tailings management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, D.; Bauman, P. [WorleyParsons, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2009-07-01

    Geophysical techniques are applied throughout a mine's life cycle to facilitate siting, constructing and monitoring of tailings dumps and ponds. This presentation described 3 case studies from the Athabasca region in northeast Alberta that demonstrated some of the concerns associated with oil sand mine tailings, and the information that geophysical surveys can provide. The objectives of these studies were to determine the lateral and depth extents of elevated conductivities of soil and groundwater that have high salt concentration from the tailings sand pore fluid. Due to high chloride concentrations within the tailings material, salt within the root zone may affect vegetation. A terrain conductivity survey was designed to map the lateral extents of salinity impact, while an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) survey was used to delineate the tailings sand leachate at depth. The proper management of oil sand tailings facilities is vital to the life cycle of a mine. It was concluded that geophysical techniques can be instrumental in managing several engineering and environmental challenges, from Pleistocene channel mapping, to tailings pond settling characteristics, to reclaiming tailings sands. 1 ref., 7 figs.

  7. Engineering assessment of inactive uranium mill tailings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1981-07-01

    The Grand Junction site has been reevaluated in order to revise the October 1977 engineering assessment of the problems resulting from the existence of radioactive uranium mill tailings at Grand Junction, Colorado. This engineering assessment has included the preparation of topographic maps, the performance of core drillings and radiometric measurements sufficient to determine areas and volumes of tailings and radiation exposures of individuals and nearby populations, the investigations of site hydrology and meteorology, and the evaluation and costing of alternative corrective actions. Radon gas released from the 1.9 million tons of tailings at the Grand Junction site constitutes the most significant environmental impact, although windblown tailings and external gamma radiation are also factors. The eight alternative actions presented herein range from millsite and off-site decontamination with the addition of 3 m of stabilization cover material (Option I), to removal of the tailings to remote disposal sites and decontamination of the tailings site (Options II through VIII). Cost estimates for the eight options range from about $10,200,000 for stabilization in-place to about $39,500,000 for disposal in the DeBeque area, at a distance of about 35 mi, using transportation by rail. If transportation to DeBeque were by truck, the cost estimated to be about $41,900,000. Three principal alternatives for the reprocessing of the Grand Junction tailings were examined: (a) heap leaching; (b) treatment at an existing mill; and (c) reprocessing at a new conventional mill constructed for tailings reprocessing. The cost of the uranium recovered would be about $200/lb by heap leach and $150/lb by conventional plant processes. The spot market price for uranium was $25/lb early in 1981. Therefore, reprocessing the tailings for uranium recovery appears not to be economically attractive.

  8. Engineering assessment of inactive uranium mill tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1981-07-01

    The Grand Junction site has been reevaluated in order to revise the October 1977 engineering assessment of the problems resulting from the existence of radioactive uranium mill tailings at Grand Junction, Colorado. This engineering assessment has included the preparation of topographic maps, the performance of core drillings and radiometric measurements sufficient to determine areas and volumes of tailings and radiation exposures of individuals and nearby populations, the investigations of site hydrology and meteorology, and the evaluation and costing of alternative corrective actions. Radon gas released from the 1.9 million tons of tailings at the Grand Junction site constitutes the most significant environmental impact, although windblown tailings and external gamma radiation are also factors. The eight alternative actions presented herein range from millsite and off-site decontamination with the addition of 3 m of stabilization cover material (Option I), to removal of the tailings to remote disposal sites and decontamination of the tailings site (Options II through VIII). Cost estimates for the eight options range from about $10,200,000 for stabilization in-place to about $39,500,000 for disposal in the DeBeque area, at a distance of about 35 mi, using transportation by rail. If transportation to DeBeque were by truck, the cost estimated to be about $41,900,000. Three principal alternatives for the reprocessing of the Grand Junction tailings were examined: (a) heap leaching; (b) treatment at an existing mill; and (c) reprocessing at a new conventional mill constructed for tailings reprocessing. The cost of the uranium recovered would be about $200/lb by heap leach and $150/lb by conventional plant processes. The spot market price for uranium was $25/lb early in 1981. Therefore, reprocessing the tailings for uranium recovery appears not to be economically attractive

