Bonded versus unbonded strip fiber reinforced elastomeric isolators: Finite element analysis

This paper presents a finite element (FE) model for the analysis of strip fiber reinforced elastomeric isolators (FREIs) that are subjected to any given combination of static vertical and lateral loads. The model is able to simulate both bonded and unbonded boundary conditions at the top and bottom contact surfaces of the isolator. Compared to bonded (B)-FREIs, the FE-analysis of stable unbonded (SU)-FREIs presents additional analysis challenges. SU-FREI refers to unbonded FREIs that exhibit stable rollover deformation under lateral loads. Additional analysis challenges are attributed to changes in the boundary conditions of SU-FREI as a result of rollover type deformation. To address these challenges, the utilized FE-mesh is updated during analysis consistent with the deformed geometry of the isolator. Using the proposed FE-model, the lateral responses of a B-FREI and a SU-FREI were evaluated. Both isolators had the same material and geometrical properties and were subjected to identical constant vertical loading. Comparing the lateral responses, it was found that the SU-FREI was considerably more efficient than the B-FREI as a seismic isolator. In addition, the in-service stress demands on the SU-FREI were found to be significantly lower than the B-FREI.     

Theory of fire and fire processes

There are two major fire processes, an understanding of which is essential for effective fire safety design: (1) the conditions under which a combustible material may become involved in flaming combustion, and (2) the rate at which such a material, once involved, will provide an output of heat, smoke, toxic gases, etc., which can endanger people and property. The first process may be regarded as covering both ignition and spread of fire on materials; its complement is the way in which fire may become extinguished. It is necessary for such processes to bring in a characteristic of the basic combustion reaction which, directly or indirectly, expresses the reactivity of the combustion process. Thus pilot ignition is usually associated with an approximate surface fuel temperature. More basically, it is associated with a critical flow rate of volatiles and a critical heat loss from the flame, the latter being influenced by ambient oxygen and temperatures conditions as well as heat lost and gained by the fuel itself. The most important factor governing the production of dangerous product is the rate at which volatiles first (fuel controlled fires) and later air (air controlled fires) are fed into the flames. The reactivity is of less importance, although it may be one of the factors which control combustion efficiency. In general, the more efficient is the combustion the more heat is produced, but the less smoke and toxic gases are produced. Some of the main advances in the above areas are reviewed in this paper.     

Effects of changes in three catalytic residues on the relative stabilities of some of the intermediates and transition states in the citrate synthase reaction

This work reports the relative importance of the interactions provided by three catalytic residues to individual steps in the mechanism of citrate synthase. When the side chains of any of the residues (H320, D375, and H274) are mutated, the data indicate that they are involved in the stabilization of one or more of the transition/intermediate states in the multistep citrate synthase reaction. H320 forms a hydrogen bond with the carbonyl of oxaloacetate and the alcohols of the citryl-coenzyme A and citrate products. Enzymes substituted at H320 (Q, G, N, and R) have reaction profiles for which the condensation reaction is cleanly rate determining. None of these mutants can activate the carbonyl of oxaloacetate by polarization. All these mutants catalyze the necessary proton transfer from the methyl group of acetyl-coenzyme A only poorly, a process which occurs in a structurally separate site. Furthermore, all H320 mutants hydrolyze the citryl-coenzyme A intermediate significantly more slowly than does the wild-type. D375 is the base removing the proton of acetyl-coenzyme A. D375E and D375G have greatly diminished ability to catalyze proton transfer from acetyl-CoA. The D375 mutants polarize the oxaloacetate carbonyl as well as wild-type. For D375E, the hydrolysis of citryl-CoA is rate determining. D375G, having no side chain capable of acid-base chemistry in either the condensation or hydrolysis reactions is nearly completely devoid of activity in any of the reactions catalyzed by the wild-type. H274 hydrogen bonds to the carbonyl of acetyl-coenzyme A but also forms the back wall of the oxaloacetate-binding site. H274G cannot properly activate either oxaloacetate or acetyl-coenzyme A, and the condensation reaction is overwhelmingly rate determining. Nonetheless, hydrolysis of the intermediate is impaired. All the enzymes except H320R and H274G show kinetic cooperativity with CitCoA as substrate, indicating changes in the subunit interactions with these latter two mutants. The energetics of citrate synthase are surprisingly tightly coupled. All changes affect more than one step in the catalytic cycle. Within the condensation reaction, the intermediate of proton transfer must occupy a shallow well between transition states close in free energy so that perturbations of one have substantial effects on that of the other.     

Measured and simulated performance of a ceramic micromechanical beam steering device at 94 GHz

We report the first experimental demonstration of a transmission-mode micromechanical beam steering device for use in standoff terahertz imaging and spectroscopy. The device was constructed by laminating laser-cut 96% alumina sheets to form two plates with interlocking rectangular gratings of 762 microm period and was characterized at 94 GHz in a free-space measurement setup with an automated elevation scan. Plate tilts as great as 6 degrees deflected the transmitted beam by 6 degrees for the transverse electric (TE) polarization and by 4 degrees for the transverse magnetic polarization. Finite-difference time-domain simulations of the TE performance were in good agreement with the measurements.     

Discrete simulation of NC machining

We describe a method for simulating and verifying the correctness of Numerical Control (NC) programs. NC programs contain the sequence of cutting tool movements which machine raw stock into a finished object. Our method is based on a discrete approximation of the object by a set of points. A vector is passed through each of the points and machining is simulated by finding the intersections of tool movements with these vectors. We present a point-selection method and an analysis that shows that the error introduced by the approximation can be made as small as desired. The run time is inversely proportional to the allowable error and the size of the cutting tool, and directly proportional to the distance that the cutting tool moves.