Vibration and stress analysis in the presence of structural uncertainty

At medium to high frequencies the dynamic response of a built-up engineering system, such as an automobile, can be sensitive to small random manufacturing imperfections. Ideally the statistics of the system response in the presence of these uncertainties should be computed at the design stage, but in practice this is an extremely difficult task. In this paper a brief review of the methods available for the analysis of systems with uncertainty is presented, and attention is then focused on two particular "non- parametric" methods: statistical energy analysis (SEA), and the hybrid method. The main governing equations are presented, and a number of example applications are considered, ranging from academic benchmark studies to industrial design studies. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Experimental and theoretical analysis of nondegenerate ultrabroadband chirped pulse optical parametric amplification

Experimental investigations of nondegenerate ultrabroadband chirped pulse optical parametric amplification have been carried out. The general mathematical expressions for evaluating parametric bandwidth, gain and gain bandwidth for arbitrary three-wave mixing parametric amplifiers are presented. In our experiments, a type-I noncollinear phase-matched optical parametric amplifier based on lithium triborate, which was pumped by a 5-ns second harmonic pulses from a Q-switched Nd:YAG operating at 10 Hz, seeded by a 14-fs Ti:sapphire laser at 800 nm, was presented. The 0.85 nJ energy of input chirped signal pulse with 57-FWHM has been amplified to 3.1 muJ at pump intensity 3 GW/cm(2), the corresponding parametric gain reached 3.6 x 10(3), the 53 nm-FWHM gain spectrum bandwidth of output signal has been obtained. The large gain and broad gain bandwidth, which have been confirmed experimentally, provide great potentials to amplify efficiently the broad bandwidth femtosecond light pulses to generate new extremes in power, intensity, and pulse duration using optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers pumped by powerful nanosecond systems.

beta(+)/EC decay and systematic analysis of Ir-176,Ir-178

The gamma rays following the beta(+)/EC decay of Ir-176,Ir-178 nuclei have been investigated using in-beam gamma-ray experiment. In addition, with the aid of a helium-jet recoil fast tape transport system, the beta(+)/EC decay of Ir-176 was further studied, the new gamma rays were proved and a low-spin isomer was proposed in Ir-176. The isomeric state was analysized according to the systematics in neighboring nuclei.

Thermodynamic study of ibuprofen by adiabatic calorimetry and thermal analysis

Molar heat capacities of ibuprofen were precisely measured with a small sample precision automated adiabatic calorimeter over the temperature range from 80 to 400 K. The polynomial functions of C-p,C-m (J K-1 mol(-1)) versus T were established on the heat capacity measurements by means of the least fitting square method. The functions are as follows: for solid ibuprofen, at the temperature range of 79.105 K less than or equal to T less than or equal to 333.297 K, C-p,C-m = 144.27 + 77.046X + 3.5171X(2) + 10.925X(3) + 11.224X(4), where X = (T - 206.201)/127.096; for liquid ibuprofen, at the temperature range of 353.406 K less than or equal to T less than or equal to 378.785 K, C-p,C-m = 325.79 + 8.9696X - 1.6073X(2) - 1.5145 X-3, where X = (T - 366.095)/12.690. A fusion transition at T = 348.02 K was found from the C-p-T curve. The molar enthalpy and entropy of the fusion transition were determined to be 26.65 kJ mol(-1) and 76.58 J mol(-1) K-1, respectively. The thermodynamic functions on the base of the reference temperature of 298.15 K, (H-T - H-298.15) and (S-T - S-298.15), were derived. Thermal characteristic of ibuprofen was studied by thermo-gravimetric analysis (TG-DTG) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The temperature of fusion, the molar enthalpy and entropy of fusion obtained by DSC were well consistent with those obtained by adiabatic calorimeter. The evaporation process of ibuprofen was investigated further by TG and DTG, and the activation energy of the evaporation process was determined to be 80.3 +/- 1.4 kJ mol(-1). (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bonding and correlation analysis of various SiCO isomers

