Investigations on voltages and currents in the lightning protection system of the Indian satellite launch pad-I during a stroke interception

A reliable protection against direct lightning hit is very essential for satellite launch pads. In view of this, suitable protection systems are generally employed. The evaluation of efficacy of the lightning protection schemes among others requires an accurate knowledge of the consequential potential rise at the struck point and the current injected into soil at the earth termination. The present work has made a detailed effort to deduce these quantities for the lightning protection scheme of the Indian satellite launch pad-I. A reduced scale model of the system with a frequency domain approach is employed for the experimental study. For further validation of the experimental approach, numerical simulations using numerical electromagnetic code-2 are also carried out on schemes involving single tower. The study results on the protection system show that the present design is quite safe with regard to top potential rise. It is shown that by connecting ground wires to the tower, its base current and, hence, the soil potential rise can be reduced. An evaluation of an alternate design philosophy involving insulated mast scheme is also made. The potential rise in that design is quantified and the possibility of a flashover to supporting tower is briefly looked into. The supporting tower is shown to have significant induced currents.

Padé approach to potential transients: Part 1. Electron transfer without and with coupling to first-order homogeneous reactions at planar electrodes

Potential transients are obtained by using “Padé approximants” (an accurate approximation procedure valid globally — not just perturbatively) for all amplitudes of concentration polarization and current densities. This is done for several mechanistic schemes under constant current conditions. We invert the non-linear current-potential relationship in the form (using the Lagrange or the Ramanujan method) of power series appropriate to the two extremes, namely near reversible and near irreversible. Transforming both into the Pad́e expressions, we construct the potential-time profile by retaining whichever is the more accurate of the two. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated through illustrations which include couplings of homogeneous chemical reactions to the electron-transfer step.

Performance of inherently compensated flat pad aerostatic bearings subject to dynamic perturbation forces

The importance of air bearing design is growing in engineering. As the trend to precision and ultra precision manufacture gains pace and the drive to higher quality and more reliable products continues, the advantages which can be gained from applying aerostatic bearings to machine tools, instrumentation and test rigs is becoming more apparent. The inlet restrictor design is significant for air bearings because it affects the static and dynamic performance of the air bearing. For instance pocketed orifice bearings give higher load capacity as compared to inherently compensated orifice type bearings, however inherently compensated orifices, also known as laminar flow restrictors are known to give highly stable air bearing systems (less prone to pneumatic hammer) as compared to pocketed orifice air bearing systems. However, they are not commonly used because of the difficulties encountered in manufacturing and assembly of the orifice designs. This paper aims to analyse the static and dynamic characteristics of inherently compensated orifice based flat pad air bearing system. Based on Reynolds equation and mass conservation equation for incompressible flow, the steady state characteristics are studied while the dynamic state characteristics are performed in a similar manner however, using the above equations for compressible flow. Steady state experiments were also performed for a single orifice air bearing and the results are compared to that obtained from theoretical studies. A technique to ease the assembly of orifices with the air bearing plate has also been discussed so as to make the manufacturing of the inherently compensated bearings more commercially viable. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Studies on characteristics of lightning generated currents in an interconnected lightning protection system

An in-depth knowledge about the characteristics of lightning generated currents will facilitate evaluation of the interception efficacy of lightning protection systems. In addition, it would aid in extraction of valuable statistics (from measured current data) on local lightning parameters. Incidentally, present day knowledge on characteristics of lightning induced current in typical lightning protection systems is rather limited. This is particularly true with closely interconnected protection systems, like the one employed in Indian Satellite Launch Pad-II. This system is taken as a specific example in the present study. Various aspects suggest that theoretical modelling would be the best possible approach for the intended work. From the survey of pertinent literature, it is concluded that electromagnetic modelling of lightning return-stroke with current source at the channel base is best suited for this study. Numerical electromagnetic code was used for the required electromagnetic field solution and Fourier transform techniques were employed for computing time-domain results. A validation for the numerical modelling is provided by laborator experiments on a reduced scale model of the system. Apart from ascertaining the influence of various parameters, salient characteristics of tower base currents for different kinds of events are deduced. This knowledge can be used in identifying the type of event, as well as its approximate location. A method for estimation of injected stroke current has also been proposed.