  9. Falling with Style: Bats Perform Complex Aerial Rotations by Adjusting Wing Inertia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Attila J Bergou

    Full Text Available The remarkable maneuverability of flying animals results from precise movements of their highly specialized wings. Bats have evolved an impressive capacity to control their flight, in large part due to their ability to modulate wing shape, area, and angle of attack through many independently controlled joints. Bat wings, however, also contain many bones and relatively large muscles, and thus the ratio of bats' wing mass to their body mass is larger than it is for all other extant flyers. Although the inertia in bat wings would typically be associated with decreased aerial maneuverability, we show that bat maneuvers challenge this notion. We use a model-based tracking algorithm to measure the wing and body kinematics of bats performing complex aerial rotations. Using a minimal model of a bat with only six degrees of kinematic freedom, we show that bats can perform body rolls by selectively retracting one wing during the flapping cycle. We also show that this maneuver does not rely on aerodynamic forces, and furthermore that a fruit fly, with nearly massless wings, would not exhibit this effect. Similar results are shown for a pitching maneuver. Finally, we combine high-resolution kinematics of wing and body movements during landing and falling maneuvers with a 52-degree-of-freedom dynamical model of a bat to show that modulation of wing inertia plays the dominant role in reorienting the bat during landing and falling maneuvers, with minimal contribution from aerodynamic forces. Bats can, therefore, use their wings as multifunctional organs, capable of sophisticated aerodynamic and inertial dynamics not previously observed in other flying animals. This may also have implications for the control of aerial robotic vehicles.

  10. Flow structures around a flapping wing considering ground effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Truong, Tien; Kim, Jihoon; Kim, Min Jun; Park, Hoon Cheol; Yoon, Kwang Joon; Byun, Doyoung

    2013-07-01

    Over the past several decades, there has been great interest in understanding the aerodynamics of flapping flight, namely the two flight modes of hovering and forward flight. However, there has been little focus on the aerodynamic characteristics during takeoff of insects. In a previous study we found that the Rhinoceros Beetle ( Trypoxylusdichotomus) takes off without jumping, which is uncommon for other insects. In this study we built a scaled-up electromechanical model of a flapping wing and investigated fluid flow around the beetle's wing model. In particular, the present dynamically scaled mechanical model has the wing kinematics pattern achieved from the real beetle's wing kinematics during takeoff. In addition, we could systematically change the three-dimensional inclined motion of the flapping model through each stroke. We used digital particle image velocimetry with high spatial resolution, and were able to qualitatively and quantitatively study the flow field around the wing at a Reynolds number of approximately 10,000. The present results provide insight into the aerodynamics and the evolution of vortical structures, as well as the ground effect experienced by a beetle's wing during takeoff. The main unsteady mechanisms of beetles have been identified and intensively analyzed as the stability of the leading edge vortex (LEV) during strokes, the delayed stall during upstroke, the rotational circulation in pronation periods, and wake capture in supination periods. Due to the ground effect, the LEV was enhanced during half downstroke, and the lift force could thus be increased to lift the beetle during takeoff. This is useful for researchers in developing a micro air vehicle that has a beetle-like flapping wing motion.

