Photographing impact of molten molybdenum particles in a plasma spray

Plasma-sprayed molten molybdenum particles (∼40 μm in diameter) were photographed impinging at high velocity (∼140 m/s) on a glass substrate at room temperature. An optical sensor detected thermal radiation emitted by a droplet as it approached the substrate and activated a time delay unit. After a selected time interval, an Nd:YAG laser was triggered, emitting a 5 ns pulse that provided illumination for a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera to photograph the impacting droplet through a long-range microscope. By varying the delay before pulsing the laser, different stages of droplet deformation were recorded. Impacting droplets spread into a thin circular film that ruptured and broke into small fragments. An optical detector recording thermal radiation from the impacting droplet gave a signal that increased as the droplet spread out, reached a maximum when the liquid film began to rupture, and decreased as portions of the droplet recoiled because of surface tension and then flew out of view of the photodetector.     

Flattening and solidification of thermally sprayed particles

In this article, molybdenum particles were plasma sprayed on copper, zirconia, and glass substrates. The impact of the molten particles was monitored using a fast two-color optical fiber pyrometer focused on a small spot on the substrate surface. The apparent duration of the flattening process and the cooling speed, both determined from the pyrometer signals, were found to depend on the substrate conditions and to vary with coating thickness. The substrate material and its roughness were also found to influence the texture in the sprayed coatings. Furthermore, a transient thermal flow numerical model was used to compute reliable thermal histories of the impinging particles and the underlying lamellae, the interfacial thermal resistance being determined by comparison of experimental thermograms with computed ones.     

A broad-band waveguide grating coupler with a subwavelength grating mirror

A new diffractive device for light coupling between a planar optical waveguide and free space is proposed. The device utilizes a second-order waveguide grating to diffract the fundamental waveguide mode into two free propagating beams and a subwavelength grating (SWG) mirror to combine the two free propagating beams into a single beam. The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations show that the SWG mirror improves the coupling efficiency of the waveguide fundamental mode into the single out-coupled beam from about 30% to 92%. A high efficiency (>90%) is predicted for a broad wavelength range of 1520-1580nm. The proposed device is compact (/spl sim/80 /spl mu/m in length) and it eliminates the need for blazing the waveguide grating.     

La référence informatique dans l'étude de l'esprit humain: Une mise au point épistémologique.

Comments on the nature and limitations of the "computational reference," or information processing approach, in cognitive psychology. Set in a Popperian epistemological context, these comments stress the diversity of roles that this reference can be called upon to play, from that of formal recourse for conceiving "languages" allowing clear and unambiguous conjectural or theoretical statements to be made, to that of technological recourse for optimizing the conception of conjectures or theories as such. (English abstract) (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

PAHs in Sediments Contaminated by the Haven Oil Spill. (Genoese Bay)

Sediment samples were collected 40 months after the wreckage of the HAVEN off shore Arenzano, facing the Genoese coast, at 300 to 500 m depth, (wreckage zone) and analysed by UV fluorescence spectroscopy and CG/MS. PAHs as alkylated naphtalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, dibenzothiophene series have been studied. Analytical results reveal – 1° – a great alteration of alkylated homologues compared to parent compounds - 2° - the appearance of anthracene (absent in the original crude oil) in samples – 3° – a relative increase of high molecular weight PAHs (4–5 rings and more) as benzo(ghi)perylene and indeno(cd)pyrene. These changes result from the partial burning of the contaminant oil. A beginning of biodegradation is observed for alkylated phenanthrenes.