Transient Pressure and Temperature Field Measurements in a Lightly Loaded Circumferential Groove Journal Bearing from Startup to Steady-State Thermal Stabilization

The fluid film pressure and temperature fields have been measured simultaneously under laboratory conditions at one land of a circumferential groove journal bearing (CGJB), together with friction torque and oil flow rate, during a time span from stand-still startup to the development of a thermally stabilized steady operating regime.A very fine measurement grid—that is, 216 pressure and 180 temperature points spread across the axial and circumferential directions—has been obtained by joining and synchronizing measurements from separate test runs while rigorously re-creating the test conditions.The study confirmed that the pressure field is established faster than the temperature field, that film rupture occurs both from cavitation nuclei downstream the minimum film thickness and through air ingestion from the environment. Furthermore, the high pressures in the convergent zone stabilize relatively quickly, whereas the low pressures in the divergent zone cavitated region require a longer time to stabilize. The cavitated region reverse flow appearance has been identified thermally through upstream-oriented isotherms. This study is the first to present the transient evolutions of pressure and temperature fields.     

Long-term viable bioaerosol sampling using a temperature- and humidity-controlled filtration apparatus,a laboratory investigation using culturable E. coli.

Sampling for culturable (e.g., viable) aerosolized microbes (bioaerosols) is a useful means to provide information for public health monitoring and studies. However, it is challenging to maintain microbe culturability when sampling at high flow rates (>12 L/min) and extended periods of time (≥4 h). We developed a first-generation, viable bioaerosol collection system (VBCS) utilizing temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH)–conditioned filtration at a flow rate of 25 L/min. A two-stage system of tube-in-shell Nafion? exchange units provides cooling to ≤10°C and RH conditioning to 80–95%. Aerosol particles are collected on a polyurethane nanofiber filter providing a physical collection efficiency of >95% for sizes 0.06–10 µm. The T and RH conditions at the collection filter are maintained, despite changes to ambient conditions. The initial testing of the VBCS was done under indoor, laboratory conditions with aerosolized, vegetative E. coli. A scenario of a 30-min challenge of bioaerosol followed by continued sampling of clean air for various times was used to judge culturability maintenance under extended-term sampling. An initial loss of culturability upon collection onto the filter was observed; 23 ± 13% relative to 4-mm all-glass impinger. However once collected, 98% of culturability was maintained for an additional 4.5 h of sampling. An exponential decay in culturability was observed from 8 h to 15 h of sampling. Also, 24-h cold storage of the filters collected was studied. The VBCS is based on the use of dry filter cassettes, needs minimal maintenance, and preserves culturability of vegetative bacteria for >4 h.

© 2017 RTI International and Aerosol Dynamics Inc.     

Poly(vinyl alcohol) functionalization with aldehydes in organic solvents: Shining properties of poly(vinyl acetals)

Poly(vinyl alcohol) has been functionalized with aldehydes in tetrahydrofuran (THF) with a good control of the grafting. A wide library of poly(vinyl acetals) could be obtained in order to study some structure/property correlations. The influence of the aldehyde nature on the functionalization rates has been studied, in particular for optical properties by measurement of the shininess for further applications in the cosmetic field. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40677.     

A constrained‐optimization methodology for the detection phase in contact mechanics simulations

The detection phase in computational contact mechanics can be subdivided into a global search and a local detection. When potential contact is detected by the former, a rigorous local detection determines which surface elements come or may come in contact in the current increment. We first introduce a rigorous definition of the closest point for non‐differentiable lower‐dimensional manifolds. We then simplify the detection by formulating an optimization problem subject to inequality constraints. The formulation is then solved using different techniques from the field of mathematical optimization, for both linear and quadratic finite element meshes. The resulting general and robust detection scheme is tested on a set of problems and compared with other techniques commonly used in computational geometry. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anisotropic loss of toughness with physical aging of work toughened polycarbonate

We have studied the response of mechanically toughened and physically aged polycarbonate primarily using Charpy impact and ultrasonic wave speed measurements. The toughening was conducted through plastic compression on as‐received PC. The Charpy impact tests showed anisotropic toughening, both in the absorbed energy and in the mode of fracture. The amount of toughening with plastic compression, even though anisotropic, is centered around the response of annealed and quenched samples, which represent the response of an unaged PC. There was an anisotropic drop in the toughness of some samples with aging. The time of this drop was uncorrelated in the different directions and disappeared for the highly toughened samples. This transition was bimodal and statistically distributed between either a fully ductile or a fully brittle failure. As the samples were prepared in a manner to remove induced residual stresses, this drop in toughening may be associated with an intrinsic anisotropic thermal aging of the deformed material. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:794–804, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Design of space-centered interaction using invisible and intangible spatial inputs

In this paper,we investigate methodologies to improve direct-touch interaction on invisible and intangible spatial input.We firstly discuss about the motive of looking for a new input method for whole body interaction and how it can be meaningful.We also describe the role that can play spatial interaction to improve the freedom of interaction for a user.We propose a method of spatial centered interaction using invisible and intangible spatial inputs.However,given their lack of tactile feedback and visual representation,direct touch interaction on such input can be confused.In order to make a step toward understanding causes and solutions for such phenomena,we made 2 user experiments.In the first one,we test 5 setups of helper that provide information of the location of the input by constraining the dimension it is located at.The results show that using marker on the ground and a relationship with the height of the user's body improve significantly the locative task.In the second experiment,we create a dancing game using invisible and intangible spatial inputs and we stress the results obtained in the first experiment within this cognitively demanding context.Results show that the same setup of helper is still providing very good results in that context.     

Nuclear Data Sheets for A = 114

This evaluation for A = 114 updates one by J. Blachot (2002Bl20), published in Nuclear Data Sheets 97, 593 (2002). Previous: 1995Bl09, 1990Bl05, 1982Bl18. Decay scheme of Tc-114 to Ru-114 seems incomplete. The decay scheme of 6.2-s isomer in I-114 seems very poorly known, and for the 2.1-s activity not well known either. None of these is published in a primary paper.     

The role of user requirements in data repository design

International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer - Requirements engineering plays a crucial role in the development process of an information system as it aims at providing a...