Translating passive revolution in Brazil

This article sets out to examine Antonio Gramsci's use of the concept of passive revolution and thereby 'translate' it to an alternative historical and contemporary context. If we can observe Gramsci as a 'translator' of Lenin, from Russia to Italy, we can also try to 'translate' Gramsci beyond his original circumstances to alternative conditions, hence the aim of translating Gramsci and his category of passive revolution in order to apprehend some aspects of the particularity of bourgeois revolution in Brazil. The thesis is that the theory and condition of passive revolution in Brazil has unfolded as a hybridism of liberal corporatism, which reveals the slow assumption of bourgeois rule as a form of supremacy. Importantly, the role of the military in this long process is also highlighted. © The Author(s) 2012.

Point vibration measurements for the detection of shallow-buried objects

A major UK initiative, entitled 'Mapping the Underworld', is seeking to address the serious social, environmental and economic consequences arising from an inability to locate accurately and comprehensively the buried utility service infrastructure without resorting to extensive excavations. Mapping the Underworld aims to develop and prove the efficacy of a multi-sensor device for accurate remote buried utility service detection, location and, where possible, identification. One of the technologies to be incorporated in the device is low-frequency vibro-acoustics, and application of this technique for detecting buried infrastructure is currently being investigated. Here, the potential for making a number of simple point vibration measurements in order to detect shallow-buried objects, in particular plastic pipes, is explored. Point measurements can be made relatively quickly without the need for arrays of surface sensors, which can be expensive, time-consuming to deploy, and sometimes impractical in congested areas. At low frequencies, the ground behaves as a simple single-degree-of-freedom (mass-spring) system with a well-defined resonance, the frequency of which will depend on the density and elastic properties of the soil locally. This resonance will be altered by the presence of a buried object whose properties differ from the surrounding soil. It is this behavior which can be exploited in order to detect the presence of a buried object, provided it is buried at a sufficiently shallow depth. The theoretical background is described and preliminary measurements are made both on a dedicated buried pipe rig and on the ground over a domestic waste pipe. Preliminary findings suggest that, for shallow-buried pipes, a measurement of this kind could be a quick and useful adjunct to more conventional methods of buried pipe detection. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detection of buried pipes using a shear wave ground surface vibration technique

A major UK initiative, entitled 'Mapping the Underworld', is seeking to address the serious social, environmental and economic consequences arising from an inability to locate the buried utility service infrastructure without resorting to extensive excavations. Mapping the Underworld aims to develop and prove the efficacy of a multi-sensor device for accurate remote buried utility service detection, location and, where possible, identification. One of the technologies to be incorporated in the device is low-frequency vibro-acoustics, and the application of this technology for detecting buried infrastructure is currently being investigated. Here, a shear wave ground vibration technique for detecting buried pipes is described. For this technique, shear waves are generated at the ground surface, and the resulting ground surface vibrations measured, using geophones, along a line traversing the anticipated run of the pipe. Measurements were made at a test site with a single pressurized polyethylene mains water pipe. Time-extended signals were employed to generate the illuminating wave. Cross-correlation functions between the measured ground velocities and a reference measurement adjacent to the excitation were then calculated and summed using a stacking method to generate a cross-sectional image of the ground. The wide cross-correlation peaks caused by high ground attenuation were partially compensated for by using a generalized cross-correlation function called the smoothed coherence transform. To mitigate the effects of other potential sources of vibration in the vicinity, the excitation signal was used as an additional reference when calculating the generalized cross-correlation functions. For two out of three tests, the pipe was detected, indicating that this technique will be a valuable addition to the Mapping the Underworld armoury.

An exact series solution for the vibration analysis of cylindrical shells with arbitrary boundary conditions

In this paper, an exact series solution for the vibration analysis of circular cylindrical shells with arbitrary boundary conditions is obtained, using the elastic equations based on Flügge's theory. Each of the three displacements is represented by a Fourier series and auxiliary functions and sought in a strong form by letting the solution exactly satisfy both the governing differential equations and the boundary conditions on a point-wise basis. Since the series solution has to be truncated for numerical implementation, the term exactly satisfying should be understood as a satisfaction with arbitrary precision. One of the important advantages of this approach is that it can be universally applied to shells with a variety of different boundary conditions, without the need of making any corresponding modifications to the solution algorithms and implementation procedures as typically required in other techniques. Furthermore, the current method can be easily used to deal with more complicated boundary conditions such as point supports, partial supports, and non-uniform elastic restraints. Numerical examples are presented regarding the modal parameters of shells with various boundary conditions. The capacity and reliability of this solution method are demonstrated through these examples. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The non-ideal problem behavior using a dynamic vibration absorber with nonlinear essential stiffness and timedependent damping properties

The purpose of this study is to develop a dynamic vibration absorber using viscoelastic material with nonlinear essential stiffness and time-dependent damping properties for a non-ideal vibrating system with Sommerfeld effect, resonance capture, and jump phenomenon. The absorber is a mass-bar subsystem that consists of a viscoelastic bar with memory attached to mass, in which the internal dissipative forces depend on current, deformations, and its operational frequency varies with limited temperature. The non-ideal vibrating system consists of a linear (nonlinear) oscillator (plane frame structure) under excitation, via spring connector, of a DC-motor with limited power supply. A viscoelastic dynamic absorber modeled with elastic stiffness essentially nonlinearities was developed to further reduce the Sommerfeld effect and the response of the structure. The numerical results show the performance of the absorber on the non-ideal system response through the resonance curves, time histories, and Poincarésections. Furthermore, the structure responses using the viscoelastic damper with and without memory were studied. © IMechE 2012.

