An efficient assumed strain element model with six DOF per node for geometrically non-linear shells

The present paper describes an assumed strain finite element model with six degrees of freedom per node designed for geometrically non-linear shell analysis. An important feature of the present paper is the discussion on the spurious kinematic modes and the assumed strain field in the geometrically non-linear setting. The kinematics of deformation is described by using vector components in contrast to the conventional formulation which requires the use of trigonometric functions of rotational angles. Accordingly, converged solutions can be obtained for load or displacement increments that are much larger than possible with the conventional formulation with rotational angles. In addition, a detailed study of the spurious kinematic modes and the choice of assumed strain field reveals that the same assumed strain field can be used for both geometrically linear and non-linear cases to alleviate element locking while maintaining kinematic stability. It is strongly recommended that the element models, described in the present paper, be used instead of the conventional shell element models that employ rotational angles.     

The design of robots and intelligent manipulators using modern composite materials

The operating speed and endpoint positional accuracy of existing industrial manipulators are limited by the inertial and stiffness characteristics of the articulating members of the robot's mechanical linkage. This limitation may be overcome by developing members having high structural stiffness and strength with low mass, and this has been recognized for some time. These characteristics can be obtained by fabricating the moving members of manipulators in fiber reinforced composite materials. In order to establish a basis for the dynamic analysis of robots fabricated in viscoelastic composites, a variational theorem is developed herein. A preliminary comparative study is then undertaken for manipulators manufactured in a graphite-epoxy composite material and also steel in order to demonstrate some of the advantages to be accrued from this proposed new design philosophy.     

Ubiquitous Information Services with JAIN Platform

To provide responsive information services in a ubiquitous computing environment, service software and system development are indispensable. A component-based ubiquitous information system with a JAIN (Java APIs for Integrated Networks) platform to achieve seamless transmissions and reach-everywhere communications was designed in our research. In this development, numerous ubiquitous service modules were identified: location management, roaming, mobile IP and WAP networking. These component-based network modules were constructed using a component composition language with component specification and interface definition, running on top of a distributed service architecture using a JAIN platform to distribute the ubiquitous information services to mobile users. Two applications, Wireless-Application-Protocol (WAP) Mail and Video-on-Demand (VoD) services, show that the JAIN-like platform with the developed networking components effectively fills the gap for application developers between mobile appliances and various kinds of ubiquitous information services.     

Influence of nitrate, ascorbic acid, and nitrate reductase microorganisms on N-nitrosamine formation during Korean-style soysauce fermentation.

Traditional Korean soysauce samples were collected from households in Chinju, Gyeongnam, Korea and analysed for volatile N-nitrosamines. Five of 24 samples contained NDMA (range = 1.6-10.4 micrograms/l) which was the only volatile N-nitroso compound found. Soysauce made from well water contained NDMA more often (4 of 6 samples) than soysauce made from tap water (1 of 18). This suggests that the water source is a determinate in the NDMA content of soysauce, probably due to a higher nitrate content of well water. The source of salt used did not clearly influence NDMA content. Soysauce was prepared in the laboratory using traditional methods but with 0 to 400 mg/l nitrate and in some cases made 6.5 to 65 mM in ascorbic acid and fermented for 120 days. The NDMA content of the samples was positively correlated with increasing nitrate concentration. Nitrate at 400 mg/l resulted in an NDMA content of 203 micrograms/l. Ascorbic acid substantially inhibited NDMA formation. All samples contained large numbers of nitrate reductase-containing organisms (greater than 1 x 10(7) CFU/ml).     

Pseudorandomness of Basic Structures in the Block Cipher KASUMI

The notion of pseudorandomness is the theoretical foundation on which to consider the soundness of a basic structure used in some block ciphers. We examine the pseudorandomness of the block cipher KASUMI, which will be used in the next‐generation cellular phones. First, we prove that the four‐round unbalanced MISTY‐type transformation is pseudorandom in order to illustrate the pseudorandomness of the inside round function FI of KASUMI under an adaptive distinguisher model. Second, we show that the three‐round KASUMI‐like structure is not pseudorandom but the four‐round KASUMI‐like structure is pseudorandom under a non‐adaptive distinguisher model.     

New approach to enhance adhesions between carbon nanotube emitters and substrate by the combination of electrophoresis and successive electroplating

Complementary electroplating combined with electrophoresis enhanced the field emission characteristics of emitters by improving the adhesions between CNT emitters and substrate. The emitting current of the CNT emitters prepared by our combined method increased nine times higher than that of CNT emitters prepared by electrophoresis only, since electroplating improved the adhesion of CNT emitters. During the life-time measurement for 10 h, the emitting current of CNT emitters fabricated by electrophoresis only was drastically decreased to 13% of the initial current, while that prepared by the combination of electrophoresis and successive electroplating decreased to 64% of the initial current. We suggest that our method is a promising approach for the efficient fabrication of reliable CNT emitters.     

Porosity distribution in highly compressible cake: Experimental and theoretical verification of the dense skin

The rate of filtration and the water content of cake are influenced by the existence of a dense skin in a highly compressible cake. The phenomenon of the dense skin has been rarely studied, and its existence has not been verified experimentally. In this study, the porosity variation in a very compressible cake is measured by using a new experimental apparatus, and with this the existence of dense skin has been established experimentally. ‘Unified theory on solid-liquid separation’, a recently developed theory, is utilized for calculating the porosity variation in a very compressible cake.     

A 6 GHz 68 mW BiCMOS phase-locked loop

The design of a 6 GHz fully monolithic phase-locked loop fabricated in a 1 μm, 20 GHz BiCMOS technology is described. The circuit incorporates a voltage-controlled oscillator that senses and combines the transitions in a ring oscillator to achieve a period equal to two ECL gate delays. A mixer topology is also used that exhibits full symmetry with respect to its inputs and operates with supply voltages as low as 1.5 V. Dissipating 60 mW from a 2 V supply, the circuit has a tracking range of 300 MHz, an rms jitter of 3.1 ps, and phase noise of -75 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz offset