  11. Peptides derived from human galectin-3 N-terminal tail interact with its carbohydrate recognition domain in a phosphorylation-dependent manner

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berbís, M. Álvaro [Chemical and Physical Biology Department, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, CSIC, 28040 Madrid (Spain); André, Sabine [Institute of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University, 80539 Munich (Germany); Cañada, F. Javier [Chemical and Physical Biology Department, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, CSIC, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Pipkorn, Rüdiger [Central Peptide Synthesis Unit, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Ippel, Hans [Department of Biochemistry, CARIM, University of Maastricht, Maastricht (Netherlands); Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Mayo, Kevin H. [Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Kübler, Dieter [Biomolecular Interactions, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Gabius, Hans-Joachim [Institute of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University, 80539 Munich (Germany); Jiménez-Barbero, Jesús, E-mail: jjbarbero@cib.csic.es [Chemical and Physical Biology Department, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, CSIC, 28040 Madrid (Spain)

    2014-01-03

    Highlights: •Galectin-3 is composed of a carbohydrate recognition domain and an N-terminal tail. •Synthetic peptides derived from the tail are shown to interact with the CRD. •This interaction is modulated by Ser- and Tyr-phosphorylation of the peptides. -- Abstract: Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a multi-functional effector protein that functions in the cytoplasm and the nucleus, as well as extracellularly following non-classical secretion. Structurally, Gal-3 is unique among galectins with its carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) attached to a rather long N-terminal tail composed mostly of collagen-like repeats (nine in the human protein) and terminating in a short non-collagenous terminal peptide sequence unique in this lectin family and not yet fully explored. Although several Ser and Tyr sites within the N-terminal tail can be phosphorylated, the physiological significance of this post-translational modification remains unclear. Here, we used a series of synthetic (phospho)peptides derived from the tail to assess phosphorylation-mediated interactions with {sup 15}N-labeled Gal-3 CRD. HSQC-derived chemical shift perturbations revealed selective interactions at the backface of the CRD that were attenuated by phosphorylation of Tyr 107 and Tyr 118, while phosphorylation of Ser 6 and Ser 12 was essential. Controls with sequence scrambling underscored inherent specificity. Our studies shed light on how phosphorylation of the N-terminal tail may impact on Gal-3 function and prompt further studies using phosphorylated full-length protein.

  12. Peptides derived from human galectin-3 N-terminal tail interact with its carbohydrate recognition domain in a phosphorylation-dependent manner

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berbís, M. Álvaro; André, Sabine; Cañada, F. Javier; Pipkorn, Rüdiger; Ippel, Hans; Mayo, Kevin H.; Kübler, Dieter; Gabius, Hans-Joachim; Jiménez-Barbero, Jesús

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: •Galectin-3 is composed of a carbohydrate recognition domain and an N-terminal tail. •Synthetic peptides derived from the tail are shown to interact with the CRD. •This interaction is modulated by Ser- and Tyr-phosphorylation of the peptides. -- Abstract: Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a multi-functional effector protein that functions in the cytoplasm and the nucleus, as well as extracellularly following non-classical secretion. Structurally, Gal-3 is unique among galectins with its carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) attached to a rather long N-terminal tail composed mostly of collagen-like repeats (nine in the human protein) and terminating in a short non-collagenous terminal peptide sequence unique in this lectin family and not yet fully explored. Although several Ser and Tyr sites within the N-terminal tail can be phosphorylated, the physiological significance of this post-translational modification remains unclear. Here, we used a series of synthetic (phospho)peptides derived from the tail to assess phosphorylation-mediated interactions with 15 N-labeled Gal-3 CRD. HSQC-derived chemical shift perturbations revealed selective interactions at the backface of the CRD that were attenuated by phosphorylation of Tyr 107 and Tyr 118, while phosphorylation of Ser 6 and Ser 12 was essential. Controls with sequence scrambling underscored inherent specificity. Our studies shed light on how phosphorylation of the N-terminal tail may impact on Gal-3 function and prompt further studies using phosphorylated full-length protein

  13. A comparative study of microbial diversity and community structure in marine sediments using poly(A tailing and reverse transcription PCR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatsuhiko eHoshino