The structural properties for various SiCO isomers in the singlet and triplet states have been investigated using CASSCF methods with a 6-311 +G* basis set and also using three DFT and MP2 with same basis set for those systems except for the linear singlet state. The detailed bonding character is discussed, and the state-state correlations and the isomerization mechanism are also determined. Results indicate that there are four different isomers for each spin state, and for all isomers, the triplet state is more stable than the corresponding singlet state. The most stable is the linear SiCO ((3)Sigma(-)) species and may be refer-red to the ground state. At the CASSCF-MP2(full)/6-311+G* level, the state-state energy separations of the other triplet states relative to the ground state are 43.2 (cyclic), 45.2 (linear SiOC), and 75.6 kcal/mol (linear CSiO), respectively, whereas the triplet-singlet state excitation energies for each configuration are 17.3 (linear SiCO), 2.2 (cyclic SiCO), 10.2 (linear SiOC), and 18.5 kcal/mol (linear CSiO), respectively. SiCo ((3)Sigma(-)) may be classified as silene (carbonylsilene), and its COdelta- moiety possesses CO- property. The dissociation energy of the ground state is 42.5 kcal/mol at the CASSCF-MP2(full)/6-311+G* level and falls within a range of 36.5-41.5 kcal/mol at DFT level, and of 23.7-28.9 kcal/mol at the wave function-correlated level, whereas the vertical IP is 188.8 kcal/mol at the CASSCF-MP2(full)/6-311+G* level and is very close to the first IP of Si atom. Three linear isomers (SiCO, SiOC, and CSiO) have similar structural bonding character. SiOC may be referred to the iso-carbonyl Si instead of the aether compound, whereas the CSiO isomer may be considered as the combination of C (the analogue of Si) with SiO (the analogue of CO). The bonding is weak for all linear species, and the corresponding potential energy surfaces are flat, and thus these linear molecules are facile. Another important isomer is of cyclic structure, it may be considered as the combination of CO with Si by the side pi bond. This structure has the smallest triplet state-singlet state excitation energy (similar to2.2 kcal/mol); the C-O bonds are longer, and the corresponding vibrational frequencies are significantly smaller than those of the other linear species. This cyclic species is not classified as an epoxy compound. State-state correlation analysis and the isomerization pathway searches have indicated that there are no direct correlations among three linear structures for each spin state, but they may interchange by experiencing two transition states and one cyclic intermediate. The easiest pathway is to break the Si-O bond to go to the linear SiCO, but its inverse process is very difficult. The most difficult process is to break the C-O bond and to go to the linear CSiO.

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE AND THERMAL ANALYSIS OF ERBIUM COMPLEX WITH BENZENE ACETIC ACID

The crystal structure of erbium (III) complex of benzene acetic acid is reported. The complex crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/a with a = 0,9008(3)nm, b=1.4242(5) nm, c=1.8437(7) nm, beta=98.80(3)degrees, V = 2.337(1) nm(3), Z = 4. The mechanism of thermal decomposition of complex has been studied by TG-DTG-DTA. The activation energy for dehydration reaction has been calculated by Freeman Carroll method. The enthalpy change for dehydration and phase change process has been determined.

Beyond simple imaging with energetic beams – nanopatterning, correlative microscopy and statistical analysis of inclusions