An investigation of a two-stage nonlinear vibration isolation system

This paper investigates the most desirable configuration of a two-stage nonlinear vibration isolation system, in which the isolators contain hardening geometric stiffness nonlinearity and linear viscous damping. The force transmissibility of the system is used as the measure of the effectiveness of the isolation system. The hardening nonlinearity is achieved by placing horizontal springs onto the suspended and intermediate masses, which are supported by vertical springs. It is found that nonlinearity in the upper stage has very little effect and thus serves little purpose. The nonlinearity in the lower stage, however, has a profound effect, and can significantly improve the effectiveness of the isolation system. Further, it is found that it is desirable to have high damping in the upper stage and very low damping in the lower stage. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Active vibration control using delayed resonant feedback

Delayed feedback (DF) control is a well-established technique to suppress single frequency vibration of a non-minimum phase system. Modal control is also a well-established technique to control multiple vibration modes of a minimum phase system. In this paper these techniques are combined to simultaneously suppress multiple vibration modes of a non-minimum phase system involving a small time delay. The control approach is called delayed resonant feedback (DRF) where each modal controller consists of a modal filter to extract the target mode signal from the vibration response, and a phase compensator to account for the phase delay of the mode. The methodology is first discussed using a single mode system. A multi-mode system is then studied and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the control approach for two modes of a beam. It is shown that the system behaves as if each mode under control has a dynamic vibration absorber attached to it, even though the actuator and the sensor are not collocated and there is a time delay in the control system. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd.

A non-ideal portal frame energy harvester controlled using a pendulum

A model of energy harvester based on a simple portal frame structure is presented. The system is considered to be non-ideal system (NIS) due to interaction with the energy source, a DC motor with limited power supply and the system structure. The nonlinearities present in the piezoelectric material are considered in the piezoelectric coupling mathematical model. The system is a bi-stable Duffing oscillator presenting a chaotic behavior. Analyzing the average power variation, and bifurcation diagrams, the value of the control variable that optimizes power or average value that stabilizes the chaotic system in the periodic orbit is determined. The control sensitivity is determined to parametric errors in the damping and stiffness parameters of the portal frame. The proposed passive control technique uses a simple pendulum to tuned to the vibration of the structure to improve the energy harvesting. The results show that with the implementation of the control strategy it is possible to eliminate the need for active or semi active control, usually more complex. The control also provides a way to regulate the energy captured to a desired operating frequency. © 2013 EDP Sciences and Springer.

Polyphenoloxidase activity in peaches after vibration

The vibration during transportation is one of the main causes of fruit damage. The actual methodologies used for damage evaluation in fruits seem to be subjective, since most of them are based on visual evaluation. In this study the effect of vibration, for one and two hours, on polyphenoloxidase (PPO) activity in peach pulp was investigated. The relation among PPO activity variation, postharvest time and resting time were also considered. Results showed that vibration affects PPO activity. However, it was not possible to correlate PPO activity variation and vibration.

Evolution of the South Atlantic passive continental margin in southern Brazil derived from zircon and apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He and fission-track data

The area between São Paulo and Porto Alegre in southeastern Brazil plays a key area to understand and quantify the evolution of the South Atlantic passive continental margin (SAPCM) in Brazil. In this contribution, we present new thermochronological data attained by fission-track and (U-Th-Sm)/He analysis on apatites and zircons from metamorphic, sedimentary and intrusive rocks. The zircon fission-track ages range between 108.4 (15.0) and 539.9 (68.4). Ma, the zircon (U-Th-Sm)/He ages between 72.9 (5.8) and 525.1(2.4). Ma, whereas the apatite fission-track ages range between 40.0 (5.3) and 134.7 (8.0). Ma, and the apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He ages between 32.1 (1.5) and 93.0 (2.5). Ma. The spatial distribution of these ages shows three distinct blocks with a different evolution cut by old fracture zones. While the central block exhibits an old stable block, the Northern and especially the Southern block underwent complex post-rift exhumation. The sample of the Northern block shows two distinct cooling phases in the Upper Cretaceous and the Paleogene to Neogene. After sedimentation of the Permian sandstones the samples of the Central block were never heated up over 100. °C with a following moderate to fast cooling phase in Cretaceous to Eocene time and a fast cooling between Oligocene to Miocene. The five thermal models obtained in the Southern block indicate a complex evolution with three cooling phases. The exhumation events of the three blocks correspond with the Paraná-Etendekka event, the alkaline intrusions due to the Trinidad hotspot, and the evolution of the continental rift basins in SE Brazil and are, therefore, most likely to be the major force for the post-rift evolution of the passive continental margin in SE Brazil, which therefore corresponds to the three main phases of the Andean orogeny. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

A model for computing vibration induced stresses of electronic components in a general flexible mounting

This paper develops a novel full analytic model for vibration analysis of solid-state electronic components. The model is just as accurate as finite element models and numerically light enough to permit for quick design trade-offs and statistical analysis. The paper shows the development of the model, comparison to finite elements and an application to a common engineering problem. A gull-wing flat pack component was selected as the benchmark test case, although the presented methodology is applicable to a wide range of component packages. Results showed very good agreement between the presented method and finite elements and demonstrated the usefulness of the method in how to use standard test data for a general application. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Interferometria óptica aplicada à medição de amplitudes de vibração nanométricas em piezoatuadores flextensionais

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Controle semi-ativo de vibrações com fluido magnetoreológico utilizando LMis e lógica nebulosa otimizada por algoritmo genético

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEIS

Análise de um oscilador não linear acoplado a um absorvedor tipo snap through truss (STTA)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Long-term landscape evolution and post-rift reactivation in the southeastern Brazilian passive continental margin: Taubat, basin

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