Snap-through and pull-in instabilities of an arch-shaped beam under an electrostatic loading

The snap-through and pull-in instabilities of the micromachined arch-shaped beams under an electrostatic loading are studied both theoretically and experimentally. The pull-in instability that results in a system collision with an electrode substrate may lead to a system failure and, thus, limits the system maximum displacement. The beam/plate structure with a flat initial configuration under an electrostatic loading can only experience the pull-in instability. With the different arch configurations, the structure may experience either only the pull-in instability or the snap-through and pull-in instabilities together. As shown in our computation and experiment, those arch-shaped beams with the snap-through instability have the larger maximum displacement compared with the arch-shaped beams with only the pull-in stability and those with the flat initial configuration. The snap-through occurs by exerting a fixed load, and the structure experiences a discontinuous displacement jump without consuming power. Furthermore, after the snap-through jump, the structures are demonstrated to have the capacity to withstand further electrostatic loading without pull-in. Those properties of consuming no power and increasing the structure deflection range without pull-in is very useful in microelectromechanical systems design, which can offer better sensitivity and tuning range.

Asymmetric structure of an isolated flux arch

This paper extends two-dimensional model of symmetric magnetostatic flux arches confined in stratified atmospheres (Zhang and Hu, 1992, 1993) to asymmetric models. Numerical results show that the flux structure is influenced greatly by the boundary condition of magnetic field, the force-free factor, the atmospheric pressure distribution and the position of footpoints (especially the width ratio of outlet to entrance, which differs from symmetric case).

On The Thermally Induced Cracking Of A Segmented Coating Deposited On The Outer Surface Of A Hollow Cylinder

In this work, the thermally induced cracking behavior of a segmented coating has been investigated. The geometry under consideration is a hollow cylinder with a segmented coating deposited onto its outer surface. The segmentation cracks are modeled as a periodic array of axial edge cracks. The finite element method is utilized to obtain the solution of the multiple crack problem and the Thermal Stress Intensity Factors (TSIFs) are calculated. Based on dimensional analysis, the main parameters affecting TSIFs are identified. It has been found that the TSIF is a monotonically increasing function of segmentation crack spacing. This result confirms that a segmented coating exhibits much higher thermal shock resistance than an intact counterpart, if only the segmentation crack spacing is narrow enough. The dependence of TSIF on some other parameters, such as normalized time, segmentation crack depth, convection severity as well as material constants, has also been discussed. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental and finite element studies of a large arch dam

Forced vibration field tests and finite element studies have been conducted on Morrow Point (arch) Dam in order to investigate dynamic dam-water interaction and water compressibility. Design of the data acquisition system incorporates several special features to retrieve both amplitude and phase of the response in a low signal to noise environment. These features contributed to the success of the experimental program which, for the first time, produced field evidence of water compressibility; this effect seems to play a significant role only in the symmetric response of Morrow Point Dam in the frequency range examined. In the accompanying analysis, frequency response curves for measured accelerations and water pressures as well as their resonating shapes are compared to predictions from the current state-of-the-art finite element model for which water compressibility is both included and neglected. Calibration of the numerical model employs the antisymmetric response data since they are only slightly affected by water compressibility, and, after calibration, good agreement to the data is obtained whether or not water compressibility is included. In the effort to reproduce the symmetric response data, on which water compressibility has a significant influence, the calibrated model shows better correlation when water compressibility is included, but the agreement is still inadequate. Similar results occur using data obtained previously by others at a low water level. A successful isolation of the fundamental water resonance from the experimental data shows significantly different features from those of the numerical water model, indicating possible inaccuracy in the assumed geometry and/or boundary conditions for the reservoir. However, the investigation does suggest possible directions in which the numerical model can be improved.

Effect of nonuniform seismic input on arch dams

Standard earthquake analyses of civil engineering structures use uniform ground motions even though considerable variations in both amplitude and phase can occur along the foundation interface for long-span bridges and large dams. The objective of this thesis is to quantify the effect that these nonuniformities have on the structural response.

The nonuniform, free-field motions of the foundation interface are assumed to be caused by incident plane body waves. The medium in which these waves travel is a linear, elastic half-space containing a canyon of uniform cross section in which the structure is placed. The solutions for the free-field motions that are due to incident SH, P and SV waves are calculated using the boundary element method.