Chronopotentiometry with power-law perturbation functions at an expanding plane electrode with and without a preceding blank period for systems with a coupled first-order homogeneous chemical reaction

The systems formalism is used to obtain the interfacial concentration transients for power-law current input at an expanding plane electrode. The explicit results for the concentration transients obtained here pertain to arbitrary homogeneous reaction schemes coupled to the oxidant and reductant of a single charge-transfer step and the power-law form without and with a preceding blank period (for two types of power-law current profile, say, (i) I(t) = I0(t−t0)q for t greater-or-equal, slanted t0, I(t) = 0 for t < t0; and (ii) I(t) = I0tq for t greater-or-equal, slanted t0, I(t) = 0 for t < t0). Finally the potential transients are obtained using Padé approximants. The results of Galvez et al. (for E, CE, EC, aC) (J. Electroanal. Chem., 132 (1982) 15; 146 (1983) 221, 233, 243), Molina et al. (for E) (J. Electroanal. Chem., 227 (1987) 1 and Kies (for E) (J. Electroanal. Chem., 45 (1973) 71) are obtained as special cases.

Synthesis, Structure, and Solid-State Transformation Studies of Phosphonoacetate Based Hybrid Compounds of Uranium and Thorium

Three new phosphonoacetate hybrid frameworks based on the actinide elements uranium and thorium have been synthesized. The compounds [C4N2H14][(UO2)(2)(O3PCH2COO)(2)]center dot H2O, I,[C4N2H14][(UO2)(2)(C2O4)(O3PCH2COOH)(2)], II, and Th(H2O)(2)(O3PCH2COO)(C2O4)(0.5). H2O, III, are built up from the connectivity between the metal polyhedra and the phosphonoacetate/oxalate units. Compound II has been prepared using a solvent-free approach, by a solid state reaction at 150 degrees C. It has been shown that II can also be prepared through a room temperature mechanochemical (grinding) route. The layer arrangement in III closely resembles to that observed in I. The compounds have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and fluorescence studies.

MODLEX: A Multi Objective Data Layout EXploration Framework for Embedded Systems-on-Chip

The memory subsystem is a major contributor to the performance, power, and area of complex SoCs used in feature rich multimedia products. Hence, memory architecture of the embedded DSP is complex and usually custom designed with multiple banks of single-ported or dual ported on-chip scratch pad memory and multiple banks of off-chip memory. Building software for such large complex memories with many of the software components as individually optimized software IPs is a big challenge. In order to obtain good performance and a reduction in memory stalls, the data buffers of the application need to be placed carefully in different types of memory. In this paper we present a unified framework (MODLEX) that combines different data layout optimizations to address the complex DSP memory architectures. Our method models the data layout problem as multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) with performance and power being the objectives and presents a set of solution points which is attractive from a platform design viewpoint. While most of the work in the literature assumes that performance and power are non-conflicting objectives, our work demonstrates that there is significant trade-off (up to 70%) that is possible between power and performance.

Tribological characteristics of A356 Al alloy-SiC(P) composite discs

The dry sliding wear and friction behaviour of A356 Al alloy and its composites containing 10 and 20 vol.% SiC(P) have been studied using pin-on-disc set up. In these tests, A356 Al alloy and its composites are used as disc whereas brake pad was used in the form of pins. Wear tests were carried out at a load of 192 N and the sliding speed was varied from 1 to 5 m/s. Tests were done for a sliding distance of 15 km. The effects of sliding velocity on the wear rate, coefficient of friction and nature of tribolayers formed on discs have been studied. Wear rates of composites as calculated by weight loss method, found to be negative at sliding speed of more than 2 m/s. Worn surfaces of pins and discs have been analyzed using scanning electron microscope. SEM and EDAX analysis of worn surfaces of composite discs showed formation of tribolayers, consisting of mixture of oxides of Al, Si, Cu, Ca, Ba, Mg, and Fe. In these layers, copper and barium content found to be increase with sliding speed in the case of composites. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anti-obese activity of Butea monosperma (Lam) bark extract in experimentally induced obese rats

