A load cell for grain-propelled ballistic rocket thrust measurement

A 1000-kgf resistive strain-gauge load cell has been developed for quality testing of rocket propellant grain. A 7075-T6 aluminum alloy has been used for the elastic column, in which 8 uniaxial, 120-Ω strain gauges have been bonded and connected to form a full Wheatstone bridge to detect the strain. The chosen geometry makes the transducer insensitive to moments and, also, to the temperature. Experimental tests using a universal testing machine to imposed compression force to the load cell have demonstrated that its behavior is linear, with sensitivity of 2.90 μV/kgf ± 0.34%, and negligible hysteresis. The designed force transducer response to a dynamic test has been comparable to that of a commercial load cell. © 2005 IEEE.

Global ballistic acceleration in a bouncing-ball model

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Silicon carbide surface modification by nitrogen plasma expander

Silicon carbide (SiC) has been employed in many different fields such as ballistic armor, thermal coating, high performance mirror substrate, semiconductors devices, among other things. Plasma application over the silicon carbide ceramics is relatively recent and it is able to promote relevant superficial modifications. Plasma expander was used in this work which was supplied by nitrogen and switched by a capacitor bank. Nitrogen plasma was applied over ceramic samples for 20 minutes, in a total medium of 1440 plasma pulses. SiC ceramics were produced by uniaxial pressing method (40 MPa) associated to isostatic pressing (300 MPa) and sintered at 1950 degrees C under argon gas atmosphere. Silicon carbide (beta-sic - BF-12) supplied by HC-Starck and sintering additive (7.6% YAG - Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) were used in order to obtain the ceramics. Before and after the plasma application, the samples were characterized by SEM, AFM, contact angle and surface energy measurement.

Aggregates in the strength and gravity regime: Particles sizes in Saturn's rings

Particles in Saturn's main rings range in size from dust to kilometer-sized objects. Their size distribution is thought to be a result of competing accretion and fragmentation processes. While growth is naturally limited in tidal environments, frequent collisions among these objects may contribute to both accretion and fragmentation. As ring particles are primarily made of water ice attractive surface forces like adhesion could significantly influence these processes, finally determining the resulting size distribution. Here, we derive analytic expressions for the specific self-energy Q and related specific break-up energy Q(star) of aggregates. These expressions can be used for any aggregate type composed of monomeric constituents. We compare these expressions to numerical experiments where we create aggregates of various types including: regular packings like the face-centered cubic (fcc), Ballistic Particle Cluster Aggregates (BPCA), and modified BPCAs including e.g. different constituent size distributions. We show that accounting for attractive surface forces such as adhesion a simple approach is able to: (a) generally account for the size dependence of the specific break-up energy for fragmentation to occur reported in the literature, namely the division into "strength" and "gravity" regimes and (b) estimate the maximum aggregate size in a collisional ensemble to be on the order of a few tens of meters, consistent with the maximum particle size observed in Saturn's rings of about 10 m. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Universal zero-bias conductance through a quantum wire side-coupled to a quantum dot

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Orbital maneuvers using gravitational capture times

Artificial satellites around the Earth can be temporarily captured by the Moon via gravitational mechanisms., How long the capture remains depends on the phase space region where the trajectory is located. This interval of time (capture time) ranges from less than one day (a single passage), up to 500 days, or even more. Orbits of longer times might be very useful for certain types of missions. The advantage of the ballistic capture is to save fuel consumption in an orbit transference from around the Earth to around the Moon. Some of the impulse needed in the transference is saved by the use of the gravitational forces involved. However, the time needed for the transference is elongated from days to months. In the present work we have mapped a significant part of the phase space of the Earth-Moon system, determining the length of the capture times and the origin of the trajectory, if it comes from the Earth direction, or from the opposite direction. Using such map we present a set of missions considering the utilization of the long capture times. (C) 2003 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier B.V. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Properties advanced of the silicon nitride based ceramics and recent performance on automotive parts manufacture by machining process: Advanced Ceramics, demand Forecast

Automotive parts manufacture by machining process using silicon nitride-based ceramic tool development in Brazil already is a reality. Si 3N4-based ceramic cutting tools offer a high productivity due to their excellent hot hardness, which allows high cutting speeds. Under such conditions the cutting tool must be resistant to a combination of mechanical, thermal and chemical attacks. Silicon nitride based ceramic materials constitute a mature technology with a very broad base of current and potential applications. The best opportunities for Si3N 4-based ceramics include ballistic armor, composite automotive brakes, diesel particulate filters, joint replacement products and others. The goal of this work was to show latter advance in silicon nitride manufacture and its recent evolution on machining process of gray cast iron, compacted graphite iron and Ti-6Al-4V. Materials characterization and machining tests were analyzed by X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Vickers hardness and toughness fracture and technical norm. In recent works the authors has been proved to advance in microstructural, mechanical and physic properties control. These facts prove that silicon nitride-based ceramic has enough resistance to withstand the impacts inherent to the machining of gray cast iron (CI), compacted graphite iron (CGI) and Ti-6Al-4V (6-4). Copyright © 2008 SAE International.

Properties of individual YBCO layers in a two-layered design for energy-efficient digital data cables

We are developing two-layered Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide (YBCO) thin film structures for energy efficient data links for superconducting electronics and present the results of their property measurements. High temperature superconductors (HTS) are advantageous for the implementation of energy-efficient cables interconnecting low temperature superconductor-based circuits and other cryogenic electronics circuits at higher temperature stages. The advantages of the HTS cables come from their low loss and low dispersion properties, allowing ballistic transfer of low power signals with very high bandwidth, low heat conduction and negligible inter-line crosstalk. The microstrip line cable geometry for typical materials is a two-layered film, in which the two superconducting layers are separated by an insulation layer with a minimized permittivity. We have made a proof of concept design of two YBCO films grown by pulsed laser deposition and then assembled into a sandwich with uniform insulating interlayer of tens of micrometers thick. We report on results obtained from such systems assembled in different ways. Structural and electromagnetic properties have been examined on individual films and on the corresponding sandwich composite. © 2013 IEEE.