Electron microscopy (EM) has advanced in an exponential way since the first transmission electron microscope (TEM) was built in the 1930’s. The urge to ‘see’ things is an essential part of human nature (talk of ‘seeing is believing’) and apart from scanning tunnel microscopes which give information about the surface, EM is the only imaging technology capable of really visualising atomic structures in depth down to single atoms. With the development of nanotechnology the demand to image and analyse small things has become even greater and electron microscopes have found their way from highly delicate and sophisticated research grade instruments to key-turn and even bench-top instruments for everyday use in every materials research lab on the planet. The semiconductor industry is as dependent on the use of EM as life sciences and pharmaceutical industry. With this generalisation of use for imaging, the need to deploy advanced uses of EM has become more and more apparent. The combination of several coinciding beams (electron, ion and even light) to create DualBeam or TripleBeam instruments for instance enhances the usefulness from pure imaging to manipulating on the nanoscale. And when it comes to the analytic power of EM with the many ways the highly energetic electrons and ions interact with the matter in the specimen there is a plethora of niches which evolved during the last two decades, specialising in every kind of analysis that can be thought of and combined with EM. In the course of this study the emphasis was placed on the application of these advanced analytical EM techniques in the context of multiscale and multimodal microscopy – multiscale meaning across length scales from micrometres or larger to nanometres, multimodal meaning numerous techniques applied to the same sample volume in a correlative manner. In order to demonstrate the breadth and potential of the multiscale and multimodal concept an integration of it was attempted in two areas: I) Biocompatible materials using polycrystalline stainless steel and II) Semiconductors using thin multiferroic films. I) The motivation to use stainless steel (316L medical grade) comes from the potential modulation of endothelial cell growth which can have a big impact on the improvement of cardio-vascular stents – which are mainly made of 316L – through nano-texturing of the stent surface by focused ion beam (FIB) lithography. Patterning with FIB has never been reported before in connection with stents and cell growth and in order to gain a better understanding of the beam-substrate interaction during patterning a correlative microscopy approach was used to illuminate the patterning process from many possible angles. Electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) was used to analyse the crystallographic structure, FIB was used for the patterning and simultaneously visualising the crystal structure as part of the monitoring process, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were employed to analyse the topography and the final step being 3D visualisation through serial FIB/SEM sectioning. II) The motivation for the use of thin multiferroic films stems from the ever-growing demand for increased data storage at lesser and lesser energy consumption. The Aurivillius phase material used in this study has a high potential in this area. Yet it is necessary to show clearly that the film is really multiferroic and no second phase inclusions are present even at very low concentrations – ~0.1vol% could already be problematic. Thus, in this study a technique was developed to analyse ultra-low density inclusions in thin multiferroic films down to concentrations of 0.01%. The goal achieved was a complete structural and compositional analysis of the films which required identification of second phase inclusions (through elemental analysis EDX(Energy Dispersive X-ray)), localise them (employing 72 hour EDX mapping in the SEM), isolate them for the TEM (using FIB) and give an upper confidence limit of 99.5% to the influence of the inclusions on the magnetic behaviour of the main phase (statistical analysis).

Liquid metal turbulent flow dynamics in a cylindrical container with free surface: experiment and numerical analysis

The liquid metal flow in induction crucible models is known to be unstable, turbulent and difficult to predict in the regime of medium frequencies when the electromagnetic skin-layer is of considerable extent. We present long term turbulent flow measurements by a permanent magnet incorporated potential difference velocity probe in a cylindrical container filled with eutectic melt In-Ga-Sn. The parallel numerical simulation of the long time scale development of the turbulent average flow is presented. The numerical flow model uses an implicit pseudo-spectral code and k-w turbulence model, which was recently developed for the transitional flow modelling. The results compare reasonably to the experiment and demonstrate the time development of the turbulent flow field and the turbulence energy.

Dosimetry and spectral analysis of a radiobiological experiment using laser-driven proton beams

Laser-driven proton and ion acceleration is an area of increasing research interest given the recent development of short pulse-high intensity lasers. Several groups have reported experiments to understand whether a laser-driven beam can be applied for radiobiological purposes and in each of these, the method to obtain dose and spectral analysis was slightly different. The difficulty with these studies is that the very large instantaneous dose rate is a challenge for commonly used dosimetry techniques, so that other more sophisticated procedures need to be explored. This paper aims to explain a method for obtaining the energetic spectrum and the dose of a laser-driven proton beam irradiating a cell dish used for radiobiology studies. The procedure includes the use of a magnet to have charge and energy separation of the laser-driven beam, Gafchromic films to have information on dose and partially on energy, and a Monte Carlo code to expand the measured data in order to obtain specific details of the proton spectrum on the cells. Two specific correction factors have to be calculated: one to take into account the variation of the dose response of the films as a function of the proton energy and the other to obtain the dose to the cell layer starting from the dose measured on the films. This method, particularly suited to irradiation delivered in a single laser shot, can be applied in any other radiobiological experiment performed with laser-driven proton beams, with the only condition that the initial proton spectrum has to be at least roughly known. The method was tested in an experiment conducted at Queen's University of Belfast using the TARANIS laser, where the mean energy of the protons crossing the cells was between 0.9 and 5 MeV, the instantaneous dose rate was estimated to be close to 10(9) Gy s(-1) and doses between 0.8 and 5 Gy were delivered to the cells in a single laser shot. The combination of the applied corrections modified the initial estimate of dose by up to 40%.

