Subspace intersection method of high-resolution bearing estimation in shallow ocean using acoustic vector sensors

The subspace intersection method (SIM) provides unbiased bearing estimates of multiple acoustic sources in a range-independent shallow ocean using a one-dimensional search without prior knowledge of source ranges and depths. The original formulation of this method is based on deployment of a horizontal linear array of hydrophones which measure acoustic pressure. In this paper, we extend SIM to an array of acoustic vector sensors which measure pressure as well as all components of particle velocity. Use of vector sensors reduces the minimum number of sensors required by a factor of 4, and also eliminates the constraint that the intersensor spacing should not exceed half wavelength. The additional information provided by the vector sensors leads to performance enhancement in the form of lower estimation error and higher resolution.

Mixed mode (I and II) crack tip fields in bulk metallic glasses

Stationary crack tip fields in bulk metallic glasses under mixed mode (I and II) loading are studied through detailed finite element simulations assuming plane strain, small scale yielding conditions. The influence of internal friction or pressure sensitivity on the plastic zones. notch deformation, stress and plastic strain fields is examined for different mode mixities. Under mixed mode loading, the notch deforms into a shape such that one part of its surface sharpens while the other part blunts. Increase in mode If component of loading dramatically enhances the normalized plastic zone size, lowers the stresses but significantly elevates the plastic strain levels near the notch tip. Higher internal friction reduces the peak tangential stress but increases the plastic strain and stretching near the blunted part of the notch. The simulated shear bands are straight and extend over a long distance ahead of the notch tip under mode II dominant loading. The possible variations of fracture toughness with mode mixity corresponding to failure by brittle micro-cracking and ductile shear banding are predicted employing two simple fracture criteria. The salient results from finite element simulations are validated by comparison with those from mixed mode (I and II) fracture experiments on a Zr-based bulk metallic glass.

Stationary crack tip fields in elastic-plastic solids: an overview of recent numerical simulations

In this paper, an overview of some recent numerical simulations of stationary crack tip fields in elastic-plastic solids is presented. First, asymptotic analyses carried out within the framework of 2D plane strain or plane stress conditions in both pressure insensitive and pressure sensitive plastic solids are reviewed. This is followed by discussion of salient results obtained from recent computational studies. These pertain to 3D characteristics of elastic-plastic near-front fields under mixed mode loading, mechanics of fracture and simulation of near-tip shear banding process of amorphous alloys and influence of crack tip constraint on the structure of near-tip fields in ductile single crystals. These results serve to illustrate several important features associated with stress and strain distributions near the crack tip and provide the foundation for understanding the operative failure mechanisms. The paper concludes by highlighting some of the future prospects for this field of study.

Acoustic emission source location in composite structure by Voronoi construction using geodesic curve evolution

Conventional analytical/numerical methods employing triangulation technique are suitable for locating acoustic emission (AE) source in a planar structure without structural discontinuities. But these methods cannot be extended to structures with complicated geometry, and, also, the problem gets compounded if the material of the structure is anisotropic warranting complex analytical velocity models. A geodesic approach using Voronoi construction is proposed in this work to locate the AE source in a composite structure. The approach is based on the fact that the wave takes minimum energy path to travel from the source to any other point in the connected domain. The geodesics are computed on the meshed surface of the structure using graph theory based on Dijkstra's algorithm. By propagating the waves in reverse virtually from these sensors along the geodesic path and by locating the first intersection point of these waves, one can get the AE source location. In this work, the geodesic approach is shown more suitable for a practicable source location solution in a composite structure with arbitrary surface containing finite discontinuities. Experiments have been conducted on composite plate specimens of simple and complex geometry to validate this method.

Multicarrier conduction and Boltzmann transport analysis of heavy hole mobility in HgCdTe near room temperature

Magnetotransport measurements in pulsed fields up to 15 T have been performed on mercury cadmium telluride (Hg1-xCdxTe, x similar to 0.2) bulk as well as liquid phase epitaxially grown samples to obtain the resistivity and conductivity tensors in the temperature range 220-300 K. Mobilities and densities of various carriers participating in conduction have been extracted using both conventional multicarrier fitting (MCF) and mobility spectrum analysis. The fits to experimental data, particularly at the highest magnetic fields, were substantially improved when MCF is applied to minimize errors simultaneously on both resistivity and conductivity tensors. The semiclassical Boltzmann transport equation has been solved without using adjustable parameters by incorporating the following scattering mechanisms to fit the mobility: ionized impurity, polar and nonpolar optical phonons, acoustic deformation potential, and alloy disorder. Compared to previous estimates based on the relaxation time approximation with outscattering only, polar optical scattering and ionized impurity scattering limited mobilities are shown to be larger due to the correct incorporation of the inscattering term taking into account the overlap integrals in the valence band.

