Impact response of polyethylene nanocomposites

The quasi-static and dynamic behaviour of Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) and two LLDPE nanocomposites were studied. Nanocomposites consisting of LLDPE filled with 1% carbon black and 0.5% nanoclay fillers, by weight, were considered. Under quasi-static tensile loading, an improvement in the energy absorbing capability was achieved by adding 1% carbon black fillers. However, during quasi-static puncture and dynamic impact loading, the advantage provided by the fillers was lost. Thermal softening due to adiabatic heating under high strain rate deformation and difference s in the state of stress are considered as reasons for this reduction. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

High temperature robust SOI ethanol sensor

In this paper we present a robust SOI-CMOS ethanol sensor based on a tungsten-doped lanthanum iron oxide sensing material. The device shows response to gas, has low power consumption, good uniformity, high temperature stability and can be manufactured at low cost and with integrated circuitry. The platform is a tungsten-based CMOS micro-hotplate that has been shown to be stable for over two thousand hours at a high temperature (600°C) in a form of accelerated life test. The tungsten-doped lanthanum iron oxide was deposited on the micro-hotplate as a slurry with terpineol using a syringe, dried and annealed. Preliminary gas testing was done and the material shows response to ethanol vapour. These results are promising and we believe that this combination of a robust CMOS micro-hotplate and a good sensing material can form the basis for a commercial CMOS gas sensor. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Zinc oxide nanowire based hydrogen sensor on SOI CMOS platform

Here we report on the successful low-temperature growth of zinc oxide nanowires (ZnONWs) on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) CMOS micro-hotplates and their response, at different operating temperatures, to hydrogen in air. The SOI micro-hotplates were fabricated in a commercial CMOS foundry followed by a deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) in a MEMS foundry to form ultra-low power membranes. The micro-hotplates comprise p+ silicon micro-heaters and interdigitated metal electrodes (measuring the change in resistance of the gas sensitive nanomaterial). The ZnONWs were grown as a post-CMOS process onto the hotplates using a CMOS friendly hydrothermal method. The ZnONWs showed a good response to 500 to 5000 ppm of hydrogen in air. We believe that the integration of ZnONWs with a MEMS platform results in a low power, low cost, hydrogen sensor that would be suitable for handheld battery-operated gas sensors. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

GPU-accelerated optimization of fuel treatments for mitigating wildfire hazard

Fuel treatment is considered a suitable way to mitigate the hazard related to potential wildfires on a landscape. However, designing an optimal spatial layout of treatment units represents a difficult optimization problem. In fact, budget constraints, the probabilistic nature of fire spread and interactions among the different area units composing the whole treatment, give rise to challenging search spaces on typical landscapes. In this paper we formulate such optimization problem with the objective of minimizing the extension of land characterized by high fire hazard. Then, we propose a computational approach that leads to a spatially-optimized treatment layout exploiting Tabu Search and General-Purpose computing on Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU). Using an application example, we also show that the proposed methodology can provide high-quality design solutions in low computing time. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

SOI-based 16x16 thermo-optic waveguide switch matrix

A 16 x 16 thermo-optic wavelenght switch matrix has been designed and febricated on silicon-on-insulator wafer. For reducing device lenght, blocking switch matrix configuration is chosen. The building block of a matix is a 2 x 2 cell with Mach-Zehnder interferometer configuration, where a multi-mode interferometer serves as splitters/combiners. Spot size converters and isolating grooves are integrated on the same chip to reduce loss and power consumption. Average power consumption of the switch cell is 220 mW. The switching time of a switch cell is less than 3 mu s.

微重力下热薄材料燃烧特性的窄通道实验研究

利用高度分别为10 mm, 12 mm和14 mm的水平窄通道对微重力环境下热薄材料表面的火焰传播、材料的可燃极限进行了地面实验模拟研究. 在环境氧气浓度为18%和21%, 气流速度为0-50 cm/s条件下, 窄通道模拟实验结果与已有微重力实验结果的对比分析表明:气流速度小于15-20 cm/s时, 高度为12 mm和14 mm的窄通道能较好模拟微重力条件下材料表面的火焰传播, 气流速度大于15-20cm/s时, 高度为10 mm的通道能较好模拟;高度为12 mm和14 mm的窄通道能够模拟热薄材料的可燃极限曲线, 而高度为10 mm的通道模拟的可燃极限曲线则出现一定偏差. 分析认为, 窄通道能够有效地限制浮力对流, 进而提供模拟微重力条件下材料燃烧特性的实验环境, 通道内的剩余浮力对流和通道壁面热损失可能是造成材料燃烧特性定量差别的主要原因.

地震作用下顺层岩质边坡动力响应的试验研究

基于相似理论建立顺层岩质边坡力学模型,并介绍爆炸模型试验的设计思路及试验方法.以导爆索为爆源,通过水下爆炸模型试验,研究近场地震作用下原型边坡的变形破坏模式以及支护结构对边坡稳定性的影响.试验结果表明,顺层岩质边坡的在近场地震作用下的破坏主要表现方式为节理岩体间的层间滑动,破坏模式为应力波导致的滑移-拉裂破坏;重力式挡墙的压应力峰值分布随着墙高的变化呈现先增大后减小的钟形分布;结合汶川地震现场考察及试验结果发现,支护结构对边坡稳定性起着重要作用