A adesão do Brasil ao TNP: uma análise da trajetória da questão nuclear brasileira nos governos de Fernando Collor de Mello (1990-92) e Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-98)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Estudo de cerâmicas de SiC e Al2O3 tratadas por expansor de plasma de nitrogênio

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Metodologia de análise aplicada a ensaios de impacto com alvos metálicos

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEG

Comparação do alongamento estático, balístico e contrair-relaxar nos músculos isquiotibiais

This study aimed to compare the effect of three stretching techniques (ballistic, static and contract-relax) on instant gain muscle flexibility on the hamstring muscle. We evaluated 23 subjects of both gender [means (SD) age 21.17 (1.4) years]. All volunteers performed static, ballistic and contract-relax stretching. Each technique was performed in a single session with an interval of seven days between sessions. To assess the immediate effects of the different techniques were performed two tests of flexibility, Sit and Reach Test and the Popliteal Angle Test. In comparison with the baseline there were significant increase in muscle flexibility in the Popliteal Angle Test after application ballistic (6.26%) and contract-relax technique (6.5%) respectively (p<0.05). When comparing the three techniques regarding the change score significant difference was found in the the Popliteal Angle Test for ballistic and contract-relax stretching, but Sit and Reach Test showed no significance difference. These data suggest that the ballistic and contract-relax were better than the technique of static stretching and both are equally effective. The ballistic contract-relax stretching techniques improved gain of muscle flexibility on the hamstring muscle.

Confinement effects and why carbon nanotube bundles can work as gas sensors

Carbon nanotubes have been at the forefront of nanotechnology, leading not only to a better understanding of the basic properties of charge transport in one dimensional materials, but also to the perspective of a variety of possible applications, including highly sensitive sensors. Practical issues, however, have led to the use of bundles of nanotubes in devices, instead of isolated single nanotubes. From a theoretical perspective, the understanding of charge transport in such bundles, and how it is affected by the adsorption of molecules, has been very limited, one of the reasons being the sheer size of the calculations. A frequent option has been the extrapolation of knowledge gained from single tubes to the properties of bundles. In the present work we show that such procedure is not correct, and that there are qualitative differences in the effects caused by molecules on the charge transport in bundles versus isolated nanotubes. Using a combination of density functional theory and recursive Green's function techniques we show that the adsorption of molecules randomly distributed onto the walls of carbon nanotube bundles leads to changes in the charge density and consequently to significant alterations in the conductance even in pristine tubes. We show that this effect is driven by confinement which is not present in isolated nanotubes. Furthermore, a low concentration of dopants randomly adsorbed along a two-hundred nm long bundle drives a change in the transport regime; from ballistic to diffusive, which can account for the high sensitivity to different molecules.

Vitrocerâmicas para blindagens balísticas

The use of ceramic materials in ballistic armor is considerable. Such materials can be very harder and lighter than metallic materials commonly used and it presents advantages to replace metallic materials when necessary toughness can be achieved. However, as SiC and Al2O3 ceramic, traditionally used for shielding, still have high manufacturing cost or low density do not have enough to shield applications such as aircraft. An alternative is the glass-ceramics, ceramics obtained by controlled crystallization of glasses, whose properties can be adjusted by choosing the chemical composition of glass, heat treatment of crystallization and special treatments such as ion exchange on the surface, resulting in increased mechanical strength . The objective of this project is to study the kinetics of crystallization of a glass composition based on cordierite (2MgO.2Al2O3.5SiO2), low density and high hardness, for the manufacture of glass-ceramics for ballistic tests. Shown in this report are results of heat treatment of crystallization and characterization by thermal analysis (DSC) glass obtained previously, indicating uneven distribution of crystals, and drying, weighing, mixing of raw materials and a new fusion of glass, the same composition

Estudo de cerâmicas avançadas para fins de blindagem balística

The research involving new materials has always been considered as a differential in the development of a technology company. This occurred naturally since ancient times, often motivated by reasons of a certain age, where the most common material used was also the name of your time and may be cited as an example the Bronze Age, and later was the Iron. Currently, the use of firearms are they used in resolving conflicts between countries, or a more equivocal, as an instrument of social banditry make innovations in the area of shielding welcome, whether for personal use, in the form of vests or vehicle such as cars, tanks and even aircraft. In this context, is a Silicon Carbide Ceramic, with low density and high hardness. Thus, the aim of this study is the evaluation and comparison of these materials, seeking to improve their properties by means of additives such as boron and silicon metal and amorphous YAG. For this work, the specimens were pre-shaped by means of uniaxial later to be referred for isostatic pressing and sintering. The maximum percentage for each additive was 5%, except for the YAG whose percentage was 8.2% (mass percentage). All compositions were subjected to the same tests (x-ray diffraction, apparent density, optical microscopy, Vickers hardness, scanning electron Microscopita), so that one could draw a comparison between the materials under study, samples that showed better mechanical properties and micro structural, related here by hardness testing and microscopy (optical and SEM) were the silicon carbide doped with YAG and alumina samples, demonstrating the potential of these materials for ballistic protection. Other compositions have high porosity, which is highly undesirable, since in order to harmful influences on the mechanical properties discussed below