The Structure of Clusters and Jets of Pulsed Plasma Expanding into Vacuum

The space-time distribution of the basic kinetic parameters of a plasma is experimentally determined under conditions of expansion of plasma clusters and jets into vacuum. It is demonstrated that the dynamics and structure of plasmoids injected by pulsed erosion plasma accelerators of the electrothermal type are characterized by two successive stages or two modes of acceleration, namely, the Joule heating of electrons in the initial region of the path and the collisionless expansion of rarefied plasma.     

Steady States of Reactive Distillation: Realizability Analysis and Evaluation of Realization Conditions

Degrees-of-freedom analysis is carried out to find the working parameters of the reactive distillation model used in statics analysis. A criterion is suggested to evaluate the realizability and realization conditions for the steady states predicted by statics analysis. The steady states predicted in terms of the criterion and those realized in experiment are compared for some industrial combined processes.     

Fluorination of pressure-polymerized C60 phases

The reactivity of O-, T- and R-phases of the high pressure-high temperature (HPHT) polymerized C₆₀ towards gaseous fluorine in the temperature range of 50-250 °C was investigated. The reaction products were characterized by FTIR, powder X-ray diffraction, SEM, EDX, and VTP-EIMS to determine the bulk stoichiometries, bonding patterns, phase compositions, crystalline structures and thermal decomposition behavior of the fluorinated polymers. At 1 h isothermal treatment duration, fluorinated products with various bulk stoichiometries were obtained from different polymer phases with the R-phase showing the highest fluorine uptake. At 250 °C, all C₆₀ polymers showed partial decomposition to unfluorinated C₆₀ monomer under fluorine atmosphere. At 200 °C, the fluorination of R-phase yielded a pure fluoropolymer most likely having a {C₆₀F_x}_n (x = 36-44) composition. The same fluoropolymer was presumably obtained from O- and T-phases in lower yields. The linear chain structure was suggested for this new fluorocarbon polymer in agreement with the molecular mechanics modeling calculations.     

Healing Effect of Controlled Anti‐Electromigration on Conventional and High‐Tc Superconducting Nanowires

The electromigration process has the potential capability to move atoms one by one when properly controlled. It is therefore an appealing tool to tune the cross section of monoatomic compounds with ultimate resolution or, in the case of polyatomic compounds, to change the stoichiometry with the same atomic precision. As demonstrated here, a combination of electromigration and anti‐electromigration can be used to reversibly displace atoms with a high degree of control. This enables a fine adjustment of the superconducting properties of Al weak links, whereas in Nb the diffusion of atoms leads to a more irreversible process. In a superconductor with a complex unit cell (La_2?x Ce_x CuO₄), the electromigration process acts selectively on the oxygen atoms with no apparent modification of the structure. This allows to adjust the doping of this compound and switch from a superconducting to an insulating state in a nearly reversible fashion. In addition, the conditions needed to replace feedback controlled electromigration by a simpler technique of electropulsing are discussed. These findings have a direct practical application as a method to explore the dependence of the characteristic parameters on the exact oxygen content and pave the way for a reversible control of local properties of nanowires.     

A linear algorithm for conformal 3D-to-flatness coordinates conversion

Data conversion from a 3D raster to spiral coordinates is the key function in the scanning process for Roll Powder Sintering (RPS) additive manufacturing technology. Conversion process is especially important, as it produces the basis for a processed object. There are many equations for such conformal transformation, but there is still room to improve the computation efficiency. This paper presents an efficient conversion algorithm, which processes 3D objects and linear transforming it into rolling ribbon. The new algorithm has several significant advantages over the old ones due to applying only one main linear equation. The program based on the linear algorithm is simpler, more compact and faster in comparison to other programs which use trigonometric, transcendental or other equations. The proposed algorithm has been developed and extensively tested on several parts of computer-aided design models for RPS processing.     

Behavioral adaptation of information systems through goal models

Customizing software to perfectly fit individual needs is becoming increasingly important in information systems engineering. Users want to be able to customize software behavior through reference to terms familiar to their diverse needs and experience. We present a requirements-driven approach to behavioral customization of software systems. Goal models are constructed to represent alternative behaviors that users can exhibit to achieve their goals. Customization information is then added to restrict the space of possibilities to those that fit specific users, contexts, or situations. Meanwhile, elements of the goal models are mapped to units of source code. This way, customization preferences posed at the requirements level are directly translated into system customizations. Our approach, which we apply to an on-line shopping cart system and an automated teller machine simulator, does not assume adoption of a particular development methodology, platform, or variability implementation technique and keeps the reasoning computation overhead from interfering with the execution of the configured application.     

A natural gas cash-out problem: A bilevel programming framework and a penalty function method

One of the many complex problems that arise from the transmission and marketing of natural gas is when a shipper draws a contract with a pipeline company to deliver a certain amount of gas among several points. What is actually delivered is often different from the amount that had been originally agreed upon. This phenomenon is called an imbalance. When an imbalance occurs, the pipeline penalizes the shipper by imposing a cash-out penalty policy. Since this penalty is a function of the operating daily imbalances, an important decision-making problem for the shippers is how to carry out their daily imbalances so as to minimize their incurred penalty. In this paper, we introduce the problem of minimizing the cash-out penalty costs from the point of view of a natural gas shipping party. We present a mixed integer bilevel linear programming model and discuss its underlying assumptions. To solve it efficiently, we reformulate it as a standard mathematical program and describe a penalty-function algorithm functions for its solution. The algorithm is well-founded and its convergence is proved. Results of numerical experiments support the algorithm’s robustness providing a valuable solution technique for this very important and complex problem in the natural gas market.     

Development of Measurement Facilities for Analyzing Petroleum Products

The question of developing measurement provisions for the parameters of petroleum products is considered. The main technical features of a KLAN-1 mobile laboratory unit for analyzing petroleum products intended for rapid analysis of fuel and lubricating materials in storage and on sale are provided.