Conceptual design of a high-efficiency absorption cooling cycle

The search for high-efficiency, gas-fired cooling cycles has led to the development of dual-loop absorption machines with cooling coefficients of performance (COPs) in the 1.2 to 1.7 range. This increased performance may call for high generator temperatures, new working fluids or new materials of construction. In most cases, two different sets of working fluids are required. The conceptual design presented here is aimed at obtaining high efficiencies with relatively low temperatures, employing only one set of fluids. The concept consists of two loops coupled in a configuration aimed at minimizing the loss of thermodynamic availability incurred when transferring refrigerant between the loops. The working fluid pair is a solution of lithium bromide-water. The calculated COPs are of the order of 1.8. The cycle relies on an elaborate evaporator-absorber combination. The paper presents the conceptual design, the critical assumptions, and the performance calculations for the concept.     

石英真空计的设计

本文提出一种用特性曲线设计石英真空计的方法.实验发现,在一定的条件下,与石英晶振串接的电阻尺上的电压UBC与气体压强P有一定的函数关系.这个电压UBC经过放大、检波与调节后的读数V与气体压强P的关系V-P曲线称特性曲线.实验证明该曲线具有很好的稳定性和重复性.用该曲线可以测量气体压强.     

Pulse amplification of a single-frequency cr:forsterite laser

Stable single-longitudinal-mode operation of a tunable gain-switched Cr:forsterite oscillator-amplifier system is reported. A novel coupled-cavity oscillator configuration provides a low-threshold fluence of 0.3 J cm(-2), making the system attractive for laser media with low gain or high parasitic loss. Nearly transform-limited pulses with instrument-limited bandwidths of 150 MHz have been obtained across a 100-nm wavelength range, limited by the cavity optics. A range of forsterite crystals with Cr(4+) concentration in the 3-21 x 10(18)-cm(-3) range has been used for investigation of amplifier performance in single- and double-pass configurations.     

Optimization of a chirped-pulse amplification Nd:glass laser

To allow us to achieve the highest focused intensity from a chirped-pulse amplification Nd:glass laser, a number of features of the system have been considered and optimized. These include the compressor geometry, the system aberrations, and the use of mixed glasses in the amplifier chain. Calculations for the laser with a single- or double-pass pulse compressor with 450-mm gratings are presented. These indicate that, for single pass, a reduction in pulse duration from 380 to 237 fs is possible when a phosphate is changed to a mixed phosphate-silicate glass system, and there is a corresponding increase of 44% in peak intensity at beam focus.     

High-power dye laser using steady-state amplification with chirped pulses

Steady-state chirped-pulse amplification was applied to a five-stage dye amplifier system to extract available energy over the full gain duration and at the same time suppress the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). An output energy of 41 mJ was generated with 1.4-ns chirped pulses having an ASE of 3% and a pumping efficiency of 8.8% for the final amplifier. After five-stage amplification these pulses were compressed to 320 fs FWHM.     

Conceptual design of carbon nanotube processes

Carbon nanotubes, discovered in 1991, are a new form of pure carbon that is perfectly straight tubules with diameter in nanometers, length in microns. The conceptual designs of two processes are described for the industrial-scale production of carbon nanotubes that are based on available laboratory synthesis techniques and purification methods. Two laboratory-scale catalytic chemical vapor deposition reactors were selected for the conceptual design. One (CNT-PFR process) used the high-pressure carbon monoxide disproportionation reaction over iron catalytic particle clusters (HiPCO reactor), and the other (CNT-FBR process) used catalytic disproportionation of carbon monoxide over a silica supported cobalt–molybdenum catalyst (CoMoCAT reactor). Purification of the carbon nanotube product used a multi-step approach: oxidation, acid treatment, filtration and drying. Profitability analysis showed that both process designs were economically feasible. For the CNT-PFR process, the net present value, based on a minimum attractive rate of return of 25% and an economic life of 10 years, was $609 million, the rate of return was 37.4% and the economic price was $38 per kg of carbon nanotube. For the CNT-FBR process, the net present value was $753 million, rate of return was 48.2% and the economic price was $25 per kg of carbon nanotube. The economic price for these processes is an order of magnitude less than the prevalent market price of carbon nanotubes and is comparable to the price of carbon fibers.     

Alignment of a tiled-grating compressor in a high-power chirped-pulse amplification laser system

We present a novel technique to align a tiled grating in all five relevant degrees of freedom utilized in the compressor of the high-power chirped-pulse amplification laser system POLARIS at the Institute for Optics and Quantum Electronics, Jena, Germany. With this technique, alignment errors of the two gratings with respect to each other can be detected with an accuracy of 1 microrad for the rotational and 40 nm for the translational degrees of freedom. This is well sufficient to recompress 1030 nm pulses, which were stretched to 2.2 ns before amplification, to their bandwith limit of 150 fs.     

