A cathode support structure for use in a magnetron oscillator experiment

A low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) material system has been used to develop a protype field emission cathode structure for use in an experimental magnetron oscillator. The structure is designed for used with 30 gated field emission array (GFEA) die electrically connected through silver metal traces and electrical vias. To approximate a cylinder, the cathode structure (48 mm long and 13.7 mm in diameter) is comprised of 10 faceted plates which cover the GFEA dies. Slits in the facet plates allow electron injection. The GFEA die (3 mm × 8 mm) are placed in axial columns of 3 and spaced azimuthally around a cylindrical support structure in a staggered configuration resulting in 10 azimuthal locations. LTCC manufacturing techniques were developed in order to fabricate the newly designed cathode with seven layers wrapped to form the cylinder with electrical traces and vias. Two different cathode wrapping techniques and two different via filling techniques were studied and compared. Two different facet plate manufacturing techniques were studied. Finally, four different support stand configurations for firing the cylindrical structure were also compared with a square post stand having the best circularity and linearity measurements of the fired structure.     

MULTI-PROJECT SCHEDULING WITH EXPLICIT LATENESS COSTS

We propose a heuristic procedure for planning and scheduling multiple projects subject to limited resource availabilities. We depart from previous research in that explicit lateness costs for each project are considered. Our procedure involves aggregate analysis using linear programming to determine target resource loading profiles for each project that optimize trade-offs of lateness costs among projects, followed by detailed multi-project scheduling consistent with the target profiles. Target profiles and detailed schedules are iteratively modified through N iterations, where N is the number of projects. The procedure can be used to jointly schedule previously committed and newly proposed projects, as well as to assign due dates to proposed projects. We compare the performance of our procedure to that of the traditional minimum slack heuristic, as well to a simple extension of the minimum slack rule that accounts for lateness costs. On a set of 60 multi-project test problems adapted from the Patterson set of single-project problems, results are very favorable for our proposed algorithm.     

Analysis of viscoelastic laminated composite plates

A micromechanics analysis is performed for the determination of the five independent elastic moduli of unidirectional fiber composites. By considering viscoelastic phases and by using the correspondence principle and the inversion of the Laplace transform, the five time-dependent functions which characterize the effective behavior of viscoelastic composites are established. The predicted time-dependent behavior is applied for the analysis of viscoelastic laminated plates. The resulting viscoelastic effects are shown, and comparison between the results obtained within the classical laminated plate theory and the first-order shear deformation theory is discussed.     

Synthesis of N,N-diethyl-N-{4-[(E)-(4-nitrophenyl)diazenyl]phenyl}amine via in situ diazotisation and coupling in supercritical carbon dioxide

The synthesis of azo dyes via a conventional aqueous-based diazotisation and coupling reaction requires the use of relatively high concentrations of mineral acids, which leads to high electrolyte concentrations in wastewater. Reported in this paper is an environmentally benign one-pot method for the synthesis of a nonionic azo dye, N,N -diethyl- N -{4-[( E )-(4-nitrophenyl)diazenyl]phenyl}amine, in supercritical carbon dioxide without using a mineral acid. The product yield increased significantly with temperature, with 91% theoretical yield afforded at 80 °C. The pressure of the system had little influence on product yield.     

Measurement of Gibbs energies of formation of CoF2 and MnF2 using a new composite dispersed solid electrolyte

Gibbs energies of formation of CoF₂ and MnF₂ have been measured in the temperature range from 700 to 1100 K using Al₂O₃-dispersed CaF₂ solid electrolyte and Ni+NiF₂ as the reference electrode. The dispersed solid electrolyte has higher conductivity than pure CaF₂ thus permitting accurate measurements at lower temperatures. However, to prevent reaction between Al₂O₃ in the solid electrolyte and NiF₂ (or CoF₂) at the electrode, the dispersed solid electrolyte was coated with pure CaF₂, thus creating a composite structure. The free energies of formation of CoF₂ and MnF₂ are (± 1700) J mol⁻¹; {fx37-1} The third law analysis gives the enthalpy of formation of solid CoF₂ as ΔH° (298·15 K) = −672·69 (± 0·1) kJ mol⁻¹, which compares with a value of −671·5 (± 4) kJ mol⁻¹ given in Janaf tables. For solid MnF₂, ΔH°(298·15 K) = − 854·97 (± 0·13) kJ mol⁻¹, which is significantly different from a value of −803·3 kJ mol⁻¹ given in the compilation by Barinet al.