Embedded micromachined fiber-optic Fabry-Perot pressure sensors in aerodynamics applications

Small size, high bandwidth pressure sensors are required for instrumentation of probes and test models in aerodynamic studies of complex unsteady flows. Optical-fiber pressure sensors promise potential advantages of small size and low cost in comparison with their electrical counterparts. We describe miniature Fabry-Perot cavity pressure sensors constructed by micromachining techniques in a turbine test application. The sensor bodies are 500 /spl mu/m squared, 300 /spl mu/m deep with a /spl sim/2 /spl mu/m-thick copper diaphragm electroplated on one face. The sensor cavity is formed between the diaphragm and the cleaved end of a single mode fiber sealed to the sensor by epoxy. Each sensor is addressed interferometrically in reflection by three wavelengths simultaneously, giving an unambiguous phase determination; a pressure sensitivity of 1.6 radbar/sup -1/ was measured, with a typical range of vacuum to 600 kPa. Five sensors were embedded in the trailing edge of a nozzle guide vane installed upstream of a rotor in a full-scale turbine stage transient test facility. Pressure signals in the trailing edge flow show marked structure at the 8 kHz blade passing frequency. To our knowledge, this is the first report of sensors located at the trailing edge of a normal-sized turbine blade.     

Abstraction of levels of abstraction

The notion of level of abstraction (LoA) is one of the foundations of the Floridi's Philosophy of Information. It also serves for many practical purposes as in information ethics. But the notion of abstraction is not new; it has been given many different meanings in various fields, especially in scientific disciplines and, in particular, in computer science. Our purpose here is to examine the use of abstraction in Floridi's works in conjunction with some of the meanings of abstraction in computer science. The article is divided into five sections. After a general introduction to the Floridi's method of abstraction (MoA) in Section 1, Section 2 revisits Floridi's definition of abstraction and Section 3 gives the different senses of abstraction in computer science. The Section 4 compares them with the Floridi's LoAs and proposes to generalise the Floridi's approach to abstraction using an abstraction of the LoAs, while Section 5 concludes on what we think to be some new arguments in favour of MoA and LoA.     

Computing the Duquenne–Guigues basis: an algorithm for choosing the order

This paper presents an algorithm for choosing the order in which pseudo-intents are enumerated when computing the Duquenne–Guigues basis of a formal context. Sets are constructed through the use of a spanning tree to ensure they are all found once. The time and space complexities of the algorithm are empirically evaluated using, respectively, the number of logical closures and the number of sets in memory as measures. It is found that only the space complexity depends on the enumeration order.     

The geometry of flex tangents to a cubic curve and its parameterizations

We show how the study of the geometry of the nine flex tangents to a cubic produces pseudo-parameterizations, including the ones given by Icart, Kammerer, Lercier, Renault and Farashahi, and infinitely many new ones.     

Real-time contactless measurement of robot pose in six degrees of freedom

For dynamically measuring position in three degrees of freedom laser tracking systems are well known. Up to now no possibility to measure also orientation using the same laser beam has been known. We present a technique to incorporate orientation measurement into a laser tracking system that requires only minor changes in the existing hardware. The method is based on the analysis of an image of the reflected laser beam intensity distribution. In this image the edges of a slightly modified retroreflector represent a function of the orientation of the end-effector holding the retroreflector. It is shown that from this image the orientation can be determined uniquely and in real time.

A laser tracking system including position and orientation measurement constitutes an instrument to accurately determine robot performance as well as to acquire hints on how to improve robot models and control algorithms.     

Performance Analysis and Modeling of Thermally Sprayed Resistive Heaters

Many processes and systems require hot surfaces. These are usually heated using electrical elements located in their vicinity. However, this solution is subject to intrinsic limitations associated with heating element geometry and physical location. Thermally spraying electrical elements directly on surfaces can overcome these limitations by tailoring the geometry of the heating element to the application. Moreover, the element heat transfer is maximized by minimizing the distance between the heater and the surface to be heated. This article is aimed at modeling and characterizing resistive heaters sprayed on metallic substrates. Heaters were fabricated by using a plasma-sprayed alumina dielectric insulator and a wire flame-sprayed iron-based alloy resistive element. Samples were energized and kept at a constant temperature of 425 °C for up to 4 months. SEM cross-sectional observations revealed the formation of cracks at very specific locations in the alumina layer after thermal use. Finite-element modeling shows that these cracks originate from high local thermal stresses and can be predicted according to the considered geometry. The simulation model was refined using experimental parameters obtained by several techniques such as emissivity and time-dependent temperature profile (infra-red camera), resistivity (four-probe technique), thermal diffusivity (laser flash method), and mechanical properties (micro and nanoindentation). The influence of the alumina thickness and the substrate material on crack formation was evaluated.     

Margarine oils,shortenings, and vanaspati

The technology of processes aimed at the production of margarine has, on the whole, not changed dramatically during the past 20 years. However, a great number of technological modifications for quality improvement and adaption to market requirements have been achieved. These include tailor-made refining procedures for more flexible blend formulations, careful exclusion of oxygen in closed systems (for refining, dosing, emulsification, and cooling), and development of soft margarine, rich in linoleic acid and mostly packed in tubs. The processing of margarine is fully mechanized today and might be partly automated in the future. As for vanaspati, there have been hardly any changes on the processing side, which includes a slow crystallization phase that hardly lends itself to mechanization and automation. Like margarine, more flexible blend formulations have been made available, and improvements in flavor technology have been achieved. Shortening development has run completely parallel to margarine development.     

Utilization of phosphocholine from extracellular complex polysaccharide as a source of cytoplasmic choline derivatives in Penicillium fellutanum

Penicillium fellutanum produces a phosphorylated, choline-containing extracellular polysaccharide, peptidophosphogalactomannan (pP(x)GM) [where x is the number of phosphodiester residues]). The 13C-methyl-labeled pP(x)GM ([methyl-13C]pP(x)GM) was prepared from the cultures supplemented with L-[methyl-13C]methionine and was used as a probe to monitor the fate of phosphocholine in this polymer. The addition of [methyl-13C]pP(x)GM to growing cultures in low-phosphate medium resulted in the disappearance within 5 days of [methyl-13C]phosphocholine and N,N'-dimethylphosphoethanolamine from the added [methyl-13C]pP(x)GM. Two 13C-methyl-enriched cytoplasmic solutes, choline-O-sulfate and glycine betaine, were found in mycelial extracts, suggesting that phosphocholine-containing extracellular pP(x)GM of P. fellutanum is a precursor of intracellular choline-O-sulfate and glycine betaine. The mycelia cultured in low-phosphate (2 mM) medium contained glycine betaine and 1.5-fold more choline-O-sulfate than those grown in high-phosphate (20 mM) medium. The high levels of extracellular nonspecific phosphocholine:phosphocholine hydrolase and acid phosphomonoesterase observed in the low-phosphate culture medium are likely related to the release of phosphocholine from pP(x)GM and hydrolysis of phosphocholine, respectively. These results suggest that extracellular pP(x)GM of P. fellutanum provides phosphate needed as the environment becomes depleted of this nutrient. Choline, in excess of that needed immediately, is stored in the cytoplasm in forms that can be reutilized.     

Approximation of functions by perceptrons: a new approach

We provide a constructive proof of the theorem of function approximation by perceptrons (cf Leshno et al. [1], Hornik [2]) when the activation function ψ isC∞ with all its derivatives non 0 at 0. We deal with uniform approximation on compact sets of continuous functions on ℜ ^d ,d≥1. This approach is elementary and provides some approximation results for the derivatives along with some bounds for the hidden layer.