Development of a chirped pulse amplification laser with zigzag slab Nd:glass amplifiers dedicated to x-ray laser research

A chirped pulse amplification laser with zigzag slab Nd:glass amplifiers dedicated to x-ray laser research is described. The laser provides a 1.6 ps duration pulse with approximately 7 J energy at a repetition rate of 0.1 Hz. In the power amplifier system, laser light is amplified in a two-step manner: The first step is image-relayed multipass amplification up to approximately 1 J with a 10 mm x 10 mm beam. The second step is double-pass amplification up to >10 J with a 10 mm x 90 mm beam. By using this laser system, the saturated amplification of the Ni-like Ag laser at a wavelength of 13.9 nm has been successfully demonstrated.     

A hybrid VNS-HS algorithm for a supply chain scheduling problem with deteriorating jobs

This paper investigates a coordinated scheduling problem in a two stage supply chain where parallel-batching machine, deteriorating jobs and transportation coordination are considered simultaneously. During the production stage, jobs are processed by suppliers and there exists one parallel-batching machine in each supplier. The actual processing time of a job depends on its starting time and normal processing time. The normal processing time of a batch is equal to the largest normal processing time among all jobs in its batch. During the transportation stage, the jobs are then delivered to the manufacturer. Since suppliers are distributed in different locations, the transportation time between each supplier and the manufacturer is different. Based on some structural properties of the studied problem, an optimal algorithm for minimising makespan on a single supplier is presented. This supply chain scheduling problem is proved to be NP-hard, and a hybrid VNS-HS algorithm combining variable neighbourhood search (VNS) with harmony search (HS) is proposed to find a good solution in reasonable time. Finally, some computational experiments are conducted and the results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed VNS-HS.     

Single-frequency pulsed laser source with hybrid MOPA configuration

A unique approach with a hybrid master oscillator power amplifier configuration to obtain single-frequency, high-energy laser pulses at 1064 nm is presented. The setup consists of a single-frequency seed laser, a multistage fiber amplifier, and a four-pass crystal rod amplifier. Pulse energy of 10 mJ is obtained at the repetition rate of 100 Hz. The pulse width is about 110 ns with a transform-limited linewidth of 3.2 MHz. The M(2) factor of the output beam is about 1.5. To our knowledge, this is the first report of using a hybrid amplifier to obtain 10 mJ pulses with long pulse width and transform-limited linewidth.     

Multi-level supply chain network design with routing

Recently, the multi-level and multi-facility industrial problem in supply chain management (SCM) has been widely investigated. One of the key issues, central to this problem in the current SCM research area is the interdependence among the location of facilities, the allocation of facilities, and the vehicle routing for the supply of raw materials and products. This paper studies the supply chain network design problem, which involves the location of facilities, allocation of facilities, and routing decisions. The proposed problem has some practical applications. For example, it is necessary for third party logistics (3PL) companies to manage the design of the network and to operate vehicle transportation. The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal location, allocation, and routing with minimum cost to the supply chain network. The study proposes two mixed integer programming models, one without routing and one with routing, and a heuristic algorithm based on LP-relaxation in order to solve the model with routing. The results show that a developed heuristic algorithm is able to find a good solution in a reasonable time.     

考虑混合约束的柔顺机构拓扑优化设计

为了满足制造工艺和静强度要求,提出一种综合考虑最小尺寸控制和应力约束的柔顺机构混合约束拓扑优化设计方法。采用改进的固体各向同性材料插值模型描述材料分布,利用多相映射方法同时控制实相和空相材料结构的最小尺寸,采用最大近似函数P范数求解机构的最大应力,以机构的输出位移最大化作为目标函数,综合考虑最小特征尺寸控制和应力约束建立柔顺机构混合约束拓扑优化数学模型,利用移动渐近算法求解柔顺机构混合约束拓扑优化问题。数值算例结果表明,混合约束拓扑优化获得的柔顺机构能够同时满足最小尺寸制造约束和静强度要求,机构的von Mises等效应力分布更加均匀。     

考虑混合约束的柔顺机构拓扑优化设计

为了满足制造工艺和静强度要求,提出一种综合考虑最小尺寸控制和应力约束的柔顺机构混合约束拓扑优化设计方法。采用改进的固体各向同性材料插值模型描述材料分布,利用多相映射方法同时控制实相和空相材料结构的最小尺寸,采用最大近似函数P范数求解机构的最大应力,以机构的输出位移最大化作为目标函数,综合考虑最小特征尺寸控制和应力约束建立柔顺机构混合约束拓扑优化数学模型,利用移动渐近算法求解柔顺机构混合约束拓扑优化问题。数值算例结果表明,混合约束拓扑优化获得的柔顺机构能够同时满足最小尺寸制造约束和静强度要求,机构的von Mises等效应力分布更加均匀。     

