Structural relaxation and chain dynamics in polymer melts : a computational investigation on the role of the intramolecular barriers

149 p. : il. col.

An Optical Fiber Bundle Sensor for Tip Clearance and Tip Timing Measurements in a Turbine Rig

When it comes to measuring blade-tip clearance or blade-tip timing in turbines, reflective intensity-modulated optical fiber sensors overcome several traditional limitations of capacitive, inductive or discharging probe sensors. This paper presents the signals and results corresponding to the third stage of a multistage turbine rig, obtained from a transonic wind-tunnel test. The probe is based on a trifurcated bundle of optical fibers that is mounted on the turbine casing. To eliminate the influence of light source intensity variations and blade surface reflectivity, the sensing principle is based on the quotient of the voltages obtained from the two receiving bundle legs. A discrepancy lower than 3% with respect to a commercial sensor was observed in tip clearance measurements. Regarding tip timing measurements, the travel wave spectrum was obtained, which provides the average vibration amplitude for all blades at a particular nodal diameter. With this approach, both blade-tip timing and tip clearance measurements can be carried out simultaneously. The results obtained on the test turbine rig demonstrate the suitability and reliability of the type of sensor used, and suggest the possibility of performing these measurements in real turbines under real working conditions.

Aspects of quality control of wind profiler measurements in complex topography

It is well known in the scientific community that some remote sensing instruments assume that sample volumes present homogeneous conditions within a defined meteorological profile. At complex topographic sites and under extreme meteorological conditions, this assumption may be fallible depending on the site, and it is more likely to fail in the lower layers of the atmosphere. This piece of work tests the homogeneity of the wind field over a boundary layer wind profiler radar located in complex terrain on the coast under different meteorological conditions. The results reveal the qualitative importance of being aware of deviations in this homogeneity assumption and evaluate its effect on the final product. Patterns of behavior in data have been identified in order to simplify the analysis of the complex signal registered. The quality information obtained from the homogeneity study under different meteorological conditions provides useful indicators for the best alternatives the system can offer to build wind profiles. Finally, the results are also to be considered in order to integrate them in a quality algorithm implemented at the product level.

Intraobserver error associated with anthropometric measurements made by dietitians

Este trabajo se encuentra bajo la licencia Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.

von Neumann spin measurements with Rashba fields

We show that dynamics in the spin-orbit coupling field simulate the von Neumann measurement of a particle spin. We demonstrate how the measurement influences the spin and coordinate evolution of a particle by comparing two examples of such a procedure. The first example is a simultaneous measurement of spin components, sigma(x) and sigma(y), corresponding to non-commuting operators, which cannot be accurately obtained together at a given time instant due to the Heisenberg uncertainty ratio. By mapping spin dynamics onto a spatial walk, such a procedure determines measurement-time averages of sigma(x) and sigma(y), which can already be precisely evaluated in a single short-time measurement. The other, qualitatively different, example is the spin of a one-dimensional particle in a magnetic field. Here, the measurement outcome depends on the angle between the spin-orbit coupling and magnetic fields. These results can be applied to studies of spin-orbit coupled cold atoms and electrons in solids.

Hole-Phonon Relaxation and Photocatalytic Properties of Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide: First-Principles Approach

First-principles calculations for the temporal characteristics of hole-phonon relaxation in the valence band of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide have been performed. A first-principles method for the calculations of the quasistationary distribution function of holes has been developed. The results show that the quasistationary distribution of the holes in TiO2 extends to an energy level approximately 1eV below the top of the valence band. This conclusion in turn helps to elucidate the origin of the spectral dependence of the photocatalytic activity of TiO2. Analysis of the analogous data for ZnO shows that in this material spectral dependence of photocatalytic activity in the oxidative reactions is unlikely.

Aspects of quality control of wind profiler measurements in complex topography

It is well known in the scientific community that some remote sensing instruments assume that sample volumes present homogeneous conditions within a defined meteorological profile. At complex topographic sites and under extreme meteorological conditions, this assumption may be fallible depending on the site, and it is more likely to fail in the lower layers of the atmosphere. This piece of work tests the homogeneity of the wind field over a boundary layer wind profiler radar located in complex terrain on the coast under different meteorological conditions. The results reveal the qualitative importance of being aware of deviations in this homogeneity assumption and evaluate its effect on the final product. Patterns of behavior in data have been identified in order to simplify the analysis of the complex signal registered. The quality information obtained from the homogeneity study under different meteorological conditions provides useful indicators for the best alternatives the system can offer to build wind profiles. Finally, the results are also to be considered in order to integrate them in a quality algorithm implemented at the product level.

hp-Adaptive simulation and inversion of magnetotelluric measurements

xlix, 121 p.

Two Glass Transitions Associated to Different Dynamic Disorders in the Nematic Glassy State of a Non-Symmetric Liquid Crystal Dimer Dopped with gamma-Alumina Nanoparticles

In the present work, the nematic glassy state of the non-symmetric LC dimer -(4-cyanobiphenyl-4-yloxy)--(1-pyrenimine-benzylidene-4-oxy) undecane is studied by means of calorimetric and dielectric measurements. The most striking result of the work is the presence of two different glass transition temperatures: one due to the freezing of the flip-flop motions of the bulkier unit of the dimer and the other, at a lower temperature, related to the freezing of the flip-flop and precessional motions of the cyanobiphenyl unit. This result shows the fact that glass transition is the consequence of the freezing of one or more coupled dynamic disorders and not of the disordered phase itself. In order to avoid crystallization when the bulk sample is cooled down, the LC dimer has been confined via the dispersion of -alumina nanoparticles, in several concentrations.