To study the efficacy of ethanolic extract of B. monosperma bark in cafeteria and atherogenic diet fed rats and monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese rats, different doses (200, 400 and 800 mg/kg) of ethanolic extract of B. monosperma bark showed dose dependent decrease in body weight, daily food intake, glucose, lipids, internal organs' weight and fat pad weight in cafeteria and atherogenic diet fed rats and monosodium glutamate obese rats. The results suggested that B. monosperma has significant anti-obese activity.

MS_RHII-RSD, a Dual-Function RNase HII-(p)ppGpp Synthetase from Mycobacterium smegmatis

In the noninfectious soil saprophyte Mycobacterium smegmatis, intracellular levels of the stress alarmones guanosine tetraphosphate and guanosine pentaphosphate, together termed (p)ppGpp, are regulated by the enzyme Rel(Msm). This enzyme consists of a single, bifunctional polypeptide chain that is capable of both synthesizing and hydrolyzing (p)ppGpp. The rel(Msm), knockout strain of M. smegmatis (Delta rel(Msm)) is expected to show a (p)ppGpp null (p)ppGpp(0)] phenotype. Contrary to this expectation, the strain is capable of synthesizing (p)ppGpp in vivo. In this study, we identify and functionally characterize the open reading frame (ORF), MSMEG_5849, that encodes a second functional (p)ppGpp synthetase in M. smegmatis. In addition to (p)ppGpp synthesis, the 567-amino-acid-long protein encoded by this gene is capable of hydrolyzing RNA(.)DNA hybrids and bears similarity to the conventional RNase HII enzymes. We have classified this protein as actRel(Msm) in accordance with the recent nomenclature proposed and have named it MS_RHII-RSD, indicating the two enzymatic activities present RHII, RNase HII domain, originally identified as (d) under bar omain of (u) under bar nknown (f) under bar unction 429 (DUF429), and RSD, RelA_SpoT nucleotidyl transferase domain, the SYNTH domain responsible for (p)ppGpp synthesis activity]. MS_RHII-RSD is expressed and is constitutively active in vivo and behaves like a monofunctional (p)ppGpp synthetase in vitro. The occurrence of the RNase HII and (p)ppGpp synthetase domains together on the same polypeptide chain is suggestive of an in vivo role for this novel protein as a link connecting the essential life processes of DNA replication, repair, and transcription to the highly conserved stress survival pathway, the stringent response.

A general methodology for calculating mixed mode stress intensity factors and fracture toughness of solder joints with interfacial cracks

Solder joints in electronic packages undergo thermo-mechanical cycling, resulting in nucleation of micro-cracks, especially at the solder/bond-pad interface, which may lead to fracture of the joints. The fracture toughness of a solder joint depends on material properties, process conditions and service history, as well as strain rate and mode-mixity. This paper reports on a methodology for determining the mixed-mode fracture toughness of solder joints with an interfacial starter-crack, using a modified compact mixed mode (CMM) specimen containing an adhesive joint. Expressions for stress intensity factor (K) and strain energy release rate (G) are developed, using a combination of experiments and finite element (FE) analysis. In this methodology, crack length dependent geometry factors to convert for the modified CMM sample are first obtained via the crack-tip opening displacement (CTOD)-based linear extrapolation method to calculate the under far-field mode I and II conditions (f(1a) and f(2a)), (ii) generation of a master-plot to determine a(c), and (iii) computation of K and G to analyze the fracture behavior of joints. The developed methodology was verified using J-integral calculations, and was also used to calculate experimental fracture toughness values of a few lead-free solder-Cu joints. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.