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available To obtain a better understanding of metabolically active microbial communities, we tested a molecular ecological approach using poly(A tailing of environmental 16S rRNA, followed by full-length complementary DNA (cDNA synthesis and sequencing to eliminate potential biases caused by mismatching of PCR primer sequences. The RNA pool tested was extracted from marine sediments of the Yonaguni Knoll IV hydrothermal field in the southern Okinawa Trough. The sequences obtained using the ploy(A tailing method were compared statistically and phylogenetically with those obtained using conventional reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR with published domain-specific primers. Both methods indicated that Deltaproteobacteria are predominant in sediment (>85% of the total sequence read. The poly(A tailing method indicated that Desulfobacterales were the predominant deltaproteobacteria, while most of the sequences in libraries constructed using RT-PCR were derived from Desulfuromonadales. This discrepancy may have been due to low coverage of Desulfobacterales by the primers used. A comparison of library diversity indices indicated that the poly(A tailing method retrieves more phylogenetically diverse sequences from the environment. The four archaeal 16S rRNA sequences that were obtained using the poly(A tailing method formed deeply branching lineages that were related to Candidatus Parvarchaeum and the Ancient Archaeal Group. These results clearly demonstrate that poly(A tailing followed by cDNA sequencing is a powerful and less biased molecular ecological approach for the study of metabolically active microbial communities.

  14. Four tails problems for dynamical collapse theories

    Science.gov (United States)

    McQueen, Kelvin J.

    2015-02-01

    The primary quantum mechanical equation of motion entails that measurements typically do not have determinate outcomes, but result in superpositions of all possible outcomes. Dynamical collapse theories (e.g. GRW) supplement this equation with a stochastic Gaussian collapse function, intended to collapse the superposition of outcomes into one outcome. But the Gaussian collapses are imperfect in a way that leaves the superpositions intact. This is the tails problem. There are several ways of making this problem more precise. But many authors dismiss the problem without considering the more severe formulations. Here I distinguish four distinct tails problems. The first (bare tails problem) and second (structured tails problem) exist in the literature. I argue that while the first is a pseudo-problem, the second has not been adequately addressed. The third (multiverse tails problem) reformulates the second to account for recently discovered dynamical consequences of collapse. Finally the fourth (tails problem dilemma) shows that solving the third by replacing the Gaussian with a non-Gaussian collapse function introduces new conflict with relativity theory.

  15. A Note on Upper Tail Behavior of Liouville Copulas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lei Hua

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The family of Liouville copulas is defined as the survival copulas of multivariate Liouville distributions, and it covers the Archimedean copulas constructed by Williamson’s d-transform. Liouville copulas provide a very wide range of dependence ranging from positive to negative dependence in the upper tails, and they can be useful in modeling tail risks. In this article, we study the upper tail behavior of Liouville copulas through their upper tail orders. Tail orders of a more general scale mixture model that covers Liouville distributions is first derived, and then tail order functions and tail order density functions of Liouville copulas are derived. Concrete examples are given after the main results.

  16. Aerodynamic Classification of Swept-Wing Ice Accretion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diebold, Jeff M.; Broeren, Andy P.; Bragg, Michael B.

    2013-01-01

    The continued design, certification and safe operation of swept-wing airplanes in icing conditions rely on the advancement of computational and experimental simulation methods for higher fidelity results over an increasing range of aircraft configurations and performance, and icing conditions. The current stateof- the-art in icing aerodynamics is mainly built upon a comprehensive understanding of two-dimensional geometries that does not currently exist for fundamentally three-dimensional geometries such as swept wings. The purpose of this report is to describe what is known of iced-swept-wing aerodynamics and to identify the type of research that is required to improve the current understanding. Following the method used in a previous review of iced-airfoil aerodynamics, this report proposes a classification of swept-wing ice accretion into four groups based upon unique flowfield attributes. These four groups are: ice roughness, horn ice, streamwise ice and spanwise-ridge ice. In the case of horn ice it is shown that a further subclassification of "nominally 3D" or "highly 3D" horn ice may be necessary. For all of the proposed ice-shape classifications, relatively little is known about the three-dimensional flowfield and even less about the effect of Reynolds number and Mach number on these flowfields. The classifications and supporting data presented in this report can serve as a starting point as new research explores swept-wing aerodynamics with ice shapes. As further results are available, it is expected that these classifications will need to be updated and revised.

