Optimum design parameters of a squash head projectile

This note first establishes a correlation between post impact fuze delay and the spread of explosives of a squash head gun-fired projectile when hitting a rigid non-yielding plate. Estimations of optimum strike velocity and fuze delay to maximize spread are derived.     

Compiler-directed scratch pad memory optimization for embedded multiprocessors

This paper presents a compiler strategy to optimize data accesses in regular array-intensive applications running on embedded multiprocessor environments. Specifically, we propose an optimization algorithm that targets at reducing extra off-chip memory accesses caused by interprocessor communication. This is achieved by increasing the application-wide reuse of data that resides in scratch-pad memories of processors. Our results obtained using four array-intensive image processing applications indicate that exploiting interprocessor data sharing can reduce energy-delay product significantly on a four-processor embedded system.     

Corrosion-induced bond strength degradation in reinforced concrete—Analytical and empirical models

The present paper aims to investigate the relationship between the bond strength and the reinforcement corrosion in reinforced concrete (RC). Analytical and empirical models are proposed for the bond strength of corroded reinforcing bars. Analytical model proposed by Cairns.and Abdullah [Cairns, J., Abdullah, R.B., 1996. Bond strength of black and epoxy-coated reinforcement—a theoretical approach. ACI Mater. J. 93 (4), 362–369] for splitting bond failure and later modified by Coronelli [Coronelli, D. 2002. Corrosion cracking and bond strength modeling for corroded bars in reinforced concrete. ACI Struct. J. 99 (3), 267–276] to consider the corroded bars, has been adopted. Estimation of the various parameters in the earlier analytical model has been proposed by the present authors. These parameters include corrosion pressure due to expansive action of corrosion products, modeling of tensile behaviour of cracked concrete and adhesion and friction coefficient between the corroded bar and cracked concrete. Simple empirical models are also proposed to evaluate the reduction in bond strength as a function of reinforcement corrosion in RC specimens. These empirical models are proposed by considering a wide range of published experimental investigations related to the bond degradation in RC specimens due to reinforcement corrosion. It has been found that the proposed analytical and empirical bond models are capable of providing the estimates of predicted bond strength of corroded reinforcement that are in reasonably good agreement with the experimentally observed values and with those of the other reported published data on analytical and empirical predictions. An attempt has also been made to evaluate the flexural strength of RC beams with corroded reinforcement failing in bond. It has also been found that the analytical predictions for the flexural strength of RC beams based on the proposed bond degradation models are in agreement with those of the experimentally observed and the empirically predicted values of the reported published data (Mangat, P.S., Elgarf, M.S. 1999a. Flexural strength of concrete beams with corroding reinforcement. ACI Struct. J. 96 (1), 149–158).     

Development of a slurry injection technique for continuous fibre ultra-high temperature ceramic matrix composites

A simple and effective slurry injection method for producing dense and uniform ultra-high ceramic matrix composites from preforms of high fibre density was developed. As this method is based on slurry injection the homogeneity is not constrained to small preform sizes; dense components of high fibre volume can be produced in theoretically any size and shape. Samples produced by this method demonstrated high and consistent densities, with the injection method obtaining densities an average 27% higher and 87% lower in variability when compared to conventional vacuum impregnation. Tomography demonstrated no bias in the ceramic powder distribution for samples produced by injection, whereas samples produced by vacuum impregnation alone displayed poor powder penetration to the centre of large samples. The new approach yielded composites that were as strong and/or more consistent in strength compared to vacuum impregnation. Thermo-ablative testing demonstrated significant improvements in protective capability for materials produced by this route.     

Dual rotating compensator ellipsometry: Theory and simulations

Systematic methods for data reduction have been developed for the dual rotating-compensator ellipsometer in the PC_1r(ω₁)SC_2r(ω₂)A configuration, where P, C_1r(ω₁), S, C_2r(ω₂), and A represent the polarizer, first rotating compensator, reflecting sample, second rotating compensator, and analyzer, respectively. The approach used here is more general than previous treatments in that it incorporates dichroic compensators that rotate synchronously at a frequency ratio ω₁:ω₂ of p:q, where p and q are integers. For specific frequency ratios, the 24 ac Fourier coefficients of the irradiance waveform at the detector over-determine the 15 real elements of the (1,1)-normalized Mueller matrix and the 3 complex elements of the (2,2)-normalized Jones matrix. Alternative data reduction approaches resulting from this capability of over-determination are shown through numerical simulations to have different performance characteristics under non-ideal experimental conditions. Finally, the importance of using an achromatic retarder design in the dual rotating-compensator ellipsometer is emphasized through these simulations.     

