An approximate analysis of the effect of micro fractures on the caustic of a dynamically moving crack tip

The optical recording of the conditions at the tips of dynamically moving cracks is often associated with a wave pattern which arises from what we call here radial waves. This observation is prevalent for tough solids, especially when the observation tools involve surface deformations such as the caustic method. These waves can modify the caustic shape and size and thus influence the interpretation of measurements. The quantification of the sources of these waves poses a very difficult problem so that a precise evaluation of that phenomenon is not yet possible. However, in an attempt to better understand the limitation imposed on the method of caustics by this set of waves this paper analyzes primarily the change of shape in the caustic associated with the passage of radial waves over the region of the initial curve of the caustic. The analysis is approximate in that the radial waves are assumed to be insensitive to the presence of the crack surfaces, but otherwise accounts for the three dimensional character of wave propagation in a plate of finite thickness.

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Résumé On associe souvent l'enregistrement optique des conditions présentes à l'extrémité de fissures en cours de propagation spectaculaire, à une disposition ondulée, due à ce que l'on dénomme ici des ondes radiales. L'observation vaut surtout pour les corps à haute ténacité, et en particulier lorsque les méthodes d'observation tiennent compte des déformations de surface, comme la méthode des caustiques. Les ondes radiales peuvent altérer la forme et la dimension d'une caustique, et, de ce fait, influencer l'interprétation des mesures. Une évaluation précise de ce phénomène n'est pas encore possible, car la quantification des sources de ces ondes pose un problème trés délicat. Néanmoins, en vue de mieux comprendre les limites qu'impose à la méthode des caustiques la formation de ces ondes, on a analysé essentiellement le changement de forme de la caustique lorsque se développent des ondes radiales sur la région couverte par la courbe originale de la caustique. On procède à une approximation dans la mesure où on suppose que les ondes radiales sont insensibles à la présence des surfaces de la fissure, mais prennent par ailleurs en considération le caractère tridimensionnel de la propagation d'une fissure dans une plaque d'épaisseur finie.

     

Optimization of A-TIG process parameters using response surface methodology

In the present work, the influence of process parameters such as welding current (I), welding speed (S), and flux coating density (F) on different aspects of weld bead geometry for example depth of penetration (DOP), bead width (BW), depth to width ratio (D/W), and weld fusion zone area (WA) were investigated by using the central composite design (CCD). 9–12% Cr ferritic stainless steel (FSS) plates were welded using A-TIG welding. It was observed that all input variables have a direct influence on the DOP, BW, and D/W. However, flux coating density has no significant effect on WA. Mathematical models were generated from the obtained responses to predict the weld bead geometry. An optimized DOP, BW, D/W, and WA of 6.95?mm, 8.76?mm, 0.80, and 41.99?mm², respectively, were predicted at the welding current of 213.78 A, the welding speed of 96.22?mm/min, and the flux coating density of 1.99?mg/cm². Conformity test was done to check the practicability of the developed models. The conformity test results were in good agreement with the predicted values. Arc constriction and reversal in Marangoni convection were considered as major mechanisms for the deep and narrow weld bead during A-TIG welding.     

Structural and Spectroscopic Studies of Sm3+/CdS Nanocrystallites in Sol–Gel TiO2-ZrO2 Matrix

A sol–gel method was used to prepare titania-zirconia matrices doped with Sm³⁺/CdS nanocrystallites. The structural properties of the matrices were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy studies. The thermal stability of the material was determined by TGA/DTA analysis. The absorption spectrum shows the characteristic peaks of the Sm³⁺ ions and the absorption peak corresponding to the CdS nanocrystallites. The optical bandgap and size of the CdS nanoparticles were calculated from the absorption spectrum. From TEM, the interplanar distance (d) was estimated to be 3.533 Å, which matches with the (1 0 0) plane of bulk CdS. The measurements yield a nanocrystallite size of around 7.8 nm. The optical absorption and emission spectra confirmed the formation of CdS nanoparticles along with samarium ions in the titania-zirconia matrices. The fluorescence intensity of the samarium ions was found to be greatly enhanced by codoping with CdS nanocrystallites.     