The effect of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption on overall diet: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Increasing fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption is associated with reduced risk of major diseases. However, it is unclear if health benefits are related to increased micronutrient intake or to improvements in overall diet profile. This review aimed to assess if increasing FV consumption had an impact on diet profile. In the systematic review, twelve studies revealed increases in micronutrient intakes, whilst the meta-analysis confirmed macronutrient findings from the systematic review showing no significant difference between the intervention and control groups in energy (kcals) in seven studies (mean difference = 1 kcals [95% CI = -115, 117]; P = 0.98), significant decreases in total fat (% energy) in 5 studies (Mean difference = -4% [95% CI = -5, -3]; P = <0.00001) and significant increases in fibre in 6 studies (Mean difference = 5.36 grams [95% CI = 4, 7]; P = <0.00001) and total carbohydrate (% energy) in 4 studies (Mean = 4% [95% CI = 2, 5]; P = <0.00001). In conclusion, results indicate that increased FV consumption increases micronutrient, carbohydrate and fibre intakes and possibly reduces fat intake, with no overall effect on energy intake. Therefore health benefits may act through an improvement in overall diet profile alongside increased micronutrient intakes.

Theoretical and FE analysis of ultrasonic welding of aluminum alloy 3003

Ultrasonic welding (consolidation) process is a rapid manufacturing process that is used to join thin layers of metal at low temperature and low energy consumption. Experimental results have shown that ultrasonic welding is a combination of both surface (friction) and volume (plasticity) softening effects. In the presented work, an attempt has been made to simulate the ultrasonic welding of metals by taking into account these effects (surface and volume). A phenomenological material model has been proposed, which incorporates these two effects (i.e., surface and volume). The thermal softening due to friction and ultrasonic (acoustic) softening has been included in the proposed material model. For surface effects, a friction law with variable coefficient of friction that is dependent on contact pressure, slip, temperature, and number of cycles has been derived from experimental friction tests. The results of the thermomechanical analyses of ultrasonic welding of aluminum alloy have been presented. The goal of this work is to study the effects of ultrasonic welding process parameters, such as applied load, amplitude of ultrasonic oscillation, and velocity of welding sonotrode on the friction work at the weld interface. The change in the friction work at the weld interface has been explained on the basis of softening (thermal and acoustic) of the specimen during the ultrasonic welding process. In the end, a comparison between experimental and simulated results has been presented, showing a good agreement. Copyright © 2009 by ASME.

Two-Way Relaying Networks with Wireless Power Transfer: Policies Design and Throughput Analysis

This paper exploits an amplify-and-forward (AF) two-way relaying network (TWRN), where an energy constrained relay node harvests energy with wireless power transfer. Two bidirectional protocols, multiple access broadcast (MABC) protocol and time division broadcast (TDBC) protocol, are considered. Three wireless power transfer policies, namely, 1) dual-source (DS) power transfer; 2) single-fixed-source (SFS) power transfer; and 3) single-best-source (SBS) power transfer are proposed and well-designed based on time switching receiver architecture. We derive analytical expressions to determine the throughput both for delay-limited transmission and delay-tolerant transmission. Numerical results corroborate our analysis and show that MABC protocol achieves a higher throughput than TDBC protocol. An important observation is that SBS policy offers a good tradeoff between throughput and power.

Network Connectivity Proxy: Architecture, Implementation, and Performance Analysis

Several studies in the last decade have pointed out that many devices, such as computers, are often left powered on even when idle, just to make them available and reachable on the network, leading to large energy waste. The concept of network connectivity proxy (NCP) has been proposed as an effective means to improve energy efficiency. It impersonates the presence of networked devices that are temporally unavailable, by carrying out background networking routines on their behalf. Hence, idle devices could be put into low-power states and save energy. Several architectural alternatives and the applicability of this concept to different protocols and applications have been investigated. However, there is no clear understanding of the limitations and issues of this approach in current networking scenarios. This paper extends the knowledge about the NCP by defining an extended set of tasks that the NCP can carry out, by introducing a suitable communication interface to control NCP operation, and by designing, implementing, and evaluating a functional prototype.