  17. Murine protein H is comprised of 20 repeating units, 61 amino acids in length

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Torsten; Tack, B F

    1986-01-01

    A cDNA library constructed from size-selected (greater than 28 S) poly(A)+ RNA isolated from the livers of C57B10. WR mice was screened by using a 249-base-pair (bp) cDNA fragment encoding 83 amino acid residues of human protein H as a probe. Of 120,000 transformants screened, 30 hybridized......, 448 bp of 3'-untranslated sequence, and a polyadenylylated tail of undetermined length. Murine pre-protein H was deduced to consist of an 18-amino acid signal peptide and 1216 residues of H-protein sequence. Murine H was composed of 20 repetitive units, each about 61 amino acid residues in length...

  18. The research on wing sail of a land-yacht robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaorong Xie

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available A wind-driven land-yacht robot which will be applied in polar expedition is presented in this article. As the main power of robot is provided by wing sail, improving the efficiency of wing sail is the key for its motion. Wing sail is composed of airfoil, so airfoil theory is researched first, and then several airfoils and their aerodynamic performance are compared, and a high-efficiency airfoil is selected. After that, overturning torque and start wind speed of robot are analyzed to determine the size of the wing sail. At last, the wing sail is manufactured and checked, and it is tested by start wind speed experiments, running speed experiments, steering motion, and obstacle avoidance experiments. The minimum start wind speed is 6 m/s. When wind speed is 10.3 m/s and angle of attack is 90°, running velocity of robot is 1.285 m/s. A land-yacht robot can run steering motion well and avoid obstacle to the target. The result shows that wing sail satisfies the motion requirement of land-yacht robot.

  19. Refractive index dependence of Papilio Ulysses butterfly wings reflectance spectra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isnaeni, Muslimin, Ahmad Novi; Birowosuto, Muhammad Danang

    2016-02-01

    We have observed and utilized butterfly wings of Papilio Ulysses for refractive index sensor. We noticed this butterfly wings have photonic crystal structure, which causes blue color appearance on the wings. The photonic crystal structure, which consists of cuticle and air void, is approximated as one dimensional photonic crystal structure. This photonic crystal structure opens potential to several optical devices application, such as refractive index sensor. We have utilized small piece of Papilio Ulysses butterfly wings to characterize refractive index of several liquid base on reflectance spectrum of butterfly wings in the presence of sample liquid. For comparison, we simulated reflectance spectrum of one dimensional photonic crystal structure having material parameter based on real structure of butterfly wings. We found that reflectance spectrum peaks shifted as refractive index of sample changes. Although there is a slight difference in reflectance spectrum peaks between measured spectrum and calculated spectrum, the trend of reflectance spectrum peaks as function of sample's refractive index is the similar. We assume that during the measurement, the air void that filled by sample liquid is expanded due to liquid pressure. This change of void shape causes non-similarity between measured spectrum and calculated spectrum.

  20. Solar wind interaction with type-1 comet tails

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ershkovich, A.I.

    1977-01-01

    A comet tail is considered as a plasma cylinder separated by a tangential discontinuity surface from the solar wind. Under typical conditions a comet tail boundary is shown to undergo the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. With infinite amplitude the stabilizing effect of the magnetic field increases, and waves become stable. The proposed model supplies the detailed quantitative description of helical waves observed in type-1 comet tails. This theory enables the evaluation of the comet tail magnetic field by means of the observations of helical waves. The magnetic field in the comet tail turns out to be of the order of the interplanetary field. This conclusion seems to be in accordance with Alfven's idea that the magnetic field in type-1 comet tails is a captured interplanetary field. (Auth.)