Using multi-label classification for acoustic pattern detection and assisting bird species surveys

Acoustics is a rich source of environmental information that can reflect the ecological dynamics. To deal with the escalating acoustic data, a variety of automated classification techniques have been used for acoustic patterns or scene recognition, including urban soundscapes such as streets and restaurants; and natural soundscapes such as raining and thundering. It is common to classify acoustic patterns under the assumption that a single type of soundscapes present in an audio clip. This assumption is reasonable for some carefully selected audios. However, only few experiments have been focused on classifying simultaneous acoustic patterns in long-duration recordings. This paper proposes a binary relevance based multi-label classification approach to recognise simultaneous acoustic patterns in one-minute audio clips. By utilising acoustic indices as global features and multilayer perceptron as a base classifier, we achieve good classification performance on in-the-field data. Compared with single-label classification, multi-label classification approach provides more detailed information about the distributions of various acoustic patterns in long-duration recordings. These results will merit further biodiversity investigations, such as bird species surveys.

Evaluation of material crack using acoustic emission technique

Cracks in civil structures can result in premature failure due to material degradation and can result in both financial loss and environmental consequences. This thesis reports an effective technique using Acoustic Emission (AE) technique to assess the severity of the crack propagation in steel structures. The outcome of this work confirms that combination of AE parametric analysis and signal processing techniques can be used to evaluate crack propagation under different loading configurations. The technique has potential application to assess and monitor the condition of civil structures.

An asymptotic analysis for the coupled dispersion characteristics of a structural acoustic waveguide

Analytical expressions are derived, using asymptotics, for the fluid-structure coupled wavenumbers in a one-dimensional (1-D) structural acoustic waveguide. The coupled dispersion equation of the system is rewritten in the form of the uncoupled dispersion equation with an added term due to the fluid-structure coupling. As a result of this coupling, the prior uncoupled structural and acoustic wavenumbers, now become coupled structural and acoustic wavenumbers. A fluid-loading parameter e, defined as the ratio of mass of fluid to mass of the structure per unit area, is introduced which when set to zero yields the uncoupled dispersion equation. The coupled wavenumber is then expressed in terms of an asymptotic series in e. Analytical expressions are found as e is varied from small to large values. Different asymptotic expansions are used for different frequency ranges with continuous transitions occurring between them. This systematic derivation helps to continuously track the wavenumber solutions as the fluid-loading parameter is varied from small to large values. Though the asymptotic expansion used is limited to the first-order correction factor, the results are close to the numerical results. A general trend is that a given wavenumber branch transits from a rigid-walled solution to a pressure-release solution with increasing E. Also, it is found that at any frequency where two wavenumbers intersect in the uncoupled analysis, there is no more an-intersection in the coupled case, but a gap is created at that frequency. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Crack Tip Fields in a Single Edge Notched Aluminum Single Crystal Specimen

We report a combined experimental and computational study of a low constraint aluminum single crystal fracture geometry and investigate the near-tip stress and strain fields. To this end, a single edge notched tensile (SENT) specimen is considered. A notch, with a radius of 50 µm, is taken to lie in the (010) plane and its front is aligned along the [101] direction. Experiments are conducted by subjecting the specimen to tensile loading using a special fixture inside a scanning electron microscope chamber. Both SEM micrographs and electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) maps are obtained from the near-tip region. The experiments are complemented by performing 3D and 2D plane strain finite element simulations within a continuum crystal plasticity framework assuming an isotropic hardening response characterized by the Pierce–Asaro–Needleman model. The simulations show a distinct slip band forming at about 55 deg with respect to the notch line corresponding to slip on (11-bar 1)[011] system, which corroborates well with experimental data. Furthermore, two kink bands occur at about 45 deg and 90 deg with respect to the notch line within which large rotations in the crystal orientation take place. These predictions are in good agreement with the EBSD observations. Finally, the near-tip angular variations of the 3D stress and plastic strain fields in the low constraint SENT fracture geometry are examined in detail.

A Legendre spectral element model for sloshing and acoustic analysis in nearly incompressible fluids

A new spectral finite element formulation is presented for modeling the sloshing and the acoustic waves in nearly incompressible fluids. The formulation makes use of the Legendre polynomials in deriving the finite element interpolation shape functions in the Lagrangian frame of reference. The formulated element uses Gauss-Lobatto-Legendre quadrature scheme for integrating the volumetric stiffness and the mass matrices while the conventional Gauss-Legendre quadrature scheme is used on the rotational stiffness matrix to completely eliminate the zero energy modes, which are normally associated with the Lagrangian FE formulation. The numerical performance of the spectral element formulated here is examined by doing the inf-sup test oil a standard rectangular rigid tank partially filled with liquid The eigenvalues obtained from the formulated spectral element are compared with the conventional equally spaced node locations of the h-type Lagrangian finite element and the predicted results show that these spectral elements are more accurate and give superior convergence The efficiency and robustness of the formulated elements are demonstrated by solving few standard problems involving free vibration and dynamic response analysis with undistorted and distorted spectral elements. and the obtained results are compared with available results in the published literature (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved

