Isothermic growth of one spherulite around circular obstacles in a polypropylene foil

Growth of one spherulite within a thin foil of polypropylene around one circular obstacle or around combinations of circular obstacles is investigated. For each obstacle there exists a region of shadow, seen from the nucleus of the spherulite, which influences the growth of the spherulite. Within any region of shadow the growth fronts are evolvents of the obstacle's boundary, because the spherulite grows isotropically. When two growth fronts belonging to one spherulite meet each other inside the shadow, an intrinsic grain boundary is formed for each obstacle. Additionally, growth of one spherulite around a rectangular obstacle and a spherical obstacle is investigated.     

Transient and dynamic average-value modeling of synchronous machinefed load-commutated converters

A new average-value model of a synchronous machine fed load-commutated converter is set forth in which the stator dynamics are combined with the DC link dynamics. This model is shown to he extremely accurate in predicting system transients and in predicting frequency-domain characteristics such as the impedance looking into the synchronous machine fed load-commutated converter. The model is verified against a detailed computer simulation and against a hardware test system, thus providing a three-way comparison. The proposed model is shown to be much more accurate than models in which the stator dynamics are neglected     

The use of force modulation microscopy to investigate block copolymer morphology

Force modulation microscopy (FMM) is used to characterize the external surface and internal fracture surface morphologies of three different block copolymer samples. A roll-cast poly(styrene-butadiene-styrene) triblock copolymer film, spin-coated poly(styrene-b-methyl methacrylate) thin films, and an ultrathin poly(styrene-b-hexyl isocyanate) rod-coil block copolymer film were investigated. For each sample, height and elasticity images were obtained for the same areas allowing direct comparison. The elasticity images obtained using force modulation microscopy were independent of surface roughness and found to exhibit better contrast and spatial resolution of the respective block copolymer domains than the height images. The lateral resolution of the elasticity images was sufficient to show microphase separated domains having length scales as small as about 10 nm. The poly(styrene-b-methyl methacrylate) samples demonstrate that FMM can even be successfully used to study block copolymers in which both blocks are glassy under the conditions of measurement.     

Optical properties of evaporated Ge20Se80−x Tl x thin films

Chalcogenide glasses with composition Ge₂₀Se_80–x Tl _x (x=10, 15, 20, 25, 35%) have been prepared by the usual melt-quenching technique. Thin films of the mentioned compositions have been prepared by the electron beam evaporation. In addition, another set taken from the composition ofX=30 at % with different thicknesses (d=14.7, 30.0, 56.5, 70.0, 101.0, 180.0 nm) have been taken into consideration. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed the amorphous nature of the prepared films. It was found that, in contrast to the optical gap (E _op), both the extent of the band tailing (B), and the band gap (E _e) increase with increasing thallium content. In other side,E _op showed thickness independency. The refractive index (n) showed obvious dependence on both composition and thickness also on the energy of the incident radiation.     

Analysis of composite laminates with transverse cracks

The analysis of the behaviour of composite laminates with general balanced lay-up sequences and containing distributed transverse cracks is discussed and demonstrated in this paper. It is shown that a constitutive model of damage for composites, which has been successfully used to analyse the effects of uniformly distributed transverse cracks in cross-ply laminates, can be readily extended to the analysis of uniformly distributed transverse cracks in more general symmetric laminates. The further extension of the theory to non-uniformly distributed damage can be achieved by finite element analysis. It is shown that the finite element implementation of the theory is particularly simple since the contribution of the damage to the overall behaviour can be incorporated into the force vectors.     

Albert Hoyt Taylor [Scanning the past]

Presents a short biography of A. Hoyt Taylor and discusses his work in the fields of concealed radio receiving systems, radar, radio wave propagation and antennas     

A single-chip 12.7 Mchips/s digital IF BPSK direct sequencespread-spectrum transceiver in 1.2 μm CMOS

This paper describes a fully integrated digital-spread spectrum transceiver chip fabricated through MOSIS in 1.2 μm CMOS. It includes a baseband spread spectrum transmitter and a coherent intermediate frequency (IF) receiver consisting of a Costas loop, an acquisition loop for the pseudo-noise (PN) sequence, and a clock recovery loop with a 406.4 MHz onchip numerically controlled oscillator (NCO). The transceiver is capable of operating at a maximum IF sampling rate of 50.8 MS/s and a maximum chip rate of 12.7 R Mchips/s (Mcps) with selectable data rates of 100, 200, 400, and 800 kbps. At the maximum operating speed of 50.8 R MS/s, it dissipates 1.1 W. In an additive white Gaussian noise channel the IF receiver achieves a receiver output SNR within 1 dB of theory and can acquire code with a wide range of input SNR from -17 dB to over 30 dB. The transceiver chip has been interfaced to an RF up/down converter to demonstrate a wireless voice/data/video link operating in the 902-928 MHz band     

Influence of the purity of the starting materials on the recording of dynamic holograms in Bi12TiO20 crystals

The parameters of Bi₁₂TiO₂₀ crystals grown with bismuth oxide of different degrees of purity were measured by a holographic recording technique in an external ac electric field and were compared with a crystal specially doped with chromium. Various crystal parameters such as the diffusion length of the photoexcited carriers and the Debye screening length were determined. It was found that the absorption spectrum of the material and the holographic recording efficiency were strongly influenced by light chromium doping and by insufficient purity of the starting mixture. Pis’ma Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 23, 27–32 (March 12, 1997)     

Electronic Sensing of Aromatic Volatiles for Quality Sorting of Blueberries

An electronic sniffer using semi-conductor gas sensors that nondestructively measured aromatic volatile gas emissions from fruit was developed to assess blueberry quality. The sniffer detected soft and damaged fruit in packaged containers at a 5% level of damage and distinguished four of five fruit ripeness classes: (1) mature-green and green-pink; (2) blue-pink; (3) blue; and (4) ripe fruit. Sniffer response increased as fruit ripened, as did total concentration of aromatic volatiles. Sniffer response correlated with berry firmness, pH, titratable acidity, and color, and detected differences among 10 cultivars, as did impact response analysis. The electronic sniffer is rapid, nondestructive and may be used to sort and quality check for presence of unripe or damaged fruit in closed packs of fresh berries.     

DIVERSITY OF PERCEPTIONS OF MEAT TENDERNESS AND JUICINESS BY CONSUMERS: A TIME-INTENSITY STUDY

Seven judges, untrained in sensory assessment, were trained in the use of Time Intensity (TI) and asked to monitor the tenderness and juiciness of a range of cooked beef and pork samples. The subjects were given no definitions concerning sensory cues to monitor in their assessments, nor did they confer with each other. The shapes of the TI curves they recorded for tenderness and juiciness differed between individuals, although there were similarities in the curve shapes for the 2 attributes for each individual. Correlations between the intensity parameters of the curves (maximum intensity and area under curve) and the chewing time were not significant for the subjects as a group for tenderness, although significant correlations were found for some of the subjects when examined individually. The results indicate that subjects differ in their concepts of sensory tenderness and juiciness, and that perceived tenderness does not correlate with chewing time for all subjects. In more general terms the study supports the use of TI assessments for interpreting individual differences in sensory perceptions.