An analysis of Pacoima (arch) dam located near Los Angeles, California, is performed for both uniform and nonuniform excitations. The important effect of nonuniformities in the free-field motions, sometimes leading to a decrease in the dam response and sometimes to an increase, is quantified.

Generation of sub-5 fs pulses through cascade of filamentation and hollow fiber compression

A pulse-compression scheme based on cascade of filamentation and hollow fiber has been demonstrated, Pulses with duration of sub-5 fs and energy of 0.2 mJ near 800 nm have been generated by compressing the similar to 40 fs pulses from a commercial laser system. This method is promising to generate near monocycle high energy pulses. [GRAPHICS] Measured autocorrelation curve of the final compressed pulses with duration of sub-5 fs (black solid) and the simulated autocorrelation curve of 4.6 fs pulse near 800 rim (red dash) (C) 2008 by Astro Ltd. Published exclusively by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

Generation of a high-quality partially coherent dark hollow beam with a multimode fiber

We report the experimental generation of a high-quality partially coherent dark hollow beam (DHB) by coupling a partially coherent beam into a multimode fiber (MMF) with a suitable incidence angle. The interference experiment of the generated partially coherent DHB passing through double slits is demonstrated. It is found that the coupling efficiency of the MMF, the quality, and the coherence of the generated partially coherent DHB are closely controlled by the coherence of the input beam. (c) 2008 Optical Society of America.

Analysis of a concrete arch highway bridge reinforced with structural steel

An article in the Engineering News-Record for March 30, 1923, describes a new concrete arch bridge across the Connecticut River between Springfield and West Springfield, Mass.

Observations on the physiological development of trout eggs [Translation from: Roux. Arch. f. Entwicklungsmechanik der Organismen, 114. 771, 1929]

The osmotic pressure of the perivitelline fluid and the yolk of trout (Salmo trutta) eggs were measured separately by the Drucker-Schrein method. The permeability of the egg membrane and the variations in the osmotic pressure of the eggs when placed in salt solutions were also investigated.

Field and dispersion properties of subwavelength-diameter hollow optical fiber

We have investigated the basic properties of subwavelength-diameter hollow optical fiber with exact solutions of Maxwell's equations. The characteristics of modal field and waveguide dispersion have been studied. It shows that the subwavelength-diameter hollow optical fibers have interesting properties, such as enhanced evanescent field, local enhanced intensity in the hollow core and large waveguide dispersion that are very promising for many miniaturized high performance and novel photonic devices. (C) 2007 Optical Society of America.

Field enhancement and power distribution characteristics of subwavelength-diameter terahertz hollow optical fiber

Fields in subwavelength-diameter terahertz hollow optical fiber (STHOF) can be intensified by large discontinuity of the electric field at high index contrast interfaces. The influences of fiber geometry and refractive index of the dielectric region on the fiber characteristics, such as power distribution, enhancement factor, have been discussed in detail. By appropriate design, the intensity in the central region of STHOF may be enhanced by a factor of greater than 1.5 compared with subwavelength-diameter terahertz fiber without the central hole and the loss can be reduced. For its compact structure and simple fabrication process, the fiber may be very useful in many miniaturized high performance and novel terahertz photonic devices. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of synthetic method on the properties of La0.5Ba0.5FeO3 SOFC cathode

Power Point presentado en The Energy and Materials Research Conference - EMR2015 celebrado en Madrid (España) entre el 25-27 de febrero de 2015

Spectral anomalies of focused hollow Gaussian beams at the geometrical focal plane

On the basis of diffraction integral and the expansion of the hard-aperture function into a finite series of complex Gaussian functions, an approximate expression for spatially fully coherent polychromatic hollow Gaussian beams passing through aperture lens is obtained. Detailed numerical results indicate that remarkable spectral changes always occurs near the points where the field amplitude has zero value. The effects of truncation parameter, Fresnel number and the beam order on spectral shifts and spectral switches are investigated numerically. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nonparaxial propagation of vectorial hollow Gaussian beams

Based on the vectorial Raleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction integral, the nonparaxial. propagation of vectorial hollow Gaussian beams (HGBs) in free space is studied. The far-field and paraxial cases can be treated as special cases of our general results. The typical numerical examples are given to illustrate our analytical results and comparisons between the different approximations present that the f parameter still plays an important role in determining the nonparaxiality of vectorial diffracted HGBs. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.