Dual frequency miniature microstrip antenna

A single-feed dual frequency compact microstrip antenna with a shorting pin is described. This new antenna configuration gives a large variation in frequency ratio of the two operating frequencies, without increasing the overall size of the antenna     

Achieving near-optimum asymptotic efficiency and fading resistanceover the time-varying Rayleigh-faded CDMA channel

We study multiuser receiver design and analysis for synchronous code-division multiple-access (CDMA) channels with time-varying Rayleigh fading. Starting from an error probability criterion, we first derive a near-optimum receiver for this channel that admits a detector-estimator decomposition, has certain asymptotic optimality properties and a complexity which is independent of the length of the observation interval. The performance of this detector is analytically characterized and contrasted with that of the optimal multiuser detector for the time-invariant (or static) CDMA Rayleigh-fading channel when it is implemented over the time-varying channel. Notable among our conclusions is the fact that, unlike the static channel multiuser detector, the time-varying channel detector is able to withstand not only the estimated interference from the other system users, but also, the residual interference (that cannot be estimated) arising out of imperfect estimation of the interferer fading parameters. Using estimation error covariance information, this detector shows flexibility in accommodating a wide range of interferer fading conditions     

Turbo equalization of serially concatenated turbo codes using a predictive DFE-based receiver

This paper investigates the performance of various “turbo” receivers for serially concatenated turbo codes transmitted through intersymbol interference (ISI) channels. Both the inner and outer codes are assumed to be recursive systematic convolutional (RSC) codes. The optimum turbo receiver consists of an (inner) channel maximum a posteriori (MAP) decoder and a MAP decoder for the outer code. The channel MAP decoder operates on a “supertrellis” which incorporates the channel trellis and the trellis for the inner error-correcting code. This is referred to as the MAP receiver employing a SuperTrellis (STMAP). Since the complexity of the supertrellis in the STMAP receiver increases exponentially with the channel length, we propose a simpler but suboptimal receiver that employs the predictive decision feedback equalizer (PDFE). The key idea in this paper is to have the feedforward part of the PDFE outside the iterative loop and incorporate only the feedback part inside the loop. We refer to this receiver as the PDFE-STMAP. The complexity of the supertrellis in the PDFE-STMAP receiver depends on the inner code and the length of the feedback part. Investigations with Proakis B, Proakis C (both channels have spectral nulls with all zeros on the unit circle and hence cannot be converted to a minimum phase channel) and a minimum phase channel reveal that at most two feedback taps are sufficient to get the best performance. A reduced-state STMAP (RS-STMAP) receiver is also derived which employs a smaller supertrellis at the cost of performance.     

Efficient Hybrid Linear Massive MIMO Detector Using Gauss–Seidel And Successive Over-Relaxation

The initial solution of a massive multiple-input multiple-output (M-MIMO) detector for uplink (UL) is greatly influence the balance between the bit error rate (BER) performance and the computational complexity. Although the maximum likelihood (ML) detector obtains the best BER performance, it has an extremely high computational complexity. Iterative linear minimum mean square error (MMSE) detector based on the Gauss–Seidel (GS), the successive over-relaxation (SOR), and the Jacobi (JA), obtains a good performance-complexity profile when the base station (BS)-to-user-antenna-ratio (BUAR) is large. However, when the BUAR is small, the system suffers from a considerable performance loss. In this paper, a hybrid detector based on the joint GS and SOR methods is proposed where the initial solution is determined by the first iteration of GS method. Numerical results show a considerable complexity reduction and performance enhancement using the proposed GS-SOR method over all methods when the BUAR is small.

     

Frequency tunable metallo-dielectric structure for backscattering reduction

Electromagnetic scattering behaviour of a superstrate loaded metallo-dielectric structure based on Sierpinski carpet fractal geometry is reported. The results indicate that the frequency at which backscattering is minimum can be tuned by varying the thickness of the superstrate. A reduction in backscattered power of /spl sim/44 dB is obtained simultaneously for both TE and TM polarisations of the incident field.     

Effect of External Viscous Load on Head Movement

Quantitative measurements of horizontal head rotation were obtained from normal human subjects intending to make "time optimal" trajectories between targets. By mounting large, lightweight vanes on the head, viscous damping B, up to 15 times normal could be added to the usual mechanical load of the head.