Development and applications of a compact hybrid tabletop terawatt chirped-pulse amplification Ti:sapphire-Nd:glass laser for x-ray lasing and harmonic generation

A hybrid tabletop (2 m x 3 m) terawatt chirped-pulse amplification Ti:sapphire-Nd:glass laser (1054 nm, 475 fs, 500 mJ, 9 x 10(17) W cm(-2)) has been developed for laser-matter experiments. An overall gain factor of 10(10) was achieved for the laser. The results of laser applications in the studies of soft-x-ray Ni-like Mo 18.9-nm lasing and of harmonic generation from solid surfaces are presented.     

Supply chain network design with unreliable suppliers: a Lagrangian relaxation-based approach

This paper deals with the integrated facility location and supplier selection decisions for the design of supply chain network with reliable and unreliable suppliers. Two problems are addressed: (1) facility location/supplier selection; and (2) facility location/supplier reliability. We first consider the facility location and supplier selections problem where all the suppliers are reliable. The decisions concern the selection of suppliers, the location of distribution centres (DCs), the allocation of suppliers to DCs and the allocation of retailers to DCs. The objective is to minimise fixed DCs location costs, inventory and safety stock costs at the DCs and ordering costs and transportation costs across the network. The introduction of inventory costs and safety stock costs leads to a non-linear NP-hard optimisation problem. To solve this problem, a Lagrangian relaxation-based approach is developed. For the second problem, a two-period decision model is proposed in which selected suppliers are reliable in the first period and can fail in the second period. The corresponding facility location/supplier reliability problem is formulated as a non-linear stochastic programming problem. A Monte Carlo optimisation approach combining the sample average approximation scheme and the Lagrangian relaxation-based approach is proposed. Computational results are presented to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed approaches.     

Development of a hybrid fresh food supply chain risk assessment model

Supply chain managers and scholars recognise the importance of managing supply chain risk, especially in fresh food supply chain due to the perishable nature and short life cycle of products. Supply chain risk management consists of supply chain risk assessment, risk evaluation and formulation and implementation of effective risk response strategies. The commonly adopted qualitative methods such as risk assessment matrix to determine the level of risk have limitations. This paper proposes a hybrid model comprising both fuzzy logic (FL) and hierarchical holographic modelling (HHM) techniques where risk is first identified by the HHM method and then assessed using both qualitative risk assessment model (named risk filtering, ranking and management Framework) and fuzzy-based risk assessment method (named FL approach). The risk assessment results by the two different approaches are compared, and the overall risk level of each risk is calculated using the Root Mean Square calculation before identifying response strategies. This novel approach takes advantage of the benefits of both techniques and offsets their drawbacks in certain aspects. A case study in a fresh food supply chain company has been conducted in order to validate the proposed integrated approach on the feasibility of its functionality in a real environment.     

Operational stabilization of a high-power ultrashort dye oscillator-amplifiers laser chain

Stable operation of a high-power ultrashort dye laser chain is achieved with an inexpensive heating technique. The femtosecond oscillator and its pumping laser are separately covered with boxes to isolate them from external temperature fluctuations. Both laser-isolating boxes are lined with a heating pellicle that permanently and uniformly warms the lasers to preset operating temperatures. The power, spectrum, and duration of the laser-chain output pulse remain constant from day to day. This technique could be applied to other ultrafast laser devices that require long-term performance stability.     

Optimization of deep penetration laser welding of thick stainless steel with a 10 kW fiber laser

Deep penetration laser welding of 12 mm thick stainless steel plates was conducted using a 10 kW high-power fiber laser. The effect of the processing parameters on the weld bead geometry was examined, and the microstructure and mechanical properties of the optimal joint were investigated. The results show that the focal position is a key parameter in high-power fiber laser welding of thick plates. There is a critical range of welding speed for achieving good full penetration joint. The type of top shielding gas influences the weld depth. The application of a bottom shielding gas improves the stability of the entire welding process and yields good weld appearances at both the top and bottom surfaces. The maximum tensile stress of the joint is 809 MPa. The joint fails at the base metal far from the weld seam with a typical cup–cone-shaped fracture surface. The excellent welding appearance and mechanical properties indicate that high-power fiber laser welding of a 304 stainless steel thick plate is feasible.