Analysis of real-time properties and rules for setting protocol parameters of MAP networks

This paper reports on an evaluation of real-time properties of MAP (Manufacturing Automation Protocol) networks by analytical considerations and measurements. Based on a model of the time schedule of a communication cycle figures for response times (transport system) and message delays (MAC layer) are given. The influence of some options for handling acknowledgments within the transport layer is shown. The message delay at MAC layer is separated into an implementation-dependent and a protocol-dependent protion, and an upper bound is derived. Rules for selecting protocol parameters affecting real time behavior are given. Aspects for improved implementations of communication controllers for MAP networks are discussed.     

Choice between fixed and variable delays with different reward amounts.

Choice between a variable and a fixed food source was studied in pigeons. The variable source yielded different durations of access to food (changed across experimental conditions) uniquely associated with equiprobable delays of either 20 sec or 60 sec, timed from the choice point. A comparison, elapsing alternative (time-left procedure [J. Gibbon and R. M. Church; see PA, Vol 67:2812]), was associated with fixed access to feeder after a 60-sec delay, timed from the beginning of the trial. Preference was best characterized as reflecting an average of the 2 local rates of reinforcement in the variable alternative (the average of the ratio of each standard amount and its associated delay). The averaging rule characterized initial choice link data well, but terminal link responding showed that Ss also remembered the 2 delay–amount combinations separately. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

PSI’s 1 kW imaging furnace—A tool for high-temperature chemical reactivity studies

A new experiment has been installed to conduct studies at temperatures as high as 2500 K on chemical reactions that involve solids or melts and the release of condensable gases. The sample is radiatively heated by a 1 kW xenon short arc lamp placed in the upper focus of a vertically oriented ellipsoid of revolution. The optimal optical configuration has been determined by a Monte-Carlo Ray tracing method. Several methods to machine the reflector have been evaluated by experimentally determining the optical quality of the surface of plane test pieces. In the imaging furnace the sample is placed on a water-cooled support and heated by the concentrated radiation. This arrangement allows for fast heating and impedes the reaction of the sample with crucible material. A remotely controlled hammer allows for freezing the high-temperature composition of the sample by a fast quench. Thus, the sample can be later analyzed by conventional methods such as XRD or TEM. To allow for measurements under defined atmospheres and to protect the ellipsoidal reflector from liberated condensable products, the entire sample stage is enclosed by a hemispherical glass dome. The dome itself is protected from condensable compounds by a laminar flow of inert gas. Experiments with an incense cone at the place of the sample to visualize the gas flow showed that a steady layer of inert gas protects the dome from smoke, if the inert gas flow is properly adjusted. Measured peak flux densities clearly exceed 500 W cm⁻² required to access temperatures of at least 2500 K. Decomposition experiments on copper sulfides confirmed the operation of the furnace. In the near future flash assisted multi-wavelength pyrometry (FAMP) will be implemented to measure sample temperatures online. Though the imaging furnace was developed to study the decomposition of metal sulfides it is obviously suited to conduct high-temperature studies on most materials relevant for high-temperature solar technology.     

Machining of reproducible flaws corresponding to fatigue cracks for fracture mechanics tests of components and welded joints

In connection with the analysis and the development of failure concepts in fracture mechanics for quasistatic loaded components and elastic-plastic behaviour of the material, tests are also carried out with welded and/or complex shaped specimens or structures. Thereby the difficulty arises of generating reproducible flaws in the form of fatigue precracks in definite positions in the components, respectively in the welded joint. It is reported exemplarily about experiments on different CT25 and CCT specimens and on a pressure vessel which contained a fatigue pre-crack, a 0.2 mm saw cut or notches with notch root radius ≤ ≥ 0.1 mm as flaws. The comparison of the results with regard to J-integral at initiation of stable crack, J_i, and J_R curves shows that under certain conditions the 0.2 mm saw cut (notch root radius ≤ ≤ 0.02 mm) is a useful alternative, if reproducible generation of a fatigue pre-crack will not be successful or too expensive. The tests were carried out on StE 460 and on a welded joint of this steel at 25 ± 2°C.