Compilation and Communication Strategies for Out-of-Core Programs on Distributed Memory Machines

It is widely acknowledged that improving parallel I/O performance is critical for widespread adoption of high performance computing. In this paper, we show that communication in out-of-core distributed memory problems may require both interprocessor communication and file I/O. Thus, in order to improve I/O performance, it is necessary to minimize the I/O costs associated with a communication step. We present three methods for performing communication in out-of-core distributed memory problems. The first method, called thegeneralized collective communicationmethod, follows a loosely synchronous model; computation and communication phases are clearly separated, and communication requires permutation of data in files. The second method, called thereceiver-driven in-core communication, communicates only the in-core data. The third method, called theowner-driven in-core communication, goes even one step further and tries to identify the potential future use of data (by the recipients) while it is in the senders memory. We provide performance results for two out-of-core applications: the two-dimensional FFT code, and the two-dimensional elliptic Jacobi solver.     

Efficient algorithms for array redistribution

Dynamic redistribution of arrays is required very often in programs on distributed presents efficient algorithms for redistribution between different cyclic(k) distributions, as defined in High Performance Fortran. We first propose special optimized algorithms for a cyclic(x) to cyclic(y) redistribution when x is a multiple of y, or y is a multiple of x. We then propose two algorithms, called the GCD method and the LCM method, for the general cyclic(x) to cyclic(y) redistribution when there is no particular relation between x and y. We have implemented these algorithms on the Intel Touchstone Delta, and find that they perform well for different array sizes and number of processors     

Scaling method for fast Monte Carlo simulation of diffuse reflectance spectra from multilayered turbid media

A scaling Monte Carlo method has been developed to calculate diffuse reflectance from multilayered media with a wide range of optical properties in the ultraviolet-visible wavelength range. This multilayered scaling method employs the photon trajectory information generated from a single baseline Monte Carlo simulation of a homogeneous medium to scale the exit distance and exit weight of photons for a new set of optical properties in the multilayered medium. The scaling method is particularly suited to simulating diffuse reflectance spectra or creating a Monte Carlo database to extract optical properties of layered media, both of which are demonstrated in this paper. Particularly, it was found that the root-mean-square error (RMSE) between scaled diffuse reflectance, for which the anisotropy factor and refractive index in the baseline simulation were, respectively, 0.9 and 1.338, and independently simulated diffuse reflectance was less than or equal to 5% for source-detector separations from 200 to 1500 microm when the anisotropy factor of the top layer in a two-layered epithelial tissue model was varied from 0.8 to 0.99; in contrast, the RMSE was always less than 5% for all separations (from 0 to 1500 microm) when the anisotropy factor of the bottom layer was varied from 0.7 to 0.99. When the refractive index of either layer in the two-layered tissue model was varied from 1.3 to 1.4, the RMSE was less than 10%. The scaling method can reduce computation time by more than 2 orders of magnitude compared with independent Monte Carlo simulations.     

Use of genetic algorithms to optimize fiber optic probe design for the extraction of tissue optical properties

This paper outlines a framework by which the optimal illumination/collection geometry can be identified for a particular biomedical application. In this paper, this framework was used to identify the optimal probe geometry for the accurate determination of tissue optical properties representative of that in the ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectral range. An optimal probe geometry was identified which consisted of a single illumination and two collection fibers, one of which is insensitive to changes in scattering properties, and the other is insensitive to changes in the attenuation coefficient. Using this probe geometry in conjunction with a neural network algorithm, the optical properties could be extracted with root-mean-square errors of 0.30 cm(-1) for the reduced scattering coefficient (tested range of 3-40 cm(-1)), and 0.41 cm(-1) for the absorption coefficient (tested range of 0-80 cm(-1)).     

Biocidal activities of monochlorotriazine-β-cyclodextrine with MgO modified cellulosic fabrics

Modification of cellulosic fabric was carried out using the eco-friendly (MCT-β-CD) polymer via pad-dry-cure method. These polymer solutions were cross-linked with cellulose, using citric acid as cross linker. A cost-effective synthesis of magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles was prepared by the sol-gel method. The unmodified and modified cellulose fabrics were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and SEM with EDX analysis. The biocidal activities of unmodified and modified cellulose were measured by agar diffusion method for some species of microorganisms, including Staphylococcus aureus (gram-positive), Escherichia coli (gram-negative), Candida albicans (gram-positive) and Aspergillus niger (gram-negative), respectively. The modified cellulose has been improved antimicrobial efficiency for kid’s clothes, inner wear, sportswear and medical bandage cloths.