Fluorescent Fields: electric lighting and the rationalization of the modern corporate workplace

This study investigates the implications of the introduction of electric lighting systems, building technologies, and theories of worker efficiency on the deep spatial and environmental transformations that occurred within the corporate workplace during the twentieth century. Examining the shift from daylighting strategies to largely artificially lit workplace environments, this paper argues that electric lighting significantly contributed to the architectural rationalization of both office work and the modern office environment. Contesting the historical and critical marginalization of lighting within the discourse of the modern built environment, this study calls for a reassessment of the role of artificial lighting in the development of the modern corporate workplace. Keywords: daylighting, fluorescent lighting, rationalization, workplace design

Fracture process zone size and true fracture energy of concrete using acoustic emission

Acoustic emission (AE) energy, instead of amplitude, associated with each of the event is used to estimate the fracture process zone (FPZ) size. A steep increase in the cumulative AE energy of the events with respect to time is correlated with the formation of FPZ. Based on the AE energy released during these events and the locations of the events, FPZ size is obtained. The size-independent fracture energy is computed using the expressions given in the boundary effect model by least squares method since over-determined system of equations are obtained when data from several specimens are used. Instead of least squares method a different method is suggested in which the transition ligament length, measured from the plot of histograms of AE events plotted over the un-cracked ligament, is used directly to obtain size-independent fracture energy. The fracture energy thus calculated seems to be size-independent.

On gravitational fields of stars in f(R) gravity theories

Einstein's general relativity is a classical theory of gravitation: it is a postulate on the coupling between the four-dimensional, continuos spacetime and the matter fields in the universe, and it yields their dynamical evolution. It is believed that general relativity must be replaced by a quantum theory of gravity at least at extremely high energies of the early universe and at regions of strong curvature of spacetime, cf. black holes. Various attempts to quantize gravity, including conceptually new models such as string theory, have suggested that modification to general relativity might show up even at lower energy scales. On the other hand, also the late time acceleration of the expansion of the universe, known as the dark energy problem, might originate from new gravitational physics. Thus, although there has been no direct experimental evidence contradicting general relativity so far - on the contrary, it has passed a variety of observational tests - it is a question worth asking, why should the effective theory of gravity be of the exact form of general relativity? If general relativity is modified, how do the predictions of the theory change? Furthermore, how far can we go with the changes before we are face with contradictions with the experiments? Along with the changes, could there be new phenomena, which we could measure to find hints of the form of the quantum theory of gravity? This thesis is on a class of modified gravity theories called f(R) models, and in particular on the effects of changing the theory of gravity on stellar solutions. It is discussed how experimental constraints from the measurements in the Solar System restrict the form of f(R) theories. Moreover, it is shown that models, which do not differ from general relativity at the weak field scale of the Solar System, can produce very different predictions for dense stars like neutron stars. Due to the nature of f(R) models, the role of independent connection of the spacetime is emphasized throughout the thesis.

Measuring the Cosmic Microwave Background : Topics along the analysis pipeline

The first quarter of the 20th century witnessed a rebirth of cosmology, study of our Universe, as a field of scientific research with testable theoretical predictions. The amount of available cosmological data grew slowly from a few galaxy redshift measurements, rotation curves and local light element abundances into the first detection of the cos- mic microwave background (CMB) in 1965. By the turn of the century the amount of data exploded incorporating fields of new, exciting cosmological observables such as lensing, Lyman alpha forests, type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations and Sunyaev-Zeldovich regions to name a few. -- CMB, the ubiquitous afterglow of the Big Bang, carries with it a wealth of cosmological information. Unfortunately, that information, delicate intensity variations, turned out hard to extract from the overall temperature. Since the first detection, it took nearly 30 years before first evidence of fluctuations on the microwave background were presented. At present, high precision cosmology is solidly based on precise measurements of the CMB anisotropy making it possible to pinpoint cosmological parameters to one-in-a-hundred level precision. The progress has made it possible to build and test models of the Universe that differ in the way the cosmos evolved some fraction of the first second since the Big Bang. -- This thesis is concerned with the high precision CMB observations. It presents three selected topics along a CMB experiment analysis pipeline. Map-making and residual noise estimation are studied using an approach called destriping. The studied approximate methods are invaluable for the large datasets of any modern CMB experiment and will undoubtedly become even more so when the next generation of experiments reach the operational stage. -- We begin with a brief overview of cosmological observations and describe the general relativistic perturbation theory. Next we discuss the map-making problem of a CMB experiment and the characterization of residual noise present in the maps. In the end, the use of modern cosmological data is presented in the study of an extended cosmological model, the correlated isocurvature fluctuations. Current available data is shown to indicate that future experiments are certainly needed to provide more information on these extra degrees of freedom. Any solid evidence of the isocurvature modes would have a considerable impact due to their power in model selection.