Acoustic emission technique for leak detection in an end shield of a pressurised heavy water reactor

This paper discusses the successful application of the Acoustic Emission Technique (AET) for detection and location of leak paths present on the inaccessible side of an end shield of a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR). The methodology was based on the fact that air and water leak AE signals have different characteristic features. Baseline data was generated from a sound end-shield of a PHWR for characterizing the background noise. A mock up end-shield system with saw cut leak paths was used to verify the validity of the methodology. It was found that air leak signals under pressurisation (as low as 3 psi) could be detected by frequency domain analysis. Signals due to air leaks from various locations of a defective end-shield were acquired and analysed. It was possible to detect and locate leak paths. Presence of detected leak paths were further confirmed by alternate test.     

Further studies on elastic-plastic stable fracture utilizing the T integral

Herein, the T^* fracture parameter is shown to have relevance to the mechanics of elastic-plastic fracture. Specifically, it is shown to have certain advantages over the currently established plastic fracture parameters such as J and CTOA. Finite element analyses of experimental data were carried out as a means to obtain a comparison of the effectiveness of the plastic fracture parameters. T^* is clearly superior. A note on problems associated with satisfying the plastic incompressibility constraint is also included.     

Lie algebraic canonical representations in nonlinear control systems

This paper is the applied counterpart to previous results [5] for linear-analytic control systems. It is mainly concerned with two canonical representations of the exponential type. They exhibit the Lie algebraic structure of the system in such a form that results on weak controllability are easily derived in an algebraic manner. The first representation is a single exponential of a canonical Lie series in Hall's basis of the Lie algebra of vector fields. The second one is a factorization in terms of simpler exponentials of Hall's basic vectors. Both of them exhibit, as canonical coefficients, an infinite set of characteristic parameters which are a minimal representation of the input paths, when no drift occurs in the system (or, equivalently, in the weak control case). The weak controllability theorem is easily derived from these results, in a purely algebraic way.     

Phase interaction in composite materials Zr-Mo,W

Conclusions Composite materials based on the thermodynamically unstable systems Zr-Mo and Zr-W have satisfactory kinetic stability of the structure up to 1373°K. At higher temperatures there occurs intense interaction between fibers and matrix entailingthe formation of solid solutions and intermetallic phases. The course of the diffusion processes in the investigated CM is determined by the history of their components, and this makes it possible to a certain extent to control these processes by corresponding preliminary thermomechanical treatment of the components.Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 12(300), pp. 40–44, December, 1987.     

Constitutive equations of ageing polymeric materials

In a previous paper, a constitutive equation of relaxation behaviour of time-dependent chemically unstable materials has been developed by employing the irreversible thermodynamics of internal variables and Eyring's absolute reaction theory. In that paper, a theoretical expression for the effect of chemical crosslink density,v, on the relaxation rate has been developed. In this paper the creep behaviour of a network polymer undergoing a scission process has been developed. The temperature effect using the WLF equation on the coupled chemomechanical behaviour has also been incorporated into the equation.     

Thermally stimulated shrinkage forces in oriented polymers: 1. Temperature dependence

Temperature dependences of shrinkage forces appearing in oriented polymer samples when heated at constant length were recorded for polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene and polypropylene. The influence of various processing conditions on thermally stimulated shrinkage forces is demonstrated. A four-state model is proposed which qualitatively describes the temperature dependences of shrinkage forces in amorphous polymers.     

Type synthesis of spatial mechanisms on the basis of spatial single loop structural groupsTypensynthese räumlicher mechanismen auf der grundlage räumlicher einfach geschlossener strukturgruppen

This paper describes the basis for a new method of type synthesis of spatial mechanisms with the use of single-loop structural groups having zero degrees of freedom. Applying the binary system, the value 0 is used for R (revolute) and 1 is used for P (prismatic) pairs. The five-link spatial groups are described by codes both in the binary and decimal systems. All other groups are reduced to the basis of five-link spatial groups. In these cases two-degree-of-freedom and three-degree-of-freedom kinematic pairs are transformed to one-degree-of-freedom pairs, and these transformations are also described by codes in the binary and decimal systems. This method of coding can be programmed for digital computation and applied towards the automatic type synthesis in the design of spatial mechanisms. The system is equally clear for alphanumeric or for graphical display. To the designer it defines the diagram of the mechanism, pointing out the frame, the mobile links, the types of the kinematic pairs and their mutual disposition in the mechanism configuration.     

Gain saturation dependence on signal wavelength in a travelling-wave semiconductor laser amplifier

Gain saturation dependence on signal wavelength in a 1.5 ?m InGaAsP travelling-wave semiconductor laser amplifier is experimentally studied. Saturation output powers were 6.9dBm, 8.3dBm and 10.6dBm for signal wavelengths of 1490 nm, 1510 nm and 1540 nm, respectively. This saturation dependence on wavelength, i.e. higher saturation output power for longer signal wavelength, results from signal gain peak shift towards longer wavelength with increasing input power.     

Si/SiGe n-MODFETs on thin SiGe virtual substrates prepared by means of He implantation

Si/SiGe n-type modulation-doped field-effect transistors grown on a very thin strain-relieved Si/sub 0.69/Ge/sub 0.31/ buffer on top of a Si(100) substrate were fabricated and characterized. This novel type of virtual substrate has been created by means of a high dose He ion implantation localized beneath a 95-nm-thick pseudomorphic SiGe layer on Si followed by a strain relaxing annealing step at 850/spl deg/C. The layers were grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Electron mobilities of 1415 cm/sup 2//Vs and 5270 cm/sup 2//Vs were measured at room temperature and 77 K, respectively, at a sheet carrier density of about 3/spl times/10/sup 12//cm/sup 2/. The fabricated transistors with Pt-Schottky gates showed good dc characteristics with a drain current of 330 mA/mm and a transconductance of 200 mS/mm. Cutoff frequencies of f/sub t/=49 GHz and f/sub max/=95 GHz at 100 nm gate length were obtained which are quite close to the figures of merit of a control sample grown on a conventional, thick Si/sub 0.7/Ge/sub 0.3/ buffer.     

Ionoluminescence decay measured with single ions

A new ion beam analysis-based, single ion technique called the time to first photon has been developed to measure the decay of the luminescence signal of phosphors. Such measurements are currently needed to study luminescence decay mechanisms following high-density excitations and to identify strongly luminescent phosphor coatings with short lifetimes for ion photon emission microscopy (IPEM). The samples for this technique consist of thin phosphor layers placed or coated on the surface of PIN diodes. Single ions from an accelerator strike this sample and simultaneously create ion beam induced luminescence (IBIL) from the phosphor that is measured by a single-photon-detector, and an ion beam induced charge collection (IBICC) signal in the PIN diode. In this case, the IBICC signal provides the start pulse and the IBIL signal the stop pulse to a time to amplitude converter. It is straightforward to show that this approach also measures a signal proportional to activity versus time with an accuracy of 5% as long as the number of detected photons per ion is less than 0.1, which usually requires the use of absorbers for the IBIL detector or electronic discrimination for the IBIL signals. Details of the new analysis are given together with examples of luminescence decay measurements of several ceramic phosphors being considered to coat IPEM samples. IPEM is currently being developed at Sandia National Laboratory (SNL), the University of North Texas in Denton, and the Universities and INFN of Padova and Torino.